Chelle will be accompanied by three of his trusted assistants who were with him when he managed the Eagles of Mali and recently Algerian club, MC Oran
The recent appointment of Eric Chellé as the new head coach of the Nigerian National Football Team, Super Eagles has sparked concerns among fans who doubted his capacity to revive the glory of the team.
Eric Chelle will arrive Nigeria on Sunday to sign his contract.
Chelle will be accompanied by three of his trusted assistants who were with him when he managed the Eagles of Mali and recently Algerian club, MC Oran
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday evening announced his appointment in a statement shared by the football body via its official X page on Tuesday.
The statement reads: “The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has endorsed the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee for the appointment of Mr. Éric Sékou Chelle as Head Coach of Nigeria’s senior men national football team, Super Eagles."
A close examination of Chellé's coaching record revealed that he may be far from the manager Nigeria needs to qualify for the forthcoming 2026 World Cup and the dream gold medal at the 2025 African Cup of Nations, which will be held later this year in Morocco.
According to statistics, Chellé's winning rate stands at less than 50%, raising questions about his ability to lead the national team to success.
Chelle boasts a career record of 67 wins, 40 draws, and 41 losses, resulting in a win percentage of 45.27%.
Furthermore, the Malian coach has not won any major trophies throughout his career, sparking worries about his capacity to bring home silverware.
His highest achievement as a national team coach is taking the Mali national team to the quarter-finals of the AFCON in 2023.
In May 2021 was appointed head coach of US Boulogne.
He was dismissed by Boulogne on 11 December 2021, after the club gained three points in preceding ten games.
In 2022, Chelle was appointed manager of Mali. He was dismissed on 13 June 2024.
Reacting, an X user, Esan Adewale lambasted NFF over Chelle’s appointment.
“Nigeria football would only be revived when the NFF desist from appointing high school coaches for the national team,” another user, Caliph Dream-tease wrote.
King of Salem wrote: “This is a slap on our local coaches. What is the record of this guy?”
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