Former Nigerian international, Sam Sodje has warned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the Super Eagles risked the chances of not qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup if the appointment of a new coach is not done as soon as possible.
Sodje made this known in an interview with Sports 247, where he stated that Nigeria has less than a couple of months to prepare for the big task against South Africa and Benin respectively.
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Recall that since former coach, Jose Peseiro left the team after leading them to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, where the team lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast, Finidi George was placed to manage the team on interim level.
“I think we’re leaving it too late. A couple of months going into the World Cup qualifiers, not having a manager doesn’t look good at all because it’s not club football,” Sodje told Sports 247.
“A coach doesn’t see his players as often as he would love to because it’s international football. It’s so sad that we don’t see how important preparation is to these games.”
20 Comments
Stop Rushing the appointment of this Coach as long as it is done before the next international break, Meanwhile players still have club engagements so as long as the coach comes in before the international break it makes no real difference, NFF just make sure you get a good foreign coach.
I mean it is not like if they appoint a coach today he will be flying. to each players club and giving them personal sessions. NFF get a god coach and don’t rush into appointing an indigenous coach.
Must you speak on all subject? There is nothing like rushing. appointing a new coach isn’t a rocket science. NFF has always adopted fire brigade approach.
They should go for a competent,disciplined , tactical and man manager foreign coach
He said the correct thing,the Coach need to be on ground drawing up his program not on the zero minutes.
@Ugo, He said the right thing. The coach is needed urgently.
A COUNTRY THAT IS NOT EVEN NEAR TO BE CALL GIANT OF AFRICA DOESN’T WASTE TIME IN EMPLOYING/APPOINTING A NEW COACH. IN LAST AFCON, GHANA, IVORY COAST, S/AFRICA FUMBLED, THEIR COACH WAS SACKED AND THEY EMPLOY A NEW COACH IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT WASTING TIME.
IN THIS YEAR AFCON, ALGERIA FA SACKED THEIR COACH & THEY EMPLOYED A NEW COACH WITHIN THREE WEEKS.
OUR NFF ALWAYS LIKE TO BE WASTING TIME IN EMPLOYING NEW COACH BECAUSE OF RIGGING, MANIPULATION & CORRUPTION.
*** IN THE AREA WHETHER TO EMPLOY INDIGENOUS OR FOREIGN COACH:
WHAT IS IMPORTANT MOST IS TO EMPLOY A COACH THAT WILL BE:
1. RESPECTED BY PLAYERS & KNOW OUR PLAYERS( both local & foreign) AND AFRICAN FOOTBALL
2. SELF & HIGHLY DISCIPLINE
3. NOT TOLERATED NONSENSE
4. ALWAYS USE PRESENT FORM AS A YARDSTICK FOR PLAYERS INVITATION
5. NOT USING EXPERIENCE/CAPTAINSHIP/LEADERSHIP(that is not fit), EGO, OR SENIORITY IN PLAYERS SELECTION
7. READY TO IMPOSE DISCIPLINE & COMMITMENT(with characters)INTO THE TEAM.
8. READY NOT TO WORSHIP ANY PLAYERS & NOT BE INDISPENSABLE OF ANY PLAYERS
9. HE SHOULD READY TO SEARCH FOR PLAYERS ANYWHERE & NOT USE SENTIMENT OR FAVOURISM IN INVITING/SELECTING PLAYERS
10. HE SHOULD BE UPDATED & UP-TO-DATE IN FOOTBALL TACTICAL
11. HE SHOULD STAND FIRM & NOT ALLOW ANYBODY TO BE CONTROLLING OR DICTATING TO HIM.
12. HE SHOULD READY TO WORK WITH HIS TECHNICAL CREWS
Personally I feel Nothing will change whether a coach is appointed today or on the 15th May even the program the coach wants to draw he can be drawing it up now… The incoming incumnbant will only know the approach to take once he has a look at the players in person and that can only be done in the week leading up to the qualifiers because the ideal time to have appointed a new coach has past that was those last two international friendlies and the NFF wasted that opportunity with Finidi George all the new coach has to work with is the videos of AFCON and the friendlies with Ghana and Mali.. NFF should not be rushed to hire an Indigenous coach now either way it is too late which ever way you look at it. All the New coach really has now is to be employed soon enough so as select his best players to prosecute the game and use the 2 weeks before the Qualifier to prepare them that is all we have now we wasted that friendlies on useless and clueless Finidi.
