Nairobi City no longer the shinning stars of KPL

Ulinzi Stars' Peter Wafula and Ezekiel Odera (left) of Nairobi City Stars during Premier League match at Ruaraka Sports Ground on Monday April 18, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

When the delayed FKF Premier League kicked off last year on November 20, Nairobi City Stars' fans believed the 2022-2023 season would be theirs to conquer.

They finished fifth in the botched 2021-2022 Premier League season. That was an improvement from the preceding 2020-2021 season where they were seventh.

Fans expected their team to compete for the top four slots, if not the title.

However, Simba wa Nairobi fans are staring at a difficult season of heartache and disappointments after the club dropped to the relegation zone in the new FKF Premier League season after eight rounds played.

City Stars have hit the wall in the 2022-2023 season after failing to win any of their opening eight matches.

Despite beefing their squad with eight new signings before the season kicked off, City Stars are struggling to win matches home and away.

They roped in Elly Kessy Osotsi, Samuel Kapen, Clifford Ouma, Newton Ochieng, Andrew Kisilu, Kelvin Etemesi, Daniel Odhiambo, and Pius Omachi.

On Sunday, Vihiga Bullets added salt to City Stars' wounds after defeating the Nairobi based club 4-2 that condemned them to the relegation zone.

City Stars are 16th in the 18-club log with two points collected from their two draws against Kariobangi Sharks (1-1) and Posta Rangers (0-0).

Simba wa Nairobi started the season on a low after losing 2-0 to Bidco United in November last year before going down to Tusker (4-1) and Talanta (2-1).

They would then drew against Posta before slumping against Nzoia Sugar (1-0) and drawing again with Sharks.

City Stars' poor form continued against AFC Leopards (1-0) and now Vihiga Bullets, outcomes the club's CEO Patrick Korir tends to change in the coming days.

Korir said the club doesn't appreciate the poor results but they are working towards overturning the tide to more positive outcomes.

"We started the season poorly but I trust we managed to change a few things after three games where we played well. However, we have slumped back again and the season is now starting to pick up pace."

"We cannot continue like this and I will be meeting with the coaches and technical bench to determine a way forward for the team. We have to pick ourselves up before it is too late. I trust we have the quality and players to win matches," said Korir.

Nicholas Muyoti, who led the team to some big results last season, was utterly disappointed after the Vihiga Bullets match.

"I am disappointed with how we played. The players showed no effort and we did not deserve to get anything out of the game. It's a lesson for me and the whole team but it has to end," Muyoti said.

Meanwhile, Tusker continue to lead the FKF Premier League standings despite failing to win over the weekend.

The brewers lost their first match of the season after going down 2-1 to Bandari in Mombasa while Nzoia Sugar held Kakamega Homeboyz to a 1-1 draw in Kakamega.

Tusker top the log with 18 points followed by Nzoia with 17 points.

Mathare United are bottom without a point after losing all their opening three matches.