Gor Mahia eliminated from CAF Confederations cup
Gor Mahia have lost 2-1 to USM Alger. And with Rayon Sports winning their tie against Yanga 1-0, Gor Mahia are out of the tournament. Jacque Tuyisenge scored Gor Mahia’s goal.
Additional reporting from the Nation
Gor Mahia on Wednesday failed in their bid to reach the quarter-finals of the Caf Confederation Cup after losing 2-1 away to USM Alger at the 5th July Stadium in Algiers, Algeria in their final preliminary match.
Goals from Prince Ibara and Amis Sayoud propelled the hosts to victory as they finished top of group D with 11 points, with Rayon Sports grabbing second spot after a 1-0 win over Yanga at home to finish on nine points and seal the final quarter-final slot.
The lanky Caleb Bimenyimana, who scored when Rayon beat Gor in Nairobi last week, netted the all-important goal in this match.
K’Ogalo finished third in the pool with eight points and miss out on a last eight berth.
Jacques Tuyisenge pulled a goal back for Gor but it proved to be too late as the Algerians held on for the win.
The Kenyan champions will rue their loss against Rayon on August 18 in Nairobi in a match that they only needed a point from to confirm their place in the group stages with a game to spare.
A point against USM would have seen Gor go through ahead of Rayon on goal difference.
As expected, K’Ogalo began the match on the back foot in the wake of a myriad of attacking moves from the hosts and at some point had to thank reserve goalkeeper Fredrick Odhiambo for stopping a ninth-minute Ahmed Koudri penalty, which was awarded after Harun Shakava appeared to handle in the box.
Ibara would, however, hand his side the lead on 36 minutes, after escaping his markers to power a header past a stranded Odhiambo from a corner kick.
The Kenyan side also survived a scare towards the end of the half when Ernest Wendo was forced to clear a goal-bound shot off the line with Odhiambo well beaten.
Backed by a noisy crowd at their backyard, Alger came back forcefully in the second half, and added the second goal against the run of play.
As a result, Gor, who earned Sh27.5 million in prize money for making it to this stage of the competition, have missed an extra Sh8 million reserved for the eight teams which make it to the quarters.
The tournament’s winning team will pocket Sh125 million.
Gor, who clinched the 2018 Kenyan Premier League title with six matches to spare last weekend, will now turn their attentions to the FKF SportPesa Shield, where they take on Kariobangi Sharks at the Kenyatta stadium in Machakos on Saturday.
hopeless display ! if it were not for goalkeeper odhiambo we would have lost the game 5 -1 . he was for sure man of the match,
we lost the CAF CC plot when we we beaten at home by rayon sport and offcourse, our goalkeeping department needs complete overhaul. lessons learnt !!!
This tournament we lost it when Kogalo was thrashed 2-1 by R.Sports.
GMFC to start preparing for next tournament by aiming to win all home matches and at least draw 1 away matches.
Just when we thought we were invincible, nature brings fresh lessons to disrupt our comfort. We were quick to dispute the truth that Oluoch and Odhoji goalkeeping would cost us dearly but the chicken has come home to roost. In football, there is that one game which you always wish time would reverse so that you would play it better. Now that is the Kasarani game versus Rayon Sports. If the management hasn’t learnt a lesson from those two star-crossed goalkeepers then they will never learn. The African scene is not KPL where those referees overlook minor fouls in Mashemeji derby simply to avoid causing chaos in the match.
A painful lesson indeed. Topping the table for more than a month then crashing out of the league on the last day!!!
Let’s pick up from the league win and mend the patches in preparation for fresh African challenge but those mediocre goalkeepers have to go.
Those advocating for excuses like “even De Gea made mistakes” now where are they? Recruit defenders and another top class goalkeeper in the transfer window. Walusimbi was sold like an old hen at a critical time and the saga was laced with propaganda, counter-accusations and bickering. You sell a player at 7m, destabilize your defence and end up losing 37m. That is where the rain fell on us.
