Why Sunday Oliseh Has Come To Stay.

It has been drama and comedy at the Glass House (Nigeria Football Federation Headquarters) for some months now. This is due to the internal wrangling and conflict that existed between then Super Eagles Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi and the NFF led by Chairman Amaju Pinnick. While I will resist the temptation to get involved in their crises and stating who maybe wrong or right, I will like to point out certain bitter facts in Nigerian football today.

Stephen Keshi took over the Super Eagles job from Samson Siasia in 2011, at a time Nigeria could not even qualify for the Nations Cup Mundial in  Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in 2012 which Zambia later won. At that point,  the performance of the Super Eagles was abysmal to say the least, losing in Abuja to Guinea in a match that the Super Eagles just needed a draw to qualify. Keshi came in and quickly turned the team around, introducing several new faces who will go on to star in the 2013 South Africa Nations Cup triumph ( Godfrey Oboabona, Kenneth Omeruo, Sunday Mbah and Juwon Oshaniwa). This became the Super Eagles first major trophy since the 1994 Nations Cup trophy in Tunisia under Dutchman Clems Westerhof (19 years wait). Keshi did not stop there, as he qualified the team for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and went on to lead them to the round of 16 before losing out by a lone goal to the French national team.

Things went downhill for Keshi and the Super Eagles after the tournament as it became clear, the team was heading for the 'Woods' if Keshi continued to call the shots. It was clear Keshi had done his part and taken the team to a certain level he could no longer sustain. The team really needed a fresh start from another individual. Empirical evidence  supported this theory. This could be seen  from the two games with Congo which the Super Eagles were throughly beaten at Home and South Africa which they lost away making it obvious that change was a necessity (it became the first time the Bafana Bafana had beaten the Super Eagles in history). The outcome was that they Super Eagles in years for the second time failed to qualify for the Nations Cup and unlike his predecessor (Siasia), Kechi was pardoned by the authorities and given a second chance maybe due to his impressive record with the team. However, this did not last long as Kechi was finally sacked last month when it was leaked he applied for the vacant Ivorian job while on the job in Nigeria, which he still denies till date.

Then came the appointment of ex Captain Sunday Oliseh, and it is a 'General Belief 'that he will make up for his lack of  experience with his tactical and technical innovations, given that Oliseh is a FIFA Technical Committee Member and also a Sports Consultant. Unlike most African coaches, Oliseh has managed In Europe (Belgian lower league side Vervietois ,2008-2009) and has the knowledge and exposure that Nigerian football needs at this moment in time . Oliseh also played for top European teams Ajax, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Genk at the peak of his career.

Experience is vital in football management but it's not a guarantee to success as empirical evidence abound of various successful rookie coaches at one time or the other (Frank Rjikaard, Holland and Euro 2000), Jose Mourinho (Benfica) , Andre Villas Boas (FC Porto), Roberto Di Matteo (MK Dons) and Pep Guardiola (Barcelona) to mention but a few.

The good news is that in Oliseh, Nigeria has a coach with a lot of foreign experience and technical savvy that most local coaches don't  posses to be augmented with a patriotic passion and determination  also which most foreign coaches won't posses due to their different country of origin. In Oliseh, the Super Eagles have an all round coach and an all in one. Another fact is that Oliseh is still hungry and has a point to prove to doubters which will in turn rob off on the team as a whole.

Lots of kudos should be given to the NFF led by Amaju Pinnick for taking the positive gamble in sacking Keshi and appointing Sunday Oliseh as the new coach, unlike other NFF administrations that played safe and recycled certain coaches who failed us. Nigerians pray Sunday  Oliseh delivers and takes us to the promised land of football.