by kayode OGUNDARE
@kaybaba99
So, effectively, the Nigerian Football Federation have engaged Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh as the 36th manager of the senior national team and the 15th Nigerian to hold the post which has been variously described as one of the most difficult jobs in world football.
The Nigerian national team manager’s job is considered ‘difficult’ not because of any particularly intimidating profile which the office expects the manager to bear but because everyone of our 170million compatriots have a teeny weeny bit of idea about how the manager ought to go about the job such that the job has become a musical chair of sort, oscillating among five candidates in the last five years.
Now that Oliseh has been confirmed, I want to call on the NFF to sack him today even before he gets started on the job. Yeah, you read that right. Let the custodians of our game, the wise-men who hold the collective destiny of every football-loving Nigerian in their hands relieve Oliseh of this job before we start building our hopes in him which could ultimately prove to be another false dawn.
What are my reasons for asking the NFF to do the ‘needful’ by showing him the door even before he formally meets the players he’s going to manage?
First, Oliseh’s contract is for five years in the first instance. No manager, except Dutchman Clemens Westerhof, has ever spent that long on the Super Eagles hot-seat and the conspiracy theorist in me is screaming that, by giving him such an extended contract, the NFF honchos are merely giving Oliseh a long rope to hang himself. Keshi, his predecessor, got three years in 2011.
Interpreted differently, no manager, no matter how good or lucky, can sustain a good run of performances for five years so Oliseh could get kicked out at the first sign of a meltdown. Of course, one is tempted that this could be put down to a need for stability but, on closer look, what happens if results don’t go the way we expect? We are then left with a manager we cannot sack or made to pay a huge compensation in order to get rid of him.
Secondly, Oliseh has made the right amount of noise about his coaching philosophy and I must say I’ve been impressed so far. I gleaned the following from his website in his own words:
Oliseh’s Coaching Philosophy
A coach is as important to a team, just as parents are to a Family! In as much as all is not defendant on the coach, his input is generally responsible for the outlook of the team all things being equal!
In modern day soccer it is near impossible to be successful for a long period without a performing coach and philosophy! I believe players have to not only be educated on the tasks they have to carry out for the team but also be aware the tasks their team mates have to carry out for the team at each giving situation.
Obviously it is tedious and requires hours of repeated schemes with specially designed exercises aimed at provoking the situations the team has to deal with during games.
Having played in Italy,Nigeria,Holland,Germany and Belgium, my coaching philosophy is influenced from these major leagues and further enhanced with the personal experiences one has acquired coaching Youths,Pro. and semi professional players and most especially off my involvement with soccer consultancy, analysis and now management with FIFA.
CAREER COACHES & INSPIRATION
Fortunately having been coached by Coaches Like: Robert Waseige (R.F.C Liege, Belgium) Eric Gerets (R.F.C Liege, Belgium) Pipo Marchioro (Reggiana,Italy) Enzo Ferrari (Reggiana,Italy) Morten Olsen (Ajax Amsterdam, Holland) Jan Wauters (Ajax, Holland) Carlo Ancellotti (Juventus, Italy) Mathias Sammer (B.V.B Dortmund,Germany) Bert Van Marwijk,Dortmund) Hugo Bross (Genk, Belgium) Clemence Westerhoff & Jo Bonfrere (Holland-Super Eagles Nigeria, Shuaibu Amodu (Super Eagles, Nigeria) And Philip Troussier (France) did help a lot in forming my Philosophy.
Having had a successful career as a player at the highest playing level helps a lot in one becoming successful as a coach, but it does not guarantee Success!
Hard work and preparation in detailed homework helps. A clear idea of what one expects from his players, build his team and know how to meticulously prepare for a season and for each individual game is important.
I started at the grass root level With kids, graduated to the Under 19′s and eventually adult pros, semi pros to mold my philosophy. A good team is creatable by ‘education’ and not necessarily by ‘purchase’,though financial strenght is decisive in today’s Professional soccer!
Repeated training schemes and tactics, prepared and players made aware and responsible for their functions.
Playing schemes rehearsed to a point where every player knows by heart what is required of him in every given moment and situation on the pitch. Hence, specific training exercises, clear objectives and outlined game plans necessary to assure the envisaged high level performance from players individually and collectively as a team.
Beautiful prose but, as we have come to learn from real-life experiences, paper qualifications and coaching philosophies may count for little on the brutal and unforgiving pitch of practical football. But if we are patient and supportive of the manager and his tactics and philosophy without trying to interfere either directly or through a so-called Technical Committee, then just maybe we could reap the fruits of a coherent programme from a manager who appears to know what he wants to achieve and eloquently articulates his vision for Nigerian football.
So, if the NFF will use the instrumentality of the Technical Committee to disrupt whatever the new manager sets out to do, on behalf of Nigerians, I beg that he be sacked now rather than allow him to start an ultimately fruitless journey that’ll lead to nowhere.
