5th November, 2010
Chairman, Technical Committee of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Barrister Chris Green, has revealed that the appointment of Samson Siasia, as the new Chief Coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, did not come on a platter of gold.
Green, who is also the chairman of Rivers State Football Association, said though the general feeling among Nigerian soccer fans was for Siasia to be appointed as the coach of the Eagles, the panel of interviewers set up by the board of NFF still did a thorough job to pick the former U-23 Eagles’ coach ahead of his rival, Stephen Keshi.
According to Green, “the selection process was not easy but it was painstaking for the committee that interviewed Siasia and Keshi to arrive at a choice. Before the interview, we were determined to give Nigerians the best and the best was what we saw in Siasia.
“During the interview, the profiles of the two candidates were scrutinised and we carefully looked at the programmes presented by them. “Part of the advantages Siasia had over Keshi was that he had been around the local scene in the last six years with achievements to show that he will be a dependable coach for the Eagles. He is currently the coach of Heartland FC of Owerri.
“We see him as a grassroots man that will add value to our football, as he had been involved in the country’s age grade teams, where he performed credibly with the Flying Eagles in Holland 2005 WYC and the Olympic team in Beijing 2008.
“We also saw that Siasia has the flair, techniques and tactics that will help rebrand the Eagles as a top flight team in the world. He also proved to us how he plans to develop Nigerian football and make our team recognised for a particular style of game in the world. We agreed with him and this made us believe that he would be the best choice for the Eagles,†he added
Green disclosed that the committee told Siasia that he will be responsible for the success and failure of the Eagles as a coach, while he was also given the task of coordinating other national teams.
—Taiwo Adelu