Following an incredible showing with Kiyovu Sports during the 2022/23 season where APR pipped them to the title by just a single point, Rayon acquired Burundian tactician Francis Haringingo with the view that he can help them to win the Premier League title which had eluded the club since the 2018/19 season.
The Burundian, who was appointed as Rayon coach on June 21, 2022, replacing Joao Paxiao, is not new to the Rwandan terrain as, aside Kiyovu, he had previously handled Mukura Victory and Police FC where he had fair success.
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Haringingo&039;s coaching career at Rayon Sports started brightly, winning game after game in the early stages and supporters thought the time had come for them to continue the momentum.
But things turned wrong all of a sudden when Rayon started to struggle for results before the end of the first round. Haringingo had no clue of what was happening to him and his side when Rayon lost three consecutive matches before the first round came to an end.
The club lost to Etincelles 3-2 and 1-0 in a derby clash with APR before they were beaten 1-0 by Gasogi United.
The results saw the Blues lose the top spot to AS Kigali and hence dropping to fifth
Saw.
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Since the defeat to Gasogi on December 23, 2022, Haringingo has come under serious pressure from the club's numerous fans and even a part of the management who have been calling for his dismissal.
In January 2023, he was supposedly given a three-match ultimatum to salvage his job. In the three games, Rayon collected five points after beating Musanze 4-0 before drawing 2-2 against Mukura in Huye and 0-0 against Kiyovu in Muhanga last weekend.
In all, numbers don’t speak for the tactician who has managed just one win in the last six games, drawing twice and losing four times. All he has got is to beat APR on Sunday, February 12 at Huye Stadium if he is to reunite with his employers and the club supporters who have obviously lost patience in his current performances.
Winning the derby would help Haringingo’s side to close the gap to the top of the table or else a different result would not only put their title hopes in tatters but his future at the club could also be heading to a shocking end.
Games between the two most glamorous clubs in Rwanda have always been fiercely contested. Over the years, Rayon in particular, has sacked numerous coaches for losing this encounter.
A few or none would argue that Haringingo is not immune to the sack because he wouldn’t be the first to be shown the exit door.
The likes of Juma Masudi, Guy Bukasa and Olivier Karekezi are among the coaches who lost their jobs after the club lost the derby to APR.
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APR has been a Rayon bogey side with the Blues last win against the Army club coming on April 20, 2019 in which they won 1-0.
Haringingo could therefore be waving his goodbyes to the job if he loses again to the team that beat him 1-0 in the first round of the league.
The last chance?
Reports have suggested that Sunday’s Rwanda Classico could be his last should he fail to beat the military side who currently sit at the top of the table with 37 points, four points clear of his Rayon side.
However, club spokesperson Jean Paul Nkurunziza, played down the reports and made it clear that the outcome of the game will not have any bearing on the former Kiyovu coach’s future.
"We still have confidence in Haringingo. He is still the coach of Rayon Sports and we cannot evaluate his performance based on just one match. We want him to relax and do his job," Nkurunziza told Times Sport.
This could be a strategy to relieve the coach out of mounting pressure but, in reality, any result but a win won't stop the club’s top hierarchy, as well as the fans, from considering finding his replacement.
Rayon are now fourth on the league table with 33 points after 18 hames and a win against their fierce rivals could even move them up depending on the outcome of the other games.
The 2022/23 season has already seen some casualties in terms of coaching with Justin Bisengimana (Espoir), Adil Mohammed Erradi (APR) and Etienne Ndayiragije (Bugesera) all shown the exit.
Haringingo’s future at Rayon is also hanging on by a thread but it's also in his own hands. Sunday's classico will define whether he remains the right man for a Rayon side which is hungry for glory again.