To start with, let me congratulate Finidi George on his appointment as the new Rivers United head coach, he signed a 2-year deal yesterday and will start work immediately today after his unveiling at the Sharks Stadium to the fans and management of the club.
Being a Port-Harcourt boy, it’s a big homecoming for Finidi having represented the defunct Sharks FC before completing a move to Ajax in 1993 which made him one of the very few NPFL players who moved directly to the starting eleven of a top club in Europe
Finidi was born in Port-Harcourt, grew up in the city, and became a professional player in that city as a Sharks player. He left Port-Harcourt as a boy, and he’s back in the same city in a bigger capacity as an NPFL title-winning coach in charge of the biggest club in River State. I saw the excitement on his face when he signed his contract papers, Finidi was obviously so happy to return to club management barely a month after his unceremonious exit as Super Eagles coach
As a coach, It takes a lot of courage and determination to bounce back almost immediately after everything that happened to him as the Super Eagles coach – The disrespect from some players, the insult from some Nigerians, Betrayal from the NFF, and having to deal with demotion which led to his resignation are enough for any coach to take a long break from the job. Very few managers can bounce back from that humiliation, many may not recover from the shock, and the last coach who did what Finidi just did was Jose Mourinho who was fired at Tottenham a few days before a Cup final and went straight to AS Roma less than 30 days after his sack.
Mourinho went on to win the Europa League title for AS Roma – the club’s first European title in more than 40 years, I hope Finidi will be inspired to do the same thing at his new club and Now that he has the job, all eyes will be on him for several reasons. He has a lot to prove to football fans, as a champion of the NPFL in 2023, Finidi is condemned to prove a point that he can do it again with another club to equal the record of Kennedy Boboye who won the league with Plateau United and Akwa United.
It will be difficult but it’s not impossible only if Gov Fubara would pay attention to Rivers United the way former governor Nyesom Wike did for the club. Governor Wike ensured Rivers United had some of the best legs in the country and they were adequately motivated to go all out to defend the club’s badge
People who said the Super Eagles job was too big for him want to see him fail and say again that they were right that he was not good enough to lead the national team, and if his former teammate Emmanuel Amuneke gets the Heartland job, it would be interesting to see how Finidi and Amuneke would fare at the end of the season
The immediate task for Finidi is to secure the contract extension of some of his players whose contracts have ended, 13 players including captain Nyima Nwagua, Victor Sochima, Deputy Echetta, Abiodun Akande, Kazie Enyinnaya have all been linked with a move away from the club
Finidi should settle down for work immediately, remain focused, learn from his past mistakes, drop his ego, forgive people who offended him during his short time with the Super Eagles, and work towards achieving success with the “Pride of Rivers”
Rivers United finished 8th last season in the NPFL with 53 points, which was not the standard of Rivers United, a team that came so close to reaching the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final last season. So, Finidi must hit the ground running immediately and the process must start immediately.
I pray he succeeds and I will be personally waiting to receive him in Ibadan when he comes around to face Shooting Stars next season
Kenny Ogunmiloro.
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