There’s uncertainty surrounding the futures of MFM FC head coach Tony Bolus and his assistant Yemi Olanrewaju after both men reportedly resigned their positions at the club late on Wednesday.
Bolus, who joined the club on a three-year-deal in August of 2019 couldn’t be reached for comments but Olarenwaju confirmed his exit from the club after two years when he posted news of his departure on social media late on Wednesday night.
“Thank you everyone for your support for the past two years I have been working with MFM FC. I have resigned my position as the assistant coach of the club. I wish the team all the best,” Olarenwaju confirmed on his official Twitter account.
The club has yet to issue an official statement on the status of both men at the time of writing but club sources insist Bolus remains in his job.
The reported departure of Bolus and Olarenwaju follows a 2-1 defeat at home to Heartland FC last Sunday, matchday 9 of the 2020-21 Nigeria Professional Football League season.
Heartland FC, ironically, is managed by Fidelis Ilechukwu who Bolus replaced at MFM after the latter ended his 12-year stint at the Agege club to move east.
Defeat to Heartland was their second straight reverse and third in nine games and bookended a six-game winless spell that has seen them sink precariously close to relegation waters in a season where four teams will be relegated.
While they are 14th in the table with 10 points, MFM are only a point above 17th-placed Warri Wolves who occupy the last relegation place and with a daunting trip to Kano Pillars next up, the Lagos club could conceivably slip into relegation after matchday 10.
Unofficial sources say Bolus had been issued a three-game ultimatum to turn things around before the Heartland game but the defeat and the impending near-mission impossible trip to Kano convinced him to jump before he was pushed.
It is understood that club chairman Davidson Adejewon was left distinctly unimpressed by the defeat to Ilechukwu’s Heartland, a game the club had marked as a ‘must win’ and for which they’d practically accepted defeat to Wikki Tourists with Bolus and many first teamers sitting out the matchday 8 loss to prepare for the visit of Heartland.
Bolus and Olarenwaju were reportedly asked to ”step aside” and placed on “quarter salaries” following the loss. The duo had already been placed on “half salaries” on the back of the team’s bad run but the Heartland defeat reportedly tipped things over.
It marks the second straight season Bolus’ future would be up in the air following a bad run of form.
The former Giwa FC boss was reportedly sacked last season following a 1-0 home defeat to Enyimba – their seventh of the season – on matchday 18.
Bolus, who was an assistant to Imama Amapakabo when Rangers won the title in 2017 had reportedly offered to resign after a loss to Kwara United the game before in Ilorin but was prevailed upon to remain.
He had been in charge for just six months at the time and was reportedly sacked after overseeing a run of four wins in 15 games after their flying start that featured two wins – both away from home – from their opening three games including over Ilechukwu’s Heartland petered out.
Ironically, his reported sack last season came just before they were due to face Kano Pillars – the same team they face on matchday 10 this season.
Before assuming the mantle at MFM, Bolus was reportedly handpicked for the role after a team he coached won an internal tournament organised by the club’s proprietor.
Bolus, who hails from Kogi State had previously coached Giwa FC with whom he was twice named Manager of the Month in the 2015/2016 season.
He has a long association with the MFM group and won the annual DK Olukoya National Football Competition with MFM Abuja zone in 2018.
