Veteran Nigerian coach Kadiri Ikhana has said Nduka Ugbade should remain as Golden Eaglets handler.
The Eaglets failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup after losing to Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals of the CAF U-17 AFCON.
The team beat Zambia 1-0 in their first game but lost 1-0 to Morocco in their second fixture.
However, a hard fought 3-2 win against South Africa saw them progress into the last eight before losing to Burkina Faso.
Despite the team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup Ikhana, who led Enyimba to the 2003 CAF Champions League title, believes Ugbade should continue with the team.
“Ugbade has won the World Cup before with the U-17 and he has been with the team for years,” Ikhana said on Brila FM’s Sports Machine. “I think he should be given another opportunity to be with the team.
“His Ugbade a good coach? playing up to the quarter-finals, I don’t think the coach has done badly.“
Meanwhile, Senegal will take on Morocco in the final of the U-17 AFCON.
The Senegalese edged Burkina Faso on penalties after regulation time ended 1-1.
Also, Morocco went through to the final after overcoming Mali via penalty shootout following a goalless draw.
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COMMENTS
Good contribution from the legendary coach Kadiri for the observation. From a personal perspective Ugbade’s team understands basic football and domination game but after failing to let it count when it matters by falling to equally decent teams due to lack of solid top striker in the frame of Ariehi, I will suggest we go back to the man who won us the last u17 WC coach Manu Garba because he’s the main man for the job to produce us a complete team void of excuses and second hand strikers. Let Ugbade go back to his post as assistant because I know how good a trainer he is during camp exercises/screening but waiting for him to develop into a winning coach like Garba will require patience from the impatient lots we have in Nigeria most especially some people on this page who’ll wish for the team to fail so that they’ll come and throw tantrums at their fellow Nigerian well wishers on this forum.
He had a good squad and young talent
Not the best of Top9 Abdullahi is just too in a hurry to shoot,Light Eke tried but he can not give more than we know, I understand the immaturity for Abdullahi but it’s too disgusting he does it all the time and end up scoring 1 goal out of loads of glaring chances. My Boy 15 plus years old Kparobo Ariehi of Beyong limits academy will not give away chances. Boy is deadly and the next Big thing to happen to Nigeria we must be giving him chances to led the future eagles. We are also looking at possibilities of Inter Milan signing him alongside Ebenezer Akinsanro from Mowe Ibafo who just complete a move from Remo stars to Inter Milan.
For the other departments the team is very commendable no wonder they dominate every opponent except converting begging chances and then exposing defence. The defence also looses concentration and go mad committing alien errors SMH but pass mark to Ugbade.
@Chima E Samuels… Abdullah is a top player. He was the best forward that Nduka Ugabde took. Watch out for that boy after few years… He scored two goals and has shots that rocked the post. Did you see his headed goals in WAFU Zone B? Did you see his header that almost looped over the Burkina Faso goalkeeper for what will have been our equalizer but for a finger-tip save by the goalkeeper? That boy can shoot, dribble and head the ball. They all growing…
There were clearly boys from the WAFU Zone B like Ebube Okere who was the midfield anchor and Jubril Azeez who is very similar to Abdullahi Umar but were dropped because their MRI result was grade 5 and not grade 4 that NFF WANTED… meanwhile CAF and Fifa allowed grade 6.
That was why you see new midfielders in place of those at the WAFU Zone B where we dealt with all teams. Nduka Ugbade also messed up for not sending that Tochukwu Ogboji to the bench after he scored an own goal against Morocco. That guy alone was responsible for why Burkina Faso defeated us… HE WAS CLEARLY SUBPAR.
I heard Umar Abdullahi is almost being singned to FC Porto. That will be a good place for him. That boy is a good player, except you no play ball.The team did not play to their potential because some of the boys were playing to impress scout. It was clear to see with all the wayward shooting from 35yards out.
