Former Enyimba coach, Kadiri Ikhana has disclosed that he does not want to rush into signing for another club as he is yet to recover from his shocking dismissal from the reigning Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) champions.
Ikhana who led Enyimba to its seventh league titles last season before being offloaded by the management of the Aba club says he is reflecting on his sudden loss of job. “I have decided not to rush things because I never planned for what befell me at Enyimba which remains a rude shock. I want to re-examine all over again the whole experience to see where I got it wrong though it has been really difficult laying hand on any fault committed while on the saddle”, Ikhana said.
The former Kano Pillars coach who won the CAF coach of the year in 2003 after leading Enyimba to its first CAF Champions League success also disclosed that he never had any misunderstanding with the management of the Peoples Elephant to warrant such dismissal. “The closest I have come to fault myself were the few times we had arguments on the job which is normal outside that I do not think I did anything wrong”, he declared, stressing that he would love to reassess the situation before taking up another coaching job.
“Of course, there have been clubs rushing to have me on their bench but I do not want to rush any decision. I still want to relax a bit before I give any club my word for the upcoming league season.
His words: “If I say what happened at Enyimba did not touch my heart then I’m a liar. I need the whole time to make a commitment. Right now what is uppermost on my mind is the upcoming three-day coaching seminar in Ghana next month, I need the refresher course as well as to further calm and stabilise myself for the task ahead,” said the embattled coach.
By Olisemeka Obeche