Jonathan McKinstry retains the full support of Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) executive committee, Ducor Sports has learnt, with the Irishman not facing the axe despite Uganda’s disastrous African Nations Championship campaign which has seen the team exit the tournament at group stages.
The Cranes failed to win any match in Cameroon after they drew once and lost twice in three matches.
One of the losses was against Togo, who are ranked 126th in the world by FIFA, and it was 1-2 thumping at Stade de la Reunification in Douala. It was followed by a humiliating 5-2 thrashing at the hands of titleholders Morocco which has caused calls for the sacking of the Irish coach.
Unsurprisingly, difficult questions are now being asked of those at Mengo.
Many of those are directed to McKinstry, who has little experience at senior level having got his first national team coach job with Sierra Leone eight years ago.
He seems to be aware that his position will come under threat, with the former Leone Stars tactician insisting that he is creating some positive changes to the dynamic team.
“We cannot complain about preparation, when we set out for this project, we made certain requests to the federation in terms of how we can prepare the team. I think we got 90% of what we asked for which is very good. To be honest, that was pleasing,” the coach told FUFA website.
“The intensity of the game in competitions is different from what you get in pre-match tournaments. We were pleased with the progress of the players and they have learnt a lot. They now know that when you get to such tournaments you take your chance. They have gained experience and will be better for the future.
“Emotions are high and people are disappointed. The feeling of having given everything and come up short is a bitter one, but the experience of CHAN will help this group of players grow and develop. Objectively, however, independent analytics shows we are developing and increasingly delivering in key areas but with a few key challenges still to address,” the coach added in a separate interview.
A desire to avoid kneejerk reactions is shared by those above at Mengo.
They have seen Cranes face similar situations in the recent past, with the home-based national team having failed to go past group stages in past four occasions.
They have responded positively by qualifying for the African Cup of Nations in various age categories and believe that their fortunes can be reversed once again.
McKinstry is under pressure to deliver on that front, but he will be given time to do so starting against Malawi and then Burkina Faso in the next African Cup of Nations qualifiers in March.
