Hey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yesterday, I tried so hard to forget about that Uyo defeat on Sunday. Not that I had high expectations\u2014history and our current form don\u2019t exactly inspire confidence. If you gave Octopus Paul the task of predicting Enyimba\u2019s next match, he\u2019d probably pass. Even a crystal ball would overheat trying to make sense of this team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this loss? It stings. And here are my reasons:
\u2022 Poor officiating can kill effort faster than a bad game plan. If the NPFL ever wants to see better refereeing, maybe they should start celebrating one decent officiating crew per month, just like the NNL\u2014give them something to aspire to. Maybe, just maybe, we\u2019ll see fairer decisions from almost every centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Akwa United have been punching bags all season. Bottom of the log. Teams have been taking turns picking their pockets home and away. Just 20 points from 22 games and somehow, we didn\u2019t even get a sniff? Not even a lead to defend? How?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Uyo should feel like home. We\u2019ve trained there, played there, and never lost when using it as a home ground\u2014even against stronger opposition. But instead of making that count, we let a struggling Akwa United outfight us in what could easily pass as our own backyard as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now, our outstanding games mean nothing. Meanwhile, we are on our way to Benin City today for the match against Bendel Insurance tomorrow. Win in Benin City? We\u2019re still stuck behind Ikorodu City. If Kwara United beat Shooting Stars tomorrow, we\u2019ll be 9th. So much for continental dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, there\u2019s another way to the Continent\u2014the President\u2019s Federation Cup. We face Jaguar FC on Friday for a place in the Round of 64. Maybe this cup run will be our lifeline, our last shot at a return to CAF Competitions next season. But honestly? I won\u2019t hold my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back tomorrow,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enyimba Enyi!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey! Yesterday, I tried so hard to forget about that Uyo defeat on Sunday. Not that I had high expectations\u2014history and our current form don\u2019t exactly inspire confidence. If you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"breadcrumbs_single_post":"","page_title_panel":"","breadcrumbs_single_page":"","single_page_alignment":"","single_page_margin":"","page_structure_type":"","content_style_source":"","content_style":"","blog_post_streched_ed":"","blog_page_streched_ed":"","has_transparent_header":"","disable_transparent_header":"","vertical_spacing_source":"","content_area_spacing":"","single_post_content_background":"","single_page_content_background":"","single_post_boxed_content_spacing":"","single_page_boxed_content_spacing":"","single_post_content_boxed_radius":"","single_page_content_boxed_radius":"","disable_featured_image":"","disable_post_tags":"","disable_author_box":"","disable_posts_navigation":"","disable_comments":"","disable_related_posts":"","disable_header":"","disable_footer":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_rishi_post_view_count":402},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,8,3,4,5],"class_list":["post-1969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-aba","tag-caf","tag-enyimba","tag-nigeria-professional-football-league","tag-npfl","rishi-post"],"yoast_head":"\n