NFF warned me: Mikel, Enyeama and Emenike gave Keshi problems — Sunday Oliseh

Ex-Super Eagles gaffer Sunday Oliseh explained how his relationship with key players on the national team broke down during his stint as head coach.

Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has revealed that he was tasked with putting out fires immediately after taking on the role by the NFF, as three senior players were causing problems.

Oliseh had a storied career for the Nigerian national team, and upon retirement and going into coaching, he was given the chance to commandeer the Super Eagles. 

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However, his 14-game stint in charge was far from stellar. Although he only suffered two defeats in charge, his reign witnessed a breakdown in relationships with key players. Eight years after leaving the role, Oliseh has come out in his own defence, narrating the fissures from his point of view. 

What Oliseh said 

Speaking in an interview with ELEGBETE TV, Oliseh claimed to have inherited problems concerning key players in the squad from his predecessor, Stephen Keshi. 

Oliseh said the NFF warned him upon handing him the job that three players: John Mikel Obi, Emmanuel Emenike and Vincent Enyeama were causing trouble, and he was advised by the federation to axe them.

“When I was signed to coach the Super Eagles, they told me that they had not qualified because they were having problems with certain players,” Oliseh told Matthew Edafe. “These players also had problems with Keshi, and that's why Nigeria did not qualify [for AFCON 2015].”

The 49-year-old offered to hand the players a clean slate instead, according to him, moving to speak to them before concluding. He said he found Emenike to be amenable; however, neither Mikel on Enyeama were compliant. 

“Now what I told them was, ‘You know I myself as a former captain, I know NFF is not easy,’ so I told them to let me talk to the players. Let me talk to them. Let me try to get them on board. Let me share my philosophy with them and let's see how it goes. 

“When this happened, what I did was call the captain of the team, which was Enyeama. I took my own car and drove almost 200 km to his players… with my assistant coach. Took him out to lunch, paid for it, watched him train in the morning, spoke to his coach, spent a whole day with my captain and spoke to him and gave him the philosophy of how it was going to be.  

“Now the three players the NFF had problems with, they told me it was Enyeama, John Obi Mikel and Emmanuel Emenike. 

“To start with, the biggest regret as Super Eagles coach was when Emenike called me and said ‘I am retiring as a national team player.’”

“Working with Emenike was one of the best things I had as a Super Eagles coach. He was a great guy. He was a nice guy. And when I saw what some media people had written about this boy, I was shocked because I could speak with Emenike, he was willing, but he felt he could not take it anymore. He said, ‘Coach no, I have to stop.’”

“That is why I am so happy each time I see Emenike doing well…  it was totally opposite of what some people at the NFF had told me about him.”

Mikel and Enyeama defiant 

Continuing the conversation, Oliseh said, “ On the other hand, I sent a message to Mikel, he never answered my call; he never called me back. He never did anything. He totally ignored and played a super diva.”

“I took my car, got onto a train with my assistant, drove to London to see John Obi Mikel and to see Moses. At the time, they were both playing at Chelsea. Gave them appointment at the hotel. 

“Two teammates of the club, Moses came to the meeting; we had a drink and we spoke. The boy told me some private things I won't share about why he was no longer too interested in the Super Eagles and I tried to change his mind. 

“The other one refused to come; what could I do? So the boy was already causing problems.

“I also had problems with Enyeama. Just before the game against Tanzania. We were playing the game on Friday, everybody came into camp. On Wednesday, the man was still not there, only to phone us on Wednesday evening that he wanted to bury his mother, who died three months ago.”

“We had to rush in and go into that game; we were lucky we got a draw and I had already invited Karl Ikeme. Well, the story is history now. Ikeme was unbelievably good, so we were able to survive. 

Oliseh insisted that to make it as a coach, one must have personality, stating that his principles and strong persona made him difficult to digest for the stars of the team, whom he accused of lacking commitment.

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