AFC will surely catch up with K’Ogalo soon

Leopards fans follow proceedings during a past match. AFC will surely catch up with K’Ogalo soon. PHOTO/FILE

What you need to know:

  • Locally, all Ingwe fans must applaud Sofapaka for ending Tusker’s unbeaten run in the Kenya Premier League. Nobody had given Batoto ba Mungu a chance going into the match, after being trounced by the brewers a week earlier.
  • We risk finding ourselves in a similar situation if we do not sort out the coaching within the shortest possible time. The next five matches will go a long way in determining whether or not we will challenge for the title this season.

A football pundit recently commented that Chelsea’s laboured 1-0 victory over a ten-man Swansea the other weekend was music to the ears of Manchester City’s fans.

Not that the Citizens love the Blues  but because victory for the Londoners kept Man City within striking distance of EPL leaders and title favourites Liverpool and would thus give them motivation to beat the Reds when the two sides meet next weekend.

Locally, all Ingwe fans must applaud Sofapaka for ending Tusker’s unbeaten run in the Kenya Premier League. Nobody had given Batoto ba Mungu a chance going into the match, after being trounced by the brewers a week earlier.

It is not that we at the den love Sofapaka that much; far from it. We only hail Elly Kalekwa’s men for scuttling Tusker’s bid to build a ten-point lead over Leopards which from experience would almost be impossible to bridge.

NOISY NEIGHBOURS

If anything, one of the reasons our noisy neighbours beat us to the league title last season is because we expended a lot of energies, both physically and emotionally, trying to play catch up after a poor start to the season.

We risk finding ourselves in a similar situation if we do not sort out the coaching within the shortest possible time. The next five matches will go a long way in determining whether or not we will challenge for the title this season.

The coming fixtures - against Mathare United on Wednesday, followed by Tusker, then Thika United, Western Stima and finally our noisy neighbours later next month - are all must win for Ingwe. There will be no margin for error.

One hopes that Ingwe’s leadership will have picked a new coach by the time we play Mathare. The good news is that the two captains, Martin Imbalambala and Allan Wanga, as well as first choice goalkeeper Wycliffe Kasaya, are back in training and could possibly feature against Mathare United. I am also reliably informed that striker Noah Wafula is on his way to full fitness.

Besides tactical deficiencies, we must appreciate that the reason why we have been firing blanks in recent matches is due to the absence of these key players.

I am not suggesting by any chance that the guys who have been standing in for them, especially goalkeeper Martin Musalia, are weak. If anything, Musalia has let in only one goal in Kasaya’s absence.

For the time being, K’Ogalo can shout on the streets as much as they wish, but I can assure them we will catch up with them sooner than later. I must remind Osanjo and his ilk of the Lugisu saying that however much they try, the buttocks will always remain behind. And so will our noisy neighbours.