Good morning Everyone.
You must be tired of my incessant apologies for posting late. I don’t have any excuses. I just didn’t write before I went to bed and being 6 hours behind Nigerian time means if I don’t write before I sleep, the blog may not be ready before noon. Apologies. I’m getting better.
The attention turns to the big one on Sunday. The Elephant is in Uyo to welcome Egyptian Giants Zamalek in a Match Day 2 Encounter. Much has been made of our exertions against Al Masry – in a game I still feel we had it in us to get something out of. It just didn’t happen – but yea, that’s in the past.
Interestingly, prior to beating us, Al Masry had just gone away at Zamalek and beat them there. So maybe, we aren’t the weaklings we are being made out to be. I’ll still stand by my stance that on the day, the 2-0 didn’t reflect the true performance on the day. Yes Ani made saves that kept the tie at 1-0, but isn’t a goalkeeper making saves supposed to be part of a team’s work?
Well, a challenge with this weekend is that the game is played in Uyo – at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium. A stadium that characteristically only gets packed out when Victor Osihmen and Alex Iwobinho bring their friends along. Even for Akwa United, the stadium barely gets a look in from the Uyo people. Not sure then what to expect when it’s Enyimba in town.
This is where the management has to earn their money. You can provide buses to take Enyimba fans to Uyo and back, the club can look to engage the media houses in Uyo and make the right noises about the game. In football business, you invest before you reap. How much is a win in the Group stage? How much will it cost to publicize this game and even throw the gates open if you want? Do the Math.
A decent backdrop of fans doesn’t mean Enyimba automatically wins the game, but it surely helps. Thing is, an administration that hasn’t bothered with packing the Enyimba Stadium on regular matchdays don’t look like they will go the extra mile to secure fans for a game in another State.
Also, I’ll ask – What is the plan for the Enyimba Stadium? Is there a plan? Season after season our arena is deemed not good enough to host Continental matches. Is there a plan underway for solving this problem? Do the club administrators even care? Or are we going to be that big team of a glorious yesterday but cannot even host Continental games today? Questions. More Questions.
In other news, the club is closing in on some attacking options. I hear the deals are near completion. Let’s hope they can get it over the line.
Back tomorrow
‘EnyimbaEnyi
