The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • League of shame

    League of shame

    Ade Ojeikere

    I wish our soccer administrators can forget about individual accolades and selfish ambitions so that the game could thrive. I wish they could encourage their wards, friends and relations to play the game. That way, they would appreciate why it has become expedient for them to truly develop the game since it belongs to the people. Football is a business everywhere else but Nigeria, simply because there aren’t benchmarks to determine who gets into the federation. Our football administrators have constituted themselves into being undertakers and would not resign, even with the broken roof on their heads. What a pity.

    I wish our administrators had any iota of shame to recognise how badly they have run our soccer competitions into the doldrums, such that for the third consecutive season, the domestic league has been fraught with needless controversies due to the management’s failure. Rather than remain in the country to supervise the domestic league, our administrators flew to Russia to watch the World Cup games, forgetting that only one goalkeeper came out of the system. This senseless expedition to Russia resulted in the postponement of league matches such that it became difficult to end the league successfully.

    The backlash is that our representatives to continental competitions had been awful with new comers whipping us at home. The flawed system is chiefly responsible for the dearth of talents in the local game and Nigeria’s woeful outing at CAF’s CHAN tournaments for home-grown players. it also means that none of our local stars can mount the podium to be decorated the best in Africa. Sadly, our administrators don’t give a toss about the decline.

    Our leagues have ended with various nomenclatures starting with the arbitrary end to the Mundial season by declaring Lobi Stars winners without the trophy. Lobi was picked based on its placing on the table at that time. One would have thought that the administrators learned a few lessons from the last edition. Not with these folks, rather, a worse scenario emerged where the league was split into groups and the winner emerged from a Super 6. This disturbing system was applied after the league began. A case of shifting the goalpost after the match had started.

    This season, another rule is being touted after the competition began with the seeming bizarre PPG system’s rules used to determine the winners, but abandoned when it came to determining the relegation teams. As kids,  we were taught in school that for you to balance any equation, what you do to one side of the equation should be applied to the other. Otherwise, the equation won’t balance. Anything short of this principle is fraudulent.

    Unfortunately, we remain a country without a football calendar which makes the game rudderless. For us to have a seamless league, the organisers should develop a calendar which can’t be tampered with. The hiccups in the games start when the organisers develop cold feet in asking our continental representatives to play midweek matches after both legs of the CAF inter club competitions. the effect is that some clubs such as Enyimba FC of Aba, for instance, has five outstanding games due to this kind of visionless structure.

    The argument by our soccer representatives for a shift in dates, especially when they lose such matches is bunkum. Clubs are required to sign close to 40 players annually. It behoves on these clubs to effectively use the 40-man slot to pick a very competitive squad where the second team would be as good, if not better than the main squad. No preference should be given to a representative with a lopsided squad. Fixtures should be drawn with pomp and ceremony and dates assigned to those continental cup matches, since their dates are already known.

    We saw how Liverpool FC of England paraded its youth players including coaches to prosecute a quarter-final fixture against Aston Villa on away ground. Liverpool were beaten 5-0 and the homers eventually qualified for the finals of the Carabao Cup. Preference wasn’t given to Liverpool which had an international engagement. Again, the world witnessed how the organisers of European leagues toiled to restart the tournaments in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic.

    The Europeans’ target was for the new season (2020/2021) not to be affected. They granted waivers in the area of transfers, not forgetting all thoughts on television rights. The Europeans proffered suggestions which captured all facets of the game, leaving their home governments with no option than to approve the games’ restart, provided they complied with the rules as stated in their proposals.

    Any team which hides under the umbrella of missing its return flight to the country after international assignments should be walked over. Of course, these teams’ managements know the implications of two walk over matches. It means immediate relegation irrespective of where such team(s) finishes at the end of the season. The organisers must restore discipline to the system. It should start with applying the rules religiously such that no club feels it is bigger than others.

    Nigeria has participated in previous CAF inter-club competitions and our banner carriers have complied with the rule of playing such postponed games the next mid-week. The presence of club owners among those who administer the game underscores the sinister arrangements we have seen since the exit of television coverage of the matches. What operates elsewhere should work here. Clubs don’t dictate how leagues should be run, if the administrators know their onions.

    What should be of utmost concern to the organiser and the clubs is the need to get a credible television broadcast rights holder. The leagues globally are run through funds from television rights and their marketing windows available to the clubs and the league body. Any league without television rights is dead. Such a league is fraught with sharp practices where the highest bidders win the competition’s diadem. Winners from such flawed settings don’t win trophies against better organised teams and countries.

    Our league organisers should use this period to get all the clubs to clear their debts, with the firm warning not to register any team with any outstanding for the new season. It doesn’t matter if only six teams comply with the directive. It leaves room for the eligible ones in the lower cadre to get promoted. This idea of glossing over rules enshrined in the league’s constitution won’t make the game run here as a business, even though state governors use their teams to settle their lackeys.

    A domestic league without a regimented calendar won’t produce new stars, since they only know when the season begins without knowing when it would end.  We have in Nigeria, a league season without end, hence such contraptions as abridged leagues or a regional league competition, as a few purists are advocating for. How does anyone expect the league to produce new talents for the Super Eagles when the competition only starts when the organisers are pressurised to do so?

    A league where the ambulance meant to handle emergencies is being pushed around the playing pitch while a player dies slowly should be disbanded. A league where the organisers enforce existing laws only after a player has died shouldn’t be allowed to kill more people.

    Any stadium in Europe has medical equipment which could compete with what you have in first class hospitals, with staff of the same quality, not auxiliary medical attendants. The league organisers ought to have an official medical facility for those in the game, preferably one owned by the state or federal government.

    Simply put, our stadia lack the capacity to handle emergencies. The number of exits at these stadia are not enough and so narrow such that it takes close to 40 minutes to empty any stadium in the country. The way the exits are built gives room for stampede if an emergency occurs. The ease with which fans crowd the pitches after matches endanger the lives of players and referees. Need I waste space to recall all the cases where referees and assistants were beaten groggy across the nation?

     

     

  • Stadia hold the aces

    Stadia hold the aces

     Ade Ojeikere

     

    The European leagues are in full swing with the resumption of the Barclays English League as the clincher to show the persuasive power of soccer and how it belongs to the people.

    During the league’s 100-day hiatus, lovers of the beautiful game were left on the lurch, with many not knowing what to replace it with.

    Of course, supporters are confined to their homes by the Covid-19 pandemic which made matter more cumbersome for soccer faithful to comprehend.

    So much was speculated about how the matches would be played, the big question being the place of the fans and their importance to teams’ victory, especially with the current league leaders, Liverpool FC, and their vociferous fans.

    Playing at Anfield used to be a tough challenge for teams and coaches without strong character. Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho enjoyed taking their squads (Manchester United and Chelsea) there to upset the Reds.

    So, when the fans had to be excluded from games, a lot of posers were raised bordering on how the stadia would look like without them.

    The structure of stadia in Europe are such that entry and exit points are controlled to shut out uninvited fans. What pundits worried about was how the owners would simulate robots to cheer the players during matches. Of course, robots can’t replace the fans who show a lot of emotions.

    Nobody was expecting robots to cry like some fans do when their teams lose. Nobody expected despondent fans who sit alone at the stands after defeats to be replicated by robots. But what kept followers on their feet was how the robots would be arranged.

    The players weren’t fooled. The television coverage did little to show what happened at the stands as coverage was reduced to activities of players and officials on the pitch.

    It was absurd but it served the purpose. Beside, the oddities at match venues were missing – the cat calls, the false whistling at closing stages (which raised the tempo of the games and adrenalin of fans).

    Manchester United’s last ditch wins and draws last season were induced by the fans who kept urging the players on. Now will Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium, for instance, be dreaded by other teams knowing that no fan will be on the stand?

    We missed the animals which strayed onto the pitch to cause a stir, with the fans enjoying the fun, as ushers struggle to catch them.

    Robots couldn’t produce such fun. Many haven’t forgotten when Watford’s M’Baye Niang rescued a tiny bird which had found its way onto the pitch in a match against Manchester City in 2017. The Hornets got thumped 5-0 that day.

