Berti Vogts, the coach of the Nigeria Football team has resigned according to reports from the BBC. The resignation comes in the aftermath of Nigeria’s very poor outing at the recently concluded African Cup of Nations.

In announcing his resignation Vogts laid some of the blame for the situation at the feet of the chairman of the Nigeria Football Association, Sanni Lulu. Vogts was quoted as saying “Too much happened during and after the African Cup. Most of all I don't have any faith in the president of the Nigerian federation any more, working together is no longer possible."

The 61-year-old German was appointed as the coach of Nigeria in 2007 and was expected to take charge of Nigeria through to the world Cup in 2010. An undercurrent of resentment however began not so long after, initially focused on how little time Vogts appeared to spend in Nigeria.

The resentment rose as despite a relatively trouble-free preparation Nigeria struggled to qualify from the Group rounds at the ANC, and was promptly knocked out in the quarter-finals by hosts Ghana. This was the first time since 1988 that Nigeria had not got to at least the semi-finals.

If confirmed the resignation of Vogts is likely to see Nigeria return to employing an indigenous manager as the success of Egypt’s Shetata has sent a strong message across Africa that spending millions of hard earned foreign exchange of foreign coaches is no guarantee of long term success. Former Nigeria players Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh and Stephen Keshi have all been tipped as potential successors to Vogts.