James Odoch quits Nyamityobora

Shafic Kiyaga

Former Cranes international and Uganda Premier League newcomers Nyamityobora football club head coach, James Odoch has resigned his job.

The development comes after Nyamityobora lost 6-1 at the StarTimes Stadium, Lugogo against league leaders KCCA FC on Sunday.

Odoch was the man responsible for leading the western club to promotion into the Uganda Premier League last season from the Big League.

But results this season have been hard to come by for the Abanyakare and Odoch thus far. They have managed just a single win and a draw from their opening eight games and currently sit bottom of the log, level on points with Paidha and SC Villa but with a worse goal difference.

Odoch’s resignation also follows a meeting between club management and fans, last week in which he was questioned if he was the right man to lead the club further.

It, however, became clear that Odoch’s time was near the end when club chairman Ben Misagga posted on twitter questioning the coach’s tactics.

“When I don’t believe in you I stop talking to you. I stopped talking to Odoch long time after watching his training methods; I told him I will not watch your games again,” tweeted Misagga.

But the statement that really surprised many was when after the game Misagga seemed to have sacked the coach when he ordered him ‘to pack his bags and leave the club’

“It’s time to pack your bags and leave Nyamityobora; we cannot lose six goals to a weak team like KCCA,” tweeted Misagga later.

And he later tweeted, “Odoch cannot match Nyamityobora FC technical works, within three days we shall give Nyamityobora another person who can measure to the challenge, I don’t groom coaches, Nyamityobora is not a learning process for coaches”.

However, when contacted for his side of the story, the soft spoken tactician had this to say.

“I am no longer the head coach of Nyamityobora FC. I have tried but I think this is the right time to quit. It is very hard to work with poorly motivated players; I have tried my level best but in vain, imagine digging deep into my pockets to buy water and refreshments for the players on match day.”

Odoch becomes the third manager in the space of a week to quit a topflight team. It started with Asaph Mwebaze who quit Onduparaka through a television interview before Moses Basena resigned at SC Villa following a 2-2 draw against Tooro United.