Heartland FC of Owerri officials have disassociated themselves from the claim by their Technical Adviser, Kelechi Emeteole that lack of fund was impeding on their ability to sign more new players to beef up the squad ahead of the second stanza of the league.
Kelechi Emeteole
A national sports newspaper on Tuesday published a story whereby the coach made a passionate appeal to the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to quickly make fund available so that they can buy more ‘seven to eight players to beef up the team.’
But the Heartland FC General Manager, Prince Okechukwu Ibe retorted yesterday that they were not party to Emeteole’s aid appeal as the state government had already given the club all that would be required to manage the team at the time being.
Ibe who was irked by Emeteole’s insinuation that lack of fund was preventing them from recruiting quality players said the management team had requested the coach to forward a list of players together with areas needing fortification in the team to which he was yet to comply.
“I wash my hands off from this call on the governor for money to sign players. To the best of my knowledge, the government has not defaulted in its obligation to the team.
“We’ve continued to receive our monthly subvention from the government. We’ve been paying our salaries and bonuses regularly.
“The management (even before I came on board) had recruited whichever player the coaches said they wanted,” he stated.
“We have told the coaches what to do. It is their duty to tell us the departments that are lacking and the players they think we should bring for them to plug the holes.
“So far, they have not done this. It is not the duty of a coach to start asking governor for money. When you go to the newspaper to complain that money is your problem, you give the impression that the government had not done its duty as regards to the resources needed by the team.
“It took us about 42 players to prosecute 19 matches in the first stanza and the government paid and continued to pay all the bills. By mid-season, we don’t need another open or all-comers trials to fortify our team. All we need now are the quality players the coaches have spotted while the league was going on who they will use to fortify those areas the team is lacking.
In modern football, a coach should be able to know where his job starts and where it ends. After the first stanza, I should expect every good coach to review his team i.e. the players he fielded, re-assess his technique and tactics and then report to his management,” Ibe stated.
The general manager who came into office about two months ago but has managed to navigate Heartland FC out of the relegation waters before the mid-season, said his administration would commit itself to full implementation of the League Management Committee policy on players and coaches contract and remunerations.
Ibe said that there is no doubt that Heartland FC today ranks among the highest paying clubs in the country and that to maintain this, there is constant need for performance evaluation on the team.
