Gor Mahia battles to retain Cranes Trio
It cannot be gainsaid that the Ugandan Cranes trio of Dan Sserunkuma, Godfrey Walusimbi and Geoffrey Kizito have played pivital roles in Gor Mahia’s success in retaining the league in 2014.Their superb play on the field, professionalism and commitment has been noticed by fans and highly appreciated. They have set an excellent example for the rest of the playing unit. But their success on the field has also attracted the eyes of other teams.
Club official Ronald Ngala, fresh from his success at the KPL awards indicated that the club is busy trying to retain the three players.
“Sserenkuma has showed willingness to remain at the club while Kizito has given us some conditions that we believe can be met,” Gor Mahia’s Deputy Secretary General Ronald Ngala said,
“We are in discussions with the two players and we strongly believe they’ll be with us next season. Our fans should not be worried, we will have a better squad next season,”
“All the other players who are out of contract are willing to renew and therefore there’s no need to worry. we’ve got this,” he said to kplchat.com
Kizito attended trials with a Vietnamese side while Sserunkuma has attracted the eyes of Sudanese side Al Ahly Shendy, Simba or Tanzania and Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa.
Cranes Eliminated
All three players features as Uganda Cranes suffered yet another heartbreak in their attempt top qualify for the Africa cup of nations after a 36 year hiatus. Of all the teams in CECAFA, Uganda and Rwanda have taken the longest to qualify for Africa’s premier event.
All three received poor ratings from Uganda’s newspaper the monitor:
Godfrey Walusimbi 3
Got early jitters at left-back from Ibrahima Conte, settled in briefly, but later ran out of ideas.
Geoffrey Kizito 4
He just had a bad day in office. Baba imposes his presence on games but his passes were mostly square and the Gor Mahia player barely found midfield partner Mawejje.
Daniel Sserunkuma 4 (Substitute)
When Mwesigwa’s actions wrecked the plan, dread-locked Sserunkuma found it hard to link up from the middle. Still, he was an improvement on Miya.
The ratings from Kawowo sports were only slightly better:
Godfrey Walusimbi 5.0: Started the game on a slow note being turned in and out by man of the match Ibrahima Traore. Lucky not to be booked after a number of fouls but grew in stature in the second half though his side was more of an avenue for the Syli Nationale.
Geoffrey ‘Baba’ Kizito 5.0: Struggled against the quick passing Guineans and provided less cover to the backline.
Daniel Sserunkuma 6.0: Came on for Farouk Miya and gave Uganda some momentum in attack but it was too little too late. He is the only player who registered a shot on target for Cranes.
All in all the Cranes had a bad day at the office with the exception of keeper Dennis Onyango who was rated highly.
For K’galo to pose a serious challenge in CECAFA & CAF it must give its squad attractive terms. Average wage should be kshs.150,000 per month.
Regarding the motivational contribution by Gor Mahia.net
I kindly request Jabilo/CEO to consider the alternative of presenting the contribution on 28th November during the Gor Mahia gala, that’s only if you don’t manage to come through with the earlier planned event at the Standard offices.
As promised some tit bits (mos mos release) on clauses of CAP 490 (Cooperative’s Act)
Allow me to post these sections in bits to make for easier reading.
Clauses to note 28(1),(4f,h),(5)(6)
28. Membership and powers of the Committee
(1) Every co-operative society shall have a Committee consisting of not less than five and not more than nine members.
(2) The members of the Committee shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among their number.
(3) The Committee shall be the governing body of the society and shall, subject to any direction from a general meeting or the by-laws of the co-operative society, direct the affairs of the co-operative society with powers to—
(a) enter into contracts;
(b) institute and defend suits and other legal proceedings brought in the name of or against the co-operative society; and
(c) do all other things necessary to achieve the objects of the co-operative society in accordance with its by-laws.
