I wrote an article in some Nigerian newspapers last weekend proposing that Joseph Yobo, after two years of providing him the necessary training and exposure, should become the coach of the Super Eagles to the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022.
Joseph Yobo, is a former Captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.He played for the national team for 13 years and, with 101 matches, is the most capped player in the history of Nigerian football. He went to 3 FIFA World Cups and a record 6 African Cup of Nations. He played in 5 European countries and was the first African to captain Everton FC of England. He played along side great legends like Jay jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo and Victor Ikpeba before becoming a great captain of the Super Eagles for 4 years. Throughout his career he was a model of good conduct, excellent character and exemplary leadership.
The article has been generating great international interest and provoking serious debate and discourse in several media.
A former Minister of Sports of Nigeria, Bolaji Abdullahi, has this to say: “I am solidly with you on this. As Minister, I had a close interaction with Joseph at some of the most critical moments in my time. I saw clearly all that you have seen. In addition, I also found him to be emotionally intelligent – one major attribute of leadership in a complex arena as sports”. ‘
Satish Sekar, British journalist and editor of empower sports magazine, wrote:
“Interesting argument, But I must add to it. Not only should Yobo be considered but look at the class of 2013. Identify players with leadership credentials on the pitch, and character off it. Invest in them. Train them for coaching as they are nearing the end of their playing careers.
As they approach the end on the pitch they begin to develop abilities and have a long future. For example, Vincent Enyeama. Let him start as a goalkeeping coach with a view to becoming a national coach in future”.
Godwin Dudu-Orumen, a respected Nigerian sports analyst, marketer, administrator, and current Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, disagrees vehemently: “If your campaign manages to deliver this Greek gift I can assure you it will end in tears. Super Eagles sure use training grounds, but it is not training ground for Nigerian coaches. Forget it. No Nigerian ex-footballer who has played in the last 30 years can coach the Super Eagles. Last time you campaigned for one Samson Siasia, it ended in tears. I am available for a public debate with you anywhere anytime”.
There has been a legion of other opinions, for and against.
The irony is that Joseph Yobo himself has never indicated any interest to be a coach, or even coach the national team. I don’t even think he has a coaching license. Yet, having said that, his other credentials are untouchable, unmatched by any of the European coaches that don’t even have a sound coaching pedigree.
Take the present example of Xavi Hernandez, former mid-field ‘general’ for Spain and FC Barcelona, acclaimed to be one of the greatest midfield players of this generation. He retired from football in 2019, joined a local Club in Saudi Arabia last May as manager. In the past few days, one of the greatest clubs in the world, his former club, FC Barcelona, are desperately seeking to bring him back as its next coach to take over from former player also, Ernesto Valverde. Xavi is, like Yobo, 39 years of age with no coaching experience except the La Masia Barcelona football philosophy embedded in the way he played.
In Nigeria, such a consideration would never happen. Instead, Nigeria has engaged a chartered accounting firm, PWC, to screen and recommend a new national coach for the country! Where else in the world would such an unthinkable thing happen? Nowhere but Nigeria where some ‘experts’ even suggest that the factor of having played football, or being an ex-international player, is irrelevant! This is the country that would consider a White coach good enough because he has coached another African team!
Meanwhile, the most important requirements for a great coach are the knowledge of the game itself (no matter how that is got), the ability to manage and mold players, and the technical competency to transfer strategy to performance on the field of play. All these attributes require great intelligence.
Joseph Yobo has an abundance of all the above attributes plus more. Succeeding to win trophies would depend on a whole array of other factors including the quality of players a coach has to work with, the support team around him including administrators that will provide the material support needed in a Third World country to lift the spirit of the players and to get them to play with all their heart and might for the coach as well as for the country, and mother luck!
Joseph Yobo, like Xavi Hernandez, may have no previous coaching experience, but he surely knows the game inside out and Yobo comes with a cool, calm, mature, and very intelligent mien, a solid ex-international playing background. He knows the psychology of Nigerian players and style better than any European coach without pedigree would ever do.
Yobo has to be convinced to make the sacrifice of giving up his very present successful life after football, and to spend the next two years training in a classroom to be a licensed coach (if he has not done so already), working directly as an assistant to a coach in the national team, spending time working under and learning from some top coaches in the world, and shunning all the shenanigans of local and international football agents, scouts, parents, football officials and administrators. It is only then that he will become the exceptional indigenous national coach Nigeria needs going forward.
Definitely and understandably, many people will rise up against this, but the more I think about it the more confident I become that in two years’ time, when the Super Eagles file out in Qatar at the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria will be led by a gentleman called Chief Joseph Philip Yobo.
