Inside story of why NFF picked Finidi George over Amuneke for Super Eagles job

[iworo]

Inside story of why NFF picked Finidi George over Amuneke for Super Eagles job



The appointment of Finidi George as the new head coach of the Super Eagles was a huge surprise in some quarters.

Of course, it was apparent that the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, was leaning towards an indigenous coach for the national team.

It is almost a pendulum with these appointments. When a local coach is not performing well with the Eagles, there will be calls for a foreigner. A yearning for a more tactically savvy handler.

When the foreigner fails – like Jose Peseiro did – the argument flips. You begin to hear talk of us encouraging Nigerian coaches, how they know these players more than anyone else and of course, the chance of harvesting talents from the Nigerian Premier Football League, NPFL.

The two names that were expected to be picked from this time around were Finidi and Emmanuel Amuneke.

A lot of observers expected the NFF to appoint Amuneke.

He won the hearts of the nation as coach of Nigeria’s U17 team, leading them to glory at the FIFA U17 World Cup.

On the continent, he qualified Tanzania for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations – their first in nearly 40 years.

However, Amuneke’s record with Egypt’s Misr Lel Makkasa and Zambia’s Zanaco left much to be desired.

The 53-year-old also failed to help the Nigeria U20 team qualify for the AFCON in 2017.

But Ayodeji Adegbenro, a Sports Administrator, insists the NFF has made the right choice.

“Finidi is miles ahead of Amuneke. He has won the league with Enyimba, has two seasons CAF Champions League experience. He also assisted Peseiro for 20 months,” Adegbenro tells DAILY POST.

“Amuneke has failed at every coaching position since he won the U17 in 2015. He’s one of the major reasons we didn’t qualify for Qatar. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Super Eagles job,” he added.

Many have argued that Finidi represents the debris of Peseiro’s time in charge.

Adegbenro explained, “If we wanted Peseiro’s shadow looming over us in the shape of Finidi, why didn’t we just keep the Portuguese?

“He wanted more money to stay. We couldn’t afford it.

“However, my point is that, given a choice between Finidi and Amuneke, Finidi is way better.”

It could also be that Amuneke did not have enough backers in the room where the decision was made.

An insider tells DAILY POST the story of how Amuneke seemingly bungled the Eagles’ chances of playing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

All that is in the past. Looking to the future, Finidi has been saddled with the task of ensuring Nigeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Already, the three-time African champions find themselves in third place in Group C of the qualifying series, behind Rwanda and South Africa.

Their next fixture will be at home against Bafana Bafana.

“I think the expectation is for him to navigate the World Cup qualifying group. That is his immediate assignment.

“Having said that, I expect the NFF to give him the same support they would have given a foreigner. Allow him to pick the assistants he will work with.

“You might not pay him as much as you’re paying the expatriates. But pay him well. And pay him when due.

“And do not undermine his position before the players he is supposed to manage. Very important,” Adegbenro added.

https://allaroundnigeria.com/inside-sto ... agles-job/

[danfo driver]

“Amuneke has failed at every coaching position since he won the U17 in 2015. He’s one of the major reasons we didn’t qualify for Qatar. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Super Eagles job,” he added.

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

No be everything person dey talk for outside. This is wickedness!

[OJI]

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

I knew it.

See how the NFF fails to address the elephant in the room. Always finding a scapegoat for failures. Eguavoen off the hook for the Qatar 2022 non qualification. Amuneke left holding the bag. Also Amuneke had raised issues/concerns right after the non qualification re Eguavoen's overall handling of the team atmosphere.

[naijaguy]

I will pick Finidi 100 times over Amuneke.

But we are indeed funny people. So Amuneke is now to be blamed for not qualifying for the 2022 WC and not Eguavoen who was saddled with the task?

[Lolly]

We shouldn’t be posting articles from these bloggers here. This is just made up stories to drive traffic to their site, similar to what CIC boy boy does.

[waka-man]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

[Lolly]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

But we’ve been told that his real name is Amuneke and Amunike came about by some typo in his name many years ago. And he just adopted it, similar to John Mikel Obi.

[waka-man]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

But we’ve been told that his real name is Amuneke and Amunike came about by some typo in his name many years ago. And he just adopted it, similar to John Mikel Obi.

Ok O!

[Damunk]

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

I knew it.

See how the NFF fails to address the elephant in the room. Always finding a scapegoat for failures. Eguavoen off the hook for the Qatar 2022 non qualification. Amuneke left holding the bag. Also Amuneke had raised issues/concerns right after the non qualification re Eguavoen's overall handling of the team atmosphere.

Who is leaving Amuneke holding the bag?
An unnamed source?
You should know better than to take an anonymous quote from an obscure website and run with it.

If Amuneke is carrying any bag, na you give am by giving credibility to an incredulous story.
Anyone can come up with this kind of sensationalism, including you and I.