(4) No person shall be a member of a Committee if he—
(a) is not a member of the co-operative society;
(b) is under eighteen years of age;
(c) is unable to read and write;
(d) receives any remuneration, salary or other payment from the co-operative society save in accordance with this Act;
(e) is a committee member in two other co-operative societies;
(f) being a member of a co-operative society that lends money to its members, lends money on his own account;
(g) being a member of a co-operative society which trades in goods or produce, trades either on his own account or some other person’s account in the same type of goods or produce;
(h) has not, within thirty days of being appointed, declared his wealth to the Commissioner in the prescribed manner;
(i) is an undischarged bankrupt;
(j) is of unsound mind;
(k)has been adversely named by the Commissioner in an inquiry
report adopted by a general meeting for mismanagement or corrupt
practices while a member of the Committee;
(l) has been convicted of any offence involving dishonesty or is
sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding three months;
(m) has been convicted of any offence under this Act or rules made thereunder;
(n) has any uncleared debt owing to a co-operative society at the end of its financial year other than in respect of a loan under the provision of
any rules made under this Act;
(o) is a person against whom any amount of money is due under a decree, decision or order or is pending recovery under this Act.
(5) The Committee may delegate any of its duties under this Act to an officer or officers of the co-operative society but, nothing in this subsection shall absolve
the Committee from its responsibility to run the affairs of the co-operative society in a proper and businesslike manner.
(6) In the conduct of the affairs of a co-operative society the Committee shall exercise the prudence and diligence of ordinary men of business and the members shall be held, jointly and severally liable for any losses sustained through any of their acts which are contrary to the Act, rules, by-laws or the directions of any general meeting of the co-operative society.
(7) The Commissioner may suspend from duty any Committee member charged in a court of law with an offence involving fraud or dishonesty pending the
determination of the matter.
Thank-you
I agree with oduor12 the average wage should be kshs.150,000.00 that amount can definitely attract quality players performing at 100%
And where the money comes from?
Gor Mahia Sacco can decide to run a transport business like Mapema sacco,North Rift Sacco,2nk sacco etc
Then do business in the process we will find money to sponsor the club and in the process empower the fans
economically as opposed to contributions guys are talking about.With a strong foundation rooted in the numbers we can now form a co operative society.Its easier to attract membership if you look rich!
What am talking about is an investment company owned by lovers of GOR MAHIA and why i choose transport is because Kisumu and Mombasa are very far away from Nairobi and kogalo fans or sympathisers travel alot yet they dont own the transport business it would be easier for them use Gor Mahia Sacco transport especially if they know that a percentage goes to support the love of their life…Gor Mahia.
Try this out and we will not be disapointed as opposed to begging we will have Gor Mahia Sacco sponsoring their team and when that happens alot of corporates will come running mpaka tushangae coz they will know that we are not desperate anymore and let me tell you guys this thing will be so successful imagine the commitment that we have towards kogalo…if we could have the same doing business we could be the best okuyu kando whats your take good people??
Open letter to the Executive Team
There is no secret in retaining the Uganda TRIO . The following have to be done :
– Increase there Monthly Wages for 2015
– Proper Medical Cover
– Proper Housing ( Don’t Allow them to just leave anywhere , show them that the enter ( GOR MAHIA FC fraternity cares for them )
– Have Incentives eg. The Club pays players for attaining the KPL 2 Straight years )
– Have a Model that works like a revolving fund in every Month they earn a salary the club holds a retainer until the lapse of the Contract .
Paw Akuche, any business, commercial activities Gor gets involved in should be done in secrecy/privately and not known publicly-should only be known to the executives or an off shore link.Reason? backlash incase of undesired outcomes would be devastating…..
As we advocate for the Cranes members pay to be increased we should all know that the locals will also need a corresponding increase else we have a dysfunctional unit. Who has never heard of players sabotaging others?
All the same the economy and all other things improving then we need to have a well-paid squad though in a poor-paying league.
By the way how can the KPL gala cost 6.5m yet the winning club only gets 3m for winning the league after spending almost five times that amount. The U19 tourney would have done with that amount. In SA the MTN Top 8 winners get almost 8m Rand (almost KShs 80m) for playing 3 to 4 matches.
QUALITY FREE AGENT, QUALITY FREE AGENT ——————JOHANNESBURG – Zambia national soccer team striker Fwayo Tembo is at Tanzanian league champions Azam.
According to sources, Tembo has been in Dar-es-Salaam for the last one week.
