Ogbeide frowns at NPL’s schedule
by Sammy Wejinya 06 February 2012, 15:28
Akwa United manager, Solomon Ogbeide has voiced his frustrations at the manner in which matches have been scheduled in this season’s Nigeria Premier League (NPL).
Akwa United were impressive in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Sharks in Port Harcourt but the gaffer believes his side would have racked up maximum points if the calendar had been kinder to his team.
All Clubs in the NPL play two (mid-week and weekend) games every week and Ogbeide says that will only affect the performance from the playing personnel.
“The (scheduling) list is very difficult for the players. They are usually very tired after games and since almost all the clubs travel by road, the players usually do not have time to recover,” Ogbeide told SuperSport.com.
The former Sharks' trainer also expressed fears that players may ‘break down’ as a result of the ‘choked up schedule’ of matches in the NPL.
“Players may break down because of the choked up schedule. (Akwa United) has played eight matches in a space of eight days and we still have another match coming up in the next few days.
“This is not too good and the NPL must look into this,” he stressed.
Ogbeide also took the time to reflect on his side’s 1-1 draw against Sharks stressing that his players will not get carried away by their achievement.
“(The draw against Sharks) was a good result but we are not getting carried away. We are the new kids on the block.
“We are not too ambitious. We don’t expect too much this season because we just gained promotion to the NPL and right now, we are only concerned about consolidating our position on the table,” he said.