The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Akpokona

  • Crown FC part ways with Akpokona

    Crown FC part ways with Akpokona

    Glo Premier League club, Crown FC, yesterday ended their relationship with their head coach, Lawrence Akpokona.

    Crown FC relieved Akpokona of his appointment following unimpressive results in the Glo Premier League in recent weeks.

    One of Akpokona’s assistant, Oseni Babalola, is now expected to manage the club when they confront Nembe City on the road.

    “Yes, he has been sacked, but there is no replacement yet for him. Our next match (against Nembe City) on Sunday will be handled by Oseni Babalola,” Crown FC spokesman, Oyekunle Oyeleye, told supersport.com.

    Supersport.com sources at the Ogbomoso outfit, however, hinted that the sack of Akpokona at Crown FC was always coming and that the club capitalised on the five-nil loss at Kaduna United to fire the former Enugu Rangers coach.

    It was also learned that Crown FC had planned to sack Akpokona before their 1-0 win over El-Kanemi Warriors over the weekend.

    “The club actually sacked Akpokona because of the 5-0 loss to Kaduna United. He was nearly made not to sit on the bench against El-Kanemi but somehow that did not happen.

    “That 5-0 defeat should not be blamed on coach Akpokona because the travel plan was wrong before that game. We got to Kaduna like around 9pm or 10pm, a day before the match and had no time to rest. So fatigue set in and that was why we lost that much,” one of the influential players of the club said yesterday after a meeting with the Crown FC management.

  • Crown sack Akpokona

    Crown sack Akpokona

    Nigeria Premier League side Crown FC have sacked coach Lawrence Akpokona, who earns N750,000 a month, after a run of poor results.

    According to an official statement made available to AfricanFootball.com, team manager Sunday Olaosebikan  signed a letter on behalf of the general manager notifying Apokona of his indefinite suspension .

    “I’m directed to convey decisions of board and management to you to proceed on an indefinite suspension with immediate effect…upon receipt of this letter…vacate your official residence…the decision becomes imperative due to unimpressive performance of the club under your watch,” the letter read in part.

    On Wednesday, Crown lost 1-0 at home to visiting Lobi Stars.

    Akpokona was hired soon after Crown won promotion back to the top flight, but the club are now fighting against relegation after 21 games.

  • I knew Wolves too well, says Akpokona

    I knew Wolves too well, says Akpokona

    COACH Lawrence Akpokona has revealed that his in-depth knowledge of Warri Wolves handed Crown FC of Ogbomoso the maximum three points.

    The former Wolves boss made this known after his team’s 2-1 win over the Paul Aigbogun team on Match Day 14.

    “ I  attribute today’s victory  to the data I have about Warri Wolves.

    “Despite the changes in the coaching crew and players, I could say that Warri Wolves still remains Warri Wolves.”

    Akpokona while speaking on his team’s less than two goals ratio per home said: “Our problem has been goal scoring at home.

    “We hit the woodwork more than two times against Pillars and also Sunshine Stars when we hosted them here at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, and against Warri Wolves today (Wednesday), we wasted few goal scoring chances.

    “I really need to work on my strikers as we have not scored a goal away from home, which of course is of great concern.

    “This we need to improve on,” the former Ocean Boys coach said.

  • We won to recover from setback — Akpokona

    We won to recover from setback — Akpokona

    Coach Lawrence Akpokona of Crown FC of Ogbomoso in Oyo State said that his team won its match against Sunshine FC of Akure purposely to recover from its setback.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2013/2014 Globacom League match played on Wednesday at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan ended 2-1.

    “We actually worked on our setbacks, the determination to recover from our set back made us win,’’ Akpokona told NAN after the match.

    “Today, we played a big team like Sunshine and I told my players to be determined because they are not more than 11 players,’’ he added.

    The coach who admitted that Sunshine played very well, urged his players to put in more efforts in their next match against Rangers FC of Enugu.

    Crown FC Captain, Segun Ayo attributed the victory to the team’s determination, adding that they were really getting over their inexperience in the league.

    “The first time we got to the premier league, we had little experience but now we are getting it right.

    “We promised to make the people of the state proud in the league,’’ Ayo said.

    NAN reports that Yinka Oloke scored the first goal for Crown in the sixth minute while Bode Daniel made it two in the 47th minute.

    Sunshine got its lone goal through Muyiwa Lawal in the 68th minute.

    Coach Henry Abiodun of Sunshine, however, attributed his team’s loss to “too many mistakes on the part of my players.

    “It was a good game, both sides played in the offensive. My boys would have done better in the match but they committed too many mistakes. `Well, I will not blame them because they had played too many away matches and were tired.’’

    He said that Crown FC would not have scored its second goal but for the costly mistake by his team’s central defender.

    Abiodun described the officiating as okay, noting that Crown FC was a solid team that would not afford to lose at home.

    “We survived Kano Pillars, Rangers and others and then I felt we should be able to get through.

    “I will talk to my players when we get back home. `They are my very good friends and I am sure they will tell me what really happened,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that even with the victory, Crown FC is still two steps down on the league log.