Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum is keen to remain in charge of the nine-African champions.
Waldrum was embroiled in a bitter fight with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in the build up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The American criticised the NFF in two separate interviews but was allowed to take charge of the team in Australia and New Zealand.
The Super Falcons impressive impressive performance in Australia and New Zealand has now put the gaffee in strong position to retain his job.
Read Also:2023 WWC: You Did Nigeria Proud —Peseiro Hails Super Falcons After Loss To England
The West Africans were eliminated in the Round of 16 but caught the eye with their superb displays.
Waldrum said he remain interested in the job but admitted he has no control over his future.
“I am proud of my team. I want to stay with this team and continue working towards the Olympics. But that is not a matter for me to decide,”he said after the game.
The 66-year-old was appointed Super Falcons head coach in October 2020.
Got what it Takes?
Predict and Win Millions Now
38 Comments
Guys imagine GENERAL ROAR as the SF BOSS.
He would have been a able to GRIND OUT a 1-0 WIN anyhow…
Please stay coach. We can win the Olympics medal. The whole world will fear us no doubt. Expecting the SF to be ranked in the top 20 now.
Thanks Kel,
Dr Drey can go and do his worst. Randy Waldrum is Agba-Coach and Oshoala is Agba-Baller. Both of them are staying put.
With Agba-Baller Oshoala, Nigeria will win the Afcon and Olympics next year
Is this Igbekun Abo in disguise? Hahaha!
Hahahaha.
Hahahaha……Agba coach that got confused immediately his team had a 1 man advantage. Dude simply didn’t know what to do anymore…..LMAoo…I bet he has never found himself in such a position in all of his coaching career…..LMAOoo. Plan A – set up defensively….Plan B- Set up defensively. He should Tinubu’s next Minister of Defence….LMAooo
The less said about the flop of the tournament Agba-isonu the better. I wish we could loan that Thembi Kgatlana girl from South Africa for the next 18 months.
If he’s gonna stay as SF coach, the NFF better get him an assistant that can focus on attacking strategies since its way obvious dude has none.
Whoever installed the coaching program he has in his head at the moment must have only installed the CD containing defense tactics and gone to sleep when the prompt requested him/her later to “…insert disc containing attacking tactics…”
@deo, You got it wrong here, A good coach would not have made the substitutions he made, and he would have switched to attack mode once England was down to 10 players, but he remained in his defensive mode all through. People just gloss through his lack of offensive acumen because nothing much was expected from the team because of the fumbling NFF. He let England off the hook, what happened to Gift Monday was she suffering from injuries, why was she not used, maybe you have answers.
Oh, Olympics is coming before WAFCON?
I think it will be beneficial to both parties if he stays.He has made history with the falcon as an African team that was unbeaten in regulation time during a world cup.That said, he need to improve the team.He need more options in attack an as back up or long term replacement for Ordega and Oshoala.Importanty also, he need a ball playing/ carrying midfielder who will hold on to the ball and draw opposition out of position.This was glaring in the match.When England lost Lauren, they switched to a compact 4-4-1 with strict emphasis on ball retention.Randy responded by switching to 3-5-2 to counter the numbers with instructions for long balls over the top.
@toni that is not a record to be proud off. I know you are just looking to brighten up your disappointment of crashing out in round two again. This side gig of a coach should stick to his full time job at the university of Pittsburgh,and Nigeria should get a full time coach. If he is good then let him go and coach the US national team.
This team was denied the pretournament camping in Nigeria and another one month camp before the tournament. The backroom staff did not include team scouts, video analyst and many others. The coach was denied a trusted goalkeeper coach and trainer who could set up the team training and assist in other areas. A team starved of this level of support by their FA went unbeaten in regulation time in four world cup games, has overachieved.Imagine what they would have done if they had the serial camps they ought to have used to perfect their midfield and attacking play. You want to start afresh with a different coach before the Olympics and go back to the also ran teams. Female soccer has advanced and we need a supportive FA. The coach must stay if we want to build on what we have gained.
