…as Nigerian chronicles his ’26 years of failure’
Bruno Labbadia from Germany has been appointed as the 37th Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has officially confirmed that they have secured an agreement with the German coach to take charge of the Super Eagles, Nigeria’s Senior Men’s National Team.
Frankly, it’s disheartening that our country continues to settle for mediocrity. I fail to understand why Nigeria couldn’t appoint an accomplished African coach or at least a foreign coach with a proven track record of success and trophies. This choice is reminiscent of Erik ten Hag at Manchester United—a man given all the resources but still unable to deliver.
We sacked Gernot Rohr, who is now thriving with Benin’s National Team. We parted ways with José Peseiro, who is now excelling with another African country. The NFF is becoming as unproductive as the NNPC, yet it continues to bring suffering to Nigerians.
Bruno Labbadia lacks experience in managing a national team, even in his home country. Throughout his club coaching career, he has never won a trophy, never reached the semi-finals, and his best achievement was only reaching the quarter-finals.
Bruno Labbadia’s Managerial Career:
Darmstadt 98 (2003-2006)
Greuther Fürth (2007-2008)
Bayer Leverkusen (2008-2009)
Hamburger SV (2009-2010)
VfB Stuttgart (2010-2013)
Hamburger SV (2015-2016)
VfL Wolfsburg (2018-2019)
Hertha BSC (2020-2021)
VfB Stuttgart (2022-2023)
In 26 years of coaching, Labbadia has achieved little to nothing. Our sports sector seems to perpetually move from one bad decision to another. It’s troubling that the President has not sanctioned the NFF or the Minister of Sports for the disastrous performance at the Paris Olympics. But then again, is the President himself performing any better?
This coach will likely come, collect a hefty salary, and after the Nations Cup or World Cup, be sacked. Then, we will once again be searching for another “serious” coach. If we’re willing to invest properly, we can secure quality services. Anything short of this will only lead to yet another embarrassing and futile endeavor.