By: Deji Omotoyinbo

Here we go again! The search for yet another foreign technical adviser to tinker the Super Eagles has begun and all so familiarly, that Deja-vu feeling has returned. Unfortunately, as was the case in the past, we do not have a clear idea of who or what we want. The only certainty is we want an expatriate coach! A popular quote says ‘’Those who fail to learn from History are condemned to repeat it.’’ Well it seems to me the mistakes of the past are about to be repeated and sadly, if care is not taken, Nigerian Football will be worse for it.
It is pertinent to recap the history of foreign coaches on our shores. That will allow all of us, especially the younger folk, to realise that the appointment of an expatriate is not a magic wand that solves all our footballing problems. For clarity, I will split the historical details into Pre-Westerhof and Post Westerhof eras.

POST WESTERHOF

Since the 1994 World Cup, the Super Eagles has had 6 expatriate coaches:
JO BONFRERE -1995-1997
PHILLIPE TROUSSIER- 1997
BORA MILUTINOVIC-1998
THIJS LIBREGTS-1999
JO BONFRERE-1999-2001
BERTI VOGTS-2007-2008
LARS LAGERBACK-2010.

Of the six gentlemen, only Jo Bonfrere, who came to Nigeria at the instance of Clemens Westerhof lasted 2 years, twice. The rest lasted between 6 and 12 months! None of them won a major honour. I am discounting the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Gold won by Bonfrere Jo because that is an age grade competition and does not count when National team honours are listed. 9 Nigerians have also held the post variously since 1994.The only major honour post Westerhof was the Nations Cup won by Stephen Keshi in 2013. Also, post 94, Nigeria qualified for the World Cup 4 times. Instructively, one of those qualifications was earned by a foreign coach-Phillipe Troussier in 1997. The other 3 were achieved by Shaibu Amodu twice and Stephen Keshi once. And of the four coaches-Milutinovic 1998, Onigbinde 2002, Largeback 2010 and Keshi 2014 that took the team to the World Cup finals, only two-Milutinovic and Keshi got beyond the first round.


PRE WESTERHOF

Between 1949 and 1989, 15 foreign and 7 local coaches handled the National team at various times. In all that time, Nigeria won one major honour which was the 1980 African Nations Cup on home soil with a team managed by Brazilian Otto Gloria.

OVERVIEW
FOREIGN COACHES-22
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
2 NATIONS CUPS
2 WORLD CUP TICKETS
2 WORLD CUP ROUND OF 16 PLACING
LOCAL COACHES-16
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
1 NATIONS CUP
3 WORLD CUP TICKETS
1 ROUND OF 16 PLACING

So overall, of the 22 foreigners who have managed the Nigerian team in its history, only 2-Clemens Westerhof and Otto Gloria won a major honour. Also two of them-Westerhof and Troussier earned World Cup spots and two-Westerhof and Milutinovic got through to the knockout phase at the Mundial.
For the Nigerians, of 16 that bossed the side, only Keshi won a major honour, Amodu and Keshi earned 3 World Cup tickets while Keshi got through to the 2nd round. If you ask me, I would say the expatriate coaches have not particularly outshone the locals judging by the record books.
With the records established, it is pertinent to take a look at some real issues to be considered in the search for the expert expatriate.

NAME/PEDIGREE

The NFF has got to make a clear distinction between going for a big name and going for a big name with a proven pedigree. There is a tendency to just pull names out of a hat without considering whether the mentioned individual indeed has the required coaching pedigree to handle the team. One of the names that has been widely touted is that of Ruud Gullit. Well known as a fantastic footballer who captained Holland to the 1988 European championships and played with distinction for the great AC Milan side of the late 80’s and early 90’s. Top class footballer, yes. Top class coach, I don’t think so! For the records, Gullit was the first non British manager to win a major trophy in England when he led Chelsea to the FA Cup in 1997. But since then he has had no notable coaching impact handling Newcastle, Feyenoord and LA Galaxy with little success. His last job was in Russia as coach of Terek Grozny. Appointed in January 2011, he was fired 6 months later after winning only 3 games and accused by the club hierarchy of having a ‘’party lifestyle’’. He has only done media work since then and has no experience as national team coach. So on what basis is the NFF considering the Dutchman? Or is it just a case of dropping big names? With all due respect to Gullit, his coaching pedigree at international level cannot stand beside that of Stephen Keshi or even Shaibu Amodu for that matter! Big names also cost big money! Brings me to the next point.


