After so much dilly-dallying, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), on Tuesday, August 27, announced the appointment of Bruno Labbadia as the next coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment of the German has elicited mixed reactions with many Nigerians saying the federation has committed another blunder.
When George Finidi resigned in June, the NFF promised to appoint one of the best football coaches in the world to replace him. However, the manner in which the federation went about the whole process left so much to be desired.
After nearly three months, a coach who wasn’t mentioned in the drama that ensued during the search was announced as the Super Eagles new coach. Without a doubt, his appointment will be discussed among football fans in Nigeria for a long time.
According to the NFF, Labbadia is only the sixth German, after Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) to lead the Super Eagles.
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In an attempt to convince the ever inquisitive Nigerian fans that the choice of the coach is the right one, the NFF wrote a mini-biography of the new coach to highlight his playing career and ‘illustrious’ coaching experience.
However, the image of the new coach which the NFF painted using the prolific pen of its image-maker failed to convince most Nigerians who had demanded a renowned coach to lead the Super Eagles.
Reacting to the appointment of Labbadia, someone who felt the Super Eagles deserve a better coach wrote: “The NFF has just hired a manager who couldn’t last 9 months at Stuttgart or 4 months at Hertha Berlin. He lost 7 out of 12 games at Stuttgart and 14 out of 28 at Hertha. But hey, who cares about recent performances?
“No national team experience, no trophies in 21 years, and zero African football knowledge—yet he starts “immediately,” just days before a vital AFCON qualifier.
The NFF has truly outdone itself this time.”
Another disappointed football fan wrote: “Bruno Labbadia is NOT a successful coach. Sacked 4 times; never coached a national team; managed 9 league sides without a trophy; managed 487 league games & won 217; ex-German striker with 3 goals. He played 557 games for 8 clubs & scored 204 goals. No be one chance Nigeria enter so?
Despite the skepticism, a few football fans have found something attractive in Labbadia. It is said that he comes with the pedigree of a good ‘fire-fighter’ who has saved a number of clubs in the Bundesliga from relegation. Consequently, he is tagged as a ‘fire-fighter’ or relegation specialist.
It was for this same reason that another Nigerian in welcoming him to Nigeria wrote: “This guy is a relegation specialist. If there’s one label that sticks with Labbadia, it’s that of a “relegation specialist.”
“On multiple occasions, he has been brought in to save clubs from the brink of relegation — a task he has completed with remarkable consistency.
“He rescued Hamburg in 2015 and led Wolfsburg to safety in 2018; Labbadia has shown he can steady the ship in turbulent waters.”
However, only a few people will share in this optimism because it will require more than such persuasive words to convince Nigerians that the NFF has got the right man for the Super Eagles.
Even as no one can dispute the fact that Labbadia is a football coach, it is doubtful if he qualifies to coach a national team like the Super Eagles. Although he has coached clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, and Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga, he still lacks national team coaching experience.
In addition, he is a total stranger to African Football. It would be recalled that the NFF had announced that only a coach with the requisite knowledge and experience about African football would be hired. But the federation didn’t deem it fit to keep to its vow.
Many are now asking if the Nigerian national team has become a laboratory for experiment. But that is what the Super Eagles have been reduced to by the NFF. Finidi George had his debut as a national team coach with the Super Eagles and now Labbadia has been given the same opportunity to learn on the job.
It may be argued that Clemence Westerhof, one of the most successful expatriate coaches to have handled the Nigerian national team, didn’t have national team experience before his appointment in 1989. However, Nigerian football, especially the domestic league is no longer bubbling with talent the way it was in the 90s. Right now Nigeria’s football is on life support.
Anyway, in a few days, the German ‘fire-fighter’ will have his baptism of fire when the Super Eagles commence their 2025 AFCON Qualifiers against the Cheetahs in Uyo. Soon after his appointment, the NFF released the list of players that will prosecute the two matches against Benin Republic and Rwanda. Obviously, the former Bayern Munich player had no hand in the selection of the players. Almost all the players will meet with him for the first time in Uyo beginning from Monday. Therefore, like a new shepherd, Labbadia will definitely struggle to control his sheep.
Even as one is not a prophet of doom, it is really difficult to say how the German tactician is going to win the two matches convincingly. His team may struggle and if the results go against him, it will be the beginning of his ordeal in the hands of the fans.
In any case, whatever happens in a few days from now, the NFF should be held responsible because the football governing body is becoming notorious for appointing coaches on the eve of very important matches.
Imagine that Finidi had more than two weeks to prepare for the disastrous 2026 World Cup qualifiers but his successor is going to have less than a week to prepare for his first match in charge of the Super Eagles.
Well, while we wait to see what will come out of the Federation’s latest romance with Labbadia, some of us are tempted to say that another unsuspecting prey has fallen into the trap set by the NFF. He will either fight to survive or be consumed like his predecessor who was easily overwhelmed.
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