By John EGBOKHAN
Former Eagles star, Yisa Sofoluwe has warned newly-singed coach Stephen Keshi not to fight with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF( in his third coming as Super Eagles manager.
Keshi signed a new two-year deal with the NFF on Tuesday in Abuja, after a ten-month hiatus that saw both parties fire salvos at each other over the posturing in the reappointment of the former Super Eagles captain and 2013 Nations Cup winning coach.
Yisa Sofoluwe
The no-love lost relationship between Keshi and the NFF affected the Eagles, who failed to qualify to defend their Nations Cup crown in Equatorial Guinea earlier this year and subsequently crashed to the 45th position in the current FIFA rankings.
But Keshi later retraced his steps, apologising to the NFF and admitting the blame for the team’s failure, a plea which moved the Amaju Pinnick-led Executive Committee board to give him another chance to handle the team.
And speaking to Sports Vanguard last night, Sofoluwe advised Keshi to do things differently this time around.
“Keshi is not a small person in this business. He is not someone who I am supposed to be telling how to do things because he knows why the NFF has brought him back. He is being brought back because we want something better for the team.
“He saw what happened during his last tenure and how fans attacked him after we failed to qualify for the last Nations Cup. Our people want change and Keshi must deliver the changes that they desire. Keshi knows that it is bad for somebody to fall three times. He has to learn from what happened in the past and toe a different path.
“As an experienced coach, he knows that he needs the support of the NFF to succeed and should therefore stop fighting the NFF because Pinnick and his colleagues mean well for him. They want him to succeed because if he fails, they have also failed Nigerians”, added the former Flying Eagles midfielder.
On how to deal with the NFF, Sofoluwe urged Keshi to always put he football-ruling body in the know of his plans so as to assume shared responsibilities in the event of things going awry.
“It is better for him to make his plans known to NFF and seek their cooperation, rather that act as an all-knowing coach because if things backfire, he will bear the brunt alone but if he succeeds, then he will shine. He should not pick fights with anybody and not see critics as his enemies. We all want his success”, said the former Gateway FC assistant coach.
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