We deserved to be bundled out after throwing our only hope against Rayon Sport at Kasarani. I kept hope and prayed but so did Rayon who have proven to be a better team than us at least at Continental Level. On the game i want to sincerely appreciate GK Fred Odhiambo who kept us in the game till the end where we could have easily been trailing by 4 or 5 goals. Even SuperSport commentators were awed by his antics. I have no patience to discuss the game or talk about any player but will yet again Repeat that Every dark cloud has a silver lining. The dark cloud called Ze Maria left us with one silver lining which is how to play basic football and build from the back and keep possession while closing down spaces. Sacrificing that for this Mediocre boring long balls that are aimlessly parried forward is an eyesore. As i always say it will work in KPL where hopeless team are adapted to it but in Caf it can head Nowhere. Let us go back to the drawing board and do good signings to replace Kagere and Walusimbi then re-strategize for Caf next season. For now the rwandese atleast my associates from there are referring to us as “Team Ya Nyumbani” only invincible at Home but not of continental pedigree. Well otherwise congrats GM for retaining the KPL we will be back in Caf next year…
Our so called ‘first eleven’ led by never maturing shakava are no better than second eleven. A change is needed urgently in defense and goalkeeping if Gor is to put serious challenge next year in Caf championship. After Fredick saved a penalty caused by shakava then he is again exposed by the shambolic defense for the second goal! So sad indeed. Suggestion; Boniface omondi and Joachim Oluoch should be given equal play time as Tuysienge and Shakava unless another striker and a serious defender is signed.
We lost it here in Kenya courtesy of improper fielding. The coach should carry the blame for fielding unfit team against rayon sports
It’s over for us.
Am happy because we have reached group stage after 30years. Let’s pick it from here next year.
Thanks to the coach and the playing unit.
Today our captain let us down. Goalkeeper was 100% perfect.
This was expected the moment we lost to Rayon at home. Rayon are justified to proceed because they have demonstrated to be a better side both at home and away. Their management too showed seriousness, when they noticed weakness in their coach, they fired him and brought in a new one who turned round the team.
On the flip side, Gor EC fails to start negotiating with Kagere early enough even after the player had put it to them that he was waiting for an offer.
What follows; the player sneaks to Tanzania.
As if they are not bothered they embrace and legitimise fraudulent transfer of Walusimbi to south Africa. Surely, that’s not how a serious management operates, this was bound to happen.
For us to succeed, we must first have a serious management. We must also recruit well and have depth in the team. You realise that this season players had to take several games having very little time to rest.
Otherwise we have to congratulate the team and technical bench, they’ve had a good run this season.
I don’t want to blame anybody, I want just to thank the team for participating effectively and coming out with eight points. We’ve learned a lesson that group matches are a Marathon and finishing strongly is the way.we won only against the team that finished bottom of the group. If we could have had decent result at home, we could have qualified. Now we ‘ve a chance to prepare for champions league and hope to qualify for group stages. We should not look down on upon ourselves because we are k’ogalo.it’s not only about players but all of us.we all lost the match including the fans.we did not see even a couple of green army soldiers on the stands.so we all failed to qualify for quarter finals.whoever is saying that we need to overhaul the goalkeeping department, I hope you don’t refer to Frederic Odhiambo’s performance. In fact I was very happy for him when he was named as the match day goalkeeper. He performed very well. And he made very crucial saves.He was only let down by his defenders. In goal I think we have the best goalkeeper in Frederic Odhiambo and Boniface oluoch. But I can say that defensibly shakava is so erratic and should not be relied on. We are k’ogalo.
All this comments put the blame squarely on management, maybe next season we should do better….
1. What if Fredrick odhiambo was our number 1 keeper throughout the season?
2. What if we made use of the squad that beat sofapaka 3-0 and efusi more often ?
3. What If we did not sell our best CAF player, kagere ?
4. What if we had a strikers from West Africa ? I have come to notice west Africa strikers on average are more lethal than our east africans’ counterparts .
5. What if we got this tall lanky burundi striker from rayon sport ?
6. What if we did not sell walusimbi ?
Let’s move on !!
