Rangers Keen To End 25-year Jinx

Head coach of Enugu Rangers, Alphonsus Dike, has expressed concern about his club’s 25-year-old run without winning a domestic title and is keen to end that hoodoo this season.
But Dike knows that it would be a tall order though he acknowledges that the current team is getting every support in a bid to break the more than two decade jinx.
“It has been close to 25 years since we won any trophy in the country and that is not good for a club in the calibre of Rangers. But it is a situation that looks unfortunate and for me I don’t think we should just sit down and feel pity for ourselves. The season is still early and we like other clubs in the league have the chance of winning the title.
“No coach or team will tell before the start of a competition that it does not want to win even though they may have their shortcomings in the field in terms of quality. So we are thinking positively this season and we will work hard to win something at the end of the season though it will not be difficult,” Dike told Naijaligue.blogspot.com
But the former Golden Eaglets’ head coach is cautious about making difficult promises considering the fact that the Globacom Premier League would be keenly competed for in this campaign.
Dike believes that the key to the Flying Antelopes ending its 25-year trophy drought is tied to consistent performance in all domestic competitions, which include the Premier League and the Federation Cup.
However, the Rangers’ handler realistically admitted that it would be difficult wresting the title from the hands of Bayelsa United and knows that clubs such as Heartland Football Club, Kano Pillars and even Warri Wolves are capable of winning the league this term.
Dike also pointed out that Rangers would work to finish among the top three at the end of the ongoing campaign in order to reach one of the continent’s club competitions in 2011.
“It is going to be a big fight for the league title this season. Bayelsa United are the defending champions and will not want to surrender their title so easily and then remember there is Heartland, Kano Pillars and also Warri Wolves, who want to win the league too. So it will be a difficult challenge for the title this time. It will be good for us to end up among the top three in the league at the end of the season because that will guarantee us a place in one of the club competitions in Africa,” he said.