That team still needs a ball carrying attacking midfielder
What the team needs most is a competent trustworthy NFF. Not just the SF. All our teams need this.
Competent NFF is what we need and that’s all we are asking….
Give us a competent National Federation, this coach will give us Gold Olympic medal. This hard-working Coach has given us the world respect that the Nigerian girls deserves. Any country who looks down on us from now on, do so at their peril.
Sorry Gusau board never even mark one year in office. We are still stuck
I support Super Falcons coach continuation.
Well done Waldrum.
As Nigeria hasn’t qualified for the Olympics in a while, I will extend Waldrum’s contract with the target of leading Nigeria to the Paris Olympics. Should he fail, then he can be sacked.
Waldrum is not a tactical genius. His player selection remains dubious. His routines relating to creating goal scoring opportunities are not much varied.
But his organisation without the ball is top notch as is his team’s ability to contain and restrict the best teams on the planet.
I have faith in his methods insofar as qualifying Nigeria for the Olympics.
@doe I think over reliance on Asisat as a striker to deliver anytime anyday too is actually killing this team.
Having won best female football player in Africa back to back to being nominated for fifa award can strike hope in any coach that with asisat my striking ability will be very high.
It is obvious now that we still need a sharp shooter upfront.
Well, I will rather you put it this way that he is a sound coach, and could compete with the other sound ones in this World Cup. A coach that could mould a team to play as seen in the match today and not be over reliant on defending alone is good.
A team can never be better than the kind of coach it has. It’s either that team is subpar or very good depending on the competency lever of the coach.
Coach Waldrum is very good
You gave a very honest assessment of Waldrum. However, don’t you think that if as you rightly said that, “the coach is dubious in terms of player selection,” Waldrum’s dubious player selection can harm Nigerian’s qualification to the Olympics in the long run?
I disagree that Waldrum can both be a good coach and a dubious coach. It is either he is a good coach or a dubious coach.
Ajibaye U20 falconets forward, U20 No 9 , can retire super falcons No 17, Ebi too.
Sabastine can come up if given the confidence, then with this coach tactics, I think we are good to go, Oshaola is no longer reliable , we need hungry forward players …
Thank you.
Nothing bad in you staying but 2 things:
1. Your style of play is too defensive but Nigerian football is more on attack than defense.
It showed in WAFCON where 9 women Super Falcons defended till extra time.
Super Falcons are great defensively but poor in attack. You need to balance both.
2. Please take out time to watch the women’s league. We have other forwards that you can shape to super attackers.
To me Ifeoma Onumonu is an average player just to make up the number. We have more Asisat Oshoalas in the local league.
Oshoala…. I beggy….that’s the weakest link…. Oshoala is a liability to this team….
I no go blame am. She was not practically fit. She was even rushed for champions league final but…28 years old injury for woman could be something sha
She has kneel injury please trying to be humane these Girls made great sacrifices.She Was Just managing.
We have never had a team who came out 4 times to execute their game plan.Not losing in a world cup in regulatión time is excellent.
Echigini and Abiodun plays for their university. Only three members are retiring from the team.Onome,Desire and Odega. There are more to be discovered now our standard is high.
Oshoala can’t make first team in that falcon. She is not that good.she is just a lucky player.
‘We share beds’: Onumonu laments Nigeria’s resources after World Cup exit…….Ifeoma Onumonu has said Nigeria’s players have to “fight for something bigger” after their painful exit on penalties to England in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup on Monday.
Randy Waldrum’s side dominated large spells of the game in Brisbane but lost 4-2 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. Onumonu said she was incredibly proud of the team’s efforts and took the opportunity to highlight the difference in support between the two teams.
Related: England beat Nigeria on penalties to reach Women’s World Cup quarter-finals
“I’ve seen what [resources] England have access to,” said the forward, who plays her club football for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the US. “In Nigeria we don’t have access to much. Our training fields aren’t great. Where we sleep isn’t great. Sometimes we share beds.
“It’s not good enough. In terms of recovery, we don’t have much of any of that. We don’t have access to a gym in camp in Nigeria.
