Ex-Nigeria Coach Reveals The One Thing He's Not Comfortable With Rohr; Says German Deserves New Deal

Former Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen has argued that manager Gernot Rohr deserves to be offered a new contract by the Nigeria Football Federation for the work he has done with the national team since his appointment as coach.

On the other hand, the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner and two-time World Cupper revealed that he is not comfortable with the fact that Rohr does not live in Nigeria and made reference to one of the most successful Nigeria coaches Clemens Westerhof, who was accommodated in Ikeja during his days with the Super Eagles.

With Rohr's current deal with the Nigerian Federation set to run out in the next six months, his contract situation has been a subject of discussion in recent weeks and the former Bayern Munich defender can start discussing with interested clubs and countries if an agreement is not reached next month.

''Yes he does deserve a new contract. The only thing I am not too comfortable with is him staying out of the country,'' Eguavoen said.

''When Westerhof was our coach then he had his residence in Ikeja, very close to Airways ground, a duplex was hired for him for a long period of time.

''If he needs to succeed or keep succeeding as he has done well so far, he needs to stay here long-term. If it's short-term, then we are going to have problems.

''He has done well, he deserves a new contract.''

Some school of thought have argued that a local coach should be in charge of the country's senior national team.

Responding to that, Eguavoen said : ''Well, I don't know about that. So far so good he has done well. If you look at the team, completely overhauled, average age now is quite young so I think he's towing the right path, we should just encourage him.

''However, if it is not going to work, when couples marry and there's always a problem, the end thing is a divorce amicably.

''If it is going to work, they have to understand each other, accept one other and then move on. The sooner the better''.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel