Nigerian Sports: I dropped Mikel for tactical reason, says Oliseh

Oliseh

Players kick against cashless policy

SUPER Eagles Head Coach, Sunday Oliseh, has revealed that he dropped Chelsea star, John Obi Mikel and Monaco’s Elderson Echiejile for purely technical reason and not because of any other consideration.

There were insinuations at the Adokie Amiesiamaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, immediately after the release of the Eagles’ team list that Mikel and Echiejile were the next players from the old guard to be forced out of the team.

But the coach refuted such suggestions, insisting that he picked his players according to the dictates of each game.
“We noticed some lapses in the first leg and decided to correct them by dropping some players. Every member of the team has equal right of playing for me. All I look for is the most effective way of getting the job done. It doesn’t matter where the player is based, so long as he can give us what we want, he will play.”

Meanwhile, members of the Super Eagles left their Presidential Hotel camp yesterday after a debriefing by officials of the Federation, led by NFF President, Amaju Pinnick.

Some of the players left the camp immediately after the match to catch flights back to their base, but majority of them left yesterday, the source said.
The home-based players in the team, a source said, would join their colleagues from the domestic league in a December camp to begin preparations for next year’s African Nations Championship.

The team was treated to an all night party at the Presidential Hotel Club, where the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and members of his executive entertained them.
Some of the players grumbled openly against the cashless policy adopted by the NFF in the payment of their bonuses.

The usual practice is to pay the players’ bonuses by cash immediately after every game, but due to the recent government policy, the players were requested to provide their bank accounts for electronic transfer of their dues.

“We were told that our bonuses would be transferred to our accounts, which is good, but it does not take into consideration our peculiar situation.

“The cash would have been handy in sorting out some people who came to see me here in Port Harcourt, but now I have to wait to go to bank for some of these expenses before leaving Nigeria,” one of the players said.

The players got $5,000 each for the game in Port Harcourt, while they were paid $2,500 for the first leg draw. They also shared the $40,000 promised them for the goals against Swaziland by the Rivers State Government.

Guardian