Siasia sack is no news, says Erico
Following Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Nations Cup, the entire coaching crew of the team led by Siasia was last Friday sacked by the NFF on the recommendations of its technical committee. Speaking to Feverpitch yesterday, Erico said the sack of the coaches did not come to him as a surprise […]
Following Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Nations Cup, the entire coaching crew of the team led by Siasia was last Friday sacked by the NFF on the recommendations of its technical committee.
Speaking to Feverpitch yesterday, Erico said the sack of the coaches did not come to him as a surprise because in the past even coaches that kept to their contractual agreement by winning were sacked.
He therefore said Siasia’s case was obvious because it can be argued that he failed to keep his own side of the bargain with the football federation.
His words: “The sack of Siasia is no news and it did not come to me as a surprise. I am not happy that Siasia has been sacked but it is our culture to sack. Even when you win you are sacked and when you don’t win, you are still sacked.
“We are used to this. Just count the number of coaches that we have sacked within a very short period. The German national team has changed about eight coaches since 1908 or there about. But count the number of coaches that we have sacked.
On the reports that another ex-Eagle, Stephen Keshi is likely going to be the man to replace Siasia as a stop gap measure, the former international goalkeeper said Keshi has got the required experience to handle the national team.
He said having handled the national teams of Togo and Mali, the former Super Eagles captain has enough foreign experience that would be useful to the team.
In addition, he said Keshi’s maturity will be an added advantage as he would not need to demand respect from the players but it would come naturally.
“When it comes to players respect, the older the better. The older coaches command players’ respect while the younger ones demand for respect from the players. If this is anything to go by, Keshi will have little difficulty managing the Super eagles.
“Most times younger coaches lack the capacity to command respect but it depends on how you go about it. Approach matters a lot. Even with our children, we can command their respect if we handle them the right way”.
Erico said whoever is appointed to replace Siasia should be ready to work harder as he said there is the urgent need to replace most of the present Eagles players.
“There is a lot of work to be done. The team needs to be injected with new players who have the hunger to win. Some of the present players have outlived their usefulness”, he stated.