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Since Sunday Oliseh resigned his position as Super Eagles coach in February, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been shopping for a foreign technical coach for the men senior football team.
On July 17th, the news broke that the Technical and Development Committee of the NFF, recommended Frenchman Paul Le Guen as the technical adviser for Super Eagles. I recalled that NFF through its official website made a press statement confirming the appointment of Le Guen as new Super Eagles gaffer.
But twenty four hours after NFF’s statement, the former Lyon manager, Le Guen, publically denied any contract agreement with the Nigerian football house, a statement that sparked public outburst from football enthusiasts.
Now, the NFF is it again, on August 5th, the news broke again, the NFF Technical and Development Committee this time recommended a certain German tactician, Gernot Rohr as a possible successor to Sunday Oliseh to take over Super Eagles job.
The questions many soccer enthusiasts are asking the NFF are: Will this not be another ‘Home Video’ from the Glass House, Is Gernot Rohr the right man to lead Super Eagles to the promise land?
Vice chairman of the Technical and Development Committee, Ahmed Yusuf Fresh, confirmed the news on the NFF website.
“The Committee was impressed with Rohr’s profile and current activities for the German Football Federation (DFB), so we invited him to Nigeria for exhaustive deliberations.
“He was very positive, showed great interest in the job and is ready and willing to live in Nigeria. He is also willing to work with indigenous Nigerian coaches and with the committee, and believes the Super Eagles can qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which is very important to the NFF,” Yusuf Fresh affirmed.
My question to the NFF is: Do Gernot Rohr has all the required skills, experience, exposure and technical qualities for Super Eagles job?
Let’s take a critical look at Gernot Rohr’s profile and see if his managerial qualifications best suits Nigeria soccer development project.
If officially confirmed by the NFF, the 63-year-old ex-Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso coach will be assisted by Salisu Yusuf, who was recently appointed as chief coach last month.
Gernot Rohr is a German manager and former footballer. Until now, he works on development programmes for the German football association (DFB)
Managerial career
In 1996, he managed Girondins Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, where they lost to Bayern Munich over two legs, 0–2 away and 1–3 at home. Bordeaux’s run to the final included a famous 3–0 win over AC Milan in the quarter-finals. From October 1998 until April 1999 he was sports director of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Rohr was fired by Étoile Sportive du Sahel following a third-place finish in the league, outside of the 2010 CAF Champions League places, on 15 May 2009. On 9 June 2009, he was named as the new head coach of the Ligue 2 team FC Nantes, his contract running till 30 June 2011. On 3 December 2009, he was fired by FC Nantes and replaced by Jean-Marc Furlan. On 21 February 2010, Rohr replaced French coach Alain Giresse at the helm of the Gabon national football team.
He became manager of Niger national football team in September 2012. He resigned in October 2014.
On 22 December 2015, he was sacked by Burkina Faso national football team as manager.
Just recently, he was shortlisted for the Guinea national team job in July 2016.
Rohr’s recommendation has generated lots of debates within Nigerian soccer fraternity.
Jonathan Akpoborie, a former Super Eagles striker, totally disagrees with the decision of NFF to hire Gernot Rohr as the former VfB Stuttgart forward doubts the technical prowess of Rohr.
Although, Rohf is very familiar with African football, having coached Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso respectively coupled with a stint with Etouil Du Sahel of Tunisia could be a plus to his pedigree.
But, Akpoborie believes Rohr’s choice was based on his experience on Africa football, willingness to reside in Nigeria and develop the nation’s football but not on his tactical and technical strength
Akpoborie opined that the German tacticians record does not merit him been appointed Super Eagles coach.
“I am not really against NFF decision to hire a foreign coach but I am sad that the football house is planning to appoint Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles manager,” Akpoborie noted.
“Going by his CV on some of the coaches he has managed, I don’t think he deserves the senior national team job. Hiring an average foreign coach for the team won’t change the declining level of football in the Super Eagles.
“Coaching teams like Niger, Gabon and Burkina Faso may be great, but not good enough for Nigeria. It would have been better to allow some of our indigenous coaches to manage the team than offer it to Rohr,” he added.
The Super Eagles are placed in a very tough group that consists of Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Rohr’s major assignment will be the qualification of Nigeria for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and if he delivers on this assignment, he would have proved critics wrong.
Having missed out in two consecutive editions of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), millions of soccer lovers can’t wait to see their darling team, the Super Eagles play global stage again, the FIFA World Cup.
Anthony Nlebem
