Seven games into his tenure as the head coach of AFC Leopards, there’s little to separate Tomas Trucha from his predecessor Tom Juma, who was sacked for poor performance. Juma, a legend of the club, was dismissed in October after the team went six straight games at the beginning of the 2022-24 FKF Premier League without a win.His record stood at four draws, two loses, and no wins.##NAJAVA_MECA_7729452##Two months down the line, however, Trucha is yet to prove that he was a worthy candidate to replace Juma.His record stands at four draws, two loses and one win.Presently, Ingwe, as the club is nicknamed, is dangling above the red zone at position 15 with a paltry 11 points from 14 games.FKFPL Week 14 Wrap: Homeboyz, Sofapaka resurgence continues as Leopards troubles compoundYet, against all the facts and figures presented, Leopards chairman Dr. Dan Shikanda is adamant the management was spot on in sacking Juma and replacing him with Trucha. “It was the best decision at the moment.”Shikanda, equally a legend of Ingwe, was quick to admit that factors beyond coaching could also be at play, blaming ‘negative influence’ in the club for the continued poor show by Ingwe, a once formidable force in Kenyan football with 12 league titles under their belt.“Unlike Gor Mahia (Leopards nemesis), there’s a lot of negative influence at Leopards,” Shikanda told Mozzart Sport. “They have abandoned the team and left it to the chairman to run. Ahead of their game against Kariobangi Sharks, Gor Mahia camped in Machakos, but what about Leopards? If I don’t do something, nothing happens,” the former Kenya international lamented.In a rare admission, Shikanda concurred with Juma that ‘cartels’ rocked the team’s transfer business, leading to the signing of average players.“The so-called Committee took control of the transfer business and went ahead to recruit many players from Nzoia Sugar just because they finished ahead of us in the league and because they are Luhyas.In football, a good player is a good player regardless of his background. But the blame is now squarely on the chairman. He is the one being pressured to resign,” Shikanda said.“It’s a big mess we’re in, but we’re working hard to come out of it,” he went on.Shikanda is banking on the upcoming January transfer window to “get the coach the players he wants.”
