Stephen Keshi is set to be offered a 2 year contract extension by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to manage the Super Eagles presumably till the 2017 Nations Cup finals if we qualify. The deal ought to have been signed since Friday 17th April, 2015 but the NFF seem unprepared to finalise the deal for reasons best known to them. And if reports are anything to go by, the deal will not be signed any time this week. We wait and see how the signing ceremony will pan out.
The aim of this article is not to criticise the incompetence of the NFF in their shoddy handling of the failed contract signing ceremony of Keshi but the decision of the NFF board to reward Keshi with a new contract.
Does Keshi deserve a new deal? Is the hand of outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan, involved in ensuring Keshi remains coach of the Super Eagles? Is there no other manager the NFF can hire to take the Super Eagles to the next level? When other coaches like Christian Chukwu and Samson Siasia failed to qualify Nigeria for a major competition they were shown the door, why is Keshi's case different?
If we are to look at this scenario based on his achievements with the Super Eagles and his past record with other nations then Keshi would get the backing of many to lead the Super Eagles into the future especially because of how he was able to bring in some unheralded players like Sunday Mba who were in the local league to limelight. Players he used ultimately to bring glory to Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa in 2013 and our qualification for the World Cup in Brazil last year.
However, if we are to look at the team's performance critically, especially after the Brazil 2014 World Cup and their failure to qualify for the African Cup of Nations held in Equitorial Guinea to defend the title they won in 2013, then one wouldn't be overly excited that Keshi's contract is being renewed. In fact, in other climes, many managers' heads would have been chopped off without a moment's hesitation if they had overseen such a mediocre performance that the Super Eagles showcased during the last AFCON qualifiers.
The reality of football today is that you are as good as your last game. And the Super Eagles' recent performances at the AFCON qualifiers where they struggled to beat Sudan in Nigeria and failed to beat South Africa over 2 legs as well as embarrassing losses to Sudan away and Congo at home are the type that even the best in the business of football management would struggle to survive.
To be fair, Keshi didn't have the goodwill and support of the NFF board who were neck deep in crisis between themselves. Who could forget the drama they regularly served the watching Nigerian public as the battle for the leadership of the NFF board unfolded? We had different chairmen emerging through every kangaroo election they held and FIFA were kept busy monitoring the farce as they unfolded.
How many times did Nigeria flirt with FIFA's hammer? Nigeria eventually got suspended though. It took good old president Goodluck Jonathan's intervention for sanity to be brought back to the Glass house and the resulting bans from FIFA lifted.
There were even more twists that played out during the ill fated Equitorial Guinea AFCON qualifiers. Keshi after presiding over a hard fought victory over Sudan, was sacked the following day by the NFF but was reinstated a few weeks later after technical director, Amodu Shuaibu, wisely rescinded his decision to accept the job of managing the Super Eagles for the rest of the qualifiers. He had probably thought that it was better Keshi was allowed to finish what he had started. The team was in such disarray that no right thinking coach worth his salt would accept such a poisoned chalice which was Keshi's post.
Clearly, Keshi was being frustrated by the NFF hierarchy and it probably had an effect on the team's performance. That notwithstanding, the team had their AFCON qualification hopes in their own hands but at the end, they narrowly escaped defeat to South Africa's Bafana Bafana after another sloppy performance especially at the back in the last round of matches in the group. Two late goals from Sone Aluko could not save Nigeria from being bundled out of AFCON as we forced South Africa to a 2-2 draw.
Now that we are back to the drawing board and Keshi has been given the nod to manage the Super Eagles again, he needs to sort out several problems with the Super Eagles. Problems which led to the fiasco Nigerians witnessed during the last AFCON qualifiers and problems if resolved could aid the Super Eagles to reach the pinnacle of African football again.
These problems and what he should do to tackle them would be discussed hopefully in my next article.
No comments:
Post a Comment