The recent appointment of ex-Super Eagles skipper, Sunday Oliseh, as the new coach of the national team is generating sundry reactions from keen followers of Nigerian football. The new coach replaces Stephen Keshi, who was sacked last week. Oliseh has a three-year contract under which he will earn N5 million a month.
While some football fans have hailed the appointment, and described it as the best for football in Nigeria considering the many reverses it has suffered in recent times, others are quick to point out that Oliseh is not the best man for the job. The handler of the national team during Oliseh’s days as a player, Clemens Westerhof, a Dutch, has condemned the appointment. He, among other things, said that the new coach lacks the capacity and experience to manage the team.
Despite the criticisms of Oliseh’s appointment, it will be recalled that he coached in the Belgium lower tier between 2008 and 2009. He is a holder of UEFA’s Pro Licence coaching qualification and a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group. Besides, Oliseh demonstrated a deep knowledge of football during his various appearances on Supersport, a cable television network.
The new coach is passionate about Nigerian football and has come up with fresh ideas on how to raise the standard of the game in Nigeria. He appears to have sound technical knowledge on how best to improve the dwindling fortunes of football in the country. It is good that he has been given a chance to prove his mettle in this regard, and we urge him to live up to the expectation of Nigerians.
We congratulate Oliseh on his appointment and advise him to learn from his predecessor’s mistakes. He should try to improve on Keshi’s achievements. It will also be in his interest to avoid the mistakes that led to Keshi’s sack, which are clearly far beyond his rumoured search for a coaching job in Cote d’Ivoire.
Oliseh should also be mindful of the politics of Nigeria’s football house and the intrigues that can sometimes be frustrating for even the best coaches. Nigeria has a long history of hiring and firing of coaches, foreign and indigenous. However, the erstwhile strident clamour for a foreign coach is ebbing, and Oliseh should do all he can to demonstrate that he is up to the task.
Oliseh is coming to manage the national team at an auspicious time that the fortunes of the team have plummeted. The task before him is, indeed, enormous. This is a period that discipline is at a low ebb and calls for national assignments are no longer taken seriously.
The first assignment before Oliseh is to map out workable strategies for building a formidable national team. He should strive to build a team that can instill fear in our opponents and triumph over them on the field.
We need a team with players who are hungry for success and ready to do what is required to win laurels for the country. We need a team that will inspire interest, hope and confidence each time it is on the pitch.
For some time now, our football has been predictable, especially with regard to avoidable defeats and humiliations. The Super Eagles did not qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON). It did not advance beyond the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
If Oliseh must succeed, he should, beyond fielding players in top leagues abroad, look for talents wherever they are and give them opportunity to wear the national colours. Local talents should not be excluded from his searchlight. There is no doubt that there are talented footballers in all parts of the country. What is required to bring them out is a diligent and rigorous search, and good training to blend them into the national team.
But, Oliseh cannot do this alone. He requires the assistance of a sound technical crew. He needs a good psychologist who can motivate the players and psych them up for football glory. He also requires good football administrators who will cater for the needs of the players in camp and at tournaments. We have had cases of unpaid match bonuses and other aberrations in the past. This should no longer be so. We will also like to see a reduction of the meddlesomeness of officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in the running of our football. Their interference in the choice of players and other similar decisions contributed immensely to the ruination of the game in Nigeria.
We wish Oliseh a successful tenure as he strives to bring football glory back to the country.
15:40
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