Former Nigerian international, Dimeji Lawal has faulted the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to hire a technical adviser that the Super Eagles head coach, Finidi George, will work under as Nigeria hopes to revive their 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Following the Super Eagles’ poor runs in the qualifying matches, the board of the NFF has resolved to employ an expatriate ‘Technical Adviser’ for the team weeks ahead of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers and the remaining World Cup qualifying matches.
This was part of the resolution reached at its meeting on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Hybrid Mode.
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The foreign technical adviser, if appointed, would be Finidi George’s immediate boss. George was appointed as the substantive coach of the Super Eagles earlier in April.
However, in a chat with Completesports.com, Lawal stated that the NFF should have given the former Ajax star more time on the job.
“How will you tell a coach that you have already contracted to learn from another coach? Why can’t we wait for him to finish his contract before taking such a step?
“You gave somebody a contract; he has only played two games, and you want to employ somebody else.
The Super Eagles have played three games and picked just three points, drawing against Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Lesotho and losing to Benin.
The first two results were during Jose Peseiro’s time as Nigeria coach, while the recent two were with Finidi George as coach.
44 Comments
Just shut up and go farm. Sentiments won’t let some of you think straight. It been obvious from the matches palyed under your friend, Finidi, that he doesn’t know anything. It’s so so important he’s fired before he does further harm.
Don’t blame finidi,don’t blame nff , don’t blame sports minister.. blame the spirit of overconfident that enter into everyone. The minister,nff, finidi , the players, the nlc strike, the sports writers, and Rohr setting trap for dem .
Now we back to square one .
Paceiro two draw , caused wat we going through.
Who will correct that spirit? Finidi or a more experienced coach. National interest supercede an individual Finidi’s interest.
Where is Sia Sia when his ban finishes let him take over pls that is the only hope for Nigeria
You can make your comment without resorting to insults.
The truth is that it took the NFF and the Ministry of sports represented by Hon. Enoh about 3 months to interview, vetted and employed coach Finidi as the substantive coach of our national team. So does that means these people are clueless (a whole 3months, shuooo)and if that’s accepted, it them means the so-called Honourable Minister of Sports and members of the NFF must also be shown the door.
What’s not in contention and using the analysis of @OseOdion in yesterday csn article, if the Italian FA saw the need to retain Coach Mancini even after losing the last World ticket to small Macedonia, we don’t see why Coach Finidi shouldn’t be allowed this space, time and maximum cooperation from all concerned.
I am sick and tired of these former players who are defending these indigenous coaches All these former players advocated for Eguavoen to coach the green eagles what precisely happened we lost to ghana Now they at it again NFA should not listen to all former players including Odegbami
I think we miss Victor Osimhen. Anyway, it would be irresponsible of the NFF to so relieve the newly appointed Super Eagles Coach of his job after all Finidi met a tattered World cup qualificational play and on above average performance despite the short stint. Losetho / Zimbabwe that held Eagles to draws weren’t mince meat. Finidi needs more time unless the Sports ministry wants to play politics.
So,they should give him more time to destroy our Super Eagles? When the world cup ticket is at stake!
Clearly, you’re being emotional and exactly how many of us feel. But that’s not going to help. It’s true tgat the coach has no fault so far, so why changing him? I sense politics being played by the Sports Minister.
I want to say something which somehow some paid agents coming here to comment and push for their preferred choices (foreign coach and foreign base players that should be incorporated into the team for being so fantastic in their clubs which when given the opportunity they flop.
First of all what is happening in super eagle and NFF, all the drama with Finidi at the center stage is a pure acting of a script conceived, written down by those pro foreign coaches in the NFF who always benefit from sharing the inflated dollars (foreign coach salary) among themselves. This in addition to deals they receive from foreign base players who are desperate to play in our national team as plan B since their hope of playing for their earlier hopeful European countries fail.
Now what is on the script that Finidi and the players act with different roles?
