₦airaland Forum

I think he did eventually.. follow the discussion till the end.

Mujtahida:
Him never still gree say na Troussiere. Anyway the balance of probability and the weight of evidence tilts in favour of Troussiere.

this matter has been settled... I was just making response to that specific post of hers.

Mujtahida:
Mind you she also referenced BBC. If wiki is doubtful I think BBC has very high degree of credibility in such matters.

Another addition.

The utilization of video analysts during game time would prove really crucial if we are really serious about getting to the Semi-finals. Even top teams like Germany can show signs of weaknesses in certain areas during game time. Players that posses that extra thing will come handy in those situations with specific instructions given. Our tactical decisions should be on point. How about players that will take advantage of dead ball situations? Week after week that responsibility is put on the shoulders of Moses Simon at Gent. Just yesterday, I watched again the U17 2015 finals, and realized how tactically gifted Amuneke is. Just when the Mexicans thought they were avenging us for the the two defeats we dealt them in the previous edition, and when it seemed our forwards had no answers in the their 18, we pulled it off twice outside the 18 yard box to end the first half on the lead -- Kelechi Nwakali's beautiful free-kick was one of them. In the second half the Mexicans came all out, and after they equalized, we had no problems breaking them down in the 18, coupled with the introduction of Osinachi.
So here comes my question again, who will be in charge of our dead ball situations? Mikel? Victor Moses? I'm not impressed.

Goke7:
Agreed!

Ahmodu should have been given more time. If you look at how Kenya fared against other teams, you will agree with me that a 1-1 away draw against them was a decent result.
Kenya beat Burkina Faso home and away. They beat Guinea at home.

So we had the best away result against Kenya in that group. Guinea won all their home games.

Mujtahida:
Please the correct facts are that Trousierre qualified us for the World Cup. I vividly recall that he was the one who did with one match to spare against Guinea which Taribo and Titi Camara entered into a bet that with Camara saying he would score and Taribo saying he would not. Last last, Camara scored the only goal. I think tglobal's analysis on the two matches Sinclair played is correct.

You have both BBC and Wikipedia confirming it was Trousierre yet you say that they are both wrong. Why don't you just do as you often advise:acknowledge you were mistaken and let's move on.

okay I just modified my earlier comment. Some may disagree with me.. So well it's just my suggestion on this 3rd point.

Goke7:
well noted, will update too, but could we all agree on the names of players who have strong cases for inclusion or at best players rohr should monitor strongly before I update so we don't continue to post names and more names continue to pop up. Thanks

Good job. My suggestion, ss regards number 3, there is no need mentioning names as two players of those three are known to Rohr and IMO are in the Super Eagles set-up. If we must mention names, let it be players Rohr has not ran the rule over or have probably not taken notice of. Granted, it's okay if you want to put Aluko there. Ajagun and Onuachu are other "valid" suggestions.

Modified
I want to believe some of these players are under Rohr's radar -- those he has once invited. Esiti, and even Musa Muhammed comes to mind. Im sure he and his crew will be monitoring their progress. No need mentioning those names. We can't tell the coach who to pick, but we can direct him to take notice of some players, people around him may have ignored.

Goke7:
Some lessons so far on our failed world cup attempts from responses so far include