We lost it after losing at home to rayon sports. Let us hope the EC and team will learn some lessons. At some point we needed only a draw to reach the quarters. Me thinks we probably started counting our chicks too early. Let the team start preparing early for caf tournaments next. Good signings in all departments necessary. Otherwise, thank you team the far you have gone. When I was a school boy, GM even used to prepare for serious tournaments out of the country. EC should get more serious next season.
The problem with kogalo fans is that most of us talk too much and yet they invest and know nothing about Gor but whining after loses and small mishaps, lets learn to appreciate the hard work of Coach, TB and EC.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO CONGRATULATE A TEAM THAT WINS NEARLY EVERY GAME, UMAMA PELEKENI HUKO AFC, Next edition of CAF will be the opportunity to reaccess ourselves either in CAF CL or CC, Nigerian proverb: IT IS ONLY A FOOL WHO WILL CALL A PYTHON, GIANT EARTHWORM (KOGALO OKSIEM)
Gor Mahia, during transfer window need to recruit a good goalkeeper to help Odhiambo, defender to replace Walusimbi and a striker to replace Kagere. FIFA need to revert to the 1980’s and 1990’s where players used to transfer once in a year at the end of the season. These transfers in between the year destabilises teams.
Too much energy was put in going unbeaten. Look at where it has landed us now. Missing out on the 8 million. Early preparation is key. Pride also got into our way. Next time chapeni hesabu ya mbele. Leave out meaningless games and only focus on major games.
We could have done better if kpl had vision & more importantly AR and his team.I believe selling kagere/walu took away something in our continental matches.Fred is a good goalkeeper, bt I think if he is our No.1 we would be always vulnerable in free kicks,corners etc not to mention he has serious weakness which would be exposed as he plays more game.Let him not listen to guys praising him on this site,,ask odhoji, jagoal & boni, one or two blunders utasikia vigeugeu.The only undoing this season is our lack of free kick specialist, it seems like this is never in Kerr program. Otherwise we did our best, we were good but USM and Rayon we better.Cheers!!!
We have a new goalie and new Kenya one. Our Guikan unfortunately missed important games; usma and Rayon. @Jakoyo is very right on West African strikers.We need a LB and one lethal striker
We could have done better with a kpl/Chair/EC that valued continental football and had a vision.We were good bt USM & Rayon were better. Selling kagere lessen our striking power in continetal matches. Abt Fred, he is a gud keeper, there are reasons why he has failed to breakthrough teams keeper1, Very soon bloggers shouting loud abt Fred will be the 1st baying for his blood, ask jagoal, boni odhoji etc.The one thing that Kerr has failed to do is to mould a free kick specialist, kahata has the potential bt the coach inakaa ameizima instead we relying on shakava power. Hongera team,let’s do it all over again
What I saw was pure cowardice. No positive attitude. Apart from P.Odhiambo and Phill Otieno the rest of these players need to be droped from the first team. These players were all kpl material, can only beat sofapaka and Afc. Gor game as I said before is to slow. The defence is one of the most bogus and tackling was purely kpl standards. Ppl like Wendo shud not play international football, same to Shakava. But this has also exposed this Kerr coach, he seems to be overrated. These players were totally idealess and potrayed a chicken nature. Made USM look good. Sincerely there is nothing much to analyse here apart from the evidence that e.Africa soccer needs better coaches than what we are importing. But that Rayon coach is the right stuff. My biggest regret in this match was the lack of a player with the Kagere kind of mentality. On this particular match I absolve the EC but lay blame squarely on the average Kenyan coach and on kpl referees. EC damage to cafcc was big but it did not necessarily affect this particular match.
Dinga you are spot especially wendo was one of Mahias weakest link.He overstayed on the pitch.He was so heavy and timid.I wonder why the coach fielded 3 center back and left Onguso a natural left back on the bench.That blind side coated us.There was no creativity and the team played so deep for most of the game
This post is very misplaced especially on the coach. Support the team more and criticize when necessary. We want big things yet we are not willing to play our part as fans.
Yes because we also focused too much on unbeaten run in the league that we had already won. He should have rested the players and allow the second unit to gain the kpl exposure. Even if we had lost 4 games. It would have been a better sacrifice. Too much greed. One rule of life is that you can’t get everything in life
It is ok we are out due to the following:-
1. Poor team management against Rayon at home when players we allowed to roam about with women on the eve of the match.
2. Poor goalkeeping by Bonny Oluoch and Shaban Odhonji. Peter Odhiambo has been always the best goalkeeper despite what happened to him during the year when he lost his mother and brother at the same time.
