Veteran coach of Awka United, Zachary Baraje may be heading for a collision course with the chairman of the club, Ntse Ubeh who he claims has been interfering ‘directly with his job’.
In a chat with www.footballlive.ng Baraje accused Ubeh of tribalism and undue interference in his coaching duties.
The former Enyimba FC Coach, also insisted on the club chief to stay away from the dressing room or get a coaching certificate declaring he should not be held responsible for the troubles in the team or its results.
“There are areas where we need corrections but Coaches should be allowed to do their job even before the calls for our sack start to ring. The situation with my position is that my Chairman is interfering directly with my job. After making up a match day tactics and selection with my coaching crew a direct intervention comes from the Chairman’s office.
“I don’t understand why any Chairman will force players on the team because they come from his constituency or village, he should get a coaching license if he wants to become the Coach of Akwa United.”
Meanwhile, reacting to allegations against him by his Coach, Akwa United club Chairman Ntse Ubeh denied claims he has tribal bias or has been unduly interfering with the coaching or technical matters of the team as claimed by the coach.
According to Ubeh, he has only played his role as club chairman to ensure the right things are done for the good of the club.
“There’s no cause for alarm, we’re forging ahead. I took over the team in April and by the resumption of the second stanza, the club kept dropping in position. As the Chairman of the club you also need to get fillers from the camp and get the impression of the lads.
“If you give your technical adviser an input it doesn’t mean you are interfering. If a Manager has been in charge from the first to 27th game in the League but instead of going up they keep going down, you need to ask questions otherwise there shouldn’t be a manager.”
