The Chairman/Managing Director C.E.O, Warri Wolves Management Board, Delta State. REPOSITIONING WARRI WOLVES FOR OPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS Preamble: Football; no doubt, enjoys supremacy over other sports in Nigeria. It has occupied a very significant place in our social life and is fast assuming the status of a religion obsession is an appropriate lexical expression to accentuate how emotive and passionate Nigerians are about football but particularly Waffarian and Deltans are uncontrollably and absolutely obsessed about the round leather game. Warri Wolves in their short years of existence as a football club have not fared badly; however, it is important to state that the club could get better if run in a professional way. The Challenges…… The challenges Warri Wolves face is inseparable from the challenges that have bedeviled Nigeria league since they do not exist in isolation, they are situated within the Nigeria footballing community and as such are likely to be affected by these challenges that have held our league and club sides backward. For the sake of emphasis, the challenges of Nigeria league range from poor funding, poor officiating, in house squabble, insecurity at match venues, lack of insurance coverage, influence and influx of foreign leagues, Indiscipline etc. Warri Wolves have had their fair share of addressable challenges which have held their success back in their years of existence as a clubside which include amongst others: Poor funding, instability of the technical Crew, undue interference by the club management board on technical matter, indiscipline among players, inadequate training facilities, etc. The way forward……… Recruitment of Players: The best players in the land should be attracted to the club. Enticing and juicy offer could be a bait to attracting the best possible players in the land. Sourcing the grassroots for youngsters/ talents that can be nurtured to stardom, or promoting player from the feeder team that have shown splashes of promises. Players should be given long term contract of at least 3-5 years for sustainability ,just as applicable in Europe and other advanced league. Prompt Payment of Salaries/Allowances: The bible says “a labourer is worthy of his wages”. The prompt payment of sign on fees/ salary of both the players and the technical crew could come in handy to bringing the highest level of productivity on the part of the players/ technical crew. When an action is rewarded positively, a repeat or better performance will be expected in the future. Academy (feeders team): A very viable and well organized academy (feeders team) that will serve as feeders team to the club will come in handy in addressing the challenges of spending high fortunes to buy already established players from other club-sides. The benefits of academy (feeders team) cannot be over emphasized as it is eminently evident in Clubsides such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona etc. These sides have their conscientious planning and tailored academy to thank for supplying them with rare talents that have gone ahead to rule the world in football. Coaching Crew: The instability of the coaching staff is none the less a big challenge that must be nip in the bud. The club incessant hiring and firing of the head coach every new session is a negation of continuity that would have enhance better productivity on the parts of the players. Coaches can be given long term contract to enable them plan and execute their coaching programme that will benefit the club. Coach should be given second chance and not to sack at the slightest unfavourable result or minor disagreement with the management. Significantly, the management board should engage a coach who has the technical know how about modern techniques and trend in football with emphasis on international best practices and standards. Coaches should be sent on refreshers courses to improve their coaching skills and knowledge of the game for the optimal benefit of the club. Sponsorship/ Commercial: Europe Club-sides are indisputably the best in the world, that status is not conferred just because they have the best players in the world, but for the quality of sponsorship which also make them attract the best leg across the continents. The management board and the marketing department should put on their thinking caps and get good sponsors for the club to enhance their capital base. The clubs have to engage a competent marketing expert that must vigorously market the club for good fortunes. The complacency experienced due to the obvious fact that the club get subventions from the state government year in year out without stewardship negates the principle of business. Football is business and should be run as such. The management Board could also engage the patronage and influence of the state government to attract good sponsorship. Comprehensive Insurance Coverage: The Management board should consider it a priority to comprehensively insure all the players and the technical crew in their rank to deal with eventuality. Players and the coaching staff are bond to give their best and take risk for their employer when they have the guarantee that their lives are insured to take care of the unforeseen. Media and Publicity: The club should create a reconnection with their supporters through efficient publicity. The world is a global village; Wolves could connect with their fans anywhere in the world by running a functional website where anything and everything about the club could be found. They could also connect through functional