The retired Nigerian footballer is considered one of the most gifted Africans ever to play the game
Romanian coach Dorian Marin has slammed Nigerian legend Austin Okocha for his poor man-management skills.
Austin Okocha, one of Nigeria’s greatest-ever players, retired from football in 2008 after an illustrious career that won him accolades from home and abroad.
Since then, the Bolton Wanderers icon has tried his hand at business and football politics, as he was once the Chair of the Delta State Football Association.
Okocha presently serves as a football pundit for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar for African sports broadcaster Supersports.
But former Calabar Rovers coach Dorian Marin claims Okocha was once his manager, and the pair worked together for about 18 months.
Marin accused Okocha of being a terrible manager whose incompetence denied him three opportunities to coach clubs in Southern Africa.
While Marin admits that Okocha was a great player, the Romanian insists Okocha’s dispute with his brother shows the former Super Eagles captain lacked basic interpersonal skills.
“For a year and a half, I had Jay-Jay Okocha as my manager,” Marin told Sport. “Great footballer, grade 10 for his playing career, but zero as a person!
“Because of him I lost not one, not two, but three offers! These were good clubs in South Africa, Angola, and Zimbabwe, and I did not understand why the talks were not being completed.
“Until someone from one of these clubs explained to me that they could not transfer to the team the four Nigerian footballers that I had requested. Except I wasn’t the one who requested them!
“I found out that now even Okocha’s brother doesn’t talk to him anymore!”
During a fantastic playing career, Okocha won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations and the 1996 Olympics gold medal with Nigeria.
The mercurial midfielder is still regarded as a club great at Borussia Neunkirchen, Fenerbahce, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bolton Wanderers.
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keep all this story aside. Nigeria should get an indigenous coach to lead the super eagles team to next world cup. I mean someone with a God fearing heart, not the kind of person that will demand money from a player before featuring him in a match game.
Why would someone hire Okocha to be his manager? It's like an actor in Hollywood hiring Kim Kardashian or Kanye West to be their managers. Good managers are not visible and operate behind the scene. They manage people like Okocha or Ronaldo. Come to think of it, have you ever heard who Okocha's manager was?
The coach went for a shiny person. He got want he deserved.