By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Head Coach of the male National Football Team, Leone Stars, John Edward Keister has taken full responsibility for the poor performance of the team since his appointment.
Speaking in a radio interview on the 13th August, 2023 Keister acknowledged responsibility for whatever is happening in the team in terms of performance, but admitted he had to manage the players that are available for selection.
He described his tenure as Head Coach for Leone Stars as a ‘’bittersweet journey’’ during which he said he added more players born overseas that are of Sierra Leonean origin that would take the national team to another six to seven years .
He noted that results were of great concern to him but said he has done a lot of other things, and brought hope and stability to the team.
’’There are lots of successes and I am very pleased with the work I have done,’’ he said.
On the number of games he played as a coach for Leone Stars and number of games won, Keister said it is important to look at football ‘’holistically,’’ not to only focus on results but achievements in other areas that are also very vital.
Coach Keister stated that during his three years’ mandate, he had only played one game in Sierra Leone, and that was behind closed door which he said disrupted the boys’ performance. He added that all other matches he played as a head coach were outside Sierra Leone due to the unavailability of the national stadium.
‘’I have played twelve competitive games; Nigeria, Lesotho, Benin, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea to name but a few and only lost three matches,” he said.
Asked whether his contract would be renewed after its expiration August 31st, he said that decision is for the board to decide, saying he was given a task to qualify Leone Stars for the African Cup of Nations, which he did. He added that whatever decision is made at the end of his contract, will not be because of him failing to achieve his mandate which was to qualify Leone Stars for the 2021 AFCON.
On the criticism of not winning matches, Keister said it was because they were going through transition, bringing in new players that have not been together, which he claimed affected the team’s performance.
On the question of whether he was part of those who made the decision to take the captaincy from Umaru “Zaingalay” Bangura; he said football is all about opinion.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) in a press release dated 15th August, 2023 clarified that the Association has not made any new appointment of Coaches/Technical staff for the Sierra Leone male national team, contrary to “overwhelming rumors and gossips” on social media purporting the appointment of a New Head Coach for Leone Stars.
It noted that the substantive Head Coach of Leone Stars John Keister remains in charge as his three-year contract is still valid until the end of August 2023.
The release reiterated that since his contract will expire a week before match-day 6 of the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers between Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone, SLFA has further temporarily engaged Keister and his back room staff for their services for the said match.
SLFA assured the public that it will communicate through its official media channels, any further information regarding the status of Leone Stars’ Technical Team after the Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone encounter scheduled for early September.
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