Bandari FC is credited for single-handedly keeping the fizzling Coast football scene vibrant in the recent past.
The club has treated football fans at the Coast to some high octane if not high voltage energy-sapping duels while playing against other Kenyan Premier League clubs.
Worth noting are the head-to-head match ups with the big two clubs in the country Gor Mahia and AFC leopards.
Credit goes to Bandari’s sponsors, the management of the Kenya Ports Authority for their pertinacious, unflagging, zealous and staunch support for the Dockers.
Credit also goes to the players and technical bench for their resolute commitment that has ensured Bandari stays among the top teams in the league. However, as an experienced tactician in basketball and netball, I would wish to offer my two cents advice that could help the team maintain its top spot.
On this, I would want to consider three different models of football recruitment among them, the Talent Pooling 'plan in advance' model, the Contingent ‘last minute' model and the Just in Time 'value' model.
The first model has been working well for us. Bandari youth acts as our academy, helping us tap the best talent at the Coast.
It is an open secret that managerial changes among football clubs, which is a norm, makes the ability to plan long-term difficult.
However, the emergence of the role of the internal recruitment director and investment in academies means that even if managers come and go, a club would still be able to achieve a consistent approach to player recruitment.
English Premier League side Southampton is a great example. They have taken the 'develop your own approach' to recruitment by investing in a state-of-the-art academy, coaching and scouting network which has enabled them to climb league structures by selling their prize youth team assets and reinvesting in their team as a whole.
Players like Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, OxLade Chamberlain and Luke Shaw, for example, fetched the club a collective £60 million back then.
My point is, besides investing in an academy/youth team, it is important to continuously improve the squad with quality players.
As managers come and go, sponsors and fans pile the pressure on club bosses to protect against relegation or not making continental football, managers and players are cast aside at an alarming rate.
The cost implication of this is incredible, since it comes with large compensation payouts to managers, the sale of players who were bought at a higher price.
A case in point was Nigerian import Alex Orotomal who came, collected pay cheques and left.
It is, therefore, my prayer that Bandari will come up with a sound recruitment plan as we enter the post-Covid-19 period to prevent last minute panic buying which might see them engage excess baggage in the team.