    How about the birds on the pitch or those which perched on top of the cross bars? Bird on the pitch! A little bird had to be gently escorted off the pitch by two of Spain’s World Cup stars – Gerard Pique and Isco – both had to pick up their little feathered friend and take him to safety before their game with Iran.

    Football fans spend a lifetime hoping to play on the pitch at Manchester City; one squirrel actually managed it when it beat the security network.

    But, unfortunately for the squirrel, it wasn’t allowed to stay to watch the game. Ground staff had to escort the furry fella off the pitch before the start of the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium. Football is truly a spectacle.

    A cat ran on the pitch in a match between Liverpool and Tottenham back in 2012. Supporters quickly saw the funny side, and a Twitter account for the cat was instantly created, amassing over 30,000 followers in just a few hours.

    Can you imagine Oyinbo? Naija go say na witch, ‘kill am, burn am! The club said the cat bore a striking resemblance to unofficial 80’s mascot Moglet, a cat adopted by ground staff after it was found outside. Like the reds would say ‘’you will never walk alone’’.

    The unifying factor of soccer is seen when unknown people hug and celebrate together each time their team wins.

    Not forgetting all manner of attires worn by the fans to typify the essence of such games, especially the derbies where the towns are divided into blue (for Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool) and red (for Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton).

    The fans trooping into the stadia is missing in different shades of clubs’ jersey, more so the clownish types of tops. Mufflers of clubs sewn together before such fixtures tell the story that the game belongs to the people and not robots.

    No disrespect to the destructive urchins who stay in the mood for games after guzzling beers and spirits, but such drunken fans’ misdemeanour pour odium on the game which, sometimes, nosedives into fracases of violent scenes with lives and properties destroyed.

    The security outfits in this Covid-19 era have done their jobs of policing the venues very well. They must be having a peaceful time with the yoyos, hoodlums and roughnecks held back at home.

    However, watching Wednesday’s game between Liverpool and Crystal Palace, especially when television rights owners showed where Reds’ fans converged quaffing beer while celebrating each of the four Liverpool goals, simply meant that the battlefields have been relocated to the bars and social centres.

    Of course, these centres are used to such chaotic settings and must have their master plan to stem the tide if it eventually boils over.

    The police have distinguished themselves, raising the alarm where required and proffer suggestions to resolve certain posers surrounding games.

    For instance, the police listed next Thursday’s tie between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad as one of the six high risk matches. the police directed that these matches should be played on neutral ground.

    But Manchester City Council’s safety advisory group met on Thursday and concluded there were ‘no objections’ to the fixture taking place at City’s home ground, as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail.

    ‘’The Council’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) for the Etihad Stadium met this morning to review the upcoming fixture between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC,’ a statement from Manchester City Council read.

    ‘’Following the most recent round of Premier League fixtures which have all taken place behind closed doors, the SAG has signalled it has no objections to the above fixture taking place at the Etihad Stadium as planned at 8.15pm, Thursday July 2.

    As with all other Premier League matches this fixture will take place behind closed doors, with no fans present, ‘’ according to Daily Mail on Thursday.

    What made the European leagues stand out was the television coverage, obviously the reason the game restarted.

    There were a few slips but the bigger picture was that the fans had some relief sitting at home of going to joints to watch the closing stages of the leagues.

    The police’s fears about the safety of Etihad to host such a top-of-the-table cracker has been abated with Liverpool coming to Manchester as the 2019/2020 Barclays English Premier League champions.

    Nothing can be more befitting for new champions to be given guard of honour at the home ground of the dethroned champions – Manchester City.

    However, the Premier League still need to approve the guard of honour due to new protocols enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.

    Aston Villa, Brighton, Burnley, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle are all set to congratulate Liverpool before their matches as the season enters the final game weeks.

    Interestingly, everyone has credited this Liverpool’s feat to the club’s manager Klopp who has now won four trophies at Anfield since arriving in 2015.

    ‘’I called my family 10 seconds before the final whistle,’’ Klopp revealed in a press conference. ‘’I told them I loved them and they said they loved me. That was a really nice moment.

    ‘’I was never sure it would happen, but I never doubted it. It’s incredible. We were good four years ago, really good three years ago, unbelievable last season, and this season is absolutely exceptional – second to none.

    ‘’I still want to live for 30 or 40 years, I’m not interested in a statue. You don’t have to compare me with these iconic figures.

    The last 13 months were pretty special for us. It is an incredible time in my life, to be honest. I couldn’t be more thankful to be part of it. And we will not stop. ‘’

     

  • Leap of faith

    Leap of faith

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    THESE are exciting times for Nigerian football and our soccer ambassadors, with Simon Moses highlighting the essence of having thriving nurseries in the country to identify, nurture and exposed budding stars to the international markets. The spiral effects of such noble initiatives are that with time Nigerian kids would be kissing the headlines of transfer deals with the second order European clubs, which is where Nantes FC belong on the roaster globally.

    Jos, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos signpost the centres where kids played the game on dusty sometimes undulating surfaces in public schools’ soccer fields all through the day, with their parents unperturbed, knowing that they have one mouth less. Not forgetting the whips which would be unleashed on the bare backs of those kids who left home without permission to play the beautiful game. The pitches in Jos may not be good but the talents discovered have proven their mettle in Europe and everywhere else they have played. Jos pitches horned John Mikel Obi’s skills, although in his case he started as a goalkeeper, wearing short sleeves jersey, made popular by Imama Amamakpabo in Nigeria.

    Simon Moses was born in Ribadu Cantonment, Kaduna, where he started playing for his area’s soccer team, Moderate FC, a team that also discovered and nurtured former Nigeria junior internationals such as Simon Zenke, Thomas Zenke, Macaulay Chrisantus and Usman Amodu.

    Simon Moses was spotted by Jos based football tactician Ahmed Ibrahim a.k.a Coach Bros who took him to his team GBS FC in Jos. He trained with the Nigeria U-20 squad of 2013. He impressed the Flying Eagles coaches, making the Nigerian side to the U-20 World Cup.

    The story of Simon Moses and Nantes is quite interesting, especially as the Nigerian joined the French side on loan. The Nigerian joined the Ligue 1 side on loan but his ‘Naija spirit’ of giving it everything paid off as he finished the season as the club’s Player of the Season. What was even more impressiven was how Simon adapted to his new wingback role and ‘killed’ defenders with his pace and trickery.

    But is Nantes just another chapter for Moses that leads to his ultimate dream –  to play in the prestigious English Premier League despite a failed move to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2018.

    “It was very close, but I’m happy with my football. I will take my career as it comes,” Simon explained to Tribal Football. “Yes. I was aware of some clubs seeking to sign me like Brighton showing strong interest with their package to sign me, but the deal did not see the light of the day. I don’t want to go into details about what happened.

    “I have strong desire to play in the EPL. This is my dream, but things happen in football and I believe everything is for my good. When it is time, it is time. I believe in destiny.

    “Talking about offers from other Premier League clubs, I think my manager is in the best position to handle the business of transfer or offers that comes to my table. Mine is to play football and I leave my manager to handle that aspect for me.

    “Why not? It is the dream of most footballers to play in the EPL. It is the most followed league in the world.

    “I’m glad that I have played in one of the best leagues in the world which is the La Liga.  Playing against Lionel Messi is like possessing a fortune. If God say that I will still play in the EPL, I will.”

    At 24, Simon is one of the youngsters that will help the Super Eagles dominate African football and perhaps achieve her best ever finish at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. These are indeedexciting times for our football.

    Sadly, these successful talents have cast an indulgent eye on the rough pitches with which they were brought up to develop it to international standard. This is where other nationals tower over ours, who at their retirement canvass for help for virtually everything as if they didn’t earn cash for everything they did for the country. In Egypt, Mohammed Salah has done remarkably well for those whose paths crossed his, including retired stars. Sadio Mane is a cult hero at home giving back to the society where he emerged from. Each time our players take the leap of faith in their careers, they forget how it all began. They only remember in the twilight of their careers to relate with those who moulded them for greatness and the places where it all started, knowing that they have come home to roost.

    Our soccer stars can point at buildings, cars and most times dwindling business concerns as the landmarks of their careers, unlike what we read about successful players in Europe. We can’t pretend not to know that some of our big stars are suffering. Many are living on tread with the two players’ unions not helping matters. What we find yearly are conflicts among the two bodies which should work as a unit. These former stars see only coaching teams as what they can contribute to the growth and development of a game which brought them fame and wealth. These players who brought us joy with their performances see being NFF members and/or NFF President as their right, leaving the other lucrative marketing windows in the game unattended to.

