After about three years in the Super
Eagles hot seat, the African Nations Cup winning coach was sacked by the
Nigeria Football Federation in the early hours of Thursday, few hours after his
troop defeated the visiting Sudanese national 3-1 to revive their AFCON
qualifying campaign.
Stephen Keshi’s sack has been on the
horizon for sometime, particularly after his team lame display in the
AFCON
qualifiers against Congo and South African in September. However, the
former Eagles’ captain fate was sealed after the reigning African champions
lost to the unfancied East Africans in Khartoum last weekend.
Where did it go wrong for the 2013
African coach of the year, barely 20 months after leading Nigeria to its third
AFCON triumph in South Africa?
Several factors have been adduced
for Keshi’s failure to retain his job as Super Eagles coach. But the four
key factors are highlighted here:
Team Selection
Keshi’s team selection has drawn
flaks from soccer lovers, sports writers, coaches, administrators, and former
players throughout his stint in charge of the team.
His exclusion of Ikechukwu Uche,
Osaze Odemwingie, Lukman Haruna and other key players attracted condemnation
from several quarters before, during and after the 2014 FIFA World Cup in
Brazil.
The inclusion of average or unfit
players drawn from obscure leagues in Europe and other parts of the world in
Super Eagles squad for Brazil 2014 prompted many to call for his sack after
Nigeria crashed out to France in the round of 16 encounter in Belo Horizonte in
July.
Many faulted his criteria for
selecting players into the Nigerian national team, alleging that he invited
players into the Super Eagles for pecuniary gains.
Technical competence
Much has been said about the now
former Super Eagles coach technical competence. Throughout his time in
time charge, Keshi flirted with different formations ranging from 4-3-3, 4-4-2
and 3-5-2 with the former bringing more success than the latter two.
Many even questioned the gaffer’s
ability to change match direction when his team meets quality oppositions or
face a back to the wall situation during matches. They attributed his team
AFCON conquest to luck or divine intervention considering the fact that Super
Eagles started the competition with two draws against plucky oppositions in the
shape of Burkina Faso and Zambia.
Arrogance
Another factor that cost Keshi his
job in the Super Eagles was his perceived arrogance. His poor management of
previous successes with the national team was noticeable with the way he
handled criticism from fans, ex-players and the media.
His outbursts against perceived
critics put him at loggerheads with former allies and national team mates who
counseled him to address his problems in the interest of the team.
His constant refusal to shift ground
on team selection, even when it was obvious some of his decisions were off the
mark put him in many people bad books and ultimately cost him his job with the
African champions.
Stormy relationship with NFF
There is an adage which says who
pays the piper dictates the tune. But it seems Keshi was oblivious of
this age long analogy. This was because throughout his time in charge of the
three-time African champions, the former Anderlecht of Belgium defender’s
relationship with his employers was far from cordial.
The problem which started during
Nigeria’s 2013 AFCON qualifier with Liberia in Calabar deteriorated
during the
tourney when the federation arranged for return flight tickets for the team
when Nigeria was paired with the Elephants of Cote’d’Ivoire in the South Africa
2013 quarter final.
Nigeria eventually defeated the
pre-tournament favourites and marched on to win the tournament in the former
apartheid enclave. But the damage has been done and Keshi duly announced his
resignation from the post in a hastily arranged press conference in
Johannesburg. Although he was later persuaded to rescind his decision by Senate
President David Mark, the “Tom and Jerry” relationship between the powers that
be in the Glass House and Keshi was obvious to all.
We all know that it just a matter of
time before both parties go their separate ways and that was ultimately
confirmed in the early hours of Thursday in Abuja.
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