Nigerian Fusa Tope Ayodeji new coach for Mohammedan Sporting

Kolkata : Mohammedan Sporting on Tuesday named Fusa Tope Ayodeji, a Nigerian, as the new coach of the struggling club. The announcement comes on a day when former India striker I M Vijayan quit coaching.
Ayodeji, a former Mumbai United trainer, said, after being introduced by club secretary Sultan Ahmed, his priority was to promote Md Sporting into the premier division of Indian League.

The thirty-eight-year-old Nigerian was appointed for three years after Md Sporting sacked Syed Nayeemuddin for failing to deliver “results”.

Indian soccer Dronacharya Nayeemuddin, who was appointed recently after Sabbir Ali’s exit, said he was made a scapegoat for no fault of his. ” My aim was to promote the club into the first division of I-L but only after two defeats things went bad for the club officials.”

“What I wanted I did not get like some foreign players and time for two to three months,” the 62-year-old Arjuna said, who led India to win bronze medal in 1970 Asian Cup
football.

After recent 0-5 drubbing to East Bengal in Calcutta Premer Division League and 1-3 defeat to Oil India in Federatuion Cup qualifier Md Sporting’s officials, headed by general secretary Sultan Ahmed, Monday night sacked Nayeemuddin, who was appointed as chief coach for the club.

”The club fans do not want him and we do not require his services anymore,” Ahmed said, explaining about the removal of Nayeemuddin, who wanted some more time to settle in.

”I refused to quit and wanted some more time as the boys are new and getting used to but the club wants immediate result and removed me.”

Nayeemuddin, the only Dronacharya awardee football coach in India, said, ”Now you decide who is at fault,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.

I M Vijayan, who was appointed as head coach of Southern Samity, on Tuesday said he quit the coaching and wanted to go home to Kerala.

Refuting news reports that he was relieved from the post by the club, the forty-one-year-old, also an Arjuna awardee, said ” I wanted to quit right now before anybody asked me to do so.”

He said for SS he coached eight games, four wins, three loss and a draw and it was now time to quit and come back with more experience. ” May be one day I will become the coach of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.”

Souther Samity boss Mantu Saha said they were looking for an alternative arrangment in place of Vijayan.

India’s former striker from Kerala, who served India’s almost all top clubs in late 80s and 90s, was addressing a meet the press organised by Calcutta Sports Journalists Club.