If you asked most Nigerians who they would have wanted to fill the Super Eagles coach job that Finidi George vacated a little over two months ago, Bruno Labbadia would have ranked very low on their list — if, that is, he featured at all.
It goes without saying the German was not the most high-profile name linked to the position, but it is he who has now emerged successful from the search process conducted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), leaving many feeling somewhat unimpressed by his appointment.
Here are at least five reasons those reservations are legitimate.
Sacking history
Coaches, as the cliché goes, are hired almost as frequently as they are fired, and even some of the greatest to do it — from Jose Mourinho to Carlo Ancelotti — have failed to dodge the bullet.
Yet even by those standards, Bruno Labbadia has had a tough time, with his reputation pockmarked by sackings; Hamburg, one of his former employers, have, in fact, dismissed him twice. That does not really scream competence, does it?
Low win rate
The basic brief of a football manager involves the winning of games, and, over two decades since beginning his managerial journey, Bruno Labbadia has simply not done enough of that. His win rate stands at a rather unimpressive average of 43.94%.
Even more worryingly, it has consistently and significantly dropped in the last six years, from 44% at Wolfsburg to a career-low 16.67% with Stuttgart — his last job — where Labbadia's tenure almost saw a proud old club relegated for only the second time in nearly half a century.
The fact that his successor, Sebastian Hoeness, has since elevated the Swabians from the brink of humiliation to the Champions League the very next campaign hardly flatters Labbadia any more than did his firing itself.
Bruno Labbadia has been unemployed over a year
Speaking of his last job, Labbadia has been unemployed since April 2023, and while spending time out often gives managers the chance to reflect and even reinvent themselves, there is also an argument to be made that a manager worth his salt should only be out of a job for so long voluntarily.
Did he turn down any decent offers before the Super Eagles coach job came along? It is hard to say; harder still, though, is it to conclude that Labbadia is a better tactician now than he was the last time he led a team out onto the pitch.
Bare trophy cabinet
Previous success may be no guarantee of future success, but Nigerians would have been a tad more confident about Bruno Labbadia's credentials if he had a record of winning trophies in any of his past jobs.
As it stands, though, the 58-year-old does not have a single piece of silverware to his name as manager, a fact that does not quite inspire hope in the Super Eagles’ chances of ending their wait for a fourth Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title.
Labbadia may well achieve that, do not get me wrong; it is just that there is nothing on his resume, at this point, to suggest he is capable of such a feat.
Zero international exposure
Of the four expatriates that had hitherto been Super Eagles coach this century, all but one — Lars Lagerback — had previous experience of working outside their respective homelands.
But even the Swede, like the other three, had been at the helm of a national team before. Bruno Labbadia, though, lacks exposure on both fronts.
He has only ever worked in Germany, the land of his birth, and managing Nigeria would be his first crack at international football. Such a significant shift in culture and profile will require adjustments that Labbadia may well struggle to make.
