Oliseh: I am Not in Eagles to Sell Players
Sunday Oliseh insisted yesterday that he was not going to mess himself up getting involved in players transfer to foreign clubs as has been the practice with some past handlers of the senior Nigerian team Speaking
New Super Eagles Head Coach, Sunday Oliseh, insisted yesterday that he was not going to mess himself up getting involved in players transfer to foreign clubs as has been the practice with some past handlers of the senior Nigerian team
Speaking in Lagos yesterday shortly before heading to the Nigerian Stock Exchange to be introduced to Corporate Nigeria, the former Super Eagles captain said such practice was demeaning to his position and person.
Oliseh 40, who is a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group gave an analysis of how cheap such behaviour is: “If a player is sold for instance for $1million, his manager gets 7 per cent of that sum or even 10 per cent that is, if he negotiates very well. Ten per cent of that money is $100,000. If it is 7 per cent, that translates to $70,000. The manager will probably give me (as facilitator) 10 per cent of his earning which is $7,000.
“What this analysis translates to is that for helping the manager to sell the player all that I am worth for compromising the country’s football is $7,000. I won’t come down so low to get involved in this kind of mess,” stressed the Eagles supremo.
He said any coach involved in such unholy practice weigh little in the reckoning of players.
“Let me be very blunt, if I make Nigeria play well and win a major tournament and for instance I ask the NFF 1ST Vice-president, Seyi Akinwunmi, that I want to visit the Lagos State governor, I believe the governor will not give me $7,000. I am going to get more than that, genuinely,” reasoned Oliseh whose pile driver goal against Andoni Zubizzaretta of Spain at France ’98 World Cup remains fresh in the minds of fans.
Oliseh however admitted that he loves money when earned genuinely.
“Of course, I need money. I have bills to pick up for my immediate family, (he has an 18-old child), my brothers and sisters, cousins and friends who are looking up to me for support. They have needs for school fees and other bills to pay. I am not saying I don’t need money but certainly not through selling of my players.”
He however denied that his brother, Churchill, was a FIFA football agent.
“My brother is not a FIFA football agent. He is a club owner of over two decades. As a lawyer, he knows the implication of being a FIFA agent. If he goes into that and the matter gets to FIFA, he will be banned.
“I work in FIFA and the committee I represent handles such matters. He is sitting here today because he is my lawyer and does all my legal jobs in Nigeria. I also have another in Europe who handles my affairs over there,” revealed Oliseh.
On the current state of the Super Eagles, Oliseh did not mince words in saying that he is starting his search for players from ground zero.
“I am starting from the scratch. Look, in the past one month, I have been going round Europe looking at Nigerian players. I have been to England, Germany, Spain and Belgium checking out Nigerian players. I have also seen the ones we have here at home. They are not of the same quality of our generation.
“The late Rashidi Yekini used to tell me during our days at the Eagles to just put a straight pass to him once he is in the clear. Our general understanding back then was that once I have the ball he is ready to be on the go (on the offensive against the opposing team). That came from the fact that we played together for so long and understand each other so well.
“It was the same with Austin Jay Jay Okocha. By the time he starts to dribble defenders, we knew he is likely to lose possession of the ball so somebody must get closer to him. That was the understanding in the team back then,” recalled Oliseh of the Eagles class of ’94 regarded as Nigeria’s best ever senior national team.
Oliseh whose illustrious career took him to Italy, Holland, Germany and Belgium before going into private practice as coaches’ trainer, further reveals the enormity of the task he is going to face at the senior national team.
“I don’t have a bench to work right now. In the past one year, Nigeria has used 62 players in our 10 or 11 matches .I don’t have those I can say these are the players to form the core of my team. If I have say six of such players, I can then say these are the core of my team and start to build on it.”
Asked if he was going to quit the job should he fail to deliver as expected by Nigerians, he said given the level the country’s football has sunk over the years, it was not going to be fair for anyone to expect him to perform magic in just one or two years.
“Given the situation of having to start from the scratch as I have just mentioned, I don’t think it makes sense for me to now say that if I lose against a country, I am going to resign my appointment. I don’t think (Pep) Guardiola or (Jose) Mourinho would do that (resign).
“My mandate is clear and I understand that includes starting all over again from the scratch and that will take time. I remember what my parents told me when I informed them that the NFF was offering me the Super Eagles job. My mother said: ‘Na fire my son. If the job easy,
everybody for dey do am (translate to mean that he was accepting a very difficult job.) Now that you have accepted it, give it your best shot. ’That message rings in my head every time I remember the task ahead of me,” he noted.
Oliseh however pleaded with Nigerians, most especially the sporting media, to give all the needed support and patience for him to succeed on the job
“I cannot get the desired results if I keep getting antagonistic views from the media and Nigerians. I will accept criticism if directed at improving my job. If we play badly yet won and I am asked why the poor play. I can reply such question by saying for instance that: ‘Yes we played badly yet won. I didn’t want my players to get injured on the poor pitch the game was played so I asked them to play cautiously,” concludes the Eagles coach who gave a hint of his policy direction with the kind of players he invited to camp yesterday.