Gor Mahia head coach, Franl Nuttall has parted ways with three-times back0to0back champions.PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
NAIROBI, March 8 – Ten foreigners are among applicants to fill the vacant Gor Mahia head coach role to replace Scotsman Frank Nuttull, who ditched the champions for Egyptian side Zamalek.
Gor Assistant Secretary General Ronald Ngala revealed to Capital Sport that the new tactician will be appointed on Friday to take over the giants, who are yet to record a win in all competitions after playing seven matches this season.
Nuttall disappeared mysteriously soon after going down 1-0 to eternal rivals AFC Leopards in Sunday’s Mashemeji Derby to join Zamalek in the capacity of assistant coach, but Ngala said the club is considering reporting the 48-year-old to FIFA for breach of contract.
Ngala disclosed they have now been forced to search for Nuttall’s replacement despite his contract running until December.
“Nuttall has not contacted us to tell us he is leaving. This kind of behavior is not good to the team and he is forcing us to make a decision of searching for his replacement because the club must run.”
“As a professional, we expected him to do the honourable thing of resigning but not to desert the club. Frank Ouna will take charge for now as we hope to find a new coach by Friday,” Ngala explained.
The Gor official said they were concerned with Nuttall’s performance after failing to register a win this season despite rescinding the decision of taking a 50 percent pay cut.
“As an experienced coach he cannot go seven matches without winning and it’s for this reason that we called a meeting yesterday to set a date of approaching the coach. We expected him to tell us where the problem was because as his employer we anticipated nothing but good results from him,” Ngala stated.
Among favorites to succeed Nuttall is former Uganda’s SC Villa coach Spaniard Antonio Flores and former Brazilian international Jose Mercelo Ferrairra, but Ngala said they will only settle on who will meet their budget limit.
“We have received 10 applications so far and surprisingly there is no local coach interested with the job. Most of the candidates are from Romania and Spain but we might not go through all the applications as we intend to settle on the best through recommendation,” the assistant secretary general asserted.
Until his departure, Nuttall who had an 18 month stint at K’Ogalo, only lost two Premier League matches as he guided the most successful club in the country to their record 15th Kenyan Premier League crown with an unbeaten run last year.
In February 4, Nuttall announced he had parted ways with Gor after the club demanded he takes a 50 percent pay cut but he was reinstated 24 hours later after fans piled pressure on club officials.
Gor host Nairobi City Stars on Saturday, a side that is managed by former assistant coach and club’s legend John ‘Bobby’ Ogolla.