1. Stick to the coach that qualifies you for the world cup cos you you need that strong bond between the coach and the players who have been working tirelessly together.
2. Do not discard half or majority of the players that qualified you for the world cup as it affects team spirit and you end up with players in the world cup who are strange bed fellows. Case in point keshi despite qualifying for the world cup and going to the world cup ended up with players who were not really used to each other. This may be the reason Mikel rejected the inclusion of ramon azeez [though unprofessional of mikel] in the game against France.
3. Go with at least 90% of your players who qualified you for the world cup. case in point USA 94 team. If you must bring in new players, very very few however there seems to be strong cases for the inclusion of Kayode Olanrewaju, Henry Onyekwuru and Sone aluko to the team. They are not strangers to the Eagles as they have been invited before.
4. Nff need to sort out issues of bonus and players welfare on time. I heard before the end of this year, Nff will meet with the players to tell them how much they will earn during the world cup next year. Good one I must say.
5. Quality warm up games for the team, perhaps warm up games against Germany and Yugoslavia brought out the best of Nigeria against Spain in France 98.
6. We must check over confidence from the players, case in point is one of the reasons we lost the Denmark game in 1998 as the players were already thinking about brazil when they haven't finished with Denmark
7. We must check players who tend to be selfish in the game, result against argentina in the 2010 world cup would have been different if the likes of martins were not selfish in their play. Okocha was another culprit in past world cups. Victor Moses need to be checked on this. Players in better position must be given the ball for clinical finishes in front of goal like we saw against zambia with Iwobi's goal. This could decide games.
8. Team selection must be based on those who are hungry for the team success and not those who just want to appear as some big players have failed to turn up on the big occasions, e.g. Yekini of blessed memory and Okocha.
9. Good mix of youthful and experienced players. One of the reasons we failed in the 2002 world cup was the way we discarded experienced players who were still in form and hungry. Thank God Rohr had admitted that it was the mix of young and experienced players that achieved qualification. So those who feel the likes of Mikel, musa, onazi, echiejile even omeruo are not relevant may need to have a rethink. One advantage of the crop of young players we have now like iwobi, iheanacho, ekong and co is that by the next world cup, they will be very experienced players.
10. Updated FIFA rules must be understood by players and coaches to avoid naive situations. Reason we even failed to qualify in 2006 as we knew nothing about head to head rule. Players also need to be warned about inscriptions on their inner wears as they risk unnecessary yellow cards like we saw in the match against Cameroon involving Ighalo
11. The technical bench assisting the coach need to have a good balance of competent and experienced hands that will complement the coach technically. e.g. in 2014 world cup the technical team that won the afcon in 2013 was overhauled without coach kehsi's consent which in turn affected the balance of the team from what we saw in afcon earlier.
12. Discipline on and off the pitch must be maintained by coach and players. This cost us in the 2010 world cup where kaita was sent off and the indiscipline rows among players that happened in both 1994 and 1998 world cups

NFF VP SPEAKS ON UNUSED PLAYERS (title modified). See quotes

---

Tammy Abraham Tipped To Gatecrash Nigeria's World Cup Squad
Published: October 25, 2017

https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/football_pics/39074Abraham.png
Photo Credit : swanseacity.com

Tammy Abraham Tipped To Gatecrash Nigeria's World Cup SquadThe international future of Tammy Abraham, whether he plays for Nigeria or England at senior level, is still up in the air, but the Chelsea wonderkid has been tipped to gatecrash the Super Eagles World Cup roster nonetheless.

The England U21 international looks a certainty to be on the plane to Russia if he pledges allegiance to the Super Eagles ahead of the Three Lions, and has been name-checked by the Nigerian Federation, with Amaju Pinnick visiting him in London last month.

''NFF vice-president Seyi Akinwunmi has said he expects some players who did not feature in the qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup to make the final cut to Russia,'' writes scorenigeria.com.

''Coach Gernot Rohr used a total of 37 players in the qualifiers, but the likes of Vincent Enyeama (Lille), Joel Obi (Torino), Henry Onyekuru (Anderlecht), Tammy Abraham (Swansea City), Denis Bonaventure (Club Brugge) and Ibrahim Alhassan ‘Muazzam’ (Austria Wien) were some of the payers who were not involved.''

If Abraham is included in Nigeria's World Cup roster, he'll follow in the footsteps of Chelsea teammate Victor Moses, who represented England youth teams before representing the three-time African champs at the World Cup.

The 20-year-old has shown promise in nine top-flight appearances for Swansea City, scoring four goals.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

haha..I never see doctor like this before.. you go put football for woman belle call am pregnancy

Mickael2:
I talk anything

which highlights?

