EXCLUSIVE: Salim Babu reveals what motivated Kenya Police to first major Kenyan title
The law enforcers were crowned champions of the domestic Cup following their 8-7 penalty shootout victory against KCB in the final on June 22nd. The game had ended 0-0 in regulation and extra-time. It was Harambee Stars goalkeeper Patrick Matasi, who was the hero for Police, saving two penalties, before slotting home the deciding kick.
The victory earned Police a ticket to represent the country in the CAF Confederation Cup while FKF Premier League champions Gor Mahia will participate in the lucrative Champions League after winning a second successive league title, which was a record 21st.
Police’s campaign for the trophy started in the round of 32 where they beat fellow Premier League side Posta Rangers 1-0. They proceeded to the Round of 16 where they eliminated Coast Stima 3-1 before tossing out Sofapaka 4-0 in the quarter-finals stage.
In the semis, Police came up against favourites AFC Leopards, whom they beat 1-0 to set up a final date with the Bankers.
FKF Cup was the only way to continental football
According to Babu, who doubles up as the head coach of Kenya’s U18 national team, the motivation to go for the domestic trophy was inspired by the fact that Police had already been ruled out of contention for the Premier League title.
“When I took charge of the team in the second round, I found the team lying in 10th in the Premier League table, and I told my players, if you look at the league we don’t have any chance of winning the title, it is running way,” Babu told Flashscore. “So, I pleaded with the players to shift focus to the FKF Cup, it was the only shortcut available to play in continental football, we only needed to win six matches to get the ticket.”
Babu continued: “We agreed with the players to put more focus on the domestic Cup, we conquered that we fight to win the Cup and I knew it was not going to be easy, when we reached the final, I knew it would be difficult because we were playing against a KCB side, who had done very well throughout the season.
“The belief I had with the players that our focus was on the Cup (and nothing else) proved critical because we played every game as a final, and finally we got the trophy we wanted and the first-ever ticket to play in Africa.”
Babu reveals what turned Police's season around
On July 20th, Babu arrived at Police from Nzoia Sugar, after agreeing to work as an assistant coach to Francis Baraza. The law enforcers kicked off their season on a low note, and with only four matches played; Baraza was fired with Croatian Zdravko Logarusic coming in.
Babu was retained as the assistant to Logarusic, and speaking on what transpired during that period, he said: “I joined the season at the halfway stage (as the head coach) but remember I had already joined the team as the assistant to Francis (Baraza) and we did pre-season, but after only four games, Baraza was fired, and in came Logarusic, and from there on our performance started to go down.
“Despite having good preparations, the results never looked pleasing as we could have wanted them to go but after Logarusic was fired, then I came in as the head coach (at the start of the second round of the league) and that is when we started seeing positive results after I changed a few things, and we started performing well.
“There were minor issues that had led to the poor performances and when I came in, I put the players together and made sure they started doing things the right way, and from there on we started winning our matches, and that is why I believe, my half season with the team has been superb and we now we want to get ready for the new season.”
Asked whether his relationship with the players had played a key role in helping turn around fortunes for the law enforcers after reports the bench headed by Logarusic had lost the dressing room before their sack, Babu reflected: “First I want to say if you want to achieve (anything positive especially in football), you must have respect for the players, and have respect to everyone, so these allowed me to bond well with the players, I don’t want to lie, my relationship with the players has been good because I showed them their respect and they reciprocated back with their respect towards me.
“I told them we can do the job, if you put extra effort in training, you will get the chance to play, and I cannot deny you a starting role in my team, and these motivated the players to perform well.
“It was a good story between myself and the players, and everyone involved at Police, respect is paramount and it helped many of our players to earn call-ups to the national team Harambee Stars and turned around a season that could have been catastrophic.”
Police bigger team than Nzoia Sugar
On whether Babu regrets leaving Nzoia Sugar for Police, he said: “I don’t have any regrets, I left Nzoia because it was a small team, and joined Police which is a big team, if you look at the Kenyan history so far, Nzoia and Police are two different things (they are several miles apart), so moving from Nzoia to Police was a positive move.”
Babu added: “Again if you compare Nzoia and Police, Police are in a good position to challenge for the league title, we did it this season but finished second, while Nzoia got relegated, for me, it was a good move leaving Nzoia for Police.”
Police to reinforce squad for Confederation Cup
The law enforcers will start their journey in the inter-club competition with a first preliminary round fixture against Ethiopian Coffee. They will play their first leg at home on August 17th before they travel to Addis Ababa for the return leg on August 23rd.
Speaking on whether he will beef up his squad for a good show in the continent, Babu said: “We are going to recruit, Police management have given me the go-ahead to recruit new faces, our target is to go for quality signings, I don’t mind if I have two quality teams to pick from if I have two qualify first eleven squads, it will be great, and that is what I will go for.
“I already have the green light to recruit and that is why I say Police is a good team, they have already given me the open space to go ahead and beef up the squad. I want players, who will come in straight and fit into the squad, we are not going to recruit passengers, or players to fill in the numbers, no, we want players good enough and ready to play in continental football.”
On how many players he will target to recruit, Babu offered: “I can't give you the number for now, maybe after a week or so, it is my secret, no one knows, whom I want to sign, or who is my target, but in a week, you will see the new players starting to arrive.”
Apart from winning the domestic Cup, Police had a good campaign in the league finishing third behind winners K’Ogalo and Tusker FC, who came second.
