Keshi Must Go, He Is A Failure-Amodu Says

A former Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu has described out-of-contract Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi as a failure, saying the former Togo tactician, who was his assistant between 2001 and 2002, should relinquish his post.Keshi has largely been regarded as a failure after failing to secure a ticket for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Equatorial Guinea. He was only able to lead the team to two victories in the qualifiers as South Africa and Congo got the tickets to be in the finals.
The former Nigeria captain, who helped Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nation success in 2013, was initially relieved of his post by the Nigeria Football Federation, but was reinstated by President Goodluck Jonathan.He has, however, not been offered a new contract to continue with the team.Amodu, who is the Technical Director of the NFF, told SL10.com that any coach who failed to qualify a team for a major tournament like the Africa Cup of Nations should not remain at his post.“As a coach, you are as good as your last game. If as at when they (NFF) asked me to take over from him and I reckoned that it would affect my reputation if I failed, I expect any professional coach to assume the same position now,” Amodu was quoted as saying.“He alone will decide whether he has a reputation or not. If he has a reputation, he should walk out of the job, but if he doesn’t, he should stay.”The former BCC Lions of Gboko coach also referred to Samson Siasia, who failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and was sacked, insisting that precedent must be followed with Keshi also.“We all know that Keshi has failed,” Amodu said. “To keep him is a bad precedent because when Siasia failed, we told the whole country that he failed and he should go, and not even Goodluck Jonathan could save him. So if we want to live within those standards, we know what to do and this is my opinion.”Many members of the NFF have, in private discussions, said they were handicapped about asking the coach to leave because of the manner he got the job back. They are therefore hoping that he would bow out on his own to enable the federation employ a fresh coach they can believe in. The coach is believed to have held discussions with members of the Equatorial Guinea FA during the draw for the 2015 competition but nothing more has been heard of the discussion.

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