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Why Baraza's Sofapaka exit leaves retired Okoth disappointed
The former forward stated the coach will always be blamed for poor results but when things go well it's the players who get the credit
Former Kenyan striker Ronald Okoth has explained how disappointed he is following John Baraza’s exit from FKF Premier League side Sofapaka.
Baraza left the club after a poor start that saw them just pick a win and two losses in the league and his place was temporarily filled by Mike Mururi who was his assistant before Ken Odhiambo was appointed.
Okoth, who played for Sofapaka under a number of coaches, further pointed out that the players are to blame to a large extent for letting the coaches down. The changes also saw physical trainer Diallo Kwasi and assistant coach Martin Ndagano relegated to the junior side.
“Gutted to hear my former manager and our legend of the game, someone I’ve had the privilege to work for, coach Barry [John Baraza] together with coach Ndagano and Dialo stepped aside from their first team duties,” Okoth said in a Facebook post.
“Having worked under these gentlemen and seen how dedicated and committed they are to their jobs, I’m extremely sad indeed and hoping to see them back. I’m sure without a doubt the players feel they’ve let a good manager and his technical team down.”
The former Gor Mahia striker recalled how the late Henry Omino at one time begged with the playing unit to end the poor run in order to save his job.
“I remember at Western Stima at one time our manager then, the late coach Omino’s job was hanging in the line after we had a series of poor runs and can’t forget the way he pleaded with us to literary save his job,” the KPL winner added.
“We knew well we would never ever get a proper and understanding manager than him if things went down south because of us. We actually fought hard in every match and did it for him by turning things around.
“I do recall before the referee could blow the kick-off whistle in every match we would remind ourselves to ‘do this for the coach’.
“Never felt so proud in this cruel football business where club owners want results, players get all the credit for the win and managers take all the blame for the loss.
“We knew we had the responsibility and return the same trust our manager had in us in the first place to even sign us.”
