Report from Flashscore
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League champions Gor Mahia have appointed Sinisa Mihic as their new head coach for the rest of the season.
A statement from the club, as seen by Flashscore, confirmed the arrival of the tactician, who holds a UEFA Pro License and coached in Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
“We are pleased to announce Sinisa (Mihic) from Croatia as our new head coach; to be assisted by Zedekiah 'Zico' Otieno and Michael Nam. Welcome to Gor Mahia coach Sinisa,” read a statement from the record Kenyan champions.
Mihic comes in to replace Leonardo Martins Neiva, who was fired at the start of the 2024/25 season after only overseeing six matches. The Brazilian had arrived at K’Ogalo at the start of the new campaign replacing Johnathan McKinstry, who had stepped down at the closing stages of last season, to take up the vacant role as the head coach of the Gambia national team.
Neiva’s first task with K’Ogalo took him to Tanzania for the CECAFA Kagame Cup in July where they failed to go past the group stage of the regional tournament. Gor Mahia lost their Group B opener 1-0 against Zambia champions Red Arrows, drew 1-1 against minnows Djibouti Telekom before suffering a 2-0 defeat against Sudanese side Al Hilal to exit without winning a single game.
Mihic with his two assistants
Mihic with his two assistantsGor Mahia Media
The next assignment took Martins Neiva and Gor Mahia to the CAF Champions League where they were drawn to face El Merreikh of South Sudan in the first preliminary round. K’Ogalo lost the first leg 1-0 in Juba but returned home to hammer the visiting side 5-1 to qualify on a 5-2 aggregate win.
However, in the second round, they were pitted against defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt. Gor Mahia started at home losing 3-0 and despite Martins Neiva remaining confident of overturning the result in Cairo, they suffered another 3-0 defeat to exit the stage at the second round with a 6-0 aggregate scoreline.
He was later fired after only overseeing six matches in the league.
Mihic arrives at a time when Gor Mahia are sitting third on the 18-team league table with 31 points from 18 matches. They managed 11 wins, four draws, suffered four defeats and are six points behind joint table leaders Kenya Police FC and Tusker.
Mihic’s arrival draws mixed reactions from Gor fans
Gor Mahia fans revealed different opinions on the decision by the club to hire Mihic, who will be assisted by Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno and Michael Nam.
According to Josh Champion, Gor Mahia should stop being obsessed with foreign coaches and trust local coaches to do the job. “Gor Mahia’s obsession with foreign coaches is out of this world. They need to give the job to local coaches,” he said while Genga Silas echoed his sentiments by: “No need for foreign coaches, let us promote our own.”
Dolph Ogutu said: “Gor Mahia, you cannot perform without foreign coaches? You are undermining yourself, let’s promote local coaches,” while Brayoh Wah Mavelah posed a question: “Why must Gor Mahia trust foreign gaffers to be always coaching this club? You mean our homegrown gaffers can’t deliver impressive results? Have we ever heard foreign clubs poaching our local gaffers?”
Lameck Otieno called on Mihic to take Gor Mahia to where they belong: “He better take us back to the top where we belong, the current Gor Mahia is a joke,” while Roney Odhiambo warned Mihic: “With ‘Zico’ as his assistant, this one will be sacked in two weeks’ time.”
According to Steve Noel, the appointment of Mihic is a welcome move because he will guide Gor Mahia to the league title. “Now we must win the league, that's where we belong,” he quipped.
“This is another tourist unveiled,” opined Jack Owitti Owang while Billy Gilmour stayed positive by saying: “Let the work begin usually we aren’t performing nowadays like before hope he’ll help us get back to our form.”