Nutmeg Radio

As it stands, there will only be two African head coaches at Africa’s first World Cup.  The Nigeria Football Federation is standing by current Super Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu, in the face of calls to hire a foreign coach.  Taiwo Ogunjobi, Head of the NFF’s Technical Committee, has correctly noted that “[Taiwo] has one of the best records in qualifying.  Even some of those that they are calling to replace him have not done better than him.  So why should we reward them for their failure and punish him for his success?”

It is well documented that many local African coaches do not have experience in top level coaching environments outside of the continent.  Algeria’s Rabah Saadane, the other African coach currently in charge of a World Cup side, is a perfect example.  Saadane has a world of experience in African football.  However, armed with almost exclusively continental experience, Saadane’s major challenge will be adapting to the multitude of global styles represented in the 32-team World Cup field.  But as people focus on the lack of experience in the local, African coaching ranks, it is important to highlight that there are also countless foreign coaches who have accepted lucrative pay packages to lead developing nations who seldom bring a level of success commensurate with their pay. (more…)