By Daily Sports on May 6, 2019

Paul Aigbogun is the head of the technical crew of the Flying Eagles, a team that will join other teams in Poland for the forthcoming World Youths Championship (WYC). For the records, it is one of Nigeria’s junior national sides that have great promises due largely to the kind of potentials it showed at that category of the game at the World level.

This page won’t border you much with the history of the team and the WYC but would recall that it was the same team in 1989 in faraway Saudi Arabia in the City of Daman, under the auspices of the Tunde Disu led technical crew that did the impossible by literarily rising from the dead against the then ‘almighty’ USSR’s walloping; equalised and went ahead to beat the dreaded squad.

It was tagged the Daman Miracle by the late doyen of sports journalism commentary, Earnest Okonkwo. That very singular fate drew positive comments for the team, raising the profile and the possibility of Nigeria winning the Champ in no distant time which facilitated FIFA to give the country the nod to host it in 1999. Bear with me dear readers to leave the rest for history.

In short, the story of the Flying Eagles is that of Nigeria. Like Nigeria, the Flying Eagles started on a bright note only to derail due largely to monumental misrules as incompetent leaders in the name of Presidents and Military Heads of State raped the country to stupor. No apologies than that these set of people left a plundered country without hope and promise for the citizenry till date. A once very promising land of milk and honey became a paradise betrayed. It became an epitome of failed leaders and pathological liars.

The present one chance scenario that Nigerians entered since 2015 marked the watershed as the worst in Nigerian history because the government is peopled with liars, pretenders, men of double standards and women that swim in corruption but point fingers at perceived opponents.

They use propaganda to deceive the largely ill-informed populace via trader moni and sachet packaged rice and sundry as a trap. As already said, the story of the Flying Eagles like Nigeria leaves soured taste in the mouth and everyone is running around the vicious circle. It is a great vision lost. The same way I don’t like telling the story of Nigeria is also how I don’t like telling the story of the Flying Eagles. The story of Nigeria that is full of near misses is not different from that of the Flying Eagles. It is a story full of contradictions better imaged than described.

As this columnist authoritatively wrote on this page last year when Paul Aigbogun led the team to a mere World Cup ticket during the African qualifiers, my stand on the competency of Paul Aigbogun as a coach has not changed. I still maintain that if it is a system that works, he would have been fired or a coach with superior pedigree seconded to thinker with him for the overall grand performance of the Flying Eagles; a team overdue to drinking from the WYC Cup.

The coach has released 30 players provisional list as Daily Sports and other sporting media reported in readiness for Poland U-20 football summit. The list of the provisional thirty man list would be run at the tail end of this write up purposely to refresh your memory. Aigbogun has not been able to stamp his ingenuity as a coach at the club sides he handled before this big national assignment was given to him on a platter of gold. He has been here and there at the club level but has like some of his ilk, learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. I won’t border you dear readers with his failures than to recall his stint in Enyimba International   FC of Abia State and Warri Wolves. They were woeful. He could not ring Warri Wolves back to NPFL despite Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s huge financial investment in the club which was heavily engineered by his genuine appetite to invest on the youths through sports which football is the king. Aigbogun displayed his deep-rooted little knowledge of the technical and tactical aspect of the game and as the Warri based side was about collapsing on his head, his godfather, Amaju Pinnick through Felix Anyansi Agwu, the emperor of Aba-based Enyimba International FC gave him soft landing where he again like a leopard with many spots repeated his obvious characteristics of never do well-coaching misadventure. From whatever angle you may be looking at it from, Aigbogun and his lads are not only having a date with history but also will be in Poland in search for identity

He has Abraham as a father in Nigerian football circle and it was that connection that brought him thus far which he has, as usual, failed to exploit to the fullest decisively showing competence, wits and hold.

