The recent appointment of former Super Eagles defender, Joseph Yobo by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as senior national team's assistant coach, has been greeted with different opinions from some football stakeholders in Nigeria.
On the one hand, some observers are of the view that his appointment is a move by the NFF to stylishly relegate Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr away from the main picture.
While another school of thought believes that Yobo's appointment would further advance the call for the inclusion of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) players in the team.
Recall that Rohr's contract will expire this summer and the NFF are yet to finalize on his contract.
A few have also questioned Yobo's appointment based on his lack of coaching experience, which they feel may be counter-productive to the progress of the Super Eagles.
Yobo, who captained the Super Eagles of Nigeria to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and played 100 times for the national team, will join the technical crew of Gernot Rohr after the sacking of Imama Amapakabo.
As the team resumes its quest to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations against Sierra Leone in March, a source, who is a top member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has quashed reports that Yobo's appointment was aimed at relegating Rohr as the team manager.
“It's untrue that the appointment of Joseph Yobo as the assistant coach was aimed at relegating Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr,” the source told Goalballlive.com.
“Rohr has done a great job with the team and I see no reason why we will want to throw him out of the picture. Rohr has our backing and we still want to continue with this sweet relationship with him.
“As you know, Yobo is an assistant coach whose work is to complement the good work of the Super Eagles manager and not the other way as it has been painted by some people.
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“The issue of whether Yobo is experienced or not for the job shouldn't be blown beyond proportion because as an ex-international, who has played at the highest level of football, his wealth of experience would be second to none.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago
