Giovanni arrives as Logarusic and Dube return
Sunday Jan 13 turned out to be a day of good fortune for Kogalo fans..
Brazilian import Giovanni Rodriguez Bissolli arrived in town for discussions of his contract. His arrival had been delayed due to inability to process his travelling papers in a timely manner. He is expected to attend his first training session on Monday morning. Some fans had started to speculate that the whole Giovanni issue was a hoax. Should the deal go through, he will be the first Brazilian to play in the Kenya Premier League and the first non-African to sign for Gor Mahia. Not much is known by fans or the media about this player including how much English he can speak. But at least we know this is not Felixinho redux because this time the club appears to have done some research. Or at least that is what they have indicated.
Moses Odhiambo “Dube” has returned to the club after the deal with the Middle East team fell through. Odhiambo has been slated to join Salalah FC on a deal worth a transfer fee of sh 6.4 million and worth a salary of $80,000 per year. “Odhis Dube” has been a crucial player for Kogalo with his vast experience, class and work ethic. Whereas we are sad for “Dube” that the deal fell through, this column welcomes him back with a several loud claps and a thumbs up.
The much awaited return of coach Zdvarko Logarusic has materialized. After weeks of speculation about his return, Logarusic returned as announced on Saturday Jan 12. This marks the first time in years that Gor Mahia has stability at the coaching position in a long time, which should bode well for Gor Mahia’s chances of starting the league on a sound note. In the last 4 years, Gor Mahia have started poorly only to play catchup in the second leg.
Good things come in doubles. Odhis Dube you are a very sensible man and you have done the most sensible thing. What was the sticking point? My hunch is that they wanted you to change your name but but the K’Ogalo in you could have none of that. Welcome home. Now roll up your sleeves and show the young ones how it is done. With Odhis Dube, our match against Western Stima on 20th Feb is as good as won.
Let’s hope that he will bring the Brazilian touch in Gor. This is also a good marketing plan. With many fans who will just come to watch him, translating into a windfall for the team?
Let’s hope that this time we hit the ground running, with Mutiso and Olando hopefully closing our transfer business. Now it’s time to start using the ‘assets’ acquired for the benefit of Gor.
All the best
Msimu huu Kogalo itakuwa kali. BTW does anyone know what happened to the youngster Mubiru ?
I think Gor have signed wisely. I also believe starting the season with the same coaching staff will bode well for the team and I cannot see what will stop us from a strong start. I know we’ve not signed a left back but probably there are not many good left backs in the country. I think we’ll struggle in that position as Wekesa is a bit slow for continental football and Yusuf Juma is not yet there defensively. I’d have preferred to play David Owino in right back if we are to play him out of his preferred central defense position. Or we nurture him to play defensive midfield to give Akumu a break at times. Last season I thought we overplayed Akumu and we risk losing him to a long term injury. Just a suggestion, I leave that to the coach. The rest of the positions look well covered, if we get Olando though I remember him going forward a lot but Akumu will be just fine for the job as long as he is on the pitch. This season has got to be ours, can’t wait to get started.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN !!
Super sunday as mana from heaven falls in kogalo’s basket with return of Dube & logarusic and the arrival of the brazilian this will work and let the TB look for the chemistry in fielding combination
This is really good news.
Now that players have started thorough training to acquire physical fitness after the Dec 2012 break, sky is the limit. We will really enjoy the year 2013. Watch this space…
WHY DO WE THINK THAT EVERY BRAZILIAN IS LIKE ROMARIO, RONALDHINHO, PEPE, ZICO, RONALDO E.T.C …..LETS WAIT, SEE AND JUDGE THIS GUY BASED ON HIS PERFORMANCE.
Let’s wait for a noble course now, the talents we have will win games, but teamwork and intelligence will win champions,i can’t wait to see
Hoping for the best.
i love it
we will support the entire team kwa hali na mali
Great!! Logarusic is back at last.Some have wrongly blamed the Head coach for his delayed stay in Croatia. Let’s remember that its the bloated EC that delayed in negotiating his contract.The coach himself wanted this matter finalized b4 he left in November last year.
