Former Super Eagle's Coach says foreign coach must adapt to Nigerians Lifestyle

Former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu, has said that any manager that is not ready to face the challenges that come in the course of managing the Nigerian team does not deserve the job.

Reacting to Paul Le Guen’s refusal to take the Super Eagles job because it compelled him to reside in Nigeria, Chukwu, who is a member of the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) Technical Committee, expressed dismay over the attitude of the former Cameroun coach.

He said Le Geun has no right to give the NFF his own terms and conditions before accepting the job.

Chukwu wondered why some people are castigating the NFF Technical Committee and the executive board for not properly scrutinising the former Paris Saint-Germain helmsman before announcing him as the Eagles new manager.

He said Le Guen was only declared the winner after the scrutiny of his application for the job, adding, however, that the Frenchman needed to accept all the conditions before being officially unveiled as Nigeria’s new coach.

Chukwu said Nigeria is a big footballing nation that desires a coach with the right attitude and affection to coordinate affairs of the senior national team. “Well, if it is on the bases of insecurity in the country that made Le Guen refuse to stay in Nigeria, that means the coach is not ready to work. As you can see, we Nigerians are not all dead.

“If Le Guen cannot love the country, eat with us and watch our domestic league to discover players, he is not worthy to coach the Super Eagles. He cannot stay in France to coach the Eagles. No country in this world will appoint a coach without is giving him terms and conditions to fulfill. Nigeria is not a small country in football,” he said.

Chukwu saw nothing wrong in the NFF’s approach to the selection of the national team coach and wondered why Nigerians are criticising the NFF over the turn of events.

He said: “The technical committee’s duty was to send a suitable candidate for the Eagles job to the NFF board… they accepted our findings before announcing him as the Eagles new boss. If you read the press release that was made to that effect, the official appointment would be made based on his accepting the conditions laid down for him.

“In this case, he rejected the conditions. I don’t think it is fair to raise the alarm. Our job in the committee is to source for a credible coach that is ready to work in Nigeria without any sentiment.’’