Veteran itinerant coach in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), Gbenga Ogunbote has come out with a stunning revelation of reasons behind his decision to extend his contract with Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan.
This comes in contrast with permutations by many observers, who felt Ogunbote would be on the move at the end of this season, in which he led 3SC to fourth position on the NPFL’s final log.
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However, though the well-travelled and experienced tactician had hinted after the season’s last match day about the possibility of another exit for him from The Oluyole Warlords, he on Friday extended his stay at Jericho.
The former handler of Sunshine Stars of Akure, Rangers of Enugu and Enyimba of Aba has now disclosed that he opted to put pen on paper for a new deal with 3SC simply because he loves the one-time African Cup Winners champions.
Ogunbote gleefully confessed, “I love the club, and I want to continue the wonderful job we’ve done, and hopefully, we will meet our target next season.”
That target surely will be a mission of taking Shooting Stars back into continental football, which they missed by the whiskers on the last day of this season.
Despite defeating visiting Sporting Lagos in their last match of the campaign, it was not enough to upstage Enyimba of Aba, who knicked third spot on the NPFL table and took the ticket for next season’s CAF Confederation Cup.
Ogunbote will now aim to reincarnate the fire of glory in the capital of Oyo State, which saw the then IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan become Nigeria’s first continental champions in 1976 and winners of the defunct CAF Cup in 1992