Lagerback Gamble And Amodu’s Ghost
- Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 11:14
- Soccer Talk
- 28 comments
THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) surprised itself and all of us last weekend by naming former Sweden national coach, Lars Lagerback, as the new foreign technical adviser of the Super Eagles. According to Kunle Solaja, veteran sports journalist, foremost statistician and editor SOCCER STAR, Lagerback’s appointment makes him the 25th expatriate to handle the Super Eagles and 35th overall, when you include also the indigenous handlers of the national team. He is also the first Swede to bag the job.
Lagerback’s choice caught everybody by surprise because he literally came from behind to overtake the front-runners for the job. Ahead of his arrival in Abuja last Thursday, the NFF selection panel was set to pick between the Frenchman Bruno Metsu and Englishman Glenn Hoddle who had earlier been interviewed alongside the Serbian Ratomir Djukovic and Lagerback’s compatriot, Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Djukovic had been knocked out because he didn’t particularly impress the panel while Eriksson was dropped for what a panelist described as his “mercantile disposition.” Put another way, he was just after the money and he was too cold-blooded about it.
By contrast, Metsu showed a lot of passion while Hoddle demonstrated a great deal of professionalism. Metsu, having previously worked in Africa with Senegal, was also willing to work with Nigerian assistants, while Hoddle said he would come with his own men. Finally, Metsu was relatively more affordable as he was willing to accept a third of Hoddle’s salary demands.
If the Presidential Task Force (PTF) was ready to pay Hoddle’s mind-boggling fees, he would get the job, otherwise, it would be Metsu. That was how far the selection panel had gone, until Lagerback overturned all the calculations.
Being the last man to arrive for the interview, Lagerback had apparently taken full advantage of the extra-time he had to do a thorough research on Nigerian football and the Super Eagles. By the time he faced the panel, he had mastered his subject and had ready answers for every conceivable question. He swept the entire panel off its feet like that smart guy in Sterling Bank’s “One Customer Bank” TV commercial.
At about 12 Noon on Friday, February 26, 2010, I received a phone call from a member of the interview panel who couldn’t hide his excitement. “Hello, Mumini, I have shocking news for you. Lars Lagerback is the new coach of the Super Eagles!”
“Lager-what? I thought you guys had already settled for either Metsu or Hoddle and Lagerback was only coming to fulfil all righteousness. What happened?” I asked incredulously.
“So we thought, too, but this man has impressed everybody. He is so knowledgable and he has a scientific approach. He is our best candidate from this interview. We are going to recommend him to the Nigeria Football Federation,” my source concluded.
Later that Friday night, the executive committee of the NFF met and immediately approved the recommendation. And, here we are. Lagerback has landed!
Last week, I promised to support whoever was picked as the new technical adviser because it’s the prerogative of the NFF to make the appointment and also because there’s no time anyway for another long-drawn debate. On that note, I wish to say to Mr. Lagerback : Welcome to the hottest seat in world football. Let the gamble unfold…….
The Gamble
Just so that we do not forget so quickly, it’s important to remind ourselves that Lagerback’s appointment is only the latest gamble in our search for the Super Eagles of our dreams. How well calculated or informed that gamble is will only be revealed in the fullness of time.
Appointing a coach at any level, particularly for a short term assignment like we have done, is always a gamble because not even the best of them can guarantee you success. And when the new handler has only three months (March, April and May) to prepare for the biggest tournament in world football in June, the magnitude of the gamble becomes clearer.
I was, therefore, quite amused to read that the NFF (or is the interview panel?) had set a semi-final target for Lagerback to achieve at the World Cup finals in South Africa. What a joke!
Lagerback might have greatly impressed his interviewers, but the fact remains that he is already “lagging back” (as his name literally implies) in the race to the Mundial. He has to do in three months, an amount of work that his equally (or, probably more) intelligent and accomplished colleagues have been doing for one, two, three or, in some cases, four years. Unless he is a genius, a wizard or both combined, the greater probability is that he will not achieve the objective.
But then, miracles do happen in football and that is the ONLY factor that can propel the Super Eagles to the last four in South Africa.