Thirdly, much has been said about Oliseh’s lack of practical coaching experience and, I must confess, coaching Vervietois (Belgium third division) and being Director of Football at Eupen (in the second tier) half a dozen years ago should ordinarily not recommend anyone for the pressure-cooker seat of Super Eagles boss and I so move that Oliseh be sacked for not having the requisite credentials to coach our team.
“Sunday Oliseh? Did you say Sunday Oliseh to be Super Eagles coach? No, no, no, no! That cannot be, he can’t be Super Eagles coach. Oliseh cannot do it, no, he can’t. If what you just said is correct, if Nigeria Federation is bringing Oliseh to handle Super Eagles, then that is too bad because it is not right, it is not proper, he is not the right man for the job. Before I took over Super Eagles in 1989, I was head coach of Feyenoord of Amsterdam and we were champions after many years. I coached other top teams in the first division, Vitesse, MVV and came back to Vitesse again. I had the experience coaching top teams. Keshi was a top quality player in Belgium with Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg in France, Sacramento Scorpions and all that. He coached several other top teams including Togo and Mali. Where did Oliseh coach? What is his coaching experience? Do you want to start learning how to coach with the senior national team? Coaching amateur teams is not enough to get experience of handling top teams like Super Eagles. Players cannot respect him, you know, he cannot command their respect and influence as they loved and respected me, as they also respected and loved Keshi. What the Super Eagles need is a coach who the players will love to respect, who has positive influence on the players and I don’t think Oliseh has these qualities.”
The above were reportedly the words of former Eagles manager Clemens Westerhof when he got news of Oliseh’s appointment to the position.
However, for the Dutchman and others who are wont to hold that position, they might want to recall a certain Michel Platini of France who retired from football at the end of the 1987 European season with Juventus. By November 1988, he was named manager of the French national team and he led them for four years. Franz Beckenbauer’s record is even more astounding.
He ended his playing career with New York Cosmos in 1983 and, in 1984, he was named manager of the then West Germany team which he led to two World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990. Even in Westerhof’s own homeland of the Netherlands, Frank Rijkaard was handed the coaching job of the senior national team without any notable experience at the highest level and he led them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Championships in 2000. So much for coaching experience!
Fourthly, and this is not without merit, those who should know allege that the NFF big men prefer to have a foreign coach handle the Super Eagles but, fearing a backlash from Nigerians and a public outcry, they have installed Oliseh as a fall guy whose failure will automatically shut up the agitations for a Nigerian-born coach. They’ll say, after-all, we have tried Christian Chukwu, Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia, Stephen Keshi and now Oliseh. So who else is there?
This thinking is not unfounded and has the support of no less a personality than Chief Festus Onigbinde who, in an interview with Complete Sports last week averred that the Federation officials are using the appointment of Oliseh as smokescreen in their bid to hire a foreign coach for the national team.
The chief said: “There are basic things here to note. The NFF are in charge of the administration of football in Nigeria so we have to accept the decisions they make. We have to accept their standards. However I feel the idea of appointing Oliseh is a decoy, a ploy to eventually hire a foreign coach. They are bringing a foreign coach under the guise that they want him to assist Oliseh. Eventually they will find excuses to ease Oliseh out and have his assistant take over. It does not matter whether Oliseh is experienced or not. The NFF do not want Nigerians to make noise about this by saying they don’t have confidence in Nigerian coaches.”
Without necessarily sounding alarmist, I think the NFF should sack Oliseh now and go ahead to engage the foreign manager they’re so obviously in love with or else it would amount to a coup against the Nigerian football community to foist another coach, no matter the quality and colour of his skin, on us simply because some people are fixated on the idea that only a white-skin is good enough for our national team.
Furthermore, every notable football personality from Segun Odegbami to Christian Chukwu to Onigbinde et al all think Oliseh could be just what Nigeria need at this point in time. In his Sunday column in Complete Sports, Mathematical Odegbami was at his incisive best when he said:
“…Sunday Oliseh’s deep thinking, honed undoubtedly by his academic scholarship, now gives him the edge to possibly take Nigerian football to the next level. He is like a good chess player that requires the ability to see several steps ahead of every single move, even before it is made!
Beyond the invaluable experiences of having played as vastly as he did under renowned European coaches, acquired the best academic and professional credentials in football coaching, taught football to youngsters in academies and worked with a few clubs in Belgium, he brings a new dimension to football with the depth of his analytical mind.
So brilliant and well-informed have his writings, his commentaries and analysis of matches been during recent international matches that he has risen steadily to become a consultant analyst to several international media and a very valued member of the FIFA Technical Study group.
Some critics say he has very little experience coaching at national team level.
True, but I respond that too many coaches with decades of ‘experience’ have let us down too many times in the past. We have toyed with their archaic ways and limited knowledge long enough to know that’s not the way to go this time around.
At national team level, it is less about coaching skills and more about managerial ability and how to identify those that fit into a team strategy. It is a psychological game of wits and wisdom, how to motivate players and make them play beyond their normal capacities, how to discipline players and imbibe in them the winning spirit! That’s why, today, most of the world’s most successful coaches are very intellectually sharp and very young – Pep Guardiola, Luis Henrique, Jurgen Klinsman, Sunday Oliseh, and so on!
