Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has fired shots at Mikel Obi after the former Chelsea star openly questioned his coaching ability on his podcast, Soccernet.ng reports.
Sunday Oliseh was appointed as Super Eagles coach in July 2015, and he spent eight months on the job. However, his time as Nigeria’s coach was marred with a lot of controversies.
In the first months of Oliseh’s appointment, legendary Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama retired after an altercation with him. And there were subtle talks that some of the players were uncomfortable with the former Juventus man as coach.
Recently, former Super Eagles captain, Mikel, who was one of the senior players on the team at the time gave his opinion on Oliseh’s capacity as coach. And he stated stated that Oliseh was a great individual, but he knew nothing about coaching.
In a recent interview, Oliseh reacted to Mikel’s comments. The former Nigeria coach insists that he holds no grudge against Mikel, but the former Chelsea man should seek help and stop lying.
“I think the kid(Mikel) needs help to be honest. There’s something I’ve not really shown much, I won the best coach for the first period of the Jupiler league, which is in the Dutch league. That was not voted by the press, that was voted by the players and the coaches of the league,” Oliseh told Elegbete TV.
“I’m the only, and the first coloured man from Sub-Saharan Africa to ever win this title with with a club like Fortuna Sittard, who had very average players were able to qualify from the second division from last position to the first division, where they still are now.
“I don’t need to justify myself being a good coach or anything to the kid. I call him (Mikel) a kid because my son is 27 years old.
“When he made this statement, I heard about it, but I couldn’t go on television and start arguing with someone like him. It’s degrading at a coach, you don’t go into the media and start arguing with your player.
“But I would like to help the boy because I think he needs some help. You cannot become a legend with your mouth.
“You cannot achieve what you were not able to achieve on the pitch outside the pitch by talking on a podcast.
Oliseh also weighed in on Mikel’s comments about his demanding family members, who were always asking for money. The Super Eagles legend feels it was an embarrassing move, and Mikel should have kept it to himself.
“What shocked me with Mikel Obi was that never in the history of Nigeria or African football has one player ever gone on to a foreign podcast and totally humiliate his family by calling them beggars, problems, and everything.
“How can you do this to your family. In Africa, it is our pride when you earn something or you help your family. In fact, it is your duty.
“Dosu Joseph is one of my best friends, he’s like a brother to me. Before Obi made it in football, Dosu housed Mikel in his house and fed him. I bet people don’t know this. Dosu is still doing well, albeit handicapped because of an accident.
“Despite the help that Dosu gave Mikel, has he ever gone to say hello? With all the millions he has made, help the poor guy(Dosu).
“I heard he said something about me treating Elderson Echiejile wrong, but that is misinformation he has given to Nigerians. But that is wrong Echiejile’s uncle is my good friend. I even advised Echiejile when he had issues with his coach at Monaco.
“The problem I had with Mikel was that I didn’t find him good enough to play that position when I coached him.
“I felt we had a home-based player that was best. And when we played a World Cup qualifier against Swaziland, because Mikel had played badly in the first leg three days earlier, when we came back, I played Paul Onobi in his place. Paul was eventually voted as the best player by the opposition coach.
Oliseh also added that Mikel is currently seeking attention because he is just coming to terms with the changes in life after retiring from football.
“I have no grudge against Mikel, I just feel that he needs help. If he wants, he can call me, I will give him advice.
“When people stop football, most players are lost, they don’t know what to do. During their days, some of them were so arrogant that they don’t talk to people. But after retiring, they realize that they need people after all. They have to try to get back into the system. I know that is what Mikel is going through now, but there are ways to do it.
“One of the first things to do is to educate and work on yourself. For example, we saw the Ivory Coast player that went to the university to get a degree. If he wants to do podcasting, it’s good, but its not by attacking people and insulting, and demolishing people.
“I heard him make comments about Kanu not being the most decorated Super Eagles player, but that is not what sells podcasts is what you have in your brain. So Mikel should educate himself, fill it with things, and then you can share.”
