The Nigeria Football Federation are currently in talks with ex Super Eagles captain, Sunday Oliseh to become the Head Coach of the men’s national team. Recall that the managerial position became available few days back after ex coach, Stephen Keshi was fired for breaching some terms of his contract.
Sunday Oliseh met with NFF President Amaju Pinnick in London on Tuesday and right now negotiations have reached advanced stage. Confirming the news, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee said, “An offer has been made, and there is understanding, but we have to work out the final details of the agreement in a few days. Of course, the Executive Board has to give approval for his appointment based on the final terms to be agreed.”
Oliseh will come with a Foreign Technical Assistant, whose job description will centre around development programmes, and who will work with Clubs’ Youth Teams and certified Academies towards developing the game from the grassroots.
According to nff.com, Oliseh is expected to come up with a five –year developmental plan to fashion a unique playing and coaching philosophy for all the National Teams, and will for this purpose, interface regularly with coaches of those teams.
“We are also looking at how he will periodically organize clinics and seminars for coaches of Clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League, probably once in a month, so as to strengthen the playing philosophy across board. A robust youth development programme, elite player development strategy and performance programmes to drive higher standards, among other core sustainable development programmes, are also part of the proposal,” Anyansi-Agwu added.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick said: “Sunday Oliseh has vast experience and immense knowledge of the game, and will certainly add value to what we are doing. He has bought into our vision and objectives towards the development of Nigeria football. He will command the respect of the players and we trust he has the temperament to work harmoniously with the Technical and Development Committee, the Technical Directorate and the Technical Study Group.
“On our part at the NFF, we will give him all the support to succeed as we have been giving to all our coaches. Subject to the approval of the NFF Executive Committee, we will conclude negotiations by weekend and he will be unveiled next week.”
The 40 year-old FIFA instructor won 63 caps for Nigeria between 1993 and 2002. He was part of the Nigeria squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia in 1994, and played in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup final competitions. He played in clubs like Reggiana, FC Cologne, Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund etc. He holds a UEFA Pro License. Between 2008 and 2009, he coached Belgian club, Vervietois.
Credit: nff.com
