Maikaba: Wikki Tourists youngsters will fight for continental ticket

What informed your choice of Wikki Tourists FC as your next destination?I have being looking for this opportunity to lead a club in the premiership and I got it this season through Wikki Tourists and I believe they are a good club. The management of the club believes in my coaching philosophy and I have […]

What informed your choice of Wikki Tourists FC as your next destination?
I have being looking for this opportunity to lead a club in the premiership and I got it this season through Wikki Tourists and I believe they are a good club. The management of the club believes in my coaching philosophy and I have understood what they want. We shall work hand in hand to achieve our collective aspiration
What is the collective aspiration you are talking about?
Our aspiration is to play well and end the season with a continental ticket, if all things being equal. If we get the necessary support from the management and all the other stakeholders, I believe we can meet our target and we are going to do it in style because we are going to use mostly young players to execute our campaign.
The Nigeria league is a tough competition and it requires a lot of experience on the field of play. What gives you the confidence that your youngsters can cope?
I will use some experienced players in the team but they will not be too many. For instance, in the goal keeping area, in the heart of the defence, in the midfield and in the attacking line, I will have one experienced players each but the nucleus of the team will be built around the younger players who are ready to excel.
Something happened in the Super-4 Invitational tournament in Abuja some months back where the Flying Eagles excel, their performances can be seen from a positive position on relying on youthful players in your team because they were able to beat the league defending champions Kano Pillars FC, as well as Enyimba and at the end, they won the trophy but most of them have never played in the top leagues.
It is a matter of how you form the team to play as a unit and I believe I can do this with Wikki Tourist more especially, if I have the support of the owners of the club that is the Bauchi State Government.
How prepared are you to handle the pressure that comes with coaching a Premier League side?
I have coped with fans pressure in my coaching career. I have stayed in Kano, as a coach with Kano Pillars FC, I worked with Enyimba though not as head coach and I believe even from grassroots level in Kano State I have faced such challenges and I was able to handle it very well.  So it is not going to be different with Wikki Tourist FC in Bauchi, but I want to assure you that the way we play will encourage the fans to come out to watch us. They will be very happy to give us the support we need.
Players’ welfare is usually a major problem in the Nigerian League. How would ensure your players are well motivated?
If you can remember very well Wikki Tourist started this salary enhancement structure in Nigerian League even before the League Management Company (LMC) decided to introduce. Wikki Tourist officials look at it from the point of promising big sign-on-fees and not paying it which has always caused problems for the club. They therefore resorted to the enhanced salary structure. I am happy to inform you that by the records I have seen, the players do get their salaries as at when due and I pray this continue this season for us to achieve our target.
What is your assessment of the Nigeria Premier League?
The League has improved in the past two years with the coming of the Hon. Nduka Irabor led LMC Board in terms of officiating, good pitches and less violence in our match centres. I just pray they improve on it this season. I have seen NFF too taken a step towards improving our league by sending some of our referees to England for refresher courses. I know all these will add up to draw our fans back to the stadiums in Nigeria because of the quality of play that will be exhibited by the clubs in the league.