Gor Mahia: 3 Blunders That Cost K’Ogalo FKF Premier League Title

Gor Mahia watched Kenya Police win the FKF Premier League title on Sunday but they would perhaps have been celebrating had they avoided some key mistakes.

Gor Mahia are licking their wounds following the end to their FKF Premier League title push after Kenya Police secured the crown on Sunday.

Police needed a draw from their match against Shabana FC to win a first-ever league title and did it in style by winning when Brian Okoth’s 75th-minute header won it for them.

That left Gor Mahia in ruins as even though they beat Ulinzi Stars 3-2 they will be giving Police a guard of honour instead of celebrating a third straight league title in the final match of the season next weekend.

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However, Gor Mahia would perhaps have been celebrating a third title on the bounce and a record-extending 22nd had they avoided some key blunders.

Many Coaching Changes

They say too many cooks spoil the broth and Gor Mahia discovered this the hard way as they went through three coaching changes this season.

They started the campaign with Brazilian Leonardo Neiva but he was gone by November with Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno handed the reins on an interim basis before Croat Sinisa Mihic arrived in February.

By May, Mihic was gone, with Zico in the hot seat once again, heading into the final matches of the season and K’Ogalo have lived to regret those decisions.

Contrast that with the previous two seasons, when Johnathan McKinstry was in charge, with the players benefiting from the stability and consistency of getting the same sets of instructions, which yielded back-to-back titles, unlike this term when changes in tactics and philosophies destabilised the team.

Lack Of a Clinical Striker

When McKinstry left to become the head coach of The Gambia, Gor Mahia lost a leader on the touchline but they would lose another one on the pitch following striker Benson Omala’s departure last August.

Omala had scored 45 league goals in the previous two seasons, managing 26 in 2022-23 and 19 last season, but the club did not find a suitable replacement, something that has come to bite.

Their decision to spread the goals across the forwards plus the additions of Gedeon Bendeka and Enock Morrison failed to yield the desired results as they ended up relying on playmaker Austin Odhiambo for creativity and goals.

Odhiambo has carried the goalscoring burden with 11 already this term from midfield with the forwards disappointing as Bendeka is the second-best scorer with six goals, a poor return that has cost them the title.

Omala is back in the team after returning in the midseason but he had spent the better half of the campaign without playing when his transfer to Lebanon ran into problems and he is still finding his sharpness.

Dressing Room Disharmony

Meanwhile, some of Gor Mahia’s problems were self-inflicted as there existed bad blood within the dressing room during the course of the campaign.

Early in the season, Neiva had disciplinary issues with a section of players, which led to a fallout with some of them, notably the departed Ronney Onyango getting dropped from the team, while four players were suspended after playing in an unsanctioned match a couple of months later.

When Mihic arrived, it took him two months before reports of infighting with other members of his technical bench came out while he also publicly claimed Odhiambo was not following his instructions.

These issues contributed to poor performances on the pitch as K’Ogalo dropped crucial points that would have been vital in retaining their title.