Etim Esim warns NFF not to make Keshi work under pressure

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Etim Esim is up to new things, scouting for players, for onward transfer to Europe, insisting that he is not an hungry scout,

Ques: The one and only Etim Esin. We saw you today show some tricks with the ball today. It’s like the game has not left you? Continue....

I feel that the game is still part of me but the leg is bad and is not allowing me to play the way I would have loved to play.

Ques: So how long has the leg been bad?

Its been for some years now and it pains me so much because I know of the many things that I can do with the ball but for the bad leg. Even today, when I see how badly some players are playing, I tend to feel to feel bad because I know that there is much that the nation should be getting from these players and it hurts people who were leading lights of the game at a point in our soccer history.

Ques: Turning to the state of our football and the drama over the appointment of a coach for the national team. How bad was is that it took us the whole of ten months to get a coach for the Super Eagles?

It was not good for us in anyway because while we were busy making a mountain out of molehill, other African countries who went to the same World Cup in Brazil with us have since gotten new coaches for their teams and we saw the impact those coaches made at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

With the Nations Cup draw now out, we need to start planning seriously and the coach has to have a strong focus in order to achieve any meaningful result with the team. In all, the issue of a coach for the team was not properly handled

Ques: Was the issue caused by Stephen Keshi or the Nigeria Football Federation?

It was all down to ego problem between NFF and Keshi. For Keshi to survive, the NFF has to make the conditions convenient and flexible for him to work and thrive. If they do not make the conditions flexible and convenient for him, he will be working under pressure and would not be able to succeed.

And remember that we did not qualify for the last Nations Cup, which was a big issue for all Nigerians and now that we have another Nations Cup qualifying campaign upon us, it is important for them to make the conditions flexible for him.

Ques: Is reporting to Shuaibu Amodu a tough condition for Keshi to accept?

It is not really that. It is majorly an ego problem between Keshi and Pinnick Amaju.

Ques: Are you confident that our football will take proper shape under the present NFF board?

Let us just give them a chance and see what good they have to offer our football, which I must confess is begging for help, given the past and recent performances of our national team and clubs in continental competitions.

Ques: The Flying Eagles will be campaigning for honours at the next FIFA Under-20 World Championship in NewZealand next month. What do you make of their chances?

I am proud of them and feel that their chances are very bright in the tournament. I saw the way they won the last African tournament in Senegal. They have a chance to succeed. Manu Garba and Nduka Ugbade are doing a good work. And Samson Siasia is also doing well with the under-23 team. He has seen it all at the age-grade level and is definitely up to the task.

Ques: And moving to you, what have you been up to all these years after hanging your boots?

I am a football scout. I scout for talents and make recommendations to prospective clubs, who are interested in these players

Ques: Scouts are generally perceived to be persons who fleece money out of ignorant and unsuspecting and desperate players eager to go to Europe.

I am not like that at all. I am an accomplished former Nigerian player who served this country meritoriously. I played for Nigeria to the highest level. I am not a hungry football scout like you painted. My partners and I do not believe in that kind of thing. We have reliable people in Europe who we make recommendations to and our players’ welfare is our greatest treasure.

The problem as I know is is that most Nigerian players, who got entangled in the web of unscrupulous agents did not go through the right channels. We are reliable persons, with reliable and wide contacts. Imagine if I call Taribo West or Nwankwo Kanu and tell them I am interested in a player they know, don’t you think they will gladly listen to me and my proposition?

But imagine when a journalist now turns to a scout, do you think he will do better than myself, who played the game and understands the dynamics of players? The best agents are former players because they have played the game and are known by all. I have the contacts in Europe and would not allow any player under my watch to suffer