The Nigeria Football Federation is not known for doing things in simple and rational ways. Whether it is signing a new sponsor, inviting players to national camp, calling a meeting of board members or choosing a camp for the national team, it is always a complicated and difficult process, and the last exercise did not prove any different.
Whereas football minions Benin Republic sacked her coach a few days after the Angola 2010 African Nations Cup and named a new one a few days after, the NFF called a national conference before Shuaibu Amodu was sacked as the coach of the Super Eagles.
And before Swedish Lars Lagerback was hired as replacement, an international conference that took the officials of the federation to different parts of the globe and also saw all manner of jobless coaches looking for retirement benefits or a big pay day coming to Nigeria, was held.. There are insinuations that our officials normally make simple processes difficult because when they keep it simple and easy, they lose out on estacodes they would have got from travelling and sitting allowances.
In the process of achieving their personal gain, they country, its image and citizens suffer.
An all comers affair
Imagine coaches like Louis van Gaal, Guus Hiddink, Giovanni Trapatonni, and others who we did not consult but whose names were being dropped to the extent they were so incensed that they were almost calling us a nation of liars.
And after days of interviewing many former heavyweights who were either jobless, or in coaching obscurity we settled for Lagerback.
His choice may not be idle given the paucity of time and the fact that he has never worked closely with Nigerians or Nigerian players before, neither does he have any ilk of the people’s culture, but with co-competitors like former England coach Goran Eriksson, Glen Hoddle and others in the league of coaches other countries would not want to touch, Lagerback’s choice is welcomed.
The fact that he is coming with a physical trainer, match analyst and another assistant shows that he means business.
With locals like Austin Eguavon, Daniel Amokachi and Alloy Agu, Lagerback should be able to avoid the mistakes that led to Amodu’s fall from grace.
And the Swede does not need a whole decade of study to know the problem with the Super Eagles and the way forward. A shortcut to solving his problem is reading the Nigerian newspapers between November and today, he will get all the arguments for against and where to start from.
New Super Eagles
For a start, the coach will do himself and Nigerians a lot of favour by turning the Super Eagles from a rehabilitation camp that it was under Amodu to a Super Eagles where players are selected on form, fitness and commitment, not on past pedigree, sentiment and public opinion they are sponsored by the players and their agents.
One does not need to be a coach or football analyst to know that Obafemi Martins, Joseph Yobo, and Aiyegbeni Yakubu did not merit their places in the Angola team, not because they are not good enough, but because as at December that Amodu named them into the squad and January when they were playing the Nations Cup, they were not fit.
The likes of Obinna Nwaneri, Seyi Olofinjana, Chidi Odiah, Yusuf Mohammed and a few others have definitely served Nigeria well in the past but football is about current form and fitness, how they made the team to Angola is still a mystery, but Lagerback will do himself and Nigeria a lot of good by closing the door of the national team against them.
Eagles captain Nwankwo Kanu has definitely served Nigeria well especially at the U-17 and U-23 levels; he has not been able to do same at the Super Eagles level. Kanu has made two World Cup appearances for Nigeria, France’98 and Japan/Korea 2002, but hiscontributions on the field at the two championships were not significant.
Kanu has also played six Nations Cup tournaments for Nigeria, he has not scored a goal, his overall contribution when measured on a scale of hundred is less than average.
At Portsmouth, the English Premiership side where he plays his club football, Kanu has not been able to tie down a regular shirt despite the fact that many of the talents in the team have left because of the acute financial problem facing the club.
Since Kanu has not thought it wise to quit when the ovation is loudest, Lagerback will be doing him a great favour by helping make the decision that he does not have the courage or the will to make.
Many have spoken of Kanu’s influence on the younger players and how he motivates them; Lagerback may include Kanu his team as an official or motivator, but as a player, this is 2010, not 1999 or 2000.
If the coach has the courage to include the likes of Dele Adeleye, Adefemi Olubayo, Mike Eneramo, Joseph Akpalla, Sani Emmanuel, and other young blood in his team, Nigeria may be on the way to making a decent appearance at the South Africa 2010 World Cup.
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