The Mali Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) has opted for former international Eric Sekou Chelle ahead of expatriates Gernot Rohr and Winifred Schafer to lead the Eagles, reports Completesports.com.
Rohr was reportedly the favourite to succeed Mohamed Magassouba as head coach of the Eagles.
The FEMAFOOT has instead settled for Chelle to steer the ship of the Eagles ahead of the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
“ERIC SEKOU CHELLE NEW EAGLES COACH
The former defender of the #Aigles, Éric Sékou CHELLE was appointed this Friday, May 6 by the Malian Football Federation at the head of the national team of #Mali,” reads a statement on FEMAFOOT’s official website.
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“Aged 44 and a graduate of a Professional Football Coaching Certificate (BEPF), the brand new boss of the Eagles will have as his first challenge, the qualification of Mali for the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2023) which will take place in Ivory Coast from June 23 to July 23, 2023.”
Rohr was omitted by the commission set up to screen the candidates.
Former Indomitable Lions of Cameroon head coach Schaefer was the first choice to replace Magassouba, but was reportedly overlooked after failing to make decision on the job on time.
The German, according to Sports News Africa was willing to reside permanently in Mali as stipulated in the nomination criteria. He asked for time to reflect with his family, but could not be reached for confirmation.
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Rohr, a former Nigeria, Gabon and Niger coach will now look elsewhere after missing out on the job.
Chelle will pen a three-year contract with his technical staff expected to be composed of Malians.
The Eagles will face Congo, Gambia and South Sudan in Group G of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.
By Adeboye Amosu
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44 Comments
Looooooooooooool. Where are those morons screaming, what a shame. The almighty qualifier with games to spare. Obviously mali didn’t see that has criteria to be there coach
Will you stop making noise or I will feed you some spicy peanuts. There is rumour that Rohr is now linked with Malta, Luxembourg, Chad and Center Africa Republic. So stop jumping up and down.
All the countries you mentioned are not in the class of Mali. I wish Rhor got the job though.
Why has Nigeria not appointed Cocu, Velverde or Blanc for Eagles. Why does the NFF prefer a certain Peseiro? Does that mean that the latter is better than the three others? A word, they say, is enough for the wise.
Chelle ke! Them go sack am soon.
I’m sorry for Rohr, he has a long way to go. Now tell me which other reason not to call for the sack of Amaju and his executive NFF members. Just tell me. Eric Sekou Chelle, a local Malian was given a whole three years(3yrs ooo) to prepare the Eagles of Mali for subsequent games. Ask me why won’t this guy win a laurel with the Mali national team side within time? NFF will give Augustine Eguavoen only 3 months and be expecting miracles like scoring 7/7. If we don’t get a local coach for the SE, then we won’t vote for SE in subsequent March.
Abeg give your mic belle. Na so dem go dey look for overnight result. Well Rorh against CAR dem no fire am, even sierra Leone that came from 4 goals down to equalize he wasn’t relived of his job, but na the local coaches dem go dey fight all the time. Obviously Rorh was paying bribes to keep his job
You must be out of your mind to suggest that headless carpenter coach Equavoen to be given more years ?… Equavoen is the most luckiest Super Eagles player to have been such opportunities since the last decade , yet he has nothing to show for it !!!…He is the worst coach of this century for the super eagles , may nothing like Equavoen never happen to us again in Nigeria !!
Eguavoen played 7 matches within time reference and lost only 1, that’s a cool result. And again he met SE at 36th position-FIFA and moved it to 30th also within time reference, a huge plus for a coach. If not for Uzoho error. Even in Kumasi Simon and Chukwueze were wasteful as no one expected either Eguavoen and his assistant, Amuneke to enter the field to score those glaring opportunities.
Taiju, Cussed of Senegal started the whole thing. Cameroon with Rigobert Song also as a domestic manager. That’s the trend. But here as Nigerians, we say we are the giants of Africa. This slave mentality of searching for non trophy foreign coach to me is going to destroy our local league. There is nothing good about it unless some persons in the football federation are looking for means to share some dollars. If Finidi is more qualified that all of them, give him so long as we have a local coach based on merit. But if it is Eguavoen, then the Nff get mouth and must go ahead.
*Cisse*
My brother no coach anywhere will deliver nation cup or WC within weeks. If Nff is serious, it should appoint coach Eguavoen and his crew on a 4 year permanent basis. And not only that, it must be ready to pay the coaches the same amount the expatriate coaches are paid.
