No foreign coach can handle Super Eagles now, says Erico

Former Super Eagles’ Assistant Coach, Joe Erico, believes Nigeria can return to the top of African football without a foreign coach in charge of the senior national team.

Erico advised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) against wasting scarce resources in hiring an expatriate coach for the Eagles, saying Nigerian retired players, who worked with world-class coaches in their various clubs over time, have enough experience and knowledge to handle any situation in international football.

He added that the local coaches have what it takes to revamp the senior national team if only they were given the right apparatus to work.

The former Julius Berger coach explained that the bane of Nigerian football now is the inability of the NFF to organise a good transition programme that will not only develop and monitor players from the grassroots level, but also ensure that such talents discovered are kept together till they have the opportunity of playing for domestic or foreign clubs.

He disclosed that planning ahead for future championships would create opportunity for the football body to set a road map for future tournaments, adding that such programmes would eliminate the problem in the selection of players for particular championships.

‘’I am not in support of the NFF hiring a foreign coach for the Eagles. Our retired players don’t need much technical assistance to perform due to the much experience they have acquired in their various clubs from top coaches in the world. The domestic coaches need to be given the best assistance to succeed.