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Simba stagger form early exit as Rage calls for calm

Ismail Aden Rage

SIMBA is still reeling from the early exit in the 2012 Kagame Cup, with the club’s Chairman Ismail Aden Rage calling for calm. 

Simba were sent packing by finalist Azam FC, after John Bocco punished the defensive weaknesses with a stunning hat-trick in a thrilling quarterfinal encounter at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. 

The towering hit-man gave Azam a first half lead and followed it with a superb second half brace to steer Stewart Hall’s side to the semifinals of the regional club championship. Simba, who looked sloppy at the back and clueless upfront, got their solitary goal through Shomari Kapombe several minutes after Azam had gone two goals up.

The 2011 finalists were below-par throughout the tournament and deservedly crashed out of the coveted regional championship, which they have won six times, more than any other team.  And, Rage is already feeling the heat.

He however, told the ‘Daily News’ here yesterday that the club has recruited top quality players, urging club members and supporters not to be worried by the results. He said coach Milovan Circkovic was still building his team and should be given time to do his job.

“We have recruited some new good players and the coach is still trying to put the group together to get his preferred starting lineup, we need to give him time to do his job,” said Rage. Rage also refuted allegations of leadership division in the club as reported by a section of local media. 

It has been claimed that the club leaders are divided on Emmanuel Okwi’s move to Europe, with some suggesting that the ace striker should not be allowed to leave the club, while others want the player to be sold to either Parma of Italy or Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa and not to Austrian club Red bull Salzburg. 

“I don’t know were all these craps are coming from...Simba leadership is still going strong and there is no division at all,” insisted Rage, saying the leadership agreed to let the Ugandan undergo trials at Salzburg, where he said he was doing quite well.