Is Amuneke the Right Man For The Job?
The NFF have at least made progress in shortlisting the number of candidates to three for the Super Eagles coaching role.
There is this divide as to whether to go for a local or foreign coach. My preference is clear: a foreign gaffer all the way.
But with Emmanuel Amuneke one of the front-runners, will it be such a bad idea if he lands to plum role?
It’s hard to tell really. His senior coaching record is not entirely glittering but it will be shallow to write him off on this basis.
My worry with Amuneke is if he will be able to command the respect of the players and whether he has the strength of character to assemble players that can buy into his philosophy in a compelling manner.
Again, it’s really hard to tell. The only data we have to go by is Amuneke’s underwhelming senior management football records. But even that can be an unhelpful barometer as to how he will perform in future.
So, at this stage, the NFF has to do their due diligence and recruit whichever coach performs best in the interviews with presentation on how they will take the Super Eagles from where we are to where we ought to be.
Aside Late Keshi and Amodu, indigenous coaches rarely qualify Nigeria for the World Cup and rarely perform beyond the semi-final of Afcons.
Perhaps, if recruited, Amuneke can buck that trend – I hope so.