OK, I think it might be a good thing to outline my current and historical position on Amodu.

When in 2008, Amodu was appointed as SE coach, I was not elated as I was expecting a big name FC to lead our charge for the WC after the failures of SE recently. I was not particularly worried though as I was familiar with Amodu's history and felt out of all the LCs, he was one of the few I could trust their capability.

My order of trust was and remains:

1) Stephen Keshi
2) Samson Siasia
3) Amodu Shaibu
4) Kadiri Ikhana

Any other LC is not up to par to manage SE, in my opinion.

So, initially, Amodu was not even my first choice as a coach (even when you exclude FCs) but I still knew his pedigree and self-confidence (some call it arrogance, but whatever, it is useful in life) and I felt the margin of difference from him and the top 2, were in my opinion, small unlike the top 3 and Ikhana.

Amodu's pedigree

Nigeria
6 Nigerian FA cup
1 Nigerian League championship

South Africa
1 South African FA Cup
1 South African Charity Cup
1 South African Top Eight Cup (best 8 teams in league KO cup)

Africa
1 African Intercontinental cup
1 African Super Cup

Then the WCQs began and Amodu did prove his pedigree when he went and won 6 straight games in the first round without even breaking a sweat and without any of the opposition being able to score a goal against SE (the only one scored was scored by us, as an own goal).

Then the WCQ qualifiers second round began and we shockingly drew with Mozambique. I was a little disappointed but thought "Well, that just means we had to beat Tunisia home and away".

Then the trip to Rades came and that was the most tacticless match I have seen in SE for a long while. We lacked the drive to go forward and take the game, there was hardly any string of impressive play that lead to an attack and I was pissed the players were celebrating the draw after the match.

Then the Abuja match with Tunisia in Abuja came, the Tunisians came with the same tactics of using their high technical abilities to hold on to the ball and intense group pressure when SE have the ball (obviously they knew it was important they don't let us play with flair), which they did very well against us in Rades. But then came the devastating magic of Odems in scoring a beautiful first goal.

Whilst we were in complete euphoria, the Tunisians equalised to the chagrin of Nigerian football fans and myself. Even though I would agree that for every goal, there is an error you can divvy to some of the conceding team's players but it is not everytime you can divvy naivete to the players and definitely neither (error or naivete) can be attributed to the coach in the Tunisia game. After looking at the Tunisian first goal over and over again, I have come to the conclusion this things happen in football sometimes and despite the errors, it took a very beautiful and exceptional goal to exploit it.

Then the SE went into the dressing room and came out at half time playing cautiously to see if the Tunisians were still there or they will slip up by themselves but that did not happen. Then when it came to about the 65th minute, Kanu and Nsofor were introduced and I saw some of the best football I have ever seen a Nigerian team play since the 90s. It was full, consistent, repressible attack for the next 15 minutes. The thing that impressed me the most was the variety of the attacks, it was not uni-dimensional. It had a lot of flavours from using the wings, using long passes, dribbling, crossing or incisive midfield passes.

I was screaming on NL (whilst some others where vituperating the coach and players) that there is no way we would not score. And we did score.

Here is the chronological order of my comments on the day:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492026#msg4492026
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492063#msg4492063
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492090#msg4492090
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492116#msg4492116
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492136#msg4492136
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492165#msg4492165
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492184#msg4492184
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=313003.msg4492212#msg4492212

Amodu was on the horizon of being a national hero and then they equalised in the last minute. I almost died and was enraged but as a true football follower, I knew the coach cannot be blamed for what was clearly player error. He had done everything he can, he made the substitutions that upped our game to give us the lead, he even choose the right starting team IMO (as he choose exactly the player and formation I recommended on NL before the match):

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-313217.0.html

But TT, a player we (including me) would have slaughtered him for if he had not included then, let him down completely.

Then the Mozambicans came, and it was a very tough match were I observed they defended resolutely and were good at it. We played some good team football in the match but could not convert any chance (this happens to even the best teams in the world  ) and after a few substitutions, we converted at the last minute. The worrying sense of relief on the face of Enyeama like if he was going to go into shock whilst everyone was celebrating says it all, as a draw would have meant NO WORLD CUP!

