Sports
Sharks’ll Not Be Relegated – Obuh
The newly appointed Technical Adviser (TA) of Sharks FC of Port Harcourt, John Obuh has declared that the club would not be relegated to the lower division at the season.
The position of the new Technical Adviser was made known to Tide Sports by the club’s media officer, Confidence Idaa in an exclusive interview yesterday.
According to him, Obuh assured sponsors of the club and other stakeholders that he has the wand to save Sharks from an impending relegation on the 2009/2010 Globacom Premier League season.
Towards achieving this, Idaa said that the Technical Adviser has new tactical and technical depth to the game of the team.
Already, the team has been putting finishing touches to their preparation towards hosting Niger Tornadoes in tomorrow’s week 19 premier league fixture.
“I want to say that John Obuh is prepared and determined to take Sharks out of the relegation zone, because the team has all the potentials to play continental football next term but the problem is that they were yet to blend fully and play effectively as a team. But am sure that with Obuh, the team will definitely improve and climb out of relegation zone” he said.
Idaa explained that the new Technical Adviser has been able to bring a new style to the club’s play pattern, adding that the players were happy over his training style.
He expressed optimism that Sharks would be able to beat Tornadoes tomorrow and earn the three points at stake.
He also noted that the presence of the coach has impacted positively on the players as their attitude to training and general discipline have improved.
Obuh, the former national Under -17 team handler who is the incumbent coach of the Under – 20 team led Sharks to Kaduna last weekend in his first assignment, where Sharks lost to Ranchers Bees.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.