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Everything You Need To Know About Éric Chelle: The New Head Coach Of The Super Eagles

Published

10 months ago

February 26, 2025

In the last two years, the Nigerian national team has been on a coaching carousel, hiring four managers to find the right fit. Some, like former Super Eagles star Finidi George and ex-manager Augustine Eguavoen, barely lasted a few months before finding the exit door. Now, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has decided to take a new direction, appointing Éric Chelle as the head coach of the Super Eagles.

The announcement came on January 7, 2025, marking the beginning of a new era for the team.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Éric Chelle, the man now in charge of the Nigerian Super Eagles, discussing his playing and coaching career so far. But before we dive in, you can visit this website anytime to bet on any of your favorite football events.

Éric Chelle: Playing Career

Éric Sékou Chelle was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on November 11, 1977, to a French father and a Malian mother. He kicked off his professional football career in 1998 as a center-back with the French Ligue Two team Martigues. At Martigues, he spent five years and could only string together 78 appearances before leaving for Valenciennes in 2003.

Éric Chelle’s stint at Valenciennes also lasted five years but was more productive than his spell at Martigues. Valenciennes, which currently plays in the third tier of French football, was competing in the Ligue 2 at the time. With Chelle in their ranks, they secured the Ligue 2 title and lifted the French National 1 Cup.

Over five seasons, Chelle made 142 appearances for Valenciennes and even chipped in with 10 goals. In 2008, he moved on again, joining the Division 1 French club, RC Lens, for the next chapter of his career. Chelle’s career at RC Lens lasted three years, from 2008 to 2011. In this period, he featured in 82 games for the club and won the Ligue 1 title.

By the time he left Lens, he was 34 and in the twilight of his playing career. He moved down to the lower tiers of French football, joining Istres, where he featured in 60 games. In 2013, he made another switch, this time to Chamois Niortais. Chelle’s time at Chamois Niortais was brief. He played just 17 games before hanging up his boots in 2014, ending a career that spanned over 15 years in French football. He was exactly 37 years of age at the time of his retirement.

Éric Chelle: Coaching Career

After retiring, Éric Chelle wasted no time stepping into the coaching world. That same year, he started his journey as an assistant manager for GS Consolat, a Marseille-based amateur club now known as Athlético Marseille. After two years in the role, Chelle took the next big step in 2016, becoming the team’s head coach. During his short one-year stint as the head coach, he led the team in 30 matches, securing 16 wins, eight draws, and six losses.

After leaving GS Consolat in 2017, he returned to familiar territory, joining FC Martigues, the club he once played for, this time as a coach. While coaching FC Martigues, Chelle managed 80 games in three years, winning 35, drawing 24, and losing 21.

Chelle parted ways with FC Martigues in 2021 and soon took on a new challenge with another lower-tier French club, Boulogne. However, his time there was both brief and disappointing. His club stay lasted only six months. He managed just 16 games during this period, securing just two wins.

Five months after leaving Boulogne, Eric Chelle was appointed as the head coach of the Mali national team. He served in this role from 2022 to 2024 and managed 22 games. While his tenure didn’t bring home a trophy, it was still one of his most successful coaching stints, with an impressive 63.64% win rate. He secured 14 victories, five draws, and just three losses.

Chelle also guided Mali to the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they narrowly fell to eventual champions Ivory Coast. He eventually left his role as coach four months later and joined the Algerian side MC Oran.

Chelle’s time at MC Oran was another short stint lasting just three months. He managed 13 matches during that period, recording six wins, two draws, and five losses. He eventually left the role to take on his current position as the head coach of the Nigerian national team.

Since his appointment in January, Éric Chelle has yet to meet the Super Eagles squad or manage a game. As it stands, his first official match in charge is likely to be in March, when Nigeria faces Rwanda in the World Cup qualifiers. However, there is a possibility of a friendly match scheduled before then.

Conclusion

Éric Chelle’s appointment as the head coach of the Super Eagles marks the beginning of another new chapter for Nigerian football. With a 15-year playing career and a coaching journey that has seen him manage both club and national teams, Chelle brings a wealth of experience to the role. As he prepares for his first official match, fans will be eager to see how his leadership and strategies shape the team.

