Finidi George began his reign as head coach of the Super Eagles on Monday and one of the first tasks was naming his technical staff , TUNDE LIADI X-rays the men going to work with the former Enyimba head coach…
Finidi George was officially unveiled as Nigeria’s new head coach on Monday in Abuja. He thus became the 10th indigenous coach to manage the Super Eagles in the past two decades.
The former Ajax, Real Mallorca, Ipswich Town and Real Betis winger has inked a year renewal contract and he has inherited the team currently third in Group C of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers African zone with two points from two games.
He would try to ensure the Eagles do not missed out on consecutive editions of the World Cup with the team’s absence from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar still fresh from memory.
Finidi will face a significant challenge in charge of the Eagles as he must manage players’ ego, restore confidence and hope in the Nigerian fans and motivate players to give their best especially now that the team is in distant third spot in the race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Besides battling with the above, Finidi will also have his work cut out if he doesn’t have the right blend of assistant coaches to work with.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have bared their minds on the appointment of Finidi and his choice of assistant coaches. Even though most respondents spoke on the emergence of Daniel Amokachi as Assistant coach again having held the same position in 2013 under late Stephen Keshi.
Former Super Eagles head coach, Christian Chukwu has admonished the newly appointed coach of the senior national team to get to work immediately to ensure the Eagles stage a comeback in the race for 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Chukwu also added that Finidi George succeeding as the coach of the Super Eagles would be victory for all Nigerian coaches and he therefore called on the NFF and his assistant coaches to give him all the necessary support to make his job seamless.
“He worked with Peseiro. He knows the players and it is left for him to introduce his own pattern and the game. He should be able to perform very well. The NFF should give him all that he wants for him to get a good result,” Chukwu, who skippered the Green Eagles to AFCON glory on home soil in 1980, said.
“We are all in support of him. We stand behind him and we will not like him to disappoint us. He should get up and start working immediately. He should make sure he gets the right blend of players. He should make sure he devote time for the home based players to mix up with the foreign based players so that he gives us the result we wanted.”
Former member, the NFF Technical Committee, Barrister Austel Elumelu is backing the Super Eagles technical crew headed by Finidi to deliver nothing but the ticket to the 2026 World Cup and make Nigerians happy.
Elumelu spoke glowingly of Eagles Assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi and he stated that his experience as a former player will help Finidi excel in charge of the team.
“Daniel Amokachi is very experienced when it comes to coaching and with him and Finidi George as a combo, Nigeria can do well,” Elumelu disclosed. “I am one of those that have always propagated that we should have an indigenous coach. The choice of Finidi George might not interest all and sundry but all the same we have the Technical department that has chosen him. All that we need to do is to lend our support the best way we can. I like what the NFF did allowing Finidi George to choose his assistants.
“Amokachi has been in the national team in various capacities for the national team and I see him as a good choice. Others I wouldn’t say I know more about their curriculum vitae on what they have done in the past and their success rates but all the same, we keep our fingers crossed and allow him to work with those he has chosen as his assistants.”
Juwon Oshaniwa, was a member of the Super Eagles that won the AFCON in 2013 and he affirmed that Amokachi played a pivotal role in motivating the players to go extra mile to achieve results that they won’t have dreamt of.
“Amokachi assisted the Big Boss, late Stephen Keshi and he is a very good coach on and off the pitch. He is always a winner. He has got this motivational way of doing things. He pushed us in training and doing real match situations,” Oshaniwa hinted. “He has always been a leader who has played and seen it to the highest level. We the upcoming players then watched him while growing up doing all he did and sharing the same camp with him when he was assistant to Keshi was a morale booster for us. He is going to be a morale booster to the team.”
Ex-Super Eagles left back, Ifeanyi Udeze has also hailed the choice of Amokachi as Finidi George’s Assistant coach because of the role he would play to help motivate the players.
He however warned Amokachi to know his limit as the assistant to Finidi and ensure he respects the head coach and work for the progress of the team.
“Amokachi is not a bad choice. He has his way of motivating the players. Finidi doesn’t talk too much but he knows what he is doing while Amokachi’s motivational skills can help wake the players back to consciousness,” the former PAOK Saloniki of Greece stressed.
“My only fear is that they should join hands together and work as a team so that there are no issues between both coaches. Both coaches should not know their limits and work towards the overall interest of the team.”
Ex- Eagles Right back to the 2004 AFCON, Abbey George has thumbed up the decision to name Finidi as head coach of the Super Eagles and he also praised the NFF for allowing him to pick his assistant coaches.
“Since the NFF feels he is the right man to lead the Super Eagles, he should be trusted to bring in whoever he feels would give him the right support for him to achieve success for the national team regardless of the nationality,” George disclosed.
Also speaking on the issue is one-time BCC Lions of Gboko player, Bolaji Douglas who said he was not thrilled with the process that brought Finidi as head coach.
Douglas doubts Finidi’s readiness to lead the Eagles as of now knowing that he only spent a couple of seasons with Enyimba and was only assistant to Jose Peseiro before now.
The former player asked the NFF to give Finidi sufficient time to excel and not be rushed to produce results noting that he must go through the rudiments to acquire needed experience and the camaraderie to make it as head coach.
“There are couple of reservations I have here. It is not necessarily with Finidi but with the way the whole process was handled,” Douglas began.
“I don’t know what kind of politicking that went on behind the scene and how they eventually settled for Finidi, but I am not sure that they have done him any favours with the way they have gone about the whole process.
