City Stars turning a tide? Muyoti believes team is righting previous wrongs

Nairobi City Stars head coach Nicholas Muyoti has been through a tough journey this season - one that has seen the club suddenly drop from a top five finish last season, to being among the teams fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table this season.

From being winless in the first eight games this season, Nairobi City Stars are slowly looking like a team that is finally getting things in order, and last week’s 3-0 victory over Mathare United exemplified the change in fortune the tactician and the entire team had been yearning for.

“All I can say is that I am really happy, and due to several things,” Muyoti told Mozzart Sport. “What I saw in the team’s performance was just not about goals - which I am delighted to see- but also the overall spirit and character from the players.”

In many ways, even as Muyoti admitted, the team’s position in the league was ‘somewhere we don’t deserve to be at’, City Stars’ second leg form is one that left a lot to be desired if at all the team was going to make a move away from the relegation places.

“We are doing things a bit differently now,” Muyoti said of the team’s rather decent run that has seen them go for four matches without a defeat after losing three consecutive in early February.

“I knew and our players knew and understood that we needed to stop conceding goals like we did in the first leg, we had a few injuries bugging us and of course that affected our offensive rhythm. That, plus us recruiting a number of key skillful players was key for us to change our season.”

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Among the new names in the squad - James Mazembe on loan from KCB and Salim Abdalla - were highly pivotal in the win, with Muyoti taking into account what their impact meant to the team.

“All the new guys have brought some positive impact to the entire team,” Muyoti said. “Our young players needed some guidance and I can see them improve daily on both ends - upfront and defensively.”

The last wins for City Stars have been against Wazito and Mathare United - results the coach said were ‘very important’ to them maintaining league status.

“One constant message I've had is that we must beat the teams around us,” the former player said. “Us being ever hungry and taking all games seriously will surely take us through.”

Ahead of another week of Premier League action - where they are scheduled to play KCB FC on Wednesday- the advice from the head coach to his players is simple; “We need to be consistent and maintain high levels of character.”

City Stars are currently 15th on the league table with 20 points from 21 games.