“There’s a lot that needs to be done. Hopefully more people start to talk about it. Coming here it’s hard to adjust. We do what we can because we love playing for our country but hopefully they make it easier for us to do our best.”
Nigeria’s buildup to the tournament was difficult with the players threatening to boycott the games in Australia and New Zealand while Waldrum hit out at the Nigeria Football Federation, telling the On the Whistle podcast: “What keeps me going are the players. Otherwise, I would have quit this job long ago.
“Up until about three weeks ago, I had been owed about 14 months’ salary. And then they paid seven months’ salary. We still have players that haven’t been paid since two years ago, when we played the summer series in the USA. It’s a travesty.”
Nigeria beat the co‑hosts Australia 3-2 in a memorable game and drew with Canada and the Republic of Ireland to set up the game against England.
Ademola Olajire, the NFF’s communications director, called Waldrum a “blabbermouth” and the “worst Super Falcons coach in history”.
Olajire said: “Everyone knows Fifa pays preparation money for every team going to the Women’s World Cup. The team travelled to Japan to play matches, travelled to Mexico for a tournament and travelled to Turkey to play matches.”
Related: ‘Beckhamesque’: Lauren James’ World Cup red card was ‘moment of madness’
Onumonu said: “[Back home] the [pitches] aren’t great. The grass is rocky, bumps everywhere. The stadium we play on for qualifying – you’d be surprised. I was surprised. You don’t even know where the ball is going to jump at you.
“Our under‑20s went far in their World Cup and when they were sent home they were sleeping in airports for 24 hours. That’s not acceptable. What we have to fight for is bigger for us.”
The forward did point out, though, that the performances of the African teams at the World Cup had been encouraging. “We’re on the rise and it’s growing. A lot of people don’t watch as much as they do Europe and so underestimate who we are, what we are capable of. No one believed in us and now a lot of people are.
“Other teams are catching up and growing, including us. There’s no longer going to be that one team that you are absolutely going to say they’re going to win. Every game will become a battle. Every game has become important.
“As women start to play more internationals and at clubs, more and more teams are going to catch up. There’s a shift. A lot more are coming.”
Oshoala has never shown herself to be one of the leaders of that team….After England lost the penalty I would have expected us to take advantage of the psychological edge and have Oshoala either be the first or the one to take the penalty After Oparanozie’s miss but egohead was probably waiting for the last spot kick to form nonsense agba baller…We need more younger and vibrant strikers. I don’t know why she kept attempting bicycle kicks lol
Olu, thanks a lot for your post. What Onumonu said here is the reason we have to keep chiding the NFF as the biggest culprit when we fail.
How do you not provide basic necessities for a team, but yet you expect them to move mountains? The players are sharing beds? Unbelievable! Yet, Onumonu has no reason to lie about this. If she lied, other players will counter what she said.
Pay coaches and players, no way. Provide good pitches, no way. Not even enough beds to sleep on are provided! Is this for real?
It’s a shameful and sad situation really. Reminds me of a Yoruba proverb: OMO LORI, KO NI FILA.
That means a child has a head, but has no cap to wear. That’s the situation of our teams, both male and female. The talent (head) is there. But the administrative support (cap) is just not enough!
We are talking about attracting more foreign born players for both SE and SF. With all the negative press our NFF has been generating, will you blame them if they do an Ebere Eze or a Bukayo Saka and stay away?
NO matter how we feel about the performance of the coach and his team, we need to remember that NFF is the biggest culprit here!
Waldrum you are a top coach and have done really well. We would be more than happy to have you to even manage both SE and Falcons. Many many thanks for this brand of football. I can see that with good support and with the right players especially in the attack, you will produce a killer team in the MOOD OF A MOVING TRAIN. BUT THE BIGGEST WORRY IS THE COMBO OF EVER RETROGRESSING NFF AND IGNORANT/SELF CENTRED SO CALLED NIGERIAN FANS. Anyway you sure not gonna lack suitors, as talks of you as taken over English football lovers. God bless to you WALDRUM/CREW AND Fantastic SUPER FALCONS PLAYERS.
