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If there is a coach Gor Mahia would remember fondly for many years, then it is one man going by the name Zdravko Logarusic, or simply Loga.
The Croatian tactician is arguably the best coach the club has ever had and perhaps it would ever have, his temperament and some ‘bad manners’ notwithstanding.
And since his departure in 2013, Gor Mahia acknowledge in quiet that the club has never been the same again.
It is easy to see why Loga, as K’Ogalo fans tenderly called him, is the best tactician Gor Mahia failed to keep.
Sometime in 2012, mighty Gor Mahia were a struggling club, worse than what AFC Leopards went through last season.
In fact, they were facing relegation until Loga entered and proved that they required his Midas touch to get their groove back.
In his first match, sometime in April that year, Loga earned a 1-1 draw against Mathare United, which was not a mean feat as Gor had endlessly been beaten like a thieving dog in previous games.
He lost his second game to Oserian but Loga had learned a lot about his players and for the remainder of the league, Gor never lost any match. It completed the league at position six, having risen from bottom three.
And that was not all, the club qualified for Top 8 tournament, which they won, and further humbled Sofapaka to clinch the Football Kenya Federation Cup, their dream having come true.
But things started to fall apart between Gor and Loga in 2013 when the club allegedly failed to increase his pay and offer him a contract.
Gor argued that Loga should not make fresh demands yet he had comfortably worked without a contract for about a year without shedding a tear.
Loga, on the other hand, demanded a signed agreement and a fatter perk since Gor had increased in stature and attracted big sponsors, besides he had won them two trophies in 14 months, garnered 20 wins, a paltry five losses and limited draws.
To be precise, he had over-performed and out-performed all the other coaches the club had ever had. To end the long story, Logarusic was sacked and replaced by a ‘colourless’ Bobby Williamson.
Well, Bob was unexciting I must say because Loga had captured the imagination of all Gor Mahia fans, in particular the female ones.
Newspaper reports indicated that some female fans “were so fixated with Logarusic that they donned branded T-shirts, pants and brassieres bearing his name”.
In fact, when the club sacked him, female fans rioted – well not on the streets naked as one may have wished but on Facebook where they dedicated a page for him as controversy marred his exit.
Logarusic, it seems is still in love with Gor, as when the club advertised the coach position in June, he was among those who applied to take up the job, according to Game Yetu.
Ooh, most fans would love to see Logarusic back in the Kenya Premier League as he offered Gor the swag and the bragging rights they truly needed with all his (mis)adventures.
