When his name was first announced as that of the new manager of the Super Eagles, the national football team of Nigeria, I was one of the first persons to ask the question: Eric who? I wondered if Eric Sekou Chelle’ was the name of a person, a place or a thing.

As extensive as the radar of my football experiences could scan, the only Eric that came to mind was Eric Cantona, the maverick football ‘general’ that once made Old Trafford his playground but whose legend as a player was, unfortunately, not extended to his managerial accomplishments.

So, like me, for most Nigerians Eric Chelle did not exist on the football planet. He came from the blue, an African born in Ivory Coast by a White French father and a Black Malian mother. He played limited domestic football in France and a handful of matches for the Malian national team. Thereafter, he turned to coaching and his greatest ‘achievement’ was managing the Malian national team to the semi-finals of the last African Cup of Nations slightly over a year ago in Ivory Coast! Those credentials did not match the expectations of Nigerians. So, there was shock and apprehension with his appointment.

But then, no one can discountenance the total unpredictability in the greatest and most beautiful game in the world, the place of uncommon and unscripted plots, and condemn Eric Chelle without examining the motivation of those that engaged him to start with. The Technical Committee as well as the Executive Committee of Nigerian football must have seen and must know what the rest of us did not see or know. Otherwise they would not have had the courage or audacity to appoint an unknown coach following the generally poor results and performances of the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the past 10 years under 4 different coaches (mostly foreign).

Personally, I had to dig deep to find an acceptable justification – the documented story of Clemens Westerhof, the Dutch gaffer. He came in with lightweight credentials only to become the transformer of the Nigerian Eagles from ‘Green’ to ‘Super’, a move that took the national team to the apex of African football and near the apex of the world in 5 years. Under Westerhof, Nigeria won AfCON, qualified for the World Cup for the first time, and ended the year, 1994, as the fourth ranked team in the world.

Is the NFF following the model of Clemens Westerhof and taking a gamble with an unknown African coach?

Some three months since the announcement, shockwaves have become gentle ripples. Nigerians have settled to ‘siddon and look’, waiting to witness the drama that will unfold in a ‘miracle’ that is needed to take Nigeria away from the precipice of failure where it perches presently to the coastline of success.

So, Eric Chelle is to be seen as either the product of a decision of ‘madness’ or of ‘genius’! The next few weeks will tell.

I also went into that state of mind – to wait and watch how Eric would unfold – before passing any comment. No matter how difficult the task may be, Nigerians will demand that the Super Eagles be one of the national teams at the epochal World Cup of 2026 to be hosted by USA, Mexico and Canada.

There is no alternative than to defy and beat the odds and get the Super Eagles there. Although his work is cut out for him, the obligation of every Nigerian is to support the man that will steer their ship to its destination.

So, I was not going to comment or criticize whatever Eric does. I have only been observing!



https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/03/an-evening-with-eric-chelle/