In football, and sports generally, the countdown to a coachs dismissal begins the day that he signs the contract for the job. If we looked at the turnover of coaches for the Super Eagles, we would conclude that in Nigeria the pattern is well defined.Shaibu Amodu won bronze medals in two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as the coach of the national soccer team. He also secured two World Cup tickets for Nigeria. Yet, he was sacked when his bosses felt he had outlived his usefulness.Then Samson Siasia came on board on mass appeal. After a brief stint with the Super Eagles, he was given the boot, too. The suddenness of his exit leaves us with a very pertinent question: which coach wont be sacked'Perhaps, if the powers-that-be had spared Siasia, things would have taken a different turn for future Nigerian coaches.Interestingly the all-powerful Nigerian soccer fans did not influence the appointment of Stephen Keshi, a former captain of the Super Eagles, as Siasias replacement with overwhelming votes of confidence in his ability to steer the fortunes of the team in a positive direction as they did in Siasias case.Although Keshi wont be getting the same elephant-sized salary as his predecessor, it seems, from all indication, that he has landed a tougher deal than Siasia got.Keshi is expected to take the Super Eagles up to the semi-finals of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, at least, in addition to leading the side as far as the quarterfinals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.But, as always, there appears to be a snag somewhere. If he is able to lead the team to the semifinals of the Nations Cup event on the continent, who can guarantee a quarterfinal Brazil with our players featuring mainly in leagues and teams that we hardly knew until a few years ago'I am really worried about Keshi. Why' My friends believe that it is not likely that he will consider discipline in the team as top priority.Also, there is the fear that things might get too cosy between him and the big men at the Nigeria Football Federation that he would not be able to speak up when it matters most.Well, for now, I guess it is up to Okechukwu Keshi to prove Nigerians wrong.The way former Nigeria internationals lobby for the Super Eagles job these days makes one to wonder if they can ever pray for anybody else in that position to succeed. Some of them had barely waited for the match between Nigeria and Guinea to end before making a dash for Siasias job, even when the latter was yet to be kicked out.This mindless haste to exploit another mans misfortune compels me to ask: when Keshi will get the sack'What gives me hope is the fact that Keshi helped push Nigerian football in two significant directions. First, as a player he initiated the bold move to play professional football in Europe.By his action, he opened doors for the likes of Mikel Obi and Taye Taiwo to exploit the opportunities available in European countries.As a coach, Keshi qualified Togo for their first World Cup. The Togo feat proves that a Nigerian can flourish as an expatriate coach in Mali, South Africa, or elsewhere. It means that we have to give Keshi the chance to succeed here.Still, the choice is yours, Keshi. But dont be deceived that every football expert here loves you.
Click here to read full news..
