Newly-appointed head coach of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC), Edith Agoye, has been given a mandate of leading the Oluyole Warriors from the Nigeria National League (NNL) back to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) next season.
The Ondo State-born former 3SC player himself, was a member of the Fatai Amoo-led technical crew when the team finished in the relegation zone last season.
In this interview with OLAWALE OLANIYAN, the former Esperance of Tunisia striker, relieves his days as a player of 3SC and declared that not playing in the 1996 CAF Champions League final remains the black spot of his romance with the Oluyole warlords. Excerpts:
How did you start your football career?
I have been living in Ibadan since 1976. I did my schooling here up till the university level. I also started my football career here. From street club to the amateur club side and to the professional cadre. The only professional club I played for in Nigeria was Shooting Stars. So, some people regard me as an Ibadan man.
And now that you are appointed the coach of 3SC, how do you see your appointment?
To start with, I have always loved Shooting Stars. I am a fan of Shooting Stars and I was so fortunate to have played for the team along the line. Gradually I became the legend of the club. So, it’s a great honour for me to have played for 3SC with laurels to show. Having the opportunity to coach the team is a great honour for me as well and my family and I hope to deliver with the support of everybody in the team.
Actually, I started my coaching career in 2009 shortly after I stopped active football. I proceeded to England where I obtained UEFA B coaching badge in December 2009. I came back home and my first coaching stint was with Young Stars, that is based at Liberty Stadium (Obafemi Awolowo Stadium). Later I was invited to coach the Ibadan Coca-Coca academy and I did well in the national tournament. I was later appointed the coach together with Nduka Ugbade to take the Coca-Cola national team to England in 2011 where we finished second.
I had a six-month romance with All Stars FC, Ibadan and it was from there I got my first appointment as coach of Ila Orangun FC in 2011. I later worked for Gateway FC where I had the opportunity to lead the team to face 3SC during the Federation Cup in Akure. Thereafter, 3SC invited me for an interview and that was how I was employed in 2013/14 season to work with coach Franklin Howard and the team gained promotion back to the premier league. Later, I was drafted to Shooting Stars feeder’s team as head coach and thereafter, I was brought back to the main team where I worked with Coach Gbenga Ogunbote and later coach Fatai Amoo. So, that has been my journey in coaching so far.
As a member of the technical crew last season, how was your experience having worked with coach Fatai Amoo?
Coach Amoo is one of the top coaches in Nigerian football today and I cherished the opportunity I had to work hand in hand with him last season and understudy him. It was a great experience for me, I was able to tap a lot from his wealth of experience. I think all I have learned professionally from him and from coach Gbenga Ogunbote, coach Franklin Howard, coach Phillip Boamah in the past would have prepared me enough to meet the challenges in my new portfolio.
What do you think led to the relegation of 3SC from the NPFL last season in the first instance?
When a project of this magnitude fails, you cannot point a finger at a particular person as the cause. You have to take into consideration a lot of factors and looking at last season, I think so many things didn’t go our away. We were very unlucky in some instances. In fact, it was the experience of the last season that we have paid attention to in preparing for the new season. We hope we will be able to manage the situation effectively and achieve the club’s main target at the end of next season.
But, how do you intend to achieve the mandate given to you which is to return Shooting Stars to the top-flight in a season?
I think for Shooting Stars to be playing in the Nigerian National League is an abberation on the path of Nigerian football. Shooting Stars is a traditional club, a club with history, a club with strong fans base and I think such club belongs to the premier league, we would leave no stone unturned in our quest to return the club to the NPFL. We would do everything that is possible within the laws of the game to make sure we return Shooting Stars to the premier league next season and we are also asking for the support of all and sundary to back us in this project, so that our target is achievable.
As an ex-3SC player, what were the things you enjoyed then that are no more in the present squad?
It is very difficult to answer this question because then I was a player and now I am a coach. It’s a different thing entirely. I think the players of nowadays should be able to answer such a question. What we are looking for is to bring Shooting Stars to do things that befit Shooting Stars’ status. How Shooting Stars can become the envy of other other clubs. In fact, I recall that our belief then was that once you played for Shooting Stars, it was a ticket to play in Europe. In fact, we normally say we had two national teams then, the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Shooting Stars of Nigeria, those were the two national teams then according to our belief. So, every player believed that once you play for Shooting Stars you will have an opportunity to play in Europe and play for the Super Eagles, that was the case then. We want to bring back that thought of reputation so that players would always like to come and play for Shooting Stars and use the club to launch themselves and even to the outside world.
Any regrets as a former player of Shooting Stars?
No regrets, but although, when I looked back at how Shooting Stars lost the opportunity to lift the 1996 CAF Champions League, it hurts me a lot. So many people till today believe that it was because I wasn’t around to play in the finals which made the team to lose the Cup. We won the first leg game {at Obafemi Awolowo Stadium} 2-1 and lost by the same margin in Cairo before we eventually lost via penalties after the score stood 3-3 on aggregate. I wish I could turn things around, I wished I played in that final, may be we would have won the Cup for Nigeria for the first time then, that has been the only black spot in my relationship and career with Shooting Stars up till date.
What is the standard of Nigerian League compared to your days as a player?
From my own view, I think, we have to be honest with ourselves, when you want to really appraise the standard of the Nigerian league, you have to consider the standard of the leagues in other African countries. You have to look at South Africa for example, Egypt, Tunisia and Zambia, these are where the leagues have taken massive development compared to our league in Nigeria.
Do 3SC need star players to gain promotion back to NPFL in one season?
We are preparing intensively for the campaign in NNL and we know the qualities any player who wants to sign for 3SC must possess. Any boy who is fit and possess the ability to assimilate stands a chance of playing for this club. It is not necessarily about signing big names in football.
Any advice?
Like we all know that Oyo State government is the sole finacier of Shooting Stars and it is been doing that for so many years and I believe it will not relent. Like Oliver Twist, we are asking that Governor Abiola Ajimobi should continue to support the team. We appreciate what he has been doing to sustain the club. There are some clubs in other states that are no more because of poor funding.
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