Outgoing Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry narrates how trip to Kenya attracted him to K’Ogalo

Departing Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry has revealed how he instantly had a connection with the club when he visited Kenya to watch a Masheneji Derby eight years ago.

Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry has revealed how he was instantly attracted to the club following a visit to the country eight years ago.

McKinstry explained how a trip to Kenya in 2016, when he was Rwanda national team coach, to watch his players Abouba Sibomana and Jacques Tuyisenge, who were turning out for K’Ogalo, during a Mashemeji derby against AFC Leopards, saw him hooked to the Green Army.

Following his scouting mission, the Northern Irishman was thrilled by K’Ogalo so much that he wanted to coach the team if an opportunity presented itself, making his decision easy when he was finally approached in July 2022.

“Some good coaches have come to Gor Mahia and for some of them, it was a job presented to them, assessed it and said okay let me go and do the job while for me, K’Ogalo has been a team I was aware of for quite some time,” said McKinstry.

“Going back to my time in Sierra Leone and Rwanda where we had Abouba Sibomana, Jacques Tuyisenge and Meddie Kagerre, who were here, so even back in 2016 and 2017 a connection started to develop with the club where I became more aware of the significance of Gor Mahia.

“I remember coming here to watch the Mashemeji derby in 2016 to watch Abouba and Tuyisenge and I came away from the game at Kasarani thinking if there is an opportunity to coach this team in the future, I would like to coach it.

“That was specific about K’Ogalo and not about AFC. It would have been easy to fall on either side but I came away from the game thinking that green jersey was almost beckoning me.”

McKinstry, however, admits he might not have taken the job were it not for the affection he felt since nearly everyone he consulted after Gor Mahia’s approach was against the move.

“When I became aware of the interest from the club, I started doing my research but almost everyone said don’t go,” added.

“Everyone was saying why would you want to take that, it is so big a risk to your profile and career. It is a team that finished eighth, third, they have fallen away, no longer the dominant force yet you go in and you will be expected to win every day and under a transfer ban.

“I would say 90 per cent of the people I spoke to about this job told me don’t go but I knew what I could bring.

“I looked at the situation here at K’Ogalo and said, they need someone who can bring them together like a jigsaw. In the first summer, we had like seven players training in pre-season some days because of the financial issues, and even some people inside the club said we might even cancel training because you cannot do anything with seven players.

“But I was like no, my job is to take what I have here and make it better so even if it is those seven players, let us give them the best training session we can give them so that when we get the rest of the guys in, we are not playing catch up.

“We were going to instill this belief into the players that if you want to be here stay and work, but if you don’t want, you can leave. I wanted to be here and even with the challenges, I was choosing this.”

The tactician navigated the tricky situation and put his trust in youth, bringing the best out of striker Benson Omala while midfielder Austin Odhiambo flourished and the result was his first league title, and the club’s 20th last season, before they defended their crown with much ease this campaign.

The former Uganda Cranes tactician is set to become the new coach of the Gambia ahead of their upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Seychelles and Gabon.