The ex-Simba SC coach has been on extended holiday in Belgium and rumours were rife that he was on his way out
AFC Leopards supporters can breathe a sigh of relief after Belgian coach Patrick Aussems returned to Kenya to continue with his duties at the club.
The veteran tactician has been in his native country since the end of last season, and questions on his return were being asked especially after being linked with a move away from the 13-time league champions.
Aussems is back
A senior source from the club has confirmed the 56-year-old landed on Thursday morning.
“As we are speaking my team is at the airport to pick him up,” Ingwe official told Goal.
“We have been saying Aussems is going nowhere but some of you did not believe us. Now they can go ahead and eat their words because the coach is back to help the team perform well.”
The tactician is expected to take over from Tom Juma who has been managing the team temporarily.
Leopards’ start to the season
The former champions started their 2021/22 Football Kenya Federation Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win over defending champions Tusker FC. Musa Saad’s first-half strike was enough to hand the team maximum points at the Thika County Stadium last Sunday.
Ingwe have not signed new players this season, and they ended up promoting some youngsters from the junior side. Juma was impressed and went on to challenge the youngsters to work harder and retain their position in the team.
“I appreciate what the players did, they fought hard and gave 100%. We properly psyched them and they knew what was at stake and they delivered, so we appreciate the three points we have collected,” Juma told Goal earlier.
“The result made me really happy; getting maximum points against the defending champions in the first match of the season feels good.
“It is just the beginning of the marathon, so we will be working on areas we need to improve on. It is also our culture to promote young players from our junior team. Now it is up to them to fight for their places.
“We have financial challenges considering the fact that this is a team financed by the fans, and without them on the pitch, it is really tough and it explains why we have lost many players.”
Leopards will play KCB in their next league match; with the latter having lost 2-1 in their opening match against Gor Mahia.
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