Mathare United head coach Samuel Koko is in a high-pressure situation that he believes he can ride his team over as the battle against relegation hots up in the FKF Premier League.Wednesday saw his side fall to another defeat – their fourth in the last five matches- when they were condemned to a 2-0 defeat by second-placed Tusker FC at the Ruaraka Stadium.##NAJAVA_MECA_7171984##“I am very disappointed,’ Koko said immediately after the loss. “This is not what we expected and it’s definitely not what we had planned for coming into this game.”After a rather decent first-half performance, The Slum Boys lost a bit of some fight in the second half and were punished by two long-range goals by Rodgers Ouma in the second half to leave the side stuck in 15th position on the FKFPL log with 22 points from 23 games – just two points above Nairobi City Stars who are in the relegation/promotion playoff places.“I wouldn’t lie and say that we are not under pressure,” Koko admitted. “We are fighting to stay in the league and we are doing our best to make observations from games and correct them.”
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In the previous weeks, the tactician has had a lot to deal with.It all started with taking over a club that seemed to have lost its direction in the league and was bottom of the league without a league win to their recent defeat last month against Nairobi City Stars that left a bitter taste in his mouth following the incidents that took place in that game.Mathare United vs Tusker FC goals.Rodgers Ouma got both goals for Tusker#FKFPL pic.twitter.com/LZZZ4wG0YY— Ole Teya (@TeyaKevin) April 13, 2023 Mathare United flat-out lost to their relegation candidates and -men City Stars 3-0 and in an awful fashion that prompted the ‘Mathare United faithfuls’ to crowd behind his technical area hurling all manner of insults to him and the rotations he had made to his team.The reaction from the coach as he spoke to Mozzart Sport wasn’t as harsh, him making a call to the true Mathare United fans to rally the team and motivate the team to become a better unit.He sounded the same message on Wednesday.Kenya to play host to CAT 14 and Under Tournament“Guys, I still have over 11 games left to mend this situation,” Koko said. “What matters right now is how we bounce back from these results and most importantly have the fans back supporting us and spurring us on. It’s a situation we aren’t happy about.”This is the second time Mathare United have lost two matches on the bounce and Koko knows so well what it takes to mount a comeback- that has made many parts of his stay at the club in an interim role.Nairobi City Stars rookie Kelvin Etemesi glad to be peaking at the right time“We will fight,” Koko said as he approaches the weekend fixture against Nzoia Sugar. “It’s a tough game but I said, we lost so many second balls today and our plan going forward didn’t go right because we had to deal with a lot of long balls. “We understand what works and what does not but one thing with us is that we are always ready to battle.”
