Change Of Ingwe Guard: Leopards Hire Rwandese Cassa Mbungo To Lead Revival Hunt
5th February 2019
Struggling SPL side and 12-time national league winners appoint former Kijovu SC boss as the 26th man at the helm since 2009
- Mbungo becomes the 26th head coach to take charge at the Den since 2009 when the glamour club that has fallen to lean times of late earned promotion back to the top flight following the exit of Serbian Marko Vasiljevic
- Ingwe fell 1-2 to Tanzanian league champions, Simba SC in a last-eight clash of the knockout tournament played at the National Main Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam on January 23, 2019
- The new man will get a taste of SPL action when his team plays basement side, Mt. Kenya United FC on Wednesday with the visitors out to topple another giant after shocking league leaders Mathare United FC 2-1 in their last outing
NAIROBI, Kenya- Twelve-time national champions and SportPesa Premier League (SPL) outfit AFC Leopards SC have appointed to Rwandese national Andre Casa Mbungo as their new head coach ahead of Saturday’s Mashemeji Derby against the old enemy and champions Gor Mahia FC.
Mbungo becomes the 26th head coach to take charge at the Den since 2009 when the glamour club that has fallen to lean times of late earned promotion back to the top flight following the exit of Serbian Marko Vasiljevic.
“We have a new coach. AFC Leopards has appointed Rwandese Andre Casa Mbungo as our new coach on a one and a half year deal.
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“Andre replaces Marko Vasiljevic who parted company with the club on Monday. Welcome to the Den Andre,” Leopards tweeted on Tuesday.
Mbungo is the third boss hired by Leopards this season alone, with another Serb, Nikola Kavazovic, lasting only a week at the beginning of the season before departing the club for South African side Free State Stars FC.
He duly refunded the KSh500,000 signing on fee he received from the club that last won the league title in 1998 before severing ties with Ingwe.
That saw his erstwhile assistant, Vasiljevic promoted to the head coach role but his position at the 10-time domestic cup champions became untenable following a wretched run of two wins in 10 SPL games that left the club languishing in 15th on 10, three points above the drop zone.
Final straw
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The 1-4 mauling at Bandari FC on Sunday was the final straw for Vasiljevic who also failed to lead Leopards past the quarterfinals of the 2019 SportPesa Cup in Tanzania last month, as the glamour team missed a chance to challenge for the chance to host English top flight side Everton FC and the USD30,000 in prize money.
Ingwe fell 1-2 to Tanzanian league champions, Simba SC in a last-eight clash of the knockout tournament played at the National Main Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam on January 23, 2019.
Mbungo will have the baptism of fire this weekend when he leads his new charges against record 17-time domestic league winners Gor seeking a first victory over their arch rivals in all competitions since the 1-0 SPL success in the first leg of the 2016 season.
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He arrives from top-flight side Kiyovu SC that he led to a fifth finish in the country’s Azam Rwanda Premier League having previously coached AS Kigali and Police FC.
Gor forwards, record signing Jacques Tuyisenge (Police) and Burundian Francis Mustafa (AS Kigali) played for the incoming Ingwe coach when he was in charge at those clubs.
Melis Medo, who parted ways with SPL rivals Sofapaka FC as well as Tanzanian Dennis Kitambi who was a hit at Leopards when he took over on interim basis were some of the other names linked with the Leopards top job before Mbungo got the nod.
The new man will get a taste of SPL action when his team plays basement side, Mt. Kenya United FC on Wednesday with the visitors out to topple another giant after shocking league leaders Mathare United FC 2-1 in their last outing.
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