On our signings I will not be surprised if Logarusic “rejects” one or two.But thats ok since the buck stops with him especially now that we are paying top dollar 4 his services.EC honestly bungled this somehow 4 how did we fail to land Mbiru and Olando,players who trained for more than 2 weeks,yet the “unknown” Brazilian has already been signed with.
Anyway I wish each and every player the best. I hope EC will treat all players equally and motivate all members of the technical bench.
Finally let trim this bungling, bloated EC of 3 vice chairmen and 5 secretaries to a board of 6 elected members and a full time CEO. The board positions should have designated duties e.g.
1. Board Member -Sponsorship (What is happening here) and Fund Raising.
2. Board Member – Technical bench and players affairs
3. Board Member- Finance and General Administration.
4. Board Member -Marketing and Merchandizing
5. Board Member- Security and Membership(both branch and corporate with monthly contributions)
6. Board Member- Legal / contractual affairs + Brand protection.
7. CEO- Appointed Full time employee.
During elections only person with viable, concrete programs or records will want to vie for positions and a board member’s performance can be verified by virtue of his position.
Kuna shida central midfield, Akumu cant play there alone. The earlier we realize this the better it will be next season. Only olando or peter opiyo can help solve this problem.
Kevin omondi cant play full 90 mins week after week neither can Njuguna. Who will supply all these strikers with the ball upfront?
With these signings, 4th or 5th place on the log is beconing. You’ll never get far with weak midfield, Ferguson can attest to this.
@ 8 Jakoyo – from what I know, Brazilian soccer standards are very high. The guy could be in a lower division league and probably may not be a material for Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc but when he plays for Kenya you will see since he will have a point to prove and I promise there will be fireworks. Hii squad tuko nayo imeiva sana kwa hivyo usijali.
@ Walter Alando Bwoga. The question is which lower division or rather how lower a division, which club and how many goals did he score in that division last year. However I’ll be most happy if he dispels my doubts.
@ Mcosweto I hear you so much. Like i’ve always said last year we would also have won the league by a mile if the attacking midfield “performed”. This was our weakest area and made us predictable. But we will overcome because the 12th Man will play his role as usual.
On winning the league I beg to differ on the reasons. The only reason I can tell is that we started poorly. That’s what affects all teams. Have a look at the EPL. Depending on where you are at the break, read Xmas time will more or less determine where you finish. Loses to teams like Muhoroni, Sher etc are what stopped us from winning the league. More of consistency, Look at Tusker , they were not so good but were consistent and beat the smaller teams even if they lost to Gor and other big teams. We beat the bigger teams but didn’t overun the smaller ones. The other thing is that in the last five years I cannot remember us completing a whole season with the same coach. I hope my memory serves me right and with Loga I hope the jinx will be broken.
I know we have high hopes but teams more or less have studied us going by end of last season. So what happens if we cannnot produce the magic of last year? Will our restless fans take in in good stride? I still belive we need Olando to assist Akumu but if he is not available (I hear he might join City stars, maybe someone in the EC as usual has poisoned his quest to join the team) we still have Moses Otieno who can ably play the role if given the chance
Dan u r right. If we take care of the small teams then it doesn’t matter the outcome of the big matches. And yes, I’d like to see Moses Otieno more, he had started to gel at the end of 2011 season but didn’t he see much1st team futlball in the 2012 season. However given he was retained in the team means the coach must be happy with his potential hence just a matter of time.
@13 ODUOR12 – I did not know we have 3 vice chairmen and 5 secretaries. This needs to be looked into with immediate effect.
As for the subject of attacking mid-fielder, I agree we will need one more mid-field who is strong on the ball and off the ball. If we have filled up all the 25 player’s slots as per Logarusic’s instruction then maybe at the mid-season break we will need to release one player and get one attacking mid-fielder, depending on our performance by then.
This is my analysis of current mid-fielders we have in the squad:
Attacking mid fielders: Kevo (14), Moses Otieno, Moses (Dube) Odhis, Joseph (Pablo) Njuguna, (Abondo teargas), Rama Salim (can play as a striker and in mid-field)
As for Defensive midfielders we have- Akumu, David Owino (utility player) and others who are not natural defensive mid fielders
Fired up and ready to go…..cant wait for the league to start,my new jersey has Giovani at the back.