How NFF goofed over Bruno Labbadia as contract talks collapse

On Tuesday morning, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, announced Bruno Labbadia as the new head coach of the Super Eagles.

The announcement came from nowhere.

Before then, Labbadia had not been remotely linked with the job.

Some of the coaches in the running at the time included Swede, Janne Andersson and Frenchman, Herve Renard.

When it was obvious neither Andersson nor Renard would be feasible, the NFF began to get desperate.

Officials from the federation spoke to Greece manager, Gustavo Poyet, another former Jose Mourinho assistant, Aitor Karanka and ex-Italy defender, Fabio Cannavaro, according to the BBC.

The haphazard chase for a new Eagles handler, appeared to have ended with a terse statement from the Secretary General of the NFF, Mohammed Sanusi.

“The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect,” Sanusi said.

On Friday, however, German-based publication, Kicker, broke the news that the deal had collapsed.

The report noted that Labbadia’s “demand for payment of his taxes in Nigeria and Germany to be covered by the NFF forced the withdrawal.”

This begs the question of: why was an official announcement made when the negotiations were not completed?

“It’s quite alarming and shameful that the current NFF board went ahead to announce a new coach without signing the dotted lines,” Victor Oluwafemi, the Content Lead at Football411, tells DAILY POST.

“Who does that? Once again, they have portrayed themselves as disorganized and indifferent to the image of the Super Eagles team.

“I can’t remember the last time Nigeria went into a qualification campaign without a coach, be it interim or permanent.

“They had more than 70 days to appoint a manager. We will be lucky to get a win against Benin.”

Solace Chukwu, Site coordinator, AfrikFoot NG, adds: “I think it is just the latest incidence of incompetence in a body that has come to symbolise that very concept.

“With hindsight, there were red flags. But even in the best-case scenario, it was an appointment that was both late and underwhelming. Even in getting the wrong sort of coach, the NFF cannot be trusted to do it right.

“What happens from here is anyone’s guess, really.

“Austin Eguavoen will likely take charge of the Super Eagles in an interim capacity, which is fitting considering he decided the composition of the squad.”

Nigeria has two important AFCON qualifiers to play in this international break.

The three-time African champions will host Benin Republic and travel three days later to take on Rwanda.

Eguavoen will likely be put in charge of the two fixtures.

Chukwu believes that if the former defender pulls off two good results, the narrative could change.

“I think that if he does, that may be used, in conjunction with the manner in which the Labbadia situation unfolded, to make the case for giving the job full-time to an indigenous coach, even if not necessarily Eguavoen himself,” he said.

Daily Post