The unceremonious exit of Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles coach by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been described as a step in the right direction especially in the interest of Super Eagles and Nigeria Football development.
These were the views of the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare, who said that the decision to sack the German was instructive with the sole aim of charting a clear path for the national senior team.
“I think the NFF which is the organization or federation in charge of football development which also include the mandate for taking care of the Super Eagles has met severally with the Executive Board; they have submitted to the ministry a detailed report on Rohr’s performance,” Dare said in an interview with Nigeria television Authority. “Technical report from the last match we played against Cape Verde and based on consultation and technical input as well as information based on the information that went back and forth between the ministry and the NFF.”
He continued: “The decision was reached based on the best interest of the Super Eagles and Nigeria football development and it was taken from the position of responsibility so that we can begin to chart a clear path for the kind of national team that we expect to see.
“For me, the process was very instructive because we needed to get to know every aspect of Rohr and Super Eagles performance as a team both individually and collectively within the context of our performances for the last few matches.
“I think the process that led to the final decision was a very dynamic and robust process where we were able to separate sentiment from what we needed to get done. No country will want to send away a coach when it is closed to two major tournaments. I think some difficult decisions are better taken in a timely manner than not taken at all.”
He, however, assured that with NFF, the ministry would give the new coaching staff the necessary support to excel at AFCON and World Cup Play-off.
The minister said apart from Rohr, every member of the coaching crew has been part of the team for years, adding that the new coaching crew led by Austin Eguavoen would work with same players that have featured for the team in the last few years.
On AFCON preparation, Dare said: “Eguavoen come with a lot of responsibility and he has also been around the team as well and we believe he will get the needed support. Also the team that has been playing several matches and friendly and our preparation for AFCON is a composition of what they have done in the past. Apart from Rohr, we have almost the same team that worked with the team in the past. We believe NFF is on top of the situation and we expect to see Eguavoen roll out his plans for the team. Whatever can be done in the meantime will be done to help the team.”
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
