Mbia wants Finke retained

Cameroon captain Stephane Mbia has expressed his desire for German coach Volker Finke to remain at the helm of the Indomitable Lions amid reports that his contract, which expires next month, would not be renewed.

The 67-year-old manager was appointed in May 2013 and has considerably transformed the outfit despite the absence of titles and trophies.

However, his employers from the Cameroon football federation recently began the search for a successor, according to local reports.

Mbia, who became the leader of the group following the retirement of Samuel Eto’o in 2014, believes Finke’s mission is unaccomplished and wants him to remain at his post.

“I think Volker Finke is a great coach and I want him to continue the good work he is doing,” the 28-year-old Sevilla midfielder said.

“After the 2014 World Cup debacle, a deep reform was initiated within the team which was characterised by a change of mentality and change of players, up to 95 %. I think the coach should be allowed to continue with this group he has put together.

“Remember that we lost just one match at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nation in Equatorial Guinea, and that was against Ivory Coast, the eventual winners of the tournament.

Finke has 200% support of all the players of the Indomitable Lions and there is no doubt he would succeed,” he said.

However, there are signs that Finke may be living his last days in the central African nation, as his assistants, Bonaventure Djonkep and Alexandre Belinga, have been tasked with preparing the list of players for the team’s 2017 Afcon qualifier against Mauritania by mid-June.