No love lost as Logarusic comes face to face with K’Ogalo
He might have picked up them from the doldrums when he took over the job as Gor Mahia’s head coach but Zdravko Logarusic will not have any sentimental attachment when he leads out his new charges AFC Leopards for the first time in the ‘Mashemeji Derby’ on Sunday at the Nyayo National Stadium.
When he took over Gor in March 2013, they were an emaciated lot. Languishing at position 14 on the table and with no hopes of a silverware, Logarusic pulled them all the way to a second place finish.
The Croat masterminded a fairytale run for K’Ogalo who only lost out the title to Tusker on the last day of action. It during the same season that Gor Mahia won the FKF Cup (Now GOtv Shield) as well as the KPL Top 8 crown.
Understandably for his achievement Logarusic was darling to the boisterous and hard to please Green Army, some who went as far as kissing his feet and singing his praises.
The Croat on his part was a willing receptor to all the adoration. He was so entrenched into the Gor Mahia culture that at times he would swagger to the touchline in a swanky t-shirt emblazoned with words such as ‘Luo Inside’.
But on Sunday, all these, he will choose to forget and remember he has a new job with cross-town neighbours and Gor Mahia’s biggest rivals, Ingwe.
LOTS OF EMOTIONS
“Of course there are a lot of emotions coming into this match, but I am a professional. You can’t prevent emotions because I had a good time but all that will not count. I am in a new job now with AFC Leopards and my work here is to help the team win against whichever opponent,” Logarusic said.
“It is my big pleasure to be part of the Kenyan derby. Some people will even kill to be part of this derby. It comes with alot of pressure but that will not affect me. I am here to give my best to Leopards,” he added.
Logarusic was on the touchline thrice when Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards met – two of those occasions in the league and the other in an FKF Cup fixture. Amazingly, in all those instances he won. Now he expects the reverse to work.
True to his nature, the eccentric tactician has resorted to mind games ahead of the fixture. Already, he says Gor Mahia have an upper hand over Leopards as they have had better pre-season and are more fit considering the high level matches they have played in.
“Gor Mahia are slight favourites. They are in good form and they have had proper pre season, they have already played in many competitions and have better match fitness. We have had around 8 games, Gor Mahia have had 15 or so. We have had 15 training sessions Gor Mahia have had more than 50 or 60….. It’s a big difference but it’s a derby and anything is possible. We are going to try and use some advantages we have to win the game,” he said.
AFC Leopards are sweating over the fitness of central defenders Martin Kiiza and Jackson Saleh with the former having sat out the last few minutes of training with a knee injury.