Oliseh lacked experience in Enyeama’s case –Onigbinde

Former Nigeria coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, insists Sunday
Oliseh’s lack of managerial experience as Super Eagles coach
resulted in the face off the manager had with erstwhile team
captain Vincent Enyeama on Tuesday in Belgium.

Oliseh had replaced the Lille goalkeeper with Ahmed Musa as
captain on Tuesday following Enyeama’s late arrival for
camping in Belgium ahead of the friendlies against DR Congo
and Cameroon.

Enyeama had missed the Monday’s deadline after attending his
mother’s funeral on Saturday in his home town.

Onigbinde commended Oliseh for his decision but warned that
his poor managerial skill could tear the team apart.

“I commend Sunday Oliseh for the step he has taken. Such acts
of indiscipline did not just start in the team. A recent example
was Enyeama’s comments on the choice of Kaduna for the
Super Eagles match against Chad. It was not his duty to decide
which venue the team should play, that’s for the Nigeria Football
Federation,” the former CAF instructor said.

“By that time, I condemned Enyeama’s position. We cannot
allow one or two players to hold the country to ransom. If
Enyeama was my son, I would have spanked him seriously for
the many wrongs he has done. They’ve pampered him too
much.”

Onigbinde said Oliseh’s decision to embarrass Enyeama before
his teammates might breed intimidation and fear in the team.

“Oliseh lacked experience in managing the situation. When he
was going to be employed by the NFF, I called people’s attention
to his lack of experience. His handling of the situation shows he
lacks the experience to manage the players,” Onigbinde said.

“He has done the right thing, but in a wrong way; he will get a
wrong result. If I was Oliseh, I would have overlooked
Enyeama’s behaviour at the moment and go on to execute my
plans for the coming games. But after the games, I would
simply not invite him for subsequent games. Oliseh doesn’t need
to quarrel with players.

“Football is a team game; Enyeama might have his loyalists in
the team and they might be sympathetic with their captain.

Oliseh is not certain to get the best out of all the players
following his manner of handling the matter. The matter is
capable of breaking the team into two.
“It is not enough for you to know what to say, it is vital you
know where to say it, why to say it, when to say it, how to say it
and to whom you say it.

“An indication of Oliseh’s inexperience happened when he was
preparing the team for the Tanzania game. Three days before
the game, it was reported that some of the players were
complaining of the strenuous training he gave them. You don’t
give strenuous workout to players hours before a game; it will
cause fatigue. I guess he was trying to impress his employers
but that contributed to the poor performance of the players.

“I did not support the NFF’s choice of Oliseh because of his lack
of experience, but once he has been employed, I have to accept
it and pray that he succeeds.”