The rise and ambitions of Sharks

Kariobangi Sharks players celebrates their goal against Muhoroni Youth during their KPL match at Kasarani Stadium on Saturday 04/11/17[Boniface Okendo,Standard]

One of the surprise teams in the just-concluded Kenyan Premier League season were Kariobangi Sharks, who beat all odds to finish third.

Considering that the team had just earned promotion to the top league, finishing third was certainly no mean achievement, especially considering that this was better performance than established teams such as Posta Rangers, Tusker, and Ulinzi Stars.

Add to that the fact that two of the team’s players - Ovella Ochieng and Masoud Juma - helped Harambee Stars win the regional Senior Challenge Cup, scoring a goal each in the team’s final against Zanzibar.

The team also reached the final of the GOtv shield, where they lost 2-0 to champions AFC Leopards.

After the team’s impressive finish, the focus is now on bigger things next season and club chairman Robert Maoga is confident this can be done.

“Many factors contributed to our good performance but key among them was the fact we have talented players and impressive facilities that allowed us to train and play well.

“We also have a young coach who understands the players and how to handle them. Motivation was also top priority, with our least earning player taking home Sh30,000 a month. They have a good medical cover and this helped them settle and play well.

“The coach had a free hand to pick his technical bench and his team. We did not interfered at all and it motivated him and the players to do what they know best,” he said.

Sharks were given a rude welcome to the top league after crushing 3-1 to eventual champions Gor Mahia. After that, the team went five matches before they could pick their first win, which Maoga insisted was normal for a team that had just earned promotion.

“The bad start was a case of players being nervous after making the big switch. They were apprehensive and emotional considering they had just been promoted. But we never gave up on our players. We embarked on convincing them to believe in themselves and to concentrate on playing their game and that results would come, and surely after a little while things changed.”

But it was not always smooth sailing for the club and one of the lows for their season was when defender Pascal Ogweno was banned for six matches after he grabbed and tore a referee’s card during a match against Posta Rangers.

Some thought the punishment was light considering the offence but Maoga said they did not take it lightly.

“Ogweno’s was about passion for the game. He was very emotional and wanted to win and obviously did not feel good about some of the calls made by the referee. But that was not justified and we took strong action against him. We deducted his salary and the financial fine imposed on the club was pushed to him. We wanted to show him and other players that indiscipline for whatever reason cannot be tolerated,” he explained.

The team was also in the eye of the storm when former Harambee Stars coach Stanley Okumbi picked some of its players for national duty and the result was an outcry from a section of fans who felt they did not deserve the honour.

But such criticism seem to have been put to rest following the exemplary performance of Ochieng and Juma in the Senior Challenge Cup.

“Fans have a right to speak their mind but the criticism was not warranted and I am happy our players proved themselves. As a country, we need to develop a culture of supporting our young players instead of bringing them down,” he said.

Looking forward, the team is set to do even better next season by injecting new blood into the squad and perfecting their playing style.

“We want to ensure that we have good young players for every position as well as a development side. Our target is to sell two players a year to top European leagues because football is a business.

"We have spent close to Sh50 million to refurbish our training field and our goal is to turn the grounds into a fully-fledged stadium by 2019." 

Maoga has just earned a degree course from Stanford University and believes this will put him in good stead to grow the team in terms of business.