A few weeks ago, Mathare United were struggling not only to stay afloat in the FKF Premier League, but to reorganize their shaky home.A 5-0 humiliating defeat to Kenya Police on a Wednesday afternoon, precisely the first day of February this year, meant that a plug had to be pulled.Head coach Boniface Omondi was the first casualty – losing his job the following day, before the club suspended two players; Alphonse Ndonye and Lennox Ogutu for allegedly being involved in ‘suspected match fixing.’A little more than two weeks later, a feel of optimism surrounds the club and thanks to a change in mindset and grit, as interim head coach and former goalkeeper head coach Samuel Koko identified as part of the reason the club is happy again, and most importantly, getting the wins.##NAJAVA_MECA_7023604##“I am really happy with what am seeing from this team,” Koko said immediately after Mathare United’s 2-1 win over Kariobangi Sharks on Wednesday. “It’s a lot that the guys are doing here. Dedication, determination, being there and being ready. They are doing it all.”Since Koko was handed the keys to the clubhouse, it is evident that he has extinguished much of the fire in his firefighting role.In the three matches he has been in charge, Mathare United has won two – 1-0 and 2-1 wins over Vihiga Bullets and Kariobangi Sharks respectively – while managing to keep a crucial clean sheet in the process.Trying to make sense of the back-to-back wins the club is currently sitting on, Koko thought that the players have [at this point of the season] hit the mark that they should have hit as the season began.“Remember this team had no preseason,” Koko said on Wednesday. “We were quite unfortunate to start the season at a time where the other teams had got going. We were in catch-up mode but I now feel as if we’ve all arrived.”As Koko had previously noted and discussed with his peers on the technical bench, the small group of entrusted players playing every once-in-three-days had started showing signs of fatigue and needed to catch a slight break.“When you have a squad of 30 fresh and new players in the group, why not use them?” Koko asked the media members around. “The few players we consistently used and tested everyday were burning out.“From what you can see now, I am regularly rotating my starting squad just to get the best out of them and also to give the others a deserved rest.”Giving opportunities was what Koko referred to as ‘trusting each other’- another aspect to their togetherness since.Building belief and organization could help Mathare’s new man-in-chargeWednesday saw Bernard Jairo make his second appearance this season as skipper Khalid Jumaan replacing newbie Dennis Sakhwe who made his debut in the Vihiga win.“I am pretty sure the players will be ecstatic when they get the results from the other game today,” Koko said, referring to Bidco United’s big 3-0 win over struggling Vihiga Bullets, the latter being a team Mathare United want to stay clear off in the relegation battle. “That will just add to the team’s momentum. Beating them last week also gave us a lift.”As noted earlier, organization and belief would have been the pillars to resuscitating the Slum Boys. So far, so good.