Any body that mentioned the headless Equavoen here is enemy of Nigeria !!..Ghana coach Ado was given just two weeks to give Ghana the world cup ticket and he delivered straight away !!.. Equavoen if you like give him twenty years , he will still be the disaster that he is known for !!… nonsense!!
It is whether the coaches are good or not. You are the one using Nationalists’ bias to becloud your judgment. They couldn’t even beat Ghana that everyone beat roundly at AFCON.
@Gabriel, all of you are calling for Austin Eguavoen, are you even sure the man is interested. I heard from rumour mongers that Northern Macedonia is interested in paying dollars for a 4year deal if it scales through. So, you see Egu might not be available for the Super Eagles Job.
So happy for the Malian coachie. For Cerezo, North Macedonia is better ojare, after all they beat Italy to qualify for Qatar which means Cerezo will be at the dugout.
Any body that mentioned the headless Equavoen here is enemy of Nigeria !!..Ghana coach Ado was given just two weeks to give Ghana the world cup ticket and he delivered straight away !!.. Equavoen if you like give him twenty years , he will still be the disaster that he is known for !!… nonsense!!
It is proof that Amaju Pinnick was right to have sacked Rohr. Imagine ordinary Mali team.
HAHAHAHA Why should be patient. It will be Portugal or Qatar national team. North Macedonia is too small. I pity the NFF that will soon lose his services. Congrats Chelle!!!
We don’t need any other foreign coach if Siasia was not banned by FIFA. With Siasia as super Eagles coach, Rohr cannot even be the Kit man.
The harm he caused Nigerian football after qualifying for Russia is infinitesimal. No African team can (re)appoint him again even Niger.
In the words of one eminent British bloke of the 19th century, ”that was the most wanted job on earth, gone for good.”
Hahahahahahahaha….and to think the loquacious, loud mouthed scoundrel was here dancing like a drink monkey yesterday SCREAMING Mali had appointed the serial failure of a coach without a TEA CUP (apologies DE STAR) GERNOT ROHR as it’s Coach.
One can see as usual he’s nowhere to be found.
A GOOD MAN was appointed to earn TWICE what he earned with SE. Hahahahahahahha. Over bloated ego.
Imagine ORDINARY MALI didn’t even shortlist him. He infact SHORTLISTED himself in the media. Lol Zazazazazaza (apologies @IGBEKUN ABO)
Of course I wish ROHR well in all his endeavors, but if sore losers and serial whinners and wailers are waiting to loathe those of us who said HE MUST GO….then be ready to wait longer because no serious football playing country will give GERNOT ROHR their national team to manage. Only FANTASTICALLY CORRUPT country like NIGERIA who will appoint him as NATIONAL MANAGER!
…@Mahmud Shuaib, you won’t see @Dr.Drey on any thread that his moongod Rohr who couldn’t give us a good team in 5years only winning against minnows, is rubbished. No African country will give Rohr job anymore except he wants to go back to his desert abode in Chad and become turtle ninja there not coach…
Hehehe, Jimbo and Mahmud, if you call Rohr a SERIAL FAILURE of a coach, then what say you about OUR OWN and his CONSORTIUM OF CHARLATANS?
Guys, AT ALL AT ALL NA EM BAD PASS.
Person wey dey hungry, wey see garri and groundnut to manage, e still better pass person wey no get anything.
Rohr is no world class coach, agreed. But in his tenure, we still HAD SOMETHING. We still dey manage small small. We dey qualify for major tournaments, dey draw with Ukraine and Brazil, dey beat Argentina and Poland.
Now see, where NFF mumu has landed us.
Out in the round of 16 for Afcon. Eliminated from the world cup.
Shishi, we no get.
At least, when Rohr was here, we had SOMETHING.
Hahahahhaahahahah….@POMPEI bro, you know in all my threads I never ever canvassed for a local coach. I was always only coming out to counter FALSE NARRATIVES where ROHR asslickers wanted us to believe that their demigod was the best thing to happen to NAIJA since UTHMAN DANFODIO imported JIHAD from FUTA JALON!
I only reminded people on this platform that ROHR never achieved what KESHI achieved and was at par with in terms of achievements with late AMODU despite the latter spending fewer years. I am not an EGUAVOEN fan knowing his antecedents but for any one to elevate ROHR to some pristine height was something I won’t take.
Infact it’s better for me we don’t go to WC with ROHR and play rubbish and crash out in the first round like 2018. We bette get a better gaffer who can do what FRANCE did in 1998-2002 after failing to qualify for Italy 90 and USA 94!
