NFF fire Gernot Rohr, appoint Eguavoen on the interim

Super Eagles: NFF fire Gernot Rohr, appoint Austin Eguavoen as the interim coach of the Nigerian national team

 

Austin Eguavoen is the interim head coach for the Super Eagles following the sack of Gernot Rohr on Monday, how well will he fare at the Nations Cup? (Photo credit: GOAL)

The Nigerian Football Federation, The NFF has finally fired head coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr on the ground of poor performances and indiscipline in the team.

The conversation has been brewing for months, but is the timing right? Coach Rohr was dismissed on Monday after a long battle to negotiate his severance but many believe the contract extension he got after the 2018 World Cup was needless.

Former Super Eagles right back and coach, Austin Eguavoen was named the interim coach to prepare the team for the upcoming AFCON in Cameroon, and subsequently, handle the team for the doubleheader qualifier against a team yet unknown as at now.

Nigeria struggled through a seemingly easy group, losing at home to a team ranked 124th in the world and surviving a nervy 1-1 draw against Cape Verde on the final day was enough to nail the Serbian but you must ask why he was left at the helm all these while.

After nearly two weeks of speculation, in which the federation were forced to deny that the Rohr had been sacked, general secretary Mohammed Sanusi said in a statement on Sunday, "The relationship between the Nigeria Football Federation and Mr Rohr has come to an end. We thank him for his services to the Super Eagles and Nigeria."

There were rumours of gross indiscipline in the group under Rohr, players were rumoured to have partied on the eve of the all-important game against Cape Verde and three players were said to have camped girls up until the morning of the game.

Beyond that, there were stories of unpaid salaries with Rohr being rumoured to be owed up to eight months salaries, there you have your answer as to why it took forever to relieve him of his job.

Rohr never inspired confidence, his indecision most times cost Nigeria games and not removing Ahmed Musa for a more dynamic player late on in the game against Argentina when it was 1-1 with a quarter of the game to go at the last World Cup in Russia begged for answers.

Despite about a 54% win rate, you couldn’t pin a playing style to the Eagles as it was always more of individual brilliance then team effort to get results.

Can Eguavoen lead the team to glory in Cameroon next month? This question is up in the air and it will take more then faith to answer with the competitors preparing hard without drama.