Nairobi News

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Salim Babu picks his second Coach of the Month Award


Western Stima coach Salim Babu has picked his second Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Coach of the Month Award this season after beating Tusker tactician Robert Matano for the December gong.

Both coaches won three games and drew once in the month of December 2019, but Babu’s goal haul propped him above Matano.

Stima scored 10 goals and conceded four goals playing against Nzoia Sugar, Zoo, Chemelil Sugar and Sofapaka while Tusker scored half what Stima managed while conceding just two.

Babu pocketed Sh 75000 courtesy of Fidelity Insurance to become the third tactician to win more than two of the monthly gongs since its inception five years ago.

“I’m glad this is happening again this season and I want to thank my family and teams for enabling me to win this award. December was very competitive and I must say we really did our best to win the games that we played,” Babu said during the award presentation at Moi Stadium, Kisumu.

However, Babu expressed his frustration that Stima is not in the top five clubs in the KPL standings. He said he will not celebrate his monthly awards if his side remains rooted in mid-table.

BEST POSITION

“We are trying hard to make the entire team develop and compete for the league trophy. We had good pre-season training and started the season really well but results have not been as consistent,” he said.

Babu won the first award of the 2019/2020 season and hopes the December the performance will give Stima a shot in the arm to finish the season with a flourish.

“We will take our chances in the remaining games and finish in the best position possible. We still have a good team and just need to keep our focus for the remaining games,” he said.