Former Super Eagles skipper, Chief Olusegun Odegbami, has kicked against the employment of German coach, Gernot Rohr, saying he is not competent to transform the fortunes of Nigerian football.
The ex-Shooting Stars Football Club of Ibadan winger, said Rohr has nothing to offer Eagles, adding that he is just using the Nigeria job to boost his coaching credentials.
Speaking about how NFF hired the German coach, Odegbami said, “Nigerians want the Super Eagles to return to winning ways. Winning is what unites them. It is an integral part of what made them the happiest people in the world a few years ago. Victories by their football teams cushion the psychological depression of failure in other sectors, if only temporarily.
“Nigerians have missed the buzz that comes with winning in the past two years. They want it back quickly. The NFF know it and have chosen the path of a foreign coach to rescue the situation. But this is obviously a very big gamble considering Nigeria’s past experiences with foreign coaches since Jo Bonfrere exited about a decade ago,” he said.
Odegbami stressed that the 2018 World Cup will provide the platform for the next big challenge. “For the NFF, it is a matter of ‘lose and sink’, or ‘succeed and survive’. Deep down they know it.
So, I can understand why it is important for them and for everyone else to be interested in who takes over the national team at this critical time after the last two crisis-laden experiences under Nigerian coaches, the late Stephen Keshi and Sunday Oliseh.”
Odegbami argued that if Nigeria should hire a foreign coach, she should have employed the best in the world and not just a mere tactician from Germany.
“Let me state clearly that I have nothing against the idea of hiring the best foreign coaches for Africa’s national teams. But no foreign coach shall get an iota of my support unless he has the credentials, the experience and the pedigree that clearly dwarfs those of the best African locals available, period.
“For Nigeria to qualify for the 2018 World Cup is a huge mountain to climb, but we are all waiting, watching, praying and wishing Gernot Rohr well, despite any misgivings,” he said.
The former Director of the National Institute for Sports said Nigerian football “is suffering from colonial mentality”, as we value foreigners more than local coaches.
“The truth is bitter. But Europe, Asia and the America’s will never (at least not in this lifetime) give a Nigerian coach, no matter his resume, the opportunity to coach a big foreign club or national team, exactly what our administrators demand as prerequisite to confidently hire them to handle the senior national team.
“How will any Nigerian coach, therefore, ever be qualified to handle the national team? Where would they gain and gather the required experience, if not from Nigeria itself and probably a few African countries as in the case of Stephen Keshi?
“Is Daniel Amokachi’s sensational decision to handle a foreign fourth division club in the remote lesser league of Norway driven by the desire to fulfil this far-fetched requirement by our administrators?” he asked.
