Steven Polack – All you need to know about the incoming K'Ogalo coach

Incoming Gor Mahia head coach Steven Polack [Courtesy]

Perennial Kenya Premier League champions Gor Mahia are set to appoint Steven George Polack as their new head coach.

The development comes after their immediate former coach Hassan Oktay, left due to personal reasons.

Oktay had requested for five days of compassionate leave last week, to attend to family matters at his native home in Turkey, leaving the team in the hands of the newly-hired assistant Patrick Odhiambo.

He was expected back on Monday, August 5 to start preparing the team for Sunday’s CAF Champions League first-round clash away to Aigle Noir, only for him to hand in a resignation letter the following day.

But with the CAF requirement of License B as the minimum qualification for coaches handling teams featuring in the Champions League and Confederation Cup, K’Ogalo had to act fast, hence contacted Polack.

Who is Steven Polack?

Polack has a lot of coaching experience [Courtesy]

The experienced tactician, 58, managed Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko and led them to the Confederation Cup Group stages last season.

He was born on the 10th day of January 1961 in Birmingham, England to an English mother and a father from the West Indies.

Football career

He had a good 13-season career with Finnish clubs RoPS Rovaniemi and FC Inter from 1984-1994 and 1996-1997 respectively.

He won the Finnish Cup with RoPS Rovaniemi in 1986.

His exploits in a RoPS Rovaniemi shirt earned him a legendary status there before he moved to Inter in 1996 and hung up his boots in 1998 to pursue a coaching career.

Since swapping the field of play for the touchline, he has managed several teams, which justifies why Gor Mahia was quick to contact him.

The clubs he has managed include Asante Kotoko, Bertekum Chelsea, King Feisal, Inter Turku, FC KooTeePee, FC Viikingit, AC Oulu, KPV, FC Raahe and PK Keski-Uusimaa.

He also has several honours under his belt including Ghalca Glo G8 Cup (2011) which he won with Bertekum Chelsea, Ghana FA CUP (2016/17), Ghana President Cup (2016/17).

If his decorated history is anything to go by, then K’Ogalo could be bringing in a manager with lots of experience to fine-tune their evergreen squad.?