Why is Simba constantly switching coaches?

With Abdelhak Benchikha’s departure from Simba SC revealed on Monday night, the coaching roller coaster at the team claimed yet another victim this week.

After just 157 days in command, the 60-year-old Algerian and the Tanzanian heavyweights decided to discontinue his contract, supposedly so he could spend more time with his sick wife.

Although Benchikha’s resignation from the team is entirely understandable and commendable, it also perpetuates a worrying pattern for “Wekundu wa Msimbazi.”

Simba has fired nine coaches in total since 2018, including Pierre Lechantre, Patrick Aussems, Sven Vandenbroeck, Didier Gomes, Pablo Franco, Zoran Maki, Juma Mgunda, Roberto Oliveira, and Benchikha. Rumor has it that management meddling has been the main factor in this high turnover of strategists.

The Guardian quoted Benchikha as saying, “The issue of my departure does not have any problem with the management of the Simba SC club. Let me make it clear that my wife has a health problem that has caused the termination of my contract with this club that I admit I love very much.” Benchikha has categorically stated that he had no such difficulties with the club’s hierarchy.

Famous Tanzanian coach Abdallah Mputa, however, thinks that the conflict between coaches and administration stems from a deeper problem.

Mputa told The Citizen, “Simba have been performing well while coaches keep leaving.” For instance, Sven quit Simba as soon as the group stage of the Champions League was confirmed in January 2021.

In theory, no coach wishes to give up midway through a successful season. Sven helped Simba advance to the group stage, however he left the team before the task was completed and joined another. Many questions remain unresolved by the choices, ones that also need specific responses.

Regarding Benchikha, Mputa feels that the wife’s health is being exploited as an easy pretext for a breakup.

“It was obvious that the coach did not have much time [left] at the club after the match against Ihefu, and some pundits began debating his departure. The coach stayed on the field as the players and other members of the coaching staff departed to the changing rooms. How were the analysts made aware of this problem?

“Coaches are granted permission [for leave] in the event that their spouse becomes ill; this is analogous to the situation in which he attended a refresher course and his assistants stayed behind.”

Selemani Matola has stepped up as assistant coach, and Simba has appointed Juma Mgunda, one of the nine individuals mentioned above, as interim coach. They will have to see the 2023–24 season through to the conclusion, since Simba’s nine remaining league games will be against Namungo, Mtibwa Sugar, Tabora United, Azam, Kagera Sugar, Dodoma Jiji, Geita Gold, KMC, and JKT Tanzania.

Simba is now 16 points behind leaders and bitter rivals Young Africans (who have played three more games) in third place on the Mainland Premier League log.