22nd December, 2010
Former Super Eagles’ technical adviser, Dutchman Clemens Westerhof says Coach Samson Siasia should take the discipline of his players serious if he must succeed as boss of the senior national team.
Westerhof, who led the Eagles to win the 1994 African Cup of Nations for Nigeria and also qualified for the second round of the FIFA World Cup that year in USA, disclosed that he recorded success with the national team because he instilled discipline on his players then.
The former Zimbabwean national team coach said Siasia should not hesitate to wield the big stick on any player who goes against the rules no matter whose ox is gored.
According to the ex-coach of Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League, who spoke on Brila f.m. early today, the likes of Finidi George, Emmanuel Amuneke and Etim Esim fell out of favour with him when he was handling the Eagles because he did not tolerate indiscipline in his team, “and if Siasia must succeed he should not be afraid to take decisive actions that would keep the players under control.
Westerhof was credited with turning Nigeria into a perennial powerhouse in African football and showed that the national team could compete on the world stage.
The Dutch coach was responsible for what could be described as a “golden†period in Nigerian football till today.
