The decision to hire a foreign coach for the Super Eagles is not as a result of pressure from any quarters, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said.
Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, a member of the NFF Executive Committee, who made the declaration in Abuja after the committee’s meeting on Friday, said it was a decision the team’s technical crew had long been informed about.
He said the decision had been taken long before the end of the Africa Cup of Nations competition in Angola where the Eagles finished third.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there have been calls for immediate overhaul of the technical crew by supporters of the team, who describe its performance in the continental fiesta as unimpressive.
After the nine-hour meeting, attended by all 16 members of the Executive Committee, the NFF directed its Technical Committee to begin an immediate contact with five foreign coaches.
Ogunjobi said the move was informed by the desire to fortify the technical crew for the task of participating successfully in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa from June 11 to July 11.
“Nobody put any pressure on NFF on this. In fact, we had already discussed this in Angola and the Executive Committee had taken the decision that a foreign technical adviser should be employed for the Super Eagles.
“Already, members of the technical crew knew from the beginning when they were employed that a technical adviser would still come in.
“We even reminded them of this in Angola that at the end of the day we will still do that; and it is something they all accepted,” he said.
Ogunjobi, who heads the NFF Technical Committee, said Super Eagles Chief Coach Shaibu Amodu had always known that there was room for a technical adviser in the team’s technical crew set-up.
“Amodu was appointed as chief coach and he knew a technical adviser was still going to come and it is that aspect of the technical crew set-up that we are now exploring,” he said.
The NFF official said the Executive Committee had seriously given the issue of employing a foreign technical adviser a thought and was going to be careful in its final choice.
“We applaud the Federal Government’s decision, through the Presidential Task Force on Super Eagles’ World Cup Qualification and the National Sports Commission, to fund the hiring of a technical adviser for the team.
“We are going to do this and it is going to be immediate, but we are also going to be careful there.
“This is why we are directing our Technical Committee to contact and screen five coaches we have penciled down from an initial shortlist of 10,” he said.
Ogunjobi listed the five as former Senegal’s Coach Bruno Metsu, Russia’s Coach Guus Hiddink, former FC Barcelona Coach Louis van Gaal, former Ghana’s Coach Ratomir Dujkovic and former England’s Caretaker Manager Peter Taylor.
He said the technical committee was expected to shortlist three names from the five-man list for recommendation to the Executive Committee for employment by the end of February.
Ogunjobi disclosed that Amodu would be expected to work with the new technical adviser if the latter wished, while he would be sent on a refresher course if he and the foreign coach chose not to work together.
“Also, we approved that the present Assistant Coach I, Daniel Amokachi, should begin an immediate camping of the Super Eagles Team B for the 2011 African Nations Championship in Sudan for home-based players and other international friendlies.
“The other members of the technical crew, Fatai Amoo and Aloy Agu, will either remain with the Eagles if the new foreign coach wants or will go to the Eagles Team B,” he said.
The NFF, which had to adjourn its Friday meeting to Feb. 9 in order to exhaustively handle other matters, is expected to make further pronouncements on the new coach next week.
(NAN)