PROVERBZ:
Finished watching ighalo highlights wat a player his trade mark of dragging the ball in a semi circle after he attempts a fake shot is just great


The defenders don't know what'd coming

She dug it out from wikipedia. But I wasn't convinced entirely. You know I don't consider that site credible when it comes to professional references.

TheGoodJoe:
It was entertaining, brain racking, I did lots of thinking. Also helped me do some recollection.

libero808 was also very brilliant in bringing out points. I agree with you 100%.

oga feel free to say what you have to say.. I don't have anything to argue.. just come clear lol

Mickael2:
Me sha, not yet convinced. He come call am 'Sir', despite the clear indications say na 'Ma', I no know if you grab the idea

na Onyekuru vs Simon come make sense..
we just digged out something from nowhere.. I think this is one of the most enlightening, fact-finding argument we have ever had especially as regards the limitations.. you agree with me TheGoodJoe ?

Mickael2:
This Monday Sinclair argument no too make sense na

haha.. I think i know what you both might be thinking.. hahaha.. interesting!!!!

kingphilip:
both of them are around now

so our thinking might not be right afterall

haha.. I think i know what you both might be thinking.. hahaha.. interesting!!!!

kingphilip:
both of them are around now

so our thinking might not be right afterall

it may have been more rigid then.. take note he was making a comparison.

And yes I agree with you.. But my stance has always been players play several roles, despite having a primary position. in fact, most outfield players play more than one position during a game.

Mickael2:
This is actually only true for the Epl. Watch Spanish teams, infact Deportivo vs Girona and all the times you could see the formation clearly except during the last 5minutes which is acceptable. This is Girona and Deportivo, watch top Spanish teams and you will know their formation, even Barca B and Lugo keep to their formation all 90minutes.


Watch German teams too and French teams. Watch that match between PSG and Anderletch, despite the gulf in class PSG still maintained their 4-3-3 formation at all times, they only become dynamic in the final third and only their front three can switch position, and this is how it has always been, a formation is determined mainly from the shape the team has during their build-up, once you enter that final third you can go anywhere and stand so long as you score.

I will have to disagree with Coach Sinclair here except he meant the Epl alone

Only me?!? make she call you "my" make u free me oh.

kingphilip:
na only you get the honor of showing her her room now

and na only you get the "my" status for now

Really interesting my sister!.. I just got off from reading the interview myself. In one of Sinclair's responses which buttresses some points I've been making here. Talking about formation, he said back in the days you could tell the formation a team was playing by watching them play. But today it's only clear before the start of the match.

In fact, today, teams are more dynamic than ever. Only a few outfield players are a little rigid.

libero808:
ok
you have settled this matter
case closed
besides, interesting Sinclair interview!

it's a discussion.. I can't be uspet.

I agree. I doubt if we even had internet then in Nigeria.

But well i've just pulled out an interview. And we have heard from the horse's mouth. And it's a very credible source.
Your most recent link only shows that there had been problems. It did not say Troussier did not return for that Kenya match. But I bet you If it was actually just Sinclair that took charge of the Kenya match, we Nigerians would never have given the white which doctor credits for qualifying us. All the sources so far gave credit to Troussier not Sinclair. And we've had same discussion here earlier that it was Troussier who qualified us for the France 98 World Cup.

TheGoodJoe:
First of all, thank you for your post. I am not trying to contradict your post. Unfortunately this was not in the internet era where we can pull out all the details.

1997 is not today.


SINCLAIR: If Troussier decides to quit (as he has earlier threatened),
Chief coach Monday Sinclair should take charge of the Eagles against the
Harambee Stars of Kenya. Are you panicked? Oh, it should be apprehension,
as according to Monaco striker, Victor Ikpeba:
"Nigerian Europe-based players don't respect local coaches."
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/soc.culture.nigeria/2FWgj0HeWh4

There was a fall out in camp and Troussier was not in the country during the preparation. Maybe, he came back for the match, to be honest with you, I can not remember. I will dig too.