I repeat with ROHR, we will only be also rans. England persisted with mediocre SVEN GORAN ERICKSON who kept making only QUARTER FINAL appearances until they got a decent GARETH SOUTHGATE who’s got them a WC semi and an EURO Final finishes.
Get us a decent manager and see a better performance from SE!
In 4 years time, these boys would have matured, gained more experience, play for better clubsides and we can DREAM again
Nice one there on the ROY HOGSON proposal. Am 100% with you on such thoughts.
Ghana had the experience of the former BRIGHTON Manager guiding the young OTTO ADDO and we saw the instant TACTICAL impact with inferior bunch of players
@JIMMYBALL, that guy with his co travellers no go show only when opportunity presents itself for them to come and loathe. Lol
Look at how delusional you can ever be. It’s better that we don’t qualify for WorldCup than to go there and play rubbish. Lmao!! When have we ever been a favorite to win a WorldCup?? And how do you know that if we qualify with Rohr’s pattern we can’t go far?? Which one is better? At least Ghanaians are proud to be at the WorldCup even when f they’re going to make up the numbers. So if your own has qualified it would’ve been better Abi?? Keep deceiving yourself that it’s better we don’t qualify for the WorldCup than to go there and play when deep down inside you you’re living in hell and banging your head on the wall that your national team will not be at the WorldCup. Lmao!!
AY…by the mercies of Allah, I have been privileged to watch SA 2010 and Brazil 2014 live! I am not banging any head for Missing out of the mundial. The truth I maintain, for me I rather watch an unknown quantity that is GHANA than be subjected to the heartache that is ROHR’s selections and tactical ineptitude.
I watched ROHR’s game management of the last 10 minutes against ARGENTINA @2018 WC & against ALGERIA @ AFCON 2019 and concluded WE CAN NEVER ACHIEVE ANYTHING MEANINGFUL with him even if he stays for the next 10 years! His struggles against lowly CAPE VERDE, LESOTHO, CAR, SIERRA LEONE etc further reinforced my position. That another lowly MALI didn’t fancy him just VINDICATED me.
Lol
If he is that good, WC is here, let’s see the scramble for his signature
Teams are sacking their coaches, Let them go for him
I watched both WorldCups live as well. I even watched USA 94 live as a young boy with my parents and I’m still pained that we might’ve wasted a talented generation with our irrational decision. You mentioned Argentina Lmao!! Did you ever expect us to beat Argentina in the first place?? It’s easy to talk now when you missed back to back AFCONS before Mahrez last minute free kick in the Semifinals of a 24 team AFCON. It wasn’t heartbroken before then Abi?? You mentioned Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde CAR and co. Can you tell me how results against those teams affected or impacted our progress?? Oga keep deceiving yourself you will be pained to the bone marrow when the WorldCup begins and your national team with a potential could not qualify.
Hahahaha Ayphilly…that is how you know lifetime failures. Failure doesnt pain them….LMAOoo. As they say in local parlance…Shame no get shame.
There’s no point trying to shame who has no shame….its pure waste of mechanical efficiency.
A failure never knows the cost of failure…that’s why failure never moves them. If you have ever had/managed non-challant staff before, you will understand clearly what I am saying.
Oga ta, Oga o ta, owo alaaru a pe.
Not less someone who summersaults from being a Yoruba man raised in Lagos in one minute to being a core northerner from Gobir raised in kaduna the next…..LMAOooo.
If you cant tell your origins correctly, how do you want to be able to tell between success and failure, between good and bad…??
Hahahahaha Pompei, good reply there.
Nff chose Peseiro out of a quartet of Cocu, Valverde, and Blanc, I guess to these educated illiterates, that must be an indication that those other guys were not “up to scratch” compared to Peseiro. It must be an indictment on their competence as coaches and a vote of superiority of Peseiro over them……LMAOoooo….when we all know that his choice was based on the backdrop of him presenting the cheapest demands of them all.
If you have never risen beyond the level of being an errand boy all your life, when you have never been the bigger person on a negotiation table all your life….LMAOOOoo…Mali not being able to come to agreement on the demands of the likes of Rohr and/or Schaffer during negotiations after narrowing them into their final 3 man shortlist will sound like being “rubbished” to you.
