By Kunle Mudasiru
The appointment of a German, Bruno Labbadia, as Manager of the Super Eagles by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has continued to generate reactions from a cross section of stakeholders in football.
Labbadia was named early on Tuesday morning as the 39th Manager of the senior national team of Nigeria. His appointment takes immediate effect and he is to lead the Eagles for the Nations Cup qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.
Abiodun Obafemi and Gbenga Okunnowo are former internationals who expressed different views against the appointment of the new handler of the Super Eagles.
Obafemi was unhappy that a new coach was appointed with less than two weeks to crucial games of the senior national team.
“The timing is very short and I wonder what the officials of the federation were doing all the while. This is so tight, risky and dicey for a coach that is coming to have a first hand experience of national team job. The forthcoming games are also competitive and one wonders why the long delay from the federation,” he said.
Okunnowo, a former player of FC Barcelona of Spain was angry that the federation itself has internal issues affecting its day to day operations.
“There are external factors affecting the officials of the federation and another issue is the fact that they do not speak with one voice. It is important they come out with a joint position rather than having discordant tunes.
“We must be sure the federation officials speak with one voice. The delay of a new coach was unnecessary and it was because they never agreed on one person to take charge,” he said.