Also players form and Increase or dip from now until the season end so a player you feel may be key can still lose form or God Forbid get injured so whats the rush..Moreover Reynard’s Contract with France Football ends Month end May so Maybe that is what the NFF is waiting for and if so thats the best time, because the Season will be ending and the camp would not have opened yet so yeah we have Some time to still get a very good and experienced Technical coach who does not need years to get a wining formula and Express his idea for the team a coach who is experience in qualifiers.. He can do so in a matter of 2 weeks
Mr Iwunze…I don’t how old or how young you are but you can pass your message without resorting to abuse or name calling….Just listen to yourself..”All the New coach really has now is to be employed soon enough so as select his best players to prosecute the game and use the 2 weeks before the Qualifier to prepare them that is all we have now we wasted that friendlies on useless and clueless Finidi”….Useless and clueless Finidi?…. This guy has served Nigeria well in the past and he doesn’t have to be the substantive coach and me will rather have a foreign coach at this time than having our locals including Finidi…. We don’t have to disrespect them please.
Mr Iwunze…I don’t know how old or how young you are but you can pass your message without resorting to abuse or name calling….Just listen to yourself..”All the New coach really has now is to be employed soon enough so as select his best players to prosecute the game and use the 2 weeks before the Qualifier to prepare them that is all we have now we wasted that friendlies on useless and clueless Finidi”….Useless and clueless Finidi?…. This guy has served Nigeria well in the past and he doesn’t have to be the substantive coach and me will rather have a foreign coach at this time than having our locals including Finidi…. We don’t have to disrespect them please.
@Olu In terms of Coaching Ability he is useless and woeful. A man who was assistant to Eguvoen, Rohr and Pesiero will go and bring out such a Useless Line up against Mali and only use 2 substitutions, Leaving a still eligible to play for England Tella on the bench for both games?.. What was the reason. When we had all those Injuries leading up to Ghana and Mali(Awoniyi) why did he not insist to NFF that we need to call up replacements?.. Must he do the same Mistake as Pesiero did In AFCON why did he not show us he can think outside the box and try to rectify the mistakes Peseiro made in AFCON why mus Indigenous coaches always have a problem with Dual National Players what is thier Jealousy with these guys?.. Go and Look how ALaba came out and said when he wanted to play for Nigeria he couldn’t because they asked him to pay bribe first?.. Guy look man lets call a spade a spade Nigeria is probably the one Country that can not Succeed with a local man at the helm Period yes he was a good Player. is he a good manager well your guess is as good as Mine
Also players form “CAN” Increase or dip from now until the season end so a player you feel may be key can still lose form or God Forbid get injured so whats the rush..Moreover Reynard’s Contract with France Football ends Month end May so Maybe that is what the NFF is waiting for and if so thats the best time, because the Season will be ending and the camp would not have opened yet so yeah we have Some time to still get a very good and experienced Technical coach who does not need years to get a wining formula and Express his idea for the team a coach who is experience in qualifiers.. He can do so in a matter of 2 weeks
I will not blame NFF but I must blame Deo, Pompai, Edoman, Ay and co for not letting me go Abuja to talk to this NFF ajewomasan the debtors.
What is holding the NFF back from hiring a good coach for Super Eagles? Corruption period. Hmmm. Time will definitely tell. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!
Don’t mind those people. They are enemies of progress. Go to Abuja tomorrow sir. We are behind you.