Then we went to Kenya and did the job, hoping that Tunisia would draw in Mozambique but, alas, they lost.

Hence Amodu has delivered on his mandate, has not lost a single game, has the 4th best qualifying record in the world but there is an alarmingly loud group clamouring for his sack.

Let me put it on record here that I was not completely happy with the qualifiers as I was disappointed that in the second round, our SE were not as dominant as we were accustommed to in the 90s and early 2000s. But one art I have developed and grateful I have, is to be dispassionate and apply mainly logic and objectivity in my analysis most times. So I put my passion aside and analysed what is wrong.

I came up with the conclusion from what I saw in our games that these are the problems and definitely not the coach:

[list]
[li]Commitment - Our players show no hunger and commitment on the pitch like if they are ready to die on the pitch. This a coach needs time to develop AND SUSTAIN, we saw glimpses of it when we needed to score Tunisia and Mozambique in Abuja and against Kenya in Nairobi. It is hard to achieve and sustain, and harder to achieve with black Africans. Hardest with "I am too important" mentally-caused Nigerians.[/li]
[li]Creativity - There is no creative player that has a Nigerian passport at the moment that is known to be able to play at that level. Hence commitment above becomes more important with the use of people like Odems to do what they can with creativity.[/li]
[li]A Leader - Very few teams win anything without an obvious leader in the team. We have no Drogba, Essien, Etoo that can change a game in an instance, motivate or carry the team. The closest we have is Kanu, but he can not play more than 25 mins because he is 55 years old. Yobo is not an inspirational leader but is the captain as Odems does not have the charisma to carry that clout.[/li]
[/list]


AND HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY I AM COMPLETELY AGAINST SACKING AMODU:

Rationale
- He has delivered his mandate
- Our players are not that good. None of them would walk into the first team of the Top clubs (Man U, Barcelona, RM, Chelsea etc) in Europe. He got them playing to their ability most times (+ or -) but not to their potential (which I think takes time for any coach)
- His invitations, selections and team formations are good
- Most of our goals come in the second half and mostly after substitutions. So it is actually quite silly to say he makes no impacts or lacks tactical awareness
- If we had not had to play Mozambique before Tunisia, he would had not had this much heat and pressure. Mozambique have proven to be tough as even CIV could not beat them and Tunisia did not lose but where destroyed. They were out-classed, only one shot on goal, and I doubt anyone that knows about football and have seen Tunisia play would say they are not a good team.


Logic
Now here is analysis of Amodu's stats as coach of Nigeria from 1994 - til date:

Competitive matches only

P    W    D    L    GF    GA    GD     CS (Clean sheet)
24  17   5   2*  38    8    +30    19

*The two matches he has lost in the competitive matches were after 90 mins, he has never lost in full time. So technically, he has NEVER lost after 24 games.

One loss was to Senegal after extra-time (a team that later beat world champions and reached WC QFs) after the NFA came in to tell his team a night before that they were looting their travel cost and the second was to Mexico on penalties after 120 minutes.

Now someone please tell me how anyone would say this is a coach that lacks tactical awareness. Is he one by never losing a match in 90 minutes after 24 games? Has won 70% of his matches!!! See the goal difference, see the clean sheets (80% of matches). This is the coach that lacks tactical awareness.

Competitive matches plus all friendlies

P    W    D    L    GF    GA    GD     CS (Clean sheet)
31  18   8   5    43   15   +28    20

Go and look, how many coaches in the world have such record?

In the increase in lost matches (3), 2 was due to poor organisation by NFA (vs England and Colombia) and one was to Czech Rep. All were by one goal, hence not an embarassment.

If he had this record with any club, he would be winning the League or at least be in the top 3, despite club football being a bit easier than national football.

