Bonfrere not impressed with Eagles
by Calvin Emeka Onwuka 16 September 2013, 14:29

Bonfere Jo, first arrived Nigeria as assistant to Clemens Westerhof and then later coached the team himself, getting the Gold medal with the Olympic team in Atlanta in 1996 and then four years later got to the Afcon 2000 final to Cameroon. He spoke exclusively to supersport.com's Calvin Emeka Onwuka at his village of Vise near the Dutch border town of Maastricht. He did not mince words nor pull punches on his views of the current team and the technical crew.

supersport.com: What do you make of the current team?

Bonfrere Jo: I think their play is too slow. I do not think the current coaching crew are honest and dedicated enough to improve the team to reach the level they should be at.

supersport.com: But they won the Afcon

Bonfrere Jo: You saw their first two matches, how badly they played. Something happened between that match and the Cote D'Ivoire match and all of a sudden they won. I have coached in China and even though one can not prove these things we know it happens..

supersport.com: You implying some underhand dealings?

Bonfrere Jo: look, it has happened many times and in football unfortunately it is very difficult to prove how but we know these things do happen. Even in their other matches after against Mali and the final against Burkina Faso they seemed to have improved suddenly. In any case, the team does not play in the way Nigerian players and teams have been known to play.

supersport.com: Do you not think that this group of players might not be on the same level as the ones you worked with?

Bonfrere Jo: Not like that. Nigerian footballers have natural technical ability, they have incredible athleticism and speed and they are brave. So what an honest coach just has to do is give them tactics and imbibe in them teamwork. That's it.


supersport.com: Stephen Keshi was your assistant in 2000, did you think he will get to become a successful coach?

Bonfrere Jo: He was a very good footballer. Really, really good. However, as an assistant at the time he was not clued up enough to know what to do exactly. So I had a few difficult times with him. However he seems to have improved on the job.

supersport.com: He is currently having a few issues with the NFF. Did they help or hinder you during your time?

Bonfrere Jo: for sure they never helped! They were a constant problem from the chairman to the sec-gen and even the sports minister at the times. Always making the job difficult and so they will be doing same for Keshi now thats for sure.

supersport.com: why do they do these things?

Bonfrere Jo: sometimes it is because they do not know what their duties are really. For instance, when I was there I ask them for friendly matches for the national team and they say to me "coach, you do it". So, I was the one sending faxes to countries in Europe for friendly matches which should not have been so when my job really is to coach the players.

supersport.com: what advice will you give to Keshi ?

Bonfrere Jo: He won't listen to me .

supersport.com: He might still get to read this anyway..


Bonfrere Jo: I will tell him to be honest with his players and himself in terms of who he selects. I have heard rumours and he should know that these things can affect the players and they will stop playing for him. Once the players do not trust the coach they will stop playing for him and the team suffers. Stephen Keshi must not only sit in Nigeria and make phone calls to invite players; he should get up and go to their clubs, see them in action and in training and so have a good feel of the players.

The truth is that if the team fails to qualify for the world cup he will be sacked and then all the years of work will be lost and the country starts again with a new coach. Therefore his focus must be on improving the team to qualify and then play at a higher level than what happened at the Confederations Cup.
supersport.com: You don't think they performed well enough in Brazil?

Bonfrere Jo: not at all. Very poor tactics and an over reliance on individual magic to save the team. That is the team's problems I had said from the beginning.

http://www.supersport.com/football/super-eagles/news/130916/Bonfrerenot_impressed_with_Eagles

© supersport.com

I pray he atleast take the positive from Jo's comment and decard the rest without necessarily picking up a fight with him. There's always one thing or the other to pick from either a successful man or a failure as the case may be. That's how a star is made, steal from the best and add that to yours. No man is an HIGHLAND![color=#006600][/color]

Since you know everything you would have won the world cup for us bck then. enemy of progress

prem love: Since you know everything you would have won the world cup for us bck then. enemy of progress

BJ shld calm down ,the super eagles is gradually improving , the slow game is our style , we increase the tempo of the game when there is need for it ... It "s our tradition to play in a slow pace .


And we don"t need to impress B.J ... All we need to do is to play our style and win all our opponents ....


