Minister says Micho is right man for job

Under-fire Amavubi head coach Milutin Sredojevic, commonly known as Micho has been given the carte-blanche to return Amavubi Stars back to winning ways after a poor spell that saw the national team go eight matches without a win.Under normal circumstances, the Serb would be tasked to explain the team’s poor run of results, but the Minister of Sports and Culture Protais Mitali has re-affirmed Ferwafa’s position that the 43-year old’s job is safe.The minister, whose docket oversees the appointment of the national team coach and pays his salary, noted that Micho deserves more time to concentrate on developing the next generation of players that will spur the country to success in the future.“We still think he is the best man for the job and he will now be helped to put more emphasis on young talented players that can take the country back to the African Cup of Nations.“He (Micho) took over a broken team and considering the nature of opposition, he has had to face since taking over, it is fair to say he has done well,” the Minister told Times Sport.After signing a two-year deal last October, the former St. George and SC Villa coach guided Amavubi to the final of last year’s Cecafa challenge cup in Tanzania where the team lost to Uganda on penalties.Since then Amavubi have been lethargic in front of goal and many defensive mistakes have conspired to send the wasps to eight winless matches which include a drub 0-0 against Nigeria in the African Nations’ Cup qualifier, a 2-0 friendly defeat by Libya, followed by a 5-1 hammering by Tunisia, then the 1-1 draw with Chad.There was the 4-0 drubbing by Algeria in the World Cup qualifiers, a 1-1 draw against Benin and the 2-0 defeat by Nigeria last week.Rwanda still has a slim chance to progress to the next World Cup qualifying round, but need to win more than lose in the remaining three qualifiers, which will resume in March next year. The wasps are bottom of Group H with 1 point after two games. Benin top the group with 4 points; Algeria and Mali are second and third respectively, with 3 points but the Desert Foxes have a better goals difference.Some of the younger players that Micho will want to give a chance to prove themselves include: Olivier Kwizera (Isonga FC), Steven Ntalibi (Isonga FC), Michel Rusheshangoga (Isonga FC), Barnabé Mubumbyi (APR academy), Robert Ndatimana (Isonga FC), Eric Nsabimana (Isonga FC), Innocent Habyarimana (AS Kigali), Farouk Ruhinda (Isonga FC), Patrick Sibomana (Isonga FC), Charles Mugabo (Arsenal U-18) and Andrew Buteera (Pro-line Academy).