Greetings Everyone.
A late one for you today and most likely a very brief one. Don’t complain. Please. What’s that thing they say about half bread being better than nothing? Exactly. I could use an entire paragraph to explain why but what good will it do us?
The dust from the Abia Derby has finally settled and we can focus on bigger things ahead. And there indeed are big things in the horizon for us. As you know we are the remaining Nigerian Team still in the Continent. Some would say we barely just gatecrashed the party but hey all of them count. We are in the CAF Confederations Cup and that means we can even win it- that is the fact.
Right before that is Sunday’s clash with “Managerless” Sunshine Stars. Or have they gotten a manager now? Last I heard, Kennedy Boboye abandoned them citing some reason or the other. Strange club aren’t they? I recall one time I had interviewed one of their players after a game in Aba and he offered some very interesting comments. Moments afterwards he calls me and says he wants to retract. Apparently some information he probably revealed may have caused some “heads to roll” .
But they’re our guests this weekend. After that fixture, it does begin to get interesting. We had Kano Pillars on the Wednesday afterwards. Instead we will be in Egypt playing Al Masry. Al Masry themselves have a similar congestion. They are away to Zamalek while we attempt to negotiate past Sunshine Stars and three days later, they welcome us.
However way that Date goes, we may not have alot of time to chew over it as what follows quickly for us is a home date to play Rangers. The boys will need a quick turnaround to be able to face a fully fit Rangers who had the entire week to prepare for us. Right after then, we are back in the Continent – we head back to Uyo, this time to play Zamalek. A week later, we fly out to play Black Bulls Maputo.
Its a mad set of fixtures that even the biggest sides may struggle with. But this has to be where the management has to earn their money. The players have to be rightly managed, workload adequately shared and as much comfort as needed, sufficiently provided. There’s also the likelihood of injuries – Coach Yema will have to trust players who originally may not be his favorites and the players themselves will have to step up.
This is where the quality of our recruitment is as important as the technical input from the bench. We have made ourselves unbeatable for a few weeks now. That is huge. We will need that tenacity in the coming weeks. We can also hope that our ability to score early goals will be in full display too. Goals win matches and in the Continent, goals are sheer gold. Our attacking unit will have to be prime and potent in front of goal.
We cannot pretend like the next few weeks are going to be anything but a bumpy ride. It would be a miracle if we stay unbeaten till the turn of the year but we can navigate these stormy waters ahead with everyone doing their job. It’s also important that we keep things in perspective. If things go south- don’t put it too much to heart. Take it on the chin and focus on the next one.
I promised you a brief post today. So here I am bidding you bye for today with a promise to see you again tomorrow.
‘EnyimbaEnyi
