According to the Dutchman, Oliseh, his former player, lacks the technical capability to lead the team, especially in this crucial time given the sack of former coach, Stephen Keshi. He also maintained the NFF is committing a blunder by hiring a greenhorn coach who does not have the requisite experience to handle the team.
Former Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Clemens Westerhof has condemned the move by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to offer untested Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh the coaching reins of the country's senior national team.
According to the Dutchman, Oliseh, his former player, lacks the technical capability to lead the team, especially in this crucial time given the sack of former coach, Stephen Keshi. He also maintained the NFF is committing a blunder by hiring a greenhorn coach who does not have the requisite experience to handle the team.
“No, no, that cannot be, he can’t be Super Eagles coach. Oliseh cannot, no, he can’t,” Westerhof said.
“If the Nigeria Football Federation is bringing Oliseh to handle the Super Eagles, then that is too bad because it is not right. It is not proper, he is not the right man for the job.”
“Before I took over the Super Eagles in 1989, I was the head coach of Feyenoord and we were champions after many years. I coached other top teams in the first division, Vitesse, MVV and came back to Vitesse again.
“Keshi was a top quality player in Belgium with Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg in France, Sacramento Scorpions and all that. He coached several other teams including Togo and Mali", he exclaimed.
Apart from being known to have played professional football in clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Juventus, Standard Liege and others, Oliseh has only managed a third division Belgian side, Vervietois, as well as TV pundit experience, and a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group for the 2014 World Cup. The 75-year-old former manager continued by questioning Oliseh's coaching technical know-how.
“Where did Oliseh coach? What is his coaching experience? Do you want to start learning how to coach with the senior national team? Coaching amateur teams is not enough to get the experience of handling top teams like the Super Eagles.
"Players won't respect him, you know, he can't command their respect and influence as they loved and respected me, more so, as they also respected and loved Keshi.
“What the players need is a coach who they will love to respect, who has a positive influence on the players, and I don’t think Oliseh has these qualities,” Westerhof concluded.