@Omo9ja Lol hahaha craze full your head joor Lol… “ajewomasan the debtors”. omo you no go use laugh kee me oo walahi lol
Oga nobody dey hold u o
Sharaap! Useless batty man arara krumbly – useless backdoor raider like you, who do you think you are fooling trying to hide behind fake personas? It just shows how primitive and clueless you are in thinking that people will not be able to tell that it is still you, shame won’t allow you show your face like before ba? kkkkk
Yeye man , Olaosenikan ko, Olasenikan ni MUMU! lol
Justifying NFF’s delay on the appointment of the manager of the senior men’s team is akin to saying it’s okay for a school management to delay appointment of a teacher for a vacant role because the students are currently on break.
Well, a money-driven proprietor or management would do. A performance-driven management, on the other hand, knows there’s more to the impact of a teacher on his/her students beyond classroom lectures. The teacher needs to familiarize him/herself with the school culture, records, students, expectations, competitions, etc, and map out plans.
Piling all these jobs together when the students resume would result in subpar output by the teacher. And he/she won’t commit to any pre-resumption research if not employed or provided a guarantee.
NFF is just money-driven and trying to save this month’s salary of perhaps $100K. I hope an uber-greedy among them will not suggest they try to save May’s salary too and appoint a coach to resume in June. $200K. That’s N200m.
The problem is that they don’t answer to anyone. Not even the EFCC or Tinubu. Nobody checks their books or queries them. We can only petition Infantino and Samoura and ask them to intervene as they did during the last FIFA Women’s World Cup to save the ladies’ allowances.
On a different note, has anyone seen the new Okoye? I know Nwabali is the current darling, but guys you need to watch the Inter Milan Vs Udinese match. The guy frustrated Serie A’s champions-in-waiting, who needed last-minute help from the goal post to nick a 2 – 1 win after equalizing earlier via a penalty.
Okoye, Nwabali, Okoronkwo. Seems our goalkeeping woes are over now. Same with the backline and the frontmen with Boniface back on his feet. The midfield it is that needs full attention now. Just a few of the background work a new coach would have been busy doing now. Watching Okoye and remembering how he boycotted reminded me of Iwobi. I hope same thing doesn’t happen with him.
NFF ONIGBESE matter dey like goat wey prefer to dey chop grass when better salad dey ground.
Always going for low quality, inferior options. Always looking for the easiest, cheapest way.
Nothing good comes easy or cheap, but NFF ONIGBESE aka AJEWOMASAN won’t invest in quality.
Na so so grass dem wan dey chop.
Instead of using that $4m Afcon money to get us a coach that can win the next Afcon and get us to the quarter final or semi final of the next world cup, which could yield anywhere from $50m to $100m or even more in prize monies, they want to be sharing small change. If they start monetizing our football, they could earn even more money. British FA that made over 8 billion pounds from football last year, are they not human beings? Abi ogbanje dey there?
If the CHRONIC DEBTORS manage to earn just $100m in football revenues from doing football business per annum (I say just because they could realistically earn a lot more), and add the $50m to $100m that could come from the next Afcon and world cup, WILL THEY NOT HAVE A LOT MORE MONEY TO SHARE AMONG THEMSELVES? But they would rather be chasing small change up and down, arguing with players over bonuses, refusing to pay coaches salaries.
SHORT TIME BEFORE OUR NEXT GAMES!!! so AMUNEKE is the best because of time to prepare. amuneke is two time assistant super Eagle coach and that is very crucial if our Nff Jamboree officials actually know football or know what they are doing. I have it on good international information that some of our nff members and technical committee have been bribed and some are after what they stand to gain. Mr nff president should simply hand amuneke and let him select his assistants himself no excuses! that is what immediate effect. If you idiots appoint a journeyman white coach and we eventually fail to go to next world Cup after the last world Cup disaster-class decisions by the these jamboree Nff and all his bodies, then we will all protest seriously to the world and fifa and Nigeria president and sack all of them out of office impromptu! Maybe we can also appoint a foreign Nff president and it’s foreign nff members and technical incompetent committee! Give amuneke this job already and let him hand pivot and pick his assistants personally!
@Bestsport
Let me put you on the spot; Give me reasons why Amuneke is the logical best man for the job. And please with due respect, don’t bring up the Underage football, with that regard, Manu Garba should be jostling for the Eagles’ job as well.