Newly appointed Darajani Gogo coach Andrew Ongwae/HANDOUT
Newly
appointed Darajani Gogo head coach Andrew Ongwae is eager to guide the club to
the Kenyan Premier League.
Ongwae took
over the National Super League side from veteran Paul Ogai, who joined KCB FC as
an assistant coach. Ongwae previously served as the club’s assistant coach.
Speaking on
Sunday, Ongwae, a former defender, said: “Our target is an automatic
qualification to the Premier League. This means we must finish number one
or two.”
“During our
first season, we finished eighth, sixth in our second and in our third season, we finished number four, narrowly missing a play-off
slot on goal difference. This shows we have been making steady progress in the
last three seasons,” noted Ongwae.
His side is ready for the upcoming season.
“We have
played a couple of friendly matches and I’m satisfied with the way the boys
have played so far,” he remarked.
Darajani
Gogo lost 3-1 against Premier League powerhouses Gor Mahia and Tusker. They
also succumbed to a 2-1 loss against Robert Matano’s KCB.
“The games
helped me gauge the team. Even though we lost all three against top-tier sides, we learnt a lot. We now target two friendly matches against lower-tier sides before the season kicks off,” noted the CAF 'B' licence holder.
The club have signed 14 players and retained 11. “We have done good
business in the transfer window. We have signed players with Premier League and NSL experience,” added the tactician.
Some of the
new signings are Mathew Kibiwott and Mathew Malishau from Sofapaka, Arnold Shivachi from KCB, Salim
Abdalla from APS Bomet, Hubert Sunday, who was Sakaja Cup MVP, Clinton Odiwuor from Samwest Blackboots and Brian Wanyonyi from
Talanta FC.
Darajani Gogo will kick off the season against promoted Soi United at Hope Centre on September 13, take on 3K FC the following week and then face the Micheal Olunga Foundation Academy (MOFA) at Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay.
