Should the Big Boss's troubled reign come to an end, would the former Nigeria manager be an upgrade?
If the recent reports are anything to go by, it seems Stephen Keshi is about to go from the frying pan to fire. The 52-year-old could be axed from his position as head coach of the Super Eagles and replaced with former international Samson Siasia.
It doesn’t quite take much to give credence to such reports based on evidence of disharmony in the last year or so between Keshi and the Nigeria Football Federation. One thing is certain: it’s not been a jolly ride for the Big Boss at the helm since the Africa Cup of Nations triumph in South Africa, and it is not difficult to see why the NFF might want him out.
In fact, the beginning of what now seems to be the end of his reign began in the heart of that same competition.
The relationship between the Big Boss and the NFF is a long list of unsavory episodes: from the purported backstab by the federation when the Super Eagles were faced with an elephant-sized challenge in the form of Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Afcon, to the alleged humiliation by Keshi when he apparently received all the glory for winning the tournament without mentioning the input of the Glass House, and then threatening to quit the team.
“We all know how Keshi threatened to dump the team in South Africa shortly after the Eagles won the 2013 Afcon. The controversy generated by this singular act of his put the NFF then in a bad light,” an NFF official told Goal.
It is that bad.
Also, the recent disappointing results have not helped Keshi’s case. Losing 3-2 at home to the Republic of Congo and failing to get more than a point against a resolute South Africa side has contributed to the seeming loss of faith in the former Togo boss.
Add all that to his hefty salary demand, which was trimmed down to N6 million from what was rumored to be in the range of N15 million-per-month—an amount that still exceeds the threshold of the Glass House’s current lean budget.
“I don’t think Keshi would be retained as the Eagles coach; even the N6 million that the minister said he is requesting for cannot be met by the NFF as a matter of fact. The NFF is broke for now and the crisis has not helped matters,” the NFF official added.
Unemployed, unwanted, and unyielding: the story of Keshi so far.
Big Boss, Big Problems
If eventually the Big Boss is shown the door, one can safely say that the writing has been on the wall for quite a while.
That said, the news of Siasia being his replacement, as reported by Goal, has not generated the expected response from adoring fans, who perhaps have flirted with the idea of seeing a foreigner named Super Eagles manager so much so that the present state of affairs of the federation seem to have eluded their minds.
Is Samson Siasia then a bad choice?
For what it’s worth, this popular Nigerian saying serves astutely as an answer: “half bread is better than nothing.” Or, for those who prefer the Pidgin English version, ‘at all at all na him bad.’
The NFF official went on to add that “the reason for the choice of Siasia is that NFF cannot afford the salary of a foreign coach now, so employing a foreign coach to replace Keshi is out of the issue.”
With this revelation, it seems Nigeria will have to make do with the return of the man they call ‘SiaOne’.
Siasia took charge of the Super Eagles in 2010, replacing Lars Lagerback, who declined a two-year extension to his five-month contract after he led Nigeria to a poor 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Time for the former 'Messiah' of Nigerian football to return to the hotseat?
Though many might have forgotten, SiaOne was once heralded as the ‘messiah’ of Nigerian football. He was touted to conquer Africa with a youthful swagger that saw him achieve relative success with the U-20 and U-23 teams.
In the end, he lasted only 11 months.
And how did the love affair turn sour, you ask?
Simple: he failed to qualify the team for the 2012 Afcon in Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.
That singular occurrence, which was tied to his contract, consequently led to his sack—asking if the sacking of the 47-year-old ex-international, who was seen as the perfect, youthful character to iron out the unpleasantness of the team which managed one draw and two losses in South Africa 2010, was a mistake is a matter for another editorial.
The NFF, within their own rights, have the anointing to fire Keshi and install a new head coach they deem fit to take over the mantle. In doing so, however, caution must be exercised and hasty decisions avoided in order not to extend the vicious circle that truncates sustained progress
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