Coach Pollack troubled by Gor exodus

Gor Mahia FC head coach Steve Pollack says watching his most experienced players depart the club amid its financial troubles has given him ‘headache’ with vice-captain Joash Onyango the latest to hit the exit door.

The club announced on Monday that Onyango would join Tanzanian champions Simba and follows another move across the border after goalkeeper David Mapigano sealed his switch to Simba rivals Azam.

Fredrick Peter Odhiambo alongside lethal striker Boniface Omndi have also joined moneybags Wazito FC while it is understood captain Kenneth Muguna is pushing for a transfer.

“It is painful indeed losing these players but they are not to blame. They have families and would want to care for them. Money is a well known problem affecting many Kenyan teams. We will just rebuild from where we are left after their departure,’’ said Pollack.

Another key player leaving Gor is speedy winger Dickson Ambundo who is reportedly headed back to his Tanzanian homeland.

With the new office barely a week old after last weekend’s club elections, it is faced with the task of rebuilding the team.

“We cannot be selfish. I want to wish all of them well. The fact that teams are scrambling for players from Gor is an indication of how good we are in the region. We are proud of ourselves as a team,” he said.

Pollack says in the next ten days, if things go well, they will be in the process of identifying and recruiting replacements for the players who have decamped to other clubs. He says from his experience, a team can still rebuild easily and get back to its feet.

This is even as a section of fans are bitter with the exodus citing it a big loss to the club. What we wait to see is what the new office will be capable of doing under the stewardship of long serving chairman Ambrose Rachier who was elected unopposed.

The bid question is, ‘’why Gor?’’. Other Kenyan Premier League teams are not experiencing mass exodus as is Gor. The head coach says they will rebuild yes, but how long will it take the club and the new recruits to get the experience required at the continental level? , let alone the local level.

Should the decision of FKF to declare them season’s champions stand, they will then represent the country at the CAF Champions League , which indeed requires experience.