NFF and the search for a coach

Recent reports that the Nigerian Football Federation is about to hire a Serbian coach is mindboggling. The fact remains that the Super Eagles needs a coach. But the question is: what type of coach? Is it the type of coach that will restore the glory of Nigerian football or the one that will compound the woes of the Eagles, and keep making the country a laughing stock among the comity of nations? Nigeria has never lacked talented men and women, no matter the field of endeavour. Our problem has always been the management of talents. After emerging champion in the 2013 African Cup of Nations, Nigeria’s football, again, began to degenerate which resulted in the country’s non-qualification for the 2015 African cup of nations. Shortly after the victory, the NFF failed to develop a template to ensure that this victory was sustained, and even improve on the performance of the Eagles. Nothing was done to monitor and assess the performance of the Eagles, and the coach. The team was single-handedly left in the hands of the coach. The same sad story has again repeated itself as Nigeria lost the opportunity to qualify for the 2017 African Cup of Nations. Who is to be blamed? The blame squarely rests on the doorstep of NFF. Has the NFF any vision for running Nigerian football? Is the priority of the NFF officials that of making Nigeria become a football giant? The answer is certainly no. It is very clear from what is happening that the NFF has no vision for Nigerian football. Reports indicate that the NFF is more concerned about primordial issues than the restoration of the glory of Nigerian football. There are allegations of players not being paid their allowances, collection of money by coaches before players are fielded for play, officials withholding the allowances of players even after the money has been released, or officials not declaring, at all, the allowances of players which they collected etc. Football lovers had thought that a new dawn would have been ushered in after the late Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi’s appointment, was terminated by the Amuju Pinnick-led NFF (may his soul rest in peace). It was thought that the NFF would have put its house in order, and searched diligently for a foreign coach to handle the Eagles.

At present, what Amaju Pinnick and the NFF is doing is trial and error. First, it experimented with Sunday Oliseh, even though football analysts had opined then that Oliseh was inexperienced in handling the Eagles. We can recall the NFF Chairman, Amaju Pinnick, defending the appointment by telling 160 million Nigerians that Oliseh was the Abel Guobadia of Nigerian football. Oliseh’s sudden resignation as Eagles coach shows the incompetence of Amaju and NFF. Was Oliseh tested and his coaching credentials scrutinised by football experts before his appointment? Which notable football teams did Oliseh coach before he was appointed? These are questions for the NFF to answer. The NFF should please stop experimenting with Nigerian football. It has appointed an interim coach to handle the Eagles. How long will the interim appointment last? In the interim, what are the criteria for assessing his performance, and that of the players? What are the targets that the NFF set for him?

Football has gone global, which presupposes that the NFF should hire the best of coaches to handle the Eagles. What the NFF should realise is that the reputation of the country is at stake. In administering the country’s football, they should endeavour to go for global standards. They should develop a permanent template for administering Nigerian football, and subject the template to reviews from time to time to align it with global standards and development. There is need for the NFF to commission a study to find out how football is run in countries like Argentina, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, etc. The NFF should find out what makes these countries’ teams the best in the world. As the first step towards reclaiming the lost glory of Nigerian football, the NFF should advertise the Eagles coach job to attract the best hands. The search for the Eagles coach should be competitively determined. Gone are the days when you handpick a coach to coach a big team like the Eagles. The NFF handpicked Oliseh, and now it wants to handpick a Serbian. The second step is that an international team, made up of both local and foreign football consultants, should be constituted to shortlist the candidates, interview and select the best for the Eagles. Again, what type of coach is the NFF thinking about for the Eagles? A competent coach should have the technical depth, managerial ability, discipline, and a strategy for the development of Nigerian football. The coach must be willing to reside in Nigeria. The NFF should draw up a list of criteria for determining the type of coach it desires for the Eagles. The task of restoring the Eagles to its former glory requires understanding, skill, adequate planning and preparation. There are no more minors in football today, and no investment is too big to make for the Eagles.

Smaller African countries like Ghana, Mali, and Cameroun have gone for foreign coaches, and their teams have been revived. Should Nigeria take on Ghana or Cameroun today, it may result in a show of shame. The foreign coaches have impacted positively on the teams, and they are playing like world class teams. We cannot rule out the fact that Nigeria failed to qualify for AFCON 2015 and 2017 because the coaches lacked technical depth, consistency, and managerial ability. Oliseh fell out with Vincent Enyeama over an issue that should not have been an issue in the first place. The NFF allowed Oliseh to disgrace Enyeama. The boomerang effect of the disgrace made Enyeama to retire prematurely. Emenike also retired prematurely. Yet, the NFF was busy watching the drama, without intervening. With a good coach, these players would not have retired. This is coupled with NFF’s inability to develop a template for monitoring and assessing the performance of the team, and the coaches. The coaches were left to do whatever they liked with the team. Why didn’t the then Eagles coach retain the team that won the AFCON 2013. The coach was allowed to continue experimenting until the team failed to quality. With due respect, there were allegations of the coach not fielding some of the best players because he may not get any financial reward from them. Where was the NFF when the experiment was going on? Should building a team go on endlessly? Countries like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, etc have their first eleven. Should Argentina hire a new coach today, the coach will not tell you that he is building a new team. The coach plays with what he has on ground, and introduces changes, where necessary. The truth is that the coaches of these teams go for the best players. They are not swayed by financial and material considerations. If the NFF wants to get the Eagles back to its feet again, it should go for a good foreign coach. The excuse that funding is a problem should not be an issue. If countries like Ghana, Cameroun and Mali can pay a foreign coach, then NFF does not have an excuse, and should be able to pay a foreign coach, if it puts its house in order. Foreign coaches are preferred to local coaches. Football is well developed in Europe. Foreign coaches have the technical ability, because of their constant penchant for developing strategies to improve the game. Europe has football clinics where coaches are trained. How many football clinics do we have in Nigeria and Africa? The NFF should act now to save Nigerian football from further degeneration.

• Dr Nwogbo works with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Abuja