Western Stima coach Henry Omino gestures during a past match/PHOTO-Raymond Makhaya
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 5 – Western Stima head coach Henry Omino has offered an intriguing insight into his side’s unlikely challenge for the first Kenyan Premier League title by opening up about tactics, hard work and incentives provided by the management.
Omino, who is the longest serving coach in the top flight league, has guided Western Stima to third on the log, posing as silent title contenders, with their last 1-0 win over giants AFC Leopards putting them on course for a historic glory.
With five matches to be played before the season conclude, Stima are on 40 points, four behind second placed Gor Mahia and eight adrift of leaders Tusker FC.
“Its hard work from the players that has seen us placed third. We are putting a lot of hard work in training. I have a strong team and a management who have done a lot of work especially in the second leg where the motivation has been high because of the incentives they have put in place,” the 65-year-old coach outlined.
“Maybe the sky is not the limit, we are going to go very high if we keep up the momentum in the remaining five games that we will treat each match as a final.”
His splendid performance and consistency has seen him named the Fidelity Insurance Coach of the Month in July and September, becoming the first tactician to win the award twice since it was introduced in February.
Omino became the first coach to win the Fidelity Insurance Coach of Month twice.
Omino, who is reffered by his players as ‘Zagallo’ a name driven from the legendary Brazilian player/coach Mario Zagallo, is also focusing on competing in the CAF Confederations Cup, pointing out that they still have a chance if they don’t lift the KPL title which is his main target.
“The dream of winning the league is still alive, our chances are wide open and there is also another thing that people have not seen; that if the league leaders Tusker go ahead and clinch the GOtv Shield and we fail to stop them in the league, then we will compete in the Confederation Cup, so we have a lot of good things ahead of us and we are going to work harder than before,” Omino underscored.
“But our target is the league because Tusker can falter, nobody is talking about us, of cause we have given the danger signal and with the consistency in the team, I’m sure we can upset everybody and become the champions but don’t rate us so high.”
He disclosed that his experience in Kenyan football has given him the edge over others after managing to post positive results despite losing key players in the June transfer window.
Western Stima have tough fixtures awaiting them, facing defending champions Gor Mahia in their next match, then play Ulinzi Stars, Chemelil Sugar, GOtv Shield title holders Bandari before wrapping up their season with a home clash against Kakamega Homeboyz.
Against Gor, Omino is looking to pick the first win for Stima against K’Ogalo, having failed to beat the record 15-time champions in the last six matches they met
“We are going to prepare well they (Gor) beat us in the first leg but this time we will prepare well, maybe this is payback time.”
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