I regret not having listened to the NFF because when I took over the job, the first thing the NFF told me was to stop inviting three of them (Mikel, Enyeama and Emenike)
Editor
Former Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has said that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) warned him against inviting John Mikel Obi, Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike to the national team when he took charge. He described the trio as players who were causing problems for the federation.
Oliseh, speaking on The Play Zone Podcast, however, said he regretted not heeding the warning, recalling his efforts to engage the players individually and resolve issues surrounding their involvement with the national team.
“I regret not having listened to the NFF because when I took over the job, the first thing NFF told me was to stop inviting three of them (Mikel, Enyeama and Emenike) because they were chaotic to the NFF,” he said.
Oliseh recalled travelling from Belgium to France to meet Enyeama, who was playing for Lille at the time, and said he discussed matters with the former Super Eagles captain and clarified them with him.
He said he also travelled to London at his own expense to meet Mikel and Victor Moses, who were both playing in England at the time, but was disappointed when Mikel failed to attend the scheduled meeting.
“I did the same thing for Obi Mikel. With my own money, not the NFF money, I went to the UK, sent a message to the clubs, sent a message to him (Mikel), sent a message not only to him but also to Victor Moses, gave them an appointment at a bar that was accessible in the heart of London, with my assistant coach, for two of them to come and have a meeting.
“Now, of the two of them, who did not come to the meeting? Obi Mikel did not come to the meeting. Victor Moses came. Obi Mikel did not even respond to the WhatsApp message,” he said.
The former midfielder suggested Mikel might have thought he was bigger than the national team coach because he played for a major club.
“Maybe because he’ll say, ‘I play for this big club now,’ but you see, that’s why they say sometimes Sunday (Oliseh) is direct. Where did you play that I did not play? What did you play that I did not play?
“Even though the coach was not a footballer or not as big as you, the fact that they’ve given him that title ‘national team coach ‘ means you have to respect the position he’s holding,” Oliseh added.
He described Mikel’s failure to attend the meeting as one of the biggest insults he had experienced but said he did not take the incident personally.
According to Oliseh, Moses used the meeting to explain the issues troubling him about the national team, including some experiences Oliseh said he could relate to.
Oliseh also spoke positively about Emenike, saying his experience working with the former striker contradicted what he had initially been told about him.
He described Emenike as a gentleman and a respectful player, adding that he was among the greatest footballers he worked with and also credited Emenike’s influence as an important factor in Nigeria’s triumph at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
Photo: Oliseh and Mikel Obi.