The NFF knew that Finidi was not the popular choice among the candidates both foreign and indigenous coaches but identified him as the one who can be used to successfully achieve their aim.
Now what was their aim?
The NFF knew they can’t go for an imposter foreign coach since fans and stakeholders of super eagles know they are usually not sincere over choosing a world class foreign coach or sound competent local coach, so they decided to use Finidi who was abinitio not in the picture as preferred candidate but corrupt and weak enough for the mission .
What is the mission?
Come and play few matches woefully and heighten the tension and fear of loosing out in 2026 world cup, get some cash, use that opportunity do your personal business give us cut too by introducing your players and our players too ( deal done). When the cry for change coach! Change coach!! comes , you act as the fall guy, we will try to listen to popular cry by promising them foreign coach, relieve you of your position but you will still be part of the team so we can compensate you from foreign coach dollar sharing.
We will like emergency hurriedly go and hire our usual physical education master with white skin confuse them (fans) that he is recommended by Mourihno and Guordiola all together and they will believe that he is a sound coach. We give inflated dollar salary but because the person is not even qualified will agree to share the percentage of his salary with us so you (Finidi) will also benefit. Give him 80 thousand dollars peg but actual salary for him 20 thousand we share 60 thousand dollars among ourselves.
( Deal agreed). The player who do not actually deserve national call up will see opportunities to be invited since we will control the coach too.
We fans only watch the movie ignorantly but few wise ones know what’s up.
I knew from the beginning that after few poor runs the real deal will come out
Why are they not advertising the position for many foreign coaches to apply and be interviewed but you are promising Nigerians foreign coach in the coming weeks?
Who does that?
Why did they take 3 months plus to choose Finidi?
Why did they not consider first to three candidates?
Why did they do supreme Court pattern where the 5th becomes the 1st?
Was Finidi among the last 3 screened?
So all the events is not by accident but well planned event.
My own is poverty is too much in this country for all these nonsense.
EFCC should help us sanitize the NFF secure FIFA ban we don’t care.
Thank you!!!!
dimeji lawal – you are a disgrace for making such a statement – that is if you indeed make the statement because everyone knows how useless these tools working for CSN are!
so you are more worried about Finidi and the mess he caused using his own hands than the happiness and joy of multi millions of human being abi? Nigerians kwo?
You would rather save Finidi’s face and his reputation at the expense of Nigeria missing out on yet another WC especially when it has been made easier due to the possibility of more African representatives?
dude, you people constitute a malaise to society at large! This idiot should be arrested for anti-nationalistic comments and jailed for at least 10 years for this rubbish he is spewing! What a disgrace!
Finidi didn’t make any mess or whatever you’re alluding to. This is a coach who was recently employed and is integrating with the team, the new boys. He’s only three weeks on appointment and have a good understanding of the game if not for the error caused by Bassil and Ndidi, they allowed too much space. With time which all other coach was given, Finidi will deliver.
Deliver what exactly? WC ticket? Or AFCON? We’ve seen him. Let him go and deliver CHAN. Mind you Cameroon also has a new coach who I believe wasn’t part of the previous team. Unlike Finidi who has been part of the team for 2 yrs, but according to you needs time to integrate.
What’s your point, pls? Unless i will read your mind, you’re interested in a foreign coach. I personally don’t care where our national coach comes from but have asked yourself what will happen incase the presumed/would-be foreign coach failed to qualify the team for the tourney? I have the feeling some of you have no sense or haven’t been able to think deep.
Integrating with the team he has been a part of for the past 2 years….??? LMAOoo.
Are you kidding us…?
He took over AFCON vice champions for Hades’ sake……not a team that couldn’t qualify for AFCON. Yet the team after 4 matches under him are already looking like a team that wouldn’t be able to qualify for the next AFCON….LMAOoo
In a 2 year period a diligent student could have obtained two masters degree! Instead he was fighting with Moses Simon for jersey, and the first thing he did on appointment was to look to his pocket by sponsoring and promoting a 21 year old to obtain a cut of any transfer fee!