3. Poor defense as our defenders for leaking goals due to poor marking and lack of proper coordination. I suggest that we need to drop Shakava, Joash, and Wellington for the school boy mistakes of allowing opponents strikers to run over them.
4. Coach Kerr to stop nonsense of discrimination of Guikan and Joshua Oluoch. He should also stop talking too much to the press.
Wayforward
1. Recruit two good goal keepers to support Fredrich Peter Odhiambo and two goal keepers Odhonji and Bonny to be shipped out. This is due to lack of seriousness of Bonny and Odhonji who conceded easy goals against Rayon and Yanga.
2. Total overhaul of technical bench by dropping Jolawi Obondo due to poor team management prior to the home match against Rayon of Rwanda. As a team manager, he allowed players to sneak out of the camp or roam about with women whilst other travelled. This guy is not serious at all.
3. Replace Shakava, Wellington and Joash with Oluoch and bring on board two new defenders that can defend well and are serious. This is due to easy crosses and goals being scored with clueless defenders that did not know why they are playing for Gor Mahia.
We also need to get one deadly lethal striker. At the same time, the coach also needs to promote our youthful players such as Alphy, Lokuam, Okiro etc sparingly into the mean team.
4. Coach Kerr to stop the nonsense of discriminating players. Guikan and Oluoch are the case to point out. Guikan scored beautiful goals against Yanga but the coach decided to drop him to the bench for better reasons known to him. Oluoch is far much better than Shakava in covering and defending.
5. Restructuring of the Executive Committee by dropping all the some members of the current bloated EC office and electing only chairman and two other officials. The club needs to be run like a company with board of directors whose clear mandate is to develop strategies and provide oversight roles while Management to execute the strategic objectives.
Gor Mahia should not be run and managed like a welfare society with too many useless busybodies such as what we are currently having like Nyangi, Ngala, Boro, Pesa, etc.
The club needs to be run like a company with board of directors, management (Excom), clear vision & mission, executable strategic plan, proper accountability, clearer mandates, performance contracts etc. I think this is both the CAF and FIFA requirements which Rachier and co have always ignored and do not want.
6. Fan and members days should be introduced to enable the well meaning fans to interact with the club management and players. This will also help the leaders to adopt and implement various input and suggestions from the fans on how best the team can be managed. This will also reduce cases of indiscipline and hooliganisms in the club.
I know its sad to crumble at the last moment but I think we should also apportion some blame to Oguda and Mwendwa coz they had an option of rescheduling some of the league games to allow the players some rest.
Guys, let’s stop all this whining and give the boys and the couch a part on the back for coming this far. Gor has been down for a long time. Surely, we couldn’t just bounce back into the international scene in a flash. The steady rise we have been witnessing is encouraging. From not being able to go beyond round one in international competitions to going to the brink of qualifying for the quarters. That is encouraging. We are still the KPL champions meaning we have another chance next year. So let us appreciate the players and couch and encourage them. I am surprised that some of us are, who only a few days ago were singing praises for coach Kerr, now think he is inept. That’s ludicrous. Coach Kerr has achieved what many coaches in Kogallo have never achieved since the golden errors of the 80s. We start showing ‘no love’ to Kerr like this, we gona make him take one of the many offers he’s been offered and leave this unappreciative club Kagere style. Kudos team Kubwa, Kudos Coach Kerr, Kudos players. You made us proud. We live to fight another day.
Very true bro, congratulations is enough, unaona wengine washaanza kupanga transfers na line ups hapa na hakuna football wanajua
I agree. Too much negativity all the time. If we take our stock, the team is actually doing well. The whining actually do nothing to support this team
I take this opportunity to congratulate the team for having had a wonderful season. There were mistakes in course of the season from which we can learn and plan better. Congrats TB, Congrats to all players and congrats to management
we are proud of you GMFC, next year proper planning will be key
We thank God for a good coach who brought us this far. Next year we will do better. Lets remain hopeful for better days…it hurts but may the peace of God flood all our souls..and bring healing. poleni and peace wanakogallo.