I guess Winfred Schaffer who was also also shortlisted too was found not to be “up to scratch” by the Malian federation……LMAOOoo
There is a level you reach in your career when you refuse a starter’s pay. For someone who has been scavenging all his life, anything will do, so that they can brag that they at least have a job…..LMAOOOooo. For someone who has already seen it all, he wouldnt just accept anything thrown at him.
After coaching 4 different countries and meeting KPIs as directed by employers in all but 1 of the 4 countries, taking one of them from the deep latrines “their owns” dumped them, to the limelight of the big boys on the continent, desperation will be the last thing on your mind, especially after all that you went through in the hands of an immediate past employer like the NFF. Especially not when you are even still receiving your salary till December and will most likely be receiving another $1m plus largesse from FIFA very soon……LMAOOoo.
Infact as you approach the peak and twilight of your career, there are tonnes of offers you will not be willing to stake yourself on, because you aren’t after physiological needs anymore, according to Marslow’s heirarchy of needs.
I just read the man Chelle’s career history and found out that he retired from football in 2014 (almost the same time with our technical houseboy, Joseph Yobo) and immediately started out as an assistant manager at a French 3rd division club, growing his career up to managing 3 different clubs till 2021 (7 years coaching/managerial experience) while bagging the highest coaching qualifications in football, before being appointed as the new Mali coach. He wasn’t wielding 100 caps and zero years of managerial experience to get national team jobs like “their owns” bus conductor ex-internationals tin-gods they are willing to fail with and with whom they have once again failed catastrophically for the umpteenth time……LMAOoooo.
Making the final shortlist is enough. People will empty or tattered CVs like our guadiolas dont make final shortlists of Mali like the “dumb and tactically clueless mecahnic” Rohr just did. I thought the disciples of failure all said no country will ever want Rohr……LMAOooo….just 6 months on, he’s been linked to 2 different countries…..LMAOooo. Their own guadiolas never get linked to any country….not even Djibouti….LMAOoo. They are always queueing up like amajiris with plate in hand at the NFF gates, begging for jobs.
And indeed, Rohr didnt give us a good team for 5 years……LMAOooo. The team that was always qualifying with games to spare, the team got to within reach of the 2019 AFCON trophy, the team that the minister set a target of 2021 AFCON trophy for, the same team that was so good it could win an AFCON within 2 weeks, was a Togolese all star XI team assembled by family of the most blatant liar the world has ever known, the devil’s acolyte himself.
We indeed had no team…..what we had were evil spirits running around in green jerseys for those 5 years…..LMAOooooo
That was the same team their best and most qualified local coach Egua-failure failed twice with in 3 months…..LMAOooo. AFCON exit could have been excused as a mistake……LMAOOooo…but to be taken to the cleaners by a the worst Ghanaian team in 50 years……LMAOooo…?
Rohr is bad, yes….Rohr is incompetent, we agree…but even the best of “their owns” alive cannot tie his shoe laces at the moment and that’s a FACT. At least players were not teaching Rohr that opponents had switched tactics in the middle of games…..LMAOooo. As bad as Rohr is claimed to be, he’s still being linked to other national teams while still collecting salary from the NFF……please when will “their owns”, their guadiolas, ever start being linked to other countries too……LMAOooo.
When are we going to have an ex-international with the highest coaching qualifications in football and 7 years back-to-back coaching experience (even if it is in lower divisions) like Mr Eric Chelle of Mali…..??? LMAOooo. I hope we will have some oneday before I breathe my last on the face of this earth…….LMAOooo
Or is there racism in Africa too……LMAOooo….because that has always been their now stale excuse for being jobless and turning themselves into bambi-allah singers at NFF’s gates…..LMAOooo
“We indeed had no team…..what we had were evil spirits running around in green jerseys for those 5 years”
Hahahahaha!
With Watford’s relegation confirmed today after their defeat to Crystal Palace, word on the street is that Roy Hodgson is retiring from management.
When it comes to football management, he was no charlatan. He was the REAL MCCOY.
Can the NFF hire him to come show OUR OWN and OTHER LOCAL COACHES a thing or two about the coaching profession? Pass on some much needed knowledge to our consortium of wannabe Guardiolas? We can consult with him, and pick his brain in so many areas. Benefit from his decades of experience.
A proper football house will be thinking proactively, instead of reactively, looking for opportunities in situations like this.
Alas, we are stuck with a hapless NFF UMU MUGU, AKA ONIGBESE.
Congrats, Mr. Hodgson. Life off the pitch beckons.