You have made your point Mr. Dimeji Lawal. Finidi does not have anything to offer the Super Eagle. No formation he was busy talking about mass defend and mass attack.
I am pained that this said ex footballers always allow sentiment to overcome their judgement. We are not in the mood to accept failure to qualify for any big tournaments anymore. Let’s look at his competence with the tool he has at his disposal (Finidi). The blame lies with all of them including the players. How can you select a coach, 1 month to a big tournament? How can you get a good result in international football when your star players trooped into the camp 2 days before a big match? With the NFF failure to plan is planning to fail. The whole organisation should be looked at.
Hmmmmmmm!
NFF don’t see realise that they only few weeks ago they vetted Finidi and found him alright, so what has changed??? What’s obvious is, if eventually Finidi is shown the wat out, they(NFF) plus including the Honourable Minister of Sports must also vacate their duty posts for being clueless and incompetent in vetting and employing a ‘non fit’ just in case that’s who Finidi is, and according to Hon. Enoh’s body language.
Correction: don’t seem to**
Finidi was given a 1-year contract (that would ONLY be renewed for another year based on performance)….not even an outright contract till the end of the WCQ.
That’s how much his employers lacked confidence in him ab initio.
And enough of this gaslighting by ex-internationals and all those whose bread is not buttered by the “local coach” sentiment.
Finidi is/was dang incompetent…simple and short.
And these excuses of “he was appointed 1 month to the qualifiers” hold no water.
My vote of no confidence in him is not just because he won 1, drew 1 and lost 2 of the 4 games he oversaw when he was in charge. His incompetence is just too glaring for a man who has been with the team for 2 years now.
1. His statements
How can a person who calls himself a football coach make statements like “Tactics and Formations do not matter in football”, and “There is no formula for winning games”…..WHAATTTTT…..REALLY….???? In virtually all of Finidi’s interviews, his emphasis is always on the players……” the players will have to do this”, “The players must do that”, I am struggling to find any of Finidi’s interviews where he enumerated what he was bringing to the table as a coach. “The players must just know when to defend and when to attack” What a daft statement from a man who calls himself a coach.
Even if that is all that is needed, who is the person that should teach and tell them “when to attack and when to defend”?
And does it just stop at the “when”……?? What about the “HOW to attack and HOW to defend” aspects of football…? What about the “WHERE to attack and WHERE to defend”….? what about the “WHO to attack and WHO to defend against” aspects of football…? What about the “WHAT to attack and WHAT to defend”
Who is supposed to tell/teach the players all that…??
I bet Finidi NEVER fulfilled his side of the responsibility, cos I didn’t see any evidence over the 2 qualifiers of the players knowing What, When, Where, Who and How to attack and defend.
2. His Audition
Finidi may have been handed an official contract 1 month ago, he had been the team’s assistant coach through the 2023 AFCON qualifiers and AFCON proper and handled the team in the March doubleheader. That was when he auditioned for this job and that was where it was evident Finidi is every letter of the word incompetent.
In games where Finidi clearly wasn’t experimenting, in the games where he supposedly was putting on his best show as a coach in order to convince the NFF he was the man for the job, a 10 man Ghanian team dominated and bossed the midfield in the 1st game and a tactically disciplined Mali defeated Finidi without leaving the 2nd gear.
In friendly matches were as much as 6 substitutions are allowed, as much as 6 players never got to see 1 minute of game time.
The manner of the win against Ghana and the manner of the loss against Mali was everything any sensible human being needed to dissect to know that Finidi in 5 years at the saddle will never take the SE anywhere. If you don’t have it, you don’t have it.
3. His Call-ups/Line-ups.
Even video game players will call players up and line them up better than Finidi. Or how do you explain the absence of the likes of Igho Ogbu, Chidera Ejuke, Chuba Akpom and a host of others from Finidi’s list since March when he took over…?
