Bandari appoint new head coach
What you need to know:
- According to Osero, Bandari could not appoint another coach until the club cleared with Mwalala.
- “We had a running contract with Mwalala which we had to clear before we could enter into an agreement with another coach. We have now settled on Mwalala’s dues in full the good reason we can now confirm Odhiambo as our new head coach”, Osero. who is also KPA head of corporate affairs said.
Kennedy Odhiambo’s long wait to be made the Bandari Football Club head coach again is finally over.
Odhiambo, who returned to the country over a month ago and had been linked with the club which he left for a coach training stint in Sudan three years ago, was finally given back the job on Monday.
He takes over from stand-in coach Twahir Muhidin, who was hired following the suspension of Bernard Mwalala in January.
Odhiambo, a former Kenya full back who rose to become Nairobi City Stars and Harambee Stars assistant coach before joining Bandari, is among a five coaches who were being considered by Bandari, to replace Mwalala, according to Bandari FC vice chairperson Bernard Osero.
According to Osero, Bandari could not appoint another coach until the club cleared with Mwalala.
“We had a running contract with Mwalala which we had to clear before we could enter into an agreement with another coach. We have now settled on Mwalala’s dues in full the good reason we can now confirm Odhiambo as our new head coach”, Osero. who is also KPA head of corporate affairs said.
Proposed Mwalala
Incidentally, it is Odhiambo who proposed Mwalala, then Nzoia Sugar coach, to take over from him when he was leaving the club for Sudan in 2016.
Odhiambo joined Bandari in 2015 as assistant to then head coach Paul Nkata, who was later sacked after the team’s performance nosedived a year later. Odhiambo was consequently elevated to the head coach position.
The youthful coach immediately embarked on a recruitment drive across the coast region bringing on board young but talented players who immediately changed the team’s fortunes helping Bandari to finish in a respectable position eight in his first season with the club.
Bandari then finished second in the 2017-2018 season a performance they repeated last year under Mwalala.