If Sinclair was Troussier's assistant? Yes. Just like the link shows.

Not trying to upset you in any way, if I am doing so.

Sir the NFA already had a series of problems with Troussier, one of which was his refusing to return to Lagos (maybe for the LG cup?)
There is no news about Troussier's firing before the LG cup. It's not out of place for Sinclair to lead Nigeria there, especially if Sinclair was his assistant.

The 3rd place match of the LG cup was held on August 9th (http://www.rsssf.com/tablesl/lgcup97.html).
So most likely the finals between Nigeria and Tunisia was held the same day.

Our DEAD-RUBBER game against Guinea took place August 16th. Take note, it was a dead rubber, Nigeria had already qualified.
Now did Troussier retuturn to prosecute that match? I will research further. Firstly, I want to check who Trousier's assistants were.

ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE: https://www.supersport.com/football/football-features/news/110415/QA_with_Monday_Sinclair

Nnamdi Njoku asked:
How did you deel when you were not allowed to take the Super Eagles to the France 98 world cup after you and Phillipe Trousier qualified the team for the world cup?
Sinclair answered answered:
Thanks Nnamdi.

Well, people who were closer to the 'powers that be" took our jobs and we were asked to step out!

I was disappointed, naturally because Coaching at the World Cup is the apex of Coaching and to be denied was quite a blow but then life goes on.

TheGoodJoe:
First of all. Not to create a misconception, Coach Monday Sinclair never told me. I highlighted discussing with his boys. However, I was in Port Harcourt in 1997 and Sinclair is a football icon in the City. So him handling the National team at that time sparked a lot of debate.

A lot of footballers from amateur teams to local pro teams like Eagle Cement then and Sharks FC spent a lot of time at Sinclair's house. Sometimes we used to sit in front of his house talking football.

That aside.

Gotti:
Coach Monday Sinclair took the Eagles to the 1997 LG Cup in Tunisia, shortly after Phillipe Troussier was fired and before Bora was appointed. Pius Ikedia made his Eagles' debut as a substitute in both matches of the tourney, and the team also included the since-infamous Francis Kumbur.

This was before the game against Guinea. Do you think Troussier was dropped after the 3-0 demolition of Kenya?

So copying links which could be written in 2006/7 era as proof does not count.

The LG Cup was in August before the Guinea game.

No harm in trying lol

Goke7:
Noise really? well it has been confirmed that the noise we make here finds it's way somehow to the authorities whether Nff, FIFA and even the English FA of late with the way we keep struggling with them over naija-english born talents. Never under-estimate the online space.

Do you know the nff decisions on the way they shuffle players and coaches which affected our previous performances in past world cups were due majorly to noise from the fans? Coaches always feel the pulse of the fans, let rohr try and drop mikel or moses first and see if all that will be done here will just be noise.

na only she come in? lol

kingphilip:
where were you when libero808 came in

Reference to 1-1 draw has to be an error. Troussier did not handle that game. Again, check the credibility of the source. Mistakes can always be made.

Modified
Goodness! that's forum like nairaland.

TheGoodJoe:
Pressure increased on him after the Eagles' 1-1 draw with lowly-rated Kenya in Nairobi in a group 1 World Cup qualifier. Nigerian FA officials also accused Troussier of sidelining his Nigerian coaching assistants assigned to him and preferring instead to work with a Moroccan.

Troussier also overstayed in a foreign trip, thereby missing an
international four-nation tournament in Tunis, where the Eagles lost the top spot to host Tunisia.

But the last straw was the Eagles' 1-0 loss to Guinea in August. That match, considered a mere formality since the Eagles had already qualified for France '98, exposed Troussier's technical weakness, with many Nigerians calling for his sacking.


http://forum.cybereagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84770&start=69

I am wrong in the termination details but this link will give an insight into the occurrence at that time. In an earlier link, it showed the NFA issuing a warning that if Troussier does not return, he would get sacked.

