Former Town winger Finidi George has been appointed the permanent head coach of Nigeria.

George, 53, had been in interim charge following the departure of Jose Peseiro after the 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations final defeat to the Cote d’Ivoire in February having previously been the Portuguese’s assistant for the previous 20 months.

Since then, George, who won the Champions League as a player with Ajax, has taken the team for two friendlies in Morocco, a 2-1 victory over Ghana and a 2-0 loss to Mali.

George, who is also manager of Nigerian club side Enyimba, was a member of Nigeria’s Golden Generation which won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations and made a big impact at FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year.

He won 62 full caps, scoring six times, also featuring at the 1998 World Cup finals and and the 1992, 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

The Nigerian international was one of George Burley’s big signings in the summer of 2001 as the Blues looked to build on their fifth place in the Premier League, costing £3.1 million from Real Mallorca.

Despite a dramatic home debut when he scored twice in a 3-1 victory over Derby, George’s time at Town was ultimately a huge disappointment.

In the summer of 2003, with George not part of then-manager Joe Royle’s plans, Town settled the remaining two years of the winger’s contract, an agreement which was understood to see him paid £1 million over the next 18 months.

“It might be an understatement to say that his career with Ipswich has been as disappointing for the club as it has, no doubt, for him,” chairman David Sheepshanks said in a statement at the time.

“Despite the cost, early termination of the contract made best sense for Ipswich Town.”

George made 30 Blues starts and 16 sub appearances, scoring eight goals.

Photo: Action Images

Bramidan added 19:29 - Apr 29 Have they finally discovered how old he actually is?
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Kropotkin123 added 20:10 - Apr 29 Good Luck Finidi. Quality player. Would be great to see Nigeria back at the next World Cup under his management.
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Juggsy added 20:11 - Apr 29 Finidi George was 53 when he played for us 22 years ago lol
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TheReturnOfCthulhu added 20:46 - Apr 29 What an achievement for a 26 year old, head coach for the national team! Joking aside though, his goal vs Sunderland at Portman Rd is still one of the best goals I've ever seen.
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churchmans81 added 21:06 - Apr 29 53? Yeah, righto!!
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ChrisR added 21:11 - Apr 29 He and that Italian Goalkeeper were financial disasters for the Town , caused Marcus Evans to save the club from CVA , and then 20 years of mediocraty . Let's avoid panic signings like that if we go up.
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Poultman added 22:06 - Apr 29 That’s got to be interim as surely he’s going on 60’ish as no one officially knows how old he is?
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Bramidan added 22:27 - Apr 29 I always think that’s where Burley and our team went wrong. Previously we played neat triangles with players supporting each other, a short pass was always on. We then acquired a “ match winning star” and seemed to believe we had to pass the ball to him, probably the wrong pass at the wrong time that didn't do him any favours either. My only criticism of Burley, loved him as a manager and coach. Do you know what I think we have a better coach now who won’t fall into that trap. We will need to strengthen but no player will be better than the team.

4

fifeblue added 23:05 - Apr 29 He must be over 100 years old by now, surely?
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DifferentGravy added 05:29 - Apr 30 Really liked Burley but think he started panicking and tried to buy instant success with expensive imports. Sereni was a good keeper (made a howler in a European game, mind) but he was never going to justify his price tag. Finidi had once been an excellent player but was on the downhill and an utter waste of wages. I remember going to watch Town away at Selhurst Park(Wimbledon). He just strolled around for 75 minutes. As soon as we subbed him for Counago(scored) we were a different side and won 1-0. With only 3 years of management under his belt, be interesting to see how Nigeria get on. Expect hes earning a few (million) quid for the pleasure.

1

WeWereZombies added 08:08 - Apr 30 Managing Nigeria is going to be good training for him when he eventually takes over from Kieran...
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ArnieM added 08:53 - Apr 30 He must be about a 110 yrs old now then , lol ...
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Steelmonkey added 11:01 - Apr 30 And still only twenty six… Burley did extremely well with not an awful amount of money at his disposal it then all went tits up with poor player transfer choices and left us financially crippled.
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churchmans81 added 11:07 - Apr 30 Different Gravy. I take your point but then Burley had enjoyed instant success the season before. For much of the season, it looked like we would finish in the top three and qualify for the European Cup for the first time in nearly 40 years. In the end, we finished fifth, just four points adrift of second-placed Arsenal and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in 40 years. Burley was then voted "Manager of the Year". However, Sereni and George weren’t great signings and don’t get me started on Ulrich Le Pen :-)

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jalapenosteve added 12:40 - Apr 30 That goal against Sunderland!!
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Doc_Albran added 13:30 - Apr 30 Great achievement at such a young age - how has he managed to fit so much in to life given he's only 32...
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DifferentGravy added 14:49 - Apr 30 Churchman81.....Yeah. Im a massive fan of Burley. Often see him in the crowd and think its great when all these ex players/managers still turning up to watch Town games. Dont expect too many other clubs have that. I just meant I thought Burely did better on a smaller budget building success rather than trying to buy instant success with (so called) expensive superstars. Finidi was a huge waste of money and, from the games I saw, he definitely looked to have disrupted team harmony. Le Pen broke his leg early on If I recall. Trying to think of worse Town signings.....Adrian Paz must be up there.....although he did bring Taricco with him

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Cadiar added 17:19 - Apr 30 I doubt Finidi ever knew his real age. He was brilliant in his early games, got 10/10 ratings for the Derby match which is unheard of. He never got over the broken jaw he sustained quite early. Sereni was a huge mistake, think he actually asked to be dropped because he was tired, apparently was prosecuted in Italy for pedophilia & did time. Ulrich le Penn, another very unfortunate player who got a horrible injury early on, maybe his debut. Can't understand why people have to denigrate the players so much, it was a huge step into the unknown for us & maybe it would have been better not to go into Europe but a new stand needed paying for & European football is where the money is.

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