Van Gaal and Hiddink reject Super Eagles

Posted on 09. Feb, 2010 by Pappy Dee in Sports Gist

Nigeria’s search for a replacement for Shaibu Amodu has suffered a setback as two of the shortlisted candidates Luis Van Gaal and Guus Hiddink have turned down the opportunity to take the Super Eagles to South Africa

The Dutchmen alongside , former Ghana coach Ratomir Djukovic, ex-England under-21 manager Peter Taylor and Bruno Metsu were listed as the Nigeria Football Federation’s(NFF) preferred candidates to replace Amodu

Van Gaal who had a two-year spell in charge of the Netherlands made it clear that he wants to see out his contract with German giants Bayern, which runs until June 2011.”I have had an offer from Nigeria now, but I have rejected it,” Van Gaal told German television channel Liga Total.”It was not the first time I have received an offer from Nigeria, but I think that Bayern is a big challenge for me.’’

Hiddink’s future as Russia coach seemed uncertain after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa in June, and his contract runs out this year, but media reports suggest the Dutchman also does not want the Nigeria job. This now leaves only three coaches left on the NFF’s shortlist namely Bruno Metsu, Ratomir Djukovic and Peter Taylor.

Frenchman Bruno Metsu, is currently coaching Qatar’s national team, but came to limelight with his impressive performance with Senegal in the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea.

Djukovic, took Ghana’s Black Stars past the group stage of the 2006 World Cup but quit after a second-round defeat by Brazil, then had a two-year spell with China’s under-23 Olympic team before taking charge of his native Serbia’s under-21 side last July.

Taylor has been without a job since October when he was sacked by English third division team Wycombe. He has had separate spells with the England under-21 side, and was caretaker manager of the senior side for one match against Italy in 2000 when he gave David Beckham the captain’s armband.

The general wave of public opinion in Nigeria is that the remaining candidates do not have the pedigree to revamp the Eagles into an entertaining side. Street Naij is also not impressed with the remaining candidates on the shortlist. The scars of the Berti Vogt’s reign serve as a lesson against hiring a foreign coach for the sake of paying lip service to disgruntled Nigerian supporters. It seems the NFF have made the  elementary mistake of failing to contact the candidates listed before short-listing them and are merely engaging in name throwing so as to appease Nigerians. Unfortunately for the NFF, the fans have a keen eye on proceedings and will  settle for nothing  but the best. Watch this space