Finidi speaks on rots in Enyimba and why they lost to Wydad

Enyimba's coach, Finidi George has finally spoken out on issues surrounding the club's 4-0 aggregate loss to Wydad AC in the African Football League (AFL).

In an exclusive interview with selected journalists, the former Super Eagles winger revealed that the management of the club registered players for the AFL without his knowledge.

The People's Elephants arrived in Uyo on October 18, early enough to settle in Uyo, their adopted home ground for the tie against Wydad AC on October 22. The reason behind this move was to get used to the pitch at the main bowl of the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.

However, Finidi said the team trained three times on the practice pitch but once on the main bowl pitch for just one hour.

"In the AFL, we played a team that was more used to the playing surface than us, the home team. We only trained three times on the practising pitch and another one-hour training on the main bowl. It was obvious that we were at a disadvantage as a team used to artificial pitches. Also, registration for AFL was done without the knowledge of the technical crew as we only got the list from the Sporting Director".

" They didn't register one of the defenders the former management signed. Dropped some players after the first leg saying they couldn't get them visas until the crew protested. We also went there without a goalkeeper coach and fitness coach which is strange to me."

" The reigning Nigerian champions failed to keep some of their key players who helped them get their ninth title, a development that has gotten fans asking questions. Finidi also revealed that the club's Sporting Director, Ifeanyi Ekwueme signed players for the team without his knowledge."

”We recommended a few and the rest was done by the current Sporting Director without my knowledge. We lost three of our best players to Rivers United: Sadiq, Adeleke, and Fatai, while Obioma didn't renew."

The People's Elephants failed to provide the quality expected from Nigerian champions and the country's most successful club. The Super Eagles assistant coach blamed this on the team's quality and also revealed that the technical crew knew just four out of the nineteen players signed by the club. 

"The current Enyimba team for the season can only compete in the NPFL and not on the continent. We are not at the level of Wydad. We have to focus on the league. We didn't replace the players who left adequately. We started the conversation on recruitment with the former management. The changes hindered the process and we ended up only knowing 4 out of 19 players that signed."

"When I saw the quality of the players that were brought, I called Ekwueme the Sporting Director and asked what the target for the season is, he said it is just to stabilize in the league as the focus is to settle down first. When you bring in players that have no history in the league or perform well in their previous clubs or anywhere to a top club like Enyimba, how do you compete with a club like Wydad which has national team players and a lot of players that have played in Europe and competed at highest level? We don’t have the squad to compete at such a level."

Enyimba lost their opening NPFL fixture against Gombe United. In a twist, Finidi said the technical crew did not know players registered for the league until a day before the game. 

"Registration for the league was done without the technical crew's knowledge and not till a day before the Gombe United match in Gombe before it was sent." 

On Friday, a purported press release from the club's media department said that the management, led by Kanu Nwankwo had warned the coaches and players over what it termed "abysmal performances in recent times." The warning passed the blame for the club's misfortunes chiefly on the coaches, led by Finidi George, with a subtle threat to "take necessary measures if things don't improve quickly." For Finidi, all hands must be on deck to move the team forward.

"It is sad to see such statements being released when all hands should be on deck and things should be more organized to enable a good environment. The same coaches won the league with fewer goals conceded and the highest goal scored. Won the best Super 6 ever organized, scored the highest and conceded the least number of goals."

The former Ajax player also wondered why there was no proper planning for movement, a day before they travelled and said it was strange to him that everything looked disorganized.