Skip to main content

THE END OF AN ERA

It was Saturday the 8th, February when the green army in full party mood and attire painted the Narok Stadium green. Sofapaka FC was the home side but Gor Mahia fans, as always, outnumbered their host ten to one. It should have been a routine Gor Mahia victory. No Gor Mahia fan or anybody for that matter can recall the last time the club christened "The Government" lost to Sofapaka. Gor Mahai fans were already looking past this fixture. according to them, the three points were already in the bag. Except, at the final whistle it was the handful of Sofapaka fans who were celebrating. Gor Mahia did not know what hit them.
In the end, it was a comfortable victory for the "Batoto Ba Mungu". And so emphatic it was that the usually humble John Baraza, the soft spoken Sofapaka coach, said it would be impossible for Gor Mahia to beat them again. Gor Mahia were outfought and outclassed in every way. Gor Mahia have lost matches but not like this. They looked like headless chicken running around, chasing shadows and even when they had the ball, they didn't look like they could score. By the 60th minute it was Gor Mahia trailing by three goals, and praying for the final whistle to come. There was no chance for a comeback. The only obvious prospect was for the thrashing to get worse. It looked like it was about to get uglier and ugly it was. No one has ever seen Gor Mahia look so poor against local opposition in recent times. What had just happened?
Many people were surprised at the scoreline but it was a long time coming. It was only a matter of time before Gor Mahia arrogance and self delusion caught up with them. It all started with the sacking of Dylan Kerr in 2018. It was a poor decision to let go of him. Dylan Kerr had his shortcomings but he had Gor Mahia playing brilliant football and scoring loads of goals. It was he that got an average Gor Mahia side into the group stage of a continental competition for the first time in ages. But they dispensed with him. Now the chicken are coming home to roost.
More poor decisions followed. Tuyisenge, the clubs all time leading goalscorrer, still in his prime, was sold for peanuts to an Angolan Club. More exists by important players followed. Kahata, Afriye and George Odhiambo. Club captains kept ditching the club following the footsteps of Musa Mohamed with no adequate replacements. Amidst all these crisis, the club chairman decided it was the right time to announce his retirement that would no be coming until the end of the season. Sponsorship was lost and so was the cash that came with it. The club was plunged into  terrible crisis, unable to pay her players and coach. With no end in sight, it is not difficult to see why John Baraza was so confident that he'll never lose to Gor Mahia again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

20 LINGALA WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW THEIR MEANINGS

Over the last couple of decades the Lingala language has gained and continues to gain unprecedented popularity in Kenya . Many Kenyans now can speak fluent Lingala. Some even sing in the langauge! I'm talking about Papa Fololo, Igwe Prezda Bandasson, Awilo Mike of Jamnazi Africa and Fofona Bangali to mention but a few. Part of the reason for this popularity is: Lingala is easy to learn especially for Swahili speakers (For Lingala-Swahili similarities, click here ). I mean, it is ridiculously easy. So easy, in fact, it takes just a few months. I'm not talking about the Lingala you hear in songs that's bedeviled with iterations of Lingalized French (Hahah, what does that even mean?). I'm talking about Lingala in its purest form here, the one not polluted with foreign languages. Another reason for Lingala's growing popularity in Kenya is down to how it pervades our popular rumba songs and radio stations. For the average Kenyan, not a day passes without hearing at leas...
91 comments
Read more

TEN LUO WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW THEIR MEANING

 Luo language is a group of closely related languages spoken by River-Lake Nilotes, who trace their origin in the area we today call Republic of South Sudan. The language calls itself "Dholuo" or "Lep Luo" in other dialects and is spoken by the Acholi of Uganda, Luo of Kenya, Jopadhola, Lango, Alur among other tribes. We have painstakingly compiled a list of some Luo words which we think you've most probably come across while listening to luo content and would like to know what they actually mean. Let's get right into it, shall we? 1. Hera - Hera means love. It is both a noun and a verb. It is the first Luo word that anybody interested in learning the language usually encounters. From album titles, song titles to baby names and pet names, it pervades everything. Hera remo, hera mwandu, hera bungu, hera mudho and hera apilo are all music titles by various luo artistes. Hero remo translates to "love is blood" (the word "is" or its Luo eq...
Post a Comment
Read more

TOP 5 LUO BENGA SONGS AND MUSICIANS OF ALL TIME

Luo benga is a crowded scene. It is a boiling pot teeming with hundreds of artistes, both dead and alive, young and old, male and female jostling for space in this very competitive music world.We have legends like the late George Ramogi, the late Owino Misiani (also known as DO Misiani), The late Okatch Biggy, the late Prince July, the late Prince Kassam, the late Omondi Tony, the late Kollela Maze, The late Kodiyo, to sample but a few. We also have an emerging crop of young talents like Dolla Kabarry, George Dume, Otieno Small, Kamaliza Majengo, Aluoch Jamaranda, Reggie Kabaselle  (son of the late Ochieng Kabaselleh ), Aluoch Jipanoran, Ogina KoKo, Omondi Longlilo, and the old guards like Jerry Jalamo Ka'John  and Osito Kalle to mention but a few. We cannot all agree who is the best and I am not going to impose my choices on you. But we can agree that from the long list of Benga artists in Luoland a few names stand out and a few songs stand out from the bunch like giraffe in...
24 comments
Read more