Westerhof right on Oliseh —Onigbinde

A former Super Eagles coach Chief Adegboye Onigbinde has said that he shares the opinion of a former technical adviser of the national team Dutchman Clemens Westerhof, who described the choice of Sunday Oliseh as Eagles coach as a huge mistake.
Westerhof, who handed Oliseh his Eagles debut in 1993, said over the weekend that the former Borussia Dortmund and Ajax midfielder was not the right man for the Eagles because he had not been tested as a coach.

Oliseh has only coached a third division Belgian side Vervietois, worked as TV pundit, and was a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group for the 2014 World Cup.

Onigbinde told our correspondent on the telephone on Monday that he shared the same opinion with Westerhof on the issue, and said he believes that the Nigeria Football Federation is using Oliseh as a disguise to appoint a foreign coach.

He said, “I seem to share the same opinion with Westerhof. Where and where has Oliseh coached? Having a coaching licence or coaching certificate is not the same as having practised. Oliseh is a gentleman. He was a very good player for Nigeria but we are not talking about playing here; we are talking about coaching.

“What experience has he got as a coach? My conclusion is that he is being used as a smokescreen. They said he will be coming with a foreign assistant. I have a strong belief that the foreign assistant is their target. They will just hide that behind Oliseh. We are just making ourselves a laughing stock to the world.

“This is not a question of condemning or praising anybody. Is it not a fact that he has not garnered enough experience? And if he has not, how did he qualify? If you want to appoint a coach, you look at his credentials. As a player Oliseh was fantastic, but has he been tested as a coach?”



The CAF and FIFA instructor said he wished that the NFF would put a stop to toying with the coaching of the Eagles, noting that many years were spent on dillydallying over Stephen Keshi.

He added that if coaching was determined by level of playing, Pele would have been the best coach in the world.

“Maradona has been running from pillar to post trying to become a prominent coach. Has he made it? On the other side of the fence, in which league or country did Jose Mourinho play football? But he is one of the best coaches in the world. So playing and coaching are two different things. We are saying all these things in the interest of Nigeria,” he said.

Oliseh is expected to arrive in Nigeria today (Tuesday) and sign a contract with the NFF on Wednesday