Last week the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the appointment of French man Paul Le Guen as the new Head Coach of the Nigeria Senior National Team, Super Eagles after months of searching for a permanent replacement for Sunday Oliseh who resigned as Head Coach of the Super Eagles in February of 2016. A few hours after the announcement was made, reports from France had it that Le Guen was not interested in the job for several reasons..... I'm not even going to go into that.
Now, this isn't the first time coaches have turned down an opportunity to work with the NFF as super Eagles Coach. Two or three coaches have come only to return to their country even before they settle in to the job.
Well I wasn't surprised at the way the whole Paul Le Guen matter went. I feel only a desperate European coach will accept to work with the NFF as they currently operate.
A coach who's worth his salt would have done his research about the NFF and Nigeria before accepting whatever terms are tabled before him. In the course of the research he'd have discovered one constant issue the NFF has had over the years, the inability to pay coaches salaries as at when due. Now, for someone coming from parts of the world where salaries are never owed, then that's 'A REALLY BIG DEAL'.
A coach who's worth his salt would have done his research about the NFF and Nigeria before accepting whatever terms are tabled before him. In the course of the research he'd have discovered one constant issue the NFF has had over the years, the inability to pay coaches salaries as at when due. Now, for someone coming from parts of the world where salaries are never owed, then that's 'A REALLY BIG DEAL'.
That brings me to my argument which is broken down into several questions.
1] Do we really need a foreign coach for the Super Eagles?
2] Can indigenous Coaches help grow our football and win us trophies at the senior level?
3] Is the Nigeria Football atmosphere at the moment conducive enough for a foreign coach?
4] What does Nigeria Football really need right now.
I'm going to try as briefly as possible to answer these questions and any other that comes to my mind as I type.
1&2. Do we really need a foreign coach and Can indigenous Coaches help grow our football and win us trophies at the senior level? Honestly I will say NO.
Before those of you for the appointment of a foreign coach start stoning me, hear me out. Since Nigeria played her first official senior football match in 1949 against Sierra Leone we've had at least 15 foreign coaches and only two have won us titles, Brazilian Otto Gloria [1980 Nations Cup hosted by Nigeria] and Dutch man Clemence Westerhof [1994 Nations Cup in Tunisia].
Before those of you for the appointment of a foreign coach start stoning me, hear me out. Since Nigeria played her first official senior football match in 1949 against Sierra Leone we've had at least 15 foreign coaches and only two have won us titles, Brazilian Otto Gloria [1980 Nations Cup hosted by Nigeria] and Dutch man Clemence Westerhof [1994 Nations Cup in Tunisia].
If we look at the entirety of Nigerian Football, then we can add Bonfere Jo to the list of successful foreign managers ever hired by Nigeria. He led us to Gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA. I'm sure those arguing for a foreign coach will ask the same questions about our local coaches; How
By the way, one question I ask and haven't really gotten any answer is, Will a Foreign Coach win us the world Cup?
3. Is the Nigerian football atmosphere at the moment conducive enough for a foreign coach? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I'll tell you why.
The NFF no matter how much they get from the government and how often they get it, they are always broke. Until we have a sincere team running our football no foreign Coach or any coach will succeed.
Nigeria Football is run by people who lack the proper understanding of football management hence the over reliance on the government for funding. Football worldwide is big business but somehow our football administrators in these parts don't understand how that works. Brands can't comfortably identify with our national teams and clubsides simply because they don't see in the kind of administrators we have, the expertise needed to give their products the kind of exposure football should give them.
4. What does Nigeria Football really need now? Sound and passionate administrators. It's as simple as Sound administrators have all the know-how needed for football development both technically and commercially. Passionate administrators have genuine love for the sports. So when you combine these qualities, what you have are people who know what they are doing and love the sports truly.
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