Sports
Fans Assure Sharks FC Of Unflinching Support
Fans and supporters of Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt have resolved to stand behind the team all through the season following the improved performance against Pillars of Kano last Sunday.
They made their resolution known in a meeting with the management and technical adviser of the team, Gbenga Ogunbote.
Speaking on behalf of the fans, Precious George said they decided to assure the General Manager, Okey Kpalukwu and technical adviser of the team, Gbenga Ogunbote of the fans support for the team because they have noticed a marked improvement since the TA took Aover and following assurances by management that the team would be beefed up by week nine.
Meanwhile, chairman of the supporters club, Minayan igali added that it is sad when the team failed to perform after all that had been done to ensure success but with the renewed vigour displayed by the team against Kano Pillars last Sunday, there was no doubt that somebody was now doing his job on the bench and as such they would throw their weight behind the team.
“Now that we have heard all that transpired in the team before the season commenced and with what we saw on the pitch on Sunday am assuring you that we will give the team our unalloyed support and work as a team”. Minayan said.
Responding on behalf of the technical crew, Gbenga Ogunbote thanked the fans and supporters for their show of solidarity and promised that the technical crew would do its best to ensure that the team have a respectable finish at the end of the season.
“Let me start by saying a big thank you for show of maturity despite the not too impressive performance of the team so far this season”.
“You can see there is a gradual improvement in the team and because you have continue to show your support this far am assuring you that we as technical crew will surely do our best for the team relegation is out of the picture because we are duty bound to succeed at the end of the season”,Ogunbote added General Manager of the club, Okey Kplalukwu was delighted with the turn of event in the team and assured that management would support the new spirit in the team and that all plans are on deck to bring in tested players to beef up the squad in the next transfer window.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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