NNL ERA IS OVER, WE MUST FOCUS ON NEW ERA FOR NPFL- 3SC COACH, EDITH AGOYE

By Oluseyi Adedire

Shooting Stars gaffer Edith Olumide Agoye believed the club era at the Nigeria National League is over after the team got promoted to the elite league, Nigeri Professional Football League (NPFL).

Agoye, one of the greatest players in the history of shooting stars said that NPFL preparation had began at the two pre-season tournaments held at ijebu ode and Ikenne.

"After the NNL Super 8 in Enugu, we plan to rest our players for three to four weeks, we wanted them to rest, look fresh and recharge thier batteries. But; unfortunately, there was a tournament in ijebu ode, (Gov Dapo Abiodun Pre-season Tournament), as the defending champion, it is paramount we defend our title. This, however, halted our plan to rest. We were at the final but lost to Kwara United."

"Three days later, we were at Ikenne for another pre-season, the team defeated MFM, Niger Tornadoes but lost at the the final to Remo Stars, it was the same remo stars we defeated at ijebu ode that won the trophy but Remo stars had full compliments of players in ground and several players on trials, We had our plan but it got to stage that we over stretched the players, fatigue has set and the players can't go further with their performance. We won as a team and lost as a team, we can't blame anybody".

"Despite the fact that we lost at the two finals, it has been a wonderful tournaments because it put our preparation from level three to probably level seven and exposed a lot of faults; individually and collectively especially on the part of the players and coaches. There is need to be more tactical."

The dark-skinned coach further revealed the present situation in shooting stars camp ahead of the new Nigeria Professional Football League campaign.

"We're back to the drawing board, working with the old and new players. I want to use this opportunity to say that the four years at the NNL is always reminder and with the efforts made before we promoted. We are ready to get good preparation before the NPFL start so that we can present a very formidable team."

Agoye also noted that the Nigeria National League is different from Nigeria Professional Football League and the era of NNL is over and the team is focused on NPFL era.