Gor Mahia boss Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno says crammed schedule hurt title defense amid season marred by coaching instability.
Gor Mahia head coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno has blamed the club’s surrendering of the 2024/2025 FKF Premier League title to Kenya Police on fixture congestion ahead of their last league game of the season against the Law Enforcers.
This season, Gor Mahia started their league campaign due to their continental assignments, where they managed to get to the second qualification round for the group stages of the CAF Champions League, but were bundled out 5-1 on aggregate by Al Ahly.
Therefore, they started their league campaign in September, even as the league originally kicked off in August, which meant it was inevitable that most of their fixtures would have to be congested.
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Dressing Room Chaos and Technical Bench Instability
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Now, Zico believes this was the main reason behind their failure to defend their league title.
“We tried considering we played a lot of games during the season back-to-back,” head coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno said.
“There was a time we even played eight matches over a 21-day span which is not easy, but it is what it is.”
Zico’s claims are sure to spark debate considering the alarming levels of dressing room instability that engulfed the club for much for the season.
The club had hired Brazilian coach Leo Neiva to replace Johnathan McKinstry, who departed for the Gambia job, but parted ways with him following a slow start to the season, as well as his unceremonious exit after being roughed up by a section of the fanbase following their 2-2 draw against Murang’a Seal last October.
Zico then took charge of the club for three months on an interim basis until they appointed Croatian tactician Sinisa Mihic, who also left after just two months for falling out with his technical bench, including Zico.
To many, this chopping and changing which saw three deferent coaches impose different philosophies on the team may have led to the instability, but Zico thinks otherwise.
Even so, the former KCB coach has admitted the club did underperform this season.“We are sad we could not win the league which was our main objective but we have a good team and I am confident we will bounce back stronger.”
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Final Day Fire: Otieno Vows Strong Finish Despite Guard of Honour
Captain Philemon Otieno has assured fans that they will give it their best shot against Police in their last league encounter this Sunday, set to be held at the Ulinzi Sports Complex.
The club will have to suffer the ignominity of giving Police a guard of honour before the game, which is sure to spark fire in their bellies to get a result regardless of their title loss.
“The fans and everyone in general remembers the season well. I want to make sure we get a win in our last game of the season and deliver all points on Sunday,” Otieno said.
Despite the disappointments, Gor Mahia remain in the hunt for silverware as they prepare to face Nairobi United in the FKF Cup final at Afraha Stadium next weekend — a chance for redemption and a potential ticket to continental football.