Our Super Eagles can sack the best coach

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, is in celebratory mood for two obvious reasons. The first is that he is marking his 51st birthday anniversary. Available records show that he was born on December 1, 1970. The second is that after his meeting with the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, on December […]

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, is in celebratory mood for two obvious reasons. The first is that he is marking his 51st birthday anniversary. Available records show that he was born on December 1, 1970. The second is that after his meeting with the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, on December 2, he was given the much-needed ministerial approval to sack the Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr.

The earlier move by the NFF to terminate the contract it had renewed with the Franco-German tactician in 2020 was put on hold by the Minister of Sports who insisted that due process must be followed. It is said that decision was a pain in the neck for the NFF boss.

However, last Thursday’s meeting in Abuja approved the termination of Rohr’s contract on the condition that all his entitlements would be paid either in whole or installments by the NFF. Although Pinnick didn’t speak much on the outcome of the meeting, he was visibly excited. Any other person would do the same thing if given the opportunity to get a monkey off his back.  

That notwithstanding, NFF will have to come back to the Sports Ministry this week with updates on some of the decisions taken at the last meeting. It is, therefore, expected that the NFF would convey to the sports ministry the name of the next coach of the Super Eagles. If the incoming coach is approved by the ministry, then the NFF would go ahead to unveil him to Nigerians and the rest of the world.

The recent decision on the embattled Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles is no doubt a huge relief to the NFF president and other Nigerians who erroneously think the coach is solely responsible for the shambolic performances of their darling team.

However, for some discerning minds, Rohr is not the sole cause of Super Eagles problems. There are numerous reasons the team has failed to perform optimally. And if the problems are not addressed head-on, whoever is brought in as replacement for Rohr would suffer the same fate.

Inarguably, Rohr with his technical naivety failed to help himself. Under him, the Super Eagles have continued to play like sheep without a shepherd. Almost all the good results the team managed to achieve can be attributed to the individual brilliance of the players. After close to six year, the Super Eagles under Rohr can’t boast of a playing pattern or philosophy.

Indeed, he is the architect of his own fall but to say that his sack will end the team’s stuttering performances would be a delusional belief. The Super Eagles as presently constituted is an average team that can’t rise above certain limits.

The players who are mostly based in Europe are overrated. They don’t play with their body and spirit when on national duty. Most of them are even too fragile for Africa’s robust style of football. Nobody plays ‘don’t touch me football’ in Africa.

Therefore, in order to spare Nigerians some of the agonizing moments they have been made to endure whenever the Super Eagles go up against African oppositions, I suggest the NFF should work towards having a strong Team B. The Home-based or Super Eagles B should be a mixture of local players and those who have just joined the foreign leagues. If you were privileged to watch Super Eagles B trade tackles with Atletico Madrid in Uyo in 2018, you will understand perfectly what I mean by my patriotic call for a blend of home-based players and Europe’s new arrivals.

If such a team is put in place, it should be the one to prosecute matches against African oppositions. These hungry for fame players would be more committed and courageous in their tackles. They are also used to Africa’s rough pitches. They will play to market themselves and in the end, Nigeria would benefit. The over-pampered oyibos can be called up when Nigeria is pitched against European opponents.

However, even if we have such a plan B, the bigwigs in the NFF must be ready to stay away from the invitation of players. It is an open secret that some top shots in the NFF usually dictate to coaches the players to invite.  Coaches who succeeded with the team in the past were those who dared to say no to their employers. For instance, Clemence Westerhof called the bluff of the then NFA because he had unhindered access to Aso Rock.

Therefore, I maintain that even if Rohr goes tomorrow, Super Eagles problems would linger as long as there is no change in attitude on the part of the players and the bigwigs in the NFF. Accepted, a good coach can win matches from the dugout but a greater percentage of the work is done on the field by the players.

I doubt if Manchester United would need a coach to annihilate Nigeria’s most successful club, Enyimba FC. This is just to buttress the fact that even without a coach, some matches can be won.

However, if the players are average performers like the ‘new generation’ Super Eagles, even if they are given the best coach in the world, he would fumble and wobble with them. So these Eagles can sack any coach in the world.