Related Topics:#Super Eagles Super Eagles Coach

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Sports

Court Fixes Date To Hear Sala Compensation Dispute

Published

3 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

A commercial court examining the long-running dispute between Cardiff City and French club Nantes over compensation for the death of Emiliano Sala in a plane crash said Monday it would give its decision on March 30 next year.

Sala, a 28-year-old Argentine striker, died when the light aircraft taking him to the Welsh capital came down in the English Channel on January 21, 2019, two days after he had signed for the then-Premier League side. He and pilot David Ibbotson were killed.

The Welsh club took the case to the Nantes commercial court in 2023 to claim compensation for loss of income and other damages suffered by the club as a result of the player’s death.

Following an analysis conducted by an expert appointed by Cardiff City, the club estimated their losses at over 120 million euros ($139.5 million). Lawyers for both clubs made their cases at Monday’s hearing.

The Welsh club argue that Nantes, through their intermediary, agent Willie McKay, were the organisers of the private flight on which the footballer was travelling and that, if the transfer was effective at the time of the accident according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), it is the organisation of this flight that is at issue.

Cardiff City’s lawyer, Olivier Loizon, told the court Monday, Willie McKay “could not have been unaware of the illegality of the flight”, and argued that the agent had acted with “negligence”.

“Whatever the ultimate cause of the accident, (Sala) should not have been on the flight,” he added.

Nantes’ lawyer, Jerome Marsaudon, insisted Monday the only agent authorised by the club in connection with the transfer was Mark McKay, the son of Willie McKay.

The elder McKay “was simply helping his son, given his extensive experience”, the lawyer said.

“It is sad to see that Cardiff have exploited this tragedy and turned it into a genuine legal farce,” he added. “Nothing in this case justifies holding FC Nantes liable.”

Prior to the start of the hearing, a Nantes representative said the club “have no doubt that Cardiff’s claims will be rejected outright, just like all the others”.

In another case related to the dispute between the two clubs, CAS ruled in 2022 that Sala’s transfer had definitely been finalised at the time of his death.

In 2023, world football’s governing body FIFA ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes the balance of Sala’s transfer fee, which at the time amounted to just over 11 million euros out of a total of 17 million euros.

Sports

Salah A ‘Disgrace’ For Liverpool Outburst – Carragher

Published

3 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled Mohamed Salah “a disgrace” on Monday after the Egypt star’s stunning outburst at Reds boss Arne Slot.

Salah said he had been “thrown under a bus” and had no relationship with Slot after he was left on the bench for last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds.

It was the third successive game that Salah had been kept out of the starting line-up by Slot amid the forward’s loss of form this season.

In response to Salah’s astonishing rant to reporters, Liverpool axed the 33-year-old from the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Inter Milan.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher, a 2005 Champions League winner with Liverpool, said: “I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game.

“Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst. I don’t think it was. I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he has done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed with his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position.

“He’s chosen this weekend to do this now, and he’s waited I think for a bad result… everyone involved with the club (feeling) like they’re in the gutter, and he’s chosen that time to go for the manager and maybe try to get him sacked.”

Salah is a two-time Premier League champion with Liverpool and has also won the Champions League during his iconic eight-year spell at Anfield.

But, although he only signed a new contract in April, Salah hinted he might have played his last game for Liverpool as he prepares to jet off to the African Cup of Nations after their Premier League clash with Brighton at Anfield on Saturday.

Salah has been linked with a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League and and Carragher added: “What he’s done off the pitch, I think the club have made the right decision in terms of him not going abroad. Whether he will play for Liverpool again, I don’t know.

“I hope he does, because he’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had, but if you continue like that, and statements like that, if he doesn’t play, who knows.”

Sports

JUST IN: Full Draw For 2026 World Cup Group Stages Confirmed

Published

6 days ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

The draw for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup has been conducted.

It took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in charge.

There will be 48 teams at next year’s tournament, to be played across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

All the participating countries were grouped into 12 groups of four.

Here is the full draw:

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Winner Play-off D
Group B: Canada, Winner Play-off A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Winner Play-off C
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Winner Play-off B, Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, Winner Play-off 2, Norway
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Winner Play-off 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana