‘My job is to make gor mahia fans happy’ By ODINDO AYIEKO Posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2013 at 11:36 am “I am not Zdravko Logarusic, I am Bobby Williamson,” the new Gor Mahia coach said when he was asked by this reported if he will find himself working under the shadows of the sacked Croatian coach. Williamson took over as head coach of Gor Mahia on Tuesday and declared he will bring something new, something fresh at the club which is thirsting for its first Kenyan Premier League title since 1995. “I believe the former coach had his own way of doing things. I don’t know him, I only read about him. I have my own style of handling matters and discipline is my main priority. Without discipline, we will not achieve much,” Williamson told Sporton! At the time of his departure, Logarusic had established a cult following among a cross section of Gor Mahia fans and there are those who are still lamenting his sacking but Williamson says his reign at the club will usher a new dawn. “I don’t want to dwell on who did what or who took Gor where. We have the league and other trophies to fight for and I am here give the fans something to celebrate. Passionate and vocal fans “Gor is a big club with huge following and very passionate and vocal fans. The challenge is to ensure all of them are happy with the team’s performance. That is my mandate, winning titles.” Williamson’s comes out as the exact opposite of Logarusic. While the Croatian was an outspoken extrovert, Williamson carries himself with some humility although he says this should not be mistaken for being submissive. “I like handling things professionally. I work closely with the media but I hate outbursts,” he says. Logarusic forced discipline in his players, but Williamson says the players do not need to be forced to toe the line, they know they must be disciplined. Williamson says he is inheriting a good team which has been well molded but he says he now wants to turn them to stars and champions. “I do not want to promise that I will win the league title, because you know what happens when you fail to keep your promises, but I will take Gor Mahia to where the fans want the team to be. “Gor Mahia has been knocking on the championships door for too long and I think time has come for them to celebrate.” The coach says he didn’t accept the Gor Mahia job out of desperation but by a desire to take up a club coaching job in Africa. “I have been in Africa for five years with the Uganda Cranes. Coaching Gor Mahia presents a new challenge for me. I have always wanted to coach a club and this is a great opportunity. “The dynamics of coaching a club is different from handling a national team. In club football you are always with the players, you get to learn and interact with them on a daily basis. But when it comes to national team, it is different because at times you can stay for months without working,” he says. Biggest failure “I am here for to succeed. I am so passionate about my job. I want to leave a mark at this club. I want to set up structures that will see Gor Mahia emerge as a stronger side in years to come. I am passionate about youth football and continuity,” he said. But even as he takes over Gor Mahia he is still lamenting at how he was shunted out of his job at the Uganda Cranes. During his five years stint with Uganda Cranes, Williamson led the Cranes to four Cecafa Championship titles, two of them at the expense of Kenya in the finals. But football authorities in Uganda saw this was not enough and sacked him unceremoniously with 16 months of his contract still remaining. Williamson’s biggest failure according to FUFA was his failure to take the Uganda Cranes to the Africa Cup of Nations yet he was responsible for building one of the strongest outfits at the national level since 1980 when the team reached the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. “They just came to me and told me they were preparing my sacking documents. But this is the nature of our work, we are never permanent. We always have to have one suitcase packed because you never know when you will be shown the door,” he said. He did not have a high profile when he came to Uganda, but his work in Uganda earned him admirers, among them Gor Mahia who took the first opportunity to sign him last week. Unfinished work “I have unfinished work in Africa, I would have loved to go for another national team but Gor Mahia gives me a fresh beginning, a new challenge at club level,” he said. Indeed, Williamson has unfinished business, and he kind of blames Kenya, his new home, for that although he doesn’t say it openly. “We came so close to making it to the Cup of Nations twice but unfortunately it did not happen, sadly so,” he says. But he remains proud of his achievements. During his reign, Uganda has won 34 matches, lost 14 and drew 18. The Cranes scored 105 goals and conceded 52 during that period. Uganda also posted an unbeaten home run during that five year period. But it is at their famous Namboole Stadium that they twice failed the last hurdle in their qualification campaign for the Africa Cup of Nations. Uganda lost a penalty shoot-out to 2012 African champions Zambia last October to narrowly miss out on the 2013 showpiece. A year earlier they were held to a goalless draw by Kenya when a win would have seen them reach the 2012 edition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. “Those were definitely low points in my career and it pained me to see the fans so crestfallen especially when they had expected so much, when they had waited so long. I felt for them,” he says. “But even in that pain, I am proud of what I achieved with the team. I left Uganda at a far much better place than where I found them. Uganda is now a respected side in Africa,” he observes. And now he says his mission is to turn around Gor Mahia’s fortunes. “It’s a great honour to work a club that excites so much passion.” “When the chairman (Ambrose Rachier) and secretary general (George Bwana) approached me, I was amazed at the passion they had for the club and their plans. That is one of the reasons why I came here.”
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 08:08:19 +0000
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