10 reasons why I am not enthused with Amodu Shaibu 

By Ayo Akinfe 

Like most other Nigerian football enthusiasts, I was waiting impatiently for the day Berti Vogts would be sacked after the shoddy performance of the Super Eagles in Ghana 08. I am glad that we have eventually got rid of one the most incompetent and lazy managers in our history but in appointing Shaibu Amodu as his replacement, have we really made progress?

They say not all movement is going forward and not all change is progress. I believe that in this case, we have made the classic mistake of assuming that nothing can be worse than the status quo and assumed that the grass has got to be greener on the other side of the fence.

I for one wanted to see Vogts go immediately after the lacklustre draw with Mali and would have been relieved if he had taken a leaf out of Henri Kasperczak’s book and quit when it was clear he no good. However, he did not and it took our hapless Nigerian Football Association (NFA) several weeks to fire him and then another eight weeks to find a replacement.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the sport passionately that our NFA went for the cowardly option of appointing a local coach. After the woeful tenure of Herr Vogts, the NFA did not have the bottle to go for another foreign coach, despite the fact that this was what was needed.

In a classic case of throwing the baby away with the bathwater, our spineless NFA has gone for the easy and populist option in appointing a man who will most likely be a worse coach than Berti. It is at times like this that you are looking for your leaders to rise above the fray, defy the baying mob and do what is best, not necessarily what is most popular.

After being literaly mugged by Berti Vogts and his sidekick Emeka Ezeala, it is no surprise that Nigerian public opinion is firmly against the idea of a foreign coach for the Eagles. However, should the NFA board not be brave enough to resist the temptation of drifting with the tide and succumbing to the lure of populism?

Like most other Nigerians, I would like to see more indigines involved in the running of most of our national affairs but where we lack the sufficient expertise, we must hold our hands up and admit it. Can we for instance afford to send all the foreign oil companies packing simply because we want to be in control of our crude oil industries ourselves?

It has been widely reported that Amodu made grovelling overtures to the NFA board and Amos Adamu in his quest for this job. He pledged to be a “good boy,” assured them that he is now a changed character and all indicators point to the fact that he will tow the party line.

Does anyone in Nigeria really think that Amodu will have the bottle to drop big name players and replace them with unknown youngsters if that is what is required? Can anyone for instance see Amodu dropping Nwankwo Kanu and picking Chrisantus MaCauley in his place if he is forced to make a choice between the two?

I can go on all day about how we have jumped from the frying pan into the fire and how it is almost certain that the third coming of Amodu will be an unmitigated disaster. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, we do not learn from our mistakes and we will only start lamenting after the damage is done after we are unceremoniously beaten in 2010.

I put it to those who appointed Amodu, that he has the following shortcomings: 

[1] Amodu Shaibu will not command the required respect from the players

[2] Amodu Shaibu does not have the international clout to arrange friendlies at the drop of a hat

[3] Amodu Shaibu does not have the personality or stature to convince players with dual citizenship to play for Nigeria

[4] Amodu Shaibu will not be able to enforce the kind of discipline Herr Vogts did

[5] Amodu Shaibu will not be able to declare the Eagles hotel a no-visit zone

[6] Amodu Shaibu is simply not a big enough personality to tell the NFA to back off his team and his plans

[7] Amodu Shaibu will not be able to make it clear that he will not tolerate political interferance

[8] Amodu Shaibu will not be able to prevent NFA bigwhigs, agents and politicians interfering in his squad and team selections

[9] Amodu Shaibu will not be able to pick training camps and tell the NFA that whether they like it or not, his choice is the final one

[10] Amodu Shaibu will not be able to fix camp deadlines and then enforce them rigidly by sending latecomers back to their clubs 

Anyone who believes that with all these problems the Super Eagles will be of any revelance on the African football scene in the near future is simply deluded. At the moment, there is nothing to our team. We are simply living off past glory.

What we need now is a clearout of the old guard and the overwhelming number of average players in the team. I cannot think of a better time to introduce the world class talent in Yemi Tella’s World Cup-winning U17 team into the senior team than now.

How many Nigerians believe that Amodu Shaibu will have the bottle to do that? In 1974, Father Tiko weeded out the old guard from the 1973 All African Games gold-winning squad and replaced them with youngsters like Chukwu, Odegbami, Atuegbu, Usiyen, Lawal, Amesiemeka, Odiye, Ojebode, Iwelumo and Ekeji. Otto Gloria carried out a similar cull in 1980, as did Clemence Westerhoff in 1994.

Every time Nigeria has won silverware, we have been led by a brave coach who is prepared to defy conventional wisdom and introduce radical and wide-ranging changes. Coaching the Eagles is not a job for a yes-man if we are interested in winning any silverware.

Anyone who thinks Amodu will arrange friendlies, tour the European clubs our boys play for, retire the old guard, introduce unpopular but winning formations or introduce a strict disciplinary code is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. I believe we are set for more agony, as our failure to bite the bullet and appoint a world class manager will cost us dear.

Poor Mother Africa will weep in 2010 when the so-called giant is not there to provide her with the necessary leadership when she hosts the World Cup for the first time. Once more, Nigeria has let the African continent down.