Some ex-internationals have advised former Super Eagles Captain, Sunday Oliseh, to think twice before accepting an appointment from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as Head Coach of the national team.
They said that the advice was necessary in view of the management style of the NFF.
Former Green Eagles defender, Bright Omokaro, on Thursday, said in Lagos that the NFF should make the terms of Oliseh’s contract public.
“This is important such that it does not look like the contract they had with Stephen Keshi. What I can say in this regard is that you and I don’t know the contract term. If my contract terms say I shouldn’t sleep and I slept, what do you think will happen?
`They can fire me. In a contract job, it is easy to hire and fire. But as for me, if there is need for replacement, why not? Most times, I wonder why we always talk about a foreign coach while we have good coaches here in Nigeria.
“I feel for Keshi. I am speechless because I don’t know the contract terms and what could have possibly led to his dismissal. If we know the contract terms, everybody will surely have something to say,’’ Omokaro said.
Tajudeen Disu, who is the Director of Sports at the Surulere Local Government Council in Lagos State, also urged Oliseh to ensure that all gray areas in the contract were adequately taken care of.
He described the new coach as having what it takes to lead the national team.
Disu said that he believed that Oliseh would be able to assemble talented players into the Super Eagles fold.
He, however, identified a lack of technicality as a major problem plaguing the nation’s football administration.
“Those that know nothing about football are those that are managing it. How can a legal practitioner be the vice-president of NFF?
“It is in Nigeria that you will see a medical doctor as a minister of sports. Please tell me how a doctor by profession can perform in sports effectively.
“Sport men are the ones to take care of sports, doctors and lawyers should be in hospitals and chambers.
“Until these errors are corrected before we can be rest assured of efficient management of sports.’’
Disu urged government to investigate and scrutinise staff of the NFF in order to ascertain their competencies.
Also, a former Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Amos Adamu, on Thursday, said that Oliseh would require the services of a professional psychologist to succeed as Super Eagles Coach.
He said that due to the circumstances surrounding the proposed selection of Oliseh, there was need to prepare Eagles players psychologically to come to terms with change.
“There is no way the players won’t be affected with this change, it’s a major one, they need to come to terms with the change and prepare their minds.
“With qualification matches going on here and there, the (new) coach needs to select his players without fear or favour, and he should do away with players that would not give him his expected result.
“A good psychologist will play a vital role in the success of the team, and the support of Nigerians,’’ Adamu said.
Adamu, a former Executive Committee member of FIFA, said that he believed in the ability of Oliseh to deliver.
“He has seen it all in Africa and the world at large, the most important thing as a coach is to understand the task ahead. Oliseh has played Nigerian football and he is familiar with African football; so, I believe that he is aware of the enormous task, which is to qualify Nigeria for Africa Cup of Nations ,’’ he said.
