It would be recalled that Siasia originally demanded the sum of $50,000 (about N15million) per month as salary for him to tinker the senior national team. That request was part of what delayed his appointment, as the football authorities cried aloud that they could not afford such a jumbo pay as salary for the coach if they engage him.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State-born tactician has explained that he demanded for that amount to enable him concentrate on his job. He said with such a salary every month, no player would be able to influence him, neither would he have any reason to ask for any form of financial gratification from any player.
Siasia made himself clear on DStv during the week while fielding questions from a team of sports analysts made up of Daniel Amokachi, Collin Udoh and veteran TV presenter, Charles Anazodo.
On the allegation that Nigerian coaches usually collect bribe from players, which force them to build their teams around unfit players, Siasia said: “It's that lure that made me to demand for that amount of salary from the NFF in the first place. “I made that demanded to avoid the distraction of bribery allegations because I believe that with a reasonable salary, such allegations would die a natural death.
“However, in all my previous assignments, I have never demanded or collected any form of bribe from any player, and I won't start doing it now.”
The former international striker stated that while he reigns as national team coach, there would be no sacred cow in the team, no benchwarmers, and the major criteria for making the national team would include the player’s form and ability to command a regular first team shirt in his club.
His words: “What I want to promise Nigerians is that during my tenure as the man in charge of the Super Eagles, there won’t be any sacred cow in the Eagles. The era of players strolling into the camp and picking shirts has gone for good. It does not matter who is involved, if a player is not in form and does not command a regular first team shirt in his club, that player will not make my team.
“Therefore, any player who wants to make my team must always be in form and must be commanding a regular first team shirt in his club. Whoever does not meet these criteria should forget playing for the Eagles. “Nobody is exempted from meeting these criteria, including the captain of the team. If the captain falls short of my criteria, he would have no place in the team. It is no more business as usual; any player nursing the ambition of playing for the national team should get ready to work hard to earn his place in the team.
“Again, I want to state that the era of having a demarcation between foreign-based and home-based Super Eagles is over. For me, I would rather call all of them national team players. I don't think there is any need for those prefixes: foreign and home-based,” Sia-One declared.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics silver-winning coach in the football event, further revealed how he hopes to rebuild the national team. According to him, there would be a strong home-based team just as Nigeria had it during his time as a national team player under Clemence Westerhof. He revealed that he has submitted his programme to the technical committee of the NFF with the hope that the committee would approve his submission and thereby helping him in building a strong national side Nigerians would be proud of.
Meanwhile, it's good to reveal that a member of the committee and former teammate of Siasia, Victor Nosa Ikpeba, has assured the coach that he would get the committee's nod, as every Nigerian wants the best for the country's football. Revealing part of his programme, Siasia explained that the home side of the Eagles would be training from Mondays through Thursdays, and would only go back to their respective clubs on Fridays for their weekly matches.
According to him, that was the style during the Westerhof's era that helped the Dutchman to build a formidable team that was the envy of other nations. “One of the things I intend doing is to build a solid national team with the players who ply their trade at home. That's what it used to be during my time as a player in the Super Eagles. That time, we used to train from Mondays to Thursdays and thereafter, go back to our respective clubs to play our weekly matches either on Saturdays or Sundays as the case may be. I want to re-introduce that format in order to make the national team shirts competitive again, and also for our players to begin early to blend.
“There would be a level playing ground for every Nigerian player irrespective of where the person is based. I would like to build a strong side at home, so that we would only require two or three players among the ones outside the country any time we have a match to prosecute. The home-based players will surely complement my team,” Siasia submitted.
source:http://www.sunnewsonline.com
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