The last time Garba coached that team he failed woefully, Guys the problem is not with coaching or coaches, the main problem is the abandonment of grassroot development of our football. We as a country do not invest in the development of our football and footballers from their tender age where they are supposed to learn the rudiments of football yet we want this same children to go and beat those that are painstakingly developing their football from the same grassroot we chose to abandon , no things don’t work that way. The coaches are not our problems in football, the real enemies of our football are the criminal administrators – from the Ministry of sports to Nff and even state FA’S, the sooner we realized that, the better for our football. Our school system used to be the pipeline for producing our football talents but our so called football administrators destroyed the pipeline so that there will be enough money for them to steal.
Ugbade should continue with this boys to U20, inject more lethal forward and we will be gunning for the elusive U20 world cup. He has paid his dues as an assistant.
It was really heart breaking. These funny coaches will talk, talk and talk , to convince people that they have found the best of legs for a competition, and when you least expected they will dash the hope of Nigerians, just like that. The next thing is to be waiting for another opportunity to fool the nation. This nonsense must stop with this Ugbade. He must go but not before he accounted for the money collected.
WHAT SHOULD ABOUT THE COACH THAT FAILED TWICE IN A ROW -THE U23 FOR THE OLYMPICS QUALIFICATION AND THE CHAN TEAM THAT FAILED WOEFULLY. HE IS STILL IN THE PAYROLL OF THE NFF. WHY?
Ugbade should be saked in my opinion..
This is the only team , for years I have watched that doesn’t have a good bench..
Why come for a tournament as This without having some deadly players coming in to change the game..
In our first game , ugbade was scared and reluctant to bring in a substitute, because he knew there wasn’t any one that could do anything to impact the game than those already playing.
My greatest headache was the defense. I’m sure he had no other player that could do better than the ones playing.. the no 5 in the first game gave the ball in a dangerous position that almost lead to a goal.. in the second game he scored an own goal.. it continued and continued til he finally send the boys back with his errors.. was there no other defender on the bench that could replace him..
Watch Senegal , Morocco and Burkina Faso.. their defense is tight, you need some great Play to break through.. is that the best defender in Nigeria for that level.. poor coaching I must say
Winning the trophy or qualifying for the world cup IS NOT THE SOLE RIGHT OF NIGERIA, please. This is why it’s came game. You are expected to win always. Most importantly, the better team does not always win a game. Let us learn to accept defeats sometimes for that is how we can improve our game. NOBODY SHOULD CRUCIFY NEITHER THE COACH NOR THE PLAYERS.
The coaching crew lack basic football knowledge and what do you expect from the team? The north African boys are the truly the only young players in the competition because they have a better local football organization. All the black African teams are clearly overaged except if we want to deceive ourselves. And what is alarming is that none of these boys came from the reserves and youth teams of any known Nigerian clubs such as Eyimba or Rangers U15/16 for example. Shame 9ja no get a SINGLE well-structured professional club.
He has noting to offer if he can’t qualify the team to the world cup. That has been road map for this present administration starting from de Nfl bosses . They should go and leave Nigerian football to people that understand football
Ugbade should be retained or better still move a step further as coach of the under 20.
Nduka Ugbade was let down by the NFF who refused him taking most of his top players to the Afcon in Algeria because they fell short of the standard set for MRI by the football house despite not falling short of the CAF grade six.This and poor preparations led to a dismal performance.
I’m of the opinion that,had the NFF allowed Nduka Ugbade go with his boys coupled with good preparations,we may have done a lot better.I also think if he is in charge of the under 20,the boys dropped will be part of the under 20 and also those in the current squad who have taking their football to a much better height.
Ugbade is a nice man,a good coach who was just unfortunate.Now he had the experience and that will count for something should he get another chance,I hope he does…
And why should a man who failed to qualify a cadet team to the world cup be promoted to U20. Why should we become so emotional. So, Bosso who qualified his own U20 team to the world cup shd be sacked and Ugbade take his place. Haba.
I’m a big fan of Bosso if you follow my posts you should know that.
Bosso for his good works deserves an upgrade to the under 23’s and the Chan eagles.
Ugbade and Fatai Amoo should work together for the next class of the flying eagles.The under 15 coach should deputise an entirely new coach for the next golden eaglets.
