Oliseh: I will never coach Nigeria again

Sunday Oliseh, former Super Eagles midfielder and manager, says he will never coach the Nigerian national team again.

According to PUNCH, Oliseh said he will not accept the offer of managing the team even if given a second chance because “I just couldn’t die on the job.”

The 45-year-old former Borussia Dortmund midfielder was 8 months into his stay as the Eagles coach when he resigned due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages and benefits to his players, assistant coaches in February 2016.

“No, I don’t have the intention of ever coaching the (Super) Eagles again,” he said.

“I loved working with the boys, I love coaching my country, but the atmosphere around it was no longer healthy.

“I didn’t want the job anymore. Health-wise I was not feeling too good; secondly, we were owed salaries. I was spending money on my health and on my team. I just couldn’t die on the job.

“Truth is, we have a foreign coach now and from what I heard and know, he is being paid four times the wages Stephen Keshi and I were paid and these are two players (himself and Keshi) who won trophies for Nigeria.

“I’ve never heard Gernot Rohr complain about wages. Keshi, while he was coaching, was always complaining, when I was coaching for four months, I was unpaid, for six months my assistants were unpaid, so I had to leave the job; we were also being frustrated.”

Oliseh also disclosed that he had good plans for the team before he resigned.

“I had good plans for the team. You will notice that at a time I brought in (Wilfred) Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho, young players who are dominating now,” he said.

“I brought in a world-class goalkeeper (Carl Ikeme) because I felt the old breed were ready to leave

“The same philosophy I used while with the Eagles was the same philosophy France used at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“Sometimes you ask yourself questions about Nigeria. You won laurels for the country as a player, you’re doing well as a coach, you were about qualifying for the World Cup and you’re unpaid for four months.”

The former Ajax and Juventus player featured in 63 international matches and scored three goals for Nigeria. He also played at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA tournaments in USA and France.

Oliseh participated in the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996. He was voted Africa’s 3rd best footballer in 1998.

He qualified Nigeria to the CHAN tournament in Rwanda in 2016 — where the team was knocked out by Guinea in the quarter final.