NFF president Amaju Pinnick is unsurprisingly an unrepentant optimist in the abilities of third-rate coach Gernot Rohr in spite of his dismal performance in the last four years in charge of the Super Eagles.
Hear Pinnick in a recent interview with the BBC- “Nobody is happy about what happened against Sierra Leone in both matches. But it is not enough to sack the coach because his team is still on top of the Nations Cup group after four matches.
“His statistics speaks volume for him, so on what indexes do we want to sack him considering the contract recently signed by both parties.
“No matter how emotional and disappointed the fans are, there is no basis to sack him now and he deserves to keep his job”.
This statement from Pinnick has an element of finality.
The monster we created has started manifesting.
Which qualifying group is Pinnick talking about? A group made up of Lesotho, Benin Republic and Sierra Leone?
Is Nigeria supposed to draw any match home and away in this group?
And what statistics is Pinnick referring to?
This a coach who led the Super Eagles to the World Cup in 2018 in Russia and the Nations Cup in Egypt in 2019 and what did he achieve in these two championships?
Coach Stephen Keshi of blessed memory has a better record in 2013 and 2014 in same championships.
This alone justifies the anger in the land occasioned by the woeful performance of Rohr and justifies his sack for a job he never deserved a contract renewal in the first place.
The allegations that Gernot Rohr’s contract is bogus contract and a well-conceived racketeering are now being justified.
It is alleged that some NFF executives double as agents/managers of Super Eagles players and that this strongly influences the choice of players invited to the national team, and that the entire bogus contract fees of Gernot Rohr is being split with some top officials.
Otherwise, how can a severance package of $1 million inserted in Rohr’s contract be justified for a third-rate coach like Gernot Rohr?
Why the deliberate exclusion of the home-based players from the Super Eagles?
Who does not know that Nigeria were once rated fifth in the world by FIFA?
The NFF board lacks the capacity to run Nigeria football.
The earlier the Federal Government steps in to restore order, the better for Nigeria football.
BY HARRISON JALLA,
Chairman, Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) Board of Trustees
