NATIONAL
After managing about three national teams and one club in Africa, Paul Put was finally lured back to the continent as Uganda Cranes manager yesterday November 2.
The Belgian impressed during his last coaching stint with Guinea national team and Uganda convinced him to come back to Africa to replace Milutin Micho Sredojevc after a mutual resignation in September.
With another bundle of joy to jointly host Afcon 2027, the 67-year-old has a lot of pressures to rebuild a squad short on confidence.
Parrots Media looks at how Put has performed so far with African national teams and what lies next for the manager and the Uganda Cranes club.
Put has signed a two-year contract and his immediate task is to lead the Cranes in the upcoming 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Guinea and Somalia this month.
Puts Profile and Performance
Put began his coaching career in Belgium with K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel. He subsequently managed other Belgian clubs, including Lokeren, Lierse, and Mouscron between 2004 and 2007.
In Africa, he first served as the head coach of the Gambian national team from 2008 to 2011 before being appointed as the manager of Burkina Faso in March 2012. His tenure with Burkina Faso culminated in a successful run at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, where he led the team to a second-place finish, narrowly losing to Nigeria.
Put later assumed the role of manager for Algerian club USM Alger in October 2016 on a two-year contract. However, he swiftly transitioned to become the head coach of the Kenyan national team before ultimately resigning in 2018.
In March 2018, Put was named the manager of the Guinea national team. Unfortunately, his stint with Guinea came to an end in July 2019.
Over the course of his career, Paul Put has also taken charge of Bangladeshi top-flight club Saif SC and the national team of Congo.
The Federation of Uganda Football Association president, Hon. Moses Magogo has praises Put’s coaching profile, emphasizing that he is a coach with the experience and capabilities needed to guide the senior national team effectively.
“FUFA rolled out an application process and we got over 150 coaches including two Ugandans who applied for the job. After a thorough analysis, the FUFA Executive zeroed down on Paul Put. We believe in our choice as the federation, and we are ready to back him.”
But what lies ahead of Put and the Uganda Cranes team?
Paul Put’s first game as the Head Coach of Uganda Cranes will be against Guinea, a former team he managed on 17th November 2023 in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. With his Backroom Staff comprising of the men like Assistant Coach -Sam Ssimbwa, Gery Osste – Goalkeeping coach, Sven De Wilde – Performance Manager, Mathieu Denis – Physical fitness coach, Jelle Sevenhant – Video analyst and Martin Michiel – Physiotherapist, a staff he solely selected without FUFA influence, Put is likely to find no difficulties with coaching staff at the Uganda Cranes.
Bad track of records
The new Uganda Cranes head coach, Paul Joseph Put served a three-year ban in Belgium after being found guilty of match-fixing. He was also banned by the Guinea Football Federation for breaching its code of discipline.
With this bad track of records, Paul Put is likely to find difficulties with the fan base in Uganda whose record in regional and international football remains a clean sheet. The Uganda Cranes fan base and players have been mutually attached former coach, Micho Sredojevic that at one time they influenced for his return. This means that as a new coach, Put will need to just as his name goes, put a lot of efforts to build a strong and trusted relations with both players and clubs to ensure his contract is renewed and not terminated.
