3rd March, 2014
Enyimba of Aba have fired goalkeeper’s trainer Sulaiman Shuaibu and given an ultimatum to the coaches to win in Mali or be sacked.
This followed the team’s 1-2 loss at home to AS Real Bamako of Mali in a CAF Champions League first round, first leg match.
Enyimba chairman Felix Anyansi-Agwu informed MTNFootball.com after a marathon meeting with the team at Abia Hotels that Shuaibu has been suspended until further notice for fielding an unfit goalkeeper, Femi Thomas.
Anyansi also disclosed that the coaches led by Zakary Baraje have been ordered to win and qualify the team to the next round in Mali or get sacked.
Anyansi-Agwu launched an astonishing tirade at the Enyimba backroom staff led by Zachary Baraje, accusing them of making “so many mistakes”.
“As an administrator, I was upset for the very first time. The coaches made a lot of mistakes and I have already told them.
“I never criticize my coaches but for the first time in my 14 years as an administrator, I was not happy with what I saw.
“The right things were not done (by the coaches),” he said.
Enyimba were lackluster, while AS Real Bamako were a lot more organised and deserved their win.
Anyansi-Agwu said that only a miracle will see his side advance to the second round of the League.
“It’s not impossible for us to qualify for the second round but it will take a miracle to pull it off. We will do everything possible to turn around this result in Bamako,” Anyansi-Agwu told supersport.com after the game.
Anyansi-Agwu who masterminded the club’s two previous successes in the competition in 2003 and 2004 also gave his assessment of the game.
“It was a very good game. I am not really surprised by the performance of AS Bamako. We tried to pass our findings on AS Bamako to the concerned quarters; unfortunately the information we gave was not followed.
“I have already congratulated the AS Bamako people because we are good sportsmen in Nigeria. We also understand that great teams sometimes lose at home,” he said.