“Fwayo is training with Azam. But he still has a pending FIFA matter so they are trying to sort that out,” the source said.
The 25-year-old striker has been clubless since storming out of Romanian club Astra Giurgiu in August 2013 after a fallout with the club owner Loan Niculae over his poor form for the club.
Since then, Tembo has been linked with moves to Hungary and Turkey but nothing materialised after Astra reported him to FIFA for abrogating his contract with the club.
Tembo has been named in the provisional squad for next Saturday’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Niger.
Despite being clubless the former Zanaco midfielder has featured in Zambia’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Mozambique and Cape Verde. – AFRICANFOOTBALL.COM.
nkt….so what is he?a striker or midfielder?who is the author of that article anyway?and i hope jakoyo you are not suggesting we buy him just because he is a free agent.it has been said his form is poor…is that the only reason he is clubless??
http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/TalkUp/Gor-all-time-greatest-squad-/-/441392/2531188/-/slef0g/-/index.html
Gor’s all-time greatest squad and why only Jerim deserves a place in its reserve bench
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Independent Election Board Vice -Chairman Mazwel Shamal converses with former Harambee Stars player Nashon Oluoch after attending a Fifa press conference. Oluoch, the feinting master, used to run at great speed along the touchline with a ball that mysteriously didn’t roll over for the linesman’s flag to go up. PHOTO | DENNIS OKEYO |
Independent Election Board Vice -Chairman Mazwel Shamal converses with former Harambee Stars player Nashon Oluoch after attending a Fifa press conference. Oluoch, the feinting master, used to run at great speed along the touchline with a ball that mysteriously didn’t roll over for the linesman’s flag to go up. PHOTO | DENNIS OKEYO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In Summary
Their successors have now won the Kenya Premier League a record 14th time, putting them on course to take on other African champions next year.
Taken as a group, the best 11 that Gor Mahia football club has ever assembled is the 1979 team that crashed to the ground like a banana tree against Cannon Yaoundé of Cameroon in that year’s final of the Cup Winners Cup.
Today, a parent can confidently encourage his or her son to take up football, if the boy shows talent. In our time that was a great risk – academics were everything.
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By ROY GACHUHI
More by this Author
Nashon Oluoch, the feinting master, used to run at great speed along the touchline with a ball that mysteriously didn’t roll over for the linesman’s flag to go up.
It is defenders who went out, sometimes to the running track, victims of his deceptive body movements.
John ‘Bobby’ Ogolla stood in the middle of defence, sweat from his dark face shimmering in the sun, reading and thwarting move after move from frustrated forwards, in the air and on the ground.
He was a defensive colossus whose presence alone signified rearguard safety.
Allan Thigo, the schemer they called the 90-Minute Man, was conductor of the orchestra. “Onyango!” You could hear him bark from your seat in the touchline, “Faster!”
He read the game like you read a book and altered its tempo to suit his designs.
Sammy Owino Kempes was art in motion. Crisp, delicate passes made from the tightest of spaces and an excellent ball control with both feet that made you imagine that even the grass was enjoying, not enduring, his moves.
One moment he is facing a packed defence, next moment is running through it with space to spare.
EXCELLENT RECORDS
These players, and the teammates that I write about today, conquered the African continent. At the height of their powers, they were feared and respected in all corners of Africa, from Nigeria to Zambia to Egypt.
Their successors have now won the Kenya Premier League a record 14th time, putting them on course to take on other African champions next year.
If it was during the era that I covered, we would be placing our bets about semi-finals and finals and winning the Cup.
We would be assessing El Ahly and Zamalek of Egypt, Esperance of Tunisia, Ibadan Shooting Stars and Bendel Insurance of Nigeria, Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak of Ghana, Hafia and Horoya of Guinea, TP Mazembe and Motema Pembe of DR Congo and we would be dismissive of opponents from almost anywhere else.
Those were taken as already beaten. This is what we did in the late 70s and 80s.
Taken as a group, the best 11 that Gor Mahia football club has ever assembled is the 1979 team that crashed to the ground like a banana tree against Cannon Yaoundé of Cameroon in that year’s final of the Cup Winners Cup.
