Kitende, Uganda: Uganda Premier League champions Vipers Sports Club have appointed highly experienced French tactician Denis Lavagne as their new head coach on a two-year contract, as the club looks to strengthen its ambitions on the continental stage.
The appointment, made public on Tuesday, comes just weeks after Vipers parted ways with Belgian coach Ivan Jacky Minnaert, despite guiding the Venoms to their eighth Uganda Premier League title.
In confirming the appointment, the club said: “StarTimes Uganda Premier League champions Vipers Sports Club have appointed highly experienced French tactician Denis Lavagne as the club’s new head coach.”
Lavagne arrives at St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, with one of the most decorated coaching résumés in African football.
The 61-year-old has managed clubs and national teams across France, Cameroon, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Sudan, Algeria, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and China, earning a reputation for building competitive teams capable of challenging for honours.
His biggest achievements came during his time with Cameroonian giants Coton Sport de Garoua, where he won four Elite One league titles and three Cameroon Cups before leading the club to the 2008 CAF Champions League final. His impressive work earned him promotion to become the head coach of the Cameroon national team in 2011.
Lavagne later added more silverware to his collection by winning the Tunisian Cup with Étoile du Sahel, the Sudan Premier League with Al Hilal, and the Algerian Cup with JS Kabylie, whom he also guided to the final of the 2021 CAF Confederation Cup.
The Frenchman is also familiar with Ugandan football, having previously faced local clubs in CAF inter-club competitions. As coach of Coton Sport, he eliminated URA FC from the CAF Champions League with a 3-0 aggregate victory after drawing the first leg in Kampala.
A decade later, while in charge of Algeria’s CS Constantine, he guided the club to another 3-0 aggregate win over Vipers in the 2018 CAF Champions League.
His appointment signals Vipers’ determination to establish themselves as a serious force in African club football. Although the club reclaimed the Uganda Premier League title last season, its early exit from the CAF Champions League at the hands of Zambia’s Power Dynamos ultimately proved costly for Minnaert, reinforcing the club’s long-standing ambition of reaching the lucrative group stages of Africa’s premier club competition.
At Kitende, Lavagne will work alongside John “Ayala” Luyinda, who remains as first assistant coach, while Belgian performance specialist Salmi Yassine joins the technical bench as Head of Performance and Fitness.
The experienced Frenchman is expected to lead Vipers’ defence of the Uganda Premier League title, mount another challenge for the Stanbic Uganda Cup and, above all, steer the eight-time league champions into the CAF Champions League group stage, a milestone the club has pursued for several seasons.
Meanwhile, Vipers have confirmed the departure of midfielder Elvis Ngonde, who has completed a transfer to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) FC, as the club continues reshaping its squad ahead of the new campaign.
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