After survival, Iorfa plans total overhaul of Lobi Stars

The vice-chairman of Lobi Stars, Dominic Iorfa, has disclosed plans to carry out a complete overhaul of the club to reposition it for better performances in the coming season.

It would be recalled that poor results in the first stanza of the just concluded league season had plunged Lobi Stars into relegation waters necessitating the re-appointment of the former Nigerian international on a rescue mission.

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Interestingly, Lobi Stars fought and survived on the final day of the season as they placed 15th on the table with 49 points to retain their position in the Nigerian topflight.

Addressing the press on Wednesday, Iorfa expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, the Deputy Governor and chairman of the club, Engineer Benson Abounu and other relevant football stakeholders for standing firmly behind Lobi Stars in the fight against relegation.

The former Super Eagles striker said he took over the club at a time nobody believed Lobi Stars would survive relegation but using his experience and goodwill, he was able to steer the club to safety.

Iorfa also disclosed that in the course of the rescue operation, he faced a lot of tribulations at the hands of people who didn’t want the club to succeed.

He said, “They resorted to blackmail, media attacks, gossip, causing divisions amongst the team and the height of it all was inciting people against us with old debts and court actions to the extent of the seizure of the club vehicle to stop us from honouring our matches.”

However, Iorfa said having succeeded in the rescue mission, it is now time to reorganise the club for enhanced performances that would fetch Lobi Stars a continental ticket in 2023.

“Going forward, I want to assure you that the team will be restructured, overhauled and transformed for optimal performance in the next season,” he assured.