#My dream#
I wish eagles success that after the World Cup in 2014 , everyother coaches in the world will want to study our style ...that on print media , Internet and radio , even sky sport news , will tag eagles "slow,steady, but a dangerous team to play with ... If not for success of Spain .. Tiki -taka would have been swept under the carpet .

lexyman: BJ shld calm down ,the super eagles is gradually improving , the slow game is our style , we increase the tempo of the game when there is need for it ... It "s our tradition a play in a slow pace .

mikel is the one slowing our game down.

Jo?

And so....when last did we hear is name too.


he dey look for job,Na naija be him safe heaven abi?

Niggas already castigating, niggas can't take advice, always wanna say something

I think this man still nurse the hope of leading these guys again. But we are now concentrating solving African problem thro african method by Africans.

Who cares? Old Age is definitely affecting him

supersport.com: But they won the Afcon

Bonfrere Jo: You saw their first two matches, how badly they played. Something happened between that match and the Cote D'Ivoire match and all of a sudden they won. I have coached in China and even though one can not prove these things we know it happens..

supersport.com: You implying some underhand dealings?

Bonfrere Jo: look, it has happened many times and in football unfortunately it is very difficult to prove how but we know these things do happen. Even in their other matches after against Mali and the final against Burkina Faso they seemed to have improved suddenly. In any case, the team does not play in the way Nigerian players and teams have been known to play.

He must be drunk if he meant what am thinking right now. Is he mad? He has to explain himself. Stupid old man.

Bonfere jo is old and old people talk like children. Keshi just ignore the man abeg..

.

Same Jo lost the Nations Cup to Cameroon on our home soil in 2000 with the best set of SE players at his disposal

dnt get.. to hell wit super eagles

He wants to take over abi? No way Jo.

Bad belle! If he wants Keshi's job, let him try harder instead of talking maliciously...... Eye service chief!

For this guy to talk like this is a sign of the END.

Why Joe dye talk like say he dey hate. His words are bland; no enthusiasm for the Super Eagles at all.

Was it any different during his tenure as the head of the Super Eagle's technical crew?

Abeggi, make e go cdown jor!

quiet old man.....

Maybe he was talking abt his time wit SE. Sumbody tell him dat SE av changed,nt †ђξ SE U̶̲̥̅̊ knw b4.

Jo, please go and sit down!

well, Only a fool will discard his advice... Why ignore players that re good n will ve positive impact in your team?

[b]I think he is being sarcastic with his comments, no one gave the super eagles a chance, especially considering the fact that they had to face ivorycoast in the Q.F's, ​ and i for one believe if we have many key players like onazi, moses and emmenike in the confederations cup, we will atleast reach the quarterfinals of the competition.

Yes, the individual skills(lyk we had in okochas dayz is no more there), the flair is no more there, their game is slow, he was right, but by far keshi will go down in history as one of the best coaches in African football, no one woud have given the homebased players a chance, yet he was able to integrate them into †ђξ team, he blended them wit their foreign professionals and made them a important part of the squad, he is also a disciplinarian, and someone who brings the best out of his players, mikel has never been this good under any previous national team coach, no one knows mba before keshi era...

Lest, i forget he has never lost any match prior to the confed cup in brazil, and yet to lose to an african opponent, dats impressive, face it mr. Bonfere jo, stephen keshi is a better coach than you were, than you are and than you would ever be, that's the bitter truth!

Enjoy your retirement sire! Watch the super eagles qualify for the world cup, perform well at the competition, and hoopefully win the competition. As for me and many other naija football fans, we are happy and impressed with the team, your opinion does not matter.

#team eagles#....[/b]

belovedbest: I pray he atleast take the positive from Jo's comment and decard the rest without necessarily picking up a fight with him. There's always one thing or the other to pick from either a successful man or a failure as the case may be. That's how a star is made, steal from the best and add that to yours. No man is an HIGHLAND!

He should go back to Holland!
OK! I just realised he gave the interview from Holland, good on him.

This man shouldn't distract our only boss (Stephen Okechukwu Keshi).
The man of the people.

Old man with toddler sense,keshi don't mind the guy he's just yarning dust.

Bonfere surely must have had issues with keshi in the past, this explains his current opinions, anyway, the guy has never been successful as a coach since he left Nigeria, he tried to even lobby his way back before Keshi was appointed, so i understand his pains, these white dudes should know that we are done with them as far as coaching in Africa is concerned. Bonfere you are very wrong here and if you are praying that keshi should fail so you can be appointed, am sorry you will be dissapointed.

mikelreal: well, Only a fool will discard his advice... Why ignore players that re good n will ve positive impact in your team?

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