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Akande Fatai Smith, a highly experienced coach on the Nigerian domestic scene, has criticised Umuahia-based Abia Comets FC’s decision to sack 21 players from their current squad.
Read also: Abia Comets president Boniface Uche explains the fall of a large number of players
Manager Smith has taken a closer look at the shock development, which leaves the Nationwide League One (NLO) side with just 14 players, and opined that it can only happen at an “unambitious club” that doesn’t have a good structure.
A graduate of Electrical Engineering from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, who is currently the National Coordinator of the Football Coaches Association of African Nations (FCAAN), added that such a story usually happens in a team that operates without a clear objective.
The respected tactician, who played professional football in Singapore and Malaysia after which he obtained a diploma from the National Institute of Sport (NIS) as well as several certificates from the English FA, and is now also an instructor at FCAAN, further inferred that politics and favouritism could also have played a role in the Abia Comets saga.
Smith, who earlier in his career played for three Nigerian league teams and managed three others in the lower divisions, reasoned that club officials will always have to get rid of an overstretched squad at the end of each season.
However, he considered this to be a sad fact and added: “That can only happen in a team where there is no structure, where there is no ambition or defined objectives of what they really set out to achieve in the first place.
“When you have 35 players in the entire team and then you take away 21, it’s like you don’t have a squad again.
“That is why I say that it can only happen in a team that does not have a structure, an organization, goals and an adequate objective for what each person does in the club.
“In an ideal situation, most players, except those who are supposed to be in the reserve team, should be in a squad of perhaps 25.
“The players who are part of the reserve team can be there depending on their age. This means that the youngest players who join the group of 25 will form the remaining 10 to complete the team; depending on many factors.”
Akande Fatai Smith, who also coached BYT FC, AS Racines, Ijebu United and Dancez The Academy, at various times, with two FA Cup trophies as a testament to its efforts, further explained how the lack of a proper structure leads to the recruitment of an excessive number of players in a typical Nigerian league club.
“When there is no structure and no clear objective, everything will be determined by many political situations around the team, which would eventually lead to bad results.
“That may be the only reason why this has happened at Abia Comets. It may also be because the coach has not seen the boys play or even knows their faces.
“Many clubs in Nigeria tend to sign more players than they can handle, all with the aim of helping one person or another.
“At the end of the day, most of the people you sign just to give them money or get money from them will be affected by management’s year-over-year review based on their performance.
“If you have not been playing, chances are you are among those who will be let go. That is probably why the number of players who were left out of Abia Comets had increased to that figure. The number of players in the squad was already higher than what they were supposed to have.
“It’s a shame. It’s not good for the league, it’s not good for player development and it’s not good for our overall outlook for the league. It’s very unfortunate,” Smith said.
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