Eric Sekou Chelle must be a very, very brave man, some would even dismiss him as a foolish man to have dumped his better-paying job in Algeria and take up the pressure-cooker position as boss of Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
And this is coming at a time when almost all hope has been lost as it concerns the country’s qualification to next year’s World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico.
You must be a little crazy to take on the task of qualifying a team who languish second from bottom of the group after four rounds of matches.
The Super Eagles are yet to win in the 2026 World Cup qualifying series after draws with Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa as well as a shock 2-1 loss to Benin.
The former Mali coach must have a strong self-belief as well as confidence in the quality of players in Nigeria for him to have taken this huge gamble.
His perseverance, vast knowledge of African football, his affordability and a strong conviction to turn around the fortunes of the Super Eagles have finally swung the job his way.
It is also understandable that his appointment has been greeted by a lot of pessimism, some of which even border on outright discrimination against fellow Africans as if nothing good can come out of Mali, who also opened the doors for a certain Stephen Keshi to lead their national team.
It has taken the NFF seven months to appoint a new coach for the Super Eagles and many had expected the new man will be a high-profile expatriate complete with an impressive CV from Europe.
In a football-mad country where everyone is an expert, there are those who have questioned his pedigree and even gone ahead to list homegrown coaches who they consider better than him.
Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but it must also be noted that the NFF have for now entrusted the Super Eagles to Chelle and so we all have to support him to succeed.
It will not be easy, the flight will be rough and tough, but the focus is for the Super Eagles to get the results that will get them back into contention for a ticket to the Mundial.
In March, the most immediate target is to win both the away tie in Kigali against group leaders Rwanda and the home game against bottom team Zimbabwe.
That would most certainly get Nigeria’s qualifying campaign back on track.
Only results will be the best answers to the critics, whether informed or ill-informed.
All six qualifiers will be cup finals and the Super Eagles must play them as such, not inhibited particularly when they play away, like the clubs in the NPFL.
And if there is one man who will dare to fly high home or away, it will be Eric Chelle, a man courageous enough to undertake his biggest gamble yet and a coach who will always attack.
Bon courage, bon chance, Eric!
