Do sports pundits translate to good coaches?

Have you ever found yourself coaching players from the back of your TV screen? Do you feel you can do a better job if you are made to manage any of the big football teams?

Thousands of soccer pundits around the world find it easy to do the talking, but doing the work might not come that easy.

Gary Neville and Sunday Oliseh have moved away from punditry to coaching top teams, not based on any spectacular coaching achievement but standing on their distinct achievement as former players and pundits.

Both players have faced a rocky start in their respective coaching careers and fallen short of expectations from fans. Since Gary Neville took over as the head coach of Valencia, managed to record a win after nine La Liga games, currently sit 11^th place on the table and 32 points from leaders Barcelona.

Sunday Oliseh has also faced growing criticism since the Super Eagles crashed out of the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) following a disappointing 1-0 loss to Guinea in their final Group C encounter.

Both coaches were former captains at the highest levels of the game; they both built their reputations as well-respected and articulated men behind the pitch. Sunday Oliseh was a brilliant pundit for Supersports and Gary Neville was a pundit for Skysports and gained fans round the world for their brilliant talk shows and analysis of the round leather game.

Oliseh took the baton from Keshi as head coach of the Super Eagles, although Keshi had coached other African countries before coaching Nigeria. Oliseh on the other hand has no international coaching experience but his brilliance as a pundit and an experienced player gave him an upper hand for the role, will that earn him silverware?

Neville finally got a win after nine La Liga matches he has been in charge, after being appointed as boss in December.

Valencia had won four times under Neville in the competition, his only wins as manager in 15 games: against Second Division B side Barrakaldo, twice against Granada and then away at Las Palmas. Defeat only increases the pressure, even though the supporters’ anger has so far been directed more at the players and the boardroom than the manager.

With Valencia winless in his nine La Liga games in charge, he was asked whether he would step down after less two months in the role and said simply: “No.”

Gary Neville remains optimistic about his Valencia side, in a post match briefing after a 1-1 draw at Deportivo La Coruna, he said “the wins will come” he further said “The fans want victories and I am desperate to give it to them.”

Both coaches are currently coaching some of the youngest players and teams in their respective competitions; Valencia has one of the youngest teams in the la Liga and coached by 40 year old Neville, the super eagles team too holds some of the youngest players with just little international football experience, and coached by 41 year old Sunday Oliseh, both coaches can boast of the FA UEFA pro license.

Sixty three managers from various international teams lost their jobs last year, talented coaches with good knowledge of the game, with the performance of pundits like Gary Neville and Sunday Oliseh, we can learn that football is beyond just having a knowledge of the game, who knew Mourinho could have such a bad run in Chelsea, after years of dominance in various leagues in Europe. Football has a nature of its own and one team has to win and another lose, both managers have a long way to go with their careers but we hope they will be able to covert the knowledge from punditry to winning trophies.

Oliseh endured a barrage of criticism from unhappy fans after the Eagles were sent packing from Rwanda 2016 African Nations Championship at the group stages last month.

The former Nigeria captain, who claimed he was pressured to accept the job after his ex-Eagles’ teammate Stephen Keshi was sacked in 2015, fired back at his critics, saying they are “insane”.

With the distortion going on, it is uncertain if Oliseh will qualify Nigeria to the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and Russia 2018 World Cup.

However, calls for his sack have come following his side’s unceremonious exit from the CHAN.

But Oliseh on Friday resigned his position as Eagles coach amid speculations over his future and unpaid salaries.

Now that Oliseh is no longer in charge, the NFF under Amaju Pinnick will not be forgotten. Seven month ago when he took the Eagles job, Oliseh was branded the “Pep Guardiola of Africa”, but now things have fallen apart.

 

Anthony Nlebem & Martins Noel Keyen