NFF Must Give Local Coach What Peseiro, Rohr Earned As Eagles Handlers – Jalla

The Chairman of the Taskforce of the Professional Football Association of Nigeria (PFAN), Harrison Jalla, has urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to appoint a local coach for the vacant Super Eagles position. Jalla, who is also a former footballer, insists that the new coach must be offered a contract similar to those enjoyed by the previous managers of the team, Gernot Rohr and Jose Peseiro.

He further stated that any attempt to offer a contract that undermines the capacity of the indigenous coach will be opposed by the union body. “Having loitered in the wilderness of foreign coaches, for more than 8 years, with nothing to show for it, with more than five unproductive years with Rohr and almost two years of Jose Paseiro with Coach Augustine Eguavoen making a brief stint in between, it is time to engage our indigenous coaches with the same offer, terms and conditions given to Gernot Rohr and Jose Paseiro.

Any attempt to treat indigenous coaches differently will be resisted,” he said. According to him, the performance of local coaches in the past three African Cup of Nations (AFCON) indicates that African coaches are better than their European counterparts in managing the national teams of the continent. He added: ” Nigeria should learn from Algeria, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire, who won the last three editions of the AFCON with native coaches.

The previous two foreign coaches, Rohr and Paseiro, did not leave any lasting impact, except for disrupting the Eagles’ traditional style of free-flowing football, which involved initiating attacks from the wings. None of these foreign coaches were able to match the 2013 AFCON record set by the late Coach Stephen Keshi.” He added that the NFF should invest in the development of indigenous coaches from the annual technical grants from FIFA and CAF for the benefit of Nigerian football.