Emma Njoku
Former Super Eagles’ coach, Festus Onigbinde, and President of the Nigeria Coaches Association, Ladan Bosso, have disagreed over the recent appointment of ex-Nigeria captain, Joseph Yobo, as assistant coach of the national team.
Controversy has trailed the appointment of the former Everton of England defence ace with some, including the Super Eagles’ manager, Gernot Rohr, claiming that he lacks formal training and experience as a coach.
In separate interviews with Nigeria Info FM, Onigbinde admitted that Yobo was a brilliant footballer during his playing days, but would not guarantee his success as a coach, while Bosso insisted that the former Eagles’ captain has a coaching certificate coupled with his playing experience and only lacks working experience as a coach.
“Pele and Franz Beckenbauer went into coaching and had to pull out and those are two of the best players the world has produced,” Onigbinde said.
“There is a difference between being a player and being a coach. Somebody with PhD in Mathematics may not be able to transfer the knowledge to people if he doesn’t have the methodology.”
“I want to cite myself as an example. In 1983, after attending interviews and I was employed to handle the national team, some ex-players in the national team came up to say I had no business handling the national team because I didn’t play in the national team. Some of them said I didn’t touch football in my life. With all modesty am I a failure as a coach?
“Mourinho is a good coach, in which national team did he play? Yobo is a fantastic player, he was one of the pillars in my defence in 2002.
But Bosso said: “Yobo just came back from a course. Basically, there are three criteria. The first one is your certificate, the second one is playing experience, then your work experience. He has two out of the three – playing experience and his certificate.