During the LG Tourney happened after the Kenya game in Lagos and Sinclair coached that LG Tournament.

Sad the article left out the events of the Kenya game in Lagos but I will keep searching to clarify the issue.

Note, the article said Troussier handled the 1-1 draw in Kenya. To the best of my knowledge, Troussier coached that game.

TheGoodJoe

1. Kenyan website: http://www.kenyanstar.co.ke/index.php/columns/soccer-nostalgia/1538-the-lagos-dream-world-cup-98-qualifier-nigeria-vs-kenya

Super Eagles Line up:

Starting XI: 21 Baruwa Abiodun, 4 West Taribo,17 Oparaku Mobi Patrick ,8 Adepoju Mutiu Abiodun, 5 Okechukwu Uche,3 Babayaro Celestine,9 Akpoborie Onowareke,10 Okocha Augustine,15 Oliseh Ogorchukwu Sunday,11 Amunik Emmanuel ,14 Amokachi Daniel

Substitutes : 22 Joseph Dosu,20 Ikpeba Nosa Victor,19 Ohenhen Christopher ,12 Babangida Tijani , 6 Iroha Benedict,18 Oruma Wilson , 2 Eguavon Augustine Owen

Coach : Troussier Philippe

Scorers : Nigeria : 13' Oliseh Ogorchukwu Sunday
43' Amunike Emmanuel
83' Oruma Wilson

2. independent.co.uk (18 Dec 1997): http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-milutinovic-confirmed-as-nigeria-coach-for-france-98-1289487.html

Nigeria have been without a coach since the Frenchman Philippe Troussier left in August. (We can check the dates to see if it corresponds)

3. upclosed.com : https://upclosed.com/people/philippe-troussier/

Entering the job half way through qualifying he led them into four games throughout the campaign as Nigeria successfully qualified, however the Nigeria Football Federation decided to relieve Troussier of his duties and ultimately let highly experienced coach Bora Milutinović lead them into the tournament due to his experience of already managing three different nations in a World Cup at that time.

4. BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/39252.stm

The Olympic gold medallists have been without a manager since Frenchman Philippe Troussier left last August. (Again we can check the date)

ok no problem.

TheGoodJoe:
As I said, wiki will not tell us the behind the scene. Keep in mind, Troussier left the country and was threatened with a sack if he does not return for the game in Lagos. Troussier was not around when we went for LG Cup. Troussier was not around when he got his sack letter.

So what ever you dig out must highlight these.

Let's expect a few surprises from Rohr.
Owubokiri was performing at the club level I assume. Comparison with Aluko is unfair.
is Aluko peforming? Also consider that there have been several coaches since then.

Kog45:
thegoodjoe God bless u for this wonderful post.

Till today i keep on wondering why Owubokiri was dropped by Westerhoff after Bafana Bafana game,i remember we had him,Yekini,Siasia in that match.He scored d first goal,Siasia too and Yekini scored a brace.

After that match Westerhoff refused to extend invitation to Owubokiri again just like what is happening to Aluko presently though different scenario.

But what surprised me most,Owubokiri was dropped but Efan Ekoku later made d team.

Wiki got this one right, although not a credible source. The reports are detailed enough even down to the minute the goals were scored. I think this is accurate.

libero808:
I have the facts now.
Found everything

Road to 1998 WC

1. Nigeria 2---0 Burkina Faso.
scorers: Amokachi (both)
coach: Ahmodu shuibu

2. kenya 1---1 Nigeria
scorers: Akpoborie
coach: Ahmodu shuibu

3. Nigeria 2---1Guinea
scorers: Amokachi (both)
coach: Phillipe Trousier

4. Burkina Faso 1---2 Nigeria
scorers: Adepoju, Amuneke
coach: Phillipe Trousier

5. Nigeria 3---0 Kenya
scorers: oliseh, amuneke, oruma
coach: Phillipe Trousier

6. Guinea 1---0 Nigeria
scorers:
coach: Phillipe Trousier

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CAF)
Click on report for full details

Sir Libero is right. I remember quite well that Troussier completed that journey. Maybe I'd have to dig out more sources in support of that.

