Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State on Monday unveiled former Super Eagles star, Emmanuel Amuneke as the new head coach of Heartland Football Club.
Heartland Football Club, formerly known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC, is owned by Imo State Government.
Amuneke is expected to turn the fortunes of the club around after it was relegated from the country’s top division, the Nigeria Professional Football League.
The club was relegated in June this year after finishing 19th on the table.
While unveiling Mr Amuneke in a video uploaded in the official Facebook page, governor Uzodinma said the decision to appoint the former Super Eagles star was borne out of the state government’s resolve to revive the football club.
He said “Recently, we saw that the Heartland Football Club is going down the drain.
“So, we decided to satisfy the yearnings of our people and improve and stimulate enthusiasm that usually greet the successes of Heartland Football Club by reorganising the administrative structure and also strengthening the manpower and management strength of the club,”
Mr Uzodinma said, to address the club’s poor run of form, the government resolved to go for “a home grown solution,” which resulted in the appointment of Mr Amuneke, who hails from the state.
The governor said his administration recognised Mr Amuneke’s exploits in his coaching career before hiring him.
“I have given as one of the targets to the leadership that you will not only win the (Nigerian) premiership, you must go for the continental league.
“I am also committed to ensuring that Heartland becomes what it used to be – the days they were among the top three or four in the National League tab
“As a kind of alteration to the operating organogram, we decided to get the coach to report to the governor straight,” Mr Uzodinma said.
Speaking shortly after being unveiled, Mr Amuneke promised the governor that he and other members of the coaching team would do their best to revive the club.
“Your excellency, I am promising you that, on behalf of myself and my team, we are going to do our best to make sure to turn the situation of Heartland.
“So, your excellency. You can be rest assured. I will make sure that with your support, we will bring Heartland to where it belongs,” he assured.
