In Nigeria, thunder strikes on one spot severally. We take delight in repeating the same mistakes. For us here, there is always a Nigerian way of doing things even if it means crashing our heads on Olumo Rock. We are experts in shortcuts. It is the reason things that work seamlessly in other climes become stumbling blocks here. We are back in the trenches as it concerns getting a replacement for Gernot Rohr. The big question is – has Nigeria truly sacked Rohr?
Coaching is a function of hiring and firing depending on the manager’s successes, especially for impatient employers. In fact, when teams are fumbling their fans wave the white flag calling for the coach’s sack, if the teams’ fortunes continue to dwindle. What stands the European clubs’ management out is the fact that they have organised and tested systems which throw up the next manager when anyone is sacked or should I say released mutually. Indeed, there are two types of coaches. Those already sacked and those waiting for their sack letters.
The clubs and countries which sack their coaches have a list of managers whose patterns of play fit with their football philosophy, making their transition smooth whenever the deals are struck. These entities headhunt the coaches who meet their criteria on a scale of preference starting with their first choices. By the time they get to their third candidate, a decision would have been made. Names of likely coaches to replace sacked or released ones start with speculations. Nothing is made public by the prospecting club or countries until the unveiling day. Negotiations are done by those whose duty it is to conduct that exercise and the managers’ agents.
The rules for negotiations are clear for clubs. Countries can seek the services of coaches under employment provided they can meet the extant clause for such deals. The team would be handed over to the most senior coach on an interim status, although some enterprising coaches can end up taking the job if they steer the side back to winning ways. Can anyone say that Gernot Rohr has been sacked given our antecedents? If yes, who would handle the team? Is it Salisu? Could it be Joseph Yobo, who many people say isn’t a certificated coach? Or would we draft Austin Eguavoen to handle the team? Or would we in characteristic style cast an indulgent eye on the lacuna on grounds that the team’s next assignment is still over a month away?
The critical question would be who to hand over the Eagles to? Former players have failed us after pyrrhic feats. They have been unable to manage the egos of our top stars. What makes this aspect of our ex-players’ relationship with the new kids on the bloc intriguing is that those things are ex-stars exhibited as players they now detest. Besides, our former stars who handled the Eagles have grown from being players to managers. These flaws create room for indiscipline in the squad and at other times groupings that disunite rather than unite the team on and off the pitch. The incumbent NFF Technical Director Austin Eguavoen is the only one who hasn’t crossed swords with the current stars. Will Eguavoen be given the latitude and support foreign coaches have to handle the Eagles in Cameroon on a short-term deal, especially now that he is back in school at the National Institute for Sports (NIS)? Difficult question, although many readers here would say never.
This talks of handling the Eagles if it is true that Rohr has quit the job falls on Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu, who was caught on camera in a sting operation accepting $700. Salisu has served his term and had apologised for being naive in the handling of the sting operation. those who know Salisu say he is a very good coach. But the snag would be how the foreign media would present him during matches. I won’t be surprised if these media men, analysts, and commentators keep mentioning the bribe saga repeatedly, including showing the visuals on television during Nigeria’s international matches. Is this the type of image befitting of one of the most populous nations in the world? I feel sorry for Salisu. This would have been his best chance to prove his technical mettle at the big stage. What this unfortunate setting leaves us with is a complete overhaul of the Eagles technical crew. Why not? Recently, the Eagles have been uninspiring during matches. No urgency in their approach to games, except for Victor Osimhen who hustles for the ball which he wants inside the net for as many times as the opponent loses possession of the ball. Osimhen is out of the Eagles squad to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations holding in January in Cameroon.
In Nigeria, thunder strikes on one spot severally. We take delight in repeating the same mistakes. For us here, there is always a Nigerian way of doing things even if it means crashing our heads on Olumo Rock. We are experts in shortcuts. It is the reason things that work seamlessly in other climes become stumbling blocks here. We are back in the trenches as it concerns getting a replacement for Gernot Rohr. The big question is – has Nigeria truly sacked Rohr?
Coaching is a function of hiring and firing depending on the manager’s successes, especially for impatient employers. In fact, when teams are fumbling their fans wave the white flag calling for the coach’s sack, if the teams’ fortunes continue to dwindle. What stands the European clubs’ management out is the fact that they have organised and tested systems which throw up the next manager when anyone is sacked or should I say released mutually. Indeed, there are two types of coaches. Those already sacked and those waiting for their sack letters.
