By OLANREWAJU AKOJEDE

A cross section of football stakeholders has expressed mixed feelings over the appointment of German tactician, Bruno Labbadia, as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the appointment on Tuesday in Lagos.

NAN reports that NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, had in the early hours of Tuesday announced the appointment of Labbadia in a statement.

Ex-Super Eagles player, Baldwin Bazuaye, who was indifferent about the appointment of Labbadia, said that Nigerians desperately needed results from the senior national team more than the debate on his personality.

“For me anything that will make or mean well for Nigerian football is good.

“It now depends on the NFF on what they want. The only advice I have for them is that Nigerians need results now.

“We are not lacking in resources, so we will be waiting for the results. This is NFF’s decision, even if we advise, they can decide to take it or not.

“Sometimes, our advice does not count, so I believe they must have done their due diligence with the Technical team before the appointment was announced,” he said.

Vincent Okumagba, President of Super Eagles Supporters Club of Nigeria, said that Labbadia was not a popular name on the list of the coaches.

“Labbadia is not known to me, but it is a good thing that the NFF has appointed a new coach.

“I won’t be able to speak much about his abilities or competence, but for the fact that they have appointed him, due diligence must have been done with the Technical Committee.

“I believe all stakeholders are involved in this appointment, but the fact is that he is not known to most of us as supporters.

“What we know how to do best as a supporters’ club is to give our full support to the team, because we must qualify for the next AFCON having done well in the last edition,” he said.

Okumagba, however said that the Super Eagles Supporters Club have started mobilising members for the crucial AFCON qualifiers on Sept. 7.

“We have started preparations ahead; we held our first rehearsal at the National Stadium last week.

“We have also mobilised our members from the different states to be in Uyo so that we can qualify and after that maybe we can win the next AFCON,” he said.

To Sport Editor, Ayomide Oguntinehin, Chief Editor at Soccernet.ng, the choice of Labbadia was a hasty decision by NFF.

“I see the appointment of Labbadia as one of NFF’s scapegoat strategies. For a coach to be appointed less than two weeks to his first official assignment as a national team coach.

“Labbadia has less than seven days to prepare for the crucial AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda, a competition that we just finished as silver medalists.

“Even the German press tagged his appointment that he got a surprise coaching role in Nigeria because he has been overlooked.

“Well, it is dicey to start to judge him now, so we will give him a chance maybe for the upcoming two games, then, he will start to feel the pressure,” he said.

Oguntinehin said that the task ahead of the newly appointed former Stuttgart FC coach was enormous given the present state of the senior national team.

“Republic of Benin’s game won’t be easy after they defeated Nigeria in Cote d’Ivoire and with Nigeria’s former coach Genort Rohr.

“Well, in terms of experience maybe he is up there at the club level but never at the national level.

“The question is, can he handle the Super Eagles of Nigeria, or the pressure from the Nigerian press?

“From the list of the NFF, Labbadia was the least qualified, maybe others such as Anderson and Hevre Rennard have their excuses for not taking up the role,” he said.

A football fan, Damilare Okeowo described the appointment of Labbadia as another journey to a bad end.

“It’s a journey that will not end well for both parties because what the Eagles need now is a coach that understands African football, and not the one coming to learn the ropes.

“Has Labbadia coached in any African country before? No, has he handled any national team beforehand? No, so why appoint him?

“We won’t give up on talking about NFF inadequacies because we want the best for the country,” he retorted.

NAN also reports that 58-year-old Labbadia was born in Darmstadt, Germany and won two caps for the German national team, `Die Mannschaft’.

He had a playing career that took him through clubs such as home-town team Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC.

Labbadia later triumphed in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994. (NAN)

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