Hardly scoring, hardly conceding: Bandari turns to ex-striker Baraza for rejuvenation

It is a trend that has irked the management of the Bandari FC, and following a 1-0 home loss to Shabana on Sunday, the club announced on Tuesday that it has parted ways with their coach Kennedy Odhiambo.

Odhiambo’s assistant, John Baraza, was appointed to take over as interim head coach until the Dockers find a suitable candidate to fill the position permanently.

Ancent Muema, a Mombasa-based tactical analyst known by his online alias Dice Tactico, attributes the puzzling string of results to the ultra-defensive formation employed by Odhiambo. The formation results in Bandari, and their opponents, creating few scoring chances.

“Odhiambo set the team up in a defensive 4-4-2 diamond formation that made it hard for teams to break Bandari down through the middle,” Muema said.

True to Muema’s observations, the three goals that Bandari conceded in that period – against Shabana (1-0 loss), Posta Rangers (1-1 draw), and Kenya Police (1-0 loss) – resulted from crosses sent from the wings.

Muema also noted that the formation made it hard for attacking players, such as winger John Macharia and forward David Sakwa, to thrive.

“Odhiambo’s formation set Bandari up as a team that attacks on transition, hence limiting creativity of certain players,” Muema explained. “It relied on attacking spaces left by teams before they became more compact,” he added.

Muema also expressed concern about the results going against the perception of Coastal football teams. “Coastal teams are known for their flair. Teams expect Coastal teams to play entertaining and possession-based attacking football,” he said.

Most importantly, Muema finds the results mystifying because Bandari is one of the best incentivised teams in the league. The club gives winning allowances of Sh10,000 per match won. Win allowances for away matches are doubled depending on the strength of the opponent. “Such incentives should motivate the players to secure wins, even at the bare minimum, against relegation-threatened teams, but that has not been happening,” Muema said.

During that eight-match run, Bandari faced three relegation-threatened clubs – Bidco United, Mara Sugar, and Posta Rangers. They drew all the three matches, demonstrating yet another emerging trend that Muema noticed about Bandari FC – they have completed their last two seasons on a low note.

Bandari won seven of their last 10 matches in the 2022/23 FKF Premier League season as they finished fifth with 60 points.

However, that figure reduced to one win in their final 10 matches of the 2023/24 top flight season. That slump, which started after a 1-0 win over Gor Mahia, saw the fading of their title credentials as they wilted to a fourth place finish with 52 points.

Last season, they completed their league campaign with two wins in their last 10 matches. They ended that season eighth with 44 points.

“A change of mentality is needed at the club to fix that,” Muema said. He believes that Baraza can steady the ship even though he prefers a formation similar to Odhiambo’s. “The only difference with Baraza’s use of the 4-4-2 diamond is that his set-up is more attacking,” Muema said of the coaching philosophy of Baraza, a four-time golden boot winner.

Interestingly, Baraza was Bandari FC’s coach before Odhiambo took over in July 2024. Baraza had taken over from Twahir Muhiddin as interim head coach after the latter was shown the door in October 2023 with the Dockers lying 11th on the standings.

Baraza orchestrated a turnaround that began with a 1-0 win over AFC Leopards. In January, after having guided the club to second place and positioning them as title contenders, the club offered him a two-year contract.

However, a weak finish to the 2023-24 league season saw him downgraded to assistant coach after the club turned to Kennedy Odhiambo.

Baraza has been presented yet another opportunity to prove himself and only time will tell if he still has the Midas touch.