With the first round exit of the Super Eagles from the Championship for African Nations (CHAN), coaches and former players have expressed divergent views concerning what went wrong and most importantly, what the country needs to do now to ensure that the country qualifies for the 2017 Gabon African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
KADRI IKHANA
First of all the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the League Management Company (LMC) should be given kudos for what they have been doing lately. But the most important thing is player behaviour, club and management and these things have been there for some time and will take some time to correct. Against Egypt, we can do it if only the right things are done. If you look at CHAN, our players lost control probably because of the win over Niger. But everybody should keep the national team. The story of Oliseh saying that his boys were not properly motivated is not a good one, we must do the right thing. Talking about Oliseh, we have given him the job; but you can’t compare him with Keshi. It is not that he is not good, but he has just started and does not have the practical experience. But if we don’t have the patience to give him that time, then the proper thing should be done.
BITRUS BEWARANG
Let me start by saying that I am not comfortable to hear the coach say his boys were not properly taken care of by the federation. He should have psyched the boys to win before laying his complaints. Another issue is the technical bench, look at the German team that won the World Cup. They had a lot of seasoned coaches on their bench. Nobody wants to take anybody’s job. But what was Shuaibu Amodu, the Technical Director of the NFF doing in Nigeria? He should have been in Rwanda with the team. Oliseh may have the qualification, but he cannot do it alone. The National Sports Commission (NSC) should also set up a committee to engage the organized private sector to begin to sponsor our sports, not just football. These companies must partner with the NSC to support the national teams.
GARBA LAWAL
It is the coach that will tell you what he wants and the type of game he wants to play. Every coach has his own idea; there are also different kinds of players, different types of attitude and behaviour. In football, discipline is always key, there is what we call tactical discipline, these are areas that the players can help themselves. It is disturbing that when you watch top leagues in Europe, you hardly see Nigerian players. Maybe only Ighalo and to win a tournament you must win every game. We must forget about CHAN and now focus on AFCON against Egypt, that game is very important. It is the biggest game in the continent, I was there four times, winning one gold and three silver, it is an achievement. We must do the right thing by motivating the team and most importantly, the coach must tell the players to always go out for goals, it is wrong to go into a game with the plan to defend.
JAMES PETERS
James Peters who was an assistant coach of the national team believes that Oliseh should be allowed to make and learn from his mistakes. Actually, judging from our last two matches, one can truly say we did not do well against Guinea. We went into the tournament with only one striker and when Chikatara didn’t click, we were in trouble. But having said that, I still want to suggest that we should give Oliseh more time to correct his mistakes. It is very unfortunate that we are out of CHAN but that does not mean that Oliseh is a bad coach. So I think we should come back and go into the boardroom and talk about it. But I still insist hope is not lost. He will get his experience from losing and winning.
-Vanguard