Enyimba will go all the way in Champions League – Ikhana

How are you preparing for next year’s CAF Champions League competition?We are going back to the drawing board to look at what we did in the past and some other good things that were missing in the past and build on it to have a team that can play in the finals of the CAF […]

How are you preparing for next year’s CAF Champions League competition?
We are going back to the drawing board to look at what we did in the past and some other good things that were missing in the past and build on it to have a team that can play in the finals of the CAF Champions league.
What is your take on your preliminary round opponents?
I am sure you know that there is no small club in the Champions League. So we are going to do our home work on Buffes de Bougou of Benin Republic. You know our neighbours are always difficult to beat so we are not taking anything for granted.
Are you recruiting more players?
We are not going for more players in the open market; we only assess our team and fill in the gap that is missing for a stronger team.
What will you say is the strength of your team?
Our team has the resemblance of a national team because we are representing the country. We have done it before and we know this too well because most of the teams you will meet in the CAF champions League always have bulk of their players in their national team squads, at times six or seven of the players are all in their national team. We have to do the same thing here but my plea is that the players we need should be given express clearance by their clubs.
It is said you are having problems in clearing your new players. How true is this?
Yes there are always issues regarding clearance of new players by clubs playing in the continental competition in Nigeria. The clubs who are not playing in the continental championship should release their players and the NFF should come in if the clubs are becoming difficult to handle by given the players provisional clearance because in Nigeria we sign players for only one season and I don’t see the justification for the clubs holding on to the players who have declared their interest to join other clubs. A player is progressing and you are bringing him down. It is not in the best for Nigeria football. The NFF should make it mandatary for the players to be given clearance.
How disturbed are you with this delay in the registrations of your new players for the continental assignment?
For me as a coach, the CAF Champions League competition is not new to me. I have passed through the road before with the same club but my worry is that of getting the players clearance from their former clubs. In Nigeria, we don’t understand that when the clubs qualify for continental competitions they are no longer representing themselves but the nation. I think the club managers should assist in getting the players cleared on time and the NFF should wade in if the need arises to give the players temporal clearance for the good of the country. But first and foremost, I am appealing for the understanding of the club mangers
Looking back, how did you make history in 2003 by becoming the first Nigerian coach to win the Champions League?
We worked towards it. We had over four teams in our first shot in the CAF Champions league. We had a team that was dedicated to the continental campaign, one for the league and the other for the challenge cup as well as the mixed team where the players playing in the continent still play one or two matches and rest to concentrate on the continental assignment because we have never won the cup before. It was a big design for that tournament and God so loved us that we succeeded.
That year we retained the local league title with seven matches to go and we won the CAF Champions league but lost out in the FA cup because we did not concentrate on it. This time around, we will give the CAF Champions league and the local league the deserved concentration that is what we want to do.
We are going to use the experiences we garnered in our previous participation in the championship by ensuring what need to be done is done in time to avoid any slip.