The performance of Warri Wolves recently in the on-going Globacom Premier League and the Federation Cup has attracted positive comments. The chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Mr. Pinnick Amaju, who watched the team beat Rangers in a league match, before the match in Owerri where Warri Wolves lost by a lone goal to Akwa United, spoke with ANN PHILIP-AGUNWA and pledged that Wolves will display a trophy in the streets of Warri at the end of the season. He equally revealed that motivation and good technical input is the secret of the team’s success. Excerpts:
What is the tonic behind Warri Wolves’ performance recently?
I think that when the team started they were trying to blend and it happens anywhere in football circle. I have always had confidence in the coach. If you recall I watched their training then, the players also have individual brilliance and performance but they were able to blend with time and coupled with the fact that motivation is our key and cardinal factor in Warri Wolves. I can tell you for real that Warri Wolves is one of the few teams in the premier league that pay salaries till date, paid their entire match bonuses till date, paid about 60 per cent of their sign on fees and we pay match bonus immediately after each game. So we look at motivation as one of the factors and we look at blending; the team has already blended, you also look at technical input from the bench too.
I was very impressed during the half time of this game; I was privileged to be in the dressing room when the coach was talking to them and he said so many things technically that I felt so very proud that a Nigerian could say this.
So there is a lot of technical input from the bench. Again, I want to say this that they have not gotten there yet.
In this game, Rangers played beyond my expectation; they displayed football dexterity, what I call football artistry, what I call the high culture of Rangers game. They played very well but I will always believe and say Warri Wolves will win, they did that and I am very happy. When Rangers is coming to your domain, it seems like several lions are coming to you. They play what I call rugged German football, very tactical, technical and physical. So there must be a coach of high reputation, very seasoned and with huge experience to be able to handle a team like Rangers. They came out from every angle against us, and this was one of the matches I dreaded, but it has come and gone till next season.
Warri Wolves have a controversial match against Akwa United, what is your expectation?
Well, we are going to take it as it comes. First, I frown at the decision of the appeals panel, the LMC have come out with their own verdict after thorough investigations and the appeals committee saw some other things, but my own is sticking to the rules and it says that even if you harass a referee without even touching him, he has the right to say that he is not officiating. The rule also says that the match commissioner’s report is your Bible and it is like going to church without your Bible.
If you want to go to heaven, you can isolate other factors but you concentrate on the teachings of the Bible. So the teaching in football is the statutes and it made it clear about this. Well, God will put it behind us. I have told the boys to go and win the game and of course I have promised them something very huge. If they give me that game, I will give them one million naira and I believe they will give that game to us. Like I told them, every goal scored in any game, I give them N250, 000. I thought they will score four goals in this Rangers game to earn the one million I brought. But they will collect only N250, 000 and their bonus.
So Warri Wolves is a team that is very well motivated and doing well. The team wants to pay back the government for investing hugely in the team. Now they are in the semi finals of the Federation Cup, first time in the history of the state and it is very good for them. Right now they are number two in the league and if they go on like this, they will be at the top. Also you can see players like Yarhere and Egbeta back in the team and you can see the love, excitement and unity amongst them. You can see that the spirit of oneness which we lacked last season is back now.
That love which is radiating between the players on one hand and the technical officials on the other hand. They work together; they never work against themselves and that is one thing that is very key. I also want to commend the management, especially the chief operating officer, Mr. Kenneth Nwaomucha, since he came on he has demonstrated enough zeal, resilience and determination; and I will always say a big thank you. God has a way of doing things; I will also commend other members of the management like Godwin Abigor, the vice chairman, Alex Amudo and others. They have all come out to say that Warri Wolves will win this year. We must jubilate round the streets of Warri with trophies. It might be less but we want to display a trophy this year in Warri.