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Why Nuttall rejected Sh150k apartment in upmarket Nairobi


In the wake of his unceremonious exit, it has now emerged that former Gor Mahia coach, Frank Nuttall, declined an offer to be housed in a Sh 150,000 apartment in an upmarket Nairobi neigbourhood.

In an elaborate response to Nuttall’s resignation, the club has categorically denied sacking the coach while also accusing the Scotsman of referring to houses in Nairobi’s upmarket Kilimani area as “substandard”.

The club claims it offered the coach several 3 bed-roomed fully furnished apartments in Kilimani but he rejected them.

“Throughout last year, we struggled to pay Mr. Nuttall’s salary of Sh 700,000 ($7,000) a month. We offered him several 3 bedroom fully furnished apartments in Kilimani at rents between Sh120,000 and Sh150,000 per month but he declined saying they are substandard,” Club Secretary General Ronald Ngala said on Friday.

Ngala further said the club is no longer willing and able to main the coach’s extravagant lifestyle adding that Gor Mahia struggled to pay the coach’s monthly salary and accommodation expenses totaling Sh 600,000 at the five star Serena Hotel in Nairobi.

The official also took issue with the coach for sharing confidential information with the public and for backtracking on an earlier agreement to accept a pay cut.

NUTTALL’S SUITORS

Meanwhile, Nuttall is already drawing interest from some big clubs in East Africa barely a day after walking out on Gor Mahia.

Tanzanian giant club Simba SC and Sudan’s Al Hilal are understood to be among the clubs interested in hiring the coach.

“Now that he is no longer at Gor Mahia, we have asked him if he is interested (in joining Simba) so that the next Executive Committee meeting can deliberate. He is a good coach. We saw that during the Cecafa Games last year. But there is nothing concrete as yet,” a Simba official told Nairobi News on Friday.

Simba are on the lookout for a new coach after parting ways with Englishman Dylan Kerr last December. Former Ugandan international Jackson Mayanja is the club’s current acting coach.

If the move materializes, Nuttall will travel the same path as another former Gor Mahia coach Zdravko Logarusic who also enjoyed a brief stint at Simba after leaving K’Ogalo.

At the same time, Micheal Nam, Spaniard Antonio Flores and current Harambee Stars coach Bobby Williamson have emerged as the front runners to replace Nuttall at Gor Mahia.