Adelabu slams NFF’s decision to appoint Labbadia as Super Eagles Coach

Labbadia’s 43.94% winning ratio in previous roles hasn’t swayed ex-Super Eagles star Adegoke Adelabu, who sees the appointment as a costly mistake for Nigerian football.

Adegoke Adelabu, a former Super Eagles winger, has criticised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for appointing Bruno Labbadia as the head coach of Nigeria’s senior men’s football team.

Despite Labbadia’s 43.94% winning ratio in his previous roles, Adelabu believes his appointment is a waste of resources and time for Nigeria. The former Shooting Stars winger insists that the NFF should focus on grooming local coaches.

“The NFF may have their own strategy in hiring another foreign coach for the Super Eagles, but someone needs to tell them that it is a waste of time and resources,” Adelabu told The Guardian. 

“We must learn to nurture and develop our own coaches. Enough of shopping around the world for a trainer. Let’s wait and see what comes of it, especially since there seems to be no one supervising the NFF.”

Adelabu also slammed the lack of a football philosophy in Nigeria and questioned the selection of certain players despite their dip in form.

“Our challenge isn’t about where the coach comes from but the fact that we lack any real football philosophy,” he said.

 “We also have players who are consistently invited to the national team regardless of their current form. I played under two or three German coaches—Karl Heinz Marotzke and Gottlieb Goller—and even had the opportunity to go on a training tour of Germany. I was planning to study sports medicine in Germany with Goller’s help

“The purpose of giving a foreign coach a Nigerian assistant is for continuity. How many styles of play do we have to adapt to when we keep looking for coaches all over the world?”

A few hours after Labbadia’s appointment was announced on Tuesday, the NFF released a 23-man squad list for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign against Benin Republic on September 7 and Rwanda on September 10. Invited players will begin arriving at camp from Monday, September 2.