Liverpool’s coach steps down before being axed

COACH of Namibia Premier League side Liverpool, Abdul Abrahams resigned with immediate effect, a day before he was supposed to be sacked by club owner Oscar Mengo.

Mengo was due to sack the entire coaching staff of the struggling side today, but Abrahams yesterday decided to leave. Mengo on Sunday told The Namibian Sport that he will ‘fire’ the entire coaching staff, including the Chief Organiser Bobby Kotjipati on Tuesday, despite the feedback he has to receive on the performance of the team.Mengo said he wanted a report on the team’s poor show in recent matches, but was certain that all will go despite what they will be telling them.Asked on why he demanded a report if he intended to fire the coaching staff, Mengo said I want to know what the real problems are on the coaching front.Yesterday, Abrahams declared to The Namibian Sport that he was ‘finished’ with Liverpool and has no intention in submitting reports or attending meetings with Mengo.Mengo was angered by the 11-0 walloping of the team by Blue Waters in Tsumeb on Sunday during the New Era Sam Nujoma Cup.”In fact it was not only the result on Sunday, but the entire spell of the team in the league and cup competitions,” said Mengo.Liverpool which is currently second from the bottom on the log (2 wins from 14 matches with 8 points), lost in the Tafel Lager NFA Cup match against Benfica 3-2 at Mariental a week before.A win could have secured them a place in the semi-finals of the most supreme cup competition in the country.They also suffered a 7-3 trashing to league newcomers Golden Bees at Outjo in a league match, a result which Mengo said was ‘unacceptable.They have been put in charge of successfully running the team on the field of play, but they just made a mockery of it.I blame them all for the fall of the team to nobodies in Namibian soccer,” he charged.Liverpool were the league champions in the 2001/2002 season, but their performance has since gone down after numerous squabbles among the coaching staff and the management, while key players left for other clubs.Abrahams said Liverpool will never get onto the right path if the management treats the players badly.He claims that the team often does not have proper accommodation when playing away from home, while transport arrangements are ‘pathetic.’ He said sometimes players struggle with food before matches when they play in other towns.But Abrahams, who had no formal contract with the team, says the biggest problem is the moral of the players which does not exists.”You cannot win matches when players are not happy with the way things are run.They sometimes go onto the field and play the way they feel.They simply don’t listen to instructions,” he said.Abrahams said he tried to drill in a certain playing format for the team in the past two months, but the players only do it at training, but not on actual match days.The players of the team also do not train as a unit, as some are based in Okahandja, while some work in Windhoek.Mengo was due to hold a meeting with some of the coaching staff last night to get feedback on the team’s poor form, with the announcement on the dismissals expected today.Mengo on Sunday told The Namibian Sport that he will ‘fire’ the entire coaching staff, including the Chief Organiser Bobby Kotjipati on Tuesday, despite the feedback he has to receive on the performance of the team.Mengo said he wanted a report on the team’s poor show in recent matches, but was certain that all will go despite what they will be telling them.Asked on why he demanded a report if he intended to fire the coaching staff, Mengo said I want to know what the real problems are on the coaching front.Yesterday, Abrahams declared to The Namibian Sport that he was ‘finished’ with Liverpool and has no intention in submitting reports or attending meetings with Mengo.Mengo was angered by the 11-0 walloping of the team by Blue Waters in Tsumeb on Sunday during the New Era Sam Nujoma Cup.”In fact it was not only the result on Sunday, but the entire spell of the team in the league and cup competitions,” said Mengo.Liverpool which is currently second from the bottom on the log (2 wins from 14 matches with 8 points), lost in the Tafel Lager NFA Cup match against Benfica 3-2 at Mariental a week before.A win could have secured them a place in the semi-finals of the most supreme cup competition in the country.They also suffered a 7-3 trashing to league newcomers Golden Bees at Outjo in a league match, a result which Mengo said was ‘unacceptable.They have been put in charge of successfully running the team on the field of play, but they just made a mockery of it.I blame them all for the fall of the team to nobodies in Namibian soccer,” he charged.Liverpool were the league champions in the 2001/2002 season, but their performance has since gone down after numerous squabbles among the coaching staff and the management, while key players left for other clubs.Abrahams said Liverpool will never get onto the right path if the management treats the players badly.He claims that the team often does not have proper accommodation when playing away from home, while transport arrangements are ‘pathetic.’ He said sometimes players struggle with food before matches when they play in other towns.But Abrahams, who had no formal contract with the team, says the biggest problem is the moral of the players which does not exists.”You cannot win matches when players are not happy with the way things are run.They sometimes go onto the field and play the way they feel.They simply don’t listen to instructions,” he said.Abrahams said he tried to drill in a certain playing format for the team in the past two months, but the players only do it at training, but not on actual match days.The players of the team also do not train as a unit, as some are based in Okahandja, while some work in Windhoek.Mengo was due to hold a meeting with some of the coaching staff last night to get feedback on the team’s poor form, with the announcement on the dismissals expected today.