It took four days for NFF to
choose Samson Siasia's
replacement Stephen Keshi
Four days. That is how long it
took the Technical Committee
of the Nigerian Football
Federation to select Samson
Siasia's replacement, Stephen
Keshi.
Thankfully, we were saved the
drama and uncertainty that
surrounded Samson Siasia's
stranglehold on the job. It took 20
days after the debacle that played
itself out t the Abuja National
Stadium before Siasia got the boot.
As the matter dragged on, the
questions arose. Will he stay? Will
he not? Last week Friday, the
Committee answered the question.
Even before he was shown the
door, the guess game was in full
swing. A lot of coaches, both local
and foreign were mooted as
candidates for the job. The most
prominent were Bruno Metsu and
ex-internationals, Sunday Oliseh and
Stephen Keshi. The game didn't last
too long. On Wednesday, Stephen
Keshi got the job. Just incase you
don't know a lot about him yet, let's
meet and greet the new boss. Keshi
captained the Nigerian team to 1994
World Cup. By the time he hung his
boots, he had played in five different
African Cup of Nations tournaments,
winning the 1994 edition. After his
club career in Europe, Keshi went
into coaching. He got himself
educated in coaching profession in
the United State of America (USA).
He coached Togo for two years and
qualified them unexpectedly for their
first ever World Cup in Germany in
2006. He was however replaced by
Otto Pftiser before the tournament.
He had before that time worked
with Amodu Shuaibu when he was
in charge of the Nigerian national
team between 2001 and 2002.
Impressive resume. But isn't that
what we all said about Samson
Siasia? How he done great and
mighty things in age grade
competitions and would work
miracles if he's given the senior side
to manage. That is not where the
similarities end. Once again, we are
getting a former player to handle the
team and not the foreign adviser
most people clamoured for. Why
do I have a feeling that somewhere
along the line, we will be back to this
point and be wailing for the NFF to
hire Arsene Wenger, Guus Hiddink
or Andre Villas-Boas? Right now, all
the noise for a foreign coach has
ceased. There seems to be little or
no opposition to the appointment of
the former Super Eagles defender.
Keshi has been mandated to qualify
the Super Eagles for the 2013
Nations and the World Cup in 2014.
Siasia had this same clause and
failed to meet it. The call for his head
was swift. His large army of
supporters vanished and he faced
the music all by himself. I am not a
staunch supporter of Siasia. I am
neither against the appointment of
Keshi. Like the clichéd saying goes,
"You cannot achieve anything new
with old methods". It is about what
who is in charge, but those he is in
charge of (the players) and those in
charge of the football (NFF/Ministry
of Sports). What I'd like to see Keshi
do is pioneer a new era in Nigerian
football, starting with the
development of football from the
grassroots. That is what most
countries have kept on doing and
their academies are churning out
talent after talent. Hello Spain.
There's a quote that caught my
fancy this week. It was from a
former assistant coach of the Super
Eagles, Joe Erico. He said: "I still
maintain my stand, any coach that
is coming to coach our national
team is as good as any other that
have been there. So I do not have
any problem with that. Even if we
employ José Mourinho and Alex
Ferguson with same structure in
our football they will still fail. "We
must go back to the basics.
Clemens Westerof only succeeded
because he had good players then
and most of them were from the
grass-roots. We should also
improve our league if we are to
make it." "Keshi should stay focused
and do the right thing and also
satisfy his conscience and not to
please everybody, because you will
always get it wrong if you try to
please everybody." "Lastly, he
should be a mirror to his players
especially his senior players in the
national team so as not to have
problems with them. He should
always present himself to the
players as a leader not a boss." He
said it all. It's not about a new man,
but about the method. If Keshi fails
to avoid the road many before him
have treaded and didn't succeed, he
needs to tweak the modus
operandi. Or else, many will soon
be asking, 'Are you Siasia in
disguise?' and of course, the vicious
cycle will continue. God forbid.