Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama has opened up on the line of issues that led to his unceremonious exit from Lille Metropole of France, but says it was ignited by the arrival of Argentine coach, Marcelo Bielsa at the once-vibrant Ligue 1 club.
In what could be Enyeama’s most emotional and down-to-earth expose ever, the 36-year-old shot-stopper said he wanted to end on a high at Lille, but recounts how Bielsa appeared to dislike him from the word go.
Although Enyeama insists he is still active and eager to get another club in France, the former Akwa United of Uyo and Enyimba of Aba keeper, who also ket goal for Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel, said he has painful memories of Bielsa.
Enyeama, who joined Lille in 2011 from Hapoel, won the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria in 2013 and was the club’s first choice goalkeeper, until the arrival of Bielsa in 2017.
That marked the beginning of several spats and brushes that saw him fall down the pecking order, with a shade of injuries added to his woes, until his eventual unheralded departure from Les Dogues.
He recalled: “Everything was fine until he (Bielsa) came. Imagine, I was undergoing treatment when he arrived at the club.
“The first time we met I was in a hospital bed. He walked in and did not even care to greet me or ask if I was okay.
“His assistants came later to check on me. The next day nobody spoke to me and that was how it all began to spoil for me at Lille.
“Perhaps Bielsa didn’t like me but he never said it. However, his attitude towards me was terrible.”
