Gor at cusp of greatness but hurdles lie on way

The spirit of Gor Mahia Mayienga wuod Ogalo is back.

Last Monday I said on this column that Gor Mahia will go past SuperSport and become the first club from this lovely nation of handshakes to qualify to the group stage of the Confederation Cup.

It came to pass. Today I dare say we will reach the quarter finals. Watch this space.

Gor Mahia is a club of firsts, we were the first club in east and central Africa to win a continental club title - the Nelson Mandela Cup in 1987, that record remains unmatched.

We were the first club to win the league title unbeaten in 1976 and we produced that fete again in 2015, that record remains unmatched.

I can go on and on, but that is for another day.

Today I want to throw some challenge to the club management one more time.

I was a little bit disappointed that Gor Mahia had to literally run rounds the streets of Nairobi begging for air tickets to go to South Africa.

As I have stated above, Gor Mahia is a  club with a rich history, a club that has placed this country on the football map, where even the national team Harambee Stars cannot dare match, but we cannot continue doing things the way they currently are.

It is a shame to read on the papers that the club has not paid for some sausages and mandazis the players ate in some hotel in Nakuru. It is wrong to hear stories that a player has refused to play because he is yet to be paid his dues yet we claim to be the biggest club in this country.

PROFESSIONALISM

Professionalism, professionalism, I dare repeat again.

Ambrose Rachier, you have done great for this club, under your management, you brought Gor back to where it belongs, at the summit of Kenyan football where we remain unrivalled.

Now, my challenge to you is to take time and learn how great clubs have moved from just dominating their local leagues to becoming empires. Look at Bayern Munich, the German champions.

For Gor Mahia to move to the next level where we will rival the likes of Esperance, Al Ahly, Raja Casablanca,  and TP Mazembe we must change the way things are run at Gor Mahia.

Qualifying to the group stage of the continental championships should open our eyes and change our approach towards how we run this club.

Being in the group stage should not be something we celebrate at this day and time, we must be winning continental titles but we can only do that if we change our management style.

That said, I remain proud of what Gor Mahia did in South Africa against SuperSport with a squad largely made up of local players.

We move on. Rayon Sports, Young Africans and USM Alger - we are coming for you.

The spirit of K’Ogalo is back. This is Mahia.