Lagos – A football analyst, Godwin Dudu-Orumen, has berated the Nigeria Football Association  (NFA) for appointing Samson Siasia as Head Coach of the Super Eagles on the basis of overwhelming public sentiment.

Orumen said that he would not have appointed Siasia as the head coach of the national team if he was in a position to do so.

He on Tuesday in Lagos said that the Aminu Maigari-led NFA board appointed Siasia to legitimise their stay in office.

Following the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the Gabon-Equatorial 2012 Nations Cup, many football fans in the country are calling for Siasia’s sack.

“I would not have made Siasia the coach of the Eagles no matter what happens.

“But since the Maigari-led NFA was looking for legitimacy in office, they exploited the prevailing public sentiment calling for the appointment of Siasia as head coach of the Super Eagles.

“At the end of the day, NFA’s populist decision to appoint Siasia as coach did not work out the way they had envisaged,’’ he said.

Orumen said  that what the Super Eagles needed was a coach with the requisite managerial capability and tactical acumen to take the country to the 2014 World Cup.

“Super Eagles is bigger than Siasia and as such we need a foreign coach with the requisite managerial and tactical acumen to tinker the team.

“Unfortunately no local coach in the country falls within this criterion which means that we still need a foreign coach,’’ Orumen said.

Meanwhile, former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, said that there was nothing wrong or incompetent about a local coach handling the national football team.

“What such a coach needed was support from key stakeholders.

“The fact that Siasia failed to qualify the team for the 2012 Nations Cup does not mean that local coaches are incompetent.

“I urge the NFA to demand for the match report in order to get an insight into what actually went wrong,’’ he said.

The CAF instructor and member of the NFA Technical Committee cautioned the body to follow due process in taking a decision on Siasia’s fate.

Edema Fuludu, a member of the gold medal-winning Super Eagles squad at the 1994 Nations Cup in Tunisia, cautioned against sacking Siasia.

“I beg to disagree that the Nigerian coach lacks what it takes to handle the Super Eagles.

“Siasia should not be sacked; he should be allowed to continue with the job.

“The fact that we did not qualify for AFCON does not mean that our football has come to an end,’’ he said.

Fuludu blamed the team’s failure on the lethargy of the players who did not rise to the occasion.

“Siasia should not be made to shoulder the blame alone; the players should also share in the blame.

“The idea of employing a foreign coach should not be encouraged, rather it will be a further drain on our resources.

“When Westerhof started as coach of the Super Eagles, he did so on a shaky note and eventually succeeded on the job; we should also do the same for Siasia,’’ Fuludu said. (NAN)