Kenya trio in Sweden left coachless as AIK sack head coach

Following their 3-0 thumping at the hands of Czech Republic side Slovacko in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League playoff round, AIK has decided to fire head coach Bartosz Grzelak with immediate effect after an extraordinary meeting held on Friday.

The Swedish top flight side is home to the Kenyan trio of Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma and Henry Meja both of whom missed the heavy defeat due to suspension and an injury respectively with Collins Sichenje the only one to feature in the game.

“AIK Football's board has decided after an extraordinary board meeting today that Bartosz Grzelak will no longer lead the men's team. Henok Goitom will be acting head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season.

The change applies as of today's date and the club is simultaneously working to find a long-term solution regarding the role of head coach for the men's team,” the club announced.

According to sporting director Henrik Jurelius, Grzelak’s sacking was necessitated by the team’s failure to achieve the set goals.

“We are in a negative trend where AIK during a period neither got a sporting development, nor the results with us, which take us to the goals we have set for the business. Bartosz has done a great and honorable job for AIK under difficult conditions when he took office. I want to thank him for representing AIK in a professional manner and standing up as a good ambassador for the club,” he said.

Former AFC Leopards midfielder Sichenje had recently joined regular starter Marcelo in cementing his place in AIK’s starting eleven since his debut in July. It is only Meja who was yet to get a lot of minutes under the fired boss who was responsible for handing the two youngsters their debuts in the Swedish top tier.

With Swedish Eritrean former footballer Henok Goitom taking over on an interim basis, it awaits to be seen what the fate of the Kenyan trio will be.