Siasia: 'Pay up Heartland to shine!'
Coach Samson Siasia has asked that Heartland be paid their outstanding salaries and match bonuses so as to spur them to victory against Al Ahly in Egypt in Sunday’s all-important CAF Champions League match.
Heartland are third in Group B with four points from as many matches and need to avoid defeat at second-placed Ahly to stay in the running for a place in the semi-final of Africa’s most prestigious club competition.
Siasia told MTNFootball.com that the team would be better motivated if they at least receive their August salaries as well as outstanding bonuses before the Ahly showdown.
“The players are demanding their salaries. If they are properly motivated for this game, they will come out and play,” revealed Siasia, who joined the ‘Naze Millionaires’ for the group phase of the Champions League in July.
“We have to make sure that they are paid their salaries as and when due while the match bonuses they are being owed should be paid them so that they could play the game of their lives.
“They are being owed last month’s salaries, it is not as if they are being owed a lot of money. You know this almost the second week of the month.”
He added: “If you pay them their salaries, they will be raring to go because they have family to take care of and so won’t worry about anything when they get there.
“The government has done very well, but it will be a big morale booster to get paid for them to go out there and play. Everything is about motivation.”
Siasia informed MTNFootball.com Heartland plan to employ the counter attack to get a result in Cairo.
“It is a very important game we just have to be very careful. We have to defend well and fortify the midfield because that is where the game will be played and then we will take our chances as they come,” he offered.
“We have to keep the ball most of the time if we do that our chance of winning the game will be good and if we are creating chances, we are bound to score. We have to play cautiously and ensure that we don’t make mistakes at the back.
“If we can contain them and then go on the counter to score goal, it will be a good plan for us to get a point or win the game on Sunday in Egypt.”
Siasia also bemoaned the absence of defender Ikechukwu ThankGod from the match because of a knee injury he suffered two weeks ago.
“We have an injury problem with ThankGod, we therefore have to find a way of playing without him,” said the young coach.
“But (Joseph) Jackson is back from suspension. If the defenders play well and we create chances to score goals, we have every chance to win the game.”
Both teams played out a 1-1 draw in their first encounter in Owerri in July.
The full MTNFootball.com interview with Heartland coach, Samson Siasia, ahead of Sunday’s crunch CAF Champions League Group B match against Al Ahly in Egypt:
MTNFootball.com: How do you hope to approach the match against Al Ahly in Cairo?
SIASIA: It is a very important game we just have to be very careful. We have an injury problem with ThankGod, we therefore have to find a way of playing without him. We have to defend well and fortify the midfield because that is where the game will be played and then we will take our chances as they come.
We have to keep the ball most of the time if we do that our chance of winning the game will be good and if we are creating chances, we are bound to score. We have to play cautiously and ensure that we don’t make mistakes at the back.
If we can contain them and then go on the counter to score goal, it will be a good plan for us to get a point or win the game on Sunday in Egypt.
Zambia international striker Signs Wonder Chibambo appears to have re-integrated into the team after his long absence.
He is getting better and better because when he came back he wasn’t physically fit, but having spent like two weeks with the team, he is getting back in shape.
He is a good inclusion because we like his style of play, his forcefulness and his physique and he wants to score whenever he has the ball. That is a plus for us and we hope on the day he will be 100% fit so that he will to do something for the team.
Do you have any injury worries?
I don’t exactly really know what is wrong with Kennedy Chinwo. We were in Nnewi last week and I was told he had some pains on his hamstring, but he is back in training.
ThankGod is also ruled out he has knee injury, but (Joseph) Jackson is back from suspension. If the defenders play well and we create chances to score goals, we have every chance to win that game.
We are not going to defend we want to win because if we win it will put us in a very good position but while you are trying to win you have to be very careful if we cannot get a win, we will try to get a draw and come to play the last match at home (against JS Kabylie) and see what will happen thereafter.
First choice goalkeeper Austin Brown has not been picked for the Ahly game. Is it because of his mistake against Ismaily last month in Egypt?
He is not being punished. He played three matches, we drew one and lost two, which is not good for us as a team.
After the blunder he committed in Ismaily, he came back and said he was injured when we started practicing after the Ismaily defeat.
I asked him where he got his injury from you can’t come back and you made this sort of mistake instead of coming back to the field of play he said he was injured and didn’t train. So how are you going to use someone that wasn’t practicing and that was why I used (Ikechukwu) Ezenwa.
Brown is a very good goalkeeper and anybody can make a mistake but we have to learn from our mistakes. Don’t come back to tell me you are injured when I didn’t see you get injured during the game.
So it is all about discipline. If you want to play you have to fight for a shirt. He has played three games before and everybody has the chance to play.
Also, you don’t change a winning team. The two goalkeepers who played against Ismaily you can’t change them. He said that he was injured, so he as to wait for his own turn.
What is your general assessment of the team ahead of the crunch tie on Sunday?
The players are demanding their salaries. If they are properly motivated for this game, they will come out and play. We have to make sure that they are paid their salaries as and when due while the match bonuses they are being owed should be paid them so that they could play the game of their lives.
They are being owed last month’s salaries, it is not as if they are being owed a lot of money. You know this almost the second week of the month.
If you pay them their salaries, they will be raring to go because they have family to take care of and so won’t worry about anything when they get there.
The government has done very well, but it will be a big morale booster to get paid for them to go out there and play. Everything is about motivation.
How have you being able to check the players’ restlessness as promised after the last match?
We’re delightful we are going away, they don’t have anywhere to go. We have to make sure that when they ought to rest, they do so because when you work hard and don’t rest, your body won’t be able to perform properly.
Rest is another form of exercise. If you keep running up and down and you don’t rest your legs, you won’t be able to play. We have to emphasise it. They have to go into their rooms, take a warm bath, relax your nerves and all that and get a good massage for them to perform well.
