Imenger warns Siasia against drastic changes

The newly appointed coach of the Super Eagles has not hidden his intention to build a new team that would be attacking minded just as he has continued to hammer on the need to inject new players into the team. Speaking to Trustsports yesterday, Imenger said he supports the idea of injecting new players into […]

The newly appointed coach of the Super Eagles has not hidden his intention to build a new team that would be attacking minded just as he has continued to hammer on the need to inject new players into the team.

Speaking to Trustsports yesterday, Imenger said he supports the idea of injecting new players into the team but cautioned Siasia against throwing away some of the old Eagles who are still relevant and whose experience would be needed by in-coming players.

He said Siasia will be doing himself a lot of good if he listens to wise counsel from Nigerian football fans but he must not do things to please everyone.

He said some of the advices he is going to get may be based on sentiments and if he abandons professionalism to please people, he might be courting failure.

Imenger who was a household name in his days with BCC Lions, El-kanemi  Warriors and Katsina United before travelling abroad reiterated that  Siasia must be professional in his decisions as anything done on sentiments is bound to fail.

The former Lobi Stars coach maintained that talents abound in the Nigerian league and if Siasia combs the league very well, he will certainly uncover players who will fit into the team within a short period of time.

He however said nobody should expect such new players to quickly pick shirts ahead of the older Eagles as he explained that they will need time and exposure to be able to take over from most of the present players in the team.

Imenger noted that it takes time for players to mature to play at the highest level so Siasia should not make the mistake of throwing away the experienced players simply because Nigerians want to see a new team.

His words: “I want to advise Siasia to be thoroughly professional. He should shun sentiments as he goes about this responsibility. He will succeed if he does everything on merit. Nigerians must advise him but he must be careful in taking such advices. Some of the people will advise him purely out of sentiments and if he acts on such, he is bound to fail.

“In addition, he has been talking about re-building the team but he must not make drastic changes. It has to been gradual. He needs the experience of some of the older players. Those who are still relevant should be retained so that they will guide the new players.

Imenger said Siasia must mix youth with experience to raise a formidable team.