Chris Maduewesi
Member
On that fateful night in Johannesburg on the 10th of February 2013, Stephen Keshi appeared to have been the best thing to have happened to Nigerian football.
Fast-forward to October 2014, he speedily went from hero to villain, one that a lot of people wanted his see back.
At the expiration of his three-year deal with the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) after the 2014 World Cup tournament in Brazil, Keshi getting a contract renewal was as herculean as it could get.
In fact it was like the biblical "camel passing through the eye of a needle", because it never came till the NFF laid him off on Thursday morning.
Agreeing to work on an interim capacity, Keshi had hopes that the new NFF leadership when they settle down in their roles would sit on the negotiation table with him over a new deal.
Having gone the way that he did, the 52-year old will have a sour taste in his mouth knowing that he had numerous opportunities to walk away when he would have still had the 'red carpets' to walk on.
First was after the 2013 Nations Cup, when it took the intervention of the presidency to have him renege his decision; and then after the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament when the NFF weren't forthcoming with a renewal.
He did miss some offers then, as most nations were uncertain about his commitment to Nigeria.
Looking back, he would definitely have a tinge of regret, being laid off the way he was, despite pulling all the strings he could to still have his job back.
Here we try to chronicle some of the things that worked against Keshi in the past 18 months.
Amaju Pinnick:
Even before he was elected president of the NFF, Pinnick after the 2014 World Cup tournament questioned Keshi's capabilities to still lead the Super Eagles.
It is a known secret that Pinnick does not reckon with the coaching methods of Keshi, which does not come as a surprise when he was shown the way out.
Now, Pinnick's comments after the World Cup have been fulfilled the way that he wanted it.
“I like Keshi as a person but the Eagles run up to the World cup and their first game has proven to me that Keshi has reached his limit” Pinnick said as a TV guest in a morning show,a day after Nigeria's 0-0 draw against Iran.
“He is a national hero,I celebrate him for all he has achieved with the team in such a short time but it appears he can’t move the Eagles forward unless he improves on his abilities”
"We failed to go further in Brazil because our coaches did not adopt the scientific approach to winning matches. Football has gone beyond having a coaching crew on the bench. The trend now is to have the technical backroom staff, peopled by expert coaches, who win matches from the bench," Pinnick told Vanguard Sports.
Pinnick has always had an admiration for foreign coaches,so it was evident immediately he came on board that he was only bidding his time before he appoints one.
Keshi must go:
There is a saying that a coach hardly saves his job when the fans turn against him, it is always a difficult situation to be in.
It was a bit surprising seeing how the fans at the Abuja Stadium hurled abuses at the direction of Keshi's technical area during the 3-1 victory over Sudan
“All we are saying, Keshi must go” pervaded the atmosphere in the game against Sudan on Wednesday, with the fans clearly voicing their frustration.
Some of the fans threw missiles and pelted the Nigerian bench with what they could lay their hands on.
Even the NFF leveraged on this as a reason to sack him, famously claiming that he was fired to "save him" from being harmed by the fans
It defies belief seeing how Keshi, who used to be the toast of many people,fans alike, all of a sudden has fallen from grace and now the majority of those who once showered him with encomiums and adulation, have now turned against him.
Arrogance:
Ask most Nigerians what they think of Keshi, and the answer they will give you is that he is "arrogant."
Whether that is really a true reflection of the former Togo and Mali coach is, the thing is that he didn't give the impression that he isn't.
Keshi constantly harped on the numerous countries that wants him, only waiting for his signal to join them.
Not once, not twice, he always bragged about the offers he had to coach elsewhere,alluding to not working with Nigeria as not being a:" do or die affair."
And frankly it wasn't, but his utterances always did not go down well with his employers who detested his gusto.
"If tomorrow they say Keshi leave, there is no shaking because other two, three countries are waiting (for me),"he was once quoted as saying.
Choice of players he invited to the national team:
When Keshi started giving players from the local league a chance in his team, he was applauded for having the balls to pick them in his squad, even when his precedessors rarely did.
However,when Keshi started inviting players from mediocre leagues, questions were being asked.
Perhaps one of his greatest undoings was ignoring some players who were in his bad books, at the expense of his own boys.
Ikechukwu Uche and Obafemi Martins have been in good form for their clubs, but no so for Keshi.
