Julius OkorieIn a rare departure from the usual buck passing, for which most coaches are known, Remo Stars coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, has taken responsibility for his team’s failure to clinch the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier League title, after finishing five points behind Champions, Enugu Rangers.
Sky Blue Stars ended the season with a 2-1 win over Katsina United, but it was only good enough to hand the Ikenne-based side, a CAF Champions League ticket.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe team won 20 games (one less than Rangers), five draws (two less than Rangers), and 13 defeats (three more than Rangers) to finish with 65 points.
“For my personal target, I term it as a failure for me because the target from the beginning of the season was clear—it was to be one step ahead of what we were last season. We were second last season, and we wanted to be first this season, but unfortunately, we slipped and finished second,” Ogunmodede said via the club’s X account
Despite their slip, Ogunmodede was full of praise for his players, noting that they will continue to strive to be better as they hope to make the group stage of CAF’s inter-club competition for the first time.
“Last season (2022/23) was an abridged league, and this (2023/24) was a marathon, so it’s different lessons from different formats. We just need to accept our fate. I accept responsibility as the coach, and that is why I congratulated the players.
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“We want to be better, always; that’s what we want to do,” the coach added.
Remo Stars have previously qualified twice for the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League, failing to reach the group stages of the competitions on both occasions.
The just ended 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier League ended as usual with different strokes for different clubs.
While some realised their dream of finishing in the top four, others sank deep into relegation waters, while others ended up happy to just remain in the premier league.
NPFL clubs qualified for the 2024-2025 CAF Champions League:
- Enugu Rangers
- Remo Stars
Confederation Cup
- Enyimba
- Abia Warriors/El-kanemi (Federation Cup finalists to clash June 29)
NNL Clubs Promoted to the 2024-2025 NPFL season
- Beyond Limits
- Ikorodu City FC
- Nasarawa United
- El-Kanemi Warriors
Below are the relegated clubs:
- Gombe United 25 points in 38 games.
- Heartland 38 points in 38 games.
- Doma United 44 points in 38 games.
- Sporting Lagos 46 points in 38 games.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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