Former Super Eagles’ assistant coach, Fatai Folorunsho Amoo (aka Arsenal) has added his voice in support of conditions handed out by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to the country’s national team’s handler, Gernot Rohr, megasportsarena.com reports.
One of the conditions outlined by the NFF to the Franco-German gaffer is that he should now start living full-time in Nigeria, since he is earning his pay from the country, and Amoo stressed that there is nothing unusual about the directive.
He went on to cite examples of other coaches that have work with the Eagles, including the famous ‘Dutch-Gerian,’ Clemens Westerhorf, who all resided in Nigeria during the time of their tenures with the three-time African champions.
The former coach of First Bank FC of Lagos, Shooting Stars of Ibadan, Sunshine Stars opf Akure and Enyimba of Aba, stopped short of speaking about other conditions handed Rohr by the NFF, but added during Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos that it only makes common sense that a coach should be resident wherever he is earning his pay.
Interestingly, the NFF also ordered Rohr start watching more matches in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and to pay tax from his salary, all of which would become easier to achieve once he starts living longer and more often in the country.
Although Amoo did not touch on any of those points, his inferences alluded to the possibility of Rohr getting to understand his players better based on the chemistry he will develop from being a resident of the country that produced most of the players and the parents of those that were born abroad but have now switched national team allegiance to don Nigeria’s colours.
He hinted that it would also be easier to get home-based players in the Eagles through the new policy introduced by the NFF, as was the case with Chief Adegboye Onigbinde in the FIFA World Cup squad to Korea/Japan 2002 as well as Stephen Okechukwu Keshi in winning the 2913 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.
Amoo declared: “It’s not unusual telling a coach to stay in Nigeria if he is working for Nigeria. It is what we saw with Stephen Keshi, even Chief Onigbinde in his days. They all stayed in Nigeria. I remember Sebastian Imasuen too, and Westerhorf. There’s nothing big or extraordinary for a coach to live in Nigerian when working for the Super Eagles. It is just a normal thing to expect.”
