Enyimba FC midfielder Kelly Kester has described his team’s head coach Gbenga Ogunbote as “one of the best coaches in the country” following their 3rd place finish in the 2016/17 Nigeria Professional Football League.
Kester was an integral part of the Enyimba squad that finished 10th in 2016, a season they were distracted with a lack of permanent home ground and participation in the group stage of the CAF Champions League.
The 6’4″ midfielder was then reunited with his former coach, Ogunbote when the two-time African Champions named the former Shooting Stars coach as their new handler before the start of the just ended season.
“Ogunbote is a very good coach,” begun Kester to www.aclsports.com
“I have worked with him before. He is the one that gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League and I think he is one of the best coaches in the country,” added the player who has played under the likes of Paul Aigbogun, Baba Ganaru and Abdu Maikaba.
Kester played under Ogunbote at the defunct Sharks FC in 2014, his first year in top flight football after joining from Pro-league side FC Abuja. Being a top side with huge ambitions, Kester spoke of their targets before the season started and how they fared in the end.
“Before the season started, we had a plan which was to win the league but at the end we couldn’t win it but getting a continental slot at the end is enough consolation for us.
“We didn’t start really well because we had a few new players so we were trying to know each other more. But as the season went on, the performance was great.”
The Edo-born midfielder who was voted Enyimba’s second best player in 2016 by fans on an online platform ThatEnyimbaFan was on the verge of a move to Mexico before staying to play for another season in Nigeria. He remains hopeful on a move abroad.
“Of course, the ambition of playing abroad is for every professional footballer in Nigeria at least if not to play for a bigger club, make we go make better money. So that’s the ambition, to play abroad.”
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