I am not resigning —Ilechukwu

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu has played down talks of him quitting his position at the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) club.

Ilechukwu had caused a stir before the last day of the NPFL this season when he declared that his team would beat El-Kanemi Warriors in order to have hope of toppling eventual champions Plateau United who also needed to win against Rangers FC to be crowned winners.

The MFM coach took time to explain that his comment before the game was only meant to inspire his team to play for a win against El-Kanemi Warriors.

“Resigning? What for?” Ilechukwu said rhetorically.

“I realised that the best way to bring out the best in them (my players) is to make a strong statement and that prompted my comment ‘if I don’t win the game against El-Kanemi I am going to resign.’ It was meant to bring out the best in them because at that point in time I still believed that MFM had the chance to win the league. At the end it did not work the way I wanted it to, but we did well and controlled the game though we lost 2-1.”

Ilechukwu will lead MFM into next year’s Caf Champions League – their first-ever appearance in an African club competition.“He worked very hard for it. When I came in, I discovered his goal tally was very low. After every training, I normally tell my players that when a lecturer gives lectures, it does not stop you from going to the library to look for more points.”

“After each training, he (Anthony) spends 30 to 40 minutes extra to practice shooting. I am not surprised at his achievements. Some of the goals he scored this season were from those sorry of range,” the former Bayelsa United handler concluded.