[Damunk]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

But we’ve been told that his real name is Amuneke and Amunike came about by some typo in his name many years ago. And he just adopted it, similar to John Mikel Obi.

Ok O!

Its not “okay o” at all.
He actually came out publicly to correct it many years ago, if I recall correctly, it was in a FIFA interview.

If you speak certain Igbo dialects, you might know why he doesn’t wish to be called Amunike, aside from the fact that it’s the wrong spelling of his name, according to him.

We discussed it here on CE about 6 yrs ago.
viewtopic.php?p=5285597

[waka-man]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

But we’ve been told that his real name is Amuneke and Amunike came about by some typo in his name many years ago. And he just adopted it, similar to John Mikel Obi.

Ok O!

Its not “okay o” at all.
He actually came out publicly to correct it many years ago, if I recall correctly, it was in a FIFA interview.

If you speak certain Igbo dialects, you might know why he doesn’t wish to be called Amunike, aside from the fact that it’s the wrong spelling of his name, according to him.

We discussed it here on CE about 6 yrs ago.
viewtopic.php?p=5285597

Kai, until you said it I’d never seen that. Yeah, definitely more than “ok O”

[Damunk]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

But we’ve been told that his real name is Amuneke and Amunike came about by some typo in his name many years ago. And he just adopted it, similar to John Mikel Obi.

Ok O!

Its not “okay o” at all.
He actually came out publicly to correct it many years ago, if I recall correctly, it was in a FIFA interview.

If you speak certain Igbo dialects, you might know why he doesn’t wish to be called Amunike, aside from the fact that it’s the wrong spelling of his name, according to him.

We discussed it here on CE about 6 yrs ago.
viewtopic.php?p=5285597

Kai, until you said it I’d never seen that. Yeah, definitely more than “ok O”

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Why do people insist on calling him Amuneke? Am I missing something?

But we’ve been told that his real name is Amuneke and Amunike came about by some typo in his name many years ago. And he just adopted it, similar to John Mikel Obi.

Ok O!

Its not “okay o” at all.
He actually came out publicly to correct it many years ago, if I recall correctly, it was in a FIFA interview.

If you speak certain Igbo dialects, you might know why he doesn’t wish to be called Amunike, aside from the fact that it’s the wrong spelling of his name, according to him.

We discussed it here on CE about 6 yrs ago.
viewtopic.php?p=5285597

I recall that you ‘promised’ to dig up the thread where Amunike was quoted correcting the spelling of his name to Amuneke. Did you ever manage to dig up that thread or was that just another one of your white lies


Cheers.

[danfo driver]

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

I knew it.

See how the NFF fails to address the elephant in the room. Always finding a scapegoat for failures. Eguavoen off the hook for the Qatar 2022 non qualification. Amuneke left holding the bag. Also Amuneke had raised issues/concerns right after the non qualification re Eguavoen's overall handling of the team atmosphere.

Guess this is what he was talking about when he told Oloye that there are people in the NFF who do not like him and they want a "yes man."

He spoke out against the technical director - who is the direct supervisor of any coach. No way, the TD is accepting his hiring.

[chuks69]

“Amuneke has failed at every coaching position since he won the U17 in 2015. He’s one of the major reasons we didn’t qualify for Qatar. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Super Eagles job,” he added.

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

No be everything person dey talk for outside. This is wickedness!

It is not true oh...Eguavoen made that decision soley, to go from 4-4-2 to 4-3-2-1. Remember Osimhem had Emmanuel Dennis and Ademola Lookman behind him.. Lookman won the Pk for goal Ekong scored. Dennis was a disaster.. What really cost the game was the few MFs Eguavoen invited over two legs.. Innoncet Bonke cramped quickly, Frank Onyeka got injured hence no ball carrying again. Etebo wasnt fully fit and was returning from Injury.. These were bigger problems in the absence of Ndidi.. A fully fit Etebo could have passed the ball quicker to Osimhem for the goal he was offside or Osimhem waited a 1-2 secs to run for the ball.. Also Uzoho hurler.. But tactically in the planning stage the biggest mistake was the lean MF.. even shehu had to brought on as MF to just have two bodies in the MF 4-2-4.. Moses Simon played LB that self..

[wanaj0]

“Amuneke has failed at every coaching position since he won the U17 in 2015. He’s one of the major reasons we didn’t qualify for Qatar. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Super Eagles job,” he added.

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

No be everything person dey talk for outside. This is wickedness!

It is not true oh...Eguavoen made that decision soley, to go from 4-4-2 to 4-3-2-1. Remember Osimhem had Emmanuel Dennis and Ademola Lookman behind him.. Lookman won the Pk for goal Ekong scored. Dennis was a disaster.. What really cost the game was the few MFs Eguavoen invited over two legs.. Innoncet Bonke cramped quickly, Frank Onyeka got injured hence no ball carrying again. Etebo wasnt fully fit and was returning from Injury.. These were bigger problems in the absence of Ndidi.. A fully fit Etebo could have passed the ball quicker to Osimhem for the goal he was offside or Osimhem waited a 1-2 secs to run for the ball.. Also Uzoho hurler.. But tactically in the planning stage the biggest mistake was the lean MF.. even shehu had to brought on as MF to just have two bodies in the MF 4-2-4.. Moses Simon played LB that self..