The clubs and countries which sack their coaches have a list of managers whose patterns of play fit with their football philosophy, making their transition smooth whenever the deals are struck. These entities headhunt the coaches who meet their criteria on a scale of preference starting with their first choices. By the time they get to their third candidate, a decision would have been made. Names of likely coaches to replace sacked or released ones start with speculations. Nothing is made public by the prospecting club or countries until the unveiling day. Negotiations are done by those whose duty it is to conduct that exercise and the managers’ agents.
The rules for negotiations are clear for clubs. Countries can seek the services of coaches under employment provided they can meet the extant clause for such deals. The team would be handed over to the most senior coach on an interim status, although some enterprising coaches can end up taking the job if they steer the side back to winning ways. Can anyone say that Gernot Rohr has been sacked given our antecedents? If yes, who would handle the team? Is it Salisu? Could it be Joseph Yobo, who many people say isn’t a certificated coach? Or would we draft Austin Eguavoen to handle the team? Or would we in characteristic style cast an indulgent eye on the lacuna on grounds that the team’s next assignment is still over a month away?
The critical question would be who to hand over the Eagles to? Former players have failed us after pyrrhic feats. They have been unable to manage the egos of our top stars. What makes this aspect of our ex-players’ relationship with the new kids on the bloc intriguing is that those things are ex-stars exhibited as players they now detest. Besides, our former stars who handled the Eagles have grown from being players to managers. These flaws create room for indiscipline in the squad and at other times groupings that disunite rather than unite the team on and off the pitch. The incumbent NFF Technical Director Austin Eguavoen is the only one who hasn’t crossed swords with the current stars. Will Eguavoen be given the latitude and support foreign coaches have to handle the Eagles in Cameroon on a short-term deal, especially now that he is back in school at the National Institute for Sports (NIS)? Difficult question, although many readers here would say never.
This talks of handling the Eagles if it is true that Rohr has quit the job falls on Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu, who was caught on camera in a sting operation accepting $700. Salisu has served his term and had apologised for being naive in the handling of the sting operation. those who know Salisu say he is a very good coach. But the snag would be how the foreign media would present him during matches. I won’t be surprised if these media men, analysts, and commentators keep mentioning the bribe saga repeatedly, including showing the visuals on television during Nigeria’s international matches. Is this the type of image befitting of one of the most populous nations in the world? I feel sorry for Salisu. This would have been his best chance to prove his technical mettle at the big stage. What this unfortunate setting leaves us with is a complete overhaul of the Eagles technical crew. Why not? Recently, the Eagles have been uninspiring during matches. No urgency in their approach to games, except for Victor Osimhen who hustles for the ball which he wants inside the net for as many times as the opponent loses possession of the ball. Osimhen is out of the Eagles squad to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations holding in January in Cameroon.
Thank goodness the 2022 World Cup begins on November 21 in Qatar, which gives Osimhen close to one year to recover fully and get prepared for the Mundial using his club’s matches in Italy and in the UEFA inter-club competitions.
Therefore, if Nigeria must become the first African nation to play at the semi-final stage of the World Cup, she must recruit a coach with a pedigree which means he must be underemployment, not journeymen. Nigeria must headhunt the next Super Eagles Technical Adviser who must have a bias for discovering talents from within the country. What it simply means is that the new Eagles coach should be excited to live and work here not be a visiting coach like we always have.
Those waving the emotional flag that Rohr should be kept at the helms until after the Africa Cup of Nations should know that Nigeria has won the trophy, making it insignificant. However, playing at the semi-final stage would be an African record, one in which a properly motivated Nigerian side can qualify for the final through a deliberate policy spanning one year. Qatar 2022 holds in less than a year. If we get the ingredients right, not under Rohr, we can play in the finals given the average Nigerian’s Spartan spirit when faced with competition. The ripple effects of qualifying for the final or even the semi-finals are massive beginning with the financial rewards and the focus of the world on Nigerian youth as future stars. The talents at the grassroots can’t find expression at the international platform with the visionless administrators running the league.
Countries’ growth in football is measured by the number and quality of home-grown lads. For us, it is the reverse. We chase those discovered and nurtured overseas. Unfortunately, nurseries and academies whose activities are not streamlined by the federation are the ones exposing our local kids through shylock agents to Europe, Americas, and the Diaspora. What a shame. With the 2022 World Cup less than a year away, Nigeria urgently needs a foreign coach with depth to handle the Super Eagles. Nigerian coaches won’t be respected and can’t stand the test of time.