    Our former stars ought to return to the local leagues and invest in them, especially those they played for. What would it cost them to buy jerseys, boots and other playing apparels for the boys to train and play matches? Which state governors who are the real owners of the game who won’t be happy to receive financial support from our former stars, knowing the spiral effects of such support? We need role model clubs and they can only come from the products where stars are created.

    The lacuna created as a result of our ex-internationals tunnel towards football growth has thrown up many clowns in the administration of the game. The governance of the game would remain in the domain of self-seekers unless our ex-international and those who have what it takes to administer the game to indicate their interests. The thought process of the game’s administration is robust, hence the hiccups in change the trend from what it is.

    Otherwise, how could football owners under any platform be talking about private leagues, knowing that it has no antecedents. Globally, we have only one league in football nations such as England, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Austria, Turkey to mention a few. So, when some self-seekers here talk about launching private league, the pertinent questions to ask them are how much they are worth as individuals? Which competitions would their winners be participating in? Where would they get referees to handle their matches? Would their emergence not translate to sidelining the NFF, which is the only body recognised by FIFA to run the game here?

    Indeed, how many of those canvassing for the private league are truly professional, according to global standards? Don’t they owe their players, officials and coaches their wages? Which of these private league canvassers can match government owned teams in terms of paying good wages, if push comes to shove? Some government clubs, we are told pay between N500,000 and N1 million per month to their players which isn’t sufficient in the professional cadre. An average professional player should earn at least N5 million, if our organisers know the power of the game and the investment platforms in soccer, which our European counterparts have exploited maximally.

    Truth is that the seeming global recession has affected football governance largely  because we have administrators who are used to spending government money. They cannot think outside the box. They don’t understand what it means to be accountable to their sponsors. Since government money is perceived as free cash, these administrators are not prudent. Monies released must be spent on the itemised sub-heads to government including those inflated. IF our soccer administrators had learned how to save cash for the raining days, football won’t be in comatose as it is in the domestic league.

  • Transfer market

    Transfer market

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    The most exciting periods every season are the two transfer windows – the one in the summer and that in January which many managers have kicked against. In fact, the latter window in recent seasons has not be as active as that first since most managers have learned  how to utilise previous seasons. Already, punters don’t expect much trading when the window opens due to the effect of the coronavirus which has destroyed the revenue bases of all clubs.

    According to Deloitte in a study, it was discovered wages at Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea as a percentage of club revenue rose sharply last season as part of a £1.7billion outlay on wages by the ‘big six’.

    ”The figures also indicate that eight Premier League clubs recorded wage to revenue ratios of 70 per cent or more – the warning threshold used by UEFA in its Financial Fair Play rules. The published figures for the 2018-19 season will only worsen now the current campaign has been interrupted by the pandemic, with matches set to be played behind closed doors for some time, Deloitte stated.

    What the report inferred is that ”top teams would face a permanent loss of £500million because of rebates to broadcasters and a loss of match day revenue without fans. And they warn a further £500m missing from 2019-20 balance sheets will only be recouped if next season’s competition is able to be played in full.

    ”Despite players and staff at many Premier League clubs taking temporary wage cuts or deferrals when the season was suspended there is still set to be a major impact. Chelsea’s wages to revenue ratio jumped from 55 per cent in the 2017-18 season to 70 per cent last season.

    ”While the club’s wage bill increased from £246m to £314m, revenues went up only marginally from £448m to £452m. The percentage of revenue that went on wage costs at Manchester United increased from 50 per cent to 56 per cent, while at Manchester City it went up from 52 to 59 per cent. At United, the wage bill rose from £296m in 2017-18 to £352m last season as revenues increased from £590m to £627m.”

    Is soccer management meant for lackeys of governors like we have in European countries? certainly not. the losses are mind-boggling but be assured that the top-flight managers in England know what to do to cushion the effects of coronavirus in the long term. The decision to restart the big leagues are part of the ways to halve the effect, with loss to be written off through the teams’ insurance packages. after all, this is a one-off event whose lessons have not be lost on the economic managers of soccer in Europe for subsequent seasonal projections. you can take that to the bank.

    A few analysts have suggested half the price purchases culminating in sacrilegious figures which won’t add up considering the pedigree of such stars. Nothing has been cut on stone with the big movers such as Mbappe, Bayer Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz, RB Leipzig centre forward Timo Werner, the shock departures of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho, with Sergio Ramos’ 15-year career with Real Madrid likely to be extended with the captain set to be offered a new deal.

    Big money transfer players carry the cross of hefty release clauses which most times were inserted to make cash for both the players and the clubs, not forgetting the agents. never mind, sports in business.

    Real Madrid wish to extend Ramos’ stay by another 12 months until 2022, with extension taking the rugged defender beyond his 36th birthday. Ramos has eyes on the MLS, which could signal his exit from the big matches.

    French newspaper L’Equipe, stated Tuesday that PSG hierarchy have told  that he could look for another clubs after June 30, since his services wouldn’t be needed beyond his transfer expiry date. The reported further revealed that Silva rejected a pay cut, knowing that clubs would match his wages at PSG or even improve on them rather than remain at Parc des Princes. Silva surely knows his onions as Everton and AC Milan are keen on securing his signature.

    Transfer markets’ sales have its twists and turns with Philippe Coutinho, former hero at Anfield with Liverpool being tagged an outcast at Barcelona although he is at Bayern Munich on a loan deal.

    Coutinho isn’t finding his situation at Barca and Bayern a laughing matter even with his undoubted skills. The Brazilian must be pinching himself to find out where he got it wrong. Unfortunately, Liverpool’s management are not interested in Coutinho, who was warned by Klopp not to join Barcelona in January 2018, but remain at Anfield. No surprises, therefore, for Jurgen Klopp’s cold shoulder towards his former midfield gem.

    But the 27-year-old’s most likely destination appears to be Tyneside, should their £300million Saudi-led takeover go through, according to France Football. Coutinho is a victim of teams’ playing styles. At Liverpool, he initiated all moves. The Reds depended on his passes and creative. Even when Coutinho wasn’t playing well, others took charge because it is part of the team’s character. But at Barca, Coutinho wasn’t the teams pivot either defensively or when initiating attack. And this affected his psyche and performances on the pitch. Same fate he suffered at Bayern Munich whose direct play froze out a classy Coutinho. Both teams acknowledged that the Brazilian is a great talent not minding his precarious situation with them.

    The transfer market’s trends are not complete for this writer without discussing what they have in stock for Africans, especially the Nigerians doing well such as Victor Osimhen, Odion Ighalo, Samuel Chukwueze, Simon Moses, Odion Ighalo, even though his loan deal has been extended, largely due to the fact that foreigners have until October this year before they can come into China, in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Other Nigerians include Jamilu Collins, Maduka Okoye, Tronne Ebuehi, Francis Uzoho, Kelechi Nwakali, Taiwo Awoniyi, Kenneth Omeruo Chidozie Awaziem and Nigeria international Henry Onyekuru who agency reports stated that Turkish giants Galatasaray have officially indicated an interest in signing permanently, although they are waiting for French side Monaco’s confirmation to do business with them since they own Onyekuru.

    Ighalo chose the right option of shunning Chinese megabuck for a drastic pay cut to remain at Manchester United. Playing for the Red Devils is the lifetime ambition of the Nigerian. He obviously has many more years to make money, including to other leagues until he is 40. Ighalo is scoring goals again, the most recent being partnering England international Rashford. The dream attacking option for Solskjaer where returnee Paul Paul Pogba would be playing as number 10 produced braces for Rashford and Ighalo. Did I hear say EPL beware? Of course, goals make the game beautiful to watch. and when it involves a Nigerian, nothing can be better than that.

    For Osimhen, he needs to be guided. He needs to make playing regularly the basis for any movement, with next year holding a lot for young players across the continent. Fitness for players come with playing regular club football which rubs off how well the play for their countries during competitions. Osimhen, Chukwueze and Ndidi are some of the Nigerians in Europe who would attract a lot of gossips in the next tow seasons’ transfer market. I hope the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains and Gernot Rohr can move closer to them for career guidance. They should be told to tarry a while in the next two seasons, since the World Cup offers the best platform to make megabucks if such players do very well at the Mundial in Qatar.

