Rohr Pleads For Bordeaux’s Maja

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has charged Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa to give Nigeria international Josh Maja more playing time.

The 21-year-old striker joined Girondins de Bordeaux from Sunderland at the start of the season but has been serving as understudy to former Lyon star Jimmy Briand.

However, despite spending fewer minutes on the pitch than most of the club's other strikers, none has scored more goals than the Super Eagles star who already has five league goals to his name.

Maja has netted seven times and has provided three assists for Paulo Sousa's side this campaign.  But Bordeaux continue to struggle in the league with Les Girondins sitting in 15th place on the Ligue 1 table having lost their last four league games.

Even more disturbing for fans is the manner the Navy Blue-and-Whites crashed out of the Coupe de France last week, suffering an embarrassing 3-2 loss to National 1 outfit, Pau. Maja scored one of Bordeaux's goal that night.

Yet, the Nigerian has only started in five of the 16 games he has featured for Bordeaux in the league.

Rohr, however, urged the club handlers to give Maja more playing time to show what he can do and what he is learning from the veteran players around him.

“You always have to have a little patience with the young people. You have to be well balanced,” Rohr said, according to quotes carried by Girondins33.

“You have to give him the chance to start from time to time. He must be able to learn, too, and this is surely already the case, alongside Jimmy Briand in training, he sees how a great professional prepares.

“I think he's (Briand's) a boy who can give a lot of his experience to Josh Maja.

It was former Bordeaux player and manager, Rohr, who gave Maja his Super Eagles debut last year in a friendly match against Ukraine.