Rohr thanks NFF for new deal, promises to make Eagles super again

Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, has thanked the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for giving him a new two and a half year contract to continue coaching the senior national team.

Rohr first got the opportunity to train the Super Eagles in 2016 and got another two-year deal in 2018. His current contract will expire next month, but sources at the NFF told The Guardian that the German has been given a new two years and a half years deal.

Rohr confirmed his new contract at the weekend in a mail he sent to some NFF board members thanking them for facilitating the deal.He wrote: “I am happy to confirm that we have come to an agreement to continue my work as head coach of the Super Eagles for the next two years and a half.

“I want to say thank you to the Nigeria Football Federation, led by President Amaju Pinnick, the board and of course the General Secretary for their confidence in me to continue in this job.

“It is not common to have a country with the same national coach for what will be six years and this will be made possible because of the support of the federation, the government of Nigeria and our team.

“We have a big project in front of us. We have the quality and with the continued cooperation of everyone concerned, including the fans and good people of Nigeria, I believe we will have a good result that will spell great development for football in Nigeria in the future.”

NFF General Secretary, Sanusi Mohammed, declined to confirm or deny the development, but The Guardian recalls that the NFF after its teleconference last week tasked Sanusi to finalise Rohr’s new contract within one week.

Rohr’s new deal puts to rest the agitations of Englishman, Harry Redknapp and Argentine, Hector Cuper taking over from the French-German. The Guardian learnt that Redknapp had been lobbying his contacts in Nigerian football for the top job, just as Cuper had already sent his agent to persuade the NFF to hire his client.

Cuper, who led Valencia of Spain to the UEFA Champions League final on two occasions, reportedly saw the Eagles’ job as a good opportunity to reassert his credential as one of the world’s top coaches after his mixed adventure with Egypt.

Pinnick has always indicated that a long list of indigenous and foreign coaches were waiting in the wings if Rohr failed to accept the new terms in his contract, the report claimed.