Newly appointed Guinea manager Paul Put has lifted the lid on his departure from the post of Kenya national football team head coach last month.
The 61-year-old was unveiled as the new Syli Nationale coach on Friday, but not before lifting the lid on why he parted ways from the Harambee Stars only three months into his tenure in East Africa.
The Belgian had already won the 2017 CECAFA Cup by the time he stepped down from his post citing "personal reasons" and has now explained that he felt his impressive continental record would have been tarnished had he remained.
"I leave Kenya with a broken heart," he told Nation Sport. "I resigned to put pressure on the federation so as to respond to my requests.
"Instead they reacted to it a different way and went to the press announcing my resignation before even responding to my letter which, to be honest, was confidential [and] I expected they will come back for discussions."
Put was appointed Kenya boss in November, arriving with a strong track record in African football having guided Burkina Faso to the final of the 2013 African Cup of Nations.
However, he departs with a sense of lingering regret, having missed the opportunity to build on his early good work with the Harambee Stars.
"This is the first time in my coaching career that I am resigning after only three months and I did this painfully," he added. "I was motivated to come and help develop Kenyan football.
"We reached an agreement on how I was going to work and I used [the CECAFA Cup] to observe my technical bench and thereafter made proposals on improvements.
"I requested for five more people to work with like I have been doing in other countries because we needed a more professional approach," Put added. "If you want to qualify for the AFCON you need to be realistic in your job."
Before closing, Put defended Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa, despite the FKF's apparent unprofessional behaviour in going public with his resignation request.
"I think it wasn't the right time for Kenya to hire a professional coach because the federation seems to be struggling a lot," he continued. "I say this in a positive way.
"They have a young president, very ambitious and a hard worker, but things aren't going his way. SportPesa withdrew meaning it was going to be difficult financially, but this is where the government steps in."
After leaving Kenya, Put will now be charged with picking up the Guinea national team after their disappointing African Nations Championship display, and ensuring the West Africans qualify for the 2019 Nations Cup.
"I want to apologise to the Kenyan public who I was looking forward to working with," Put concluded. "Unfortunately, it's football, and life has to move on."
The Harambee Stars have been pitted against Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia in 2019 AFCON qualification.