I also remind critics that at the national team level the coach does not have the luxury to teach players anything. His work is cut out for him. He only has a minimum number of days before matches to make an impact, to assemble the players and to make them play at maximum capacity as a unit. Requirements essential here are a sharp manager in control, a motivator, a respected disciplinarian, one with a clear vision and the skills to manage big egos and instill confidence, the winning spirit, focus and his own team strategy and tactics.
The coach that Nigeria needs now, therefore, is one with the capacity to do all of this in a few short days between matches and still win! Without victories on the field of play, everything else pales into insignificance.
That’s why, even as I celebrate Sunday Oliseh’s coming, I feel very sorry for him. He is coming into Nigerian football when the production room of exceptional players through the domestic leagues has almost dried up. My prayer for him is that the opportunity of this his greatest challenge becomes the moment of his greatest triumph.”
If you don’t trust the judgement of these accomplished gentlemen, maybe now is the time for you to call for Oliseh’s sack!
On a personal note, and to end this piece, I would appreciate it if Oliseh understands the enormity of the task for which he’s signed up. Oliseh appears to be a fresh breath of air with his undoubted intellectual ability and eloquence which is a radical departure from the era of bland and barely literate managers who cover their ignorance and educational ability with poor American accents.
After the ‘failure’ of Chukwu, Eguavoen, Siasia and Keshi, Oliseh holds the remaining beacon of light and bastion of hope for all those who have long advocated the engagement of ex-internationals and Nigerian-born coaches to handle the Super Eagles. His success will be a ringing endorsement for other ex-internationals and local coaches while a failure will sound the death knell for their ambitions.
So, in essence, Oliseh will be holding the job in trust for all his ex-teammates and other coaches who, in their own interest, should back him to succeed or prevail on him to save them the ordeal of his failure by resigning today!
Finally, I scoured Oliseh’s website and found an article about his understanding of what the problem with Nigerian football is and the likely solutions. I took the time to condense the ‘problems’ into this five checklist but decided to leave his suggestions about how to solve them unedited in his own words.
Read this, cut and keep so that you can hold Oliseh responsible if he fails to make the changes he’s preached about for many years now that he’s in charge.
| PROBLEM OF NIGERIAN FOOTBALL AND SOLUTIONS – OLISEH – There’s an acute shortage of quality players – Maladministration and lack of technical competence on the part of Federation officials – Lack of a well-defined football development roadmap to stop the rot and redirect the fortunes of the game – Absence of a well-structured domestic league which could serve as a breeding ground for discovery and building of talents for the various national teams. – Lack of opportunities for young talents to blossom and transform into full-blown starsPOSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: 1. Genuinely assemble qualified soccer professionals, native, to diagnose in detail our short comings and map out a plan conducive and in line with our peculiar society to diagnose our ailing country’s football, in view of finding a cure to our illness. Like the Germans, English, South Africans, Egyptians, Spanish and most recently Ghanaians have done. Only after this, can we start effectively appointing people to strategic development positions with qualities similar and complementary to our plan. It is counterproductive to appoint a completely physically oriented coach for example, to a Nigerian national team that is technical, offensive and flair oriented like we showed in the 90’s. Qualities that mirror our people. Our chosen set out objectives and Direction will determine who we employ to do what. Before you turn your car’s ignition, the first thing you do is have a destination in mind. This will determine the route to ply. Shouldn’t football job appointments and management be the same? 2. Rejuvenate and update the National coaching institute to modern day level, thereby improving the football intelligence and team play amongst our incredibly, individually, talented youths and teams. Producing good coaches at the same time. Having being an ex-successful soccer player does help in being a good coach but does not guarantee it. Learning and formation added to self-experiences does. It would help if some of our much needed ex-footballers got some more quality coaching education. 3. Restructure and have a 20-team national pro league with Professional paid referees to at least try to curb the nemesis of ?alleged? match fixing. Without a viable local league there is no way out of this mess we are in now. 4. Change the mentality of the Football Association. People going into the Association should not only see it as a means of enrichment but also as a career job worth doing well, while getting paid! 5. Fix and maintain a fixed venue for the national team games e.g like Wembley Stadium in England, why? That way our players feel at home on these pitches and not have to discover the pitches same time as their opponents. Playing away at home as we call it in football circles. In summary, the national team’s state is of paramount importance to the development of our youths and local football. Its fortunes has a multiplier effect on the nation’s football. If the results are sound, it encourages foreign clubs to buy more players from the national team and the local leagues. This action at the same time makes available hard currency to our people, clubs and eventually permeates youth development. It will trickle down from the top. Before our 1994 explosion, we had most of our national team players, and professionals plying their trade in Belgium. After our 1994 brilliant performance in the World Cup, clubs came buying from everywhere. Holland, France, Italy, Germany just to name a few, and hence started the exodus of Nigerian players and at the same time, the consequential improvement and uplifting of our nation as a world soccer force to be reckoned with. |
COMMENTS