After former interim coach of the Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen, stepped down and the entire technical crew was sacked by the NFF, Nigerians have been skeptical about who takes over the coaching affairs of the nation’s senior men’s football team.
Following the Super Eagles’ exit from the Total Energy Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon and their inability to secure the World Cup qualifying ticket to Qatar 2022, it is expedient that some things need to be put right to chart a way for the nation to re-attain the feat it once had in world football where Nigeria emerged 5th in April 1994 FIFA rankings.
However, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), aware of the daunting task to reposition the Super Eagles for future tournaments, with the AFCON 2023 in Cote D’Ivoire imminent, are seriously in search of a head coach to fill the void left by Gernot Rohr.
Apparently, the NFF has set the machinery in place to rebuild the technical crew of the Super Eagles, mandating its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to make recommendations within 5 days to the Executive Committee on new coaching crews for the Super Eagles, and other national teams.
Why the rebuilding of the Super Eagles is sacrosanct, and to quell the wide speculations about hiring a local coach as allegedly posited by the Minister of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare, the President of NFF Amaju Pinnick stated that the football governing body has zeroed on acquiring the services of a foreign coach.
Following the resolution to hire a foreign coach for the Super Eagles, snippets from the Glass House have revealed that some foreign coaches have been penciled to be considered for the Super Eagles’ job with Portuguese José Peseiro among the list The Trumpet gathered.
Spain’s Ernesto Valverde, former Paris Saint Germain coach Laurent Blanc, and Philip Cocu rumoured to be among the crop. Who finally gets the job among this crop of foreign coaches is a puzzle that the exclusive right of the NFF to solve.
But with urgency to finish the Super Eagles’ coaching project, the football governing body will not gamble with time to announce to Nigerians the successor of Gernot Rohr. Portuguese Jose Poseiro, the coach earlier contacted by the NFF to take over the Super Eagles after the sack of the German coach last year, is a football tactician who has coached in several clubs in Portugal, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Africa, Romania, and Venezuela.
Poseiro, as an assistant coach in Madrid in the 2003-04 season, proceeded to Portugal to manage Sporting CP, a Primera division club, which ended as runnerup in the UEFA Cup in 2005.
He has also coached in several clubs besides Sporting CP in Portugal like Porto, Victoria Guimaraes, Braga, Nacional, Oriental, União Montemo, and União Santarém, the club he started his coaching career in 1992. The 62 years old gaffer also had a brief spell in Africa with Al Ahly of Egypt, winning the Egyptian Premier League in the 2015-16 season.
He won the Portuguese Cup with Braga, AF Madeira Cup with Nacional, and helped Porto to the finals of the Portuguese Cup where they ended as runner-up.
Following, Spain’s Ernesto Valverde rumoured to have been included in the list for consideration has managed top-flight clubs in Spain, with the most recent being Barcelona.
The football manager, outside the confines of Spain, managed Olympiacos on two occasions, winning the Greece league title three times and the Greece Cup twice. Though without a coaching spell in Africa, Valverde who also coached Athletic Bilbao with a Spanish Super Cup added to his honour, won a treble with Barcelona in the 2017-18 season.
He was also named the La Liga Coach of the Year in 2015-16 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Contending with the Portuguese and Spanish football coaches for the Super Eagles job, is the former French national team’s coach, Laurent Blanc. Blanc, according to records, has coached four teams in his career with many honours won.
His spell with Bordeaux in France Ligue 1 recorded a treble in the 2008-09 season while his PSG’s three seasons reign hauled in over ten trophies for Paris De Princes with three consecutive wins of the French Ligue 1 title.
Going by the names and personalities of the coaches, the NFF has work to do to get the perfect fit for the African style of football and to give the team a blend of local talents and touch of foreign exposed players to go beyond the feat recorded by Clemens Westerhof in 1994.
Probably hoping to continue the successful spell of his fellow compatriot with the Super Eagles, Philip Cocu, the Dutch football manager, took charge of PSV for 5 seasons from 2013 to 2018, winning the Dutch league three times, and Jonah Cruyff Shield twice.
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Reacting to the list of coaches, Nigerians have expressed diverse views geared toward achieving the best for the national team from their own perspectives. Ayodele J. Ayodele said, “Wow! If this is true, then this list is impressive. Laurent Blanc or Valverde for me.”
Hon Dino described Philip Cocu as being unsuccessful in his coaching career, rooting for either Laurent Blanc or Valverde. “Philip cocu is never a successful coach, please go for Laurent Blanc or Valverde,” said Hon Dino.
Olayode Oladimeji opined that the former Cameroon national team’s coach would be a better successor to Gernot Rohr He said, “What of that Cameroon coach at Afcon? That guy is good.” Cameroon’s coach in the recent Afcon tournament, Antonio Conceicao, has also been said to be linked with the Super Eagles’ job.
Antonio Conceicao, who took the host Cameroon to third place in the Afcon tournament, was relieved of his duties with Rigobert Song appointed to replace him.
