KCCA and Mutebi are a marriage made in heaven

There have been changes at the top and bottom but results have remained the same.

KCCA Football Club's winning juggernaut since 2015 when Mike Mutebi took over as head coach for the second time seems unstoppable.

From executive directors Jennifer Musisi to Andrew Kitaka, club chairmen Julius Kabugo to Aggrey Ashaba, CEOs David Tamale, Josephine Namukisa to Anisha Muhoozi, winning trophies at the Lugogo based club has become a trademark.

Indeed, in this four-year spell, the playing staff has changed each year.

Mutebi's winning record is staggering-three League titles, two Uganda Cups, one CECAFA Club Cup, three FUFA Super Cups plus the inaugural Pilsner Super 8 Cup.

Ten trophies in four years, that include the CECAFA Cup which the club had last won 41 years ago in 1978, is a genial feat by a coach who was twice denied his moment of fame in 1997.

For the record, no Ugandan coach in history has achieved this level of success, let alone the short time period.

Lest we forget, Mutebi has used veterans- Habib Kavuma, Geoffrey Sserunkuma, Vincent Kayizzi, Brian Majwega, Robert Sentongo, Tony Odur and Mike Mutyaba, players who had been written off as old and past their sell-by dates.

A lot of coaches at clubs including SC Vipers, URA, Express and SC Villa have failed to make use of old wine and instead argued that these players were the reason for their stunted growth.

Mutebi's skill at reviving talent and re-awakening potential notwithstanding, it is his genius at scouting and managing young talent that separates him from other local coaches.

His winners of 2018-19 for example have been infested with youth-Sadat Anaku, Steven Sserwadda, Alan Okello, Julius Poloto, Peter Magambo, Mustafa Kiiza and Filbert Obenchan.

With the exception of the ridiculously talented Okello, hardly would any of the other youngsters above make the starting team of Vipers, URA, Villa or Express.

Churning out talent, sharpening rough edges, building confidence, strengthening mentality, developing a team ethic, inculcating champions desire and a professional mentality are Mutebi's outstanding coaching gifts.

As the man responsible for creating the football vision, strategic roadmap and he as the only constant at Lugogo for the last four years, it's safe to conclude that the club owes it's extraordinary success to him.

Thanks to Mutebi, forwards Patrick Kaddu and Alan Kyambadde-previously inconsequential at their previous addresses- are now among the few local-based players who feature frequently for Uganda Cranes.

Player by player, Vipers' individual quality across the field is better than KCCA's but not more accomplished.

As we have seen recently from Vipers' unveiling of freshly acquired assets that include a world-class club bus and gym both estimated in hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Kitende-based club is the wealthiest in the country.

Yet, on the ground, KCCA has achieved far more success over the last four years; with more player turn over.

KCCA's secret is one, the club has a strategic vision and they have let the man singly responsible for that vision to see it through without interference on or off the pitch.

All that the board has done is to support him with sound management, sourcing of funding and giving him independence. As the new 2019-20 season beckons, KCCA are already at it again; signing classy midfielder-cum defender John Revita as a free agent from Express and the nomadic talented forward Simon Sserunkuma from Tooro United.

Typical Mutebi. His tenet is that the best technically gifted Ugandan players must play for KCCA to maintain the club's stylish tradition.

It does not matter how young or old a player is; if he is a joy footballer with silky skills, craft and flair, he will make an attempt to sign him.

He has already transformed Mutyaba and resuscitated his career. He did it with Sserunkuma.

The latest Sserunkuma, perhaps more naturally gifted than Mutyaba, has always lacked a career guide. The man with a Midus touch has got him now.

Revita was one of the finds of last season. Mutebi's latest chapter could get even more interesting.