Blessed are the meek...

It is to the eternal shame of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that, having taken an unreasonably long time to come to a decision on the coaching position of the men’s senior national team, they have doomed their man – Finidi George – to a lukewarm response.

In the end, considering minister of sports John Owan Enoh had, in tasking them with cutting coat according to cloth, left them with a smaller pool than initially hoped, the 53-year-old was close to the best choice available. The only stronger – in the estimation of this parish at least – indigenous candidate, Ndubuisi Egbo, was apparently not shortlisted at all, an interesting turn of events in itself considering US-based Michael Nsien, who has never managed in a topflight league at senior level, progressed further in the recruitment process. But that is a separate matter.

With no recourse to a foreign manager on account of apparent penury (not that Danny Buijs, Toni Conceicao and Domenec Torrent was a particularly stacked deck from which to draw, in any case), it came down to Finidi or Emmanuel Amuneke. This was fitting in a way: more than anything else, Nigeria has anchored its footballing identity on ‘wing play’, with origins going back to the tenure of Yugoslavian Tihomir Jelisavcic in the 1970s. 

The choice between Finidi and Amuneke, two of the country’s finest wide practitioners, came to seem almost ideological, based on their interpretations of the roles in their playing days: the former’s understated, cerebral stylings contrasting with the brash, impulsive directness of the latter; one almost insouciant at the prospect, the other seeming to pull every lever in pursuit of the prize. Ice vs Fire. In the end, the cooler element won out, and Port Harcourt’s finest may as well have been muttering ‘I don’t want it’ under his breath as the ermine was draped over his shoulders. 

For all that taking almost three months to make what amounted to a non-decision seems underwhelming, there is reason to be, at the very least, hopeful about the choice of Finidi. The main positive is obvious: familiarity, especially with this group of players but also, to a degree, with the NFF; this will be important if Nigeria are to get back on track come June when the 2026 World Cup qualifiers resume. And while he does not have the continental success that made the appointments of Stephen Keshi and Shaibu Amodu seem like no-brainers in their respective first spells in the hot seat, he does have a Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) title on his record.

There is also something to be said for how he handled his interim responsibilities in March. I reviewed his performance against Ghana and my read was that, in the circumstances, sending the team out to impose themselves on the opposition was admirable, and that errors in execution were to be expected, given limited time on the training ground.

It came as a surprise to me then that the defeat to Mali was so negatively received. The Eagles are not chopped liver, and their peculiar system – a diamond in midfield – was always going to give them numerical superiority in the middle and, consequently, the lion’s share of the running, especially considering that, unlike his opposite number on the night, Eric Chelle has been in charge for two years.

In any case, the second period of that match saw the Super Eagles come into it a bit more and give a better account, and the chance Cyriel Dessers flubbed was a clearer one than any Mali had crafted to that point. 

Another stick that was used to beat Finidi was his reticence regarding substitutions and, again, it is difficult to see what people expected considering he was in interim charge. With no idea what the NFF’s plan was going forward, to what end was he expected to blood new players? Mind, he was in a peculiar situation where he was basically auditioning for the role; did it not make sense that, having identified the most match-ready players in his eyes, he would lean on them in hopes of getting favourable outcomes? He even stuck to Jose Peseiro’s five-at-the-back system, a dead giveaway as to his mindset if ever there was one.

Having gotten the job now, it is only logical to expect a different outlook. Elements of his preferred style – attacking bias, defending with possession, and support for the centre-forward – shone through even within the strictures of Peseiro’s latter structure, but the genuine article would almost certainly see him revert to a back four with wingers and a support striker. (He has been mocked rather cruelly in certain quarters for referring to this as a “normal 4-3-3”, but when you consider that Louis van Gaal’s Ajax, perhaps Finidi’s strongest footballing influence, was notated as a 4-3-3 despite being more of a 4-2-1-3/3-4-3 that featured, in Jari Litmanen, a no.10, it makes sense.)

What that means personnel-wise is anybody’s guess but, considering the possibilities, it is intriguing to look forward to. There is nothing more exciting than risk but, looking at the pool of names shortlisted, Finidi is no more a risk than, say, Torrent, whose complete lack of experience in international management allied to limited success as a manager in his own right, made his candidature extremely tricky. Or Buijs who, despite doing a reasonable job keeping Fortuna Sittard afloat in midtable in the Eredivisie, has never managed outside his native Netherlands and has, by necessity or preference, been coaching a defence-first style.

A lot will hinge on his backroom, which one presumes he will have the benefit of this time, and here there is a concern as to whether he has the knowledge of his own blind spots and the network to constitute a good one if given free rein. (Any idea of Amuneke as an assistant, or the Salisu Yusufs of the world should immediately be jettisoned.) But that really is the crux of it: there is only one way to know, and that is to let it play out objectively. Finidi does not set the pulse racing, but perhaps, with Nigeria’s World Cup prospects already in jeopardy, his calmness may be just what the doctor ordered.