By John Egbokhan

The nine-month search for a coach for the Super Eagles may end soon as immediate past coach of the team, Stephen Keshi appears set to decide on whether to accept or reject the terms of the contract that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) gave him to read through before the signing of the deal.

Keshi

Keshi, who has been out of a job since last July, has been enmeshed in a cat and mouse chase with the NFF over his reappointment being championed by a top man in government who has been intimidating the NFF. Even though the body language of the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF Executive Committee appears indisposed to giving the former New Nigerian Bank of Benin captain a new deal, their hands seem tied.

And in an attempt to put an end to this merry-go-round and stop his name from being further dragged down in the mud by critics who have gone for his jugulars for daring to hold out for a contract renewal even after failing to qualify the Eagles for the last AFCON in Equatorial Guinea, Keshi, has started consulting well-meaning football stakeholders on whether to jump ship or swim with the tide.

Investigations by Saturday Vanguard Sports reveal that the former Togo and Mali manager has reached out to some his fiercest critics to know whether their reason for wanting him out of the Eagles coaching scene was genuine or self-serving. We gathered that Keshi’s advisers have been sounding out public opinion on the matter and that the 2013 AFCON winning coach was going to meet the NFF as soon as possible to tell them whether he was accepting their contract hook, line and sinker or plead for change of some clauses.

“Keshi has been reaching out to stakeholders in the industry because he feels that the heat against him in the media is so intense and fears that he might suffer a backlash if this matter persists”, said one official, on anonymous conditions. Another source, who craved anonymity, told Saturday Vanguard Sports that Keshi’s aide called him on telephone to get his perspective on the raging issue.

“I was surprised to get a call from one of Keshi’s advisers, who said that they were surprised that I was criticising a friend in the public space. I told him that Keshi is a my friend and I would always say the truth to my friends, no matter if the message hurts. “I told him that I have nothing personal against Keshi and felt that it was time for him to move on with his life and avoid all these embarrassments by wanting to remain Eagles coach.

The aide said they respect my view and that Keshi was also becoming increasingly tired with the issue and that the family’s name was being dragged into the mud. He added that Keshi will meet the NFF soon to tell them his stand on the contract offer, so that everybody can move on for the good of the game”, added our source.

Meanwhile, former Eagles goalkeeper, Peterside Idah has applauded Keshi for confronting the NFF over the new contract’. Idah said “I am happy that after a long time, that Keshi was able to confront the federation that they were not doing him a favour by giving him a new job and that they should just tell him his fate”.

Turning to the NFF, Idah said that he was worried with the snail-speed at which the Keshi matter was being handled. He recalled that Nigerians were happy with the election of Amaju Pinnick because of the youthful vibe he brought into the fray.

“Nigerians were happy when he was elected because they felt that a young man has come on board and that Nigeria needed dynamism and vision in their football and Pinnick appeared to have all of these qualities. But from that moment that he emerged till now, Pinnick has been speaking too much English, speaking grammar. It is fine that he is eloquent but it’s time for action and the keshi thing has dragged for too long. Our football is suffering from this. Soon, World Cup qualifiers will start but aside the qualifiers the job of training our players is also more important.”