Coaching is now combined with good looks as Paul Aigbogun can readily flaunt. Some of us are witnesses to the magic that Clemens Westerhof was when he came calling as Super Eagles supremo. His success climaxed in what is today’s most cherished and celebrated 1994 class of the Super Eagles. The Dutch have foresight as he set his eyes on success and he was never greedy hence he assembled a technical crew of choice and note. Recalled that his then right-hand man Bonferee Jo later led Nigeria to win Africa’s first Olympic football medal in 1996.

After my write up on Aigbogun, one thought NFF will do the needful in order to set the tone for the Poland bound Flying Eagles side that has been overdue to a golden laurel at the FIFA WYC tournament. But the team is still left in the hands of Paul Aigbogun alone. It is an open secret that he has no pedigree so far coaching is a concern at whatever level. In short, he has no address in this field but his godfather is giving him the push.

This time around, it will become a joke carried too far again, apologies to President Olusegun Obasanjo. There is an extent to which you can push absolute incompetency which Paul Aigbogun totally represents. Without any prejudice, he is not there on merit but through man knows man syndrome which is the bane of this woeful land of hopelessness called Nigeria.

As I did say when I took up Aigbogun the other time here, I don’t blame those behind him because such is the order of the day and why many obvious incompetent leaders man various offices today especially in the federal civil service and sundry.

Nigeria and the Flying Eagles can safely be likened to sleeping giants that have nobody to awaken them, so it’s been all motion, no movement. As the championship in Portland beckons, there is no glimmer of hope that anything good would come out of this set of men. The lame duck technical leadership of Paul Aigbogun won’t change the cause of history. In fact, one foresees that some players may even decline invites.

At our stage in this competition and the capacity the team built in the past which has been fast eroded over the years, we need serious technical input from an egg head that is an all-rounder; a technical hand that would always be on his toes and think like quicksilver which is what modern day coaches have devised as added advantage. You would see, if you like, computerised coaches that would adorn benches of most teams in Poland as the game has gone to a most enviable height.

I don’t know how you may see my stand of not giving the Flying Eagles a chance in Poland but that is my view and it would no doubt be bitter. I am so convinced that I will not be proved wrong except there is the hand of God by seconding a sound technical hand to work with Paul. If you like religion follow Paul’s antecedents, you will equally express or buy into my fears.

Aigbogun needs to prove most of us wrong and spring surprises. However, you don’t give what you do not have, though. As a realist, this is the situation of things as the Flying Eagles go to Poland to make up the number again in this edition. While we keep our fingers crossed as it remains worrisome and as troublesome as Nigerians would be left to be on their edges when the Champs kicks off but we must put Paul and his boys on the spot. Below is the list he released last week. Enjoy.

Our social media handles are active as ever. Keep shooting hard till next week!!

Aigbogun Submits Provisional Flying Eagles List For U-20 World Cup

Flying Eagles coach Paul Aigbogun has submitted a provisional list of 30 players ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland. The list includes Villarreal of Spain up and coming striker Samuel Chukweze, Bologna of Italy midfielder Kingsley Michael and Manchester City’s midfielder Tom Dele Bashiru, but long Afeez Aremu who helped the team to qualify for the World Cup was dropped from the list.

The Flying Eagles have been drawn in the same group alongside Qatar, USA and Ukraine at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup finals.

The Squad:

Home-Based: Detan Ogundare, Olawale Oremade, Matthew Yakubu, Mike Zaruma, Rabiu Mohammad, Solomon Onome, Ikouwem Udo Utin, Quadri Liameed, Adewale Oladoye, Peter Eletu, Ernest Chidiebere, Victor Arikpo, Effiom Maxwell, Abubakar Ibrahim, Adeshina Gata, Aniekeme Okon, Sor Collins, Ahmad Ghali, Aliu Salawudeen, Tijani Muhammad, Pascal Durugbor, Saeed Jibril, Valentine Ozornwafor.

Overseas-Based: Samuel Chukwueze, Kingsley Michael, Ash Kigbu, Tom Dele-Bashiru, Chinedu Ekene, Henry Offia, Abubakar Jibril, Hamdi Akujobi.

Source Daily Sports

Posted May 6, 2019

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