Former Super Eagles captain, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, who is re-inventing his playing career in India, says Nigeria’s coach, Stephen Keshi, needs to be wary of the influence of former internationals as he tries to build a solid team for the national team.
Okocha, a member of the technical sub-committee of the Nigeria Football Federation said that though he was in a position to suggest the way forward to his former captain in the Super Eagles, it is Keshi who calls the shot at the end of the day.
Local coaches in Nigeria have been criticised in the past for allowing themselves to be influenced but Okocha says former internationals should allow the coach do his job without any interference.
He said: “A coach is paid to take decisions. All of us (ex- internationals) are not coaches; we might have played the game at a very high level but we are not coaches.
“At the end of the day, it is just the coach’s team and with all due respect, we have to allow him to do his job.”
Okocha hinted that he would be disposed towards handing pieces of advice to Keshi privately when he deems it necessary.
“Keshi is my friend and as a friend, I could decide to call him up and speak to him about certain issues but it is left to him to decide whether or not he wants to take my advice,” he said.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will face Rwanda in the second leg of the 2013 Africa Nations Cup qualifier in the weekend of June 15-17.