Fans stormed outside the Yanga SC dressing room calling out for the release of Ivorian striker Gnamien Yikpe after Sunday's 0-0 draw against Azam FC.
The towering striker was signed by Timu ya Wananchi in January, penning a two-year contract. However, he has failed to live up to expectations and has so far scored just one goal for the team.
After the restart of the Tanzania Mainland League on June 13, the team faithful expected better from the forward.
A poor performance in the 1-0 win against Mwadui - where he missed one gilt-edged chance - and another lacklustre display in the goalless draw against Azam may have sealed his fate at the club.
"Drop Yikpe, release Yikpe," were the chants heard from hundreds of fans who were protesting outside the 27-time league champions' dressing room after Sunday's game.
"I take the point gained in our match, but I am not happy at all with some performance," an agitated fan said.
"Who signed [David] Molinga and Yikpe? Especially the latter, we were told he was a good striker who performed well for the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) side Gor Mahia, so what happened to him here [at Yanga]?
"A striker who has scored just two goals [in all competitions], what does that tell you? The fans are hurt, we are hurting not the management. Is this the new Yanga we had been promised?"
Coach Luc Eymael did not hesitate to criticize his attackers for misfiring.
"I am disappointed with all my strikers,” Eymael told Goal after the match.
"We created chances after chances, but we don’t finish the chances we create, if we don’t score that is a big problem, 30 crosses and we cannot find the back of the net? I think that is a big problem.
"Our biggest problem currently is we are not scoring, that is the biggest problem we have, it is that simple, we are not scoring goals despite creating chances and something must be done urgently before we play our next match.
"I cannot change the players [strikers] now, I can only ask them to rectify the mistakes in training like we keep doing, we must think about scoring and the strikers must stand up now and be counted, they should get their scoring boots back, I don’t need to shout at them but they should know what they are supposed to do."