    It would be foolhardy for Osimhen to join a big club where the man fighting for his position is a national of that country. If does, he could as well buy a seat belt to strap himself on the bench.

    Osimhen at 21 cannot afford to seat on the bench with the World Cup only two years away. Moving to a bigger club like Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester United may be too much responsibility for the Nigerian striker and he hasn’t gathered enough experience to shoulder the weight of expectations at these huge clubs. As tempting as it sounds to move to a bigger club, it will be safe for him to be a household name in Lille where he is already loved and change clubs after the Mundial.

  • Growing Super Eagles’ brand

    Growing Super Eagles’ brand

    Ade Ojeikere

    Rock in your casket Shuiabu Amodu for this is the second time a damning judgment would be passed on the Super Eagles by coaches who should lead the team aright. But like the adage goes, you don’t give what you don’t have. The late Amodu told us that the domestic league was populated by average players who had to be taught the rudiments of the game each time they were invited to the Super Eagles. Nigerians went for his jugular, wondering how he could have made such a statement.

    The late Amodu could understand how the players trained in their different clubs. Amodu has passed, but his scathing remarks ring so true of what German tactician, Gernot Rohr, has again said about the team – this time with our armada of stars in Europe. What goes around comes around. Interesting times for football now that a coach has told his employers to stop dreaming about lifting the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations diadem.

    Rohr has stated categorically that he cannot guarantee the Eagles winning the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (perhaps he forgot that there are plans to shift the competition to 2020). Rohr posited further that Nigeria isn’t the best African country in soccer, going by FIFA rankings. He also couldn’t pick top rated stars in the Eagles who are match winners, unlike what Mohammed Salah, Mahrez, Sadio Mane et al do for their countries. What Rohr didn’t say is that it is his duty to fish out these kind of stars for Nigeria to deploy in big tournaments. If he cannot do the job, he could take a walk off now. We still have the time to headhunt a manager who would do our biddings, which are not beyond us, going by the Clemens Westerhof era.

    I wish Amodu was alive. In fact, Amodu stood by his conviction, knowing that the buck stops on his table. Unfortunately, Rohr has done a recant on his interview with the BBC, where he enumerated reasons why the task of lifting the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations amounted to attempting to climb a slippery pole. I wonder how he expects maximum respect from players he described as average and not being the best in Africa. Dear Rohr, isn’t football all about shocking results for deserving countries that play with committed players? So, how does Rohr hope to actualise the targets of winning AFCON and playing at the World Cup at the knockout stage?

    “This is a special job because this is my team, I built it with my staff,” the former Niger and Gabon coach said Monday on local television. “It’s a very young team, but the mission is not finished yet, so we want to continue. We all have to make sacrifices and I will be the first.  Let’s qualify for (the Nations Cup) and then we want to win it. We have a good team, we’re now number three in Africa. When I arrived (in 2016), we were number 13. We have worked together for the past four years and I hope we can progress,” he said.

    Nothing excites this writer better than watching young Nigerians grow through the ranks of the beautiful game here. Although we have wasted several generations of players discovered from the grassroots, it appears we are rediscovering some and playing them during the big games involving Super Eagles, a trend which is in tandem with FIFA’s goals in inaugurating several age-grade competitions. Nigeria needs to catch up with the rest of the world in fielding players who evolved from the country’s age-grade teams. Rohr distinguished himself at the last Africa Cup of nations, when he dropped an off-form Kelechi Iheanacho for a younger and fitter Osimhen. It has paid off today going by the Osimhen’s rave reviews in Europe.

    The difference between what has transpired in this Rohr era is that we can now plan for the future. Such plans include rebranding the Eagles to attract foreign scouts for subsequent transfer windows. If the players give their best during matches in Africa and Europe, especially against the big European sides, then Nigeria’s ranking would soar, giving room for those who distinguish themselves to benefit with improved contracts or outright change of clubs at staggering transfer figures.

    Rohr should forget about his assistants’ interests in certain players and look at the bigger picture of making the Eagles the best team in Africa by the year 2022, prelude to the World Cup in Qatar. So Rohr and his boys have acquitted themselves in previous friendly matches, making it imperative on others to be willing to accept games against Nigeria anywhere in the world.

    Nigeria has no business playing against minnows in the continent, with due respect to such countries, given our players’ exploits in Europe and in the Diaspora. Our players’ peers ply their trade in Europe and they should be seen to oscillate within that orbit.

    The NFF should as much as possible accept the grade A game which are for points’ acquisition in FIFA’s monthly ranking, while the grade B game can be used to test our others players, particularly the home-based players. The grade B games must be played in Nigerian cities to reawaken interest in the game. These grade B games can open a new vista for the local boys who shine in them; the local boys have been forsaken for long and this has affected the quality of the leagues.

    Growing up in Benin City, I saw Bendel Insurance play against teams which were in the country for friendly matches and it raised the morale of the boys then who were excited to play international matches. The corporate world here would be willing to contribute to the brand’s growth if NFF can drag the big games to the country. These firms get to the target audience faster through such big events. Such games should be held in the country to give Nigerians an opportunity to watch their heroes. Playing matches at home will open a new vista for sports sponsorship since the firms’ bigwigs will appreciate the marketing windows available to them to connect with the fans, who they could covert to their customers.

    Growing the eagles brand should include participating in the process of getting our players to play for big clubs. It is heartening to note that Victor Osimhen denied signing for Napoli in the Serie A and their harrowing incidents of racism. Rohr and indeed NFF chieftains should dialogue with our players whose future is hinged on the next transfer window.

    The biggest story for old Trafford on Odion Ighalo is that he wants to return to the Super Eagles. If Ighalo was still a Nigerian international, the process of extending his loan deal would have been much easier. Big European clubs reckon with internationals.

    According to Ighalo: “I am still in contact with Gernot Rohr and Amaju Pinnick, and they congratulated me on my loan deal.”

    “I am still thinking about returning to the national team, but right now I want to concentrate on my club career. I left the national team because of the distance between Nigeria and China, but now that I am in Manchester and just like life and in my career, you never can tell”, he told Brila FM.

    It would be easier for Ighalo to make the three-man cut if he continues scoring goals for Manchester United. Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Egypt’s Mohammed Salah would rate higher than any Nigerian player in the Africa Footballer of Year award because of the superiority of their clubs to where our players are. Weekly, we watch Mane and Salah score goals with relish for the Reds in the EPL and UEFA Champions League competition until the Reds’ exit.

    The Eagles are the biggest brand to market if they are excelling in competitions. We need to build this team on solid foundations, but this appears far-fetched for Rohr, given the potentials available at the 774 local government areas. We will forever be rebuilding the Eagles, if our foreign coaches live outside the country. Eagles need nurseries where players to replace the injured and ageing ones are taught the basic skills of the game, through clinics and competitions. No country measures her growth in soccer by listing 22 foreign-based players with one home-based goalkeeper. It raises the poser over the quality of the youth developmental programmes and what the federation is doing with its grassroots programmes.

     

  • Welcome, Rohr

    Welcome, Rohr

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    When it comes to selecting the Technical Adviser for the Super Eagles, everything is possible. In fact, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is one of the most volatile groups with divergent views which isn’t among the registered political parties in the country.

    Not even the presence of a new contractual agreement between the NFF and German tactician Gernot Rohr is enough to say that a deal has been struck.

    You can stretch this argument further by saying that Rohr’s signature and those of his employers won’t justify anything until the country’s first game after June 30.

    Rohr’s purported new contract addressed the grey areas of the previous ones, with every party inserting clauses to protect their rights.

    Feelers from Germany where Rohr resides suggest that the German is worried over the details of his contract being read in the media.

    He isn’t too excited that the non disclosure-clauses of the new contract have been jettisoned, even before it takes off.

    Would this be the first breach of a contract that has not been signed by all the parties, with Rohr’s hands raised by his employers as it is the practice globally?

    What is worthy of note is that there is a synergy between the coach and his employers, which is critical towards actualising what Nigerians want – watching Super Eagles play well at big competitions, even if the team doesn’t win the trophy. Of course, winning the cup is sacrosanct.

    Doubts of Rohr’s function with the Eagles in the next two and a half years were cleared when the federation’s President Amaju Pinnick wrote on his Twitter handle that: ‘’I’m happy to announce that the @thenff and Coach Gernot Rohr have concluded all contractual discussions and he will stay on as Coach of the Super Eagles.

    We have always had confidence in his abilities and we are confident that the national team can only go higher from here.

    ‘’We can now focus on qualifying for the World Cup and winning the Nations Cup. In truth, these are sacrosanct and Coach Rohr is aware of these conditions.

    Like the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development has rightly noted; we are uncompromising in these goals,’’ Pinnick wrote.

    What Pinnick’s tweets suggested was that the federation took the sports minister along with the drafting of the contract, even if he isn’t Rohr’s employer.

    The minister just performed his oversight functions where he would have drawn the federation’s attention to clumsy clauses in the new deal and those Nigerians expressed their reservations during the manager’s previous contract.

    One such vexatious aspect was the fact that Rohr didn’t rely much on home-based players although he had exposed over 25 of them.

    They didn’t measure up to the standard, but took the experience again from  players with the better exposed players to the lower cadre age-grade, not forgetting that Rohr has insisted that Nigeria’s best players are in Europe.

    Who can dispute this fact? Perhaps, Rohr’s Nigerian assistants should brace up in their search for good players in the domestic league which has been stopped due to the corona virus pandemic.

    The domestic league owners and indeed the organisers should ensure that the players are treated like professionals such that they are condemned to excel during matches.

    The inhuman manner with which players’, coaches’ and officials’ allowances and monthly wages remain unpaid running into years can’t motivate them to give their best. It is duty of the league organisers to challenge the club owners to pay their staff.

    This writer cannot understand why league organisers have refused to report clubs to their state governors, for those owned by government.

    Defaulting clubs shouldn’t be allowed to play matches. The governors’ attention would be drawn to this abnormality and the clubs’ staff paid appropriately, if they hope to continue with the competition.

    Those rooting for home-based players in the Eagles should appeal to the league organisers, NFF chieftains and the clubs to use FIFA’s $100,000 for youth leagues properly.

    These three groups should truly pick the right players such that those discovered would have long playing span, not recruit ing stunted boys whose future are shorter than those they want to replace.

    I want to appeal to the NFF to constitute a youth league committee to run the competition with FIFA’s $100,000 not to share the grant among clubs that are heavily indebted to the banks.

    No youth league, no future for the game here, expect they adopt the Rohr policy of scouting for Nigeria-born kids in Europe whose ages are doubtless.

    All the NPFL clubs should have youth teams whose players must be secondary school pupils. Any kid born after year 2005 must have birth certificates.

    But the federation must insist on tracing them back to their primary and secondary schools which should have their authentic data. It is working in Europe. It should, therefore, work here with sincerity.

    Those who didn’t want Rohr’s contract renewed attested to the fact that he introduced new boys who improved the way the team plays.

    The average age of the team’s players is between 19 and 24, good for competitions, since that is the range of better football playing nations.

    What the regular presence of players in the team translates to is its growth is perpetually at the rebuilding stage. Rohr should with this new mandate use the boys he has for the next one year so that there can be team cohesion when they play games.

    The coach should start to take risks with his substitutions so that we can define how the Eagles play under his watch. Nobody describe the team as an attacking or defensive squad.

    The team’s defence isn’t right now. The defence could be better with the removal of Kenneth Omeruo, who is too tentative in his approach to the ball while under pressure.

    He also doesn’t look like a good runner and is easily bullied off the ball. Did I hear you ask if he shouldn’t be taught what to do to correct these flaws? Over to you, Rohr.

    I don’t envy Rohr when it comes to the goalkeeping area. But I take solace in the fact that no team is complete. The clue out of this quagmire would be for Rohr to always field those who play regularly for their clubs. He would be sure of the fitness and alertness.

    A few of the goals conceded by the team have been goalkeeper’s poor concentration and inaccurate judgment of the movement of the ball.

    Rohr should sit with his employers when the coast is clear for games to be played to plan the number of international friendly matches he wants which would help build his goalkeepers’ confidence.

    Even if he knows his first choice, he should allow everyone play games. Possibly, using two in every friendly – one in each half, barring injuries.

    NFF chiefs have done well with securing top graded friendly games for the Eagles, except that they are played in Europe and Asia.

    We need to bring some of these matches home for the fans to watch and for the home-based players to dream of playing for the country.

    No good soccer nation builds its national soccer team on foreign imports. Our soccer growth should be rooted on the domestic leagues whose products should form the nucleus for the age grade teams.

    If we stick to this policy, it would be easier to have home grown players to contests for shirts with the foreign-based counterparts.

    Nigeria doesn’t have any first-rated defenders, for instance. if we had a plan, Rohr would have seen quality defenders to strengthen Eagles’ shaky defence.

    If soccer must enjoy the fillip of growth from the corporate world, it must be repackaged like entertainment. In the 1970s and 1980s, foreign stars thrilled Nigerian fans.

    That has changed, with the massive work of our musicians and actors. One feels good as foreigners call Nigerians wearing our traditional dresses Igwe, Igwe – fallout of what they see from interesting drama stories on television.

    It is also exciting sitting inside cabs in Europe, listening to Nigerian artistes’ songs on radio and foreigners dancing to it the way we do here.

    It isn’t surprising to see entertainment enjoy tremendous corporate sponsorship since governors, business moguls, banking giants and oil industry chieftains attend entertainment shows.

    Of course, nobody convinces them on the need to do business with the entertainers, having physically seen the crowds at concerts here and in Europe.

  • Odemwingie blows the lid

    Odemwingie blows the lid

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    I won’t join the motley crowd who would dismiss the tales of bribery in the Super Eagles on the altar of lack of evidence or the death of coaches. Those in this school of thought don’t mind some people proffer defences against the allegations, with many doing it to whip up sentiments against the accusers.

    It doesn’t matter if such people played for the Super Eagles without offering cash, gifts or other incentives to any coach. Such regulars made the team based on their sterling contributions playing for several European clubs, many scoring goals with aplomb. In fact, some of these boys distinguished themselves by making teams of the leagues in top European countries, making their invitations  a matter of necessity. No coach would ignore such players.

    Last week, I discussed this issue here, but didn’t include the perspective which Osaze Odemwingie introduced. Odemwingie revealed  what some of the coaches were doing which affected the team’s depth in strength, given the calibre of players selected. It is true that players are picked on coaches’ discretion. But is this how others pick their players? Shouldn’t club current form be the basis of picking players?

    Before major competitions such as the World Cup, ardent European league  followers could off the cough list of players who would make the top five countries to the Mundial. And their choices are usually 80 per cent correct, using the indices of club appearances. Therefore, why would any Nigerian coach not pick our best guys for the Mundial or Africa Cup of Nations. Strictly speaking, if the players available for such positions are more than three, those who finally make the cut would know why they were picked.

    For instance, Kelechi Iheanacho won’t begrudge Gernot Rohr for dropping from the Nigerian side to the last Africa Cup of Nations for rookie star Victor Osimhen. Iheanacho had a bad season at Leicester City during that period, where Osimhen was literally the French word for scoring goals in the Ligue Un. Rohr could have opted for Iheanacho on grounds of experience. He didn’t. Apparently to kick Iheanacho on the bum to improve on his game and it worked. The biggest fillip from Rohr’s decision to drop the Foxes’ star was the emergence of Osimhen even Iheanacho would acknowledge the former Golden Eaglets’ scoring prowess. besides, Osimhen gained the required exposure just as he is easily Nigeria’s best striker in Europe.

    In an Instagram live interview with the Eagles media team, Odemwingie admitted that some coaches would rather select a weaker footballer over a quality one — in an attempt to market their own player.

    “Some of our coaches did get involved in a bit of player management, they had management companies. Shaibu Amodu for instance had a management company,” he said.

    “Some picked a weaker player over a stronger one who played in a better club because they wanted to market their player. He was in and out as a coach and an agent, but he was a great man. I used to talk with him whenever I could about it. I loved Amodu.

