Exclusive: Bob Oyugi Explains Why Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards are Failing With Foreign Coaches

Former Gor Mahia coach Bob Oyugi has revealed why the club alongside their bitter rivals AFC Leopards are not being successful under foreign coaches in recent years.

The two Kenyans giants have already fired their respective coaches’ just nine matches into the 2024/25 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League table.

First it was the record Kenyan champions who terminated the contract of coach Leonardo Martins Neiva citing poor results with only six matches played. The Brazilian, who was hired at the start of the season, started off on a good note beating promoted outfit Mathare United 4-0 before hammering Posta Rangers 3-0.

His third match in charge of K'Ogalo saw a frustrating 0-0 draw against KCB before Neiva’s problems with Gor Mahia fans started in the fourth game. In the fixture against Nairobi City Stars, who were languishing at the bottom of the 18-team league table, Gor Mahia were stunned 2-1.

The outcome of the game saw K’Ogalo faithful invade the pitch baying for Neiva’s blood while a number of them called for his resignation. However, Neiva kept a brave face and stayed on to oversee the game against Muranga’s Seal which Gor Mahia struggled to earn a 2-2 draw.

Against Bandari in Mombasa, a disjointed Gor Mahia suffered a 2-0 defeat and it was the fixture which ended Neiva’s love affair with K’Ogalo. He was later shown the exit door with assistants Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno and Michael Nam being promoted to handle the side on an interim basis.

Otieno, who played for Gor Mahia and has coached them before, won his first game 2-0 against Kakamega Homeboyz, beat Mara Sugar 2-0 before losing 1-0 against Bidco United.

After Gor Mahia had fired Neiva, it was the turn of Ingwe to turn their guns on Tomas Trucha. The Czech tactician had overseen nine matches with the 2-1 away defeat against Shabana ending his reign at the Den.

He had beaten Mathare United 2-0 in the league opener, lost 1-0 against Posta Rangers, beat Bidco United 1-0, beat City Stars 2-1, drew 1-1 against Kariobangi Sharks, suffered two back-to-back defeats - 1-0 against Murang’a Seal and 2-0 against Ulinzi Stars – drew 1-1 against Mara Sugar before his final game ended in defeat against Tore Bobe at Gusii Stadium.

Kenyan Clubs Hiring Tourists in the Name of Coaches

According to Oyugi, who guided Gor Mahia to the Kenyan Premier League title in 1993, the two clubs don’t follow correct procedures when hiring foreign coaches insisting they go for their services simply because of the colour.

“Kenyan clubs including Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards always go for colour (as long as he is a foreign coach), they always want colour and forget their local coaches can do the job, they pick tourists from top hotels in the country and make them coaches but no procedure is followed when hiring them,” a tough talking Oyugi told SportsBoom.co.za in an exclusive interview.

“As long as the ‘tourist’ shows up for the unveiling ceremony wearing a tracksuit, the two clubs get satisfied that they are indeed hiring qualified coaches and they end up giving them jobs. They don’t even do enough research to know where the coaches have worked previously and what their qualifications are.”

Oyugi continued: “Unfortunately we don’t know how most of this coaches get their jobs. For example, have you ever seen anywhere where Gor Mahia or even AFC Leopards advertise for the coaching job when it falls vacant? Show me when the two clubs did so. They only tell us 35 or a huge number of coaches have applied for the role without giving any further details.”

Oyugi took a swipe at the clubs for not following correct criteria when hiring coaches. “What is the criteria of employing a coach?” Oyugi posed a question. “The job must be advertised, that is the first and very important criteria that these clubs must be made to know.

“The advertisement should be out there for everyone to see. If possible they should have it advertised in local newspapers and online platforms. Secondly coaches shortlisted from the pool must go through thorough vetting, the coaches must be interviewed and dropped one by one before getting the best out of the group.”

Oyugi further wondered why foreign coaches were being employed in the country without the involvement of the government. “The clubs should involve the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Sports and Culture and the Ministry Immigration. Those three Ministries are very crucial.

"If you employ a foreign coach, the Ministry of Labour should know because of the salary wage, same thing with the Ministry of Sports because they are in charge of the game in the country. The Immigration department is very critical because they will be in a position to know what kind of a coach a club is employing.”

However, Oyugi, who is the secretary general of Kenya Football Coaches Association (KEFOCA) posed a question. “Have you ever seen Kenyan clubs involving the aforementioned when hiring coaches? We only see on the news that club A has hired a foreign coach from Germany, and club B has brought on board a coach from Turkey etc. That is not what should happen.”

After parting ways with Trucha, Ingwe trusted Fred Ambani with the job on an interim basis. The ex-international has overseen two matches - beating Kenya Police 1-0 before drawing 1-1 against Kakamega Homeboyz.