Meanwhile,I have highlighted reasons that could have led to the failure of the golden eaglets failure to pick a ticket for the World Cup.It’s up to the football authorities to decide but I think it will be hasty to sack Ugbade who is not solely responsible for what happened.
Being on the receiving end of a blame can be exhausting,exasperating and painful I feel sorry for Ugbade who’s not entirely at fault.
Ugbade was really poor tactically and doesn’t have a good bench. Goodness me how do not have a number 10?? No player to dictate the pace or relieve pressure for the team. Just gong ho kick and follow football.
The world have moved past that. We need to revisit that U13 and U15 national programs. In 2013 when we lost Bernard Bulbwa, Wilfred Ndidi and Alhasan Muazam Ibrahim to the MRI some fans thought the team was finished yet they played the final and went on to win the U17 WorldCup.
Ugbade lost Ebube Okere, Jibril Azeez and Raphael Oyebanjo to MRI and the team collapsed!!! That shows me he needs to seriously upgrade his tactical skills if he wants be a successful coach in this country.
No problem in retaining him, but he needs to upgrade his knowledge in coaching.
Thumbs up brotherman Ayphilly. You nailed it.
@Ayphillydegreat… Nduka Ugbade did not lose those players to MRI scan. If the boys dropped were allowed to go into the competition, we would have easily made the world cup party.
They passed the MRI scan all with grade 5 but NFF wanted grade 4. Those boys are growing fast and from experience, it js said an MRI scan can move from grade 4 to grade 5 sometimes within two weeks. Those boys were eligible for the competition but NFF stopped them. They could have entered the tournament with grade 5 since CAF and FIFA need grade 6.
@JimmyBall. That was a damaging heartbreaking mistake. There’s no reason for those players not to be in the team for this tournament.
We thought U17 is a walkover because of our dominance in the past. 2015 is approaching a decade and now Morocco and Senegal have literally catch up with us.
If we don’t quickly go back to the grass root system of the U13 and U15 programs we’re doomed. It might even affect our ability to qualify for the next WorldCup in 2026. I mean we lack players with ball sense!!!
…@Ayphillydegreat… I agree with you 100%. Call it arrogance on the part of NFF thinking it was going to be a stroll in the park for us. We must always attend tournaments with our very best.
You will be surprised NFF top dogs did it deliberately to have their own players pushed into the team insisting on Grade 4 result for the MRI scan, flimpsy and arrogant excuse, just to remove players who have Grade 5 and 6 then get their own young players who may not be as good as those with Grade 5 and 6.
Watching the tournament you could see players in Burkina Faso(No. 10) and Senegal (No. 10) were clearly at least 20years of age, but with an MRI scan result of 6, they went in as eligible. Nduka Ugbade kept begging NFF till the CAF window for submission of final list of the squad lapsed. This is even despite CAF changing the disqualification rule for the whole team from just one player failing, to four players failing the MRI scan… there is no team that will ever remain the same if four key midfielders who are starters are dropped from a young team.
The man requested his team finish preparation in Germany, the trip did not materialize.
Success is a the result of a process. Some of those boys never played in cold conditions like in Algiers but the Germany trip might have helped them to acclamatize.
Despite losing the likes of Ebube okere and others to MRI, ugbade failure to use Ifeoluwa Olowoporoku who many see as the best talent in the u17 camp was a grave mistake. The boy is the answer to the creative that was missing in the team.
I heard about the Olowoporoku guy also… he came in against South Africa and showed flashes of brilliance…
There was a player that came in during the match against morocco as a sub, the moment he came in we began to press morocco more with his brilliance flashes. Why olowoporoku was not brought in baffles me, maybe because of his height. For me this team was complete despite us missing 4 key players. This players just wanted to show off to scouts and didn’t play as a team
Ugbade lost players to MRI abi to overage syndrom. Make una continue to dey deceive unaself.
This is what happen to unreasonable coaches when you come for screening and choose all the players you want in one day of the screening and tell other players that are good more than ones you have chosen that whether they are good or not you have gotten the players you need in one the of screening. That’s why some coaches fail in their duty.
This is what Nduka Ugbade told my boys I sent to him for screening