African Stars appoint Kanalelo
Football
Following criticism of their most recent slump, the club bosses are hoping for a reversal of fortunes.
African Stars have roped in the services of former Unam FC head coach Ronnie Kanalelo to be its head coach till the end of the season.The move is understood to have been motivated by recent disappointing results under the helm of Mervin Mbakera in the Debmarine Namibia Premier Football League.
“Coach Ronnie Kanalelo joins African Stars SC as head coach till the end of the season,” the club posted on their social media pages.
It was the second time in less than a year Mbakera had to pave way for another coach to take over his position.
Mbakera was replaced by Ghanaian coach Prins George Koffie at the beginning of the season since he did not have the CAF coaching licence to represent Stars in the CAF Champions League preliminary rounds.
He was demoted to assistant coach for the period until the league started.
Koffie however vacated his position and Mbakera was once again made coach in the middle of this season.
African Stars has now once again replaced Mbakera at the helm, this time with former Unam FC head coach Kanalelo, the retired national team goalkeeper from the 1990s and early 2000s.
While Kanalelo oversaw Unam finishing the previous season in fourth position, the perennial midtable club has again shown shown inconsistency and is currently in 11th place.
Starlile is currently chasing the NPFL title for a second consecutive time.
They are however locked in a tight race and now find themselves one point behind Khomas Nampol who is on 41 points.
African Stars (40) also has Ongos FC relentlessly breathing in their neck, on 39 points.
Following rather smooth sailing up to the halfway mark of the season, when they were in the lead (36 points from 15 matches, 11 wins, three draws, one defeat), the champions have experienced mixed results the past couple of weeks after losing by 2-0 margins on two weekends.
Both Khomas Nampol and Unam have inflicted losses by two goals on captain Ronald Ketjijere’s men since the resumption after the break.
It is however still not clear if Mbakera will retain his position after the season ends.
A source close to the club has alleged that the coach was in the dark about the decision.
African Stars boss Salomo Hei could not be reached for comment before the newspaper went for print.