Nwabufo Obienu doubled as vice chairman of then Nigeria Football Association and coordinator of the Eagles during the qualification for 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. He worked with coaches Amodu Shaibu, Stephen Keshi and Joe Erico and can attest to their abilities. He bared his mind yesterday in a telephone chat.
“It will be criminal to drop Amodu from the World Cup. We are still paying for the price of the nemesis that caught up with us the last time they qualified us for the World Cup and they sacked them. I worked closely with them and I know the capabilities and limitations of Amodu.
amodu
I strongly suggest that Amodu needs help. He cannot do it alone. Let them promote him technical adviser or team manager as recommended in your column last Friday and bring in Keshi to be the coach. I know how they worked the last time and I strongly agree that we don’t need a foreign coach to the job.
They can bring in Keshi after the Nations Cup since his contract with Mali will end then. Siasia, Amokachi and the rest can be named assistants and with Amodu let them prosecute the Nations Cup in Angola. After the Nations Cup, let them elevate Amodu and bring in Keshi.
They also need a strong team manager. If Keshi is in the team when we are preparing for the World Cup and he drills the players in three weeks or more, you will see the remarkable difference in the team.
Apart from their abilities, taking Keshi and Amodu to go to the World Cup will be another way to make up for injustice Nigeria meted to them that haunted us for long.
The suggestion that Amodu, Keshi, Siasia and even the likes of Okpala be appointed in a consortium of coaches for the World Cup is good. I buy it and I want to urge the federation to consider it seriously.”
I support this argument. Team Nigeria should be Team Nigeria. We have come of age. This noise about Foreign Managers must stop. Bring in either Keshi or Siasia to sopport Amodu in a technical capacity.
WE DONT WANT FOREIGN COACHES.
We should stop deceiving ourselves by maintaining that Amodu is qualified to take the Super Eagles to both the Nations Cup and World Cup, respectively. To me, he’s not capable to make good results at the afore-mentioned tournaments.
He has the zeal and enthusiasim to lead the Super Eagles to the African Cup of Nations in Angola and the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, respectively, but he doesn’t have the technical know-how to execute the assignment. A good football technical adviser or coach always knows what to do at any given time during a soccer encounter. But Amodu lacks the technicalities to make suitable replacements, change the pattern of play and dish out reasonable instructions, either to slow or increase the pace of the game. Out of sympathy, Amodu could be retained in the team but as an assistant to either Westerholf or another well tested expatriate technical adviser. I feel this is the reality!
I also think that Keshi and Siasia shuld come into the team so we can have a balanced technical crew that is truely Nigerian. I am sure if they all see this as a national assignment they will be able to build a team that is world class.
@Concerned citizen
What would you know about the meaning of the term “technical adviser” anyway? By the way, which teams in the world apart from NIgeria still maintain that job title within their coaching setup?
Seriously, type “technical adviser + football” into google and you’ll notice that most results on the page make reference to Nigerian football. This position is simply there for occupation by a foreigner. Its one tool which we subconciously use to keep our minds enslaved to the white man.
Let Amodu be promoted and let Keshi join him as team coach. It has worked before (without the job title, of course) and it will work again.
You people are only asking for confusion in the Super Eagles camp. You should leave Amodu alone. Keshi is not looking for job. He has a good team to take to nation’s cup and possibly win it(Mali). After the world cup what ever the outcome, I guess Keshi ( who should be the ideal indigenous coach for the the Eagles) will be available for 2014 ( If there is still Nigeria then). For now stop distracting NFF AND AMODU SHUAIBU please.
Amodu is not a coach he just wants the money. Pay him and let him go.
I don’t think Amodu is capable of handling the players in the world cup,don’t you see how the boys play in the their qualifiers,playing as if they were beg to play for the country.A coach that does not know how to discipline his players is not a good coach.all nigeria needs now is one who can talk to the boys and they say yes sir.i urged nfa to go for quality coach like jose mourinho,wenger of arsenal and former chelsea coach huddick and let Amodu to work under this coach i mention as assistant. if can do what i have said we will have good team and discipline players too.
That will be good. These coaches have made Nigeria pproud and they deserve to be treated as such. Lets give them a chance and see what happen. All the best.
The national team needs a tactician and a disciplinarian. Those qualities are definitely not in Amodu’s mould. Amodu should be sacked outrightly. Siasia and Keshi are better replacements.
I think mr Obineu needs to understand what the term ‘technical Adviser’ means before he proceeds to making such suggestions.