Will Finidi George carry on as Enyimba coach despite Super Eagles appointment?

The Nigeria Football Federation confirmed the appointment of former Ajax winer Finidi George as Super Eagles coach last Monday, Soccernet.ng reports.

This decision was reached after nearly two months since Jose Peseiro left the Super Eagles coaching position. Initially, Finidi was appointed as interim coach while the NFF opened applications for the position. He led the Super Eagles to the last international break, where they played Ghana and Mali.

But eventually, despite reports that big names like Emmanuel Amuneke and Michael Nsien applied for the job, Finidi was appointed.

But even after waiting for two months to make the decision, it still seems rushed. This is because generally, when coaches are appointed, the duration of their contracts, their salaries, assistants, and targets are listed. However, in Finidi’s case, the only thing that was listed was the job description and target – which looks to be short-term. The duration of the contract was noted stated on the contract, neither was the salary.

Also, the NFF did not reveal Finidi’s assistants. It would be expected that before announcing the deal, Finidi’s new assistants would have been arranged- whether the NFF’s choice or his.

The 53-year-old has also been Enyimba’s coach for the last three years. He combined the Enyimba job with the Super Eagles assistant position in recent years. But now that he has become permanent head coach, the NFF have not stated if he will leave his job with the Peoples Elephant.

According to a source outside the NFF, Finidi will leave his Enyimba job, but that will be announced later, as consultations are still going on.

It is important for the NFF to sort out this issue as soon as possible because it is not just about appointing a coach. Everything has to be settled beforehand to make sure there are no distractions before the crucial World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic.

As the weeks go by, Nigerian football fans can only hope that the NFF puts everything in order as soon as possible.