Shakava replaces Muguna as Gor captain as keeper trainer Ochieng quits

Gor Mahia goalkeeper trainer Willis Ochieng has resigned.

The development comes at a time the Kenyan champions are battling hard to fend off allegations of match-fixing at their camp with diehard supporters casting aspersions on the integrity of the goalkeeping unit.

Formerly with Zoo Kericho, Ochieng was appointed in February 2017 to replace the long-serving Mathews Ottamax who was suspended after their longstanding differences with the then head coach Ze Maria.

Meanwhile, the club has stripped Harambee Stars midfielder Kenneth Muguna of the captaincy, replacing him with former skipper Harun Shakava who only reunited with the Kenyan champions last month after a two-year stint with Nkana FC in the Zambian Super League.

Shakava, who turned out for Kakamega Homeboyz before joining Gor Mahia, made a grand return to the club on the back of a solid two-year deal.

He arrived days after head coach Portuguese Carlos Manuel Vaz Pinto urged the club to bolster their defence given they had been conceding goals clumsily both in league encounters and the Caf competitions.

Sources privy to the proceedings intimate that Muguna might have rubbed Rachier and his team the wrong way due to his incessant advocacy for the rights of players.

"Muguna has been advocating for the rights of the players and pushing for payment of their salaries and allowances and I believe that's what caused some friction between him and the management," pointed out the source.

Following Gor Mahia's shock 1-0 loss to Posta Rangers at Moi Stadium, Kasarani on Wednesday last week, club chairman Ambrose Rachier and his assistant Francis Wasuna summoned the playing unit to an urgent meeting that saw the entire technical bench locked out. They wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

The 18-time Kenyan Premier League champions are currently rooted in an unfamiliar eighth spot on the log with 19 points, sixteen adrift of leaders Tusker.