Rather than target a semi-final miracle, I should think that a more realistic expectation at the World Cup would be for the Super Eagles to demonstrate a greater sense of organization, tactical discipline, physical fitness, creativity and attacking flair in their play compared to their jerky performances at the Nations Cup in Angola. If that can be achieved, Lagerback would have made an impact in my estimation, and it wouldn’t matter much if the Eagles were eliminated even after the first round, provided they go out fighting.
Win or lose, Nigerians know a good team when they see one. Surely, putting a “good team” together shouldn’t be beyond Lagerback even if they lose.
Meanwhile, history is also not on the side of the new coach going to the Mundial. The stories of 1998 and 2002 when Nigeria changed coaches only few months to the World Cups with disastrous consequences have been told over and over again to the point of boredom.
A philosopher wrote that it is insanity of the highest order to repeat a course of action and expect a different result. Lagerback will have to rewrite that theory to prove that Nigeria’s latest gamble in him is not misplaced. The jury is out.
Shaibu Amodu’s Ghost
I AM DISAPPOINTED that Shaibu Amodu has finally been eliminated from playing any part in Nigeria’s participation at the World Cup for the second time after helping us to qualify.
I don’t mind being accused of sentiment but after what happened to Amodu in 2002, I was hoping that things could be evened out in 2010 especially as he had said publicly that he was “irrevocably committed” to working with a technical adviser in the spirit of his contract.
The decision by the NFF to send him to South Africa last week for the FIFA workshop preceding the World Cup had also raised expectations that Amodu would be kept in the scheme of things in some capacity at the Mundial proper. But it has now turned out that the NFF only took him for a ride.
In spite of my disappointment, though, I must admit that, everything considered, the NFF has taken the right decision by keeping Lagerback and Amodu apart. After spending so much time, effort and money to hire a new coach, it would have been an expensive gamble to saddle him with an unwilling assistant who may prove to be a distraction, despite giving his word to be fully cooperative.
Before any Amodu sympathiser accuses me of contradicting myself, let me say that I will not be stampeded into calling a dog (in this case, Amodu) a bad name in order to hang it. But it suffices to say that Amodu is a very strong character. For those who have not encountered him, Amodu can be described as arrogant, conceited, disrespecteful or recalcitrant. He can also be described as confident, sure-footed, independent-minded or over-confident, depending on who you talk to. One description even he readily admits, however, is that he is incorrigible. “A leopard cannot change its spots,” he says of himself.
With that in mind, it is not difficult to see why the NFF decided to keep him away from Lagerback. Amodu is combustible. He is unpredictable.
Having said that, Amodu’s character (good or bad) is not an excuse to deny him of whatever he rightly deserves. That is why I think the NFF must now proceed to lay his ghost to rest in a very respectable manner.
At a meeting with the coach last Sunday night in Abuja, NFF president Alhaji Sani Lulu reportedly said Amodu was being excluded from the World Cup party so that as Nigeria’s foremost indigenous coach, he is not made subservient to a foreign colleague. Lulu said that younger coaches like Daniel Amokachi can still be so seconded but not a senior coach like Amodu.
Lulu’s explanation was diplomatic but Amodu got the message that he wasn’t wanted around anymore. He contested the unspoken fear that he wouldn’t cooperate with Lagerback but accepted the NFF verdict anyway. He then requested to be allowed to proceed on his accumulated leave so that he could go and nurse his pains at being denied the opportunity of going to the World Cup a second time. That is why Amodu is no longer in camp with the home-based Eagles Team “B” that is preparing for a friendly match with Congo in Abuja on Wednesday.
I want to make an open call here on the NFF to treat Amodu with all the respect that he deserves. I am told that Lulu in particular has been at great pains to deliver the coup de grace to Amodu on why the NFF could no longer “swim and sink” with him as promised, but what Amodu needs now is not pity, but respect. His team may not have performed – in fact, did not perform – to our expectations in the period that he was in charge, but he did deliver on the key objectives that he was given, to wit : qualify for the World Cup and reach the semi-final of the Nations Cup.
Based on the foregoing, I wish to recommend to the NFF as follow…..
