Nigeria head coach, Sunday Oliseh will hold talks with goalkeeper and captain, Vincent Enyeama following the furore generated after the Super Eagles’ 2-0 win over Chad in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nation’s (Afcon) qualifier in June.
Enyeama found himself in hot water after criticising the choice of Kaduna as venue for the game against Chad’s Les Sao.
The Super Eagles’ captain was subsequently issued a query by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) before being subsequently summoned to appear before the federations’ appeals/disciplinary committee.
Enyeama did not attend the hearing and it is now been speculated that the Lille OSC man may have played his last game for the three-time African champions following his decision to snub the NFF chiefs.
Oliseh says he rates Enyeama high and had revealed that he will be speaking to the experienced shot-stopper whom he described as one of the best on the continent.
“This is a touchy issue and one has to be careful how he treads on this.
“The first thing to do is to hear both sides (of the story). I have already spoken to officials of the federation (NFF) and they provided some very tangible reasons for the steps they took.
“However, when Enyeama made that statement, he was and is still the captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
“You cannot forbid the captain from speaking out; it becomes autocratic if you do that and I would not want to do that as a coach.
“But at the same time, we can also caution him and say ‘we don’t want such kinds of utterances because it may bring about a negative effect on the team’.
“I, however, think that he may have spoken out because of what he had already discussed with his teammates.
“Maybe he spoke out on behalf of his teammates and I don’t think we should stop someone from speaking out when he’s the
captain.
“However, we cannot have all the players speaking out because that would be tantamount to chaos.
“I will speak to the captain and we will look at the way forward because I still view him as one of the best goalkeepers we have,” Oliseh exclusively told SuperSport TV.
Oliseh also moved to clarify the statements he made regarding the conditions for selection of players into the national team.
The former Juventus midfielder had stated during his first press conference that only players who play for clubs in the top flight of the respective leagues their sides compete in, would get a look in the national team.
“We are trying to have our players to play at a certain standard.
“You can polish players at the national team but you cannot make them. That is what the clubs can do for (the national team).
“To save us time, it is easier to get players who are playing in the first division.
“These players are used to playing at a certain tempo and with certain demands (required of them).
“That would help us get to a certain standard.
“I was also clear about a certain exception; if we have players coming through the lower ranks, like the U20s and the U21s, that rule does not apply to them.
“This is because I know that such players may not be the finished product but will have the potential,” he said.
