With the stage set for Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to announce French gaffer, Paul Le Guen as new head coach of the Super Eagles, a former striker in the national team, Jonathan Akpoborie has raised doubts over the incoming manager’s credentials.
Though Le Guen flaunts a resume that includes a previous stint with Nigeria’s eternal rivals and group opponents in the forthcoming Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Akpoborie insists the NFF’s choice is not of top quality.
Rather than put his head in the net for Le Guen, the one fondly called Jonnie during his playing days, most of which he spent lining out in the German Bundesliga, insists he is not convinced about the tactician’s credentials.
Akpoborie, who starred for the like of Carl Zeiss Jena, VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart during his days in Germany, recalled that a highpoint of Le Guen’s career came in Oman, where he was sacked.
Nonetheless, Nigerian soccer observers have tipped the NFF this Monday to name Le Guen to take over the job dumped by former Eagles captain, Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh, and hand the Frenchman a two-year deal, renewable if Nigeria qualifies for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
This comes after the NFF short listed three candidates, Ethiopia’s former handler, Tom Sainfiet, Eagles’ current interim coach, Salisu Yusuf and Le Guen as their final three options for the job.
It said that the NFF, however, preferred Le Guen to Saintfiet, who was once rejected by a past sports minister as technical director of the Nigerian soccer body, while Salisu will continue as assistant, a position in which he already served under three other national team managers in the country