Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

Surely, those beating their chests and high fiving in Abuja to celebrate the outing of another Nigerian coach must be aware that the larger picture is that such chest beating has come at the expense of nation – Nigeria.   The rapid demise of yet another national team coach last night following administrative shenanigans should rise to the point of severe concern. Coach Sunday Oliseh, in spite of his emotional roller coaster and eruptions, does not deserve the barrage of administrative actions that have followed in the last two weeks. Take a minute and reflect. Was elimination from the African Nations Championship (CHAN) the stage from which a coach should be crucified by a federation? If it is, then certainly the federation must be operating without a long term vision. No team, and I mean no team, will reach the zenith o its potential without growth pains. As some speaker once said: “the only place where ‘success’ comes before ‘work’ is in the dictionary.” In the real world, w...

Nigeria's national team coach, Sunday Oliseh, found himself in a seemingly diastrophic situation a few days ago after he reacted angrily to widespread and caustic criticism over Nigeria's failure at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Rwanda. At the end, he retreated to safety with an apology after appearing ready to go toe-to-toe with those he classified as pushing him off the cliff edge. To put it mildly, it was stunning to read some critics call for Oliseh's sack after the CHAN loss to Guinea when major qualifiers for the 2017 Nations Cup and 2018 World Cups were just a few months away.To use Oliseh's words, it was an "insane call" and to be serious, it was a ridiculous and an incomprehensible call. But it certainly ruffled Oliseh. He erupted and displayed his worst side, the side that we all anticipated would come unhinged sometime during his tenure and it was what we all feared. In responding, Oliseh flung one claim after the other and s...

This article explores the following question:  How many players or percentage of players are bypassing league football in Nigeria but end up appearing in significant number of games for the Super Eagles?  This question arises because in the last decade or so, many Nigerian players are moving directly from academy football in Nigeria to professional football in Europe. This question looks at only the best of such players who bypass the local league. We do this because our data include only players good enough to play for the Super Eagles. Ultimately, answering the question gives us an idea of how much football may be changing in Nigeria. It is important to note that determining what academy football is or is not in Nigeria is not so simple. In Nigeria, some of the academy teams play in the national league, usually at the lower tiers of the league. For instance, FC Ebedei which produces a large number of youth players, plays in the lower tier of the Nigerian league ...