With just two months into his two-year contract, Vipers SC parted ways with their Brazilian coach Beto Bianchi on Thursday, March 9 following a run of poor results in the CAF Champions League and domestic competitions.
Bianchi took charge of Vipers in January this year, replacing compatriot Roberto Oliveira who left the Kitende-based club to join Tanzania giants Simba SC in December last year.
Ironically, Oliveira’s Simba are the ones who sealed Bianchi fate following their 1-0 win over the Ugandan champions in a CAF Champions League game played on March 7 in Dar es Salaam
A week earlier, Oliveira’s Simba boys defeated Vipers with the same score margin (1-0) at the St Mary’s stadium, Kitende.
Bianchi’s sacking was confirmed in a brief statement issued on the club website on Thursday afternoon.
‘Vipers Sports Club announces that the contract of head Coach Beto Bianchi has been terminated with immediate effect. The club would like to thank Bianchi for his tireless efforts during his time at the club and wish him success in his future endeavours’, the statement read.
There were no details yet on the next coach to take the club through the rest of the season.
Under Bianchi, Vipers, who made their debut in the money-spinning CAF Champions League group stage, have endured a disastrous continental campaign in which they have not scored a single goal in four matches and are bottom of Group C with just one point.
Before falling to Simba, the Ugandan champions were thrashed 0-5 by Raja Casablanca of Morocco and drew 0-0 with Horoya AC of Guinea Conakry. They still have to play Raja on March 18 at Kitende and away to Horoya on March 31.
On the domestic front, Bianchi handled three games; 0-0 draw with Wakiso Giants in the Uganda Premier League and his only victories were in the knockout Uganda Cup tournament over Bujumbura United and Jinja North United via post-match penalties following 0-0 draws.
Overall, Bianchi’s seven-game tenure ended without Vipers scoring a single in regular time despite having a star-studded striking lineup.
However, several football fans and pundits reacted to Bianchi’s sacking with the view that Brazilian needed time to fix the club’s problems.
It’s worth noting that Bianchi is the fourteenth coach that Vipers have hired in the last 17 years under Lawrence Mulindwa as club owner.
“This doesn’t reflect well on the club. It raises questions on whether due diligence was done before Beto Bianchi was hired. Coaches aren’t magicians. So, I don’t think Bianchi was a bad coach per se. He needed time. This instability affects the growth and development of players,” John Vianney Nsimbe, a seasoned local football writer and television commentator, argued.
Others blamed Mulindwa for alleged interference in coaches’ work and impatience while some charged that it’s time for Vipers to consider local coaches for the job.