Especially Uche whom he fell out with last year, the Villarreal striker despite hitting the heights was never going to be in the Super Eagles, and an adamant Keshi stood his grounds.
There are players who on a good day would not have made the Super Eagles team,but they found themselves in the team.
He lost his players:
When early this week, Keshi made a damning remark about being "sabotaged", he indirectly implied some of his players.
Some reports emerged that the players weren't playing for him any more as they have lost faith in him.
Prior to the two games against Sudan, reports surfaced in the media about the fall-outs between Keshi and Emmanuel Emenike who said that he wasn't trusted any longer by his coach.
"I have always treated Keshi like a father, and he has always lived in my heart to be a good father. Before now, we have been enjoying a smooth relationship and I see no reason why he should be holding grudges against me,” Emenike was quoted as saying by AfricanFootball.com.
"Everything changed after the Nations Cup, everything about him towards me changed and I decided to stay on my own,” he added.
So, is it surprising that the last time Emenike found the net for Nigeria was last year?
Results didn't go his way:
What works for a coach, is if he keeps getting good results for his team, that way the hawks stays away.
However results of late didn't favour Keshi. His track record in his last twelve games in charge wasn't impressive.
Keshi only won two matches out of the twelve games and drew five,losing the remaining five.
Now that is a recipe for getting the sack, just two wins in twelve games does not inspire confidence that he has the ability going forward.
At the 2014 World Cup tournament, some of the games Nigeria didn't win were those that they could have really won with good technical input coming from the bench.
For example the game against France was lost because Didier Deschamps out-foxed Keshi, throwing in Antoine Griezmann whose penetrating runs unlocked the Super Eagles.
And the way he started the 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers was the final nail on the coffin for the NFF to push the button.
***
Keshi's running battles with the previous board of the NFF led by Aminu Maigari ensured that it was a just a matter of time before he was sacked, however his closeness to some powers that be,helped him stay till he eventually left.
But those his friends in high places didn't have any option when the chickens came to roost, rather they assented to the NFF demands.
Make no mistakes, sacking Keshi wasn't that easy for the NFF, it had to have the seal of some powerful figures before he was laid off.
But you know when the tides descends heavily upon a drowning man, even the best swimmers sometimes finds it difficult to navigate through the problem.
Fast-forward to October 2014, he speedily went from hero to villain, one that a lot of people wanted his see back.
At the expiration of his three-year deal with the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) after the 2014 World Cup tournament in Brazil, Keshi getting a contract renewal was as herculean as it could get.
In fact it was like the biblical "camel passing through the eye of a needle", because it never came till the NFF laid him off on Thursday morning.
Agreeing to work on an interim capacity, Keshi had hopes that the new NFF leadership when they settle down in their roles would sit on the negotiation table with him over a new deal.
Having gone the way that he did, the 52-year old will have a sour taste in his mouth knowing that he had numerous opportunities to walk away when he would have still had the 'red carpets' to walk on.
First was after the 2013 Nations Cup, when it took the intervention of the presidency to have him renege his decision; and then after the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament when the NFF weren't forthcoming with a renewal.
He did miss some offers then, as most nations were uncertain about his commitment to Nigeria.
Looking back, he would definitely have a tinge of regret, being laid off the way he was, despite pulling all the strings he could to still have his job back.
Here we try to chronicle some of the things that worked against Keshi in the past 18 months.
Amaju Pinnick:
Even before he was elected president of the NFF, Pinnick after the 2014 World Cup tournament questioned Keshi's capabilities to still lead the Super Eagles.
It is a known secret that Pinnick does not reckon with the coaching methods of Keshi, which does not come as a surprise when he was shown the way out.
Now, Pinnick's comments after the World Cup have been fulfilled the way that he wanted it.
“I like Keshi as a person but the Eagles run up to the World cup and their first game has proven to me that Keshi has reached his limit” Pinnick said as a TV guest in a morning show,a day after Nigeria's 0-0 draw against Iran.
“He is a national hero,I celebrate him for all he has achieved with the team in such a short time but it appears he can’t move the Eagles forward unless he improves on his abilities”
"We failed to go further in Brazil because our coaches did not adopt the scientific approach to winning matches. Football has gone beyond having a coaching crew on the bench. The trend now is to have the technical backroom staff, peopled by expert coaches, who win matches from the bench," Pinnick told Vanguard Sports.
