Eagles need a foreign coach, says Toro
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- Written by Ibraheem A. Fatai
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As condemnations and resentment continue to trail the unsatisfactory performance of the Super Eagles in Angola, former NFF scribe, Hon. Sani Toro, has called for immediate recruitment of a competent world class foreign technical adviser to lead the national team to South Africa 2010.
Speaking to Trustsports in a telephone interview yesterday, Toro expressed disappointment at the performance of the Super Eagles, especially against the largely inexperienced Black Stars of Ghana, saying the team has succeeded in breaking the hearts of most Nigerians.
“There is no doubt about the fact that the Super Eagles need a world class technical adviser, the one that the players would respect and take instruction from without looking back. He should be one of the well known ones, who cannot be influenced by the Nigerian Football Federation, the players or the press.
“The Eagles we saw yesterday (Thursday) was not the Eagles we used to know in the past. Everything about the team in Angola has never been impressive. We played five matches so far, lost two and won three against lowly rated teams. But, we believe Nigeria has the potential to perform better than we are currently doing,” he reasoned.
The Bauchi-born football administrator, however, commended Coach Amodu Shaibu and his team for taking the Eagles to the semi finals, saying it is time for a more competent coach to take over from the former BCC Lions and Orlando Pirates of South Africa coach.
“I am not saying Amodu is the only problem the Super Eagles have; there are some other problems that are not helping matters. But, there is no doubt about it that we need to bring in a tested foreign coach to take Eagles to South Africa. World cup is a different ball game entirely and if we are beaten like this in Africa, what would happen to us if we face the football super powers in South Africa?
“A World class coach will not look at anybody’s face to select his players. If some of the Ghanaian players who played in the U-20 tournament could take their team to the final, what stopped us from using some of our Siasia boys and the U-17 boy? he queried.
He said “our players don’t have much respect for our local coaches, while there are insinuations that some of our local coaches collect bribes from some players in order to feature them regularly. They say that is why such players always get invitation, even when they are not in form.”
While describing some of the current players as tired legs, Toro called for caution on the part of Nigerians fans who are heaping abuses on those players, urging them to leave the job of who is to continue playing for the Super Eagles to the new coach that will be employed.
“We should mind the way we talk about some of the players who have given their best in their glorious days and who are currently showing signs of tiredness. We should not disgrace them out of the team, but allow the new coach that will take over decide their fates. Disgracing them will have a demoralizing effect on the upcoming players,” he cautioned.
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Eagles need a foreign coach, says Toro
Category: Sports Written by Ibraheem A. Fatai Hits: 534
As condemnations and resentment continue to trail the unsatisfactory performance of the Super Eagles in Angola, former NFF scribe, Hon. Sani Toro, has called for immediate recruitment of a competent world class foreign technical adviser to lead the national team to South Africa 2010.
Speaking to Trustsports in a telephone interview yesterday, Toro expressed disappointment at the performance of the Super Eagles, especially against the largely inexperienced Black Stars of Ghana, saying the team has succeeded in breaking the hearts of most Nigerians.
“There is no doubt about the fact that the Super Eagles need a world class technical adviser, the one that the players would respect and take instruction from without looking back. He should be one of the well known ones, who cannot be influenced by the Nigerian Football Federation, the players or the press.
“The Eagles we saw yesterday (Thursday) was not the Eagles we used to know in the past. Everything about the team in Angola has never been impressive. We played five matches so far, lost two and won three against lowly rated teams. But, we believe Nigeria has the potential to perform better than we are currently doing,” he reasoned.
The Bauchi-born football administrator, however, commended Coach Amodu Shaibu and his team for taking the Eagles to the semi finals, saying it is time for a more competent coach to take over from the former BCC Lions and Orlando Pirates of South Africa coach.
“I am not saying Amodu is the only problem the Super Eagles have; there are some other problems that are not helping matters. But, there is no doubt about it that we need to bring in a tested foreign coach to take Eagles to South Africa. World cup is a different ball game entirely and if we are beaten like this in Africa, what would happen to us if we face the football super powers in South Africa?
“A World class coach will not look at anybody’s face to select his players. If some of the Ghanaian players who played in the U-20 tournament could take their team to the final, what stopped us from using some of our Siasia boys and the U-17 boy? he queried.
He said “our players don’t have much respect for our local coaches, while there are insinuations that some of our local coaches collect bribes from some players in order to feature them regularly. They say that is why such players always get invitation, even when they are not in form.”
While describing some of the current players as tired legs, Toro called for caution on the part of Nigerians fans who are heaping abuses on those players, urging them to leave the job of who is to continue playing for the Super Eagles to the new coach that will be employed.
“We should mind the way we talk about some of the players who have given their best in their glorious days and who are currently showing signs of tiredness. We should not disgrace them out of the team, but allow the new coach that will take over decide their fates. Disgracing them will have a demoralizing effect on the upcoming players,” he cautioned.