President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has revealed that Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, and former Liverpool Boss, Gerard Houllier, recommended Gernot Rohr for the Super Eagles job.
Nigeria had been without a substantive coach after Samson Siasia brief interim spell between February and October 2016 expired.
In a quest to get the best man for the job, Pinnick disclosed that the NFF consulted with both managers – who are incidentally French – after the 2018 FIFA World Cup third round draw.
Rohr’s name was consistently offered up by Wenger and Houllier as the candidate that was experienced enough to deliver the Super Eagles from the group of death.
The Franco-German had spells with Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso in his sojourn on the continent.
Speaking about the Super Eagles technical adviser’s quality, Pinnick insists there is no doubt Rohr was a perfect choice.
“When we saw the draw for the World Cup, we knew we were condemned [by a tough group] and we determined that we must overcome it,” he was quoted by GhanaSocecer on Tuesday.
“The first thing we identified was that we needed a new coach so we reached out to Arsene Wenger, to Gerard Houllier, and one name kept coming to the fore: Rohr.
“Now we have no regrets about hiring him and he has proven himself not just by qualifying for the World Cup, but with the foundation, he is laying for our team, which now has young players from the age of 19, [he is] doing well,” Pinnick told a gathering recently.
