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Pulse Sports rates the coaches who had great campaigns and those who failed to impress.
The good
Jonathan McKinstry
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Gor Mahia won the title against all odds, overcoming a number of obstacles to pip rivals Tusker FC by just one point.
Jonathan McKinstry arrived in July 2022, penning a two-year contract, but he walked into a tough situation.
Gor were not allowed to sign any new players following their transfer ban, meaning the Northern Irishman had to work with what he found.
With their rivals strengthening, Gor were forced to rely on youngsters to push them through but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
McKinstry got the best out of striker Benson Omala, who scored a record-equaling 26 goals, while young defender Sylvester Owino also had a breakthrough season. Paul Ochuga was also among the youngsters showed great promise.
There were also occasions when the team was disrupted by a go slow over delayed salaries but K’Ogalo never lost focus.
A good first leg set the base for their great campaign and even when it looked like they would lose out in May, after three straight games without a win, they kept hope alive and took their opportunity when Tusker threw their advantage away in the final three games.
Salim Babu
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Salim Babu has just shocked football fans by swapping his role as Nzoia Sugar head coach for an assistant position at Kenya Police FC.
While it was hoped that he would take up a head coach position at another club, he has opted to be Francis Baraza’s deputy, the two linking up again after leading Sony Sugar to the 2006 Premier League title.
Babu had a season to remember at Nzoai Sugar where he led them to an impressive fourth position, finishing level on points with third-placed Police. In fact, Nzoia Sugar were among the title contenders until the final four weeks of the season when they fizzled out.
This was despite working with a largely youthful team who struggled to get going due to the club’s inability to pay them on time.
They had some of the best players in the division, goalkeeper Humphrey Katasi sharing the Golden Glove award with Gad Mathews of Gor Mahia, while AFC Leopards-bound midfielder Boniface Munyendo was also a standout performer.
Francis Baraza
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Kenya Police FC coach Francis Baraza also had a decent season as the law enforcers finished third.
Some would say he did not meet expectations because the club were the biggest spenders in the market after signing some top names such as Francis Kahata, Clifton Miheso and Musa Mohamed.
However, they had the best attack and best defence in the division and missed out on the title by just six points.
A poor start to the season, when they failed to win any of their first five games, largely contributed to this but they seem determined to right those wrongs in 2023-24 following the arrival of Babu plus the signing of key midfielders Kenneth Muguna and Tyson Otieno last week.
Patrick Odhiambo
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Kakamega Homeboyz coach Patrck Odhiambo deserves praise for leading the team to continental football for the first time in their history.
Odhiambo guided Homeboyz to a 1-0 win over Tusker FC in the FKF Cup final to win the club’s first trophy since their top-flight promotion in 2015.
Along the way, they proved to be the giantkillers of Kenyan football when they stunned Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards before downing Tusker in the final.
Homeboyz, however, could not replicate their second-place finish of 2021-22 in the league but there were wins against Police and AFC Leopards before they nearly stopped Gor Mahi’as title party when they stunned K’Ogalo 3-2 in the penultimate match of the season.
Odhimbo’s gamble to focus on cup success over a better placing in the league paid off big time and they will be playing in the CAF Confederation Cup next season.
Twahir Muhiddin
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Twahir Muhiddin may have been in charge of Bandari for just two months but his performance deserves praise as no team collected more points than the dockers during that period.
Having taken over on an interim capacity following the sacking on Anthony Kimani at the start of May, Muhiddin went unbeaten in all the eight games he was in charge, winning six while drawing two.
Most impressively, they just conceded four goals over that period, keeping five clean sheets, while scoring 17, including the 7-2 thrashing of Vihiga Bullets.
The veteran coach led Bandari to an impressive sixth place with 60 points and his positive run has earned him the job on a permanent basis.
The bad
Patrick Aussems
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Patrick Aussems left AFC Leopards on Monday but not many will be mourning his departure after a poor final season in charge of Ingwe when they finished a disappointing seventh.
While he was also hampered by a transfer ban handed to the club by FIFA, making it impossible to strengthen the squad, some fans feel he could still have done better with what he had given how McKinstry was able to navigate a similar tough situation at Gor Mahia.
Instead, Leopards found the going tough with their toothless attack their biggest undoing. Leopards scored just 32 goals with only wazito FC and relegated duo Bullets and Mathare United posting the worst.
That is not the company a team like Leopards would want to be in and while their defensive record was among the top five, their inability to turn draws into wins while allowing opponents to score last-minute goals, proved costly.
Aussems’ decision to focus on the FKF Cup at the expense of league matches also failed to pay off when they lost to Homeboyz in the semi-final, extending their trophy less season to six years.
By the time Leopards were heading into their final three games of the season, Aussems was not even in the country and the confirmation of his departure did not surprise many.
Robert Matano
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The coach whose season promised so much but yielded nothing, Robert Matano is hanging onto his job at Tusker after losing everything on the final day.
The brewers enjoyed a four-point lead heading into the final month of the season but two draws and a defeat in their last four matches saw them lose out by just one point to Gor Mahia on the final day.
Matano’s hope of getting the consolation prize of the FKF Cup then went up in smoke the following week when they lost to Kakamega Homeboyz in the final to leave him with an uncertain future.
The coach has since blamed his players for ‘lacking the mental strength to handle pressure’ but with Tusker among the teams with a quality squad, his employers feel he should have gotten over the line, hence the uncertainty about his future.
Bernard Mwalala
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Former Bandari and Nzoia Sugar coach Bernard Mwalala came to Ulinzi Stars with a lot of expectations but the soldiers ended up with one of their worst campaigns as they finished ninth on the table.
A combination of poor attack, 35 goals scored, porous defence (34 conceded), left them with a +1 goal difference in a season they struggled for consistency, only managing back-to-back wins on two occasions.
Ulinzi were also eliminated from the FKF Cup at the semi-final by Tusker FC and before that match, there were reports that Mwalala had already submitted his resignation.
He stayed put to see out the campaign and with the club having been among those who struggled with paying players, he jumped ship and has reportedly joined KCB as Zedekia ‘Zico’ Otieno’s replacement.
Zedekia ‘Zico’ Otieno
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Another coach whose season promised a lot but delivered nothing is Zedikia ‘Zico’ Oteino at KCB. The former Gor Mahia coach came close to delivering the elusive title two years ago and also looked on course to doing so in 2022-23 but nothing came of it.
KCB were among the leading contenders for most of the season but inconsistencies in the final stretch put paid to their ambitions as they finished fifth, six points behind champions Gor Mahia.
Having been supported by the acquisition of some quality signings, the powers that be at KCB seem to have had enough and opted against renewing his contract with reports claiming that Bernard Mwalala is set to take over.
William Muluya
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Kariobangi Sharks coach William Muluya yet again had a nightmare season finishing 11th, one place below what they managed the previous campaign.
Muluya had put trust in youth but that looked to have been his side’s undoing as the youngsters lacked the necessary experience especially going by how many times they allowed leads to slip away.
Sharks were among the entertainers in the league but their enterprising displays rarely yielded three points. Many a times, they would take a 2-0 lead only to draw or lose, ending the season with the sixth worst defence (conceded 46) even if they have the third best attack (scored 45) after Police and Gor Mahia.
While Muluya’s job is not under threat, early signs are that next season might still be difficult going by the happenings in the transfer window after losing creative midfielder Tyson Otieno to Kenya Police.
They will, however, still need to strengthen in defence while some top-flight experience will be needed in 2023-24 to help them stope the hemorrhage and turn the draws into victories.
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