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How Finidi beat Amuneke, others to Eagles coaching job
New details have surfaced regarding how Finidi George defeated Emmanuel Amuneke, a fan favourite, and other candidates for the Super Eagles position.
In preference to more than sixty other domestic and international candidates, the Nigerian Football Federation on Monday accepted the recommendations of its Technical Committee to name Finidi as coach.
Other coaches that submitted applications included Daniel Amokachi, Sylvanus Okpala, former Katsina United coach Henry Makinwa, who is based in Spain, and US U-19 coach Michael Nsien. According to reports, Dutchman Danny Bujis and former Cameroonian coach Antonio Conceicao also applied for the position.
But regardless of whose ox was gored, he continued, the members of the Technical Committee decided to stand by their decision to select the best applicant for the post.
"Some of these people believe they are the game's experts, but they are unaware that some of us have also been playing for a while. Did you know that they created a WhatsApp group to choose and sway the person who will lead the Super Eagles as their coach? However, we ignored them," our source claimed.
"Things may have gone differently, and we would still have moved on and supported the NFF's choice.
"We understand that some applicants who were passed over for the position might be upset, but that's life. Right now, it's crucial to encourage those present and work towards figuring out how to get to the World Cup. We now have a manager, who will coach the squad because he wants to, and he will meet with federation officials to discuss his contract.
With only a few weeks until the pivotal World Cup qualifiers against rival South Africa, our source explained how they came to believe that Finidi was the best option for the Eagles. They needed someone with a deep understanding of the team, not a new coach who would introduce a foreign mentality to the players.
In addition, he said that Finidi's 20 months of experience working under Peseiro and his familiarity with both local and continental football—as well as with the current NPFL winners Enyimba—made him the ideal choice for the position.
With all due respect, our source continued, "Finidi has been on the ground and is aware of the dynamics of the modern game, which is a huge bonus for us. In recent years, he has been coaching on the continent, with Enyimba, and he has won a league title for them.
"As an assistant for the Eagles on the national team, he has helped us prepare for some challenging World Cup qualifiers. A new coach may introduce strategies that the players will struggle to adapt to. We don’t need that now.
Additionally, his extensive knowledge of the domestic league as a coach will be useful when choosing players for the home-based players.
The member of the Technical Committee mentioned that Finidi's selection for the position was also influenced by financial factors.
In modern Nigeria, who would pay a foreign coach $70,000? Simply put, the money isn't there," our insider continued.
Some of the applicants have since spoken about the procedure that resulted in the selection of the new coach.
Emmanuel Amuneke acknowledged that there was no interview to determine who was the greatest fit for the position, although characterising the procedure as "fair".
US U-19 coach Michael Nsien, who also sought for the position, responded, "It depends on people's standards of process," when asked if he thought the selection process for the coaching position was transparent. The absence of interviews, which is fundamental in my opinion and would at least give the impression that it was transparent,
Former U-23 national team player Nsien is confident Finidi will have a capable backroom crew to work with.
He remarked, "Hopefully he has good staff around him."
While he thanked Finidi, another applicant, Sylvanus Okpala, who won the AFCON title in 1980 as a player and as an assistant coach in 2013, chose not to comment on the selection process that produced Finidi as the winner.
"It's crucial that Finidi was chosen and is currently there," he stated. To succeed, he only needs everyone's support, but the greatest support he can have is from within himself, for only then can he succeed and lead the Eagles to their rightful place.
We can't all be there, and only one of us will obviously be picked as the new Super Eagles coach, therefore I'm cool with Finidi's selection. As I hope he can lead the Eagles to greater success, I congratulate him and send him my best wishes.