It took me more than 12 hours to put myself together enough to write anything about yesterday’s defeat to Sporting Lagos. My mind kept drifting from one corner to another, lost somewhere between thoughts, questions and disappointment. I was even awake well past midnight, still thinking about the match.
It is just four matches, no doubt, but the results are getting scarier by the day.
Ahead of the match, I was genuinely optimistic that Enyimba would finally turn the tide. After all, it was Sporting Lagos, a newly promoted side. Perhaps I deliberately refused to look too closely at our dreadful record against newly promoted teams since last season. I simply believed that, when a team is desperately in need of a win, facing a side that had only managed one victory against the team that was, at the time, the worst-performing side in the league was not the worst situation to be in.
Then the game started.
We began relatively well. Stanley Dimgba opened the scoring and, for a moment, I thought this was going to be the day. Finally, maybe the corner had been turned. Then Sporting equalised. We got a penalty and converted it. Surely, this time? They equalised again.
Then, within two minutes of that equaliser, they took the lead.
My heart sank.
I spent the remaining 20 minutes of regulation time praying that something, just anything at all, would happen. Then came the additional five minutes. I kept refreshing my phone and pestering people inside the stadium for updates, hoping that someone would tell me Enyimba had found an equaliser.
Nothing happened.
The reason I was not at the stadium is a story for another day. But videos have since emerged showing the frustration and discontent among the supporters, and honestly, it is difficult to blame them. The anger is spreading beyond the stadium too. Almost everyone who calls or responds during my radio programme these days wants to talk about Enyimba, even when I deliberately try not to bring the club into the conversation.
That tells you how deeply this is affecting people.
This is, by my reckoning, our worst start to a season in the post-Champions League-success era. What makes it even more disturbing is that we have now struggled against newly promoted sides for more than a year. Last season, we lost 15 matches. Four matches into this season, we have already lost all four.
Four matches. Four defeats.
Maybe the players are still trying to gel. That is understandable with a largely revamped squad. But even beyond the lack of cohesion, the performances themselves have been underwhelming. And it would take someone completely detached from the reality of what is happening not to be angry with Enyimba right now.
At this point, I honestly do not care who is to blame and who is not. Something has to change.
Everyone involved in whatever is happening around the club needs to step back and allow Enyimba to breathe. The situation has become too toxic for a club that is supposed to be rebuilding. It is increasingly difficult to understand why the governor has remained relatively quiet on an issue that clearly needs urgent attention. He needs to act quickly to save Enyimba from itself.
And those whose responsibility is football should focus on football.
The players and coaches should not allow themselves to be dragged into the mess around the club. They already have enough pressure on their shoulders. Their job is difficult enough without adding administrative distractions to it. Go onto that pitch, do your job and give the supporters the result they are desperately yearning for.
Results can go a long way in calming tension. One victory can change the mood, restore confidence and give everyone something positive to hold on to.
But there is a bigger truth we cannot escape: a house divided against itself will eventually burn to ashes.
Enyimba cannot afford to burn.
Chukwu ajụ!
Enyimba Enyi!
