Benni Reveals Why Kenyan Fans Do Not Understand His Struggles As Coach

Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy has responded to criticism from the Kenyan public following his team poor start to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, insisting that negative comments do not affect him because he has developed a thick skin throughout his football career.

The former Bafana Bafana striker has also explained some of the challenges facing the Kenyan national team, revealing that there are problems behind the scenes that supporters do not always understand. McCarthy believes many people judge the technical team based only on results without knowing the difficulties they have experienced while preparing the squad.

The 48-year-old was appointed as Kenya head coach in March 2025 and guided the team to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament last year. However, their performances in the 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign have attracted criticism after collecting just one point from their September matches against Guinea and Eritrea.

Kenya are in Group D and currently sit at the bottom of the standings with one point. Although the country has automatically qualified for the 2027 tournament as one of the co-hosts, McCarthy wants to use the remaining qualifying matches to prepare his players for the competition.

Speaking on SportyTV, the South African coach explained that supporters often do not understand why certain players are missing from the national team. He claimed that some footballers have made themselves unavailable because of ongoing problems within Kenyan football.

“You’re always going to get a backlash because people don’t know the ins and outs of what goes on,” McCarthy said.

He further explained that the technical team sometimes has to select alternative players because some of the preferred footballers are unwilling to join the national team due to the problems surrounding the team.

McCarthy also revealed another major issue, claiming that members of the technical team had gone three months without receiving their salaries. According to the coach, these are important details that supporters do not consider when judging the team’s performances.

He questioned whether the people criticising the technical team would be willing to continue working under similar circumstances without receiving payment.

The former Manchester United first-team coach also pointed out that he is doing the job for a country that is not his own and claimed that he is working without pay.

Despite the criticism, McCarthy insisted that he remains focused on his responsibilities and is not allowing public opinion to affect his work.

“I’ve got a crocodile skin anyway, man. Doesn’t really bother me what people think or say. They don’t make a scratch in my life,” he added.

McCarthy will now be hoping that Kenya can improve their performances as they continue preparing for the 2027 AFCON tournament. His comments also come ahead of the meeting with South Africa, where he will face Bafana Bafana in an important qualifier against his home country.

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