One, approve Amodu’s request for his accumulated leave immediately so that he can go and nurse his bruised ego.
Two, calculate his World Cup qualifying bonus and pay him his share the moment the cash arrives from FIFA. Remember that FIFA has approved some money for all 32 finalists.
Three, sponsor him to watch the World Cup finals in South Africa as a compensation.
Four, consider disengaging him from his current contract by mutual consent so that both parties can split amicably.
Kunle Solaja who gave me the information that Lagerback is Nigeria’s 35th national team coach also tells me that Shaibu Amodu is now the most capped coach in the history of Nigerian football, having played 53 (or 54?) competitive games with the Super Eagles, one more than Clemens Westerhof. Amodu may not have performed satisfactorily in all respect, but he has definitely achieved a lot for Nigerian football. He is a local hero.
If Nigeria is willing to pay Lagerback and his assistants a massive $1.5 million (about N225m) for a six month gamble, surely Amodu deserves a respectable easing out so that his ghost does not come around to haunt us at the World Cup!
And talking about Amodu’s ghost, my younger brother Sulaiman who writes for Complete Sports Saturday says he is sure that the Amodu story is far from over.
“If he had been allowed to go to South Africa, we could have closed Amodu’s file forever. But with this latest exclusion, I am sure he will resurface again sometime in the future,” says Sulaiman.
We would have to wait and see.
Battle For The Crumbs
THERE APPEARS to be a mini tussle for the posts of the local assistants to Lagerback, following Amodu’s removal.
The interview panel apparently recommended Austin Eguavoen, but the NFF have been quick to debunk stories that the recommendation has been approved.
“We have not decided on who the local assistants will be,” says Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, chairman of the NFF technical committee.
Grapevine has it that PTF chairman Governor Rotimi Amaechi wanted to push for Samson Siasia, but since the PTF had won the battle for the appointment of a TA, he decided to concede the selection of the local assistants to the NFF. The NFF, meanwhile, would rather commit suicide than appoint Siasia who they see as confrontational and rude. Some members also question Siasia’s technical ability with his alleged “over-reliance” on Simon Kalika and wonder whether he will take Kalika along to the Eagles if he (Siasia) was made assistant to Lagerback!
The interview panel recommended Eguavoen because they consider him to be “level-headed and gentle” and that he would not create problems for Lagerback. But Cerezo’s opponents in the NFF recalled that Eguavoen was Berti Vogt’s assistant when the Eagles became “Super Chickens” at the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana. “It would be unfair to remove Amodu who brought the Eagles back up and replace him with Eguavoen who helped take the Eagles down,” a source reportedly said.
Meanwhile, Amokachi, Fatai Amoo and Alloy Agu, hitherto’s Amodu’s assistants are hoping that they will not be swept away with their former boss. The lobby goes on……..
Home – Based Opportunity
GLOBACOM Premier League players will get a golden opportunity to make a “first impression” on Lars Lagerback when the Super Eagles “B” team take on Congo Democratic Republic in an international friendly game in Abuja on Wednesday.
Had the original fixture against Paraguay in London not fallen through, the home boys could not have had this chance. It is therefore up to them to show the new coach the stuff that they are made of and stake their claim for places in the team to the World Cup.
Having said that, I hope Lagerback will not play to the gallery by selecting local boys just because he had been told that one of the reasons that made his predecessor unpopular was his failure to pick the local boys. I don’t care where the Super Eagles come from (home or abroad) provided that they are best Nigeria can offer.
Meanwhile, history has a way of playing games on men. This game against Congo reminds me of a Super Eagles game against the same country in Enugu in 1993 when Clemens Westerhof was in charge. Nigeria had virtually qualified for the Tunisia ‘94 Nations Cup and, following a clamor by the fans and media just like now, Westerhof agreed to line up a fully home-based team against the Congolese. Nigeria won the game 2-0 but the home boys were so awful that fans at the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium began to sing: “All We Are Saying, No More Home Based.”
Indeed by the time the Super Eagles arrived at Tunisia ’94 and USA ‘94 World Cup, there was not a single home-based player in Westerhof’s squad. Today’s home-based Eagles, beware of Congo.