“Is the choice of Finidi a good one? It is hard to argue against it. Within the short time he returned home to take on the Enyimba job, he put himself in a good position. Winning the league on his second attempt did a lot for his profile which is already backed by his European coaching badges .
“He has also been with the national team which gives him the opportunity to familiarize himself with the team as well as the players. So he has the element of continuity on his side. But the issue of experience handling the national team as a manager and not assistant coach is a different ball game. I don’t know how much input he had when Peseiro was around. I say this because this can go a long way in determining how much impression he must have made on the players. One can only hope he did enough in that area.”
The BCC Lions player argued that the one year contract given to Finidi does seemed the NFF think he is already readymade and that they may be no time for trial and error in the forthcoming two World Cup qualifying games and the subsequent matches.
He canvassed for a two year contract straight up for Finidi and his assistant coaches to enable them make corrections and learn from their errors before the expiration of their contracts.
“Whichever way we want to look at it, he would still need time to gather the much needed experience at this level. Which brings me to the reservation I have with the appointment, the one year contract?
“It would seem to me he is still being tried out, and the test would be the forthcoming games , which we all know are very crucial if we hope to qualify for the next world Cup. I am not sure NFF have done him any favours with the one year contract, a minimum of two years should be the norm. If you don’t trust a coach well enough to give him two years, perhaps you should not be employing him in the first place with crucial qualifier games on the horizon.
“Finidi has been given what could eventually become a poisoned chalice, one can only hope that is not the case. The only person who can ensure that it does not become the case is Finidi himself, since he accepted to work with the one year contract. The ball is now in his court to prove to everyone that he is the right person for the job. With the freedom given to him to assemble his own crew, one can only hope that he would make the best of it.”
Douglas declined to comment too much on Finidi’s assistant coaches but noted that it was fine he was given the freedom to assemble his technical crew.
He nonetheless queried the rationale behind the choice of Amokachi who was employed by the NFF to be his first assistant coach but added his experience would be invaluable to the team.
“He has made his appointments, I don’t want to comment on the assistants other than to say that only Finidi can explain his choice and if he is comfortable with working with the team, then all we can do is wish him the very best.
“The only worry I have is what appears to be dearth of experience. Although Amokachi is there, but he is an NFF appointee, I really don’t know how that is going to work out. But once again, one can only hope that they can fashion out a good working partnership that will yield the best results for the team. After failing to qualify for the last World Cup, we cannot afford not to be in the next World Cup, that is the least the nation expects.
“I personally want Finidi to do well, so I am using this medium to also wish him all the very best.”
Another person that spoke about the choice of assistant coaches for Finidi was Adebayo Gbadebo, a Nigerian-born coach based in Thailand.
Gbadebo, a former Stationary Stores FC, Lagos counselled that nationality should not dictate who should assist Finidi but their professionalism.
“The nationalities of his Assistants are not important as long as they are qualified professionals and he will be comfortable working with them”, Gbadebo said to Exclusivenews.com.ng from his Bangkok base.
“The responsibility is totally on him (Finidi George)”.
“The issue about Finidi’s Assistants must have been known, fact checked and concluded by the Technical Committee before announcing the appointment of the Head Coach.
“We are in the modern age of information and technology. Things are easily explained and confirmed,” Gbadebo summed up.
FINIDI’S TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS
Daniel Amokachi (First assistant coach)
Amokachi was a former teammate of Finidi and a key member of the Eagles class of 1994, who won the AFCON title that year and reached the round of 16 in their debut appearance at the same year World Cup held in the United States.
Da Bull just completed his CAF A coaching licence in Morocco. He was an assistant coach to the late Stephen Keshi when Nigeria last won the AFCON in 2013 in South Africa. He acted in acting capacity in 2014 and has previously handled the country’s U-23s as well as the CHAN Eagles. The former Nasarawa United and FC IfeanyiUbah coach is expected to bring in his wealth of knowledge and experience to help Finidi achieve set goals.
Benjamin James (Second assistant coach)
James was raised in Ajegunle, Lagos. The Bayelsa native was a ruthless defender during his playing days and was nicknamed ‘Olopa’. Capped 11 times by Nigeria, James played for Plateau United, Shooting Stars and the defunct Stationary Stores before he moved to Italy where he featured for Catania. After a season there, he joined Carl Zeiss Jena in Germany in 1997. He also played for VFR Mannheim and SV Weingarten before he retired in 2003. James has for over a decade been at German Bundesliga club Hoffenheim as an assistant coach of the youth team.
Olatunji Baruwa (Goalkeepers’ trainer)
Baruwa is one of the surviving backroom staff of Jose Peseiro. He was drafted into the Eagles Peseiro to replace Ike Shoronmu. Currently, the goalkeeper trainer for Nasarawa United as well as the national U-20 team, Baruwa has been with the team since then.
Chima Onyeike (Fitness trainer)
Onyeike, 48, was born in Zeist, Holland to a Nigerian father. The 48-year-old holds a degree in sports science and professionally played for several Dutch clubs (Dordrecht, Haarlem, Excelsior, VVV Venlo, TOP Oss, Cambuur, Spakenburg) before retiring.
He began work as a personal trainer and his impressive client list includes renowned footballers like Roy Makaay and Aleksandr Kerzhakov. As a club fitness trainer, Onyeike has worked with clubs like Anzhi Makhachkala, PAOK, VFB Stuttgart and Willem 11.
Mehmet Ozturk (Analyst)
Not much is known about him but George’s match reader/analyst, Ozturk, is an expert in prototype match analysis software.
