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Oliseh lacked experience in Enyeama’s case –Onigbinde
Former Nigeria coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, insists Sunday Oliseh’s lack of managerial experience as Super Eagles coach resulted in the face off the manager had with erstwhile team captain Vincent Enyeama on Tuesday in Belgium.
Oliseh had replaced the Lille goalkeeper with Ahmed Musa as captain on Tuesday following Enyeama’s late arrival for camping in Belgium ahead of the friendlies against DR Congo and Cameroon.
Enyeama had missed the Monday’s deadline after attending his mother’s funeral on Saturday in his home town.
Onigbinde commended Oliseh for his decision but warned that his poor managerial skill could tear the team apart.
“I commend Sunday Oliseh for the step he has taken. Such acts of indiscipline did not just start in the team. A recent example was Enyeama’s comments on the choice of Kaduna for the Super Eagles match against Chad. It was not his duty to decide which venue the team should play, that’s for the Nigeria Football Federation,” the former CAF instructor said.
“By that time, I condemned Enyeama’s position. We cannot allow one or two players to hold the country to ransom. If Enyeama was my son, I would have spanked him seriously for the many wrongs he has done. They’ve pampered him too much.”
Onigbinde said Oliseh’s decision to embarrass Enyeama before his teammates might breed intimidation and fear in the team.
“Oliseh lacked experience in managing the situation. When he was going to be employed by the NFF, I called people’s attention to his lack of experience. His handling of the situation shows he lacks the experience to manage the players,” Onigbinde said.
“He has done the right thing, but in a wrong way; he will get a wrong result. If I was Oliseh, I would have overlooked Enyeama’s behaviour at the moment and go on to execute my plans for the coming games. But after the games, I would simply not invite him for subsequent games. Oliseh doesn’t need to quarrel with players.
“Football is a team game; Enyeama might have his loyalists in the team and they might be sympathetic with their captain. Oliseh is not certain to get the best out of all the players following his manner of handling the matter. The matter is capable of breaking the team into two.
“It is not enough for you to know what to say, it is vital you know where to say it, why to say it, when to say it, how to say it and to whom you say it.
“An indication of Oliseh’s inexperience happened when he was preparing the team for the Tanzania game. Three days before the game, it was reported that some of the players were complaining of the strenuous training he gave them. You don’t give strenuous workout to players hours before a game; it will cause fatigue. I guess he was trying to impress his employers but that contributed to the poor performance of the players.
“I did not support the NFF’s choice of Oliseh because of his lack of experience, but once he has been employed, I have to accept it and pray that he succeeds.”
