Newly-appointed head coach of Kwara United, Justin Tenger, has set himself a target of winning a continental club ticket for his new employer at the end of the 2009/2010 Premier League season.
He told our correspondent after he was unveiled by the management of the newly-promoted Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side in Ilorin that like every coach handling a top-tier side in the country’s league, his ambition is to pick a ticket to one of the continental club championships.
Tenger, who moved from Niger Tornadoes to Kwara United, also fancies the chance of the Afonja Warriors to compete for the Premier League title in next season’s campaign.
“I am an ambitious coach and like every coach in the country handling a Premier League club I cannot say that I will want to go for anything less. No coach would tell you at the start of any tournament or competition that he is going out there to lose because that can have psychological effect on his players and at the same, he would be considered unserious. I am at Kwara United because the management believes that I am good enough for the job.
“So in essence, it would not be out of place to set a target of winning a ticket to the continent for a team that has just been promoted to the Premier League. At the same time, like the 20 clubs that would take part in the league next season, we have a good chance of competing for the title,” Tenger said.
But Tenger did fail to make his new employer realise that the target of winning a continental ticket does not rest only on the coaching and playing staff of the Ilorin-based outfit alone.
The coach, who has handled Gombe United in the past, accepted to guide the club to a continental place after the management of Kwara United acknowledged the conditions he put before it in actualising that target.
“When we talk of achieving a feat such as winning a place to one of the continental club competitions, it is not just about the coach or coaches doing their bits. The players, the club officials especially the management and the supporters all have roles to play in the whole sequence in meeting our target. You can’t set a target and not support the person you have given such a target or you don’t provide the environment to support the target,” he said.
Tenger also disclosed that during his interview with the management of Kwara United he made it clear that the club must respect the contractual terms of the deal.
The former Niger Tornadoes beat five other coaches to become the new handler of Kwara United.
Chairman of Kwara United, Oladimeji Thompson, said during the unveiling ceremony that Tenger would be given a freehand to run the affairs of the club from a technical angle.
Thompson also thanked the Kwara State government and the club stakeholders for their support and described the capture of Tenger as a right step ahead of next season considering the experience of the Benue State-born coach.
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