Rodriguez saga still not over
Courtesy of EA Standard
The Giovanni Rodriguez saga is not about to end any time soon. Even as Gor Mahia coach Zradvko Logarusic disdainfully dismissed the Brazilian as too unfit and overweight to join the ‘Green Army’ stable, a section of the club executive is uncomfortable with his abrasive assessment of the player and public pronouncements.
Gor Mahia chairman, Ambrose Rachier, took a middle ground, but was emphatic that a final decision will be made by the executive at a meeting early next week.
“We have his detailed records of video and resume from the Brazilian federation. The player has been keen to join us for the past two years and when he came here for trials, at his own expense, we thought we should give him a chance,” said Rachier.
Prove himself
“He has confessed that due to a lay-off, he is overweight, but he wants to regain his fitness. Although the coach has the final say on matters to do with fitness and talent, we need to give the player a chance to prove himself,” he added.
“As the chairman, I have not been briefed on the matter. I am just reading comments by the coach in the Press, which is out of order. We will sit down with the coach and other members of the technical bench to make the final decision,” he said.
“The coach is not the spokesman of the club. Matters of decorum and protocol were broken, but we understand that the coach comes from a different culture where coaches are managers and therefore assume the role of spokesmen,” he said.
The issue has reportedly divided the club down the middle, but Rachier sought to downplay this as “people who have divergent opinion on club management.”
Some fans are accusing the coach of vendetta against the Brazilian, and of feeling the player may take attention from him.
“It is the duty of coaches to protect players, such that even if he cannot pass the fitness test, a way would be found to describe the situation in a better way,” said a fan.
The Brazilian’s agent also weighed in with a resolute defence of his player.
Bernard Opondo, who brought Rodriguez to Nairobi through a Brazillian contact, insists the player has a two-year contract, which must be honoured by Gor.
He also defended his client against claims that he is unfit to play for Gor.
“Rodriguez is a professional player. He had a season long lay-off and was only practicing in the gymnasium which saw him add weight. With proper practice he is going to go back to his normal weight,” said Opondo.
He claimed the player trained under respected Brazillian coach Gebran Araujo, who also handled famous Brazillian midfielder Ronaldinho Gaucho.
Opondo claimed Logarusic was being used by a section of officials in the club to discredit his player.
“I have seen his training with Gor and he is a fantastic dribbler and therefore I am convinced that the latest outburst by Logarusic can only be incitement from some officials in the club,” added agent.
On Wednesday, Logarusic confirmed they have no space for the Brazillian team saying the player also has some personal issues to sort out back home.
“After watching the player in the last one week, it is our opinion as the technical bench that he will not fit in our system. He needs time to work on his fitness before we make any decision,” coach added.
i am saddened by the lackadaisical approach that most people, including the EC of the club, are dealing with this football waiganjo. mr rachier, you have to know that gor mahia is not a dumping ground for football frauds. if the coach and the tc have made up their minds that that brazilian is not fit to play, that is it. period. do you want to keep him to continue his tourist activities at the club’s expense? no way. picture this: this is the highest paid player not just in the club but probably in the country. he shall not be doing duty for the club. while the lowly paid players shall be playing 4 the club, this fat cow shall be busy putting on his weight with more chicken, chips and hamburgers. that is absurd. by doing that, the club would be formenting trouble from the playing unit. why would we keep that baggage? unless of course someone in the ec conspired with other frauds to swindle the club’s little resources. not every brazilian is a football genius. this fraud’s case is clear-cut. in fact, given that the coach was never consulted before this fraud was visited on the club is a pointer to the fact that the ec is busy playing games with the club. my advice is simple: pack that fraudster to the first plane back to his native brazil. let his try his hand in the neighboring countries like argentina. he thought that his fraudulent intent could not be deciphered in kenya coz it is far off from brazil. and by the way, videos are history: they do not play. it is the rodriguez that plays. if he cannot play, we cannot hold onto him because he looks fantastic on the videos. we have former great players who still look great on the videos: tobias ocholla, peter dawo, zico, sammy onyango jogoo et cetera. however, we cannot claim we intend to sign these people because they still look great in the videos. they have metamorphosed into another level: that of former players. however great thuis rodriguez guy looks on those videos, it is immaterial. that dude is not a player and the club cannot be a fattening ground for him. if he chooses to stay around, let this banard opondo guy keep him as the tourist that he is, not a gor mahia footballer. let them show him maasai mara, nairobi national park, the impala sanctuary in kisumu, and even kanyamwa: gor mahia’s spiritual cradle land. sorry mr fraud but i had to say this as painfully as it is. do not visit your calamity on us. let the ec and the opondos who brought you here take you back where they brought you from. bye. i hope some good portuguese translation will be done for this text so that rodriguez can understand
RACHIER’S COMMENTS ALSO LACK MERIT
I am also sadenned by the comments made by the chairman concerning the suitability of Giovanni Rodriquez.
