Belgian coach Luc Eyamel is reportedly being lined up to replace Jose Antonio Camacho as Gabon’s national team coach.
The 58-year-old has been in charge of South Africa giants Free State Stars but is said to be heading out of the rainbow nation for the Panthers job.
The Gabonese Football Federation (Fegafoot) has been under pressure to replace Camacho after recent unsatisfactory results, and according to sources, the federation has bowed to pressure and is set to hire Eymael.
The experienced tactician has never coached any national team but has wide knowledge about Gabonese football having previously been in charge of Missile FC, with his biggest achievement in the central African country being guiding the club to their first ever championship title.
Eymael is a holder of a UEFA Pro License‚ the highest qualification in football. He is credited with helping the development of a number of Belgium’s current stars‚ including Eden Hazard‚ Axel Witsel and Christian Benteke.
The coach who is not afraid to speak his mind, hinted to a Gabonese website Isport earlier this week that he is ready to take the Panthers job.
“Gabon needs a coach who knows Africa by heart. You have a very good team; it’s a fact. I have the advantage of knowing the domestic sports environment and the players,” he said as translated from French.
“From Pierre-Emérick Aubameyang to Ovono, Poko and Lemina, this team has real potential. It is necessary to bring on new tactics and discipline to the team. For my part, I have drawn the strategies and am ready to build a winning team provided they give me the job.”
Eymael’s first appointment as a coach in Africa was with AS Vita Club in 2010‚ leading them to the domestic league title ahead of TP Mazembe‚ before moving to Missile in 2012.
A short stint at MC Oran in Algeria was followed by a move to AFC Leopards in Kenya and then Rayon Sports in Rwanda and JS Kairouan in Tunisia‚ and jobs in Oman and Sudan at giants Al-Merrikh.
He has had eleven coaching posts in the last six years‚ having only joined Free State Stars from Polokwane in August last year and was at some point linked with Uganda Cranes job but the deal fell through in the eleventh hour.