    “We used to fall out at times with him when they changed our hotels to a very poor one in Abuja. I would raise questions because it was disgusting and downgrading.”

    In fact, top European countries have in the past filled their World Cup squad lists with their junior internationals, hence the smooth transmission of players from one cadre to the other,  like we are experiencing with Osimhen. That is Odemwingie’s point without necessarily accusing any coach of receiving bribes.

    Super Eagles squad should reflect our best stars anywhere in the world just as it should be used to show how our age-grade stars progress to the senior level. The young boys which European countries parade emerged from a structured nursery through grassroots competitions. Our domestic league clubs can only make a strong case for their sector if they religiously get the right kids to fill their junior squads. These clubs should forget about immediate results like winning trophies.

    Youth teams are investments which would come with time. In fact, as many as six stars can emerge from a club, depending on the quality of coaching in the clubs. Interestingly, FIFA has allocated $100,000 (about N42 million) each for both the boys and girls teams, which means that the NFF should introduce a competition(s) where these talents can exhibit their skills. It has been a long time since schoolboys played for Nigeria like we had with Henry Nwosu, Thompson Usiyan, Adokie Amiesimaka and Felix Owolabi as undergraduates, Haruna Ilerika et al.

    The beauty about organising youth competitions is that it enriches the NFF’s data bank on players and helps the federation track the good ones among them who make it to Europe. Besides, these good lads boost the revenue indexes of the federation and the clubs where they are engaged in inter and intra transfers yearly. Football playing nations who see the industry as a business rely on the revenue from the transfer markets among other sub-heads for making cash to keep the leagues in session.

    Indeed, such marketing windows help the clubs and federation evaluate how much they are worth. Both entities could also use the figures to know when they ran at a loss or incurred more profits for the particular season. In fact, FIFA’s $100,000 should invigorate the boys and girls competitions. Such lucrative activities would encourage the youth to remain here and earn a living until they are of age to make it big in Europe.

    This writer would rather the NFF effectively use the $100,000 to raise the bar on the youth competitions than allow the clubs run it. A few clubs may argue that they would misappropriate the cash. But the larger number would, especially those who are indebted to the coaches, officials and players running into years. Such new competitions throw up fresh talents who could be nurtured and exposed to the world.

    If we truly want foreign coaches and our prominent local tacticians to look towards the home-based players, we must increase the nurseries where the new lads can be schooled on the rudiments of the game. NFF should streamline the nurseries to eliminate quacks. The federation should get trained coaches who would be retrained periodically on the modern tricks of the game at the grassroots. Super Eagles level isn’t where players should be taught the basics of the game. No.

    This flaw predates this current federation which has tried to change the narrative with several youth football programmes anchored on support from the corporate world, especially the banks. We are being told that close to five players of one of NFF’s youth programmes are in the current Golden Eaglets. This isn’t the point. the difference is that most of the serious countries have theirs from different academies or programmes, yet they play the same system. Hence the cohesion when they play.

    Academies which are nurseries for warehousing the game have been standardised to protect the sector and backed by law for effectiveness. It is at this level that countries’ playing patterns evolve depending on what the coaches feel could bring the best from their nationals.  Standards are set for owning such academies including their curriculum to shut out quackery. These academies are registered by the country’s FA with the right synergy struck where players’ movement in and out of the country are documented.

    The serious-minded soccer nations expose players from academies who also have the template to monitor those who did well and have juicy packages in big clubs in Europe, Americas and the Diaspora. These academies ensure that the players’ career path are cut to fit their ambitions. Those of them eager to combine playing soccer with going to school are enrolled to be educated. They also have drawn up training schedules to suit their schools’ curriculum, knowing the importance of education when their career as soccer players is over. Nothing happens in such countries like an accident.

  • Fouled air

    Fouled air

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    The air around our football teams in terms of how players are selected for competitions has been fouled by allegations which have not been substantiated, but pour odium on Nigeria.

    The tales coming from former junior internationals are not pleasant. Many of these lads did well with the kindergarten categories.

    We cannot pretend that such malicious utterances should be ignored on the altar that someone particularly involved is resting in the bosom of Our Lord. After all, coaching crew members should participate in the selection process.

    It is true that coaches have the discretion of picking players who would fit into their tactical formations. And so many things are considered before picking anyone into the teams.

    Of course, a bad mannered player shouldn’t be invited to infest the camp with bickering and break camp rules, even if he scores goals in the moon, like the late Amodu Shuaibu said in explaining why he didn’t pick a particular star player.

    The death of the principal shouldn’t foreclose full disclosure of allegations, if we truly want to nip in the bud these tales of sharp practices in such sensitive areas of our lives.

    What it simply means is that one man handled such critical areas of the team, making it absolutely impossible for his assistants to replace   such  an achieving boss. Little wonder the gradual dearth of talents in our age-grade teams.

    Granted the principal of the team where allegations have been levelled  is dead, but those who alleged must be made to substantiate their accusations by naming those who demanded for the bribes and/or those who took bribes, if such tales can be proven.

    Central to the allegations are some unnamed Nigerian coaches who handled the national teams. Could this be the reason our teams have recently not performed?

    Soccer used to be our Eldorado. It shouldn’t be smeared by spurious allegations of sharp practices. Not forgetting previous allegations against Nigerians coaches of using quota system to pick our soccer representatives in the past.

    That is if it isn’t also a yardstick for such an exercise. Add when players who played in big European leagues decide to expose the rot in our system, we shouldn’t lose the chance to correct the flaws.

    Taiye Taiwo in an interview with Face TV Africa said, “I am someone who don’t want dirty glory and in my life, I have never been involved in what is not clean and that was why I packed my bags and left the Super Eagles.

    “I cannot work or stay where I see that is dirty because I am serving a clean God, and if I am in an area that is not clean, I will have to leave the place.

    When they appointed Stephen Keshi as coach, he was acting somehow in which I told myself that it was time for me to leave the Super Eagles.

    “I packed my bags and I told my wife and family that I cannot be involved in dirty deals,” Taiye Taiwo explained.

    In the case of Taiye Taiwo,  who was voted the third best player in the U-20 World Youth Championships held in Holland behind Mikel Obi and the winner Lionel Messi, he named the coach of the 2014 World Cup team, without accusing him.

    Read Also: NFF mourns executive member, Chidi Okenwa

     

    It meant then that we are dealing with a faceless cabal which must be investigated without sentiments. This is certainly a bad citation for Nigerian coaches, hence the honourable Sport Minister should institute a high-powered panel to call those alleged to prove their allegations or face the wrath of the law. Nigeria is bigger than anyone.

    Ike Shorunmu isn’t a loose talker. A respected player whose conduct is an epitome of good upbringing. Shorunmu was quoted thus by an online medium:  “It is unfortunate for Chinedu Obasi to mention this kind of a thing this period because how long now, it’s about six years ago.

    “For him to come out right now to say he was forced to bribe for him to be with the team in 2014, it’s a pity that we lost Stephen Keshi because he’s the main man in the team, does it mean that his assistants don’t know what is going on?

    “For Obasi to mention it now it is too late. Assuming it is six months or before the World Cup, everybody can testify, the NFF bosses can verify the allegations that he’s making now.

    Probably due to the pressure he is passing through now, that’s why he mentioned they told him to bribe for him to come into the team,’’ Shorunmu stressed.

    Interestingly, since the NFF employed Gernot Rohr, a German, we have not heard any tales of bribery in the national team. Sad about what happened to Salisu Yusuf. He was simply naive.

    Yusuf had a bright future but risked it all when he was caught on tape taking cash to field players who were already in his team. Yusuf’s argument that he thought it was just a gift not meant to influence his choice of his regulars was weak and unacceptable.

    He, therefore, lost the chance of becoming a great coach, having won the domestic league with Enymiba FC of Aba. This gaffe earned Yusuf a ban from FIFA. It is quiet starling that allegations of bribery are being levelled on our local coaches.

    The players union and coaches body’s executive has accepted to mediate in this matter and get those who are talking to reveal the erring coaches who must be made to face their accusers to get to the roots of the matter.

    The coaches’ body chief Ladan Bosso in a communiqué Thursday stated that: “We hereby request the accusers to mention the name of the coaches so as to stop the unnecessary backlash and bad blood that has continued to ravage the social media and some conventional media outfit.

