Sofapaka’s Portuguese coach Alves faces the sack after picking seven points only from seven matches

Sofapaka’s coach Divaldo Alves is under immense pressure after picking only seven points from seven league matches and is not sure if he will be in charge of the team when they face Kakamega Homeboyz in their next league match. The 2009 champions on Sunday suffered their fourth loss of the season after going down 2-1 to AFC Leopards at their home turf Narok Stadium, a result that is likely to spell doom on the Portuguese tactician, going by the trend of the club boss Elly Kalekwa who is normally impatient when it comes to delivery. Last season, Kalekwa sacked American coach Medo Mellis after a similar run, when he had only managed seven points from seven matches and sources within the club believe Alves may not be different after the latest setback. The tactician had complained about lack of concentration of his players as reasons for conceding easy goals against Tusker and Nzoia, but it seems he has not been able to solve the problem yet. “Kalekwa is always result oriented and very impatient, especially with the current pressure from sponsors Betika who want to see results after splashing Sh32 million to the team two weeks ago,” said a senior team official. He added: “It would be a miracle if Alves will still be the coach when we play Homeboyz in our next match.” Meanwhile, a few years ago, one of the league’s bigwigs Leopards were flirting with relegation to the National Super League (NSL). But gradually, fortunes are changing for the better for the big cats and their current second placing in the 2019/2020 season seems incredulous at least in their eyes of their fans who had been increasingly concerned with the team’s spate of indifferent results. One week after they restricted pre-match favourites Western Stima to a 1-1 draw, Leopards held on to stun hosts Sofapaka 2-1 and in the process moved to within touching distance of league leaders Gor Mahia who were engaged in the CAF Cup play-off match against Congolese side DC Motema Pembe. The success by Leopards, who were impressive in the first half of the match, was not only a big relief to head coach Andre Casa Mbungo but also gave the club’s faithful a belief that the team can recapture the title they last won in 1998. One man who stood out for Leopards was new signing John Mark Makwatta, the scorer of both goals, and whether he is the panacea Ingwe needs to turn round its fortunes will be know in the rest of their fixtures of the season. Makwata has already found the back of the net three times for Leopards. In the meantime, all is going well at KCB camp with the bankers extending their fine form by beating Zoo Kericho 2-1 in Machakos. It seems former Gor deputy trainer Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno has come with a magic wand at KCB as the team is now placed third in the standings and can dare challenge Gor and Leopards for the title. After overcoming Sofapaka at Sudi Stadium, Nzoia Sugar found another Nairobi side Kariobangi Sharks a hard nut to crack at the turf, settling for a 1-1 draw.

Sofapaka’s Portuguese coach Alves faces the sack after picking seven points only from seven matches

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Sofapaka’s Portuguese coach Alves faces the sack after picking seven points only from seven matches

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