Meanwhile, news that Lagerback and the NFF are arranging friendly dates with other World Cup-bound teams are welcome. Let’s hope that money will no longer be allowed to stand in the way of these important preparation games. South Africa 2010 is only 99 days away.
Next Week…
I ALREADY have some of your reactions to Lagerback’s appointment as the new technical adviser of the Super Eagles. SOCCERTALK will be devoted to the feedback next week. The shorter your sms, the better. And remember to include your name and location. See you next week, Insha Allah.
Indeed, NFF should have given Coach Suaibu Amodu an opportunity of assisting Lagerback’s to the South Africa world cup 2010..for the sake of qualifing NIGERIA to the world cup for third term,,,, South Korea.2002 world cup ; FIFA beach world cup and SOUTH aFRICA 2010…
I’m appealing to NFF as well as PTF to allow Amodu so as to assist the new Technical Adviser in order to pave way for the stability and improves the confidentiality of Nigerian Local coaches…
Also, all the stakeholder in sport especially Media in football should assist Him despite the facts he made a lot of mistake…of uttering words..pls he is ready to co-operate with new technical adeviser..
Olatunji Mojeed ,ILASAMAJA..;LAGOS
On this case of Laggerback’s selection, let us give it to the NFF, they didnt do badly as the press made it look at the initial stages. Infact Nigeria had more suitors than rejections in terms of coaches. On Amodu, he shold be placed in a Hall of Fame, objectively and statistically he did well, but in terms of utility, appeal, and global perception of our football he was far from inspiring. He could not take us to that level; that eldorado. So Laggerback, the challenge is yours to Lagger-front, and do it with some fineese. I actually like your cool, calm and collected disposition. NFF please dont blow this, we dont want another case of Thijs Librets or Carlos Albarto Periera! Eagles watchout, this Swede, may be swift.
i think it is wiser for the PTF and the NFF to include Samson Siasia as the assistant to Lagerback.my reason for ths is that if this happens, it would have given Siasia the needed Senior World Cup experience and also for continuity in the the eventuality of Lagerback quiting the job or getting fired as usual after the world cup. Honestly, we need an assistant that will give us the confidence to take over full responsibility expecially in the event of sudden departure of the original TA and not the usual come chop assistants NFF are used to.
Mumuni, like u said, Lagerback’s appointed is a calculated gamble by the NFF to keep their job ahead of the august election. It is our prayer that the gamble pays off or else like his name implies, we may end up “lagging back”
Gadaffi of ASIA
THE MAN,THE MONEY,AND THE MAJIC.,May PTF and thier supporters not deny thier roles in this concotion when the “Die will be cast”.
They have succeeded in making Amodu a demi-god, whatch as events unfold in days and weeks to come
I quite agree with Jide Ibrahim’s view. However, Sia-one shd be given a role against the crime committed by the world of naming him No 14 coach. He can learn under the new TA rather than Amodu who had the oppurtunity of learning from top England manager but coul not apply due to his incorrigibility as put by Alh. Mumuni. Great Nation, Good People.
I very sure that our group will be full of drama. Lars know how to deal with Argentina. That is one thing that make me happy. Looking forward to Argentina vs Nigeria in SA.
CAN YOU IMAGINE … NFF PLAYING A god role denying Siasia inclusion just b/c of hatred they have 4 him …. any way time shall tell ….all i know is this arrangement witout Siasia who had worked and who discovers most of this boys is an accident waiting to happen . What they can not remove 4m him is Sia 1 remain the best coach in Nigeria 4 now
Oga Muminu your be real politician.
Anyway, let just pray for SE to remain super in SA
The ghost of Amodu shall surely hunt us for a long time,like fosar said when the die is cast,heads shall roll.Amodu never say die.
The ghost of Amodu shall surely hunt us for a long time,like fosar said when the die is cast,heads shall roll.Amodu never say die.
