Why young, promising players don’t thrive at Gor Mahia

The recent exit of talented youngster Dickson “Agwambo” Raila from 19-time Kenyan champions Gor Mahia has put to question the place of youngsters in the club.

Raila, 19, joined Gor on a four-year contract in September 2020 from the Kisumu County League side Masawa FC, where he had starred by scoring 18 goals.

But the attacker was in March forced to cut short his stay at K’Ogalo after failing to feature in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) match for the club.

From Gor, he joined National Super League (NSL) side Migori Youth on a one-year contract. Raila blames his short stay at the 19 time champions to the high turnover of coaches.

“I had a lot of expectations after joining Gor Mahia. I was hoping for a bright future but things changed for worse after Steven Polack and Roberto Oliveira left. Vaz Pinto preferred other regular strikers,” said Raila.

“Had Oliveira stayed, today I would still be at Gor. He kept encouraging me to work hard and assured me that I would play in the league. It is sad that he didn’t take charge of any league match.”

Promising Benson Omala, who was signed from Western Stima, is due to join Swedish Division One side FC Linkoping City on a nine-month deal. Omala, 18, was recruited while still in Form Four at Kisumu Day and has since sat his Form Four exams.

The script is almost similar for strikers Dennis Oalo, 25, and Clinton Okoth, whom Gor roped in after starring for their respective clubs in the NSL.

Having won the 2018/2019 NSL Golden Boot award after hitting 24 goals, Oalo, who was then turning out for Nairobi Stima, was snapped up by Gor on a three-year contract.

But he returned to Stima on loan in February 2020 in order to avoid a dip in form due to lack of enough playing time.

At K’Ogalo, the short and burly attacker started only one league game- a 1-0 win over Wazito. In the other few matches that he played in, the former Kisumu All Stars man was introduced towards the end.

“It was a big reprieve when I returned to Stima because I started playing, unlike at Gor Mahia where I would train but remain on the bench,” said Oalo, who now turns out for Posta Rangers.

Okoth joined Gor on a two-year contract at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season from Migori, where he was the top scorer with 14 goals. However, he found the going tough as he rarely featured for the KPL giants, and opted to join Wazito in November 2020 on a two-year deal.

The lanky attacker is now on loan at Bidco United.

While Gor’s long serving team manager Jolawi Obondo declined to shed light on why most youngsters find the going tough at the club, former CEO Lordvick Aduda solely blamed it on the demand for immediate results by the officials.

“The main reason why the younger players, who are either integrated from the youth team or brought from other teams struggle, is because of the pressure for results. If you were a coach, would you bench Francis Kahata, Meddie Kagere or even Jacques Tuyisenge for a youngster in a competitive match?,” posed Aduda, who is still involved in the running of the club.

“Most of the coaches are yearning for trophies and cannot risk to field inexperienced players in competitive matches. Integrating young players into the senior team has been going on at Gor, only that they are always taken on loan,” he added.

Former Gor tactician and certified coach instructor, Bob Oyugi, blamed the problem on over recruitment of players without involving the coaching team.

“When I joined Gor Mahia (in 1992), I found 36 players and I had to trim to 24 to create healthy competition. Gor should have a criteria for recruiting players where it is done on purpose and upon the request of the coaching team. Not what is happening today where players are brought without the coaching team’s recommendation. That is why most of them end up not being used,” said Oyugi.

He added: “Limiting the number of players they recruit from other clubs will give room to those in the youth team to get opportunity in the senior team.”

In the August- October 2020 transfer window, Gor was among the most active clubs in the FKF-PL, bringing on board 14 players.

Cliff Nyakeya, Amos Nondi and Alphonce Omija are some of the recent Gor’s Youth team products, who after failing to break into the senior team, joined other clubs, where they are now doing well.

After impressing at Mathare United, winger Nyakeya, 26, was snapped up by Egyptian Premier League side Masr in 2019.

He has also become a regular in the national team and was instrumental in Kenya’s clashes against Egypt and Comoros in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Midfielder Nondi, 22, plies his trade for FC Dila Gori in the Georgian League, while defender Omija, 18, turns out for Kariobangi Sharks.

“At Sharks, there is no position reserved for an individual. You have to fight for it, unlike in Gor where those who have the ear of the technical bench and are veterans are given priority. I thank God for the time I had there,” said Omija, who joined Sharks last season.

Soon after his election as new Gor Secretary General in August last year, Sam Ocholla promised to put in place mechanisms which will ensure smooth transition of players from the youth team to the senior team.