GERMAN coach, Bruno Labbadia has bizarrely announced himself as the next head coach of the Nigerian National Football team, Super Eagles.
Labbadia declared himself next Super Eagles gaffer in a post on Instagram on Friday, a few days after he reportedly rejected his earlier appointment with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).
A report published by Kicker in August wrote: “Bruno Labbadia will not be the new national coach of Nigeria. The 58-year-old German football coach had been negotiating with the Africans for a week and, according to information from Kicker, decided against a contract on Friday.”
According to a report by SaharaReporters, the NFF had announced Labbadia as Eagles’ coach in August without a signed and sealed contract.
While the NFF was yet to officially disclose if it has reached an agreement with the German coach to take up the job, Labbadia had gone ahead to tease his followers on social media that his next place of work would be Nigeria.
He wrote: “New Chapter 🇳🇬”
While the NFF was yet to react to his post, the disclosure has received a series of backlash from Nigerians who expressed the view that the coach is not good fit for the Super Eagles.
An Instagram user, nonsofrankie wrote: “Nff announce their own appointment, the man deny them. Now the man don use him hand announce him own appointment. Time for Nff to deny am too.”
Another Nigerian, pal_jerry said: “We don’t need you……we are okay with Eguaveon and if Eguaveon is not ready, we have Siasia. What Siasia has achieved in international football as a coach, you are yet to get close. So rest.”
Findings by SaharaReporters about the managerial stats and experience of the German coach showed that his appointment fell short of what the NFF promised the over 200 million citizens after they allowed Jose Peseiro to leave in March.
His records show that he has been dismissed from several managerial positions in his career.
The most recent was in 2023 when he was sacked after he almost relegated VfB Stuttgart.
The same squad went on to qualify for the Champions League barely one year after the new Super Eagles coach was replaced by Sebastian Hoeneß.
His records show: Total games managed: 487, Wins: 214 (43% win rate), Draws: 103 (21% draw rate) and Losses: 170 (34% lose rate).
This means that for every 10 games he played: he won 4.3 games, lost 3.4 games and drew 2.1 games.
Labbadia’s coaching record raises questions about his ability to lead the Super Eagles to victory because his record shows he has won fewer matches (in percentage) than José Peseiro whom NFF refused to allow to stay despite leading the country to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast
(With SaharaReporters Report)
