Oliseh Was Bitter, Jealous & Clueless, My Worst Manager - Mikel Obi

 

John Mikel Obi, former Super Eagles captain, has described Sunday Oliseh as “easily the worst manager I played under”.

Mikel spoke in a recent episode of The Obi One podcast.

The former Chelsea midfielder said Oliseh was a “terrible coach” and “had no clue of what he was doing” when he managed the Nigeria men’s national team between July 2015 and February 2016.

Oliseh’s seven-month spell as the Eagles head coach was littered with off-the-field drama, including bitter disagreements with senior members of the team and officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Speaking on his brief stint with the manager, Mikel narrated how Oliseh started a heated argument with him and Vincent Enyeama on the coach’s first day in camp with the team.

He said the incident degenerated into Enyeama leaving the camp and quitting the national team.

“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,” Mikel said.

“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?

“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.”

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

Mikel described Oliseh as “bitter”, “jealous”, and “had no respect for speaking to anybody”.

“He (Oliseh) had absolutely no clue of how a manager is. He was a fantastic guy in his playing days, but he was a terrible coach. He absolutely had no clue of what he was doing,” the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner said.

“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 togetherness.

“He was easily the worst manager I played under.

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