Gbenga Ogunbote has explained the poor early season form of Shooting Stars after the team has only won one out of the first seven matches played in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, Sports247 reports.
Shooting Stars are starting the season on a shaky note as the team can only muster 6 points out of the 21 points obtainable having lost three matches and drawn three with just a victory in the season.
The Ibadan based team could only score 3 goals and leaked in six , a performance that has placed them on 16 position on the log, floating above the relegation by superior goals deficit of -3.
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Coach of the club, Gbenga Ogunbote whose team lost by 2-0 to Rivers United on Match day 7 says the Oluyole Warriors will soon overcome their early season challenge which he said is due to the defection of 11 players out of the 19 retained for the 2024/2025 season.
Ogunbote confessed that the fresh addition of nine players into teams slows down the team’s blending and synergy.
” Last season, we were not having enough legs to compete at the beginning, so by the time the synergy came in, we started winning.”
“This season, we were faced with the same challenge. We retained as many as 19 players. We just looked for about 9 players to beef up the team, about 11 defected, making us start from square one again. I think that has been the major challenge we have.” Ogunbote told the press in Port Harcourt.
However, Ogunbote believes the team are gradually overcoming their initial setbacks and will bounce back fully soonest, just like how they overcame a similar challenge last season.
” But so far, I think the team is coming up gradually, not minding today’s results.”
“I think we would still bounce back. We had the similar challenge we had last season.
“All we need to do is to pick the positive from the games, and see where we need to correct. That definitely will do”, Ogunbote assures.
Shooting Stars of Ibadan’s next game is against Katsina United at the Lekan Salami Stadium Adamasingba Ibadan, on Monday, 21 October 2024.
The team’s fans of the club are desirous of another victory on home soil as the pressure is gradually mounting on the former Sunshine Stars and Remo Stars to turn the tides on time and return the Oluwole Warriors to winning ways.