Facebook, twitter, blog, Google etc. The programmes and activities of the club could be made public through all these social media; and in turn could attract the fans back to the stands. Home matches have to be publicized through gingles and advert on the media houses. Medical Services: The Management board of Warri Wolves should provide free medical services for the players and the technical crew to take care of their health challenges. This could be done by signing a contractual agreement with a reputable hospital in Warri where the players and the technical crew could go for diagnosis and treatment of ailments. Security: The Management should place serious emphasis on security at the stadium. Training and retraining of detailed security men at the stadium by the management could enhance efficiency and professionalism. Private security could also be engaged to compliment the Police men. Identifiable troublesome spectators could also be engaged as security details; in our local parlance, “You use thief to catch thief”. The security of lives and properties of spectators should be guaranteed. Every car that drives into the stadium should have a tag that will be presented at the exit, this could check car theft. Security details should also stay behind to ensure safety of lives and property after the match. Listing the club in stock Exchange: The public; especially Deltans should own part of the club by selling shares to interested general public and ensure the club is listed in the stock exchange. The club should be run like a company with a view to holding Annual General Meeting where appraisal of how the club have fared and consequently offer recommendations that will improve the lots of club subsequently. 30% share could be offered for sale while the government retains 70% ownership of the club. Separation of Power: There is supposed to be a boundary line between the sports Commission, management board and the technical crew. The power of these three coordinates synergies should not overlap; otherwise it will have a negative impact on the overall performances of the team. Unconfirmed and grapevine news has it that the overbearing influence of the sports commission and the management board is also responsible for the not too impressive performance of the club-side over the years. The sports commission and the management board should be preoccupied with the day to day administrative running and providing the resources the club require for sustainability, while the technical crew should concern themselves with the technicalities of the game. The board needs to ponder on this seriously. Getting back Spectators to the Stands: Conveniently, spectators are integral part of football match; if a match is played in an empty stadium; then it is a negation of the philosophy of football; because it is a game of aesthetics to be appreciated by football fans, the beauty of the game is further enhanced when spectators are at the stands and their roars and noise engulf the stadium in an atmosphere of conviviality- players-spectators relationship is pertinent in a football match. Consequently, the management board should do everything legally and humanly possible to attract fans to the stadium. Entertainers such as popular comedians, music stars could come around to spice up the match. Raffle draws and gift items to spectators could also encourage fans to come to watch matches. Warri Wolves Club House: As it is a tradition in Europe for Clubsides to have a club house/store where the silverwares and archival materials about the club are kept; club souvenir and accessories can also be bought at the club house. The management board should run a functional clubhouse to serve as a reference point for fans and ensure that the souvenir and accessories of the club can be purchase there. Indiscipline: Players’ antics and truancy have to be brought under control if the club must be positioned for greater heights. Indiscipline is one of the core reasons for lack of success in a football club. It could be tactical indiscipline, attitude to work or disrespect for constituted authority. The management should not fail to use the stick in the event that any player is unruly. No matter the quality of player in a club, if the dressing room is not under control, no meaningful success can be achieved. Travelling arrangement/Logistics for away matches: It is laughable and unheard of that in this modern age and time professional players will be subjected to about 10-13 hours on the road travelling to honour away match. Though the resources of the club may be unsustaining enough; however, manageable size of players and coaching crew could be made to travel by air to honour a distance away match. An online booking at least 3 weeks before the match could drastically reduce the cost of flight tickets by a greater percentage. A 20- man contingents could travel through air, to honour distant away match: 16 players, 3 coaching crew, 1 media officer; while others could come through the road. CONCLUSION The recommendations proffered above are geared towards improving the fortunes of Warri Wolves football club. These recommendations are within practicable reach; if religiously and conscientiously followed with all sincerity of purpose could serve as a spring board that will turn around the club for better and efficient productivity. Friday Jarikre jarkrefriday@yahoo 08037462300; 08054172696 A blogger, a freelance football analyst/ Communicator
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 13:11:43 +0000
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