    “If the accusers see their actions as a means of bringing sanity into Nigeria football the association will only welcome it if the accuser are precise and open to back up such allegations with facts and evidence.

    We shall subsequently ask our members to take legal action against anyone who may defame their character and reputation in the eyes of the public.’’

    If we don’t stem these allegations, it would de-market future Nigerian coaches, especially those with the likelihood of coaching overseas.

    Our players displace better exposed foreigners in their European clubs for starting shirt. It is only justifiable that our good coaches take their trade to Europe, like the European managers have done with many countries globally.

    Those stars pointing accusing fingers at the coaches should realise that they are inadvertently reducing the chances of Nigerian coaches handling the Super Eagles  – the country’s biggest football brand.

    Of what use is their stay in Europe if they cannot aspire to handle the Eagles, especially those who opt to be coaches?

    Great coaches set football targets and find ways to achieve them. Most times they inspire players with amazing psychological methods and sometimes incentives they can afford. However, lazy coaches think first of the money and make a mess of their career.

    Perhaps, the Amaju Pinnick led NFF board should complete the signing of Gernot Rohr since the sports minister isn’t averse to retaining him for as long as he is a world class coach.

    The internet never forgets. We need to use the expose from the internet to remind people who ruined our game in the past.

    This is the only way to rid the system of self seekers in the industry. Those who previously served as assistants to foreign coaches now want us to jettison them? Interesting.

    Those who accompanied a motley crowd to England to interview foreign coaches to replace a collection of Nigerian tacticians, are telling us they have repented as if we need it.

    These people were part of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) which invited foreign coaches to Abuja for an interview to coach the Super Eagles; a position which wasn’t vacant. Please don’t remind us of the the Abacha one million-man march. I no know book o!

  • Super Eagles manager

    Super Eagles manager

     Ade Ojeikere

    I pity coaches of the country’s senior soccer side, Super Eagles, especially during competitions. I often stayed back at training pitches in Europe or Asia watching the managers relate with their assistants as the team works out for the next game. They are always a pitiable sight to behold, more so if the country lost the first game. The sessions are predictably. Filled with experts who didn’t know how the team qualified, but are at the competition as part of several delegations from Nigeria. Part of the jamboree? You have started again.

    Qualification games for competitions are handled by the coaches, players, backroom staff supervised by NFF chieftains, irrespective of how well or badly the team plays. When the ticket is secured and plans are afoot for the competition, all manner of permutations rear their not too beautiful heads, with Nigerians fragmented into those groupings, depending on those leading them. Sad, ex-internationals, who should stem the disturbing drifts join the fray by living in the past, as if it was worth the struggle, given the country’s records in such tournaments. Put simply, ex-internationals are part of the problems of  Nigeria football. A topic for another day.

    Rather than bring their experiences in Europe playing the beautiful game in top soccer teams and under good coaches to bear on the team, they constitute themselves into groups clamouring to take over the federation, as if FIFA and CAF are run by ex-internationals. Mention must be of Kanu Nwankwo and Austin Okocha, who have chosen to relate with the squad players than become fifth columnists to destroy a sport which brought them opulence and fame.

    Okocha’s and Kanu’s ambassadorial roles have lifted the spirit of the boys beginning with the qualifiers unlike some others who sit aloof, swimming with the tide, only to peddle influence to get on government delegations to competitions they didn’t have faith in.

    Winning continental titles and the World Cup, for crying out loud, is a project that requires routine changes occasioned by the results of games played until the final product is ready. The closest Nigeria got to assembling a winning squad was with Clemens Westerhof.  Sadly, we blew the chance when we refused to implement Westerhof’s advice that we relocate our  camp to a more serene place, shortly before the game against Italy, which we lost. Many have forgotten that Bulgaria which we beat resoundingly 3-0 in the group stage of the USA’94 World Cup clinched the bronze medal by placing third. Had we listened to Westerhof, Nigeria could have won a bronze or silver. Who says we couldn’t have won the World Cup in 1994, given what we did at the Olympics in Georgia Atlanta in 1996, with almost the same crop of players?

    Westerhof’s revolution resulted in the Atlanta’96 Olympic Games, even though he had left the country. The Dutchman’s players would have won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations held in South Africa but the draconian decision by the late Sani Abacha to stop the team from participating in the tournament. Westerhof’s men exited the Eagles after the 2002 Japan/Korea World Cup, with Nigeria’s unprecedented turnover of coaches. We reduced the Eagles to a rebuilding tool.

    Westerhof’s five-year stay ensured that we had depth in talents for most of our national teams. Credit to Westerhof  for watching our domestic games to fish out Amokachi, Friday Elaho, Benedict Iroha, Uche Okechukwu, Finidi George et al. He took these rookies then to Europe to polish their skills and it rubbed off on our national team(s) performances during competitions. The star-trek overseas  which Westerhof introduced removed the inferiority mask we had on four faces to the Europeans in tournaments. Training with these big stars in Europe, emboldened our players when the chips were down in competitions.

    Prior to the Nigeria job, Westerhof was a coaching upstart but he had a plan and recognised good players, which is what Gernot Rohr possesses, except that he doesn’t like to watch our domestic league. Will you blame him? What are the captivating things in the league? The few good players  are taken away by shylock agents. The boys change their names, casting doubts on who they are when they start doing well. Let me name players with this dubious acclaim.

    “We cannot find all the time players in the local league who are better than the other ones,” Rohr told ESPN.

    “The criterion for us, the first criteria is the quality of the players. Everybody knows, not only in Nigeria, that the best players are in Europe or somewhere else in professional leagues. That is the fact.

    “I invited already more than 23 or 24 local players since I have been in charge of the Super Eagles but we invite them and then immediately they are going to Europe. It is wonderful for them but maybe not for us.”

    Westerhof  used to be an unheralded coach but understood the politics of the game. He struck a chord with the authorities, when he had unchallenged access to the seat of government in Abuja. He became the boss of his employers, but never rubbed it when the need arose.  Rather, he cemented his relationship with top government officials by getting the right results after his requests were given to him.

    It was easy for Westerhof to navigate his way. Westerhof had presence. He couldn’t be pushed away. He knew when to make the noise in his smattering English and found extreme favour with the fans, who could die for him. Rohr may have an edge because he had managed other African sides before coming to Nigeria. Rohr had worked for countries with the unholy penchant of owing coaches. He had developed thick skin for such misnomer, which made him a proper fit for the NFF, an hitherto notorious body for owing coaches, Nigerians inclusive.

    Besides, Rohr inherited an Eagles side which couldn’t win as those who claimed to have assisted the former coach abandoned him to prove the point, leaving a former African champion open to be beaten by every country, even in Nigeria. Needless ego among those who produce a good Eagles squad thrust Rohr, from Niger Republic as the messiah. Rohr did well to sustain what he met on ground. What he did was to introduce some of our former Golden Eaglets stars into the squad.

    Not many coaches would have handed Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi as starting line-up strikers in a tough away game as that against Zambia. Both players proved Rohr right to trust them and scored the goals as Super Eagles won 2-1 to begin the 2018 World Cup qualifying series on a confident note.

    Super Eagles’ resurgence wasn’t magic. It was born out of Rohr’s willingness to give youths the opportunity to shine and they showed their new found confidence when they hammered Africa’s best team at the time, Algeria 3-1 in Uyo. The fans went bonkers that day and every other time the Eagles played. It was no surprise that they qualified for the World Cup in Russia, with a game to spare.

    Rohr took the youngest team in the world to the 2018 World Cup but they fell short because even the coach lacked the required experience to guide them beyond the group stage. But should they be allowed to continue their growth together? Or is Rohr just a Moses for our football?

    One thing Westerhof and Rohr brought to the national teams was their refusal to be led by the cabal in the place, in terms of players’ selections and how they ran the business of the team. Foreign scouts and shylock agents didn’t have field days like they did when Nigerian coaches took charge. I wonder why those who championed the removal of Nigerian coaches for foreigners think the time is ripe for our locals to handle the Super Eagles? Even those who partook in the process of recruiting foreign coaches through an interview in England are disturbing us with jaded analysis, as if they were not part of those who we sent to visit our players in Europe, yet they stay in one hotel and started making calls.

