Owoko drawing inspiration from Vihiga Bullets 2020-2021 team as promotion talk heats up

Recently acquired Vihiga Bullets and head coach George Owoko fondly known as Lio are gathering motivation from Bullets team that defied all the odds couple of seasons ago to storm the Football Kenya Federation Premier League.

During the historic season for the former Nakuru All Stars, the club started the term on a low note and went ahead to pick one point in the opening seven rounds of the campaign but a boost from the then chairman Moses Akaranga, had the club rise to the occasion and battled the likes of Talanta, noisy neighbors Kisumu All Stars and Kenya Police for a spot in the top tier league.

Bullets would then go ahead and stun Kibera Black Stars on the final day of the campaign to pip Kenya Police FC to the one of the available automatic promotion spots.

The script is not different from this term following the relegation of the club from the FKF Premier League where they find themselves with only two wins from the opening six games a performance that leaves them 13th on the log with a new management on board.

Lio, who was a key figure in bringing the new faces on board, suggests that it is what the team needed to hit the road running and believes the funding and motivation to the players will play a crucial part in fueling them towards the set targets.

“We have a new management on board that started to function last week on Saturday. They look promising and last weekend delivered on one of their long lists of promises which look interesting for the future of the club, if players are well motivated then I believe we are going to shake off our poor start and fight for promotion, it is too early to lose hope,” he said.

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He however, faces a hurdle in his quest to form a competitive squad for the reminder of the season, with his defense a main area of concern as they shy of a worst defensive record in the league alongside Silibwet Leons having allowed 15 goals in the first six games.

The former Nairobi Stima expert is keen on find a long-lasting remedy for this as he puts down that a good backline wins matches and propel a team to success.

“I have a big problem with my defenders, the team is conceding a lot of goals which should not be a case with a club that wants to win the championship. We have addressed this in the training ground and hopefully we see changes going forward,” stated the out spoken coach.

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Owoko further revealed that the new management had set the bar high upon taking over of the club and together seek promotion at the conclusion of the campaign.

“We had a sit down together and they have targets for the season which aligns to what we had as a team, they want the team back to Premier League as soon as possible,” offered the ex MOFA coach in the third division.

Next for the Bullets is a tough trip to the struggling Rainbow FC in round seven of the second division.

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