Heartland FC Coach Alphonsus Dike quits amid crisis

The Technical Adviser of Heartland FC of Owerri, Alphonsus Dike, says he has resigned following irreconcilable differences with the club’s management.

The coach told the news Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that he was resigning because the “they are not ready to do my bidding’’.

NAN reports that Dike took over from Bethel Orji on Feb. 28 following the club’s poor run in the 2015/2016 Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL).

He led the club for 11 matches with the last against Lagos-based MFM FC on Sunday at the Agege Stadium where they lost 0-2.

Reacting to Dike’s resignation, Heartland Protocol Officer, Tonex Chukwu, told NAN that the club had yet to receive a formal letter from Dike.

“I am just hearing about the resignation this morning, it is news to me. Other journalists had called me to verify same story too.

“The club has yet to receive any letter of resignation from him, so, we will treat such news as mere speculation. We did not employ him on the pages of newspapers.

“Courtesy demands that he writes to the management of the club to declare his intension.

“What I know is that he did not travel back with the team from Lagos on Sunday after the Match Day 27 fixture against MFM which we lost.

“After that, we have not heard anything from him officially,’’ he said.

Dike, a former Golden Eaglets’ coach, has also tutored Rangers International FC of Enugu, Nasarawa United of Lafia and FC Taraba before joining Heartland’s bench. 

(NAN)