The Super Eagles of Nigeria currently has no head coach following the sacking of Augustine Eguavoen on March 31 2022.
And of course, there has been speculation regarding the identity of the next manager with multiple names coming up as the search goes on.
But regardless of who it is that eventually gets this job, they must be aware of the peculiarities that come with being the Super Eagles head coach.
Point of view: you have just been offered the chance to coach the Super Eagles of Nigeria and that is exciting for you. Of course, it is, coaching Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi Kelechi Iheanacho and the rest of this highly talented group is cause for optimism.
But here are some things you must know about this job and if you’re still optimistic at the end of this, then welcome to the Super Eagles.
Prepare to be micro-managed
There is a reason those in charge of the Super Eagles are called head coaches and not ‘manager’ because there are other people interested in meddling in the management of the team.
The coach is required to focus on the happenings on the pitch, hence the tag ‘head coach’, prepare for unfathomable levels of interference.
From squad selection to even determining the nationality of players who may or may not have the tiniest Nigerian roots, there is someone else in charge of that.
All you have to do as the Super Eagles head coach is to find the suitable formations for whatever players have been dropped in your lap.
Lose/lose situation
The Super Eagles job is the equivalent of being between a rock and a hard place, it is the ultimate lose/lose situation because the coaches are set up for failure from the jump and then fired by the same people who set you up.
With the aforementioned factors and a talented but directionless squad that lacks leadership, it would take a lot of time and patience to help the Super Eagles achieve its true potential.
Unfortunately for you, the new head coach, Nigerians are not particularly known for their patience which 200 million people will turn on you if they do not see an immediate impact.
In a situation that is near impossible to correct instantly, there is literally no way for you to win because the NFF will cave into the pressure from the fans and media. Just ask Augustine Eguavoen, your immediate predecessor—he only got six games.
Career suicide
Speaking of your predecessors, the Super Eagles has become the place where coaching careers come to die and this is a statistical fact, not a misguided opinion.
None of the previous Super Eagles managers has gone on to greater things in their coaching careers, which is because of either one of two things.
One; the NFF tends to target people whose best years are already behind them career-wise, case in point, Clemens Westerhoff, Berti Vogts and most recently Gernot Rohr.
Two, the lose/lose nature of the Super Eagles job guarantees failure in a way that makes the managers unattractive to future employers.
Realistically, only Lars Lagerback (arguably the worst Super Eagles coach of all time) has gone on to better jobs after the Super Eagles.
On average, the best you can do after the Super Eagles is the Super Eagles as proven by Festus Onigbinde, Shuaibu Amodu, Augustine Eguavoen, Stephen Keshi and Samson Siasia who all had multiple stints in charge of the team.
So there you have it, are you still excited about your new job? If yes, welcome to the Super Eagles of Nigeria.