Tom Juma may not have been the problem at AFC Leopards after all. Juma, a club legend, was sacked three months into his tenure as head coach, and Czech national Tomas Trucha was reappointed, but fortunes have not changed at all.
On Monday, December 4, 2023, Trucha led AFC Leopards in his seventh match since being handed a two-year contract at the helm of Ingwe in October.
Ingwe, at home to Tusker at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos, played to a 0-0 draw, their third draw on the bounce and only a single win in seven games under Trucha’s tutelage.
Trucha’s first game was away to Bandari FC on October 1, 2023, and AFC Leopards lost 1-0 but won the next game by a similar scoreline away to Nzoia Sugar a week later – their only win under the Czech tactician.
What followed was a 0-0 draw at home to Kariobangi Sharks on November 1, a 3-2 loss away to Nairobi City Stars on November 4, followed by 1-1 draws against Posta Rangers and Sofapaka.
The latest is a 0-0 draw at home to Tusker. What may be a positive in that series of results is that Ingwe managed to get their first win of the season. And that 1-0 win at Nzoia is the only time they have won a match this season.
The 1998 champions have played 13 league games so far this season, losing four, drawing eight, and winning only one. They have scored 8 goals and conceded 12, amassing a total of 11 points and lie 13th on the 18-team log.
Whereas Trucha has lifted the team from the relegation zone where Juma left it, there is not much difference in their output if points are anything to go by.
Juma left the club after six matches, in which he managed four draws and two losses. He left without tasting a win, but surely, Trucha’s results are a spitting image of Juma’s. The resemblance is uncanny.
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AFC Leopards are next away to Bidco United on December 10, 2023, followed by a home tie against Kakamega Homeboyz in the Ingo derby.
