Paul Le Guen ‘favourite’ to become Super Eagles coach

If the Nigerian Football Federation could name the next Super Eagles coach this minute, it would be Frenchman Paul Le Guen.

TheCable understands that the former Indomitable Lions of Cameroon coach is leading the pack of the candidates who have applied for the job, such as Goran Stepanovic, Harry Redknapp, Henrique Calisto, Aleksandar Rogic, Felix Magath, Tom Saintfiet, Milutin Sredojevic and perennial candidate Clemens Westerhof.

The candidatures of the three Serbians Stefanovic, Rogic and Sredovic have particularly gained traction over the last few months, but a top official of the NFF said on Wednesday that “Le Guen is right at this moment gaining the upper hand above the less experienced Serbians earlier favoured for the job”.

However, he refused to rule out at last-minute shift in plans, saying: “Right at this moment, the screening and meetings are ongoing and the new coach can not be announced until these screenings are concluded.

“But all I can tell you is that Paul Le Guen is the front runner and is looking like the candidate that will succeed, all things being equal.”

LE GUEN AT A GLANCE

Born on March 12, 1964, Le Guen last coached Oman — a job he was relieved of in November 2015 after an unimpressive start to the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. After accepting the job in June 2011, he led the southeastern Arabian country to qualification for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, which they didn’t qualify for in in 2011. The Omanis won one and lost two to crash out of the tournament in the group stage.

Before then, Le Guen had a successful managerial career in France, most notably leading Olympique Lyonnais to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles (2002-03,2003-04,2004-05). He has also managed Stade Rennais, Patis Saint-Germain, Glasgow Rangers and the Cameroon national team.

He won the Coupe de la ligue in 2008 with Paris Saint-Germain.

Since his first coaching job in 1998 with Rennes, he has overseen 519 games, winning 245, drawing 128 and losing 146 — representing a win percentage of 47.

Named Cameroon coach in July 2009 on a a five-month contract, he started on a high by leading the team to qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

However, Cameroon were the first team officially knocked out of the 2010 World Cup. He announced his resignation on 24 June 2010.