The NFF that I know would not want to Waldrum any more. This NFF is allergic to a coach doing well on the job. Once any coach’s profile starts outgrowing their egos they start looking for ways to dispose of him .
The NFF are perpetually in love with coaches who fail at their assignments so that that does ones can come and prostrate before them for “2nd chances”.
Watch this space, there will soon be a long drawn debate as to if Waldrum’s contract should be renewed or not.
Waldrum has made it look easy now, You will start hearing lies like “our local coaches can do better”, “we have the best set of falcons players ever, any coach could have done what Waldrum did”. That is the debate that will drag on till the eve of the Olympic qualifiers when they will wake up, realize that there just 1 week to the game, draft Danjuma in as coach, assemble a rag-tag team and go on to fail to qualify.
We have a FA that is largely anti progress. A football house that stands for nothing and hence falls for anything or nothing. Ask them what clear direction they have in mind for the falcons as of today and their answer will shock you like it shocked Seyi Olofinjana during the interviews for the TD job back then. Ask them what programs they have mapped out for the SF on the backdrop of their performance at this world cup and it will shock you they have none.
I have told Waldrum before now, walk away with the respect you have earned now, this NFF with the brood of vipers heading it will cut you to pieces, they are a never forgiven cult. If you are expecting an improved contract, I tell you, you will be disappointed. There are already some hungry local coaches who are already eyeing that job, they are already paying visits to the glass house to lobby for the job, they are already berating him in the media. Whatever contract NFF will give you now will be meant for you to reject…..if you take it, you will lose your power and leverage over them and you will be primed to fail.
I gave Keshi this same warning back then after the world cup, I gave G. Rohr same warning after his second contract expired, before he signed the one which eventually gagged him for good.
This NFF hates coaches will a grown profile….they hate coaches who are not ready to call them “sir”, they hate coaches demand their rights and the rights of the players, they hate coaches who call them to accountability.
Waldrum should leave now when the ovation is still loud now and let NFF continue with their 1 step forward 5 steps backward style of development. I am sure they have been fooled to think anybody else can do what Waldrum has done, so its best to walk away and watch them supervise another phase of retrogression of this team. That is their forte. Things never get better with this NFF.
@ Drey, what u’ve said here is so so sadly true. May God intervene in Nigeria’s situation and that will surely happen at a time we least expect.
Lmao! You will start hearing any coach can win the WorldCup with this kind of players within two weeks. Hehehehehe we have players that are equipped to express themselves and have fun on the field Lmao!! We will play expansive football and we will win the WorldCup with this caliber of players with any coach within two weeks Lmao!! That’s the unfortunate stratosphere we find ourselves as Nigerian football fans.
We are not equipped to build on success. ỌTẸ TI PỌ JU. The corruption deep gan.
Glory, AYP, there is a reason why we have not been at the olympics for almost 16 years now. Its down to this self-destruct button NFF always presses when we are at the cusp of progressing. The egos, back biting, personal vendettas against players or coaches of the SF has been a major problem. And I am sure someone in the NFF is still habouring such against Waldrum for washing them out to dry. And now that he has shut them all up, including the real loud mouth Ademola Olajire who rather than addressing the issues Randy raised, when on with vitriols of personal attacks, I sure they will hate the man so bady and be baying for blood should he come back.
Waldrum has done his best and assembled a potential WC semi finalist SF teams for us. Its so unfortunate some so called senior players didn’t come to party and we couldn’t grab England by the neck and strangulate them when we had the chances. Otherwise, this Colombian team I am watching now has nothing on the SF. We would have brushed them aside to reach the semis, with Superintended Ayinde policing Linda Caicedo all over the place like a yahoo girl. The organization Waldrum brought into this team is world class….no generation of SF has ever played with such tactical discipline till date. This SF today should be ranked in the top 10 if not top 15 in women’s football.