When comparing to club football, lets imagine the friendlies are days when the team have injuries, if SE were a club, after 31 matches under Amodu they would have 62 points. Now look at the table of the best leagues in the world after 38 games, he would already be in the Top 6 even if he lost the last seven games. And national football is harder for a coach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9309_Premier_League#League_table
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9309_La_Liga#League_table
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9309_La_Liga

He drew with Tunisia. So what? Bigger and better teams with world class coaches draw with Poorer and weaker teams.

If he was sacked, I am pretty much confident his replacement coach would come and do not much better (and most would probably celebrate).


Ethics
- This is the man we turned to to save our soul from Bonfrere when we were 3rd on the table in WCQs and everyone had given up hope. He came and won the last 3 matches emphatically (bags of goals) to climb to the top and qualify us. That is the coach we say does not have tactical awareness.
- What did we do just a few months later for losing a SF match that the officials themselves sabotaged by destroying camp moral a night before? We got a quack to take us to the WC and destroy his work.
- We find ourselves in trouble again and call on him and he came to qualify us and some people are saying "Sack him" even though he never lost a match. And are calling for coaches that have failed in their own task to come and take his success.


Circumstances under which a sack of Amodu can be considered before WC2010

The only way I will consider Amodu's removal is if he fails himself at the ANC.

And failure is not by not winning the Cup as Nigeria with its players is not even in the top 3 in Africa. If Amodu wins ANC, then he has shown exceptional ability.

I would demand at least SF in the ANC except:

a) We meet CIV, Ghana or Cameroun on the way and don't lose with embarassing display. That is, we played well but lost marginally.

b) Or we had to play the likes of Tunisia, Egpyt, Algeria, Host Angola and Mali with 10 men or less, or lose to them by penalty shoot out.

c) Or SE players make a ridiculous error (e.g. doing what Scholes did last weekend or score an own goal whilst making a back pass to leave SE being 2 goals down at the KO stage and the opposition now pile 10 men in defence). There is not much a coach can do when the opposition decides not to play football after some of your individual players are making costly, unprofessional errors.

To me, those exceptions are not failures. That is football, sometimes you lose.

But I think the minimum (bar the 3 exceptions above) should be SF with good display on the way through.

With his record and history, he has to fail before you sack him for it to be ever reasonable.

Well said. I agree with you a 100%.

good write-up but a little advise to amodu, he should try and be more media savvy.

yes he has tried with the SE but he could have done better scouring our local league to discover new players

Wow, Sagamite, you are truly awesome.

I agree with most of the facts you exposed. S. Keshi is my favourite Naija coach after qualifying Togo for Germany 2006.
No, scratch that, Siasi is actually my favourite Naija coach. What he did in Beijing was really gar.

agreed

Sagamite's points are well noted BUT Amodu's greatest failure is his inability in Two years to unearth a gem from the NPL. Over 90 weekends have passed and Amodu should have seen a player worthy to try out in one of those friendlies (Ireland or Colombia).

I would prefer Amodu remains the coach of the SE till July 2010 (irrespective of whatever happens in Angola) and thereafter should quietly leave the scene. NFF should endeavour to appoint a Coach or coaches that will watch our league games!

ow11:

Sagamite's points are well noted BUT Amodu's greatest failure is his inability in Two years to unearth a gem from the NPL. Over 90 weekends have passed and Amodu should have seen a player worthy to try out in one of those friendlies (Ireland or Colombia).

I would prefer Amodu remains the coach of the SE till July 2010 (irrespective of whatever happens in Angola) and thereafter should quietly leave the scene. NFF should endeavour to appoint a Coach or coaches that will watch our league games!

And what if he wins the WC?

Sagamite:

And what if he wins the WC?

That is stretching your optimism if you think so. Although not impossible BUT Aime Jacquet did leave anyway. His inability to continually make ALL positions in the SE competitive can be fingered as one of the reasons our players have become bone lazy. Imagine Enyeama becoming lethargic when Ejide or Aiyenugba are waiting on the wings.

