BY Victor Akhidenor
Nigeria National League side, C.O.D United, have announced the appointment of Paulo Jorge Silva as their new manager.
Jorge joins the club having worked in various capacities with teams like VfB Stuttgart, Greuther Furth, Nuremberg, Aalen in Germany, Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, Al Wasl and Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates.
And the Portuguese expressed his delight at joining the club.
“I have joined a very ambitious and very organized club. Working in Africa is quite different from working in Europe and so I had to be careful in choosing a club that matches my ambitions and with the right structure,” he said.
“In C.O.D United, I believe I have found that club and cannot wait to start the job of improving the impressive structure they have built so far. The club wants to optimize its team structure, implement a clear playing philosophy across board and produce players with great qualities consistently and I share that ambition. I am here to succeed with the club.”
Speaking on Silva’s appointment, the chief executive officer of the club, Shola Opaleye is optimistic that the coach will sustain the successes the club has achieved.
“Paulo Silva’s appointment is yet another demonstration of our ambition as a club to keep progressing. Paulo joins us with a lot of experience and his knowledge of football is demonstrated by the rich array of top clubs he has worked with,” he said.
“We have been in discussions for a while now and we are delighted he was convinced to join us having seen our vision for the club. He is very excited about working in Africa and we are excited to have him join us as well. We expect him to sustain and improve on all that we have achieved as a football club on the pitch and help our players and young coaches become even better.”
Sola Aiyepeku, the executive director, expressed his delight at the coach’s arrival.
“You only have to take a look at Paulo’s CV to see that he comes here with a lot of know-how and experience,” he said.
“I believe he has a lot to contribute to further improve what we have built here and I am excited about the possibilities. Our team of coaches will benefit from working with him and our young players will certainly learn a lot from him.”
The technical head of football, Victor Akinmoyo, who will work closely with Paulo says he is looking forward to the experience.
“I worked with Mick Wild and I can attest to the improvements he brought to our operations,” he said.
“We also had former Super Eagles captain and coach Austin Eguavoen here and we learnt a lot from him. I am sure Paulo will build on the work Mick and Eguavoen did in the past 2 years. I am glad he is here and the entire Technical department are looking forward to learning from him.”
Silva is the second European coach signed by C.O.D United in recent years. Former Manchester United and Bolton coach, Mick Wild previously worked with the club before returning to England.
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