Former national team handler, Adegboye Onigbinde while commenting on the altercation between Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh and ex goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama commended the manager’s act of discipline but stressed that it was carried out in a wrong way. Speaking recently to a PUNCH reporter, Onigbinde said the ex international lacked the experience to manage the situation.
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“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. 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.”
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He continued, “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.
He continued, “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.
“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.
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“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.
“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.”
Credit: PUNCH