We need a coach that is willing to scour our league for at least 5 good players each season.

ow11:

That is stretching your optimism if you think so. Although not impossible BUT Aime Jacquet did leave anyway. His inability to continually make ALL positions in the SE competitive can be fingered as one of the reasons our players have become bone lazy. Imagine Enyeama becoming lethargic when Ejide or Aiyenugba are waiting on the wings.

We need a coach that is willing to scour our league for at least 5 good players each season.

Bros, I will disagree with that o.

I think Enyeama and Ejide were in competition and it does not make much sense changing a keeper that is not conceding.

The area where there was no competition was:

Yobo: People will criticise him if he tried (especially if we concede, even if we did not lose) as that is the most experienced defender and biggest name.
Olofinjana: This is where the talk is biggest. I am OK with it.
Taiye Taiwo: Had no competition as a big name everyone wants to see, then he monumentally messed up and people shut up when he is benched.
Odems: Absolutely justified.
Uche: Justified and was substituted on days his star did not shine.

Sagamite:

Bros, I will disagree with that o.

I think Enyeama and Ejide were in competition and it does not make much sense changing a keeper that is not conceding.

The area where there was no competition was:

Yobo: People will criticise him if he tried (especially if we concede, even if we did not lose) as that is the most experienced defender and biggest name.
Olofinjana: This is where the talk is biggest. I am OK with it.
Taiye Taiwo: Had no competition as a big name everyone wants to see, then he monumentally messed up and people shut up when he is benched.
Odems: Absolutely justified.
Uche: Justified and was substituted on days his star did not shine.

Apalla and Emeramo should never be called again, those girls don't fit our jersey at all.

Sagamite:

Bros, I will disagree with that o.

I think Enyeama and Ejide were in competition and it does not make much sense changing a keeper that is not conceding.

Enyeama was dropped at some point during the Vogts era and worked really hard to get his shirt back and SE is better for this healthy competition between the sticks. On the other hand, it would take a hungry midfielder and CB to arrange Yobo, Mikel and Apam into the sort of players we expect them to be.

honeric01:

Apalla and Emeramo should never be called again, those girls don't fit our jersey at all.

Agreed and toss Ajilore and Nwaneri into that list!

ow11:

Enyeama was dropped at some point during the Vogts era and worked really hard to get his shirt back and SE is better for this healthy competition between the sticks. On the other hand, it would take a hungry midfielder and CB to arrange Yobo, Mikel and Apam into the sort of players we expect them to be.

Agreed and toss Ajilore and Nwaneri into that list!

Lai lai, Nwaneri better than Apam and Ajilore is more reliable than Olofinjana. (Thank God he won't be available for the ANC)

Great

you missed one point he is good value for money!!

Dis Guy:

Great

you missed one point he is good value for money!! 

Abi o. 

Honestly, if he wins the ANC they should increase his salary to at least $300K. Considering they paid Berti Vogts £300K per year (note: his is pounds).

Take a look at this match between RoI and Italy. It perfectly demonstrates my bitter hate of the lame criticism of Amodu.

No 1, Italy, the big WC champions, could not beat RoI like kids. They could only draw and always coming from behind and they are coached by a world class coach that has won the WC, Lippi. If this was Amodu that could not win a team two steps below him, he is a fooool.

No 2, please see the goals Italy, the famous defending experts of world football, coached by a world class coach is conceding. Are the goals Amodu's team conceding any worse? But yet if Amodu's team concedes those kinds of goals  (especially the first one) some would say Amodu is rubbish, cannot organise the defence and the players don't respect him. 

And unlike Amodu that is paid $180K, Lippi is paid $4.1m. The man could only beat Cyprus in the 92min IN ITALY to win 2-1, in a game Cyprus gave them a good match. Amodu scored against Mozambique in the 92min after dominating the game and people were calling for his sack instead of saying the team did well as they gave all in that game before that goal came. And if tomorrow, Italy sack Lippi and Nigeria snap him up, our I-only-want-a-white-man SE fans would be dancing on the streets.

[flash=400,350]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5zTQwA2tMk&feature=related[/flash]

honeric01:

Lai lai, Nwaneri better than Apam and Ajilore is more reliable than Olofinjana. (Thank God he won't be available for the ANC)

Olofinjana was the main reasons Tunisia scored in a minute after Odems threw us into cloud 9. Those were not one of his better days but he was decent against France although I think ageing legs should be blamed for his shambolic performances these days. He should make the team as a substitute to shore up the defence if we are holding onto a lead.

Did you see Nwaneri against Mozambique in the first game? or his display at the last CAN? Apam is woeful as a right back but his displays at the heart of defence is better than what Nwaneri brings to the table.

Dis Guy:

Great

you missed one point he is good value for money!!

I concur!!!

ow11:

Olofinjana was the main reasons Tunisia scored in a minute after Odems threw us into cloud 9. Those were not one of his better days but he was decent against France although I think ageing legs should be blamed for his shambolic performances these days. He should make the team as a substitute to shore up the defence if we are holding onto a lead.

Nah, we have alot of defensive midfielders already. mikel, ajilore, ayila, these 3 are enough, let olofinjana go fight for stock city shirt, he said that himself that he needs to concentrate on his club football.

ow11:

Did you see Nwaneri against Mozambique in the first game? or his display at the last CAN? Apam is woeful as a right back but his displays at the heart of defence is better than what Nwaneri brings to the table.

Apam is just too shaky, Nwaneri is better in the heart of defense too, olubayo should not be in the super eagles, he does not worth that call up, his crosses are useless, i hope odiah comes back, odia and Mohamed are good as our 2 and we should just change taiwo, we should look for another 3 to partner echiejile, maybe turn taiwo to an 11.

honeric01:

Nah, we have alot of defensive midfielders already. mikel, ajilore, ayila, these 3 are enough, let olofinjana go fight for stock city shirt, he said that himself that he needs to concentrate on his club football.

Apam is just too shaky, Nwaneri is better in the heart of defense too, olubayo should not be in the super eagles, he does not worth that call up, his crosses are useless, i hope odiah comes back, odia and Mohamed are good as our 2 and we should just change taiwo, we should look for another 3 to partner echiejile, maybe turn taiwo to an 11.

I hope this is a joke

@poster who do you think nigerians are people who sit down on chair and burn of their time on net reading jargons ? I mean your post is to long. @nairalanders my advice to you all is to stop putting unreasonable thinkin in your mind.

@poster,
if we have decided to politicize our football like everother issue in nigeria, i will agree with you 100% but if we want to talk football as in soccer, amodu is not trying.
our supper eagles have been winning matches but are these scrappy winnings against known minor teams what we are made up of?
if u are a sports loving nigerian, tell urself the truth, how many nigerians today are hungry to watch the supper eagles play?
is this the super eagles that africans and the world used to know nigeria?
on the other hand, since we have been winning under amodu, what happened with the fifa rating? as a winning side, have we been climbing or going down the ladder since the introduction of amodu? or can we say fifa is victimizing nigeria?
there was a supper eagle of 1994 that made soccer a religion in nigeria. there was a super eagle that served as an introduction where ever u go during those glorious days. i can't remember how many times, foriegners will ask me, where are u from? as soon as u mention nigeria, oh, i know amokachi, rashidi, okocha, amunike and all that.
this present amodu's super eagle has no zeal. they play the game as if there is nothing at stake unlike when we used to see flying headers from amunike and solo movements from amokachi and bomb blasts from oliseh.
have u watched big coaches while there teams play? ferguson will remain on the edge of the picth fuming at whosever until the job is done but what do u have here, a man peeping from somewhere and always afraid of the unknown.
my dear, the is no zeal and the spirit of soccer is leaving the country by the day as many are afraid of high blood preasure.
on his salary, does he have a choice? he is not a wonderful man as a coach hence super eagles is the height of his carrier or would he rather join the likes of eguavon.
i am not entirely putting the blames of our failures on amodu rather it is the system that produced him.
there is a corrupt system that will always bring mediocres on board and what can he do? amodu is the best they can afford at least to allow them achieve their destructive jobs in the sports industry.
what do u expect from a system where an okada man who played a wonderful role as a thug during elections and happened to be rewarded with the minister of sports or nff chairman?
the whole system is corrupt and that is affecting everyother departments and super eagle is involved.
a foreign coach can not work with this type of system as we saw in kenya where the coached work out on them so it is the likes of amodu who can be used in which ever form they want.
do not blame nigerians as he is the one we are seeing so on the day of stoning, he will be the one we will stone for all these heart breaks.
finally, if we are super eagles, how super are we compare to ghana, cameroun and ivory coast or even egypt?