SALARY

I have it on good authority that the aforementioned Ruud Gullit is asking for a pay check of 4 million British pounds per annum! You do the math. That is equivalent of roughly 1 billion Naira!! May I remind us all that Keshi’s salary was a paltry N60 million naira annually. Yes, that is peanuts in international football terms. Well respected financial magazine Forbes published the salary of all 32 coaches at the 2014 world cup. Keshi was number 28 on the list. Of the five African countries at the Mundial only the Ghanaian coach earned less than the Super Eagles boss. Volke Finke of Cameroun was roughly at par while both Sabri Lamouchi of Ivory Coast and Valid Halidhozic of Algeria’s salaries nearly tripled that of the Nigerian coach!! Surprised? Don’t be! Expatriate coaches don’t come cheap. The big names that are being linked with the Super Eagles job command in the region of 4 to 6 million US dollars in annual wages. Where is the money going to come from? Government? Don’t think so. The Minister has made that clear. And even if Government decides to pay, there is no moral justification for it in a country where other sports are denied base level funding. The private sector? I am yet to see a properly run and audited company that can justify that huge expenditure to its shareholders. A rich and benevolent individual? Possible but unrealistic. So where is the money to pay this big name expatriate coach going to come from? Honestly, I do not know and I do not think the NFF are sure either.

COMMITMENT

I am of the opinion that most foreign coaches that handle African teams are Footballing Mercenaries who are in it for the money, pure and simple. I stand to be corrected. I am not sure these gentlemen will have the passion and the commitment level required to truly develop football and lay a groundwork for the future. To compound the issue, Nigerian football fans and the media are notoriously impatient and will demand instant results. If that doesn’t happen, the pressure becomes so intense and the axe will likely fall. And then we start the cycle all over again. If care is not taken, it becomes a vicious circle.

WAY FORWARD

I do not have any problems with hiring a foreign coach for the Super Eagles if we feel that is the way to go though I do not neccesarily agree with that position. My worry is we go about it the wrong way and oftentimes end up making the wrong choice. In my humble opinion, the expatriates have hardly fared better than Nigerian coaches in our footballing history. We need to be realistic and pragmatic in our choice. We also need to be patient with the new man in charge.Results will not always be good. Football doesn’t work like that. We have to learn that success is a process full of ups and downs. I have said this several times I am beginning to sound like a broken record. Let me close with a little story.

THE WESTERHOF MODEL

In 1997, I ran into former defacto Vice President of Nigeria in the person of Late Rear Admiral Augustus Aikhomu at the famous Notting Hill Carnival in London. He told me of how he encouraged Clemens Westerhof to come to him directly for anything he wanted and bypass the bureaucratic bottlenecks that threatened to frustrate him within the NFA. Westerhof came to Nigeria in 1989 as an unknown, endured embarrassing and disappointing losses like the 5-1 thumping at the hands of the Algerians at the 1990 Nations Cup and a 2-1 loss to Ghana at the Semi finals of the 1992 competition before the much celebrated successes of 1994. Without the backing of the country’s number 2 man who showed great belief in and visionary patience with the Dutch tactician, I doubt if he would have lasted as long as he did. But eventually persistence paid off and the foundations for the Super Eagles emergence as a major force in international football were laid.My point- without Aikhomu, Westerhof would have been long gone!

My advice to the NFF:
Forget the idea of a big name coach-you simply cannot afford it.
Go for a good young unknown man with great technical ability,(they exist) maybe from Eastern Europe.Will most likely be affordable and committed as he wants to make a name for himself.
Give him a long term contract of at least 4 years
Stick to him through thick and thin as he tries to build a team. Do not panic at the first sign of poor results
Give him all necessary logistics support
Do not interfere with his team selection
Treat him with utmost professional respect and courtesy
Hand him a clearly defined long term goal
Realise and appreciate that building a winning team takes TIME!
Don’t lose focus.
Stick to the plan
LOOK INWARDS IF YOU CANNOT FIND A REALISTIC AND AFFORDABLE EXPATRIATE
I very much doubt though that the NFF will take to my two kobo’s worth. Here we have a rabid impatience with coaches and a level of expectation that boggles the mind. Nigeria is the only country I know of that sacked a coach for losing a friendly match. ( Eguavoen, after a 4-1 loss to Ghana in London!) The average Nigerian football fan and the numerous pundits and experts display such arrogance and dare I say naivety when it comes to football. The Super Eagles are expected to win EVERY match and EVERY tournament! We are so good and are blessed with such talented footballers that we CANNOT lose.Indeed. As long as we continue to live in this self inflicted fool’s paradise then NOTHING will change. A new coach will come, give his best but will be sacked at the first sign of poor results or a dip in form. And then the process starts all over again! I do hope I am wrong and we have learnt. But deep down I know I am right…..unfortunately.

http://sportvisionng.com/soccer/expatriate-coach-the-real-issues/

FP

wao!!! what an inspiring insight..... what do you think about keshi?

nice write up op..... I believe amaju pinnick won't mk d mistake you listed.... keshi selection has bin poor of late, he has taken us to a certain level(african dominance) tho we r shaking naw but we need sumone to make d team a force internationally take Southampton for instance they sackd d coach wu brought dem up from league two to d epl n appointed pochettino to take dem to another level....