Amuneke to Miss out of Kano Pillars’ Top Job Interview

Femi Solaja

The wish of former Super Eagles forward, Emmanuel Amuneke, to start another stint of football management in the country may have suffered a temporary set-back as he will not be available to attend the interview for the vacant post of Technical Adviser of Kano Pillars FC scheduled to hold tomorrow in the ancient city.

The former FC Barcelona player, alongside ex-Super Eagles assistant coach, Salisu Yusuf, are among the six coaches being considered to fill the vacant Technical Adviser position at the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side.

Other intending coaches include; Busari Hakeem Ishola, Erol Akay, Henry Makinwa and former Enyimba manager, Usman Abd’Allah are also in line for the exalted position.

However, Amuneke whose recent stint on the local scene was guiding the Golden Eaglets to win the U-17 World Cup in Chile in 2015. He was previously an assistant coach when Nigeria dominated the cadet World Cup with Coach Manu Garba in charge.

“I applied for the position and would be willing to contribute my quota to the development of the game after my playing career and coaching at the cadet level in the country,” begins Amuneke.

“I will not be able to come down (from his base in Spain) due to the fact that the notice of invitation was rather too short and the logistics to be at the venue were not enumerated.

“I received an email in my base here in Spain at the weekend stating the date, venue and time of the (Kano Pillars job) interview but no other details were listed. I replied the email, seeking further clarification and up till this moment (Monday), no reply or further communication has been established with the management whom I still hold in high regards anyway,” Amuneke explained in telephone interview with THISDAY yesterday.

The former African Footballer of the Year recipient has experienced coaching in Nigeria’s top-flight having held the reins at Julius Berger and Ocean Boys.

He has also coached and qualified Taifa Stars of Tanzania to AFCON 2019 finals for their first time since 1980 and lately had a stint at Egyptian top-flight side Misr lel-Makkasa.

Kano Pillars, in a statement released by the club’s Media Officer, Idris Malikawa, said the shortlisted coaches were selected from a list of over 25 coaches who applied for the job.

“The six shortlisted candidates are expected to appear before the technical committee of the club for an interview tomorrow (Wednesday) “ the statement added.

The best of the candidates will replace Ibrahim Musa who won the AITEO Cup with Pillars in 2019 but left the post after failing meet the club’s target of league win, rather the club finished fifth on the log.