Newly appointed Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry has revealed that it was only a matter of time before he took over the reins at the record Kenyan champions due to the interest that has always been there between the two parties since 2016.The Northern Irishman, who has built a reputation for himself due to international stints at the Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone national football teams, also expressed his delight in getting back to the daily rigors of club football with a team of famed heritage and stature like Gor Mahia.Speaking to Mozzart Sport, the coach revealed that interest between him and 19-time champions K’Ogalo started building around five years ago when he was still head coach of the Rwanda men’s national team, home to striker Jacques Tuyisenge and defender Abouba Sibomamana who were plying their trade at Gor back then.“This is a very exciting opportunity for me because club football and international football are so different. Any coach in the world will tell you working with players on a day in day out basis with players is the best part of our job. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6696561##But that is naturally a frustration at the international level because you are working at a distance for 90% of the time and you are not always with your players,” the head coach said.“Coming to K’Ogalo is something that is several years in the making. My relationship with them started when I was Rwanda coach and it has grown over the years where we kept in touch because I had players here. From that time, the club and I both had an idea that there might come a moment in future where it was possible we could work together and so we both come into it enthusiastically,” he added.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Despite winning six out of the nine available league titles since 2013 where they dominated the local league until 2020, K’Ogalo have found themselves losing ground as they have finished 8th and 3rd in the last two seasons respectively, with McKinstry keen on scrapping that form.The meteoric rise of Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma and undying love for Omena“It is a challenging moment right now no doubt because Gor have slipped off the top spot in recent years but for me there is going to be nothing better than taking them back to that number one position not just here in Kenya but also to be competing at the continental level again,” he said.
