Academica manager Sérgio Conceição has fired back at John Ogu after he was harshly criticized by the Nigeria international in an interview he granted to a South Africa based satellite television station.

In the interview published on Tuesday, John Ogu directed most of his anger toward Conceição - one of the iconic figures in Portuguese football - after he was relegated to the bench.

In his response, Sérgio Conceição told allnigeriasoccer.com : “John Ogu is not playing due to technical reasons. Academica have a lot of good players.”

The midfielder’s comments which suggested that he was axed from the Academica team for honoring Nigeria’s exhibition match with South Africa back in August are wide of the mark.

In fact, just four days after the Nelson Mandela Challenge, John Ogu made his only appearance for the Students in their league opener against Gil Vicente.

With tension brewing between coach and player, you don’t need a management expert to tell you that John Ogu’s days in Central Portugal are numbered.