Enyimba of Aba will start looking around for a new coach to handle their technical affairs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), following the decision by Usman Abdalah to resign from his position as The Peoples’ Elephant’s coach, after they scandalously crumbled 4-0 away to Plateau United of Jos last weekend.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that, although initial reports indicated that Abdalah might have been sacked by the Aba-based side’s officials, in drastic reaction to their heavy defeat in The Tin City, the soft-spoken coach has come out to declare that he threw in the towel due to lack of backing from the club’s management.
While Enyimba slumped to their biggest defeat in recent time, Plateau United bounced back from a 3-0 thrashing they got from Abia Warriors of Umuahia to exert revenge against a club from the same state with their last opponents and consolidate their leadership of the NPFL log.
The league leaders, who were champions in 2017, got their victory with a brace of goals from Abba Umar as well as one each by Uche Onwuasonaya and Ibrahim Mustapha, to take their club to 24 points from 12 matches.
Their fellow-Middle Belt side, Lobi Stars of Makurdi regained second place after a 2-0 home win over Sunshine Stars of Akure, taking them to 21 points from 11 matches, while victories for Rivers United of Port Harcourt and Dakkada of Akwa also kept them both in the top four.
It was a different story for the defending champions, Enyimba, who Abdalah led to win a record eighth title last season, reached the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup last year and took them into the group stage of this season’s CAF Confederations Cup.
However, Sunday’s thrashing at Plateau United has seen the champions drop to 13th position on the NPFL table with 15 points from 10 matches, while their continental fortunes look dark, as they are third in Group D with three points from three matches, two of which they have lost, even as they prepare to host Paradou from Algeria this weekend in the second-tier competition.
In a related development, Nigeria’s other CAF Confederation Cup campaigners, Rangers International of Enugu dropped to last position on the NPFL log, following a 2-1 loss away to Heartland of Owerri, yet they are Enyimba continue their continental assignments this weekend.