That’s my opinion. The leader of that team, Allan Thigo, agrees with me but we sort of differ on the reasons for the massive 8-0 aggregate loss.
TALL ORDER
Thigo tells me that once they eliminated Guinea’s Horoya, the defending champions, the boys took it that they were unbeatable and engaged in an orgy of non-stop partying.
“We drank ourselves silly for the two weeks preceding the Canon match while our opponents took us very seriously,” he says.
“They had a scout to spy on us but I suppose his job was to count the number of beers each player was guzzling in one sitting. We didn’t train. If we had, we would have been champions way back in 1979.
We were better than our 1987 champions, although, needless to say, they were also a very good team.”
The binge drinking aside, I personally think that Canon were in a class of their own and academic though it is, I doubt Gor Mahia at their best would have felled them. That team was the bedrock of the Indomitable Lions.
It provided eight out of 11 players for the 1982 World Cup squad. The Indomitable Lions went out of the World Cup unbeaten, even drawing with eventual champions Italy.
Thigo and I are agreed on one point: the 2014 champions will have a tall order in trying to repeat the exploits of their predecessors. This is the sad truth that must be said without taking anything away from their historic achievement.
STEADY GAZE
Times have changed; Africa moved on while Kenya maintained a steady gaze on the rear view mirror while engaged on the gear that goes with it.
We must now approach with reasonable terror the first club that we shall be drawn against, regardless of the country it represents.
Those who think this as extreme pessimism should just remember against whom Harambee Stars came to grief in their quest for a place in next year’s Africa Nations Cup. Lesotho.
In another time, a club representing that mountain kingdom would have elicited derisive laughter from officers, servicemen and women of the Green Army.
Now the boot is in the other foot.
“The standards of football in this country have become very, very low,” Thigo says.
“None of the players in the current Gor Mahia squad can find a place in the teams of the 70s and 80s. None! Okay, maybe Jerim Onyango, the goalkeeper.
He could get a place in the bench but against Dan Odhiambo or even George Ayuka, no. But he has some good qualities, like leadership in addition to his goalkeeper’s body.”
DIFFERENT TIMES
What went wrong? “I think it is a question of talent and after that managing it. Today there is money in football; there was none in our time.
Today, a parent can confidently encourage his or her son to take up football, if the boy shows talent. In our time that was a great risk – academics were everything.
Today, a successful footballer, with sound advice, can employ a whole lot of professionals. If you transplanted today’s circumstances to the 70s and 80s, Kenya would be a net exporter of footballers to Europe.
“But here we are. Gor Mahia took part in the Cecafa Club Cup this year. How many goals did they score? What stage of the competition did they get? And we are excited about next year’s Champions Cup?
No, it doesn’t add up. There is a helluva lot of work to be done. Huge, huge work.”
I told Thigo: to mark the occasion of Gor Mahia winning the 2014 KPL title, I have compiled a list of the 11 greatest players to have donned the green shirt since 1968. Compile yours and we compare.
Thigo said, fine, I will tell mine right now. This was my list:
1. Best Goalkeeper – Dan Odhiambo
2. Best Right Back – Paul Oduwo
3. Best Left Back – Peter Bassanga Otieno
4. Best Stopper – Bobby Ogolla
5. Best Centre Half – Austin Oduor
6. Best Linkman – Abbas Khamis Magongo
7. Best Right Winger – Sammy Onyango
8. Best Inside Right – Allan Thigo
9. Best Striker – William Chege Ouma
10. Best Inside Left – Sammy Owino Kempes
11. Best Left Winger – Nashon Oluoch
ACHILLES HEELS
Thigo’s list was exactly the same save for the left back position where he preferred Tobias Ocholla to Bassanga.
We asked ourselves why we had both preferred Dan Odhiambo to James Siang’a who had played for Harambee Stars for 11 years.
Thigo said: “He played for Gor Mahia for a very short time – not long enough to make an impact on the psyche and history of the club. And you?” he asked.
My reason was lame: “I didn’t see him play, but I followed him through radio. If I did, maybe I’d change my mind.”
