… Exonerates Coach Chelle
Following the crushing defeat suffered by the CHAN Eagles at the hands of the Sudanese team in the ongoing African Nations Cup, a renown football pundit in Rivers State has exonerated the Eric Chelle-led coaching crew from blame.
Chairman of Crystal All Stars International FC of Port Harcourt, Amb. Joe Cole, said the defeat did not come to him as a surprise.
The competition was designed for football players in Africa plying their trade in their home leagues.
Speaking exclusively to our reporter in Port Harcourt, Cole said he was not surprised, because Nigeria “has no solid team at the home front.”
He argued that the level of play exhibited by the CHAN Eagles was a true reflection of the poor standard of our league, stressing that ‘the players we used and the quality of our league determines the caliber of players in the Nigerian team and how they will perform.
“Regrettably, apart from the low standard of our league, the sad state of the administrative decadence in the NFF board is another big challenge.
“Until a total reformation is carried out in NFF, which will also affect football referees, Nigerian football will continue to witness down slide.
“Imagine a situation where smaller countries like Mozambique, Kenya etc, could boast of producing referees officiating in CAF Champions and none is seen from Nigeria being the giant of Africa,” he said.
Reacting to call for the sack of Coach Eric Chelle given the Super Eagles’ 0-4 defeat by the less fancied Sudanese side, Cole disagreed with the call, describing the idea as “out of taste.
“In fact, it is the players that should be blamed for playing poorly, which is in line with the reflection of what we see in our league standard.
“Calling things by it proper names, the CHAN Eagles of Nigeria was not good and that is the bitter truth, as there is nothing Coach Eric Chelle could have done to change the narratives overnight since he doesn’t have what it takes in CHAN Eagles team to do the magic other than to work with what was available in Nigeria league clubs,” he said.
Asked his response to the idea of bringing in an ex-International to tinker with the national team for effective result, Amb. Cole who has travelled widely with the game, said, “Being an ex-international is not the prerequisite to determine a coach that will do well, after all, Coach Jose Mourinho did not play football and yet he has been a successful manager in Manchester United.
“I think what is needed for a very good football coach to excel is the level of capacity and ability is develop oneself both technically and tactically, and also involve in sports administration, noting that in absence of all this criteria one is wasting his time”.
