The return of Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi to handle the team on a temporary basis after the NFF crisis had made it impossible for the body to take a stand on handling the national team has left Nigeria’s chances hanging in the balance on the road to Morocco 2015 to defend the African title.
When Yours Sincerely had earlier written after the world cup that Keshi should never be reconsidered to handle the Eagles after his poor tactics exposed him at the world cup, many labelled my constructive criticisms in other perspective and his return has signalled even a bigger disaster for the national team.
The road to Morocco 2015 for Nigeria is rough and we may have to hope to settle for the third best team in seeking qualification for Africa’s biggest sporting football fiesta next year. With one point from two games and with Congo sitting firmly on the driver’s seat with six points followed by the South African national team with four points, Keshi has unknowingly made his exit in the national team as the coach faster than expected.
There are deep regrets on his return and the game against Congo in Calabar once again reflects his dire limitations to modern day tactics and his poor selection methods have once again been called into question on what choice of gaffer Nigeria needs at the moment.
Keshi is bereft of ideas I have repeatedly stated and he won the nations Cup by error even as we celebrate that feat. He should never have been reconsidered in the first place under any circumstances; He is not our best coach. The Eagles match against Congo without any pattern, no game plan and no bench.
The Eagles under rated the Congolese side from the blast of the whistle and played a very poor game. They deserved that loss at home and showed no hunger against South Africa last Wednesday. They were a bunch of average players running without direction on the pitch.
Keshi has no fresh ideas for the national team. He has failed to build a national team all through his tenure. He has fought basically all our star players who have consistently criticised his tactics. He is a coach who wants loyalty at all cost by intimidating his players and offers little or nothing in players’ welfare or human relations with his players.
Keshi never moulded a star player all through his time till our last game. He failed to discover great talents for the Eagles. His decisions have been questionable. He has failed to create a perfect midfield where Mikel has become as sorry spot of slow pace for our football. We have failed to have a perfect back four in the defence line up and our attack has been beamed with numerous experiments as striking options, yet our successes have failed to convince Nigerians on the qualities of Keshi as the man to tinker our team.
Keshi has declined the need to have a foreign assistant in the face of his compelling challenges. His pride has cost him and Nigerians so much. His attitudinal challenges have cost us games even as we can boldly state that the only sure post we can depend on right now is our goalkeeping department where Vincent Enyeama holds forte as our best choice.
For the number of years the team has played under Keshi, they still play an individualistic game. Their performances of recent have fallen short as African Champions. The team does not have flair, the team plays without a passion, the team lacks that creative spark, the team has no leader. The team has no big name in the mould of Rashidi Yekini, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Sunday Oliseh and even Victor Ikpeba.
Keshi has failed and he has failed woefully. He cannot lead Nigeria to Morocco 2015 and this should be his last competitive fixture as our coach. At this rate, Keshi will never defend the title next year I can boldly state. The guy is not just it when it comes to handling the Eagles and we do not need him again.
His preference to protect some special players whose form has been a source for concern even at club level also like Mikel Obi leaves much to worry. Against Congo, reports indicated that Mikel Obi was sighted at a popular night club in Calabar on the eve of the Congo game and returned to his hotel about past midnight. Yet, there were no penalties for him. We recall why the likes of Yakubu Aiyegbeni were dropped at the world cup preparations in 2002.
The road under Keshi today is rough and heart wrenching for Nigerians and we must not allow him to mislead Nigerian on a mission impossible. We must bid him farewell from the national team urgently.
Against South Africa where before the world cup he was widely touted to be on the move, he failed to show tactical superiority against his counterpart, Shakes Mashaba. He kept chewing away his ideas if any looking lost only urging his players to play hard being the only swan song he understands.
The likes of Ikechkwu Uche , Chinedu Obasi, Brown Ideye and even Obafemi Martins may have been shut out of the national team, but may just be having the last laugh at the big boss. The present nose dive in the national team was widely predicted. Most of us saw it coming and our administrators labelled us as being unpatriotic.
The time has come to make a decision on a new coach is now and we can make do with another set of past internationals that is if they will agree to put down their pride and give their country the best options as it seems.
Keshi’s attitude is not a good advertorial for our local coaches who have come to see in him as a role model for more opportunities for some of them. He has virtually had a spat with every section of the society from the media to the fans.
The challenges of Keshi’s leadership has torn the national team into factions today with Mikel Obi now the big boss who flays camp orders and is never substituted despite his poor form on the pitch. That is why at the last world cup, Emenike was at loggerheads with him over the failure of quality passes to him on the pitch.
The nations cup is holding by January next year and that leaves us barely three months to the fiesta and the NFF must take a decisive step on Keshi which should be simple enough – do away with his services as the national team coach, very fast. Keshi should not lead the team to Sudan for our next game. His time is up and the earlier we start looking for a new coach, the better.
I do not care if it is another ex- international or foreign coach, but the national team needs a better and more competent manager who will be passionate about his players and field his best at every competition.
We need a coach who would have new and better tactics and mould our team back to the Westerhoff days were the Eagles scored in the first Fifteen minutes of each game. The team need a mercurial playmaker and the search starts now. The team needs a coach who will be well respected and carries the respect of the dressing room.
The NFF knows Keshi’s lapses and limitations and we must realise that those at the top who are shielding him are not helping Nigerian football and that man does not deserve any re-consideration talk less of a contract renewal anymore.
Let Keshi take his luck elsewhere if he is wanted and has the quality of players in our dear country. If he leads the team to the next game, expect more disaster and then will the alarm bells begin to sound loudest.
For now, Keshi remains the worst nightmare of Nigerian football after the likes of Chris Giwa and the clowns who tried to upset the FIFA Statutes. Let him go before the wind takes off the sail of the Eagles. It remains a choice that must be made urgently.
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