Former internationals, Ike Shorunmu, Thompson Oliha, Taribo West and Joseph Dosu are undecided on who should be appointed the next coach of the Super Eagles.

eagles

The former internationals Steven Keshi and team mate Samson Siasia have been shortlisted for the job.
While some of them favour Keshi, others tip Siasia and others have refused to comment on who should be named the team’s coach.

Former goalkeeper and the national team’s goalkeeper trainer, Shorunmu admitted that both coaches were the best Nigerian coaches at the moment.

Shorunmu refused to stick his neck out on who of the pair should be the next Eagles coach.
“I will not want to stick my neck out on this dicey issue because both of them are close to me.

“Ideally, I would have preferred having the two of them working together to tinker our national team, but this combination has its own drawback.

“At the end of the day, our football stands to benefit from this long awaited appointment of the chief coach,” he added.
Keshi has had success with Togo’s national team, earning the country their first World Cup qualification in 2006 but was relieved of the job before the team travelled to Germany.

He also had a brief stint with the Malian national team as well as being an assistant to Shaibu Amodu during Nigeria’s campaign for the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.

Both men were also denied the opportunity of taking the Super Eagles to the final in Asia.

Siasia, on the other hand, has had success with Nigeria’s U_20 team, winning a silver at the World Cup in 2005 in the Netherlands. The former international led the national U_23 side to the 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medal.
Oliha said Keshi was his man for the job.

“Without mincing words on this issue, I feel the job should be given to Keshi because of his overwhelming experience as a player and a coach.

“Siasia is equally a good coach but Keshi is my preferred candidate for the job,”  he said.
Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West pointedly refused to comment on the issue.
“Please leave me out of this debate, I have nothing to say on this matter,” he said.

Joseph Dosu, goalkeeper of the Atlanta Olympics gold medal winning squad said either of them was capable of doing the job if given the nod by the NFA.

“I believe that the best candidate should be given the job of the chief coach of the Super Eagles.
“Keshi and Siasia have both left their mark on the annals of Nigerian football, whoever gets the job will take our football to the next level,” Dosu said.