Enyimba crisis: Former Super Eagles hero George Finidi tackles Arsenal icon Nwankwo Kanu-led board

The former Ajax Amsterdam winger has refused to lie low and bear the blame for the Aba Elephants’ recent woes

Enyimba Football Club’s head coach, Finidi George, has broken his silence following the crisis that enveloped the team after their recent 4-0 aggregate loss to Wydad AC in the African Football League, Soccernet.ng reports.

Reigning NPFL champions, Enyimba experienced a 0-1 home defeat and a 3-0 loss in Casablanca to the Moroccan side, exiting the prestigious competition.

Following this disappointing performance, the club’s management, led by Nwankwo Kanu, issued a stern warning to the coaching staff, including the Super Eagles legend Finidi, urging them to rectify the situation promptly or face severe consequences.

In an exclusive interview with selected journalists, Finidi has shed light on the internal issues that played a role in Enyimba’s downfall in the AFL. Here are some key excerpts from his candid interview. 

On Player Recruitment and Squad Quality:

“At the level of the AFL, you must have a strong squad to stand any chance. We lost our top scorer (Emeka Obioma) and our highest assist provider (Sadiq Abubakar).

We also lost so many other top players whose experience would have been needed in the AFL. But nothing was done to replace them right.”

On Issues around Player Registration:

“Ideally, before registering players for any competition, the coaches must be consulted to submit the list. But that wasn’t the case here.

For whatever flimsy reason, we were not consulted, and they did the registration themselves. As a result, some of the players we would have needed were not registered.”

On General Internal Disorganization:

“We arrived in Uyo with the idea to have as many training sessions as possible on the grass pitch since we are more used to our synthetic pitch.

But we couldn’t really achieve that because the management failed to make the right arrangements with the stadium authorities. It was obvious that we were at a disadvantage as a team used to artificial pitches.”

In response to a recent press release from the club’s management that placed blame on the coaching staff for the team’s woes, Finidi George stated,

“The issue with the team is obvious, and it has nothing to do with the coaches. The same coaches won the league with fewer goals conceded and highest goal scored.”

Despite these challenges, Finidi insists he remains committed to leading Enyimba and will face Niger Tornadoes in a Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Match Day 6 encounter in Kaduna.

The former Ajax Amsterdam star led Enyimba to lift the NPFL title last season.