Alex Isabirye’s reign as Vipers coach will get off with a tricky Stanbic Uganda Cup tie against Wakiso Giants at the Kabaka Kyabaggu Stadium on Tuesday.
Vipers SC head coach Alex Isabirye admits that correcting the ‘attitude and character’ of his players should be his primary task at the St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende.
Isabirye, was confirmed as Vipers’ new head coach on Sunday, replacing Brazilian Beto Bianchi, but insists that instilling his football philosophy may be futile if the players are not up for the fight mentally.
Speaking to the club’s media for the first time following his appointment, Isabirye suggested that the players had not been in the right mental place in recent weeks.
“I will tell you seriously that I feel privileged being here at the club. I know very well that Vipers is a family, so I am very sure I am going to work in a good place,” Isabirye said in the interview.
“But I honestly think that the players have to change their character and mindset, and I need to help get them into the right mindset.”
“When you look at the players we have here, they are all brilliant individuals, they know what to do and are very talented football players.”
But the problem is the character. So for me, first we have to work on that and make sure that we all the players are up to it mentally,” he added.
Isabirye has since got the chance to meet most of the first team stars in person, as well as members of his technical staff that include Richard Wasswa, Kato Ibrahim and goalkeeping coach Ibrahim Mugisha.
The former BUL FC coach also took charge of his first training session shortly after his unveiling on Sunday afternoon, sharing jokes with forward Yunus Ssentamu and defender Ashiraf Mandela.
He has inherited a Vipers SC side who are fumbling with their league title defence, as they sit fourth on 28 points, seven points behind leaders KCCA FC who have played a game more.
The Venoms are also mathematically still with a chance of progressing from their CAF Champions League group.
They are bottom of Group C with a single point, with salvaging pride in their remaining two games as the more realistic target for them.
Vipers is currently on a seven-game winless streak, but Isabirye will seek to find an immediate response to that.
Isabirye’s reign as Vipers coach will get off with a tricky Stanbic Uganda Cup tie against Wakiso Giants at the Kabaka Kyabaggu Stadium on Tuesday.
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