One of Nigeria’s most promising football coaches, Jamiu Mohammed Isa (aka The Future One) is already attracting several offers for instant employment less than 24 hours after startling news emerged that he had resigned from his post as head coach of Dominion Hotspur FC of Lagos.
It was gathered on good authority that the youthful soccer tactician, who first started coaching in England, after his professional football career was cut short by a nagging knee injury, could end up handling a team in the lower cadre Nigerian National League (NNL) now that he has quit his last paid job.
Isa, who is an apostle off the passing game and ‘tiki-taka’ tactical style of Manchester City’s Spanish coach, Pep Guardiola, had been on the job with Dominion Hotspur for over five years, during which time he took the team owned by a Lagos-based businessman to several trophies and exposed the players with camping sprees across the entire South-West zone of the country.
Aside the many trophies Isa won with Dominion Hotspur, whose training grounds moved on a number of occasions from several locations within the Surulere axis of Lagos, including National Stadium and Abalti Barracks, Isah also helped the team to several runners-up spots.
It was learnt further that he was on the verge of lining the squad up for a shot at qualification to the third-cadre Nigerian Nationwide League One (NNLO), but opted to throw in the towel after his team failed to rise to the occasion in a final they lost this past weekend at The Legacy Pitch of Lagos National Stadium.
Though his side eventually lost the game via penalties’ shootout, after settling for a 1-1 draw in the pulsating final that was watched by former Super Eagles’ striker, Stephen Ayodele Makinwa (The Tiger of Lagos), who is now a renowned footballers’ agent based in Italy, Isah reckoned that his players did not play with zest and zeal.
Immediately after the match, ‘The Future One’ complained about ‘poor attitude’ from the lads and he subsequently opted to throw in the towel, on the understanding that the players were not willing to step up and play out their hearts for him any longer.
Dramatically, no sooner had the mill started buzzing with information about Isa’s resignation than additional feelers emerged that he had already been approached by several other youth clubs in and around Lagos as well as a number of teams in the lower class NNL.
Independent checks revealed that, among the many teams said to be in the early race for Isa’s signature are a former top-flight club based in Ogun State, which was recently in the news about strong allegations of being surreptitiously favoured by League Management Company (LMC) for promotion to Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Another team that is enjoying links with ‘the latest young coach now available in the transfer window’ is a non-league club that reportedly has a London-based businessman as its owner, with pronounced support coming his way from an internationally renowned football promoter that has produced several players for Nigeria’s youth national teams.
The links coming Isa’s way, it was further gathered, are based on the strong credentials he has been able to build over time, dating back to his early days as a trainee with Community Action Through Sport (CATS), Dreams & Teams, Cowbell Football Academy, Premier Skills and Help The Talent Project (HTTP), in various capacities as understudy, assistant coach and technical director.
However, when contacted for confirmation on the related developments, as speculation swirls round his resignation and subsequent dilemma over the next job he would choose from a myriad of offers, Jamiu Isah opted to downplay the matter.
Isa, who is in the last stage of a course at National Institute for Sports (NIS), stated with an air of humility: “It’s true that I have left Dominion Hotspur, but I remain ever grateful to the owner, Mr Emma Odogwu, for the opportunities he gave me and for allowing me to express myself.
“I have no regrets for the many years I spent with him and the team, because they helped me to grow and improve myself as a football tactician, which has made me develop a brand for myself and become touted as The Future One.
“That’s a big advantage I hold as I move on; but I am not going to say this is the club where I am going next, of which one I am not, because that would appear to be a case of spiting my benefactor or biting the finger that fed me.
“Let me just say my fans will soon hear where next The Future One will be, and I promise them it will be a very good place and soon. I thank the fans, I thank the media, and I thank Oga Emma. It has been wonderful working for him, but an adage says the only constant thin in life is change.”
 is already attracting several offers for instant employment less than 24 hours after startling news emerged that he had resigned from his post as head coach of Dominion Hotspur FC of Lagos.){kind=link}