TheGoodJoe:
Remember in my earlier link, Troussier was already out of the country before the Kenyan game in Lagos. Maybe because he was still the coach on paper, that is why the misrepresentation but that earlier link showed he was already away before the Lagos game.

libero808 thank you for "disvirgining" our 1900th page

Well done sir! the collation master.
I still hold my believe that na just noise we dey make here. If the NFF has promised not to meddle in Rohr's job. Then that's all they need to do. To think that Rohr will be listening to us .
Anyway no harm in u guys trying

Goke7:
Some lessons so far on our failed world cup attempts from responses so far include

1. Stick to the coach that qualifies you for the world cup cos you you need that strong bond between the coach and the players who have been working tirelessly together.
2. Do not discard half or majority of the players that qualified you for the world cup as it affects team spirit and you end up with players in the world cup who are strange bed fellows. Case in point keshi despite qualifying for the world cup and going to the world cup ended up with players who were not really used to each other. This may be the reason Mikel rejected the inclusion of ramon azeez [though unprofessional of mikel] in the game against France.
3. Go with at least 90% of your players who qualified you for the world cup. case in point USA 94 team. If you must bring in new players, very very few however there seems to be strong cases for the inclusion of Kayode Olanrewaju, Henry Onyekwuru and Sone aluko to the team. They are not strangers to the Eagles as they have been invited before.
4. Nff need to sort out issues of bonus and players welfare on time. I heard before the end of this year, Nff will meet with the players to tell them how much they will earn during the world cup next year. Good one I must say.
5. Quality warm up games for the team, perhaps warm up games against Germany and Yugoslavia brought out the best of Nigeria against Spain in France 98.
6. We must check over confidence from the players, case in point is one of the reasons we lost the Denmark game in 1998 as the players were already thinking about brazil when they haven't finished with Denmark
7. We must check players who tend to be selfish in the game, result against argentina in the 2010 world cup would have been different if the likes of martins were not selfish in their play. Okocha was another culprit in past world cups. Victor Moses need to be checked on this. Players in better position must be given the ball for clinical finishes in front of goal like we saw against zambia with Iwobi's goal. This could decide games.
8. Team selection must be based on those who are hungry for the team success and not those who just want to appear as some big players have failed to turn up on the big occasions, e.g. Yekini of blessed memory and Okocha.
9. Good mix of youthful and experienced players. One of the reasons we failed in the 2002 world cup was the way we discarded experienced players who were still in form and hungry. Thank God Rohr had admitted that it was the mix of young and experienced players that achieved qualification. So those who feel the likes of Mikel, musa, onazi, echiejile even omeruo are not relevant may need to have a rethink. One advantage of the crop of young players we have now like iwobi, iheanacho, ekong and co is that by the next world cup, they will be very experienced players.
10. Updated FIFA rules must be understood by players and coaches to avoid naive situations. Reason we even failed to qualify in 2006 as we knew nothing about head to head rule. This also showed in 1994
11. The technical bench assisting the coach need to have a good balance of competent and experienced hands that will complement the coach technically. e.g. in 2014 world cup the technical team that won the afcon in 2013 was overhauled without coach kehsi's consent which in turn affected the balance of the team from what we saw in afcon earlier.

it's one thing to state the mistakes we made prior to to all editions those World Cup and the WC proper, it's yet another to suggest what should have been done then. I've not seen anyone do that.. So I will delve into that, because from what I've read, you guys have done justice to our mistakes. Just maybe some of our mistakes were unavoidable.

una well done!!! Iheanacho scored and assisted yesterday.. I've missed a little bit because I spied a little..

Welcome to the thread officially bro.
Make sure to read the past pages as you tag along.

MetalJigsaw:
Anthony Nwakaememe was on target for Hapoel Beer Sheva last night.