Tag: Siasia

The federal government through the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with English Premier League club, West Ham United and Nicosia University, Cyprus in the bid to develop grassroots sport and talent hunt in the country.

This, the interim coach of the Super Eagles Samson Siasia has described has a welcome development that will in a long way boost interest in the round leather game and churn out good talents that are waiting for discoveries.

The partnership deal, which was concluded with the signing of the MoU in Abuja was witnessed by Nigerian sport stakeholder forum which has in attendance the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), League Management Company (LMC) led by Chairman Shehu Dikko and notable Nigerian coaches, led by Super Eagles’ interim coach, Samson Siasia and renowned Nigerian league coaches.

“The Youth Sports Federation is thinking in the right direction as I strongly believe that there abound talents that are waiting for discoveries and with this partnership with the EPL club much will be achieved in a short effort,” said Siasia.

The delegation from West Ham United FC at the stakeholders forum tagged “Talent Identification and Management Workshop” was led by, Senior Development Officer, Michael Ward; a coach with the club, Adam Munn; as well as the vice-president of Nicosia University, Dr Pavlos Pavlou.

According to the foreign partners, myriad of opportunities which will be made available by the collaboration will benefit the nation’s sports even at the tertiary institutions saying local and school leagues will be revisited toward achieving a central goal for the country.

The Coaches in attendance were led by the F.C.T Abuja Chapter Chairman of the Nigerian Coaches Association, Mr Godwin Bamigboye, and other coaches from different parts of the country. The YSFON National Coach, Mr Abdúlgafar Agboola of the YSFON/Navy Football Academy in Oron, Cross Rivers State was also in attendance with a retinue of coaches, as well as the YSFON Organising Secretary, Mallam Abdùlrazaq .

Nigeria caretaker coach, Samson Siasia has said there are only a handful of black coaches working in Europe because the clubs there do not believe in them.

Siasia has been reappointed Nigeria coach in an interim capacity in the wake of the shock resignation of Sunday Oliseh recently.

He first coached Nigeria’s Super Eagles in 2010, before he was fired the following year after he failed to qualify the country to the 2012 AFCON in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Before getting his coaching badges in the United States of America and Europe, he played for French club, Nantes as well as Lokeren in Belgium. He also featured at the 1994 World Cup in the USA when Nigeria made a long-awaited debut.

Siasia has now said European clubs are guilty of not giving black coaches a chance.

“I want to believe that the reason that there are not many black coaches working in Europe is because the European clubs hardly give us a chance and they do not believe in us,” said the coach, who was severally linked with jobs abroad.

“Many of us have not only played at the highest level in Europe, but have excelled, but even when we get our coaching badges there, these clubs still don’t give us the break we need to show what we can do outside the pitch.

“We have many ex-African players with French nationality, but I can only recall (Claude) Makalele who was at Bastia and that was it. Where is John Barnes with all he achieved at Liverpool and even though he grew up in England and played for that country? He was not given much of a chance there as a coach.

“Where is another black coach, Chris Houghton? Where is he now? Many of us have good records as players and then coaches, but because the European clubs do not believe in us, we end up having to do something else. And even where they give us a chance, they are quick to dispense with us.

“Something is really not right, but I don’t want to put any name to it.”

Nigeria’s interim coach, Samson Siasia has given up his bid to lure goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike back from international retirement.

Both players quit the Super Eagles last October after falling out with former coach Sunday Oliseh.

When Oliseh resigned on Friday, Siasia asked the duo to reconsider but they have rejected the idea of a return.

“You can’t force them to rescind their decision and we have to respect that,” Siasia told BBC Sport.

“I felt they left under a cloudy circumstance. It was only an opportunity for them to reconsider their stance but it appears they’ve both decided to stick by their retirement.

“Nigeria is blessed with talented footballers and we need to work with those players. We have to live away from the past and focus on a promising future.”

 Enyeama retired from international football in October last year when the captaincy was taken away from him by Oliseh.

“I don’t want to talk about this issue again. I think my earlier decision [to retire] stands,” Enyeama told Lagos-based radio station Brila FM.

Striker Emenike followed Enyeama’s lead and quit the Super Eagles a few days later.

Siasia and his assistants Salisu Yusuf and Emmanuel Amunike are expected to finalise and name the country’s squad for the game against the seven-time African champions this week.

Siasia refuses to confirm whether China-based Obafemi Martins, and premier league duo of  Victor Moses and John Mikel Obi still have a Super Eagles future.

“We can’t rule out anyone at the moment. The games against Egypt are crucial  and we are keeping our focus. We need the support of everyone to succeed.

“This is a big task for us and we want to give our best like those players who are prepared to give 120 per cent on the field for their country.”