Tension mounts on Coach Cooreman

Boastful Belgium coach of the Seasiders, Maurice Cooreman is not spared the tension generated by the non-payment of his players' salaries and allowances; he now walks with his shoulders haunched and head bent downwards...no thanks to the fear of a possible protest by his players.

Though quartered in a much more comfortable and decent appartment in Surulere, Lagos, Cooreman, is said to be uncomfortable with the situation and condition of his players... " the coach is very far away from being comfortable,even with his clean and decent abode."

To show how close Cooreman is to his players in spite of his comfortable home, the coach too, is sharing the same predicament of non-payment of salaries and allowances. The coach has no official car and that is enough for him to feel the heat the players are experiencing. He is at the mercy of his assistant, Emmanuel Tetteh Okonkwo, who was the head coach before Cooreman's coming.

Tetteh is the one who drives him around and to trainning. This has made it impossible for the Belgian to monitor his boys in the camp and he is not toasting over this situation.

"Our coach is aware of the unsafe nature of the area (Shitta,Surulere) where we are camped and he knows that it could be worse for a foreigner like him. So, he has to be driven down by his assistant,who naturally, would feel being inconvenienced. Electricity supply is irregular even in his area of residence.

"The man, Cooreman, has not been paid his sign-on fee and this is unfair. They are insisting that he undergoes a medical test before he gets paid. As far as we are concerned, the man shoujld be paid his due salaries and allowances rather than all these unnecessary demands and pressure on him," the players chorussed.