Coach Put Shows No Sign of Quitting

Paul Put

By Alhagie Panneh

The coach of senior national football team of the Gambia, Paul Put is determined to push on with the team, despite the disappointing results produced during their course of qualifying to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Though many people expected his resignation after a poor result against Namibia, which left Gambia’s qualification in limbo, the Belgian tactician apologizes to all Gambians and still believes that he and his team can make it in 2014 qualifiers, which shows his willingness to continue with his post.

Paul was speaking with journalists at a news conference on Monday at the GFA house following their 1-0 defeat against Namibia, which resulted in the denting of hopes over Gambia’s chances of qualifying for AFCON 2012 or not.

 According to Paul Put, no team in the world is unbeatable adding that the Gambia lost the battle but didn’t lose a war.

“Lack of enough preparation also contributed, players always arrive late and the ministry does not provide enough funds for the team as most of the test games were cancelled due to lack of funds to facilitate the game,” Put charged.

He went on to reiterate that he will not quit his position, saying he will remain loyal to the Gambian people.

“We will stand and react strongly to the defeat in Namibia by putting up a good fight against Burkina Faso, because I still believe we lost the battle at Namibia but we did not lose the war.

“The Gambia will one day qualify, but the people have to be patient with the team,” he urged.