Doffi, do not be scared. There is no ghost of Amodu this time. The only problem here is the NFF left him on the job for too long. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED MUCH EARLIER. Don’t forget the NFF did him a favour by giving him the job in the first place. He was not the best candidate at the interview. SO GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH
There is no need to waste too much time in “EXPERIMENTING”like coach Onigbjnde..Moreso,can the NFF tell us more about the new coach and his C.V?People at the glass house need not to be told that the best assistant Lars need at this point in time is Samson Siasia cos he is the best coach we have for now.After spending 225million naira on Lars it will do Nigerians more good after His exit cos Siasia would have gathered more exposure and contribute to Siasia’s technical acumen.
Mumuni of late you are behaving like our politicians who put reason away and hold on to sentiments. Amodu was hired to do a job, and he was paid for the job he did. Amodu qualified us for the W/C and for this reason you think it is mandatory he should take us to the W/C. Was Amodu not paid while working to qualify us for the W/C? Since he was paid his salary for the period he worked to qualify us for the w/c we should stop crying over Amodu not going to the W/C. Yes he qualified us for the w/c, but the whole world has seen that the W/C is bigger than Amodu. The pain we went through in the qualifying for the w/c, and the N/C tournament is enough.
I agree with you that Amodu should be allowed to proceed on leave to help him think over his future. I also agree with you that Amodu should be paid his share of the money released by FIFA to all nations that qualified for the w/c, but it should be Amodu alone. Every player that toke part for Nigeria should be paid. I disagree with you completely where you said Amodu should be sponsor to the w/c to watch the w/c. If Amodu want to go to S/Africa to watch the w/c, he should pay his way through, or stay at home to watch it on tele. Amodu has been disengaged from the national team of Nigeria, how he watch the w/c is now his private issue. It might interest you to know that majority of Nigerians don’t see Amodu as a hero. And like one of the people said (Big Sly) there surely wouldn’t be any ghost of Amodu this time around. Amodu never merited to be the coach of the S/E. He was not the best candidate at the interview that gave him the job. Someone else was robbed to give Amodu the job, and that injustice has now be corrected with Amodu be dropped as a result of his inability.
Hello Mumuni. One thing that I am happy about is that NFF bowed to the wishes on Nigerian fans to employ foreign Technical Adviser after our local coaches over the years have proved that they arre not capable of handling the Super Eagles, the recent being Shuaibu Amodu. So much sentiments have been expressed about the dropping of Amodu from Super Eagles to South Africa 2010. We must understand that Super Eagles of Nigeria is a going concern and so it is not cast on stone on who must lead Eagles to 2010 world cup whether he qualified the team or not because the period Amodu headed the team he was getting wages for his labour in form of salaries and match bonuses. If he was doing the work for free and then qualified the team for the world cup only to be dropped, I would have carried play card on his behalf to be part of the team to South Africa. In as such as he got all his entilements for the job done, I do not see what NFF has done wrong to drop him from the South Africa tornament. In my view, we should put Amodu’s saga behind and move on. It is of no point going front and back on this matter. Let us all support NFF and Lagerfront (not Lagerback) for a glorious outing in South Africa.
The Ghost of Amodu will not hunt anybody, still it will hunt those who believe in it. Another question is has Amodu got a ghost? The wisest thing NFF has ever done is sending him out. Lets admit it, Amodu is not good. Lets call a spade by its true name. Nigeria is better off without him.
Mumini,its just a shame that journalist of ur caliber still talk like a child,i live in UK and i read sport newspaper every day,none of their journalist write the way you are writing,is there anything wrong with you saying your own mind,you just sit on the fence all the time,i know from the way you write that you dont want SIASIA to assist this oyinbo,and God is watching you people.
I wld ve wanted more dan 80million Nigerian sport lovers 2 sacrifice dis w/c 4 Amodu. Let him go SA 2010 and close his storybook in our National Team 4ever. With his droppin out now..it means he likely comeback again(he seems 2 be a “comeback king”). Dat will definitely d greatest disaster 2 our football at d highest level in future. Amodu’s spirit or ghost shld be exocised completely once and for all,enof is enof. NFF members we hav now will neva like Sia 1 becos he is d only professional coach or manager we hav in Nigeria now.