    Rohr isn’t the perfect choice but his reign has been successful. We have seen teams recruit the ‘best’ coaches and coaches, yet they falter because the chemistry of the squad wasn’t good. No Nigerian coach would have taken the risk to field Iheanacho and Iwobi as strikers in the Battle of Ndola against Zambia. No Nigerian coach would have dropped a fumbling Iheanacho with Leicester City from the Eagles squad to the last Africa Cup of Nations for rookie Victor Osimhen. See what that gambles have turned to be for younger lad since his excellent performance with the Golden Eaglets.

    None of the Nigeria-born lads would have listened to our local coaches in the campaign to get them to change their nationality. These lads have strengthened the Eagles, with many doing well in their debut appearances for the country. If the Nigerian coaches are so good, what have they achieved with our other national teams, even when we draft some of these young lads in the Eagles on rescue mission? Look, I’m a patriot, Nigerian coaches don’t have what it takes like we had in the days of yore with Alabi Aissien, Adegboye Onigbinde, Monday Sinclair, Joseph Erico, Lawrence Akpokona, Charles Bassey, Bitrus Bewarang, Ben Dualong, the late Willy Bazuaye, the late Shuiabu Amodu, the late Abdullahi Bebe, the late Joseph Ladipo et al. Did I hear you ask about the late Stephen Keshi? May Keshi’s soul rest in perfect peace.  The coaches I mentioned coached local clubs to glory while others provided quality challenges which helped the winners to triumph.

    A hard NO to local coaches for the Super Eagles. They have not grown in the tactics of the game. They haven’t transformed from being players to coaches. They are burdened by their egos. The few times we had local coaches handle the Eagles, it was always a running battle between them and the new stars. Wasn’t it a local coach who said two brothers cannot play for the Eagles? Pity. Do we still remember what Laudrup brothers did us in at the 1998 World Cup in France when Denmark whacked Nigeria 4-1? Atuegbu brothers played for Nigeria. Let’s not waste space to list brothers who have played for their countries.

     

     

     

  • Learning from the best

    Learning from the best

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    What a week. Hectic? Yes it was despite the lockdown occasioned by the Corona virus pandemic. Fortunately, my job as a journalist permits my movement to work and back home. Mention must be made of the security operatives who have been very polite.

    They have done the job of policing in the routes that I use. Thank God something good can come from our security operatives.

    I don’t intend to discuss the damage the Corona virus has done in the world. I would rather join the multitude praying for a quick discovery of vaccines to cure the disease.

    Last Saturday, I purposely put my phones on silence to avoid calls because of the piece I did  on this page. I knew I had roughened feathers.

    I also knew that the critics’ knives would be drawn. But that wasn’t the reason for writing the column. It was to remind our league organisers, not to insult our sensibilities with such fantasies as watching the domestic league on telephone, despite all the debates surrounding the return of the English game, which bother on the losses clubs would incur from television rights on English Premier League (EPL) games, if the season ends abruptly.

    With 92 games left for the season to end, EPL chieftains are toying with a lot of possibilities such that the competition would end without any overlap into the new season. The message underscores the importance of terrestrial rights.

    According to a Daily Mail report Monday: ‘’On May 7, the government is set to hold its next review of the current lockdown restrictions. If games are to go ahead, then the Premier League will have to ensure that measures are in place to prevent fans from gathering outside stadiums.

    The Premier League are hopeful that they will be given approval from the government to play the games, which they feel would help to boost the mood of the nation.’’

    What an interesting perspective to the Corona virus – matches to be played to help boost the mood of the nation. Brilliant. It means the game belongs to the people. Without the people, the games won’t attract the followership which clubs enjoy.

    This movement of people towards the clubs fill their stadia and in turn become huge revenues bases  for them to buy players of their choices.

    Sports is business, meant to be administered by those who can think, not cronies of governors. That is the way things are here. Hence the quagmire in our sports administration.

    ‘’In addition, players will have to be tested for Corona virus and venues for the games will have to be decided, with England’s training base of St George’s Park one possible option.’’

    EPL chieftains understand the importance of the government in arriving at a final decision. Yet, they have proposed ideas which would meet all the fears expressed by all the sides in the dialogue.

    It is true that the French have cancelled their league seasons. But the English game is driven by weighty sponsorship packages signed over the years, with the sponsors to make demands on infringements on their contracts with the EPL.

    The correlation between the EPL chiefs and government rests with the volume of taxes which increase the country’s revenue, beginning with taxes of players’ coaches, and ancillary staff’s wages, television rights, merchandising, and other marketing platforms of the EPL which make it one of the most lucrative businesses in modern history.

    Government has the discretion to rule like the French minister did on Monday. But, the backlash would be unimaginable, beginning with the next transfer window.

    Conversely, it took the Nigerian government’s intervention for our domestic league organisers to tell us their plans, many of which are laughable.

    They need to study the daily reports from our leagues troubled by the Corona virus pandemic to know how to re-direct their plans to be in sync with others.

    The EPL eggheads have visualised how the Barclays English Premier League would be played as reported by the Daily Mail during the week.

    ‘’ A minimum of 300 people will be needed for a Premier League fixture to take place behind closed doors. As England’s top flight looks for safe ways to resume in the coming weeks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an official estimate has calculated how many will need to be inside each ground on match-day.

    ‘’This includes 40 players, 32 coaching and medical staff from the two teams, 12 match officials, between six and eight doctors and medical personnel, three Premier League officials and 130 or more media personnel.

    ‘’Of that figure, 210 have been exactly accounted for, according to The Daily Telegraph, though the precise numbers of club directors, media, security, stewards, ground staff and scoreboard operators have yet to be worked out.

    ‘’The additional 90-100 in attendance is based on estimates made in Germany, where the Bundesliga could resume on May 9 if given the green light by health authorities.’’

    Two striking things have come out of the pronouncements in the other leagues, which show that the media are adequately briefed unlike ours where until is revealed, except such statements put the organisers on the spot.

    Besides, references are made to what others have said by way of comparison. Why not? You copy ideas which you cherish instead of celebrating mediocrity like we do here. Sadly so.

    The organisers should tell us how much the game is worth; also how much the domestic league is worth. They should tell us how much they realise from inter and intra club transfers? They should disclose what comes into their coffers as percentages on stadia gate-takings.

    Read Also: COVID-19: Ajax denied Dutch league shield

     

    Will it be asking for too much to disclose what they have generated as revenue from the different marketing initiatives that have brought into their coffers?

    The time to transform the leagues is now. They need to shop for sponsors for the league by showcasing the marketing windows the corporate world can key into while stating the merits of keying into them.

    No firm would invest in a business without bountiful returns that would raise the adrenalin of stakeholders at end of the year.

    It is always saddening watching the domestic league matches with the inner circumference panels empty unlike in the European leagues where such platforms are used for different things with sponsors enjoying quality time as their products and services are advertised.

    Viewers and those inside the stadia get to read about the club’s gate-takings for the day and the number of those who watch the games from the scroll messages on the inner perimeter platforms.

    Other vital information about the clubs including their next matches can be tracked while also watching the games since the messages are repeated in the course of 90 minutes.

    Rather than delude themselves with the fact that they held virtual calls with members, the organisers should tell us why the league venues’ pitches are still synthetic? Don’t they know the damage they expose the players to weekly, playing on plastic pitches with the wrong pair of boots? I hope people won’t be shocked in future when many of them become orthopaedic patients due to injuries on their knees and ankles.

    It is because of this clubs in Europe go the extra miles to nurture their playing pitches and also  re-grass those  balding as a result of constant use.

    This is to achieve players ‘optimal performance. Non-match-day visitors to  Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, for example, would always see  gadgets on the main playing pitch used to nurture the grasses and keep them lush.

    Globally, pitches are made of lush green grasses not what we have here. Is anyone surprised that our players struggle to compete with other African nations in the continental competitions? Our league administrators should be ashamed when North African force our encounters with them here to be played on grass pitches, since they know the laws of the game and insists on its application?

    Does it not occur to our administrators the importance of functional electronic scoreboards in all match venues? What would it cost us to persuade teams to install VAR at league venues? Is it forbidden to start this VAR culture in Nigeria, even if it means installing them in select venues as starters?