Contract
By Olatunde Ajayi
Ibadan, June 24, 2024 (NAN) The Head Coach of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC), Gbenga Ogunbote, says he is unsure of what awaits him with Sunday’s ending of the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL)
Ogunbote told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Sunday that his contract with the Ibadan side expired with the club’s last match in the league competition on Sunday.
The Oluyole Warriors beat Sporting Lagos FC 1-0 in their match day 38 fixture at the Lekan Salami Stadium to finish fourth in the competition.
Their final standing meant they fell short of clinching a ticket to play on the continent next season, having earlier crashed out of the 2024 President Federation Cup competition.
The coach however said the club’s management had been making efforts to discuss with him on a new contract, but there had been no concrete offer made and no agreement reached.
”There is something on ground, in terms of discussions about the future between them and me, but nothing concrete yet.
“Presently, my contract has expired. But the club management is currently talking about an extension of the contract.
“They are already bringing an offer. We have all only been waiting for the final game of the league.
”Maybe something will come up in the next few days or weeks. But, for now, I cannot tell anybody what future awaits me at 3SC,” he said.
Reflecting on the club’s performance in the season, Ogunbote said they gave all their best.
He, however, regretted that the team could not finish in the top three bracket on the league table.
“It has been a step forward for the team though, even though it was unfortunate that we could not meet up with the target we set for ourselves.
“The important thing is that we just need to review the season and take positive lessons out of it.”
Ogunbote recalled that the club did not start the league well and also got it wrong on some occasions.
This, he said, really took a great toll on the team, adding that they only picked up during the second round. “But unfortunately there were still some away misses.
“We were placed around the 12th position towards the end of the first round of the season.
“We also lost some games on the road, which ordinarily if we had got a point each from them would have made a difference,” the coach said.
He however lauded title winners Rangers International FC of Enugu, saying “I give it to them. They are not a bad side, because they actually worked for the title.
“They are a good team with a solid coach and they know what it takes to win the league,” Ogunbote said.
Also speaking, Sporting Lagos FC Head Coach, Abdullahi Biffo, said the experience gathered in the NPFL would help his club’s management, players and coaches in the 2024/2025 Nigeria National League (NNL).
”This will help us to reorganise each department to be able to withstand the pressure of the top-flight league when we return from relegation.
“We knew we needed to win this match, to give us a chance to escape relegation.
“But it was a good experience, even though I came into the team just for the last eight games.
”I was assigned by the management to fix the problem on ground, but unfortunately I was unable to do so.
“We all know that the league’s last quarter is always important because that is when the teams targeting continental tickets double their efforts and teams that want to escape relegation will triple their efforts.”
Speaking on what should be expected of Nigerian clubsides next season on the continent, Biffo said something clinical needed to be done.
“We all know that Nigerian teams always find it difficult to do well at the continental stage, because the best players from Nigeria do not really stay in the local league.
“By the time new young players are supposed to come to the national league, they are already elsewhere in Europe.
“We are only recycling players within clubs in the league.
“The league authorities need to do something about this to develop our league,” he said.
He gave league winners Rangers International FC kudos for their performance, saying it was because they started well in the middle of the season and fought bravely to be champions.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
TUN/USO/OLAL
Edited by Sam Oditah and Olawale Alabi