When Engin Firat was appointed Harambee Stars head coach, there was palpable belief that he was going to change the fortunes of the national outfit.
However, his tenure, which ended in December 2024 after he resigned, was characterised by underperformance, and in most cases, he failed to admit responsibility; instead, he would find someone to blame, especially when the Stars lost.
He came in with the main objective of leading Harambee Stars to World Cup 2026 and to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Morocco. The AFCON dream is over, and the chances of making it to the global showpiece are very slim as Kenya lie fourth in Group F.
His perspectives, especially in his post-match analyses, have been described at times as funny and at times as shocking.
Stop dreaming
When Harambee Stars failed to qualify for the AFCON finals in 2025, he instead urged the fans to stop dreaming because the national team is facing so many problems, he believes.
“But for us, maybe we have to realize what we have and stop dreaming. We know about the many times I have had a problem with our football. It’s even getting worse. We need to look at reality and instead of all we want, ask with what.
“Things on the outside can always change, but our record in this tournament explains everything,” he said.
Part of the coach’s job is to find solutions to the problems, but Firat is known for whining every time his team is exposed.
“It’s clear that we have a goal-scoring problem that we need to find a solution to if we are to move up to a higher level. I wish we could have solved the problem better earlier, but we couldn’t change it,” he added.
At his disposal, he has had Michael Olunga for most of the games, and Benson Omala has been available should the captain be unavailable. Olunga is a key star and goal-getting machine for Al Duhail SC in Qatar.
Before he moved, Omala was a top striker for Gor Mahia in the FKF Premier League. So, the question remained: how did Firat fail to get the best from the duo?
CAF blamed
When Kenya was drawn to face South Sudan in a CHAN qualifier, Firat directed his anger towards the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This was a game that Kenyans expected the team to easily win, but they were outshone by Bright Stars in Juba for the first leg, and the second leg in Kampala, Uganda, ended in a one-all draw.
This was a game that Firat should have taken advantage of to sharpen his team for future assignments, but he chose to pick someone to blame. His anger stemmed from the fact that CAF put Kenya, as well as Uganda and Tanzania, who are hosts for the next edition of CHAN, through the qualifying phase.
“It does not make sense to me, especially knowing these are professional players who are used to playing for something, but now they have nothing to play for,” stated a fuming Firat.
“This is not something little; it is the most important thing in sport—to have something to play for. If you are a normal person, it affects you mentally. You know you have a match at the weekend, so you don’t want to get injured. Therefore, these kinds of matches do not make sense to me. I cannot say the players benefited; how? I do not understand,” Firat complained.
Problems
Before Harambee Stars hosted Zimbabwe for the opening AFCON qualifier, Firat had already complained that he always faced problems in the Kenyan camp.
“Till the last match, everything will be open in this group. Therefore, it is important that we stay mentally ready. In the future, we might have problems.
“I have never been in the Kenyan camp without problems, so for us, it is important to stay mentally strong,” the tactician said when his focus was expected to be on the game and lifting the morale of the players.
His tendency of diverting attention by blaming others when he clearly should shoulder responsibility became clear when he blamed his players for lack of experience.
“We played against Ivory Coast with mostly local players, and I have said many times that the players in the Kenyan league are not at the physical levels expected to play against this kind of big team. Under such circumstances, I would say they did very well,” Firat made the comment before Kenya faced Ivory Coast in a World Cup qualifier.
He has also blamed the standard of the Football Kenya Federation Premier League.
“The boys did their best, but again, the Kenyan league is not in the tempo to play here. It is not at the physical level to play these kinds of big teams. Under these circumstances, it is unbelievable that the boys bring this performance.
“We played mostly with local players against players playing all their careers at a high level, and it is not so simple,” he said after a 0-0 draw against Ivory Coast in June 2024.
Find a problem. Find somebody to blame. That was Firat’s modus operandi.
While his tenure was characterised by blame games, his performance was put under the spotlight, especially by critics and fans who feel that he underachieved and failed to take responsibility.
He resigned immediately after the Football Kenya Federation elections that saw Nick Mwendwa defeated by Hussein Mohammed in the presidential race.
