Eagles don’t need new coach – Pinnick

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has stated that the Federation is not

looking for a European coach for the Super Eagles in place of Sunday Oliseh who was only engaged

by the NFF in July.

Pinnick who was quoted during the week as saying that the NFF members were in search of a

“heavyweight” coach for the Eagles said in Lagos on Thursday that the members had absolute faith in

Oliseh.

He said, “I never said we wanted a coach whether European or Nigeria for the Eagles. What I said

when the issue of goal scoring was raised, was that we will find a way around it; a way to achieve

higher number of goals.

“I said we believe in the technical abilities of our coach but if need be, we can interface with any

other system to tap ideas. In that way an Oliseh and a Guardiola, for instance, can liaise and

exchange


ideas. That’s all I said in that regard. That’s the kind of idea the FA can be looking at.”

Pinnick said that one of the challenges the FA was facing was the continual demand for trophies by

Nigerians. He said that the target of the current board was not just to win trophies for Nigerians but to
build a real football culture for the country as just trophies without clear developmental programmes

will not help the system.

“This year we have won trophies but that is not the ultimate. The ultimate drive is having a

dependable football culture and this we must educate Nigerians on. A proper football culture will rub

off positively in all aspects of our football.

“We can look at England. The last time they won a major trophy was in 1966 but nobody wakes up

every day to call for the sack of the FA because there’s a good system that has been entrenched; they

have a vibrant football culture. We want to develop a system that will not only help the national

teams but will also properly enhance the capacities of the clubs and the leagues.”

Pinnick said the federation was glad that the technology introduced into the national teams system

was working out giving the way the coaches of the U-17 team deployed the system in Chile and

eventually won the trophy.


by  Pius Ayinor