The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday announced the permanent appointment of Finidi George as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, a position he has held in interim capacity before now.
Finidi according to the announcement will fill the void created by the exit of Jose Peseiro who left his position upon the expiration of his contract, a few weeks after leading the team to a second place finish at the AFCON with Finidi among his assistants.
Following the announcement by the NFF, OwnGoalNigeria.com picked five key areas that weren’t covered in the announcement of the 51 year old as the coach of the Super Eagles.
1. Length of contract – It’s very unusual to announce a deal without the duration it will last, particularly one that the NFF wants people to believe wasn’t an afterthought. It took two months to appoint Finidi and it was done without the length of time he will spend in his new designation.
2. Date of resumption – Nothing was said in the area of when he is to take over as coach of the team considering that in a little over five weeks the team will be involved in a world cup qualifiers and Finidi is still pre occupied with helping Enyimba fight for the league title.
3. Enyimba’s Role – Again in the press release it wasn’t stated that he will quit or remain in his role as coach of Enyimba leaving many unanswered questions on how he will shuffle both commitments with the Aba side gunning for the NPFL title and the Super Eagles needing at least 4 from the 6 points available in their next two games in the world cup qualifiers.
4. Assistants – The idea from what we gathered is for the new coach to pick his assistants but considering that negotiations were held with Finidi prior to his engagement. He should have applied or gone for the interview with the names of those he wish to have as his assistants. It’s very rare to name a new coach without clarity on how the backroom will look like.
5. Targets – While this can be treated as a thing of confidentiality. It is not out place to include the immediate goal set for the 51 year old with the AFCON set to hold in June at a time when the world cup 2025 qualifiers is still on .
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
