Factional chairman disowns new coach
By George Aluo
The show of shame in Heartland FC of Owerri has continued with a factional chairman of the club, Goodfaith Etuemena disowning the new Cameroonian coach of the club, Emmanuel Deutsch who was unveiled early this week.
One of the groups struggling for the soul of the club led by the state house of assembly deputy speaker, Ugonna Ozuruigbo had on Wednesday unveiled Deutsch as Heartland’s new manager in a ceremony held at the Heartland secretariat. Ozuruigbo goes by the name of Heartland Supervisor.
Etuemena who is insisting that he is the authentic Heartland boss told SuperSports yesterday that those who appointed Deutsch are on their own as he has no business with the club.
“As a matter of fact, we have a team of seasoned coaches handling the team at the moment and if we need to change any of them we’ll go for coaches with a higher pedigree,” Etuemena told supersport.com.
He was quick to add: “This action represents the first direct attempt to factionalise our darling team and turn it into another political movement. I would plead with Nigerian football stakeholders to reject and resist it in its entirety.”
Interestingly, while Ozuruigbo and Etuemena do board room battle, Imo State government which appointed both men, has kept quiet, a situation that has seen the club emerge as the first team in the country to parade two managements.
Heartland was this season relegated to the lower division from the Nigeria Professional Football League. Analysts believe the club would next season end up in the amateur cadre.