asha 80:

I hope this is a joke

Do we have a natural left winger (midfielder)? we don't, so i suggest we move him upfront, he plays that position in his place once in a while and has done well there too.

honeric01:

Do we have a natural left winger (midfielder)? we don't, so i suggest we move him upfront, he plays that position in his place once in a while and has done well there too.

I do not think that because the fact we do not have a natural left winger mean we should draft taiwo there.Does he have attacking instint or should we push him there because he has a left foot.It is not like he is an ashley cole,roberto carlos,celestine babayaro or even ben iroha that all has and had attacking instincts.

Maybe should try out a different formation or tactic

I'll still luv to wait for his performance in nation's cup, maybe i would have something to say by then

asha 80:

I do not think that because the fact we do not have a natural left winger mean we should draft taiwo there.Does he have attacking instint or should we push him there because he has a left foot.It is not like he is an ashley cole,roberto carlos,celestine babayaro or even ben iroha that all has and had attacking instincts.

Maybe should try out a different formation or tactic

you think he does not have an attacking instinct? try watching him play at his club, the answer lies there.

asha 80:

I hope this is a joke

Why not?

I am in full support of this.

He can be a calamity in defence and I have seen him more than too often take on RBs with pace and power like Amuneke.

And he can shoot from range, as well, if upfront.

impossicant, you dont expect amodu to impose a law on someone like yobo who earns more than him and he obeys

Sagamite:

Why not?

I am in full support of this.

He can be a calamity in defence and I have seen him more than too often take on RBs with pace and power like Amuneke.

And he can shoot from range, as well, if upfront.

Thank you for pointing out the major reasons why i think he should be used as a midfielder.

truth is, amoudu was hired for a job n has delivered,

i remember when amoudu took us to korea/japan and was fired for "delivering". karma bit us in the azz for sacking person wen e do him job n replacing him with the village school PE master onigbinde

from my 2002 experience, "a devil u know is better than an angel you don't"

lets fold our arms n wait for angola tho

Reason, so the SE can come home from SA quickly.

U ll c that naija no go far with amodu in both anc&wc.If u heard is press parley in lagos yestday u'll know he has no tactics but rellies on stars to succed.He critisized d local league that once fed him& brought him to limelite.Hes a failure&only just lucky

Well spoken, but we shouldn't base our assesment on past records. The man may have been good but he is simply out of his depth.

Sagamite,

I commend you for your research and analysis. However, I do not think Amodu should be the main coach. He lacks the charisma or technical nous. He does not even command the respect of the players. He should remain as a number two to a more tactically astute coach. During all the qualifying games, he just sat on the bench looking morose even when the players needed motivation.

I agree that we do not have the players but that is because the coach is not doing his job. Must all the players in the team play in Europe? Can he not discover a creative player in the league? After all, Okocha was discovered playing street soccer in Germany. The same with Lua Lua. A coach should know the weakness of his team and make moves to nullify such weakness. Why has he not found a 10, 11, 7, and a 4 in two years? What is the point of having 8 strikers in a team and playing two of them on the wings? Nigeria is the only that has more strikers than mid-fielders and all four are usually defensive mid-fielders. Isn't it time he started playing rabiu Ibrahim with Mikel/Ayila in the centre? Yobo is not a Leader; I would give the captaincy to Enyeama or Mikel. That may raise Mikel's commitment to the team.