EXCLUSIVE: Martins Neiva says struggling Gor Mahia ‘working hard to make fans smile again’

The Brazilian tactician arrived at the record Kenyan champions at the start of the new campaign replacing Johnathan McKinstry, who stepped down at the closing stages of last season, to take up the vacant role as the head coach of the Gambia national team.

Martins Neiva’s first task with K’Ogalo took him to Tanzania for the CECAFA Kagame Cup in July where they failed to go past the group stage of the regional tournament. Gor Mahia lost their Group B opener 1-0 against Zambia champions Red Arrows, drew 1-1 against minnows Djibouti Telekom before suffering a 2-0 defeat against Sudanese side Al Hilal to exit without winning a single game.

The next assignment took Martins Neiva and Gor Mahia to the CAF Champions League where they were drawn to face El Merreikh of South Sudan in the first preliminary round. K’Ogalo lost the first leg 1-0 in Juba but returned home to hammer the visiting side 5-1 to qualify on a 5-2 aggregate win.

However, in the second round, they were pitted against defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt. Gor Mahia started at home losing 3-0 and despite Martins Neiva remaining confident of overturning the result in Cairo, they suffered another 3-0 defeat to exit the stage at the second round with a 6-0 aggregate scoreline.

K’Ogalo then shifted their attention to the FKF Premier League but their results have not been impressive. They kicked off the season with a 4-0 win against Mathare United, hammered Posta Rangers 3-0, drew 0-0 against KCB before losing their first game of the season 2-1 against Nairobi City Stars.

The defeat against Simba Wa Nairobi was followed up with a 2-2 draw against Murang’a Seal before they lost 2-0 against Bandari FC in the last game before the current FIFA international break.

The results have not been pleasing to the K'Ogalo faithful and twice, their fans demanded answers from the technical bench. Against City Stars, Martins Neiva and his players were held hostage at Machakos Stadium before being whisked away to safety by the security.

In Mombasa after the defeat against the Dockers, a similar incident resurfaced with Gor Mahia fans attacking coach Martins Neiva while others calling for his resignation “before things get out of hand.”

Gor Mahia will recover and win the league

Despite the hue and cry from K’Ogalo fans over the poor performances, Martins Neiva is not ready to press the panic button insisting the club will soon recover from one of their worst starts to a new season.

“I can say that we will certainly recover ourselves, but we can see that this season the league is more competitive and balanced. All of the giants in the Premier League are going through difficulties, it is not Gor Mahia alone,” Martins Neiva told Flashscore.

When asked to explain what led to K’Ogalo’s defeat against winless City Stars, Martins Neiva said: “The Mosquito FC tournament certainly affected the draw against (KCB) and the defeat to Nairobi City Stars, as it significantly affected the physical aspect of my players and the team.”

Martins Neiva added: “In other games where we started leading and conceded goals in the second half... there was lack of concentration to maintain the victory. Football is detailed. We should work very hard to improve the management of the game.”

The Mosquito tournament is usually played over the weekend and it later emerged that several Premier League players were featuring in it without the consent of their clubs. The issue came to the surface when Martins Neiva suspended four Gor Mahia players for indiscipline and unprofessionalism before their game against City Stars on Monday 28th October.

The four players suspended were Enock Morrison, Paul Ochuoga, Musa Masika and Chris Ochieng. They were accused of participating in an amateur tournament game just a day before Gor Mahia met with City Stars.

Asked whether the aforementioned players had been pardoned by the club, Martins Neiva said: “This case has already been resolved and buried.”

Having lost to Bandari, their second defeat of the season, Martins Neiva took his time to blame the condition of the pitch and the red card to one of his players for the outcome.

“Regarding the last defeat away, in addition to the pitch being impractical for our style of play, the red card affected us, as we lost a player and immediately conceded a free kick which resulted in their first goal,” offered Martins Neiva.

FIFA international break never good for Gor Mahia

With the league taking a break for the FIFA break which will see Kenya’s Harambee Stars involved in 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, Martins Neiva was asked if the break had come at the right time for his struggling side.

The Brazilian responded: “No. Not really. Because of the breaks we will have nine games in less than one month. Breaks are never good. They always interfere negatively with our plans.”

Asked if Gor Mahia remains the team to beat in the Premier League, the former SC Villa coach in Uganda explained: “Of course, we are the current champions but we are going to work hard on this issue and get ourselves back to where we belong, we need to win matches and not lose matches, we will do something.”

On whether he was feeling pressure working at Gor Mahia, he responded: “There is no professional football without pressure, especially in a giant club like Gor Mahia. I Just request for the fans to believe in us. We are working hard to get them to smile and celebrate again.”

After the two-week break, Gor Mahia will return to league action with a top fixture - Mashemeji derby - against their bitter rivals AFC Leopards on Sunday, November 24th. While Gor Mahia are currently placed 12th on the 18-team league table with eight points from six outings, Ingwe are sitting fifth with 11 points from eight matches.

Last season, Gor Mahia took the bragging rights beating Ingwe home and away. They won the first-round meeting 2-0 before edging them out 1-0.