Gor Boss Kerr Hails Players' Resilience As Rangers Loom

NAIROBI, Kenya- SportPesa Premier League (SPL) champions, Gor Mahia FC head coach Dylan Kerr has paid tribute to his players for registering resounding performances in face of a back-breaking fixtures pile up.

Gor brushed aside perennial rivals AFC Leopards SC 2-1 during the 83rd ‘Mashemeji (In Laws) Derby last Sunday to go 12 points clear at the summit of the league with 52 as they played their 11th game in a month, an average of a game every 2.72 days.

K’Ogalo are in action on Wednesday in the SportPesa Shield Cup against another local top flight side, Posta Rangers FC before travelling to Tanzania for their CAF Confederations Cup return clash against Yanga SC on Sunday.

Speaking to journalists while accepting his second Fidelity Insurance/Sports Journalist Association of Kenya (SJAK) Coach of the Month Award for the season on Tuesday, the amiable Briton also hailed Gor fans for playing their part in keeping the team motivated.

“I would like to dedicate this award to the supporters, because I can barely walk through the streets of Nairobi, without them greeting me and wanting me to do well with Gor Mahia, I might as well abandon football,” said Kerr.

With fixtures coming thick and fast for the record 16-time league winners, Kerr maintained he would uphold his squad rotation policy that has seen the bulk of his team get playing time as they pursue the domestic double and continental glory.

“I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the players training behind me and the ones that are at home resting after their tough game against Leopards on Sunday,” Kerr said at their Camp Toyoyo training ground in Nairobi.

Good problem

“It’s tough because some players are playing a lot of games while some are sat on the bench and others are not in the squad.

 “It is a good problem that I have but I can’t keep everybody happy, a lot of players want to play and tomorrow you will see a different team that plays against Rangers, which is no disrespect to them,” the former Simba SC head coach underscored.

Rangers stand in the way of Gor and the quarterfinals of the Shield with the match set for Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani where they have won their last two games, the 4-0 mauling of Yanga in the Confed Cup last Wednesday before sinking Leopards.

Gor are seeking their first domestic cup since 2012 as they seek a record setting 11th crown having seen their previous best matched by holders Leopards who won it last year, beating Kariobangi Sharks FC 2-0 in the final.

Kerr bagged the Coach of the Month gong for June on Tuesday, having won his first in September 2017 when he led his side to reclaim the SPL title from Tusker FC to extend their domestic record to 16.

During the month under review, K’Ogalo won five SPL games in a row, thrashing newcomers Wazito FC 4-0 (June 13), Nzoia Sugar FC 3-1 (June 17), 2010 champions Ulinzi Stars FC 2-0 (June 23), hammered Rangers 5-0 (June 26) before rounding off by edging bitter rivals Sony Sugar FC 1-0 (June 29).

Away from domestic duties, Kerr, the retired defender who played for former English Premier League side, Sheffield Wednesday FC, Leeds United FC and Reading FC, also led the SPL winners to their second SportPesa Super Cup crown when they outclassed his former employers, Simba SC 2-0 at the Afraha Stadium, Nakuru on June 10.

Kerr succeeded former Brazil international, Jose Marcelo ‘Ze Maria’ Ferreira in the K’Ogalo hot seat in June last year where he led the team to the domestic crown where the team lost only once, a 0-1 reverse to Mathare United FC as they finished 19 points ahead of runner-ups, Sofapaka FC.

The Malta-born coach, 51, became the third coach from the United Kingdom to lead Gor to the league crown this decade following in the footsteps Scotsmen Bobby Williamson (2013/14) and Frank Nutall (2015).