The former Aston Villa player and football administrator, John Fashanu yesterday descended heavily on Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh for sacking goalkeeper and captain of the team, Vincent Enyeama.
Fashanu in a discussion with Daily Sun argued that: “I don’t want to sound like taking sides, but it is just improper for a greenhorn coach to sack a seasoned captain of a team on flimsy excuse of reporting late to camp or having disagreement with him.”
He described the action by Oliseh against Enyeama as a demonstration of poor leadership and hasty. He noted that: “I can’t understand the reason a coach who just resumed would sack the captain of his squad that way because a coach that wants to succeed should not be the one destabilizing his own team, and it is just unthinkable that you would sack a key player a day before a crucial match. That didn’t sound mature enough.”
Fashanu explained that in teams, there are players that don’t agree and never friendly with each other. “In my playing career, I knew of players that never spoke to each other in training and in the match. Sometimes, for six months they don’t stop to say hi to each other, but immediately they cross the line into the pitch, they drop all those and blend as a team.
“It also happens between a coach and some players, but so far as the player is what you need to win your matches, you cope with him, not as a friend, but professionally as one that makes your work succeed.”
He noted that although in words it is often said that all players should be treated equally by the coach, in practical terms, that is not possible. A player like Enyeama who has been there and has been the backbone of the Eagles must not be treated with disdain the way Oliseh did.
“For instance Enyeama wanted to opt out of the team in retirement like Oliseh said, the best way to handle his case and take the captainship from his is not the degrading approach. If Enyeama is treated that way as a senior player, then Oliseh is sending wrong signals to the younger ones that look up to Enyeama.
“Even if Enyeama should be dropped as the captain, with the years he has served the nation, Oliseh would have demonstrated leadership to ask him, for the sake of breeding a cohesive squad, to come to the teammates and name his successor even after he and Oliseh must have on their own agreed to that. To strip him of the badge and give it to another was disrespectful and a way of telling him he doesn’t matter or that leadership in the team is not respected.”
In the same vein, Chairman Media Sub-committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Hon Suleiman Yahaya Kwande, has declared that Super Eagles first choice keeper and captain, Vincent Enyeama, deserves to be treated with respect by the team’s new gaffer, Sunday Oliseh.
Fielding questions from journalist after the Falconets trashed their visiting DR Congo counterpart in Abuja, the member House of Representatives Committee on Sports maintained that the Lille goalkeeper deserves to be given a heroic and glorious sent forth if he must retire from the team.
Asked if he is worried about the crisis rocking the team, he responded: “I am worried just like every other patriotic Nigerian over what is happening in the Super Eagles but the good thing is that we are trying to see how we can tackle it. It will be as soon as possible God’s willing.”
“The way forward is that the president and his two vices are in Belgium to see how they can tackle the situation. If you ask me, I would say that Vincent deserves better treatment. I don’t have full details of what transpired in Belgium between him and Oliseh, I have read some sketches of what happened but we should not forget Vincent is a player who has served Nigeria very and by my own consideration, he deserves better treatment than this. (Daily Sun)