The good news is: it can only get better for the Eagles from here on out. However, the Glass House must provide Oliseh with preparatory friendlies to avoid a repeat of Saturday'...

COMMENT By Solace Chukwu Follow on Twitter By

It’s been well over 48 hours, a safe enough distance from the wild over-reaction that followed on the heels of Sunday Oliseh’s debut in the Nigeria dugout.

Football may well be the ultimate dream factory, but every now and again, a splash of icy reality is needed.

A draw against Tanzania is hardly ideal, but it is worth acknowledging that it could have been a lot worse. Granted, it could also have been better; not by much though, in the prevailing circumstances. Nigerians can take solace in the fact this is possibly the worst fare to be served under the former Super Eagles captain at the helm.

The responsibility for this lies, not just with the coaching crew, but with the NFF as well. The Glass House will have a lot to say about whether the discordant display in Dar s Salaam is remembered with mild bemusement or with doleful anguish.

Nigeria will begin the journey toward the 2018 World Cup in Russia in early November; first away at either Swaziland or Djibouti, and then at home. In the intervening period, there is one international window in October: between the 5th and 13th of October.

If the incoherence, both in strategy and play, that brought the team perilously close to defeat against Tanzania is to be remedied, this window must be utilized. In that nine-day span, the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF must see to it that two friendlies are scheduled for the Super Eagles.

Pinnick | Has as much to prove as the new coach

The magisterial tone of that last paragraph is not intended to jar. In appointing Oliseh, NFF took a tremendous leap in the dark, perhaps without fully considering all factors. However, the milk is spilt and should not be mourned; the onus is on both parties to prove the gamble was the right call, and that task starts straightaway. The NFF owes it to the nation to provide the coach with situations where he can make mistakes and learn on his feet, as he is now condemned to do.

Failing this, the next window after the double-header against Swaziland/Djibouti is 21-29 March, 2016; that week sees Group G leaders Egypt, perfect so far in Afcon 2017 qualifying and high on confidence, come calling in a game the Super Eagles cannot afford to lose.

To go into that game with the team in this state would be suicide. Two Afcon absences in a row is hardly fathomable, and such failure on the part of the NFF cannot be explained away—the World Cup may not be our birth right, as we were inelegantly informed once, but missing the Afcon again; oh, the shame!

When these games are scheduled (surely, they must be), Oliseh owes it to himself and the nation to maximise them. A twisted positive from the barely-watchable Tanzania display is that there must surely now be an idea of those who have a future within the team. That group will be the armature upon which the entire team going forward will stand.

Oliseh | Needs to identify his key core of players urgently

The right players must be selected based on form, fitness and ability; as well as an eye to adding specific qualities to the team. One of the glaring deficiencies at the weekend was the lack of thrust from full-back, for example. Kingsley Madu is an excellent full-back going forward and must be liberated to do so; a kindred spirit must be found on the other flank.

Oliseh must also seize the opportunity to perfect his match strategy.

Some of it was down to a lack of cohesion, but there was little logic to his attacking play against the Taifa Stars. It is thoroughly impossible to attack with just four players—not only does it make it impossible to create effective link-up in the opposing third, it splits the team in two bands with nothing in-between. These are the sort of matters that require addressing, and for which solutions must be proposed and test-run until the bugs are found.

The time for witty soundbites is done, on both sides; the time to get the Super Eagles off the ground is now. Having wagered all, the NFF must show good faith by their works. Failing this, the Oliseh experiment is as good as dead in the water.