Sports247 caught up with Hugon Gilles, the head coach of Prince Kazeem Eletu FC following a successful test game in which his boys won 3-1 over Messiah FC.
The experienced gaffer arrived in Nigeria from France some three months ago. In this interview with Sports247, the Frenchman talks about the degree of talents he has seen so far in the country and how he hopes to develop those he is working with.
Sports247: In these three months you have been here, how would you describe the level of talents you have seen in Nigeria so far?”
Hugon: As everybody knows, Nigeria is a country of football so I can see good players in all the teams we’ve played against. And I appreciate my stay in Nigeria just for the quality of the players we can meet here.
Sports247: Your team (Prince Kazeem Eletu FC) has been improving for the last three months. What have you been doing right with the group?
Hugon: I just ask the players to do what they love to do which is enjoy playing football. If we can put good mood on the training section if we explain what they. are able to do, we have good players and they are smart enough to understand how to improve and we just give them good advice. And then they do the rest on the field and today they do it well.
Sports247: Back to back wins for your team. Unlike before when they mostly lose. Will you say your team is ready for the Morocco tournament?
Hugon: We don’t know yet if we are ready. We try to improve each day on each section each week and we hope we will be ready on time. For now, we have a lot of things to fix on the offensive side. Tactically it’s better but we have to improve all parts of the game to be sure to be ready for the Morocco tournament.
Sports247: For the Morocco tournament. As a coach, you have targets for yourself. What are your personal targets as coach of the team and going into this tournament?
Hugon: I don’t have a target for myself. When we are in the academy it is impossible to think just for ourselves because we have lots of things to do and our first job is to help the players improve the way they play and help them to improve. That is my only wish for them.”
Sports247: With the players, you have been working with, do you see special talents among them?
Hugon: Yes of course. There are two or three players able to switch to clubs abroad. Other players are not far from that. But it’s too early to say if they will succeed in two weeks, three weeks, or more.