How can a man who calls himself a coach ignore the invitation of an out-and-out left-back for 2 crucial WCQ…? It took an injury to Victor Osimhen for this daft imbecile to realize his team had no out-and-out left back, informing the invitation of the Enugu Rangers guy
And on matchday, (when you are not Jimmyball who proposes playing Chuwkueze at RWB, Peter Olayinka at LWB and Zaidu and Ebuehi as CBs because according to him, there is nothing like ‘natural position’ in the game of football….LMAOOoo), Finidi goes on to play a natural CB at RB….a natural RB/RWB at LB and a natural LB at CB. It took Rohr’s Benin Republic going 2-1 up before Finidi’s brains reset back to factory settings. And then in one fell swoop, he panics, loses his head and empties his entire midfield to play the same 5-0-5 Eguavoen desperately wanted to use to bully Ghana in our ill-fated 2022 WCQ home leg. Our strikers started falling over themselves in the opponent’s already choked penalty area because we at one time had 3 strikers playing centrally, with zero direction and zero instructions on how they should get their needed goals.
4. His General Management of the team.
I have seen some of the most unorganized management approaches in the SE in a long while since March. This has led to players being openly displeased with the coach, players openly arguing with the coach on the field of play and so on. If all these are happening in public, I don’t want to imagine what has been happening in the team’s camp.
At the national team level, less coaching is required of whoever is in charge, more of team and man management is what is needed. A good man manager is one who can tell a player to go to hell and the player will go to hell with smiles and come back to thank the manager afterwards. Assisat Oshoala for no fault of hers reported late to the SF camp for the final leg of the Paris Olympics qualifiers and Waldrum sat her damn ass on the bench for the 2 qualifying matches. So those nincompoops who are trying to shift the blame of Finidi’s incompetence to the players are just as daft as the man they are trying to protect. Nobody put a gun on the manager’s head to choose or field the same “yeye players” whom another coach almost won AFCON with just 4 months ago. If as manager you cannot talk sense and discipline into your players, then you have no businesses in coaching.
As far as I am concerned, Finidi is not a coach, he doesn’t even qualify to be a mechanic or a PE teacher, talk more being the coach of our most senior national team. And I yelled it out severally on this forum when he was being touted to be coach. Y’all just need to go and watch how his Enyimba team (which he has been coaching for 3 seasons now) play on the continent. I don’t care if has won 20 NPFL titles, for anyone to rate his competence to be SE coach, we need to just dissect his performance on the continent. We know how they do their thing in that ruse they call a league…as a matter of fact, Finidi has never topped the league table in a regular season, despite coaching the biggest club in Nigeria
I think by now, we have had enough of these Frauds called the 1994 squad. The earlier we cut them loose from our football the better
“I think by now, we have had enough of these Frauds called the 1994 squad. The earlier we cut them loose from our football the better”
Your last paragraph is what should really be emphasized.
Udeze, during the search for “indigenous coach” a few months ago, said the 1994 eagles are all in a Whatsapp group. Therefore, seeing members of the group day after day “fighting for their own”, because the latest episode with Finidi is signalling a death kneel to their relevance in Nigerian football affairs, should not come as a surprise.
The next agenda, I’ll not be surprised, in the coming days, is to have their own as the 1st assistant to the new TA, which of course, the TA will automatically jettison by the way because he has all the aces to himself.
Finidi would rather stay than resign even if it will be infamy to the coaching crew.
1994 eagles are seeing the handouts dissipating and it is only normal they’re seeking new ways of redemption.
Ikpeba said NFF will swim and sink with Finidi but the game of musical chairs has since swung in a new direction by glasshouse eggheads themselves. The Whatsapp group is “reinventing” currently lol
Fair points raised here Sylvester. 🙂
@dr drey u are spot on d only thing uniting Nigerian today is sports and corruption,and an average Blackman hates to hear the truth,in one of ur numerous post against South Africa u said(with this lineup if Finidis team is not on d losing side by d end of first half he must be a magician) u are one of the few souls who says the truth no matter how bitter it is even though as human everyone has his limitations but I must commend u for ur boldness,the gospel truth is Finidi is not yet ripe to coach SE because he knows nothing
Is this one high on something or what? Give finidi time to do what exactly. He has played 4 matches won one drew 1 and lost 2. Is this good, fair or bad. Give him one year we will not qualify for both nations or world cup. Let him go before is too late.
