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Soccer News of Tuesday, 17 April 2001

Source: GNA

Olympics Aim at Top Four Spots

Coach John Eshun, the man at the helm of Accra Great Olympics' revival campaign in the Star Premier League said he is determined to guide the new look team, of mostly cadet players, to the top four when the curtain falls in November.

In an interview with the GNA Sports after his team had squeezed past Sekondi Hasaccas in the league opener by a lone goal, the head coach said his bunch of untested players have the ability to learn early enough to withstand the rigours of the premiership.

Describing his players as "a team of youth, talent and hope" Mr Eshun said what remains for them to peak are conditioning and finishing, which would be the immediate focus of his training schedule.

"Our training was disrupted by internal squabbles in the team and it affected the stamina of the lads and this manifested in our performance in the second half," he said.

The coach said his attackers missed many chances in the first half, which they dominated because most of them were nervous in their premiership debut, while the few old players he used were over anxious to score and end the trauma they had been through last season.

Mr Eshun promised to transform the fortunes of the club with good results and vault Olympics back to prominence as the "third force of Ghana football."

He said though he was hired by the ex president of the club, Ade Coker, he would not dabble into management matters since he is a professional coach, whose priorities are the technical and tactical excellence of the team.

The coach appealed to the fans of the Wonder Club to rally behind it by attending matches in their numbers to support the club and pep the boys up to achieve results .

"Olympics was once a crowd drawer and I don't know why we should play a club like Hasaccas at an empty stadium. We need the support and goodwill of our fans and we shall reward them by ending the league among the top four", he concluded.

Great Olympics' preparations for the league were thrown out of gear when a new management team led by Mr Richard Solomon, an Accra legal practitioner seized power from the Mr Ade Coker, who had been president of the club for the past five years, a fortnight to kick off.

Mr Eshun said the old players who had deserted the club in protest against Mr Coker's removal are coming back to join their colleagues.

Under the circumstances, their loyalty would, however, be in doubt but the coach said he would debrief them to induce full commitment from those who would fit into his game plan.