Gor Mahia head coach Jonathan McKinstry would love to stay longer at the club beyond the 2023 season after leading them to their 20th league title on Sunday.
McKinstry seems to have strengthened his position and he believes he is still the right man to lead what he terms a ‘developing project’ forward.
“When I came into the club, they wanted me to sign a multi-year deal like four or five years because it was about building the team over four, five years,” McKinstry said after Sunday’s 4-1 win over Nairobi City Stars.
With the title win seeing Gor Mahia qualify for the CAF Champions League, the tactician feels a lot of changes will be needed for them to challenge on multiple fronts and it might mean ditching some players for more experienced ones.
“This is still a developing team, we are ahead of schedule, when I came to the club it was very much about building the team it wasn’t necessarily about winning the league this season. We wanted to try but if we didn’t, it was about developing the team,” he added.
“We are going to have to make tough decision because we have continental football next year, we have the league to defend now, so we have to improve the team.
“That’s difficult decisions because sometimes you have to make decisions about players coming and players going and doing that in a championship team sometimes it’s very difficult. So, we will do it to be ready for pre-season.”
Gor Mahia have had to rely on a number of young players this season after they were slapped with a transfer ban over nonpayment of salaries to former players but with the ban over, they are among teams expected to be busy in the market in search for better quality and experience.
