Izuchukwu Okosi
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THE Nigeria Football Federation are said to be keen to severe ties with the head coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr after a slew of poor games.
Some of the wins came with the Eagles struggling to get past supposedly weaker opposition which Nigerian football faithful are not accustomed to in the good old days.
Prime Business Africa’s Senior Correspondent IZUCHUKWU OKOSI examines the pros and cons of sacking the Franco-German before the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January.
There has been conflicting updates from the Nigeria Football Federation as regards the sack or retention of Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament to be held in Cameroon in January 2022 is little over four weeks away from now and the argument for the sack or otherwise of the Franco-German has dominated the headlines in recent weeks.
The decision on the future of Rohr is one that must be made as soon as possible as it has many ramifications on the team’s quest to win a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title in February 2022.
The earlier it is resolved, the better for Nigeria’s football.
In support of Rohr remaining as head coach of the team, it is important that the team bon is uppermost in the thoughts of the Nigeria Football Federation in whatever decisions they make. Moreso as the tournament in Cameroon is only four weeks away from now.
There could little time for any new coach to implement his game plans.
There is what is now known as the ‘New manager’ s bounce’ with players fervently trying so hard to impress the new coach which is like two sides of an edged sword.
On one hand, it serves to motivate the players but it also gives room to selfless play being at premium and players gunning for self glory over team success.
The other side of the coin seems to show a clear distinction on why it is best to fire the onetime Bayern Munich defender.
Firstly, the bad press about Rohr – justified or not – will end and the Eagles will head to the Africa Cup of Nations in a clean slate devoid of rancour.
It is also expected that an incoming head coach will be mandated by the NFF to give the home based players a chance to play in the national team.
Needless to say that almost the entirety of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) players and clubs are solidly behind the sacking of Rohr for his lack of faith in the league players.
However it is not just the home based players that should be treated fairly. Some foreign born players of Nigerian descent have been in good form and have not even been approached by the eggheads of the NFF or the Super Eagles scouting team in the first place.
Today, the Super Eagles clearly lacks creative midfielders who should be create hordes of goal scoring chances for the Eagles. There are a few players who deserve callups to the team but are still ‘languishing’ at their clubs and are not even considered so far.
Very good examples are the duo of Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze and Akinkumi Amao who plays for Swedish side, Hammarby FC.
Eze who should have been approached by the Nigeria Football Federation (again) during his months of inactiveness due to the injury he sustained prior to Euro 2020.
The NFF boss Amaju Melvin Pinnick in 2017 met with the midfielder in London and possibly sold him the idea of playing for Nigeria. The conversation pethaps did not proceed further than a brief discussion.
Nothing stops another shot at convincing the Crystal Palace number 10 but the tact employed is key.
The fact that Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and later Bukayo Saka were lost to England partly because of the tacky approach employed should have guarded those in charge on how not to go about such things.
Emmanuel Dennis is in the form of his life for Watford in the Premier League and unless he breaks his limbs and legs before the Nations Cup which keeps him out of the team, Rohr would have no reason not to have him in the team.
Even with his documented stubborn streak. If there are issues similar with the coach to that of former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guenduizi, it will be resolved amicably.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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