Uzoho gifted Ghana the ticket. Nothing else to add

[OJI]

Uzoho gifted Ghana the ticket. Nothing else to add

You just reemphasized the subtopic. Looking for a scapegoat instead of a systemic review, holistic analysis of what went wrong, on- and off field dynamics that contributed to the negative outcome, etc. Lessons to be learned, imbibed, and not repeated.

In the 1950 WC final, Brazil blamed the goalkeeper for their home loss.

For Brazil then, and Nigeria in 2022, what happened to the remaining 90+ minutes?
Fundamentally, how many passes did the midfield send thru to the forwards? How many shots on goal did the forwards have? How many saves did the opposing goalkeeper had to do? etc.

[Babadee]

Inside story of why NFF picked Finidi George over Amuneke for Super Eagles job



The appointment of Finidi George as the new head coach of the Super Eagles was a huge surprise in some quarters.

Of course, it was apparent that the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, was leaning towards an indigenous coach for the national team.

It is almost a pendulum with these appointments. When a local coach is not performing well with the Eagles, there will be calls for a foreigner. A yearning for a more tactically savvy handler.

When the foreigner fails – like Jose Peseiro did – the argument flips. You begin to hear talk of us encouraging Nigerian coaches, how they know these players more than anyone else and of course, the chance of harvesting talents from the Nigerian Premier Football League, NPFL.

The two names that were expected to be picked from this time around were Finidi and Emmanuel Amuneke.

A lot of observers expected the NFF to appoint Amuneke.

He won the hearts of the nation as coach of Nigeria’s U17 team, leading them to glory at the FIFA U17 World Cup.

On the continent, he qualified Tanzania for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations – their first in nearly 40 years.

However, Amuneke’s record with Egypt’s Misr Lel Makkasa and Zambia’s Zanaco left much to be desired.

The 53-year-old also failed to help the Nigeria U20 team qualify for the AFCON in 2017.

But Ayodeji Adegbenro, a Sports Administrator, insists the NFF has made the right choice.

“Finidi is miles ahead of Amuneke. He has won the league with Enyimba, has two seasons CAF Champions League experience. He also assisted Peseiro for 20 months,” Adegbenro tells DAILY POST.

“Amuneke has failed at every coaching position since he won the U17 in 2015. He’s one of the major reasons we didn’t qualify for Qatar. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Super Eagles job,” he added.

Many have argued that Finidi represents the debris of Peseiro’s time in charge.

Adegbenro explained, “If we wanted Peseiro’s shadow looming over us in the shape of Finidi, why didn’t we just keep the Portuguese?

“He wanted more money to stay. We couldn’t afford it.

“However, my point is that, given a choice between Finidi and Amuneke, Finidi is way better.”

It could also be that Amuneke did not have enough backers in the room where the decision was made.

An insider tells DAILY POST the story of how Amuneke seemingly bungled the Eagles’ chances of playing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The source said: “He was drafted in by the Minister. On the morning of the second leg (against Ghana) in Abuja, he convinced Eguavoen to switch formation and play Osimhen as lone striker.

“Even though they trained with two strikers, Osimhen and Ighalo all week.”

All that is in the past. Looking to the future, Finidi has been saddled with the task of ensuring Nigeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Already, the three-time African champions find themselves in third place in Group C of the qualifying series, behind Rwanda and South Africa.

Their next fixture will be at home against Bafana Bafana.

“I think the expectation is for him to navigate the World Cup qualifying group. That is his immediate assignment.

“Having said that, I expect the NFF to give him the same support they would have given a foreigner. Allow him to pick the assistants he will work with.

“You might not pay him as much as you’re paying the expatriates. But pay him well. And pay him when due.

“And do not undermine his position before the players he is supposed to manage. Very important,” Adegbenro added.

https://allaroundnigeria.com/inside-sto ... agles-job/

How did Peseiro fail? He exceeded all the expectations NFF set for him

[wanaj0]

Uzoho gifted Ghana the ticket. Nothing else to add

You just reemphasized the subtopic. Looking for a scapegoat instead of a systemic review, holistic analysis of what went wrong, on- and off field dynamics that contributed to the negative outcome, etc. Lessons to be learned, imbibed, and not repeated.

In the 1950 WC final, Brazil blamed the goalkeeper for their home loss.

For Brazil then, and Nigeria in 2022, what happened to the remaining 90+ minutes?
Fundamentally, how many passes did the midfield send thru to the forwards? How many shots on goal did the forwards have? How many saves did the opposing goalkeeper had to do? etc.

When your keeper is gifting goal it does not matter what else you do!