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Oliseh Worst Manager I Played Under — Mikel Obi

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Chelsea legend, John Mikel Obi has described former Super Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh as the worst coach he worked with during his career.

Recall Oliseh had a short stint as the Super Eagles head coach after taking over from late Stephen Keshi in 2015.

During his tenure, Oliseh endured a torrid time as he complained of poor treatment from his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

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One of the major talking points of his seven month career as coach of the Super Eagles was his misunderstanding with Vincent Enyeama, which eventually forced the goalkeeper to quit international football.

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Mikel Obi, speaking on his ObiOne podcast, described how Oliseh caused chaos in the Eagles’ camp on his first day.

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He said: “I remember the first day he came into the camp. Then we reported to the camp for International duties, then he came straight at me and Vincent Enyeama, the goalkeeper, who also was very powerful back then.

“He came straight at us and Elderson Echiejile, and he said a few things. He said he heard there was a lot of player power with us.

“Then Enyeama was like, ‘What’s wrong with you? Where are you getting all of these from? We are a nice group, and you just come in, and the first thing is to attack us?

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“He was like ‘I heard about you guys.’ And then Enyeama stood up and told him he couldn’t say that because we had been here for so many years. They started arguing, and literally, they were going to have a fight.

“He took Enyeama out of the team, and he came at us saying he was going to take us out of the team. He said he was going to take us out of the team; he said he was going to make sure we didn’t play anymore.”

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“Enyeama could not take it, and despite my pleas, he left the camp angrily and never came back.”

Mikel Obi also remarked about his competence as a manager, saying he was clueless as a Super Eagles coach.

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Obi said, “He (Oliseh) had absolutely no clue of how a manager is. He was a fantastic guy in his playing days, but as a coach, he was very terrible. He had no clue what he was doing.

“The players never understood anything he was doing, and he did not know what he was doing. He was just confused because he just came in and destroyed the team’s togetherness.

“His excuse when he got fired was that the people and FA did voodoo on him not to succeed. He was easily the worst manager I played under.

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“He was so bitter with everybody, jealous with everybody, and had no respect for speaking to anybody, whether the physio or anybody,” he added.

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NFF In Fresh N1.4b FIFA Women World Cup Scandal

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Former Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has questioned the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) management of the monies that the world football governing body, FIFA, gave the federation for the team’s preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, reports allnigeriasoccer.com.

Waldrum’s team was eliminated from the championship in the second round by England through a penalty shootout. But the American alleged in a viral video on X that his team was handicapped by the NFF’s failure to make available the fund needed to properly prepare the side for the championship.

He alleged that the NFF received $960,000 from FIFA in October 2022 to support the Super Falcons’ preparations for the tournament.

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He said: “I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA. This person told me that in October, every country was given $960k from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money.

READ ALSO:SWAN Orders Nationwide Boycott Of NFF Activities

“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game, I think five players who were going to start for me, arrived the night before the game and the game was 4:00pm and they traveled 16 hours on the plane. And we played Japan and then we went home. We wasted the last five days of that window to train.”

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Waldrum, who affirmed that FIFA provides financial support to federations that are unable to afford business-class travel, with deductions made from their World Cup earnings.

According to him, the NFF had no justification for suboptimal logistics. “So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.

“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.”

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READ ALSO:JUST-IN: NFF Pulls Out Super Eagles From AFCON Qualifier After Libya Airport Nightmare

The coach also faulted the NFF for failing to maximise FIFA-approved staffing provisions, noting that while FIFA allows up to 22 technical staff members, Nigeria travelled with only about 11.

“So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why didn’t we have 22 people? I didn’t have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup,” he explained.

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“We didn’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I didn’t even have anybody to scout games. If we got out of our group, I didn’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I had to do was on videos and what I could pick up online.”

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EPL: Berbatov Names Team That Can ‘Surprise’ Arsenal In Title Race

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Former Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, has named the team that could “surprise” Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners are now six points clear of second-placed Chelsea, thanks to their 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s men could extend that lead to nine points, when they travel to face the Blues this weekend.

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READ ALSO:EPL: Why Arsenal Could Win The Title This Season – Guardiola

Berbatov has now said he expects Arsenal to be “really tested” over the hectic festive period and says their title credentials will become clearer in the New Year.

Of course Liverpool are low in the table and Man City are dropping points, but there are other teams like Chelsea who can surprise people,” Berbatov told ESPN.

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Six points is a good cushion but in the Premier League it’s nothing and can go very quickly.”

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Champions League: Arteta Gives Arsenal Injury Updates Ahead Bayern Munich Clash

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Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has given injury updates on his squad ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

The Gunners have won their first four matches in the competition without conceding a single goal.

Arteta’s men will be looking to continue their perfect start with a win over Bayern at the Emirates.

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READ ALSO:EPL: Arteta Wants FA To Overturn Lewis-Skelly’s Red Card In Arsenal Win

Arsenal could have captain Martin Odegaard back for the game, alongside Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke.

“Yeah they are [Madueke and Martinelli in contenton to start] and we’re going to have a meeting now to decide on Martin [Odegaard],” Arteta told reporters today.

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“He was very close for the previous game.

“We are confident he can be in the squad as well.”

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