Is Finidi The Right Man For The Hot Seat?
Erstwhile Head of NFF Amaju Pinnick propounded and perpetuated the notion that the Super Eagles and Falcons coaching boots are way to wide for any indigenous coach to occupy.
It would also seem that his successor Alhaji Gusau has also latched on to this philosophy. Hence, despite the commendable work and laudable outputs of Super Falcons Stand-in Coach Justin Madugu, Alhaji Gusau still worked assiduously behind the scenes to return expatriate American Randy Waldrum into the role when push came to shove. For those clamouring for Finidi, please bear this little detail in mind.
Indeed, the Super Eagles coaching job is a tempestuous and stormy role. Only an individual with a solid umbrella of an array of stakeholder management skills can avoid being capsized in the sea of intolerable forces that can send any mere mortal to a mental asylum.
From powerful players to remorseless journalists/bloggers, from corrupt football officials to selfish football agents, from inadequate infrastructure to frustrating travel logistics, from being owed very many wages for many months, to being expected to deliver by the same people owing you the wages, from trying to motivate players being owed wages to trying to motivate yourself the coach after being abused savagely on social media following 2 draws in World Cup qualifiers and a formation armchair critics do not buy into: it is a wonder anyone in their right mind will put forward their beloved cat to coach the Super Eagles.
Yet the NFF has received plentiful applications from credible coaches home and abroad for this same job.
Also, after intense negotiations, Super Falcons Coach Randy Waldrum was all too happy to return working with the same NFF he had hung out to dry mercilessly before last year's World Cup.
So, there is something viscerally attractive about this job, attractive enough for Rohr to agree to being paid in the plummeting Naira and Peseiro relenting to a pay cut and some truly unimaginable working conditions and increased workload for decreased pay.
So, to the elephant in the room, or rather the former Eagle in the dressing room: Finidi George. Is he the right man for the role?
Who am I to do that question justice? Feelers from the NFF suggest that the decision makers are of the view that - all factors considered - the Super Eagles coaching role, or better still, poisoned portfolio, is way too heavy, way too perilous, for any indigenous coach to carry at this point in time.
And that I tend to agree.
Finidi played a 5-2-1-2 formation that contributed to Nigeria's win against Ghana yesterday. That is enough for some people to hand the role to Finidi on a silver platter. Indeed, some have hailed it as being better than Peseiro's 3-4-3 (I laugh in NFF language) . For Peseiro, he sacrificed 1 midfielder to have wings in front with two wingers. This gave Nigeria width (admittedly overloading Iwobi and Onyeka in the middle). However, with Finidi, the lack of natural width upfront meant the wingbacks had to push higher for longer thereby overstretching the 3 centre backs - something Ghana almost punished in the second half. Also, lack of natural wingers upfront meant Nigeria was narrow in attack, something that could also be further curtailed by a technical opposition.
In football, for everything you hold on to in one formation, you sacrifice something else which shrewd opponents can capitalise on.
It's by far too early to make a case for Finidi on the back of 1 win in my humble opinion. It was like making a case for Eguavoen on the back of 3 fabulous group stage Afcon victory - we all saw how that worked out.
I am not paying for the salary of the coach so from that angle it makes no difference to me who is employed full time.
But, when the heat became too hot in the kitchen, Oliseh fled this same role with his tail within his ruffled plumage. That heat is still there and I can argue that it is even hotter and more inhospitable than Oliseh's time as Super Eagles coach.
Yet, despite abuse from some players (okobi), media (useless fraud), fans (secondary school coach etc) , and even NFF's own media officer (blabber mouth, worst coach in Nigeria's history), Randy Waldrum delivered the goods against all odds.
Despite NFF Officials going on Twitter saying they would have sacked Jose Peseiro if they had the money; despite most fans calling for his head before the Afcon, despite being owed wages; despite his players being owed bonuses ; despite feud with powerful players like Iheanacho and Ekong, Peseiro took us much closer to the Afcon promise land than any other coach in the last 10 years.
And these are only the hardships these two coaches faced that we know of.
The NFF Administrators are no fools. They are well aware that heavy and painful lies the head that wears the Super Eagles Coaching Crown.
So, I think they will only hand the job to a head that is resilient enough to absorb the bashings that come from all corners to him who wears that unfortunate crown. Unfortunate: despite Afcon silver, many ungrateful fans still said "good riddance to bad rubbish" after Peseiro left the role.
In the case of the Super Falcons, the NFF decided not to anoint Justin Madugu.
Only time will tell whether they will anoint Finidi.
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