George Aluo
The Super Eagles may have started their AFCON 2021 qualifiers on a good note, winning their first two games against Republic of Benin and Lesotho, but a former assistant coach of Home Based (CHAN) Eagles, Erasmus Onuh, is not impressed with the job being done by Gernot Rohr.
Onuh, who bared his mind exclusively to The Nigerian Xpress Sports, after the 4-2 away victory over warned, warned that Rohr must change his approach if he must join the exclusive club of coaches that have led Nigeria to win AFCON.
He pointed out that Rohr’s style of not looking inward for hungry home lads, who want to make a name for themselves, is a big minus, even as he insisted that the German tactician cannot achieve the ultimate goal without adopting what he called “the Westerhof and late late Stephen Keshi style.”
He said: “The Eagles I saw against Republic of Benin and Lesotho did not live up to my expectations. Honestly, I only saw an average team in those two matches. There is room for improvement. I have no fears over our picking up the group’s sole ticket for the tournament in Cameroon. Our worries should not be whether we will qualify, but what happens in the tournament proper. Rohr’s target should be to win the Cup for Nigeria again. I knew he wasn’t going to achieve that with the players he went to Egypt with this year. Recall that Ezenwa was the only home-based player he took to Egypt and he was not used in any of the matches. The coach has started again… Using only foreign based players without looking inward. He needs a blend of the two because AFCON takes place in Africa, a familiar terrain of the home lads.
If Westerhof in his days and the late Stephen Keshi could get players from the local league and mix them up with the foreign-based to achieve success, I don’t see why Rohr can’t do the same. He (Rohr) must emulate those two coaches if he wants to win AFCON for Nigeria. He should adopt the Westerhof, Keshi style. Westerhof won the tournament with a combination of home and foreign-based players. Keshi did the same. Mba, who scored the winning goal for us in South Africa in 2013, was home-based. So, if Rohr is not able to see any player in the local scene, that means he is just a merchant, who is in Nigeria for business. He is then not here to develop our football.”
READ ALSO: http://Habits of wealthy entrepreneurs you can adopt
Onuh stressed that Rohr has only been relying on agents to recommend home based players to him without going all out to see for himself the kind of players he wants.
“Every coach has got his own philosophy, the kind of player you want and all that. Rohr should go to our league venues and watch games and see things for himself. He should not be relying on agents who want to make money. Unfortunately, even when he (Rohr) is around in the country he only strolls to the Agege stadium in Lagos to watch MFM play and at the end of the day he draws the lazy conclusion that there are no good players in the NPFL. This is not correct. If Rohr combs our league venues, he would see quality players that can give his foreign legion a good run for shirts.”
Onuh who has handled several clubs in the country including, Heartland FC of Owerri, Niger Tornadoes, Abia Warriors and Bukola Babes FC of Ilorin disclosed that he is being owed monies running into millions of naira by these clubs, even as he vowed to keep pushing for them to pay him.
“As we speak, a good number of the clubs I handled are still owing me. I ordinarily would have taken my case to industrial court, but if I do that the NFF would see it as bringing the game to disrepute. I have written to the LMC with documents to prove how much I m being owed. I pray they compel the clubs to pay me. I’m at the moment unattached, but I m not in anyway desperate for a job until I find one. I know my abilities and those that have worked with me know the stuff I m made off. I only want to go to a club where I would be given a free hand to sign the best legs. I don’t compromise when it comes to doing the right thing and on principle…this is why some administrators don’t want me to handle their team.”
Onuh who is a retired Customs Officer urged organizers of the nation’s domestic league to ensure that there is improvement in the area of officiating so that teams can win anywhere.
“If we get officiating right, the league would be better then well prepared teams can win anywhere be it home or away.”