On one hand, coach Logarusic is the head of Gor Mahia technical team. One of his roles as a coach is to recommend to the EC who should bought after trials. During the trials, coaches access the fitness , skills and whether the player has mastered the pattern of play adopted by the club. On this case, comrade Giovanni, according to the coach, has not passed the fitness test.
On the other hand, there is the EC headed by AR. They are the top decision organ of the club. In most cases, they act on the recommendations provided by the technical team. The power to hire therefore does not rest solely with the EC.
I am however optimistic an amicable decision will be reached today when the EC meet to deliberate on the matter. Fans must at this moment desist from making reckless comments that may jeopardize the talks. It is also disturbing to liken the on going debate on whether Giovanni be recruited or not with the on- going drama at the police department. An imposter is quite different with what Giovanni is. He was brought by an agent and must be given time to prove his worth.
We are a club guided by rules. The chairman must be in the forefront to respect and adere to the constitution of the club. This is only way we move forward as a club. As for the fans, let us wait the decision of the EC before we criticise some of these decisions either made by the EC or Technical team.
Very sad that the chairman should even give a semblance of support for a supposed footballer? I watched the you tube video severally and I see no relationship with the lad that showed up at Kogalo offices and was hurriedly given a contract even before fitness assessment and medical. And who is Opondo? Another impostor sent to ruin Gor’s path to recovery. Never! We shall not accept. Lets all say no!!
MAE GOR,sober supporters of this club now know understand what people mean when they say SAMAKI HUOZA KUTOKA KICHWANI.we have to call a spade a spade and thats what our coach is doing.what rachier and his clique are doing is daydreaming.even a school team cannot hire such a fraudster and wait for him to regain fitness to help them win zonal matches.the truth be told ,most members of the exeutive commitee are wannabe politicians who are cooling their heels at the helm of the club while positioning themselves for political office.we have to be honest and tell rachier and his ilk that don’t lie to me to make me feel better, i can handle the truth i can’t handle the lies.WAIGANJO WAS THE OFFICE PROJECT THAT BACKFIRED BADLY.gor mahia is bigger than any individual and we should not allow mediocrity to prevent us from reaching the levels that the likes of esperance and zamalek are now at.
2BAD OPONDO IS ABROKER WHO WAS OUT 2BROKE GM BUT HE HAS FAILD,WHY COULDNT COACH REJECT EMUGE IF ITS SO 2 SAY.
It is now clear to all and sundry that this whole saga had the blessing of the chairman! He okayed the move and should not hide his innocense to the fact that he has been reading about it in the press. This is a lame excuse and a big shame on his part. It shows he is not responsible and above all, not in control of the Club.
GM 1-MY 1 second half
I support the coach’s decision. Last year, our success was due to non-interference by the EC. The TB was given enough time & we saw the fruits. We expect the same this year. Many players came for trials at Gor not only Rdrgz and not all were signed, so Rdrgz is not special. Please please let’s respect the decision of the coach. Must Rdrgz stay at Gor?
What the chairmain is doing is clearly interfering with the coach/technical bench. I want to give you a broader picture of your work place – if the CEO is good, he cannot dictate to managers on who to work with but he can only give a few ideas for betterment of the company. I thought when you are told to give certain results, it is you who knows the resources you require. Any interference makes you not to be directly responsible for the results.
What I’m saying is brief is that as long as the buck stops with the coach as far as the results are concerned let EC leave him do his work where as they focus on how to get sponsors and other soources of revenue for the club & new ideas to make the club better. This duplicity of roles will take us back.
Ninyi watu mwalalamika sana! Shida yenu ni nini? Must some people comment on everything? I’m sure some of these gentlemen criticising Mr. Chair can’t even manage an estate team. Some are failures at their work place. Kelele na panganga ndio zao.. Nyef nyef nyef… Be good listeners, jifunzeni kufungo mdomo.
I just don’t get you. What are you trying to say? Is it not a fact that this guy cannot get even a second team place in Gor? Where in the world was an unfit ‘professional’ signed? Why are players subjected to medical examination prior to any signatures? Do we measure success in work places by how much rot we are able to sweep under the carpet?
What is very evident here is that the men hired by GM to manage the team technically feel that Rdrgz has no place in GM. Chairman Rachier that is the reality you must accept to live with and if you insist then come clear on what you are keeping him for. We thought he could be our ball boy but we have since been informed that he does not fit the bill. So? You want to make him Gor Mahia mascot? I wont mind him being our mascot, but then he would be a very expensive mascot. KES 150,000/-? I hope my comment is not nyef nyef.
From what am hearing am seeing the coach either threatenig to lave or may decide not to play the player why not leave the coach to his work?
I think the best thing is to let the Admin do their work. We elected them to do it. How much do we know of what we read here? This is how a mountain is built from an ant hill. From experienc some people go by hear say then they take the law onto their hands. See the way it was done in the political nominations. We don’t want that in Gor. The issue that it must always go our way as fans must be descarded. Why have an office when everybody wants their demands to be implemented. Those criticizing the Chair must know that running gor can be as difficult as running a political outfit. At times you make decisions which are unpopular with the masses. After all the Chair knows some things we don’t know