I will advise him to leave now so he can continue to be referenced for good even by those who called him a blabbermouth serial failure who was making excuses ahead just because he asked for accountability and organization from the NFF and their bunch of incompetents officials. At least it didnt take long for the same NFF to regret sacking Rohr…..LMAOoo…not even up to 6 months. I bet it wont take up to a year before they start regretting all the injustices done to him too.
Can The NFF Work With Waldrum?
Prior to the England match in which the Super Falcons shone like a million stars even in defeat, an NFF official speaking under conditions of anonymity said: “Nobody expects Randy Waldrum to remain after the World Cup, even if he is not sacked, he will go on his own. But after what he has done, I think we will just let him resign by himself, so he can go with dignity,” the official said (to Collins Udoh).
Well, Waldrum has now come out to say he wants to stay. Collins actually asked the NFF if they would sack Waldrum to which he was told: “When somebody has done well, you cannot be talking about (sacking him),” NFF Vice President Felix Anyansi-Agwu said. “Let us finish the World Cup first and then we see what happens.”
The truth is this: the NFF’s ego has been badly battered and bruised by the way Waldrum openly criticised them. To add insult to injury, Waldrum will not allow the Glass House to impose players on him. For this World Cup, an NFF official told me (deo) yes me, that she was shocked that Randy dropped Regina Otu and Ngozi Okobi.
So, I think the NFF were just waiting for him (without Lauren Gregg) to fail woefully before sacking him ignominiously. But this plan spectacularly backfired with Waldrum’s successful run in Australia where the Super Falcons went undefeated in open play against 4 of the best teams in the world.
Before the World Cup, Waldrum had made it easy for NFF to sack him without incurring much financial penalties. This is because of the way he tarnished the image of his employerers.So, a hasty conversation was held by the NFF leadership, the decision was made to fire him instantly, and a letter to that effect was immediately drafted and sent to NFF President Ibrahim Gusau to sign before Nigeria’s first game.
Thank God for Aisha Folade former head of the Nigeria women’s league, and a member of the NFF board
She worked really hard,” an NFF official said. “She called people in government, and convinced them that Randy should be given another chance. She also spoke to other board members and the NFF president and persuaded them to let him stay.”
It worked. Randy, who had already arrived in Australia but left his bags unpacked for nearly a week fully expecting to fly back home, got a reprieve. That reprieve came with the caveat that he shut it and focus on football.
Fast forward 1 month later, Randy focused on the football, got results and now wants to stay on.
Will the NFF swallow its pride and give this man another mandate knowing fully well that they will not be able to influence or undermine him without repercussions?
I was really surprised NFF didnt sack Randy….. I mean, they sacked Tunde Disu right in the middle of Nigeria 99 U20 world cup, so why wont they be stupid enough to sack Waldrum 1 week before the WWC.
But of course, on second thought, he was gonna fail anyways, so lets just let him fail and walk away in anger. Afterall, we have Mansur Abdulahi and Edwin Okon (both of whom have been singing like hungry canaries in the media in support of the NFF these days) and even Danjuma who can do a “better” job.
No wonder we never heard pim from any NFF official about the team in the lead up and during the tournament.
They must have adopted a sidon look approach expecting 4-0, 3-1 and 3-2 losses before they come out with daggers drawn in all media outlets using their usual jobless ex-internationals as spokespersons to finally sink the nails that will crucify and balkanize Waldrum’s name out of our football for good.
The fact that Randy by his performance has frustrated all those plans, shut them up and now wants to remain is like petrol poured into the fire burning in the belly of the NFF officials at the moment. The hatred for him has just been raised 3 notches up like that of Joseph’s brothers towards him after his dream of stars and moon bowing down to him.
Watchout, if at all he’ll be handed a new contract, that contract will be a poisoned chalice. That is how wicked and ruthless these NFF cult are. It is left for Randy to either choose to walk away and go and apply his newly gotten respect elsewhere where he will be appreciated or accept this contract that will be designed for him to reject and suffer the ignominy that awaits him. Because by the time this NFF is done with him, he will only see the promised land, he will not be allowed into it.