Sports
NPFL: Niger Tornadoes Coaches Face Sack Threat
The Niger State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has directed the management and technical crew of Niger Tornadoes FC of Minna to win their next five matches or face sack.
The ministry handed the threat to the team’s managers and coaches Saturday in Minna.
The Tidesports source reports that in the ongoing 2017/2018 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) now in Match Day 10, Tornadoes had played seven matches, won two, one home and one away.
Tidesports source also reports that out of the matches the club lost three away matches and two home matches.
“The ministry has viewed with dismay the dismal performance of the club from Match Day 3 of the league to the extent that five matches have been played and lost which is detrimental to the fortunes of the club and to Nigerlites in general.
“In this regard the management is issuing a stern matching order to the management of the club and the technical crew, henceforth from this Sunday’s match up to the next four matches.
“We want to see the club up the league table as any loss may result to outright need for a change,’’ it said in a statement.
Reacting, Mustapha Gawu, the club’s Chairman told Tidesports source that since the management committee was inaugurated on Jan. 4 this year, before the league started, the state government had not disbursed any money to it.
Gawu said that out of the N7 million monthly running cost of the club approved by Gov. Abubakar Bello, no money has been disbursed.
He said that the small fund inherited from the past management had been expended, attributing the dismal performance to lack of funding.
“If you give somebody job, you will provide the person with the necessary tool to succeed. The ministry has not done so and they expect us to perform magic.
“Right now we are borrowing money to run the club; even the little we borrow is insufficient. We are handicapped; the ministry should help us out.
“We are trying our best to move the club forward but lack of funds is our problem,’’ he said.
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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