Douglas Bamweyana has reportedly left his position as the head coach at SC Villa, barely six months after he took over the coaching reigns at the club.
Bamweyana was named as Moses Basena’s replacement after Villa suffered their worst start to the season. Under Basena the record Uganda Premier League champions picked up just four points from their opening eight fixtures.
Club chairman William Nkemba was coy when asked about the future of the coach.
“Everything will be fine. Villa issues are sorted in-house,” Nkemba told the media.
Rumours first filtered through that fans were baying for the tactician’s blood after Villa suffered a 2-1 home loss to Tooro United on Tuesday. The club refuted the rumours claiming the coach was okay.
On Wednesday, senior players at Villa Park refused to attend any further training sessions under Bamweyana. This prompted Nkemba to engage the players in a meeting to discuss a way forward.
After the meeting ended at around 2pm, assistant coach Samuel Mugerwa took charge of the evening session and is expected to take charge of their final league game of the season.
Bamweyana leaves Villa 13th on the log with 31 points after 29 games and are five points above the relegation zone. Ndejje, in 14th is yet to play the game in hand against Onduparaka.
“Its tough challenge but one I am ready for,” Bamweyana said, as he promised to overturn the club’s fortunes for the better.
But did he really stand up to the challenge?
For starters, Bamweyana found the club third from bottom with just four points from eight games but has managed to steer them from the relegation struggles and are just a point away from safety with a game to go.
Bamweyana has won six, lost six and drawn nine of his 21 games in charge at Villa which is better than six wins, eight losses and seven draws that Villa picked up in their preceding 21 games before him.
In a period where Villa have had to undergo a massive rebuilding process evidenced by the 13 signings in the January window, they have scored 23 goals from 21 games which also betters their return of 20 goals from the preceding 21 games.
Tinkering could have been Bamweyana’s biggest undoing as he failed to settle on a constant 11 during his reign; dropping players seemed fun for him with club top scorer Bashir Mutanda also facing the wrath recently. Bamweyana did not name a similar 11 for two consecutive games.
Villa also did not have a definite playing style and looked suspect in defence conceding 24 goals and have dropped a league high 11 points from either winning or drawing positions.
Bamweyana can walk with a bit of pride. The wins against Express and the 3-1 win over Vipers at Kitende some of his highs at Villa Park.
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