Samson Siasia could be in line to
replace Stephen Keshi as Nigeria coach unless the National Sports
Commission(NSC) stops the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Goal exclusively gathered from a
top NFF official at the weekend that the Super Eagles’ poor results
against Congo where they lost 3-2 in Calabar as well as the goalless
draw away to South Africa has blotted the impressive record of the
trainer.
A top official of the NFF disclosed that
“there are many factors standing in the way of Stephen Keshi to be
re-appointed as the Eagles chief coach and I will give you a break-down
but before that I must say that Keshi must be most grateful to the
Sports Minister (Tammy Danagogo) for fighting for his retention as
chief coach.
“The minister has never hidden his love
and preference for him and he based it on Keshi’s past achievements
which he said was more than necessary for him to continue his job. The
minister still believes that the Eagles under Keshi could still bounce
back and qualify for the 2015 Afcon in Morocco.
“But we at the NFF here know that the
problem with the team is more than what we are seeing from the surface.
Firstly, there is no commitment on the part of the players Keshi is
parading for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and if something
drastic is not done, Nigeria may not be among those nations that would
campaign in Morocco 2015,” the source who begged for his identity not to
be revealed told Goal.
The NFF source also revealed that most
of the members of the NFF Executive Board are no longer at ease with the
alleged antics and disrespect of Keshi towards them and now want
another coach who would listen to them and respect them as his
employers. They have also not forgotten the way Keshi allegedly
humiliated the Aminu Maigari Board members during the Africa Cup of
Nations which Nigeria won in South Africa in 2013 and felt highly
disappointed with the way the coach received all the accolades and
praises from all and sundry without mere mention of the NFF Board and
Secretariat.
“We all know how Keshi threatened to
dump the team in South Africa shortly after the Eagles won the 2013
AFCON. The controversies generated by this singular action of his put
the NFF then in a bad light and so many other crises including the
Eagles threatening not to play one of the qualifying matches for the
last World Cup as well as during the World Cup when the players demanded
for their bonuses are all crises that have put a negative mark on the
NFF.
“So unless the NSC decides to use its
veto powers, I don’t think Keshi would be retained as the Eagles coach.
Even the N6 million that the minister said he is requesting for cannot
be met by the NFF as a matter of fact. The NFF is broke for now and the
crisis has not helped matters.
“It seems everybody is speaking
favourably about Samson Siasia to come back to the post he left in 2011.
Some of us believed that Siasia has learned his lessons and he would
adjust where he has failed to bounce back with the Eagles. Another thing
is that it will be very difficult for us to pick the 2015 Nations Cup
ticket if we continue to parade the same players Keshi is using to
prosecute the 2015 Afcon qualifiers so it is preferable Siasia comes to
the rescue and brings new ideas and players that are fighters to salvage
the situation.
“The reason for the choice of Siasia is
that the NFF cannot afford the salary and emoluments of a foreign coach
now, so employing a foreign coach to replace Keshi now is out of the
issue. But we will know precisely how it goes after Tuesday when the NFF
elections will take place,” the source concluded.
Source-- The Nation
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