Bandari FC and Kakamega Homeboyz have been confirmed as promotion candidates to the Kenyan Premier League while Rangers FC and Oserian will climb down to Division One next season after being relegated from the league.
Regardless of the outcome for the remaining fixtures in the two leagues, the fate of the four teams will not change.
With the football season almost over, these teams will definitely take some time to reflect on their journey up as well as down and make fair judgements on their fate.
Oserian Achieved Nothing Worth Celebrating
Were we relegated fair and square? Are we worth the promotion? These are some of the questions the players, coaches and management of the four teams will be asking themselves in the wake of these revelations.
Oserian’s return to the league go down without having achieved anything and perhaps their inconsistency both on the technical bench as well as the playing unit could be blamed for their woes.
Their record is by far the worst among the sixteen teams taking part in the competition. They have so far lost the highest number of matches at sixteen and lie bottom with 21 points from 29 matches.
The blunt striking force was evident as they only saw the back of the net twelve times under three different coaches.
In June, they sent their head coach Sammy Otinga packing owing to what was termed as poor results.
His assistant Peter Ogutu took over but was later relegated to the same role after Sammy “pamzo” Omollo took the reigns in August.
On the same note, the club dismissed some of its dependable players under unclear circumstances but they were later reinstated after Omollo took over.
The dropped players were Captain John Keo, Joseph Okumu, Joseph Agina and David Wambua.
The off-the-pitch drama clearly affected their performance on the pitch and their relegation only proves that it has come time to pay the price for such mismanagement.
Broke Rangers raided
Rangers FC, on the other hand, have been in the top league for four seasons now after being promoted at the end of the 2008 season alongside Mahakama.
They came to the league as Posta Rangers but later changed name after Postal Corporation of Kenya withdrew their sponsorship.
Their relegation script was written long time ago and waited only to be read. Interestingly even the current Football Federation of Kenya Chairman Sam Nyamweya was at some point linked to the team around the same time Dairy firm Daima milk pumped in reportedly Ksh.15 million shillings.
Last season, they were among the top title contenders as well as early pace setters after registering some impressive results. However, a raid in the mid-season transfer window worsened by their empty coiffeurs led to an exodus of their key players leaving the side at a loss.
Brian Mandela and James Mbugi left for Tusker FC while veteran midfielder Charles Okwemba took a flight to AFC Leopards. Since then, they became shaky and have lost several players who have opted for greener pastures.
Former Captain Pascal Ochieng left for AFC Leopards before signing for Tanzanian giants Simba SC, Jaffer Gichuki who later acted as their coach joined Bandari, Joseph Njuguna is at Gor Mahia and former Team Manager Willis Waliaula found a new place at Tusker FC.
The sacking of Ezekiel Akwana as head coach equally destabilized the team to what it is today.
Consistency pays for Bandari, Homeboyz
To the contrary, Bandari and Kakamega Homeboyz who replaces the two in the league are reaping the fruits of patience, good organization and consistency within their ranks. They both topped Zone A and B respectively in the FKF run Nationwide League.
Bandari opted to maintain the same squad that was relegated and they now find themselves back in the league a more improved side.
Starting from their head coach Rishadi Shedu to Ali Breik, Captain Raphael Okello and the experienced Musa Abdulwahab; they have all been instrumental in the team’s rise from the woods.
The same can be said of Kakamega Homeboyz which is a little known team but with immense talent.
They have for some time maintained an eight point lead in Zone B of the Nationwide League which has helped them rise to this far.
Very few teams make it to the league and withstand the competition to stay afloat as they quickly wither to pressure.
Will it be a different case for Bandari this time round or will newcomers Kakamega Homeboyz stand up to be counted? Only time will tell.
Francis Marangu
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