…then if Finidi finds it unfair and disrespectful, he should resign. At least, if He has any iota of self-respect left, that’s what he should do. But why expect that much from daft Finidi?
##Calling Out@ Dimeji Lawal, Christopher Green, Segun Odegbami, Festus Onigbinde, NFF President (Ibrahim Gusau) and Minister of Sport (John Owan Enoh) – What exactly are the benefits of “Failing with Our Own” that you guys are floating at the Super Eagles Level?
Floating “Failing with Our Own” at the super eagle’s level is a bad idea that will destroy Nigeria football at this point.
Kicking against the appointment of a local coach at the Super Eagles Level do not mean we hate our local coaches or trying to enslave ourselves to the white man as Segun Odegbami and his followers always Claimed.
Please Note, the Super Eagles of Nigeria is a multi-million dollars brand filled with some rich arrogant players -It will be difficult for local coaches to stamp their authorities.
Our local coaches should start from U20 and U23 where they can build a formidable team that can conquer the world and as well stamp their authorities. Such a coach can be promoted to the Super Eagles level with his squad.
Pushing local coaches into the Super Eagles level as a head coach to learn or experiment with our multi-million-dollar brand is a bad idea that will destroy Nigeria football completely.
A foreign coach who can analyze matches and stamp his authorities is needed ASAP to fix the shit Segun Odegbami and his followers created.
As a nation we have entrenched the ignominious tradition of sit -tightism. People are so wretched and shameless that they cling helplessly to their means of livelihood. Finidi is going nowhere even if Rwanda wires the SE 5–0.
WHAT AN IDIOTIC AND STUPID STATEMENT OF THIS SO-CALLED FORMER FOOTBALL. WHAT AN INSULT TO ALL NIGERIANS. LAWAL YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND TO MAKING SUCH A FOOLISH STATEMENT. SO YOU’RE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE EGO OR PRIDE OF YOUR FRIEND FINIDI, A CLUELESS COACH THAT DO NOT BELIEVE IN FORMATION AND TACTICS IN FOOTBALL GAME THAN THE WELLBEING OF NIGERIA QUALIFYING FOR WORLD CUP.
IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR FRIEND TO BE BOSSED THE FIND HIM ANOTHER JOB. IN FACT WE ARE TIRED OF THESE 1994 BUNCH OF PLAYERS WHO HAS HIJACKED OUR FOOTBALL SECTOR.
Dr Drey you said it all.
I pointed out some of your observations before the matches. I was sure finidi is as confused as anything. It showed in the games. It showed in the results.
How can a coach just invite players without thinking of how he hopes to play the games. I still can’t believe the player once touted as the best right winger in the world and who played at the highest level would commit school boy errors as a coach.
And for Lawal, don’t blame him yet. The CSN journalists are lazy. It’s likely that is not what he said.
I never knew Oladimeji Lawal mumu is above 100%.
You definitely lost respect by this selfish utterances
Finidi: good riddance to bad rubbish!!! He does not even qualify to coach the golden eaglet. He just gave more bad names to local coaches
Lawal, please stop. It’s not unfair. If you can’t see that Finidi is in above his head, sorry I can’t help you.
For the most part our local coaches have failed us. They don’t study their craft, they are lazy, corrupt, egotistical, power drunk, and lack management skills. Don’t wait for NFF to send you on a seminar or course. Save up and do it yourself. You are investing in yourself and it will pay off for you. Spend hours upon hours in film room watching game films and learning strategies and nuances of coaching. Reach out to successful coaches for advice. They will be glad to help you.
