Visiting teams indulge in dull tactics – Coach Ogenyi

Unlike last season, Lobi appears to be doing well at least at home this season. What is the secret?We started this season on a good note and I must give kudos to the good people of Benue State especially the vice-chairman of Lobi Stars, Mr, Dominic Iorfa who actually assisted a great deal in organising […]

Unlike last season, Lobi appears to be doing well at least at home this season. What is the secret?
We started this season on a good note and I must give kudos to the good people of Benue State especially the vice-chairman of Lobi Stars, Mr, Dominic Iorfa who actually assisted a great deal in organising good preparatory matches for us. He organised a training tour for the team and this has impacted positively on our performance this season. It was an opportunity for the old and new players to blend. Although we are not doing badly, we are yet to arrive. However, I am confident that in no distant future, the team will gel. I have inculcated into the boys the spirit of I can and I will do it. I have told them what we have achieved so far shouldn’t get into their head. If we must get continental ticket we should be able to pick some points on the road.
It’s good you know that you must win points away from home but you are yet to get even a single point on the road. What is happening?
We are yet to get a point on the road but the league is a marathon race so we still have a long way to go. We have come so close to picking away points but so many factors have worked against us. Very soon, we shall get something on the road.
You have struggled to win some home games. Your match against Kaduna United comes to mind. Does it mean you have a team that blows hot and cool?
Let me say no team in the league is a pushover. However, some teams come to play you at home with a dull defensive tactics. They don’t allow you to play your game. Like you rightly observed, Kaduna United were almost running away with a draw. They came with about three to four central defenders. They did not allow us to play. Once any of their players was touched, he would go down. It was a dull defensive tactics. So that created a lot of anxiety in my team. We had to score at the tail end of the match. It was one of the most difficult matches for us this season.
What is your assessment of referees that have handled your team’s matches so far?
Actually, I believe that we should be mature in our comments and everything we do in the league. It is not in my character to talk about officiating or else I would have referred you to what happened in our match against Sharks in Port-Harcourt. If the officiating was fair, we would have run away with a draw. You have a situation where an assistant referee signalled for a penalty but was overruled by the centre referee. When my captain went to complain, he was issued a red card. I never speak on officiating. As a professional, I know that referees are human beings and the laws have given them so much power. What they deemed right is what you accept. I always encourage my colleagues to desist from certain actions so that the league can grow. We are trained to take any result we find with the spirit of sportsmanship.
Among the reforms introduced by the LMC, which has impressed you the most?
Definitely, the aspect of the reforms that has to do with grading of coaches is makes so much meaning. Part of the forms filled this year has made it categorical clear that if you don’t have a minimum of CAF licence B, you are not qualified to be a head coach and I thank God that I am one of the few coaches in this country that benefitted from the initiative by the NFF. I attended the course at the same times with Coach Stephen Keshi and his assistant Daniel Amokachie. My colleague, Sam Addingi did Licence C. It is a good thing and I must commend the NFF and all the football authorities involved. We are looking forward to them running more of these courses for coaches. We need to move on to grade A because we are behind our sister countries. We have never had grade A but I believe that in no distant future they will do something. Football is growing, it is dynamic and we must grow with it.
What target have you set for yourself and Lobi Stars this season?
I have ambition of winning the league because under Iorfa Lobi won the Challenge Cup in Kaduna. We have been in the continent before. We came close to winning the league two years back. What is remaining now is to either come first or second so that we can go back to the CAF Champions League.
How supportive is Lobi Feeders to the senior team?
Lobi Stars have a consistent youth policy and when I came in I had to build on that foundation that was laid by Dominic Iorfa. This has been working for us. At the end of every season, not less than four players graduate to the senior team. Last season, we were honoured as the club with the best youth programme.
Before the end of last season, you lost two key players, Moses Orkuma and Anthony Okpotu to Libyan clubs. How did their departure affect your team?
It is true that we missed the services of Orkuma and Okpotu because they were first team players and the team revolved round them. But you see there is no vacuum in nature. Lobi is noted for a brand of football. We play attractive football and we win well. When they left and people were panicking, other players who were sitting on the bench, came forward and took up the challenge. What I did was to upgrade two players from the feeder team then one or two players who were injured returned and we worked hard to ensure the team maintained its premiership status.