SC Villa will host Maroons FC this weekend on matchday 19.
This game comes on the back of a 0-2 defeat that the Jogoos suffered at the hands of UPDF FC at the Bombo military barracks ground on Sunday, March 2. It was the club’s sixth defeat in the league this season, a fact that has created a general feeling among the SC Villa fraternity, that they will not be winning the 2024/25 league title.
This defeat left Villa in eighth position on the Uganda Premier League (UPL) table, 19 points behind the leaders, Vipers SC. Clearly, even for the biggest optimist, they will feel it is unlikely now, that the Jogoos can defend a title they won in the 2023/24 season.
But even then, they would definitely want to know what has gone wrong since that day in May at the MTN Omondi stadium, when Villa beat NEC FC to register a record-extending seventeenth league title.
Sam Mubiru, the club’s technical director, said: “It is hard to explain why; for starters, we have failed to win away from home all season. I do not think we have been playing badly, but we have not had the luck on our side. There have also been some bad refereeing decisions against us, when away from home.”
Mubiru sighted the time-wasting tactics that UPDF deployed throughout the game once they took the lead on Sunday, as something the referee should have clamped down on.
That aside, some observers believe that the championship last year was deceptive of what exactly Villa are as a team. In essence, it was simply a flash in the pan, that did not represent how solid they were as a team.
Otherwise, a seasoned campaigner as Villa used to be 20 years ago; falling off the title challenge soon after winning it, should never have seen them fall so far as it has turned out. But Mubiru dismissed the notion that their success last season was a fluke, pointing out that even great sides like Manchester City in the English Premier League have struggled this time round.
While Mubiru’s reasoning may vindicate Villa, the simple fact is that Manchester City won four in a row, before struggling this season. So, maybe the scenarios are incomparable between a one-off, and a team that has dominated for a while, and then suddenly runs out of hunger, meaning it needs new energy to rebuild the desire to win.
A case in point, Villa’s dominance saw them win the league from 1998 to 2004. Thereafter, the decline and trophy drought descended on the team, following the departure of seasoned match winners.
Led by the charismatic Edgar Watson, who retired in 2004, followed by the departure of top talent like Dennis Onyango, Phillip Obwin, Hakim Magumba, Phillip Ssozi, Timothy Batabaire, Andy Mwesigwa, Alex Isabirye and Morley Byekwaso, Villa lost its ruthlessness, which brought forth teams such as URA FC’s dominance between 2005 and 2014.
In light of that, an official at Villa, who preferred anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, noted that the current dressing room has no characters like the aforementioned, who realize that losing at Villa is never an option. In fact, he added that as much as their coach Byekwaso speaks to them, there is little sense of responsibility.
Apparently, the triumph of last season left most satisfied. This has put the Villa administration on the spot, too. Questions have been asked on whether they have made the players more accountable like they did with Watson and company, and if there is enough quality in the squad, too.
Failure to win seems to have been normalized at Uganda’s most successful team. Yet, while Byekwaso is a legend at the club, where he won three league titles, two Cecafa club trophies and one Uganda Cup, he still has not oozed total confidence as a winning coach.
That lack of swag and aura can appear as weakness. It appeared to be the problem even when he inherited a championship winning side at KCCA FC. The earlier he sheds that personality, the better it could be for the Jogoos, as the Uganda Cup is what is left for them to realistically win!
