KAMPALA – When the news filtered through that Vipers SC had relived coach Miguel Da Costa of his duties in the earnest, there was wide spread bewilderment.
Also read: Vipers SC sack head coach Miguel da Costa
The proceedings sensationally hit the football audience like a level 5 hurricane. It was viewed as perhaps the most contentious decision to make.
The architect of a successful 2017/18 season that reaped a league title and a Uganda cup final appearance,the general consensus, in pure football context, was that the eccentric Portuguese was the right man in vipers hot seat .
But it seems his employers had other ideas. In the statement on their official Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon, Vipers SC backed their decision that it was “part of the restructuring process and preparation for CAF club competition and upcoming league season”.
Sources close to the Kitende based side have revealed top technocrats have been scheming stealthily to let go of the title winning Portuguese because there was strong belief amongst the them that Da Costa was deficient to steer the Kitende based side through the highly demanding confines of Champions league football.
And following a review of proceedings, the management had to act. For many, it would have been a dereliction of duty had they not.
The club’s bold decision suggests they had received sufficient encouragement that a new figure head will serve their interests better.
“He was no exception and the bosses came to terms that what he (Da Costa) could do, a new person could afford, even better,” a source that preferred anonymity for fear of victimization told PML Daily.
It looked to be a source of regret to main man Lawrence Mulindwa that he dispensed with the services of a man and manager he felt was embodiment of his ethos – but clearly felt he can no longer deliver what they demanded.
The off-color performances in the just concluded CECAFA club championships (Kagame Cup) in Tanzania where vipers bowed out in the quarter finals on the hands of Gor Mahia, to a lesser extent hastened Da Costa’s departure following an inquest in the tournament. But it is thought even triumph in the CECAFA Club championship would not have spared him. He was a dead man walking!
Sources close to the Portuguese have intimidated that Da Costa got wind of his eventual departure after he was wholly dissociated in the ongoing player recruitment at St Marys stadium.
He gave a hint of his pending departure when he said “this is the last press conference I have with you. Enjoy friends; he jokingly prophesied his demise after winning the league title.”
Some credible sources say that Da Costa inadvertently sowed the seeds of his departure when he got a couple of touchline suspensions, dressing room and backroom rope-pulling that plagued their 2017/18 season.
All this dragged his fate under the microscope. It does a great applaud to Da Costa to paint his reign as a success – he was relatively alien to Ugandan football and after one season, he managed to guide the Kitende based side to their third record title and many revered Da Costa for the vibrant style of football he instilled.
