The spirit of error

Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
– I John 4:6 (KJV)

In the wake of Nigeria’s defeat to Benin, one which leaves the Super Eagles more or less rooted to the bottom of the 2026 CAF World Cup qualifying Group C table, it is tempting to lay a meaty tackle on Finidi George. 

Lord knows he would deserve it. Since taking charge on a permanent basis, the Nigeria head coach has made a meal of every opportunity to inspire confidence and enforce standards, and in his two competitive matches in charge has been found wanting in his decision-making both before and during matches.

It would be unfair to dismiss the entirety of his work on the training ground though, especially as, in patches, the Super Eagles have shown glimpses of… something. Finidi’s preference for a passing game has led to some improvement in build-up, and there is a degree of positional fluidity in the attacking third that has led to impressive passages of play on occasion. These moments, however, have been fleeting; without the ball, the undercooked nature of his ideology is apparent: defending is primarily a matter of organisation, and there is precious little of it on display, whether in open play or when the ball is dead.

Combine that with some truly bizarre selection choices (Paul Onuachu and Kelechi Iheanacho starting against South Africa), poor intra-squad communication (it is never a good thing when coach and captain publicly disagree as to the latter’s fitness) as well as a tendency to panic too quickly (hauling off your most creative midfielder less than 15 minutes into the second half while chasing a deficit; going to a two-striker system that had obviously not been prepared in training beforehand) and you have a buffet of confusion.

So, yes, a number of paragraphs could be written about Finidi. (They may yet be in this parish.) However, he has not seized the role he currently fulfils of his own volition; his error-proneness is simply a mirroring of his employers’. 

The tone is set from the top, the stinky muck flowing down Ibrahim Gusau’s gleaming dome to the skirts of his garments. And while this does not absolve Finidi (this, in fact, is part of the allure of foreign managers: unlike their indigenous counterparts, they are typically able to, in the midst of ever-roiling mayhem, fence off for themselves and the team and enclave of sanity, however small) of being cut from the same cloth, the worm that spun the silk is clearly a diseased one. 

So here we go: a litany of gaffes from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) spanning from the end of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) till now. By no means it is exhaustive, so feel free to append your contribution(s) upon reading these.

• Only the NFF would, after a defeat as debilitating as that suffered against the Cheetahs, evince primary and greater concern over the playing of an anthem, naked self-preservation taking precedence over gauging the pulse of a wounded fanbase.

• Only the NFF would, with said fans still nursing their shattered pride, put out a post on social media referring to World Cup qualification as “impossible” with six matches – including meetings with the might of Rwanda (twice), Lesotho and Zimbabwe – still to play.

• Only the NFF would tap a former assistant as an interim head coach, watch him execute two friendlies, go through a five-week search for a permanent appointment after that, only to end up picking that interim anyway.

• Only the NFF would appoint a head coach with a mandate to patronise the local league, once more putting the cart before the horse in seeking to entrench a framework that simply and demonstrably does nothing for either party. (More on this at a later date.)

• Only the NFF would, given the opportunity, fail to honour – with either black armbands or moments of silence – two of the finest head coaches the Super Eagles have ever had, despite ample opportunity to do so by virtue of the fixture calendar.

• Only the NFF would be responsible for a pre-match press conference in which coaches and players of both nations involved were forced to stand, on account of inadequate chairs, with a bare wall for a backdrop and shoddy lighting.

• Only the NFF would, mere days before a crucial World Cup qualifier, allow active Super Eagles players to take part in a charity match to launch a foundation. A ludicrous business.

• Only the NFF would, during international windows, deliberately and repeatedly invite players who are unfit/unavailable to play, only to then announce replacements for them. This happens nowhere else: if a player is injured, the club will typically send communication to the Federation to that effect and withdraw the player from international engagement. It can only mean one thing: that the Federation is not in communication with the players/their clubs ahead of sending out call-ups. Well, actually, it can mean something else as well, but I do not have my conspiracy theory hat to hand at this time, so let that be a consideration for another day.

• Only the NFF would go into a tournament with the knowledge that its head coach was out of contract by the end of it, and only actively commence proceedings to appoint a replacement weeks later.

• Only the NFF would, in response to a report about owed bonuses and allowances, put out a press statement with a quote from an unnamed “senior player”. Because that just screams credibility and transparency.

Not all of these items had a direct bearing on the debacle that has been the June international window. However, they are outward manifestations of an inner ailment, the suppurating abscess on the skin betraying terminal infection underneath the surface. And Finidi, lame duck that he now appears to be, is yet another effect of a foetid cause.

The fish rots from the head, but the head first rots from within.