Pinnick has always had an admiration for foreign coaches,so it was evident immediately he came on board that he was only bidding his time before he appoints one.
Keshi must go:
There is a saying that a coach hardly saves his job when the fans turn against him, it is always a difficult situation to be in.
It was a bit surprising seeing how the fans at the Abuja Stadium hurled abuses at the direction of Keshi's technical area during the 3-1 victory over Sudan
“All we are saying, Keshi must go” pervaded the atmosphere in the game against Sudan on Wednesday, with the fans clearly voicing their frustration.
Some of the fans threw missiles and pelted the Nigerian bench with what they could lay their hands on.
Even the NFF leveraged on this as a reason to sack him, famously claiming that he was fired to "save him" from being harmed by the fans
It defies belief seeing how Keshi, who used to be the toast of many people,fans alike, all of a sudden has fallen from grace and now the majority of those who once showered him with encomiums and adulation, have now turned against him.
Arrogance:
Ask most Nigerians what they think of Keshi, and the answer they will give you is that he is "arrogant."
Whether that is really a true reflection of the former Togo and Mali coach is, the thing is that he didn't give the impression that he isn't.
Keshi constantly harped on the numerous countries that wants him, only waiting for his signal to join them.
Not once, not twice, he always bragged about the offers he had to coach elsewhere,alluding to not working with Nigeria as not being a:" do or die affair."
And frankly it wasn't, but his utterances always did not go down well with his employers who detested his gusto.
"If tomorrow they say Keshi leave, there is no shaking because other two, three countries are waiting (for me),"he was once quoted as saying.
Choice of players he invited to the national team:
When Keshi started giving players from the local league a chance in his team, he was applauded for having the balls to pick them in his squad, even when his precedessors rarely did.
However,when Keshi started inviting players from mediocre leagues, questions were being asked.
Perhaps one of his greatest undoings was ignoring some players who were in his bad books, at the expense of his own boys.
Ikechukwu Uche and Obafemi Martins have been in good form for their clubs, but no so for Keshi.
Especially Uche whom he fell out with last year, the Villarreal striker despite hitting the heights was never going to be in the Super Eagles, and an adamant Keshi stood his grounds.
There are players who on a good day would not have made the Super Eagles team,but they found themselves in the team.
He lost his players:
When early this week, Keshi made a damning remark about being "sabotaged", he indirectly implied some of his players.
Some reports emerged that the players weren't playing for him any more as they have lost faith in him.
Prior to the two games against Sudan, reports surfaced in the media about the fall-outs between Keshi and Emmanuel Emenike who said that he wasn't trusted any longer by his coach.
"I have always treated Keshi like a father, and he has always lived in my heart to be a good father. Before now, we have been enjoying a smooth relationship and I see no reason why he should be holding grudges against me,” Emenike was quoted as saying by AfricanFootball.com.
"Everything changed after the Nations Cup, everything about him towards me changed and I decided to stay on my own,” he added.
So, is it surprising that the last time Emenike found the net for Nigeria was last year?
Results didn't go his way:
What works for a coach, is if he keeps getting good results for his team, that way the hawks stays away.
However results of late didn't favour Keshi. His track record in his last twelve games in charge wasn't impressive.
Keshi only won two matches out of the twelve games and drew five,losing the remaining five.
Now that is a recipe for getting the sack, just two wins in twelve games does not inspire confidence that he has the ability going forward.
At the 2014 World Cup tournament, some of the games Nigeria didn't win were those that they could have really won with good technical input coming from the bench.
For example the game against France was lost because Didier Deschamps out-foxed Keshi, throwing in Antoine Griezmann whose penetrating runs unlocked the Super Eagles.
And the way he started the 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers was the final nail on the coffin for the NFF to push the button.
***
Keshi's running battles with the previous board of the NFF led by Aminu Maigari ensured that it was a just a matter of time before he was sacked, however his closeness to some powers that be,helped him stay till he eventually left.
But those his friends in high places didn't have any option when the chickens came to roost, rather they assented to the NFF demands.
Make no mistakes, sacking Keshi wasn't that easy for the NFF, it had to have the seal of some powerful figures before he was laid off.
But you know when the tides descends heavily upon a drowning man, even the best swimmers sometimes finds it difficult to navigate through the problem.