Williamson vows to take Kenya to Nations Cup
Aug 07, 2014
New Harambee Stars coach Bobby Williamson is confident of helping Kenya realize their dream of returning to African Cup of Nations final.
By Dennis Mabuka in Nairobi
New Harambee Stars coach Bobby Williamson is confident of helping Kenya realize their dream of returning to African Cup of Nations final.
The former Uganda Cranes tactician was handed the mantle on Tuesday after former coach Adel Amrouche was sent packing following Kenya’s failure to progress to group stages of African Cup of Nations qualifiers at the expense of minnows Lesotho.
Williamson will officially take over after leading his club Gor Mahia in Cecafa Kagame Cup which begins on Saturday in Kigali, Rwanda.
Williamson, however, says he is yet to sign a formal contract with Football Kenya Federation and has intimated that he will only take over fully once he does so.
“I met federation officials on Monday and we basically agreed on most of personal terms. However, they are yet to present me with a contract and being a professional, I will only take over fully once I sign,” Williamson told New Vision in Nairobi.
“I will handle Gor Mahia for Kagame Cup and after that, I will be back hoping to finalise paperwork so that we can start the work.”
While with Uganda Cranes where he spent five years, Williamson won regional Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup five times but missed qualifying for African Cup of Nations finals twice at the last hurdle, denied by Kenya in 2011 and Zambia on post match penalties following year.
He, however, believes he can help Kenya realise that dream. “Kenya has very good players, probably better than where I was and I believe we can do it. I have picked much experience from Uganda and I believe it will help me while working with Harambee Stars,” said the Scottish tactician.
“I am looking forward to working with football authorities to end Kenyans’ of hunger. I know the players very well and Kenyan structures, so it will not be much of a struggle.
“Once we are done with contracts, I want to set up a good blueprint and hopefully, this will be start of good things to come.”
Williamson will work alongside former international defender Musa Otieno as his assistant while Simeon Mulama will be team manager. Kenya last featured at the African showpiece in 2014 when it was held in Tunis, Tunisia.
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