I refused and still refuse to believe that our boys dropped their guard on the eve of the Rayon match in Nairobi. That kind of behaviour has never been reported in K’Ogalo. Let us blame the Nairobi debacle on poor fielding. Odhonji’s performance, in particular is one reason why we are in today’s situation.
Looking at our performance in Algeria yesterday, I must say that the heat had a telling effect on the boys. At one time Blackberry had rolled up his shorts just because of the heat. Lack of mental alertness when USMA scored both of her goals was purely because of the heat. One positive is that USMA defence was always shaky every time we ventured into their third. Our Tech Bench should have exploited that by applying more wing play and there is where we needed swift players like Lawrence Juma, Samuel Onyango and Francis Mustafa to augment Blackberry and Kahata.
I think the Tech Bench should put all that disappointment behind them and prepare for Everton by fielding the crack squad that decimated Sofapaka and Efusi in our remaining six league matches. I hear they call themselves ‘Wakulima’. We should perfect on swifter, short passing ground ball. That is the kind of game that Blackberry, Kahata, Philemon and Lawrence are comfortable with. I agree with Jamigori’s appraisal of Joachim Oluoch. This is one defender that could be another forgotten gem like GK Fredrick Odhiambo.
On squad reinforcement, there is no point signing a foreigner who ends up warming the bench. I wish we could bring in Efusi’s Jaffery Owiti. This is one winger who could turn Jausenge and Mustafa into very lethal finishers. For GK, we could go for Philip Odhiambo of Nakumatt.
Hehe the coach is overrated? Just because of this loss? Methinks our let down was on goal keeping coupled with loss of key players midstream. Let’s be fair to the team rather than criticizing all over the place…eight teams dropped while eight others progressed to quarters, not too bad jameni
We need to appreciate where we have come from. 30 yrs ago we were no where until yesterday we lost in group matches. Serious lessons to be learnt.
1.We need to build two lethal teams for next year.. One playing in CAF competitions and another on local league.
2.Recruit more exposed players across the continent.
3 .Motivate players.
4 More prudent and professional management of the club.
5 .Avoid crowding matches like CeCafa when in contention of Caf Progressive games.
6.Avoid short termism attititudes like looking for easy money by releasing serious players like Walusimbi and Kagere midstream through tournaments.
Heart break is real at Kogallo…may God heal us all. its understandable. we dont give up..next time if we correct our mistakes we ll go further. However we need an influential fanbase to influence what goes on at the club eg player transfers..management etc can this be done…a fanbase with a strong voice?
Does the average Kenyan player have the right mentality and the necessary skill to play football. As to what I saw yesterday the answer is still a NO. The mentality in west, south, north is very different to what east africans display and Kenyans in particular are the weakest of the lot. Start with the Kenyan coach, these are the chief destroyers of Kenyan football. Look at the Kenya 17. The coach made assurances that Kenya would qualify for the caf under 17. Kenya was decimated by Uganda et Ethiopia. Look at the girls team, look at Harambee stars. Chronic failure! The moment these aspiring students get in touch with the so called kpl coach, they are doomed. By the time they get into international soccer you end up with what we saw in Algeria.
The other contributing factor to the Kenyan mess is Kenya referees. Kenyan players are weaned on poor tackling. Bythetime players get into the international arena they have difficulty in understanding referees interpretation of fouls. Gor players displayed poor tackling standards and at one time the ref even overlooked what could have been a penalty for USM.
But generally the Gor debacle was a failure of the coach. The coach is in charge of team tactics and mental preparation. Coach Kerr display in foreign land was just as poor as his players… I am totally surprised that he went to Algiers with a KPL mentality.
Let us also appreciate that the team scored in all the 3 away games. In fact they managed 5 away games. If they can improve on this and win all home matches, then next year we will perform better
*5 away goals
Dinga, I don’t think all is lost. We should take pride in our consistency. Once again our consistence, domestically, has made us a household name in Africa.
