Hard work pays,Bandari FC coach Bernard Mwalala has been belatedly voted the Kenyan Premier League Coach of The Month For August after guiding the coastal Kenyan Premier League side unbeaten that month.
Mwalala was voted unanimously by the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) Football Commission after picking maximum points, winning all the four games to bag the 12 points available.
For his effort, he was rewarded with KSh75,000 and a personalized trophy courtesy of title sponsors Fidelity Insurance.
“I dedicate this award to my players who made it possible; they had belief in themselves and put to action what we practice in training”said Mwalala adding that “We played difficult matches that month but thanks to hard work from my players we won all which helped us finish second in the league,”.
Mwalala, who joined the Dockers from Nzoia Sugar and steered them to second place finish last season, won all four matches of the month.
“Breaking Gor Mahia’s unbeaten run was a turning point to us, when they came here they were on top, winning CAF matches and I told my boys not to concentrate on breaking the unbeaten but to pick maximum points and reduce the gap within them,” Mwalala added.
The former Kenyan international has hinted at winning this year’s title and has set a target of bagging maximum points from opening five matches.
“Our strategy this season is to win the opening five matches then put target thereafter, we were lucky not to lose any player from first team so it will be easy for me to continue from where I left.”
The new 2018-19 KPL calendar begins early next month with Bandari hosting champions Gor Mahia in their opener.