Nigeria have qualified for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations and are in the playoffs for the African qualifiers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Regardless, a glimpse at the performances reveals a team that has consistently turned out drab showings.
Nigeria’s second round of World Cup qualifying ended with a 1-1 draw against Cape Verde when they needed at least a point to ensure they remained top of Group C over their opponents. The performance left a lot to be desired as they toiled to comfortably put away the Blue Sharks.
Being a proud footballing nation, the Super Eagles are regarded as a national treasure and fans will never settle for less than entertaining football.
The latest lacklustre performance has prompted heavy speculation over the future of the head coach and the guys from overlyzer reviewed Bet365 offers which show us how the performances have dropped in recent times.
Change at the helm?
Media reports reveal that Gernot Rohr will soon be relieved of his duties and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are working on settling an amicable compensation as well as a suitable replacement ahead of AFCON 2022.
The 68-year-old is the longest-serving Head Coach of the Super Eagles, having taken over in difficult circumstances in 2016. Rohr has since steadied the ship which won the 2013 AFCON but failed to qualify for the next two tournaments.
The Franco-German instilled a results-oriented culture that saw Nigeria qualify for the 2018 World Cup as well as a Bronze medal finish at AFCON 2019. However, stagnation seems to have set in and the NFF is looking for a solution to the sought-after role.
The team’s stagnation was caused by Rohr’s total dependence on a particular set of players, regardless of whether their training performance warranted starting over teammates. This led to a perceived favouritism as the team’s performances never seemed to improve over time.
The biggest instance of Rohr being set in his ideas was the recent recall of Odion Ighalo two years since retiring from international football after winning the Golden Boot at the last AFCON.
In the midst of the controversy surrounding the return of Ighalo to a team entering a golden generation of young strikers, Taiwo Awoniyi was dropped for games against Liberia and Cape Verde despite being the highest-scoring Nigerian striker in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
Although this lack of progress in terms of talent development and performances on matchday are glaring for any close observer of the Super Eagles, the process of cutting ties with Rohr is a complicated one.
This is because the cash-strapped NFF have to pay a hefty severance fee and both parties are working out an amicable solution. In the meantime, the football federation’s president has made an unsurprisingly diplomatic statement in a futile attempt to quell the ever-growing rumours.
“The Board of the NFF is studying the report of the Technical Committee, which it submitted after the match against Cape Verde in Lagos last Tuesday.” Amaju Pinnick said. “There are a number of possibilities but we have not taken a decision to sack Gernot Rohr. I want to assure you that whatever decision is eventually taken will be one that will please the generality of Nigerians.”
While this did nothing other than state there hasn’t been an official severing of ties. Super Eagles legend, Emmanuel Amunike, is reportedly in the frame for the job, while other names like Serbia’s Mladen Krstajić and Chile’s 2016 Copa America-winning manager Juan Antoniuo Pizzi have also been thrown into the mix.
This remains an ongoing process and given the short period of time left till AFCON 2022 begins in January, a conclusion on the future of the Nigeria national team coach will be reached sooner than later.
via: Information Nigeria
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