Kisumu All Stars have now made three attempts to re-enter the top-flight Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL), with the third and more recent being arguably the lakeside outfit’s closest.Finishing 5th on the 20-team log, Coach Carlo Bruno’s boys have noted positive strides towards their journey back up, all this in defiance of their paralysing financial constraints.Forward Laban Otieno missed only four of the side’s 2023–24 NSL season matches, was a key winger for All Stars, and was also one of their top three goal scorers for the just-ended season.He is proud of his haul, even if their overall season targets weren’t achieved.‘’It has been my best, and the club’s best too, since some of us joined three years ago. As always, we started off targeting promotion, and this year seemed a little more realistic considering the results we kept posting. We were well-placed on the table,’’ says the former Western Stima FC man.Twisting fortunes keep former Kakamega Homeboyz midfielder groundedIt’s always imperative to pick maximum points at home when gearing for promotion from any league, the NSL no less, and Otieno admits that they may have lost focus at some point during the season and floundered in crucial home games.‘’Playing away is tough, in the NSL especially. So if you want to make it easy, you’ll first start by making sure all matches at home are won, and then you can put in your absolute best in the reverse fixtures. We failed to do this in a few matches, and I assess that this was the main difference between us and the teams that finished ahead,’’ he continues.Coach Bruno, since taking over from Andrew Aroka, has blended his team with a few top-tier acquisitions, adding to the already bustling talent in the unit.Roping in seasoned striker Michael Karamor and goalkeeper Stephen Otieno from Kakamega Homeboyz, All Stars last had the muscle to lure title-winning full-back Kevin Monyi from Tusker.The technical bench now only needed to add in a few youngsters and they would be set.The end-of-season transfer window flew open a week ago, but Laban doesn’t yet see All Stars’ current unit being threatened by a mass exodus given the team’s financial difficulties.‘’If one considers the just-ended season as just us gelling in the team, then if we retain the current squad, as the technical bench intends to, we will be a force to reckon with next season. We will not only be going for promotion but also the league championship itself. At the moment, no one has left yet, but we have had some individual players have a very good season. It’s too early to tell,’’ reveals the forward.Esse Akida departs PAOK after three trophy-laden seasonsHaving already featured in the top flight himself, albeit with a depleted Western Stima side that was already going down, Otieno doesn’t rule out the fact that he would welcome a move up if it does pop up.With a combined 14 goals and assists in his haul and falling short of his initial target of 20, the speedy winger is in the best form of his life.All Stars, a side whose sponsorship with the county government of Kisumu has experienced the most dire of situations in the recent past regarding player remunerations, away match logistics, and overall goodwill from said sponsor, have occasionally reached out publicly to the home fans in Kisumu for financial support.It remains to be seen if, having already proven themselves capable of pushing through on a lean budget, locals can once again fully embrace their team and support it.##NAJAVA_MECA_8209825##