There is even Marcelo Bielsa who is free after being sacked by Leeds. He has coached Argentina and Chile, and was responsible for taking Leeds from the Championship to the premier league.
He is acknowledged personally by Guardiola to be one of the best coaches in the world.
Many of his former players credit him with being their coaching inspiration, including Diego Simeone (Athletico Madrid), Mauricio Pochettino (Paris-St Germain), Guardiola (Man City) etc.
Any one with any knowledge of international coaches will know Bielsahe has creditable international exposure taking Chile to their first world cup and Argentina to the 2002 world cup.
Instead, the NFF asked Mourinho to recommend a coach, and he then recommended his compatriot Piseiro.
Bielsa the former Leads United coach is not a bad choice at all.
If we are really looking for experience.
All the people who want to draw the wrong lessons from Mali’s appointment of Chelle are out in force. Do you even consider the qualification of Chelle? Chelle is a diaspora Malian like Ghana’s Otto Addo, who has spent his professional career training and coaching in France.
He is not a civil servant sitting in the Mali football federation asking to be picked as a coach when his practical experience is outdated. He has obtained all his professional coaching badges and qualification from UEFA. Yes, Mali is doing him a favour by appointing him as opposed to the experienced Rohr, but he is young has potential to learn on the job with a foundation of appropriate qualification and experience.
If Nigeria decided to appoint a Nigerian with qualifications and world-class experience as a coach or even an assistant coach in Europe, no one would complain, but our local coaches do not even have that exposure. Most of their tactical and training regimes are outdated in a fast moving soccer world that is introducing technology, data statistics and new coaching methods.
One thing I always wonder about is why current players are not also asked to assist in nominating coaches. Nigerian football players with experience of working internationally are exposed to the best coaches, more so than the political bureaucrats at NFF or the sports ministry. Instead politicians that are not acquainted with the best international practice are making appointment decisions while the players who have such experience do not make any contribution.
Good reply
Abeg make we hear word biko. The ones with the experience, how far has it taken many of them. Leave all this local coaches alone, let the NFF stop all this divide and rule they are doing. Give them time to do there work. Not after a lose you ready to throw in the towel
I went to check Eguavoen’s experience and qualifications. Would you believe that according to the website Transfermarkt.co.uk, Eguavoen has only played 14 professional matches as a coach, that includes the 7 recent matches where he led the SE to AFCON and World Cup qualifiers.
At APS Zakynthos he was manager for 3 days and never played a match; at Sharks of Port Harcourt, he was manager for 2 months and never played a match; at Black Leopards of South Africa he was manager for 13 days and played 1 match.
Eguavoen’s main experience is with the national team, he coached the U-23 for 15 months and played 3 matches; coached the SE in 2007 for 3 1/2 years and played 1 match; the U-17 for 1 year and played 3 matches.
He has no coaching qualification.
So how accurate are this websites you have checked. Would rather the NFF come out and tell us what he has. They didn’t mention he started his coaching career from Malta where the team he coached came in second. Won the federation cup with Eyimba. And what the difference with coach Rorh who also spent close to one year at all the clubs and countries he coached
In today’s world, all of a coach’s career history is available online. Please check out https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik/0/plus/0/galerie/0?land_id=124&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&punkteschnitt=0+-+3&filtern_nach_punkteschnitt=0%3B3&0=0&3=3&spielklasse=0&plus=0
To see all the Nigerian coaches.
Tristan and Kunle, I agree with you guys.
Bielsa is a great option. The only problem we might have is Bielsa’s notorious inability to speak English. He doesn’t understand even “COME” in the English language. With him, their will be communication challenges, especially with the players. But then, a good interpreter can resolve that problem.
That man no just want learn English. Terrible. And it affected communication of tactics to his players. The Championship and EPL has coaches of different nationalities who brush up on their English in 2 to 3 months. Not Bielsa. He has zero interest. If they can’t get it from an interpreter, then they should forgerrit.
My brother, Bielsa ehn! Na wa for the guy.
Very sound tactically and technically, but e no sabi speak am for English.
Shi ke nan!
If Bielsa managed to coach Leeds which was in the championship for 16 years, into the premier league after one season. His language deficiencies don’t count. And he is not as bad at English as some people are saying. Besides, Eagles players who play abroad in Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and those who’ve played under foreign coaches in England, are used to working with language barriers. Football transcends language barriers.
My only problem is Bielsa might be too expensive for the NFF. However, Bielsa is a coach that can change your football culture, that’s how good he is.