Rangers Lose Title As Champions
It all seemed to be smooth sailing for Rangers International as they led Zesco United of Zambia 2-0 in a first leg CAF Confederation Cup game last weekend in Enugu.
The dark clouds that surrounded Rangers and coach Imama Amapakabo coming into the looked to be fading away and normal service had resumed at the ‘Cathedral’.
Then it all went up in flames.
Zesco clawed their way back into the game. Two away goals in six minutes meant the first leg tie ended 2-2 and with Rangers off to Ndola for the second leg, the ghosts seemed back to haunt Imama.
The Rangers Management wasted no time in doing away with the services of the coach who won them their first title in 32 years, only to have it downgraded to an indefinite suspension by the Enugu Sports Comission.
It’s been a roller-coaster of sorts for Rangers in the past 8 months. From winning the Nigerian title to languishing at the bottom of the log, nothing seems to be going right for the Rangers side.
Top scorer and influential member of the team Chisom Egbuchulam [below] left for Sweden at the end of the season and with players complaining of unfulfilled promises, it didn’t look good for Rangers from the onset.
Gone were the Rangers of last season who played with zest and confidence, the team has been a shadow of itself this current campaign and even though the 1-1 draw away at JS Saoura masked initial issues, the pasting the team got at the hands of Zamalek sent warning signs of things to come.
Sunday’s draw with Zesco was the final straw, Imama was ‘let go’ 48 hours later and his assistant Chukwuma Agbo was asked to handle the team pending when Sylvanus Okpala will take over at the ‘Flying Antelopes’.
