The dreaded axe has finally swung, and its first casualty of the 2025/26 Kenyan Premier League season is Coach Ken Odhiambo. He now goes into the record books as the first coach to lose his job this campaign.

His sacking had long seemed imminent. As early as Sunday evening, speculation was rife that his head was on the chopping block. By the time visitors Tore Bobe braved the heat and humidity of the coastal city to bag all three points against the Dockers in their own backyard, the writing was already on the wall—too bold for Odhiambo to miss. In fact, days earlier on September 20, they had been held to a tame barren draw, unable to tame Kariobangi Sharks in Nairobi.  But it is crystal clear the home defeat is the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Some coaches might have chosen to resign pre-emptively, but Odhiambo opted to stay put, waiting to see if the axe would truly fall.

On Tuesday, the much-anticipated confirmation came: he had been relieved of his duties. He leaves behind a team that, over the past two seasons, has swung both ways—sometimes promising, sometimes disappointing. At their best, they gave fans hope; at their worst, they frustrated like a pendulum stuck in reverse.

In his place, club management has tapped former Harambee Stars striker John Baraza to take charge on an interim basis. Baraza, a legendary forward who alongside then-teenager Dennis Oliech fired Kenya to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Tunis, Tunisia, will now steady the ship.

 Baraza had held fort, serving as his loyal number two, and now the heat will be on him, as he steps in on stop-gap basis.