Is Mathare United in danger of relegation?

Is the local football scene ready to cope with the relegation of Mathare United after two decades in the top flight?

Well, the 2008 Kenyan champions have been flirting with relegation throughout this season and with four games left to play, they are among the four teams in great danger of facing the chop come end of the season.

Mathare are placed 15th in the 18-team SportPesa Premier League table with 31 points, just six more than bottom-placed Muhoroni Youth - who have a game in hand.

Having won just six games out of 30, and with matches against Sofapaka and Posta Rangers still remaining on their path, the future continues to look bleak for Mathare, a team that has produced several top footballers over the years including Kenyan legend Dennis Oliech.

Coach Francis Kimanzi however remains unfazed by this, choosing to focus on the bigger picture, which is to nurture young players and shape their future.
The 41-year-old, ever so composed and confident, admits that the team is at a crucial point, but he told Nation Sport that it is a situation he anticipated at the beginning of the season.

“Every time you take a new job, you go into it expecting a different experience. When you are working with a team that has a good budget and experienced players, your goals will definitely be different from when you are working with a team like Mathare, whose primary aim is to nurture talent,” says the former Tusker and Harambee Stars coach.

“When I took this, I knew that I was about to start a new experience. I am happy when I see players coming out of the pitch with a new lesson and more experience, whether they win or lose.”

“At the moment, we are fighting for a good position on the league table because again, nobody wants to go down. We have some few games remaining and we shall keep trying to ensure we survive.”

Mathare’s woes stem from the fact that they lost nine key players at the beginning of the 2017 season, and replaced them with young, inexperienced aces.

The nine include award winning midfielder Eric Johanna, lanky defender Robinson Kamura, goalkeeper Robert Mboya, forward Obadiah Ndege and midfielder Eric Mata, all whom departed following the completion of their respective contracts.

Kimanzi, one of the most experienced tacticians in the country, was consequently left with the difficult task of rebuilding the team.

“Rebuilding a team is not an easy task. It is a difficult job, especially when you are doing so with young players. That has been the main challenge but we still have four games to play, meaning that there is still a chance of remaining on top.”