AUDIO: MFM Coach Banks On Divine Intervention To Win NPFL Title

Technical Adviser of title-chasing MFM FC Fidelis Ilechukwu has stated that his side needs divine intervention to claim the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) title on the final day of the current campaign.

The Olukoya Boys sit second on the NPFL standings with 62 points from 37 matches, just a point behind league leaders and title-favourites, Plateau United, heading into the last Match Day of the 2016/17 season on Saturday.

MFM intends to beat El Kanemi Warriors in Maiduguri on Saturday while hoping that Rangers will defeat Plateau United in Jos, so they can claim a first-ever NPFL crown.

But in an exclusive chat with www.busybuddiesng.com, Ilechukwu is refusing to accept that his side’s destiny is not in their hands.

“If my destiny is not in my hands, why am I a member of Mountain of Fire and Miracles ministries?” Ilechukwu asked rhetorically. “Why are we praying, why are we shaking our heads when we are praying? So it doesn’t matter.

“What happened to MFM Football Club is like a miracle. Nobody believed it would happen.

“To me as head coach of MFM Football Club, our technical and tactical ability is not enough. It’s all about God’s grace and God’s grace can still make everything change for our good. That’s my belief.”

Already guaranteed runners-up in the NPFL this term and a spot in next season’s CAF Champions League in only their second season in the topflight, ‘The Working One’ as Ilechukwu is fondly called, says MFM see themselves as ‘Champions’ even if they fail to win the title on Saturday but warned that the race is not yet over.

“It’s a great one (for us) if at the end of the day we didn’t win the league. But to me, we are champions. We are champions already because we have gotten a continental ticket (CAF Champions League). We are champions; the boys and the management are celebrating.

“I still believe that the league is still open. I told (Kennedy) Boboye (coach of Plateau United) that ‘you must not rejoice until after our game against El Kanemi and after their game against Rangers’ because to me, the league is still open.”

To snatch the title on the final day, MFM will have to do what 18 other clubs have failed to do this season, that’s defeat El Kanemi Warriors in Maiduguri and pray that Kennedy Boboye’s Plateau United drop points in Jos against Rangers. However, the 39-year old gaffer believes he has a formidable squad capable of doing the unthinkable.

“As far as MFM is concerned, there’s no tough team in the NPFL because we are the toughest. We are the best!

“The most important thing is that the rejected stone is now the chief cornerstone. That’s number one.

“And we are going into that game (against El Kanemi Warriors) with the intention of winning the league; which I know is very, very possible because who knows, Rangers may draw against Plateau United and MFM can win. It is possible,” he said.

MFM FC are only in their second season in the Nigeria Professional Football League after gaining promotion to the topflight two years ago.