Do you remember Kadiogo, El Mereikh, Al Hillal, Asante Kotoko, Cannon Younde, Dragons Oumme, Entente, Iwanyunyu United, Mufulira Wanderers, Sports Club Villa, RAF, Zamalek, Hearts of Oak, Power Dynamos, Berec Power, Limbe Leaf, Horoya Conacry, Vital O, D.C. Motema Pembe?
Those are Gor Mahia’s peers. How many of them are still strong out there? We have the passion. However, what are not ready to do is to develop our soccer to the next level. This validates your point on our soccer rating below average in the continental arena.
Am proud of the team..this season they have sent me to dizzy heights.
Disappointed by the elimination but not downcast!!
Issorait issokay but let second 11 play the remaining 6 league matches for match fitness as we have nothing to loose. First 11 can go rest now till next season after Caf exit. On midfield dept of my beloved mayienga the players there Cannot…too slow and inneffective with poor control of the ball and lack of mobility. I think age is a big factor there. Engine ya team haina gas bro Ngesto hata wewe unamezea hiyo usikatae. Number 8 box to box midfielder to control the midfield and break opponents moves while initiating our very own going forward in quick transition like Baba Kizito…Khalid Aucho and Eric Ochieng Cantona used to is totallylacking hence the slow speed of our game. Defensive Midfield must also be versatile not commit endless fouls na haisaidii kupeleka mpira mbele. Duncan Otieno wa ingwe ndio anajua hii maneno and must be signed since Mbish Philemon has been rotated endlessly hata position yake current haijulikani..Coaches Kerr ako tu sawa majamaa tutulie. Muguna pia i hope was signed hiyo free role playmaker kwa game kubwa imeshinda Katchi i think Fatigue he needs a helper…
I am seeking the views of Dinga, Musymo, Le Pastre, JTGJ, Jamigori, J’Asego and Ogango Trailer on the following:
From yesterday’s game and coupled with the Rayon and Bandari matches, I feel that Wendo has not gained match fitness since his injury in Dar during CECAFA. He is slow and tackles mzima mzima. For this, Wendo and Mieno should not play together, especially in the first half. Both of them are slow and playing them together removes dynamism from the midfield. The end result is that the defence gets overloaded and overrun. Wendo should come in the second half when the opponent is tired and slow. Mieno needs a much faster defensive mifielder for him to show his magic. As we prepare for next year, we need to reinforce this department with a swifter, defensive ball player.
The brute force that Wendo uses cannot work in the continental scene. It is only good for accumulating yellow cards. One should try to recall who covered the midfield in all the matches that we have won since coming from CECAFA, including against Chemelil, Sofapaka and Efusi. In yesterday’s match, our defence tried. Joash and Momanyi really fought. Shakava was erratic, but impressed with a scorcher of a free kick. He should be giving more of that. Nobody anticipated the rebound and this was because of the heat.
In the past, Gor Mahia drew its strength from the midfield. A weak midfield means an overworked defence and minimal attacking opportunities. I hope that the arrival of Muguna and if we can rope in Duncan Otieno from Efusi and blend it with Philemon, Bernard Ondiek, Lawrence Juma and Mieno can restore reliability and stability.
As for the defence, I think a little tweaking will do. Shakava is erratic because he has no trust in those he is defending with. If we can deploy Joash to stand in for Onguso in the left and Momanyi with Shakava as centre halves then in the right we have Karim working with Wellington then this defence will also be stable. We should only cross borders for strikers and very good box-to-box midfielders.
I am sorry I omitted Joachim Oluoch in that central defence to work with Momanyi and Shakava.
My sincere apologies to Joachim ‘Jamanyata’.
Basically apart from two players in Phillemon et the goalkeeper, this team was unfit. USM had too much time with the ball. Of the 39% possession by Gor most balls were aimlessly kicked forward.
The team came to play for a draw despite Kerr claims that he was going for a win.
These are the players I would bench immidiately;
1. Momanyi and J.Onyango these two run alot but technically they are inept. J.Onyango concentration is poor and the second goal is basically a result of his poor show.Ibara et Yaya found numerous chances becoz of these two.
