By GILBERT WANDERA
Frenchman Henri Michel jetted into the country on Monday night ahead of his official unveiling saying he relishes the task of resuscitating Harambee Stars.
Michel confirmed that he will not be returning to France after the unveiling ceremony as he embarks on the job at hand that is to guide Harambee Stars in their engagements.
“I have two assistant coaches with me. One arrived on Tuesday morning and the other in the evening. However, I can’t speak much now until after the launch,” he said at the Hilton Hotel, where he is staying.
Michel said this was his first time in Kenya and believes he will cope well with the weather in Nairobi.
Michel edged out eight other finalists who had applied for the job of handling Harambee Stars. His most immediate duty will be to guide Kenya in the remaining matches of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers where Harambee Stars has just one point from two matches.
Stars drew their first qualifier 0-0 against Malawi, but lost the second 1-0 to Namibia. Kenya is also out of the qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which resumes next month after they were eliminated by Togo.
Meanwhile, relegation nightmare is quickly creeping in at the bottom of the Kenyan Premier League jolting underdog sides to put in big stage performances.
With only eight fixtures left for most clubs, the urgency to rekindle their survival has opened up the relegation battles as performances improve leaving topsides weary.
This is the reality that a Gor Mahia side, who are enjoying great form in the league, will be faced with as they host bottom of the table Oserian at City Stadium this afternoon.
Oserian, who recently hired former Tusker coach Sammy Omollo, were immediately rewarded at the weekend when they stopped visiting Nairobi City Stars 1-0 in a result that has certainly raised their hopes staying in the top league.
Faced with the reality of relegation, the Naivasha side cannot afford to drop any points especially with so few matches remaining before the season ends.
It does not get better for Oserian in their quest for survival as they face high profile matches in the final run to end the season. Apart from playing Gor, they still have AFC Leopards, Sofapaka and Tusker to contend with and so must begin getting the positive results today.
Ben Barasa, who scored the only goal, which lifted Oserian against City Stars, remains the flowermen’s hope together with veteran Frankline Osama. Naivasha based side should seek to exploit Gor’s defensive flaws, which saw them concede two goals against Mathare United last Friday.
Donald Mosoti playing on the left-flank was a disaster and simply could not stop Francis Ouma, who scored one of the two goals and set up the other.
Worse for Oserian is the fact that Gor have won all their matches at City Stadium since being held by Western Stima to a barren draw in March.
After coming from two goals down to hold Mathare United last Friday, Gor are itching to return back to winning ways pushed on by their ever demanding fans.
However, one thing that Gor cannot do is to underrate their opponents who may have nothing to lose considering their position in the standings and will go all out for a positive result. Rama Salim and Dan Ssrenkuma remain Gor’s key hopes for goals.