Even the great Maradona tried his hands on coaching and failed woefully. Finidi is not a brilliant coach. It is not about the licenses he has. All the coaches in relegated teams have good paper qualifications. It hurts to read respected ex footballers talk of our preference for the White skin over our own. That mindset is in itself racist. Get a decent coach whether white or Black. Finidi should be sacked and a new coach employed. So sad to see a team that was so organized during the recent Afcon pace about aimlessly without direction. Dr Drey (I don’t know him) always always gets it right. NFF, the ball is your court.
Dimeji lawal, it is obvious the NFF used the players to sabotage FINIDi. They didn’t raise any issues when players were strolling into camp late. Players whose league matches had ended weeks before the qualifiers. Wondered what would have happened if those players were prevented from entering the camp or benched for the matches.
I think finidi is not a bad coach, his ego is the problem and his stupidity, sincerely when you see coaches that assistants don’t want to work with, you better fire them, when you see a coach who see a seat or feat as an opportunity to fall his friends or mates hands then the coach in person has a problem, then when you see a coach that is disciplined, well travelled and exposed, you will see the professionalism with the way he handles matters, that’s why itali kept Roberto Mancini, immediately finidi the judge was given the job, they asked him to work with Amunike and amukachi, he refused, claiming they won’t force assistants on him, and these people were his colleagues and former team mates, finidi’s ego was why amukachi left him, plus one question I alway ask and why I strongly believed that finidi should be sacked is that what did he finidi(the fool) learnt from peseiro, if it’s not foolishnes, his job was pretty easy, peseiro has formendeded the defence, and we have strikers, the midfielders were the problem then, why can’t he simply, retain that style of play used in the nation’s cup that made Nigeria so good and probably work on another formation gradually while using the formation that peseiro his former boss used that was bringing result even took us to the final in afcon, the style and formation of peseiro may not be what everyone likes but whether you like it or not, it’s result oriented, it brought result, south Africa didn’t change their style under Hugo bross, we saw as they improved it and used it against us and Zimbabwe, it worked for them, we manage draw and they beat Zimbabwe well, we too would have beat Benin then it’s will be fair but finidi trying to overhaul the system brought his own headache, the man too mumu, and his ego is too much…if the fool(finidi) used peseiro’s defensive play against South Africa, we won’t conceede and if we don’t conceede and we later score it will be three points, so also was with benin, we even scored first, with peseiro’s defensive manset and counter attacking mindset, against Benin, it will be up to four zero trashing, because they will try to attack and peseiro’s boys will use flanks with lookman as false 9(or 8) and alot of goals would have been scored, but finidi no get sense, he want to show himself, he even said he’s not in support of peseiro’s defensive play, okay, since Nigeria’s inception we have been playing beautiful football, how many of that beautiful football have taken us far in the worldcup, but Morocco reached the semis playing defensively and counter attacking, they never changed, they just looked for ways to play it better and improve on it. But finidi is a big full, he want to show he is better than his former boss, now they want to create another boss for him, if I were his new boss, I will never work with him,I will insist on him being sacked, he doesn’t learn a thing, he has coconut head.
Peseiro had Osimhen, Ekong, Simon, Aina, et al. Finidi didn’t even have any assistant when he played the first 2 matches. Yours is nothing but calling the dog a bad name inorder to hang it. Fair, Finidi could go but let’s see what whoever has to offer in our quest to qualify.
It’s a big shame the rubbish is coming from an ex player like Dimeji lawal, so putting Nigeria as a whole in problem of missing out of world cup is better?? What a stupid comment, putting finidi’s emotion above Nigeria’s hope of qualifying for the mundial.. I think finidi is paying him to come to the general public to say this. Ogaa….please think we’ll before you open your mouth.
You people have said it all.its the best thing that he is replaced before he cost us wc ticket.he has nothing to offer.being a good player doesn’t certainly translate to good coach
This Demeji Lawal must be smoking something very high. So, we should give a clueless coach more time to destroy our Super Eagles? This is a coach that has no good rapport with his players.Mr Lawal! Please keep your advise to your self.We don’t want Finidi anymore!