Goal examine the possibility of K’Ogalo mounting a successful campaign this time around despite the current managerial confusion
Another opportunity for Kenyan champions Gor Mahia to launch an advanced campaign in the Caf Champions League has presented itself as they are scheduled to face off with Rwanda’s APR on November 28.
Gor Mahia have been participants in Africa’s club premier tournament in the last four seasons but they have not managed to reach the exclusive group stages.
The Green Army have been falling at either the first or the second preliminary rounds, but the 2020/21 season has handed them another chance to make a strong case against their African peers.
Gor Mahia, just like in the previous season, will start the campaign under a new manager.
Dylan Kerr came and failed to advance further, as was the case with Hassan Oktay and Steven Polack, who all resigned after a season each at the helm of the club.
The Green Army will go into the APR encounter with even a more complicated coaching arrangement. Since they appointed Roberto Oliveira as Polack’s successor, the Brazilian is, however, not going to be on the touchline after Caf dismissed his qualifications.
As a fall-back plan, Gor Mahia went for the services of a former player and coach Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo who will stand in for Oliveira in the Caf matches.
The confusion has come at a time Gor Mahia have held training sessions for more than two months under Oliveira who will now have to follow the proceedings away from the touchline just like thousands of their fans.
The responsibility of looking for better results in the Champions League has now been placed on the shoulders of Omollo and his appointment resulted in a number of questions.
Is the former Harambee Stars captain ready for the task ahead? Will he gel quickly with the players and deliver on the big stage something that the last Premier League-winning coaches failed? Was he the best candidate to take over the team in such a critical moment within such short notice?
No one may have the answers to these questions now, but surely ‘Pamzo’, as the Posta Rangers coach is famously known, will not be so naive to underrate the kind of job he has been tasked to undertake.
When Oliveira was appointed, he made clear he was ready to implement a winning playstyle with Gor Mahia.
“I like an attacking kind of football. Look at Raja Casablanca and Esperance they never play behind,” the Brazilian said in an earlier interview. “Why? What is the secret in football?”
“It is simple, to score goals and get the victory. Possession football is important but again it is good when done in the attacking half.
“That is my style of football and I give support to everyone, to create, dribble, and express their talent. The talent is there that is why you signed for Gor Mahia, a big club.”
Whether he has drilled the players enough on how to tackle APR and other possible rivals will be known by how the team will perform while he is away.
Former AFC Leopards midfielder Francis Xavier argues Gor Mahia must have had the best reasons when they settled for Omollo for the preliminary encounter against the Rwandan champions.
“That [coaching transition] is not going to affect Gor Mahia much because I know Omollo has been in the system for a very long time,” Xavier told Goal. “There is every reason they have chosen him over other coaches.
“For one, he understands the system, and his experience will come in handy for Gor Mahia.
“I do not know how well they have prepared but I think knowing that they had such an assignment ahead meant they must plan accordingly.
“The only worry is maybe Omollo has not been with them throughout the preparation period and that could be the only challenge the coach and the team might be having.
“Transition will largely depend on the kind of ground Oliveira had laid down, but because the assistant coach [Patrick Odhiambo] has been there, it means he will help the new coach just grasp what they have been up to with enough speed”
The former Ingwe star advised Omollo to stick with the strategy he would find Gor Mahia have laid down already in order to avoid creating confusion just days before the APR visit.
“If Omollo decides to come and make wholesale changes then effects that were seen at Harambee Stars after managerial changes might be seen at Gor Mahia,” he concluded. “He will have to stick onto the initial plan that they had put in place to tackle APR.”
Xavier, who was key when AFC Leopards fought for the Premier League promotion in 2008, said the exit of Joash Onyango, Lawrence Juma and Boniface Omondi will actually affect the operation of the Gor Mahia team, generally.
“Losing more than two key players generally affects the whole team, all the same, depending on those who will step in and being professionals I believe they will ensure they catch up fast,” the former Wazito FC team manager continued, “but definitely the exits of those players may end up affecting Gor Mahia because losing three players is not something to be taken lightly.”
The former Vihiga United assistant coach, however, pointed out why the Kenyan Champions League ambassadors could end up surprising everyone by advancing further.
“It all depends on mental preparation, but they have an advantage because they have been playing in the tournament for the past four season running,” he concluded. “They know what it takes to be in the Champions League and have every reason to fight and advance.
“Being under different coaches may affect the team in different ways but it all depends on how they accept the transition.
“They can also be motivated by the urge of surpassing the previous season’s hurdles and so such a change may affect them positively or negatively.”
Gor Mahia have dominated the local scene for a better part of the last decade, but what is now needed from them, by the fans and maybe a better portion of the football-loving public is to see them evolve into a force to reckon with in the continent.
Are they ready to? Or is the usual stumble at the initial Champions League stages is set to occur again?
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