Newly appointed Technical Adviser of the Nigeria Football Federation, Coach Shaibu Amodu, has urged the Executive Committee of the football federation not to renew the pending contract of the Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, over his inability to qualify the country to the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Nations Cup.
Amodu, who made the appeal on Tuesday, argued that the AFCON failure was more than enough to cost Keshi his job, stressing that it is regrettable Keshi could not defend the AFCON trophy he won in 2013 in South Africa.
His words: “If as at that time I reckoned that if I go in there and fail it will affect my reputation, I assume any professional coach to assume same position now; which is referring to Stephen.
“So, he alone will decide whether he has a reputation or he does not have a reputation; if you have a reputation, you walk out of the job. If you don’t have, stay like a beggar.
“We all know now that he has failed and to keep him is a bad precedence because when (Samson) Siasia failed, we told the whole country that he has failed and that he should go.
“(President Goodluck) Jonathan couldn’t save him. The situation as it is today, for me if I were him, does not permit I continue on the job. I will have just said thank you Nigerians, sorry I failed but I can try another time, for now let another person try.”
The former Super Eagles handler further pointed out that the decision by the football federation to allow Keshi prosecute the entire AFCON 2015 qualifiers was good for proper assessment, adding: “I sympathise with his situation in two ways: one is that as a professional coach, that I think he is and a man I have related with for a very long time.
“For those of you who were there when I came and they said I should come and do those two matches via the technical department, you heard what I said. That if I had my way, I would have said he be allowed to finish the assignment so that we will be in a better position to give him a proper assessment.
“In between that if I have to go in because I needed to do it because I have no choice as it were, if I succeed with the team it would have been good. But, again, he too would have said if they had allowed him he probably would have qualified the team. The second aspect would be, if I fail I will go down; all I have worked for in my life would probably have a good question mark.”
