Tusker FC’s Charles Momanyi (right) vies for the ball with Shabana’s Keith Imbali in their FKF Premier League match played on October 7 at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Tusker FC coach Charles Okere expects his team to win consistently after overcoming a tough start to the 2025/26 FKF Premier League season.
The 13-time league champions started the season with two losses, succumbing 2-0 loss to KCB in their opening match, before Posta Rangers defeated them 2-1.
Two draws followed those defeats, a 0-0 stalemate with Mathare United and a 1-1 tie with Shabana.
The brewers came from behind to force a draw with Shabana; a result which Okere said inspired the team’s recent purple match. Tusker have won three of their last four league matches, registering 1-0 wins against Murang’a Seal and Bidco United, and beating Kariobangi Sharks 2-1. The brewers also salvaged a 1-1 draw against Kakamega Homeboyz in that period.
“Our result against Shabana inspired our resurgence. We started believing in ourselves more,” Okere told Nation Sport.
The revival has seen the club bolting out of the relegation zone to fifth place on the league standings with 12 points, four behind leaders Gor Mahia.
Tusker coach Charles Okere.
“I appreciate the effort made by players in making this turnaround possible. We have had tough matches, but we are now competitive again, especially after losing many of our key players,” Okere said.
“We have a new team of young players. Hence, we have been in a phase of rebuilding and that requires patience. We have been working on our cohesion,” said Okere.
Harambee Stars striker Ryan Ogam, who joined Austrian club Wolfsberger in September, is one of the key players who left the brewers during the last transfer window. Ogam was their top scorer last season with 15 goals and finished third in the Golden Boot race.
Other players who left are defenders Michael Kibwage (joined Gor Mahia) and Yusuf Mainge (end of loan move from Kenya Police FC), and winger Eric Balecho (transferred to Bandari).
The club also released David Odoyo, James Kibande, Lawrence Luvanda, Luke Namanda, Michael Oduor, and Ugandans Boban Zirintusa, Deogratius Ojok, and John Byamukama following the expiry of their contracts.
Later, Tursker recruited 14 players to fill the gap.
Okere hopes that his team’s match against Kenya Police FC will go on as planned on Sunday, despite it being scheduled to be played during the international break. Okere reckons playing the match will help his team maintain their momentum.
“Tusker and Kenya Police have only one player each in the Harambee Stars squad that will travel to Turkey for friendly matches. That should not stop the match from going on,” Okere said.
Okere admitted that Tusker’s poor start to the season increased pressure on him and the team to perform. “Of course, there was pressure. Our job is about pressure. However, our management understood that we are carrying out a new project and they were patient with us. Their support settled our nerves, and when we started delivering results, our confidence grew. We now aim for consistency. We cannot afford to be complacent,” Okere said.
Okere also hailed the impact of technology in assisting the team’s return to form. Tusker players train and play matches while wearing GPS vests. The vests relay information about their work rate and distance covered. Their training sessions are recorded using Veo cameras, and the content is analysed for information that influences tactical decisions.
“I appreciate our team of data and tactical analysts. Through their work, we can monitor the actions of our players on and off the ball. We track their work rate and that helps us know we can make substitutions or tactical changes,” Okere said.
The club’s captain, Charles Momanyi, echoed his coach’s sentiments, stating: “Indeed, we had a tough start to the season. We needed time to gel in a new squad.”
“All in all, the league is a marathon, and we were confident of catching up. We started the season targeting to win the league and that has not changed. We aim to perform in the remaining matches to make sure of that,” Momanyi added.
Momanyi joined the Brewers in 2021 from Gor Mahia. He became Tusker’s captain in 2023 following the exit of Humphrey Mieno.
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