Sierra Leone Sacks Coach Johnny McKinstry

Northern Irishman Johnny McKinstry has been sacked as coach of Sierra
Leone, six months after he was given the job on a permanent basis.

His dismissal comes after defeats at the hands of Ivory Coast and DR
Congo in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers earlier this month.

The results leave them bottom of Group D of the Nations Cup qualifiers
without a single point so far.

Acting director of sports at the Sierra Leone sports ministry Saidu
Mansaray told BBC Sport that McKinstry has been fired because of the
poor results.

He added the decision was taken jointly by the ministry and the
country's football association.

McKinstry's record as coach of Sierra Leone

Played:8 Won:3 (v Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland, Seychelles)Lost:3 (v
Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, DR Congo)Drew:2 (v Tunisia, Swaziland)

The 29-year-old was first appointed as caretaker coach of Leone Stars
in April last year during the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup,
following the resignation of Swede Lars Olof Mattson.

McKinstry has expressed his sadness over the sacking.

"I'm very disappointed because we were moving in the right direction,"
he told BBC Sport.

"We were developing a team over the last 17 months and the future was bright."

"Poor preparation is the significant factor why we lost to both Ivory
Coast and DR Congo. We had no time to prepare mainly due to long
periods of travelling.

"I'm sure if had I continued as coach of the team we would have improved."

Sierra Leone's preparations for their opening Nations Cup qualifiers
were hit by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the country.

First the Confederation of African Football ruled they were not
allowed to host their home qualifiers.

After being turned down by Ghana they were eventually forced to play
their "home" tie against DR Congoin the Congolese city of Lubumbashi.

Ivory Coast's government only gave the go-ahead for Sierra Leone to
play in Abidjanfour days before their qualifier was due to be played.

After the 2-1 loss in Abidjan the Leone Stars then endured a trip of
almost 48 hours to get to Lubumbashi for their second tie, which they
lost 2-0.

McKinstry will continue to manage the Craig Bellamy Football academy
on the outskirts of Freetown.

Local media are tipping Ghana-born former Sierra Leone international
Atto Mensah, who is currently based in the Netherlands, to be named as
his replacement.

--BBC