Chris Maduewesi
Member
Known in some circles as the one who does the 'dirty job' only for other people to take the credit, Amodu Shuaibu is back managing the Super Eagles in what will be his fifth stint with the national team.
No stranger to such situations, the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) upon sacking Stephen Keshi, swiftly turned to Shuaibu to help tinker the national team till a substantive foreign coach is appointed.
The former BCC Lions of Gboko coach has been in Nigeria's football circles for over two decades and is vastly experienced locally.
Amodu first took charge of the Super Eagles from 1994 - 1995, coming back again for another year in 1998 - 1999, all stop-gap measures when Clemens Westerhof and Bora Milutinovic left Nigeria after the World Cups.
He is someone who has somehow mastered the African terrain and knows how to navigate through the stormy natures of qualifiers.
However, he has been unlucky that upon each qualification for the World Cup tournament, the NFF finds an excuse "on his technical ineptitude" to lay him off.
In his third and fourth stints in 2002 and 2010 respectively, Amodu failed to lead the Super Eagles to the World Cup tournaments staged then.
And all his sackings then came barely five months to the World Cup tournament. In 2002, he was laid off alongside Keshi and Joe Erico, with Adegboye Onigbinde drafted in to replace him.
While in 2010, despite the then NFF leadership led by Sani Lulu giving him a semifinal target at the African Nations Cup in Angola, he was found not good enough to lead Nigeria to South Africa.
Nigeria finished third in Angola but Lars Lagerback was brought in to replace him and Amodu was demoted to coach the Home-based Eagles.
After being away from the national team for three years, Amodu came back to the spotlight when he was made the Technical Director of all the national teams in 2013.
When it became obvious that Keshi was going to shown the door this after the game against Sudan, the NFF already had one person in mind - Amodu.
Considering that Nigeria has to win all their remaining two matches to qualify for the 2015 African Nations Cup, no better person 'who also fits into the bills of the NFF' than Amodu to lead Nigeria through.
The thing is that the relationship between Amodu and the NFF is like a love-hate relationship that is on and off.
And with reports that the NFF are looking to hire a foreign technical adviser, we might be back on the same road - Amodu qualifies Nigeria for a major tournament, and a foreign coach steps in to replace him; well that has been his job.
Do you know that:
* That Amodu's ever foreign job managing outside Nigeria was between 1996 - 1997, when he coached South African clubside, Orlando Pirates.
* Stephen Keshi was Amodu's assistant and together they both qualified the Super Eagles for the 2002 World Cup tournament.
No stranger to such situations, the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) upon sacking Stephen Keshi, swiftly turned to Shuaibu to help tinker the national team till a substantive foreign coach is appointed.
The former BCC Lions of Gboko coach has been in Nigeria's football circles for over two decades and is vastly experienced locally.
Amodu first took charge of the Super Eagles from 1994 - 1995, coming back again for another year in 1998 - 1999, all stop-gap measures when Clemens Westerhof and Bora Milutinovic left Nigeria after the World Cups.
He is someone who has somehow mastered the African terrain and knows how to navigate through the stormy natures of qualifiers.
However, he has been unlucky that upon each qualification for the World Cup tournament, the NFF finds an excuse "on his technical ineptitude" to lay him off.
In his third and fourth stints in 2002 and 2010 respectively, Amodu failed to lead the Super Eagles to the World Cup tournaments staged then.
And all his sackings then came barely five months to the World Cup tournament. In 2002, he was laid off alongside Keshi and Joe Erico, with Adegboye Onigbinde drafted in to replace him.
While in 2010, despite the then NFF leadership led by Sani Lulu giving him a semifinal target at the African Nations Cup in Angola, he was found not good enough to lead Nigeria to South Africa.
Nigeria finished third in Angola but Lars Lagerback was brought in to replace him and Amodu was demoted to coach the Home-based Eagles.
After being away from the national team for three years, Amodu came back to the spotlight when he was made the Technical Director of all the national teams in 2013.
When it became obvious that Keshi was going to shown the door this after the game against Sudan, the NFF already had one person in mind - Amodu.
Considering that Nigeria has to win all their remaining two matches to qualify for the 2015 African Nations Cup, no better person 'who also fits into the bills of the NFF' than Amodu to lead Nigeria through.
The thing is that the relationship between Amodu and the NFF is like a love-hate relationship that is on and off.
And with reports that the NFF are looking to hire a foreign technical adviser, we might be back on the same road - Amodu qualifies Nigeria for a major tournament, and a foreign coach steps in to replace him; well that has been his job.
Do you know that:
* That Amodu's ever foreign job managing outside Nigeria was between 1996 - 1997, when he coached South African clubside, Orlando Pirates.
* Stephen Keshi was Amodu's assistant and together they both qualified the Super Eagles for the 2002 World Cup tournament.