3. Mieno no impact. Left Shakava to perform his wrk.
4. Wendo is a serious cost to any defence. Once he gets his normal yellowcard, he henceforth has to play on tiptoe which is a serious leakage of power to the whole team.
5. Shakava technically inept. Easily forgets his job and is panicky. Leaves his department disorganized but quick to join attacks.
For those who have been with Gor for some time will remember the heartbreak of 2012 against Thika. For me looks like that heartbreak was the cornerstone on which our current successes was built. Since the 2012 heatbreak we have won the KPL trophy 5 out of 6 times. That means that the failure to reach the CAF quarters this time will be our motivation to do even better next year. It means we now know the sweetness of winning as well as the bitterness of losing in CAF.
As a year I think we have been very successful. Winning the league with 6 games to spare. Something we didn’t do even during the unbeaten run of 2015. We still have the Shield to win, go to Everton, Won the Hull Challenge, Won the Sportpesa Cup, won the charity cup, CECAFA third place. No team has done so much in Africa in one year. We have even played the most number of games and won most of them.
For our info even teams like Sundowns coud not proceed further and I believe with proper planning next year we will do wonders. And we have a wonderful coach and set of players.
Dylan Kerr: Why Gor Mahia failed to reach quarter-finals of Caf Confederation Cup
The Kenyan champions were in the pole position to qualify for the last sixteen as they went into the last Group D match at the top
Gor Mahia coach Dylan Kerr has singled out three reasons why his side did not make it to the quarters of Caf Confederation Cup.
The Kenyan champions were in the pole position to qualify for the last sixteen as they went into the last Group D match at the top with eight points, but lost 2-1 to USM Alger, who qualified alongside Rayon Sports of Rwanda.
Rayon Sports beat Young Africans (Yanga) by a solitary goal to finish second in the Group. The Briton coach has told Goal that losing to Rayon Sports in Kenya, the transfer saga surrounding Ugandan left back Godfrey Walusimbi and the congestion of fixtures, played a part in the team’s exit.
“Rayon Sports game at home cost us, the transfer involving Walusimbi didn’t help our case since I was forced to rejig a strong backline. The preparation was wrong and the biggest of them all was our fixtures that we have had to play in the past six weeks.”
Kerr has also admitted that his charges were not up to the task against USM Alger. “Against USM we didn’t keep the ball and work the team as I would have liked because that was my plan, we be patient but let them do the running.
“We were also playing against not only USM team but the officials, who gave nothing but cheating that the 4th official was the one, who instructed the referee to give the penalty that was saved by my keeper.”
Kerr says the team’s travel plans to Algeria also affected his tactics, as they only trained for fifteen minutes before the clash. “We did not have enough time to feel the pitch and our travel here was a major factor and not an excuse.
“What I had planned for Monday practice, I only had 15 minutes late Tuesday to apply it but when we arrived at the stadium the lights were not fully on, plus we were told the time of kick-off had changed.”
The Briton now says he is proud of his players for the wonderful run they posted in in the competition. “I am proud of how my players and the technical bench have tried. I am sorry we didn’t reach the quarters but I have always said that we were a year early but the experience was valuable.”
Gor Mahia will now turn their focus to winning the FKF Shield Cup where they are in the quarters and will face Kariobangi Sharks.
Coach Kerr we know all this. How do you plan to rectify thise weaknesses of having an erratic defence playing yuora nena bad football…only 1 reliable keeper… unstable midfield too slow and lacking any dynamism and blunt forward line?
The only coach I ever saw with such many excuses in Kenya was M.kheri.
This one is by Kerr is an award winner:
“What I had planned for Monday practice, I only had 15 minutes late Tuesday to apply it but when we arrived at the stadium the lights were not fully on, plus we were told the time of kick-off had changed.”
We have a right to mourn and vent our anger…..at the same time strategize on how to seal this year’s loopholes and strengthen the team for next year.
GoTv Shield
Sunday: Tusker vs Sofapaka (Machakos Stadium, 2 pm) LIVE on Y254, Gor Mahia vs Kariobangi Sharks (Machakos Stadium, 4.15 pm) LIVE on Y254.