Here we go again; it is familiar script. Whenever, we have a problem, we quickly look for a scapegoat to sacrifice, instead of searching out the root of the problem, and once we sacrifice him, we move on, leaving the problem unsolved.
From the moment Nigeria defeated Kenya and Tunisia lost to Mozambique, thus ensuring that the Super Eagles qualified for the South Africa 2010 World Cup, the only song we hear is "sack Amodu".
There were even some media reports which claimed that Amodu's assistant, Daniel Amokachi, was the one doing the coaching and not the embattled coach. But the silence from the Football Federation and its spokesperson, tends to give credence to media report that Amodu's days are numbered.
Same script since 1998
Sacking our coaches after qualifying for the World Cup is not a new thing; it has become part of our football tradition.
Frenchman Philippe Troussier arrived in Nigeria with a huge reputation as the "white witch doctor". He was given a clear mandate by the Abdulmimuni Aminu-led Nigeria Football Association and the then Minister of Sports, Jim Nwobodo, to ensure that Nigeria qualified for the World Cup.
Troussier fulfilled his part of the bargain; Nigeria was one of the first, if not the first country, to qualify for France'98 World Cup, but as soon as he qualified for the World Cup he was sacked.
To replace him, we called for the employment of a world class coach who had World Cup experience. We, therefore, employed much traveled Bora Milutinovic.
The result was a disaster. From being one of the best teams at the USA'94 and France'98 World Cup, we became one of the worst; we were humiliated by Denmark 4-1 in the second round.
Our journey to Japan/Korea 2002 was even worse. During the qualifiers, we sacked Jo Bonfrere and replaced him with Amodu and Steve Keshi. The duo took the Eagles to Mali 2002 Nations Cup and returned with a bronze medal. Shortly after the Nations Cup, the duo were sacked to be replaced by Adegboye Onigbinde. At the World Cup, Onigbinde's performance was worse than that of Bora. Whereas the Serb won two matches in France, Onigbinde did not win any at that World Cup
More than coaching
Is coaching our major problem? I don't think so, because if our major problem is coaching,
then our change of coaches in the past should have taken us to the next level instead of taking us backward.
I believe we need to study the management style and script of countries that have either won the World Cup or have performed excellently at the championship before we rush to fire or hire a coach.
I am not holding brief for Amodu, but winning the World Cup or performing well at the championship is more than hiring any of those so-called world class coaches.
When Troussier was sacked, we hailed Bora's appointment as that of a world class coach, the result speaks for itself.
When Austin Eguavon was asked to step aside, we hired another world class coach called Berti Vogts. The German justified his World Cup persona by crashing to a 10-man Ghana side in the quarter finals of the Ghana 2008 Africa Nations Cup. Even under our local class coaches, we have become Bronze Eagles, under Vogts our name changed to Super Chickens.
Pedigree no doubt is important when one wants to employ a staff, but coaching has made a mess of many pedigrees, so hiring a big name is not the solution to our coaching problem. After all, the big boys that we are dropping their names as replacement for Amodu, like Guus Hiddink and Giovanni Trappatoni, if they are so good and excellent, as their spin doctors want us to believe, why have they not qualified Russia and Ireland for the World Cup with games to spare just as Fabio Capello did with the English team.
Nigeria's most successful coaches
Dutch duo of Clemens Westerhof and Bonfrere seem to be the most successful coaches we have had in the past 20 years, but before coming to Nigeria, they had no pedigree, but they came here and got us qualified for the World Cup, won the Nations Cup, won the Olympic gold medal, silver medal in the Nations Cup, and achieved Nigeria's best ever ranking in FIFA - 5th. Bonfrere went ahead to prove himself elsewhere; qualifying South Korea for the last World Cup, in Germany.
I believe the so-called world class coaches will come here with an "I know it all attitude", set up camp in Europe, collect a colossal amount as their pay and vanish into the thin air the moment the Eagles crash out of the World Cup.
If we have to sack Amodu and hire a coach at all, what we need is another Westerhof or Bonfrere, either from Holland or Brazil, who is hungry for success, who will live here and watch the Globacom league every week, someone who will work with our boys like Sunday Oliseh, Samson Siasia and Amokachi. Let's not forget that the Camerounian coach at Italia'90 and Senegalese coach at Japan/Korea 2002, Bruno Metsu, were not any of the so-called world class coaches.
We already have the talent, what we need is a physical trainer who will knock them into shape, stop their excesses and read games.
Players and the Federation
But changing our coach is not the magic wand that will solve our entire problems. Our boys need to change their attitude. Can you imagine Kaka or Xaxi playing to the gallery the way our boys did in the match against Tunisia in Abuja? Our players need to be more committed and business-like. Also, the NFF must create the right environment.
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