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| NFF President, Pinnick and Super Eagles’ Coach, Oliseh |
Super Eagles coach Sunday
Oliseh has declared that he won’t quit his position despite speculations that
the former Nigeria was on his way out of the team.
Oliseh,
who spoke online with The PUNCH on Monday, denied that he had indicated to the
Nigeria Football Federation his desire to move on.
“I
am not quitting,” Oliseh said.
The
coach and his players of the home-based Eagles have come under criticism after
failing to qualify from the group stages of the 2016 African Nations
Championship in Rwanda. The former Eagles captain has stoutly defended their
performance in the East African country as he insists that a lot of off-field
issues affected them.
Some
European coaches have already been linked with the Eagles’ job, which Oliseh
has yet to declare vacant. An associate of the Eagles coach, who later spoke
with our correspondent on Monday said even though Oliseh would remain on his
post, a lot of things have to be discussed and changed for the Eagles to make
any meaningful impact in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
He
said, “A lot of things have to change and these are what will be ironed out
before another competition starts. The money crisis was a huge one. The players
were doing well at the start but their attitude and form dipped when it became
very evident that they would not get their cash until after the tournament.
“But
if the NFF didn’t have the cash, they could have supported the team in many
other ways. They were left alone in a very small two-star hotel in Rwanda. Most
of the times the players could not eat what was served by the hotel and Oliseh
had to supplement with cash to enable the players eat outside. The coach also
assisted many who could not really get quality boot and this was a drain to his
pocket.
“In
the Abuja camp, there was little or no visit from the NFF team. When you owe
players, you should stay close enough to make them believe that they will truly
get their money later.”
Last week Oliseh told The
PUNCH that the players based abroad were continuously calling him to be sure of
the finances of the team. Our correspondent confirmed that the players have not
been paid their allowances for the match they played against Swaziland in
November. There’s fear that they may become reluctant to show for the March
qualifier against Egypt.
Le Roy, Renard Queue For Oliseh’s Job
*It’s mere speculation,
NFF insists
Since
the shocking ouster of the Super Eagles from the ongoing African Nations
Championships in Rwanda, there have been mounting fears over the fate of head
Coach, Sunday Oliseh.
The
Eagles who won bronze medal in their debut appearance under coach Stephen Keshi
in 2014 failed to make it out of the group stage of the 2016 edition, with
Tunisia and Guinea progressing ahead of the Sunday Oliseh’s team.
As
speculations continue to mount over the future of coach Sunday Oliseh. Several
foreign coaches like Claude Le Roy and Herve Renard, who have excelled in
Africa, are now queuing up to lead Nigeria.
“Foreign
coaches have indicated strong interest to handle Nigeria and even some of them
have appointed Nigerian representatives to get them the job,” a top source
disclosed.
Oliseh
has blamed lack of financial support to the Super Eagles for the below-par
showing of the country at CHAN 2016 in Rwanda, while making all efforts to
distance himself from the failure.
When
contacted, spokesman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire
dismissed the stories on Oliseh’s future with the Eagles as “mere
speculations,” pointing out that “the relationship between the coach and the
NFF is normal”.
We,
however gathered that the results of an AFCON 2017 double header against Egypt
in March could well spark off another round of speculations.
Renard,
who led Cote d’Ivoire to win the AFCON last year, has long been linked with
coaching Nigeria since AFCON 2010 in Angola.
He is presently without a
job after he was sacked by French Ligue 1 club Lille. 
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