Pius Ayinor
Once on this page I threw myself in for the Super Eagles job at a time when there was vacancy
for the position. The current situation has again touched on my sense of patriotism that I am
offering myself yet for the position. And mind you, I am doing so at the most reasoning cost with the
assurance of good result. I am not asking for tax-free N10m; not even N5m with very good bonus
but simply N3m which under the circumstance is most reasonable.
Without doing any research I am sure that Nigerians will not be so disappointed and angry with me
even if I lose 3-1 to Congo in Uyo after all it is cheaper than losing 3-2 in Calabar or picking double
that amount and then calling on any god for a last second equaliser against Harambee Stars of
Kenya at the same venue.
And I do hope that the all the members of the Nigeria Football Federation would consider
my application whichever group finally gets the FIFA stamp.
As the coach of the Eagles I will only bring players that are truly the best around. Gone will be the
days where players who cannot tie down a shirt in an Italian Serie B side or with a council team in
Scotland will make the team. I will not try to justify my inclusion of players who have not played
more than 85 minutes for their clubs in a whole season in my World Cup squad when there are players
in English and Spanish leagues playing regularly and scoring goals.
From the domestic league, the best players will be in my team rather than just a few mixed with
others that I will continue to defend their inclusion. I will not threaten my employers with resignation
all the time neither will I claim that 10 countries are begging to sign me as their coach and nobody
has ever heard from those FAs except me.
And what am I saying here? I have listened to Nigerians say it is not too much to pay a Nigerian
N10m or even N15 to coach the Eagles and they have always compared what is paid to national
team coaches in Nigeria to what is obtainable in European countries. Having listened to many
and read the messages some others have sent to me, I now understand that not everyone
understands how salaries are arrived at for managers in European clubs and national teams.
From what I know it is usually the manager that pays his staff from his package. And that
was the kind of arrangement Clemens Westerhof used while in Nigeria when he brought in
Jo Bonfrere and later a goalkeeper trainer. In Nigeria those who don’t understand want the
NFF to pay a coach N10m per month and then also separately pay his assistants and they are
putting up every emotional argument to justify it. Many times you hear that since officials
embezzle funds then the coach is free to earn whatever he desires.
Have we ever bothered to ask if it is worth the trouble? What value has the person added to team or
will add to warrant such payment? Have we bothered to ask the role the NFF plays for the
Eagles to win matches and competitions and then consider if we can still dole out even N5m
to any coach in Nigeria.
I have mentioned adding value here and what I mean is a coach really turning the football system around.
It is easy to pick out Westerhof because he was able to do that with the Eagles. Turning around a
team is not about winning a trophy but adding class, quality and pattern such that even if they lose a
match they can still be well applauded for a good display. You may argue that Westerhof spent more
than four years working with the team but I can tell you that as early as Algeria ’90 the Eagles had
picked up confidence. They didn’t win Senegal ’92 as well but at that stage the Eagles had become a
good team such that by early 1993 Nigerians were sure that USA’94 was going to be our first
World Cup outing and more so that we would not struggle over there. Westerhof could have
hid behind the excuse that it was Nigeria’s first World Cup and get beaten easily but it was a
different story. It is unfortunate that in Brazil we found a million excuses as to why we had to
struggle against every team and the NFF crisis became a very ready excuse to lose to Congo.
The struggling and permutations are on the table once again as we battle for a place in Morocco 2015.
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