The Chairman of FC Ifeanyi Ubah, Chukwuma Ubah, has given detailed reasons why Kenichi Yatshuhashi was relieved of his jobs as the Head Coach of the Nigeria Professional Football League side.
The billionaire businessman stated that the decision was taken in good faith after players and fans had become disgruntled and disillusioned by Kenichi’s display of technical incompetence, regressive training regime and disregard for the Management, the Chairman of the Anambra based club.
“You do know we are a very professional outfit, driven by excellence while aiming for success and achievement of any stipulated goal at any point in time,” said Mr. Ubah.
“When the position of the Head Coach became vacant, we immediately swung into action to scout the planet for the perfect man for the job who had the right experience, passion, vision and above all, team spirit in order to help us achieve our lofty ambitions in the forthcoming season,” he said.
“We identified acting Head Coach, Black Stars of Ghana, Yaw Preko, who we believed had a reputable pedigree to take our club to the next level. However, Yaw Preko whom we held in high regards suggested Kenichi Yatsuhashi to us based on his previous working relationship with him and we adhered – which Yaw Preko who is still with us can attest to. This was the biggest mistake we made as we failed to carry out our due diligence on whom we sought to employ, depending solely on the recommendation of his former assistant.
“All demands, financial and otherwise made by Kenichi were met by the club, including all the requests which the club deemed as exorbitant and irrelevant. We did all we could to make him comfortable as we wanted results.
“The first red flags were raised when Kenichi started disbanding the team, leaving out our major star players including national team players Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Stephen Eze, Adeleye Olamilekan, Tamen Medrano, Kojo Baah, Wasiu Jimoh amongst a host others. This action led to the exit of some of our core players who were frustrated at being frozen out, notably Ismaila Gata, Bello Koformata and Okereke Maduabuchi. While we got torrents of complaints from the players, we allowed him to take his chosen and preferred route as we felt he had a masterplan. His training regimes were strange as he totally eliminated aerobics while insisting that the players undergo massive weight lifting, lifting weights as heavy as 100kg across 100 metres, culminating in lots of injuries. While all these were not approved by the club, we overlooked his actions on the back of his assumed expertise.”
Kenichi Yatsuhashi did not last beyond 30 days at FC Ifeanyi Ubah as he was sent packing even before the NPFL Super 4 Tournament held in Enugu.
On the direction of the club, Chukwuma Ubah assured fans of FC Ifeanyi Ubah that the goals and interest of the club will remain paramount. “Our fans should rest assured that all decisions taken and executed by the club are driven with the best interests of the Club at heart. The Club is moving in the right direction and nothing will be made to derail or stunt the progress we have made.
With the new season slated to kick off on the 7th of January 2017 with a match against Kano Pillars at the Sani Abacha Stadium being the first hurdle for the Warriors, fans of FC Ifeanyi Ubah will be hoping for a winning start.
FC Ifeanyi Ubah will be looking to improve on the league record finish of 4th last season and at least advance to the latter stages of the CAF Confederations Cup which will see the Anambra Warriors make their continental debut.
