Enyeama: Another look at Oliseh’s managerial skills

Certainly the dust raised by the sudden retirement of Super
Eagles first choice goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama from
Nigerian senior national team will linger for a while.
Already many commentators have been discussing the issue
which took place in far away Belgium during the double
header international friendlies against Congo and Cameroon.
There were conflicting accounts of what led to the altercation
but before going into their merits and demerits, it is
instructive to state that the whole saga was avoidable as it is
regrettable.
One account is that Oliseh got angry with Enyeama for
reporting to camp on Tuesday instead of the Monday
deadline while another said it was because of the captainship
which was taken away from the goalkeeper and handed over
to CSKA Moscow striker, Ahmed Musa that sparked off the
saga.
However it must be stated that it takes an extra ability to
manage human beings especially young footballers who are
rich and also exposed.
What has happened may have forced some analysts to begin
to take a second look at the managerial skills of Coach
Sunday Oliseh. This is because a coach is supposed to know
when to convey certain messages to his players and when
not to.
Looking at the circumstances that led to Enyeama’s late
arrival to camp, one would have expected Oliseh to have
shown maturity by respecting the fact that the former
Enyimba International of Aba goalkeeper just buried his
mother the previous Saturday.
In my opinion, I believe that for Enyeama to have arrived
Belgium on Tuesday demonstrates enough patriotism
because it means that after the usual outing service on
Sunday, he must have left Uyo on Monday to board a flight to
Belgium.
Secondly, we must not forget that as Africans we pay
enough respect to the dead. I am not interested whether or
not Oliseh has the right to appoint his captain but doing that
immediately after Enyeama buried his mother was ill-timed;
which means he ought to have acted on the side of caution.
Again even if he had wanted to change his captain, Oliseh
should have informed Enyeama before hand of his intention
of changing him as the team captain because respect they
say begets respect.
In as much as we all agree that Enyeama has the record of
having issues with past Super Eagles coaches like Samson
Siasia and Stephen Keshi, the manner Oliseh handled the
issue is now earning him some sympathy.
Again considering the precarious situation of the Super
Eagles in the qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
(AFCON), Oliseh should be careful on how he courts trouble
for himself and the national team.
A lot of commentators have queried the wisdom behind
handing the captainship of the team to Ahmed Musa instead
of Chelsea of England midfielder, Mikel Obi who used to be
Vincent Enyeama’s assistant. That action inadvertently
suggests that the likes of Mikel and other senior players are
free to dump the team if they can’t subject themselves to
Musa’s leadership.
I don’t want to believe that Oliseh settled for Musa because
he does not want any player who is outspoken like Obi. Well
there is an adage in my village which says that a head-
hunter is never comfortable when another person goes
behind him with a machete.
We still remember how Oliseh gave the authorities sleepless
nights during his playing days, so it is a bit confusing why he
now wants somebody who is very gentle as against
somebody as outspoken as himself.
His bungling of the Enyeama saga must have put the NFF on
the edge hence the speed at which the federation waded into
the matter which resulted in the meeting where Enyeama
said for him to rescind his decision to retire, he must have to
talk to his wife and family.
Of course the NFF in this case has its hands tied because
having just engaged Oliseh, they must be seen to be giving
him all the support he requires. Therefore, they had no other
option than to seem to have sided the coach on his decision.
But beyond the fact that Enyeama has been talking of his
possible retirement from the national team, I believe that
what the goalkeeper was hinting is that Nigeria should begin
to groom other young goalkeepers that can take over from
him, to me that does not mean that he must be so discarded
at the slightest excuse.
If the coach knew he could as well do without Enyeama, then
there was no need inviting him in the first place. In my
opinion the rebuilding of the national team should not
necessarily begin with the nomination of a new team captain
especially where the so called old players are still very
relevant.
Finally, since nothing lasts forever and the fact that once
confidence is compromised, it will be difficult to build it
again. What I will suggest therefore is that Enyeama should
go ahead and retire from the national team because if he
returns, any day he has a bad day and the team loses a
game, many people will say he wanted to sabotage the
coach.
Therefore, it is my submission and prayer that anything that
will jeopardise the quest of the country to qualify for the 2017
African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon must be avoided
because Nigerians will not entertain any excuse if the
unexpected happens.