I don’t have a team yet – Eaglets coach

  Thank you very much. One thing I want you to appreciate in this situation is I am neither the father nor mother of any of these players. It is indeed a surprise that some of the players who appeared to be within the stipulated age still failed the MRI test. It is therefore very […]

 

Thank you very much. One thing I want you to appreciate in this situation is I am neither the father nor mother of any of these players. It is indeed a surprise that some of the players who appeared to be within the stipulated age still failed the MRI test. It is therefore very difficult to use appearance to determine ones age. So I wouldn’t tell you now that this is my player and this is not my player. It is only when the MRI confirms the players that I would be sure of what I have otherwise I rely solely on their school and birth certificates.

Are you therefore saying that at the moment, you don’t have a team in place for the championship which is less than two months away?

That is exactly what I am saying. I am trying to re-adjust. Ever since the issue of MRI came on, I have been trying to re-adjust. But my adjustment will be confirmed only when the players are tested again. I only have to wish that Nigerians give us the support that we require. You know quite well that situations like this should be everybody’s problem. It is true that in Nigeria, anything that happens to a team is blamed on the coach. I will only do my job as a coach and whatever comes out of it, I will be held responsible. Everybody should look at this problem as a national issue and come up with useful advices. You know Nigerians, moments after the outcome of the MRI test, we had more than hundred players back in camp. In spite of this, we still try to maintain our focus in training and selection of players. Instead of baseless criticisms, Nigerians should come to our aid with useful criticisms and advices. Even if you have a problem with somebody, that does not mean you should destabilize the system. This is a national team. It is not Obuh’s team. It is a team that belongs to the whole country and the whole nation must come together to salvage the team.

But are you fully in support of the new development as it has to do with MRI test to determine the eligibility of players for the U-17 championship?

Absolutely. I am so much interested in what is happening because it has always been my dream. It has been my dream that anytime I find myself in the cadet national team, I should be able to produce the players that would form the bulk of the team that would play in the U-20. If you watch the national teams of some of the European countries, you will discover that they started together. This is what we are looking forward to in Nigeria. During my interview, I stated this as one of my plans for the team. I have been in the local league and if you watch most of the team’s I have handled, you will discover that at every point in time, I have so many young players. I always believe that instead of recycling, we need to replace those players that have aged. It may interest you to know that even now, most people see my team as the youngest U-17 so far. We have to be honest with ourselves so that we would be able to produce players who would play for U-20, U-23 and also put in at least five or more years in the senior national team. As we want to do it now, we must be able to do it in a way that it has to be appreciated. It is a welcome development but it should not be viewed in a negative way as if when done, it is going to be on one person’s head.

It appears as if none of the players assembled by your predecessors is in the present squad.  Are you having entirely new players?

That’s how it is. And that was the complaint I made. I was expecting to see more of the Dike boys and Nwosu boys. That would have made the job easy but that did not happen. Be it as it may, even if they had stayed, they would have failed the MRI test.

It is said the FIFA U-17 tournament is a developmental programme and victory should not be a thing of priority. As coach saddled with the responsibility of defending the trophy won in 2007, do you subscribe to this school of thought?

Well, I am a coach and I wouldn’t want a situation whereby I would get myself defeated even before I go for the competition. As far as I am concerned, I am looking forward for a good outing. I am working very hard for that. How I will accept whatever God will give me out of the championship. Despite the short comings, we shall do our best.

Considering the present pressure, do you have any regret accepting this present assignment?

I will never regret. I don’t take a job and later regret it. I faced the situation with the best of my ability and see what comes out of it. If I regret, I will be making a very big mistake. Despite the fact that so many people called me and asked me why I wanted to come and take this job, that I would be rubbished, I said if the God who created me does not rubbish me, nobody who is a human being will rubbish me. Don’t forget that it is this kind of situation that can also make a coach. If I am looking at the negative aspects, I should also be looking at the positive side. Something positive can come out of this present situation and John Obuh’s name will explode. So I don’t have any reason to regret my decision to accept this job. I am looking forward to a very successful championship. I have never taken a simple job. Each job I have accepted has been very challenging but I always come out unruffled. So I just believe that God in his infinite mercy will still help me to come out of this very one.

How much support are you receiving from your immediate constituency that is the coaches in Nigeria?

Some of them have been sending players to me. They also base their recommendation on information given to them. However, when such players come, you find out that he is also failing the test. They also judge the players based on their physical appearance. There was a boy in our team who failed the test and we were all surprised. He is about the youngest that we have seen. So these coaches send players based on what the players have told them. The records are not clear.

Finally, do you have quality players who after ‘surviving’ the MRI test would successfully defend the trophy?

Sure we do but the issue is that even the players are now playing with a lot of fear because they don’t know what would happen. Nobody knows what would happen. It is only when somebody is sure in all ways that he can give his best. In spite of all these, they are trying their best.