Thigo said: “Dan was extraordinary in terms of reaction in one-on-one situations.” But he had problems with long range balls, didn’t he, I said. Yes, but every footballer, as indeed every sportsman, has his Achilles’ heel.
Austin Oduor, 1987’s winning captain, once remembered for me the save that had Benin City in Nigeria talking. “It is a great pity that there are no video recordings of the matches of the time,” he said.
“People would see unbelievable things. A shot from about thirty yards was heading Dan’s way and he dived to make the same. But the ball grazed another player on its way, changing its course.
To everybody, it was a goal. But Dan twisted mid-air and changed direction and just managed to deflect the ball over the bar.
“I have never seen a save such as that one. I believe I will never see such a save again. I don’t know how he did it but it is unimaginable that somebody could change direction while in mid-air. That save was the talk of town in Benin city for a long time.”
RETAIL POLITICS
The late Abdalla Bekah, Gor Mahia’s long term treasurer under the authoritarian chairman Zack Mbori, was a Green Army true believer who jumped ship and went to play golf when standards steadily deteriorated and the possibility of the great club developing an infrastructure similar to say that of Al Ahly, disappeared apparently for good.
Desperately in love with the boys that he helped nature but disillusioned by the retail politics that held down football in the club and country, he decided not to attend any further matches.
But you couldn’t tell this by his reaction when you walked him down memory lane.
“My greatest moment as a football administrator,” he told me, “ironically came when I had left Gor Mahia.
It was in 1987 when they won the Nelson Mandela Cup. I was overcome with emotion when the final whistle blew.
I stood in the stands looking at the stadium for a long time after the match ended and I said to myself: ‘Maybe I abandoned those boys at their time of need.’
Those players were my boys and I cared for them deeply. I had natured them over the years and now they were the champions!
My house used to be their transit point; they used to stay there between their travels. Another great moment for me was when Gor Mahia played Norwich City of England here in 1975.
GREAT GAME
I think that was the greatest game that Gor Mahia ever played in their life. I also think the goal Jackson Aluko scored then was the best I ever saw.
It was one of those rare moments when you are proud to belong to the losing team.”
Bekah’s angst is shared by many of Gor’s believers, especially the older generation of fans who saw for themselves what magic in the pitch is all about.
Gor Mahia produced the original diva in Eunice Adhiambo, who was fondly called Mama Gor. She was utterly beloved of the players.
“We took her as our mother,” Zedekiah Zico Otieno, their last winning captain before a 19 year-hiatus and former Harambee Stars coach, told me.
“Her voice was a great motivation for the players. We could pick it up from the pitch. And she treated us so sweetly, giving us words of encouragement in off the pitch and small presents that the players appreciated very much.
She must be, like many other supporters, be disillusioned with what Gor Mahia became after its great highs of the 70s and 80s.”
Once politics rocked Gor Mahia and threatened to rip the club apart. Even the players had been sucked in. As a reporter, I was everywhere interviewing the protagonists.
UTTERLY DEPRESSED
I phoned Mama Gor. She told me she was utterly depressed and she was dealing with the heartache by listening to a tape recording of Gor Mahia’s victorious East and Central African Club Cup match against AFC Leopards which was played in Malawi about six months earlier.
It had never occurred to me that fans taped Leonard Mambo and Mohammed Juma Njuguna.
The hordes of female fans that follow Gor Mahia today may not even have heard of Mama Gor. But she is doubtless the orginal female football fan in Kenya. Back to Allan Thigo.
They are rightfully praising their Ugandan stars – Dan Sserenkuma and Geoffrey Kizito. I have to remind them two of the greatest Gor Mahia stars of all time were Ugandans – Abbey Nasur and Timothy Ayieko.
If I left them in my list of 11, it’s just because of talent overflow. But they would be in the bench, along with Mike Ogolla Machine, George Yoga, Fundi Onyango and Charles Otieno, of course.
So there you have it – Gor Mahia 2014 and Gor Mahia’s Best of All Time. If you like it, raise a glass to it; if you don’t, write to the Editor.
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Too much copy paste articles without any substance!! The message being sent is that we should chase after the purportedly rejected/stranded players
Old still remains GOLD .
Excellent compiled Artcile .