If Lagerback fails, all of you who used your 419 pen to destroy a hard working achiever, compatriot will not eat the fruit of your labour. What name have you not called the poor man, you have disrespected him tactfully with your piece, you set a high standard for a man you pay 1million naira and want us to expect nothing but an organized team from a man who will earn over 1 million naira. If all Amodu boys did was to play good football and did not qualify, will this usurper called lagerback come to reap where he has not sowed. One day God will Judge all of you harshly. After all you have contributed you own to the rot in the football sector.
Oh come on Mumini! Do you have to follow some local West Africans that are so envious of the SUPER EAGLES and call us the uncomplimentary name that is in your write-up. I expect more than that from a man that has spent most of his journalistic years following the Super Egales. When you deride your national team by using such names as you did above in the second to the last paragraph in ‘the battle of the crumbs’ you are indirectly telling the world not to take you and your national team serious. Have you ever heard any English journalist use any derogatory appellation for the three lions? Come on, you should be educating the public better on this not so serious but important part of the game. OUR NAME HAS BEEN AND IS STILL IS THE SUPER EAGLES! Super Eagle carry go!
Now the song is changing to at least we get a team that plays together(good football) even if they are out in the first round,what hypocrisy? The mercenary is going home with 1.5mill for a 5mnts job why the person who qualified the team under the most inhumane,harsh and unbearable of conditions, was paid peanuts. If some people here who are as pathetic as can be in their case of inferiority complex,were not waiting for the foreign angel to come save them, Amodu would still be there.So no, first round won,t do, we want at least the semi finals as stated by the NFF else,…. Stupid journalists, and some erratically wayward fans are the source of our footballing problems in this country.One thing is for sure, If Amodu had been from one of the so-called majority tribes, this won,t have happened to him for the second time, tribalists are wrecking football in Nigeria.
Amodu dug his own grave.For a coach who had the tremendous support of the NFF and its Chairman,the support of the players,and the goodwill of the teeming Nigerian fans to serve up such a bitter soup was clearly unpalatable.Without question,the sheer talent base and pedigree of Nigeria will allow us to qualify from a group comprising Tunisia,Mozambique and Kenya ten times out of ten.A Nations Cup group that also comprised a group of Egypt,Benin,and the aforementioned Mozambique should not have seen us labour to qualify for the quarter-finals.That we were almost universally heart attack and blood pressure candidates each time we played under Amodu was really depressing.What exactly was his plan?To simply continue tossing shirts to Yakubu,Olofinjana,Nwaneri and the likes,and inexplicably inviting bench-warmers constantly was pure laziness.What was the developmental plan?Who really believed Amodu’s team to the World Cup would have been radically different from the calamitous Nations Cup team?I’m sorry.A nation that played in the Olympic and u-17 World Cup Final,and also was in the final stages of Continental tourneys within the last two years,surely deserves better.
Obong, all this noise about talent base and pedigree where is the statistical support in todays football or is sombody dreaming?
You journalist think you know the game very much, especially You mumuni and onochie Anibeze who always talk of modern football like the game has changed much. You guys ought to get a team to hire you as coaches so that you can stop have hindsight which they say is always 20/20. Let us see you coach a team for once. You guys literally destroyed Amodu with your pen intentionally ingnoring the man’s good record. You intentionally left out his record by saying he is the most capped coach with 54 games but you did not say how many he won and how many he lost. Love him or hate him when the history of Nigerian football is written Amodu’s name would stand out.
I hope Nigeria treat Lagerback the same way they treated Amodu.
All those who plot against Amodu for qualifying Nigeria for the world Cup ant getting Bronze at African Nation cup will hide their heads in shame when the “Jesus” they have brought takes us no further than the first Round. Then Amodu can have the last laugh! Waite and see!
All those who plot against Amodu for qualifying Nigeria for the world Cup and getting Bronze at African Nation cup will hide their heads in shame when the “Jesus” they have brought takes us no further than the first Round. Then Amodu can have the last laugh! Wait and see!
May God almighty deny you all the fruit of your labors,whoever amongst you in support of denying Amodu his reward.Politicians who call themselves journalists.You said Amodu is arrogant,didn’t you and the so-called NFF know this before you called him to come salvage you from disgrace,the first time,the second time.What has attitude got to do with W/C if not for sentiment…………………………..