‘Good demands’ -Real Madrid's Nigerian coach breaks ranks to back Eric Chelle

A Nigerian assistant coach on the staff of Real Madrid World has publicly endorsed Eric Chelle's largely scrutinised19-point list of conditions, describing them as professional and reasonable requirements for a serious international appointment.

Coach Sylvester Ayere's endorsement carries a specific kind of weight. This is not a fan account, a pundit, or a federation insider with an agenda.

This is a coaching professional operating within one of the most demanding football environments on the planet, reading through Chelle's demands line by line and arriving at a clear conclusion: "Good demands."

That verdict deserves to be taken seriously. And when you lay out the full 19-point list without the noise surrounding it, the picture that emerges is more nuanced and more reasonable than the headlines have suggested.

A private SUV with chauffeur and security. A secured house with 24-hour electricity. A furnished office with a projector for analysis. Internet provision. Flight tickets for his wife and two children — business class for him and his wife, economy for the children. GPS provision. Proper equipment supplied to the coach's specification. 

The right to have input on international friendly opponents based on tactical preparation. Structured camping programmes. A formal youth development programme initiated by the coach. The ability to travel abroad to watch, monitor and engage players of the national teams. 

The ability to travel domestically to watch the local league and identify players for integration across the senior team, U23, U20 and U17 setups. No interference in team selection or player call-ups. Working contracts for his technical staff. 

Salary paid on or before the 30th of every month. Bonuses and allowances per federation structure. Inclusion of his Personal Assistant in the bonus and allowance structure. A monthly salary of $130,000 covering himself, his entire technical staff and his PA. Monthly meetings with all national team coaches.

The list looks considerably less extravagant than its most inflammatory summary. The requests for internet access, a projector, GPS provision and proper equipment are not luxury demands, they are the baseline infrastructure of modern football coaching. 

The provision to travel and watch players, both abroad and in the domestic league, is standard practice for any serious international manager. The insistence on no interference in selection and working contracts for his staff are professional protections, not personal indulgences.

The Personal Assistant clause remains the most contentious item and the one most likely to attract legitimate pushback. But in the context of 19 points, it is one line, not the definition of the document.

Coach Ayere's assessment was pointed and personal. Describing the demands as "very detailed," he went further to make a football argument rather than simply a contractual one, stating that Chelle is currently "the only coach capable of handling the Super Eagles with certain levels of tactical clarity and high intensity," while also crediting him with having "clear plans to revive our youth football and development."

That last point matters and has been consistently underweighted in public discussion. Points ten through twelve of Chelle's list are entirely focused on youth identification, development programmes and the structural integration of younger players into the national team pipeline across all age groups. 

For a country that has repeatedly failed to convert raw talent into sustained senior team success, a coach formally embedding youth development into his contractual obligations is not a red flag. It is exactly what Nigerian football needs.

Nigerian football deserves that level of seriousness. The question is whether the NFF is prepared to meet it.