Life's no bed of roses for anyone. Whether you're a player or a coach, you're not exempted from being given a hard kick on the ass when you perform far below expectations. Even as we await what promises to be an interesting African Cup of Nations Final between Senegal and Algeria, most countries that have been eliminated from the tournament are not taking it likely with their Coaches.
While some have been fired by their various Football Federations, some are not too sure of their future and few have been spared the axe. Gernot Rohr that is currently coaching the Super Eagles of Nigeria appears to have been spared being fired by the Nigerian Football Federation after the national team failed to reach the AFCON final.
The three times African champions failed in to book a place in the final of the competition after a Highflying Algerian side overpowered them in a semi final duel to pick a ticket to the final. Rohr's side were not impressive against the Desert Foxes and the German coach has come under fire in social media after his team got beaten 2-1 with just few seconds to go.
The 63 year old German coach became the head coach of the Super Eagles in 2016 and led Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup in Russia where the team made no impact. He was never been more criticised than now. Many fans and top government officials have been taking to their social media handles to call for his sack, but the NFF president seem not swayed by those appeals.
The Nigerian NFF President Amaju Pinnick has come out openly to make it clear that the NFF will not be firing the German coach, and those trying to pressurize him into sacking the current Eagles boss are pouring water on the rock. Pinnick also stated that Rohr had met their agreement of reaching the semi final of the African Cup of Nations in Egypt, and he is comfortable with it.
He however, added that instead of firing the team manager, arrangements are set for the German coach to head to Bayern Munich for more tactical training and experience after the tournament. I don't really know how other fans have been reacting to this action by the NFF, but I personally think it's the right step to take. Instead of firing a coach that taken the team to a semi final, keep him to continue developing bond with the players.
“Gernot Rohr will not be sacked as Super Eagles coach. He will remain in the job. I have complete confidence in him. Gernot has taken us to the semi-final, the target we set for him. Right now, we have a third-place match to play for and we intend to have our team leave Egypt with honours. There are some people that have been calling on me and the federation to sack Gernot. But I am not going to do that." Pinnick said.
On addressing what he intends to do with the Coach after the tournament in Egypt, Amaju Pinnick said, “In fact, Gernot is going on a refresher training period with Bayern Munich after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. We have a long-term plan with him. We have had rocky and difficult moments in our relationship, but this is normal in any relationship between two people. He is a good coach and we want him to remain with us. That said, we will work together on what needs to be improved upon.”
There have certainly been lots of improvements in this Super Eagles squad compared to what we've been seeing couple of years back. The German coach has been trying to build a more youthful team and give opportunity for young talented players to represent their country, while still allowing the experienced ones come in to do this or that when it's necessary. With the likes of Chukwueze, Etebo, Ndidi etc being at their prime, the team looks solid and could become better with time.
Let's keep our fingers crossed and see how the national team will fare in few months time. What's your take on this, do you think the NFF has taken the best decision to allow the 63 year Old continue as the team Manager? Feel free to drop your contributions in the comment section. Thanks.
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