26th February, 2016
Taiwo Adelu
FIFA and CAF Instructor, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde has said that the untimely resignation of chief coach of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh has put Nigeria in a precarious situation going into the two-legged Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against the Pharaohs of Egypt on 25 and 29 March.
Oliseh dumped the Eagles in a letter he wrote to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), citing incessant violation of signed agreement, no support from the NFF as well as an difficult working environment.
Onigbinde who was never really comfortable with the employment of Oliseh in the past said that the coach quitting his job now has left the NFF in a serious dilemma of getting a good replacement few days to the AFCON qualifiers.
The former chief coach of the Super Eagles, who led the country to the Korea/Japan FIFA World Cup in 2002, said that though he did not know what was in the contract, he believes the nation has to move on.
“It is unfortunate that there were series of side talks before now about how Oliseh said that he was begged to take up the job.
“I think we must have learnt our lesson as a nation. When a replacement is going to be considered, the authority must do the proper things. Unfortunately for us, do we really have the time to do the proper thing now, with few days to the match against Egypt?, Onigbinde asked rhetorically.
Ex-Super Eagles player, Fuludu Edema also spoke on the resignation of Oliseh, saying that, it was an unexpected action from the chief coach.
He wants the NFF to get the service of a good psychologist to handle the team, as Oliseh’s action will have negative effect on the morale of the team going into the crucial qualifying matches.
Oliseh played 11 matches as the chief coach of the Eagles, winning five, drawing four and losing two. The Eagles under him scored 14 goals and conceded five.