Matano: I want to make AFC Leopards 'great again'

AFC Leopards coach Robert Matano will take his hunt for new talents to Uganda even as he promises to make Ingwe ‘great again’.

Matano guided Leopards to an eighth-place finish after a treacherous season that had threatened Ingwe’s survival at the top tier league for next season.

With Ugandan duo Allan Kateregga and Kerizon Kizito gone and the future of Burundian, Alexis Kitenge and goalkeeper, Ian Otieno uncertain, Matano is not giving up on luring more Ugandans to the Den.

“I am headed for Uganda to search for players who can conform to my principles,” Matano told KPL official website.

“I re-joined Ingwe when the team was disorganized. Players never used to come to training, but I put the house in order and things changed. Nobody expected us to win a trophy, or to finish in the top 10. They say I am a disciplinarian but I am also a trained psychologist and a motivator.

“I like to uplift players. That is why you can see some players in my team performing way better than they did in the first leg. It is only because they are better motivated and better guided. Discipline is key in any club. AFC must become great again."

But having broken ranks with two Ugandans in under seven months since he returned to the Den, Matano will have to work extra hard to convince his new targets to cross over to the Kenyan Premier League.