Should Have Been Keshi

I thought I’d be ushering in the new season of change in Nigerian soccer this week; instead I’m left to marvel at what can only be described as the failure of leadership that continues to plague our game.

I can think of no more civil way to describe the NFA’s decision to chicken out of naming a new coach for the Super Eagles, and instead drag our football back 30 years by naming James Peters interim coach.

If this is the quality of decision-making that will guide Nigerian football into the future, then I guess we’d better enjoy the “success” of Ghana 2008 now. No, I’m not kidding. If Nigerian football continues along this road to mediocrity, Ghana 2008 would go down as a success compared to what lies ahead.

After all, just six years ago Shaibu Amodu was kicked out for finishing 3rd at the Nations Cup finals. With the benefit of hindsight – and compared to the debacle of 2008 – those sure look like the good old days now, don’t they?

Here’s what really gets me: Why go through the whole rigmarole of interviewing candidates if the best you can come up with is James Peters?

And there I was thinking the NFA would do the right thing – for once – and name Stephen Keshi to the top job. I thought they would show courage and leadership and at least apply a bit of logic at this most crucial time in our soccer history.

I must have been dreaming, I guess. This is the NFA we’re talking about after all. Words like logic, leadership and courage aren’t exactly what one would usually associate with an oganisation that has appointed nine coaches in the 14 years since Clemens Westerhoff was hounded out in 1994.

So, instead of looking forward to new beginnings this week, I am left to lament the news that Keshi is about to be named new coach of the Eagles ……..of Mali. Great news for Mali, of course, but another missed opportunity for Nigeria.

I suppose that leaves two contenders on the NFA’s shortlist for the job – Amodu and Samson Siasia – but here’s why I think Keshi should have been given the nod:

Leadership

No matter what else might be said about Keshi, there can be no denying that this guy is a born leader. Captain of the national team by the age of 23, he would go on to skipper almost every club he played for – NNB, Stade Abidjan, Anderlecht and Strasbourg. It’s not for nothing that Keshi became known as the “Big Boss” during his 14 year tenure in the national side, even if that often led to accusations of undue influence over team selections during the Westeroff era.


Experience

Starting with an unsuccessful spell with the Nigeria U-20s in 2001, Keshi has spent the better part of the last seven years learning his craft in international football. He was part of the Amodu-led team that turned around a near-disastrous campaign to lead the Super Eagles to World Cup qualification in 2002, and then went on to achieve the miraculous four years later by qualifying Togo for the 2006 World Cup. That Mali have come calling only underlines the growing profile of one of Africa’s top emerging coaches.


European exposure

Sure, playing experience doesn’t necessarily translate to coaching pedigree, but there’s no question that an understanding of the workings of the European game can only be an asset in today’s Eurocentric soccer environment. For newcomers to the game, six years at Anderlecht might seem to be a career in the minors, but those in the know would acknowledge that Anderlecht were a true European power during Keshi’s spell in Brussells, regularly reaching the latter stages of the Champions Cup and Cup Winners Cup. At a time when African players were few and far between at those levels, Keshi was making a a name for himself and gaining invaluable experience that can only serve him in good stead as a coach.

Of the three candidates, I believe Keshi has the best mix of qualities required to lead the Super Eagles. Sure, Siasia also boasts valuable European experience and has proved a resourceful leader of the U-20 and U-23 teams in the last three years, but Keshi’s record at full international level gives him an edge.

Amodu boasts an impressive CV coaching at club level, but his international credentials, after two spells at the helm, are less stellar. On the plus side, he led the Eagles to World Cup qualification in 2002, but his leadership was seriously called to question after the chaotic Nations Cup of 2002. Then, there’s that whole European exposure thing. Sure, one can coach effectively without it – after all the very European Berti Vogts proved a disaster – but that would require a functional, effective NFA. Good luck with that.

This is all moot now anyway. With Keshi almost certainly heading to Bamako, one of Amodu or Siasia will get the job. I would pick Siasia because I believe his performance with the age-group teams have earned him a chance, and also just to have a fresh-face with new ideas, rather than wheeling Amodu out for the third time.

Siasia’s duties with the Olympic-bound U-23 team may well preclude him in the end – meaning that the NFA, when they eventually name a coach, could end up picking the third best man for the job by default.

All thanks to a confused, rudderless and cowardly approach to decision-making.