BREAKING: Vihiga United fire coach, appoint new one immediately

Struggling Vihiga United has parted ways with head coach Sammy Okoth and hired immediate former Sofapaka assistant coach Mike Mururi who returns to the club for a second spell.

United is struggling both on and off the pitch. On it, they are third last in the log with 11 points from 15 rounds of league outings. Off it, they are equally in a bad position as players and other staff have gone for months without pay over lack of funds as the budget currently allocated to them is meager and cannot sustain the top-tier outfit.

The non-payment of salaries made some players boycott training heading into tomorrow’s game against Mathare United at Ruaraka Grounds. By Thursday, only a handful of players had reported back at their Kidundu training ground. Coach Okoth was equally a no-show and the club has now moved to re-hire Mururi, who coincidentally was sacked in April 2019 and replaced with Okoth who had just left Kericho-based PL club, Zoo FC.

“Coach Mururi has returned and be on the bench tomorrow against Mathare United. The management had to take action because Okoth did not report back for duty and he was non-committal, “an impeccable source from the club told Mozzart Sport.

Okoth's departure comes four months after he threatened to resign over non-payment of his own salary and that of other staff and players. In January, the former striker alongside the then Technical Director Nick Yakhama announced they will be exiting the club, they, however, rescinded their decision and continued for a couple of months. Okoth explained that it was difficult to push the players to perform when their welfare was being neglected. Both have since left the club.

Mururi now returns to familiar grounds, after a year in charge, he was fired by Vihiga United in April 2019 alongside his assistant Tom Tera and Francis Xavier and replaced with Okoth after a series of poor results. Okoth, however, could not save the county-government sponsored side from going down and at the end of the 2019 campaign, they got relegated to the National Super League. The club stuck with the former Oserian FC and Zoo FC tactician and he guided them back to the top tier in 2020 after edging out Kisumu All-Stars via playoffs.

The returning Mururi, a former Kenyan international has previously coached Chemelil Sugar, Kakamega Homeboyz, United, Soy United, and Sofapaka where he worked under former coach John Baraza and current tactician Ken Odhiambo.