Nairobi City Stars Ezekiel Odera with team-mate.PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 15- Nairobi City Stars assistant coach Dennis ‘Wise’ Okoth says lack of motivation has driven them to the relegation zone as they dangle precariously at the bottom of the Kenyan Premier league on 14 points, nine off safety.
The Kawangware based side has won only twice in 24 matches; back-to-back victories against Mathare United and AFC Leopards on March 30 and April 4 respectively.
But since then, they have lost 13 out of their last 18 matches and Okoth has said this has come down to a lack of consistency and absence of financial motivation in the team.
“Sometimes a player goes for four months without pay. How can you motivate such a player to go into the pitch and give 100%? We have a very good team of talented players who can do well. But this is a huge factor and it has cost us so much,” Okoth asserted.
“We have not been consistent in terms of having coaches, again coming down to issues of finance. Every coach comes with his own philosophy and you find the team cannot play well consistently. It is really sad.”
“Sometimes a player goes for four months without pay. How can you motivate such a player to go into the pitch and give 100%? We have a very good team of talented players who can do well. But this is a huge factor and it has cost us so much,” Okoth asserted.
City Stars have been flirting with relegation for the past five seasons, managing to survive by the skin of their teeth, but the dice seems cast for them already this season.
At some point this season, chairman Peter Jabuya had said he was willing to put the team up on sale owing to the difficulty in financing it from his own pocket and at some point had considered disbanding it.
But the side will not just give up yet on the hope of playing in top flight football next season.
“The last thing a man can lose is hope. For us, we have to fight. We also need to admit that it will be difficult but we can’t give up. We have to give our best and hope for the best,” Okoth, a former City Stars player added.
They will have a two week break before travelling to Mombasa to face GOtv Shield champions Bandari FC, a match they need to win at all costs to ensure they remain hopeful of another tale of survival.
