Understanding Keshi’s revolution

Understanding Keshi’s revolution

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” -Arnold Bennett

IN THE BEGINNING: Keshi(m) with Siasia meet former Sports Minister, Ibrahim Bio at  2010 World Cup[

On the margin of the Golden Eaglets’ screening exercise, I had a brief yet instructive encounter with the Big Boss, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi which bothers n his revival of Nigerian football vis-à-vis initiation of local-based players into the Super Eagles.

Since he came on board last year, Keshi has said loud and clear that players from the domestic league would form the fulcrum of the national team. He has so far demonstrated his appeal for the home-grown talents so much so that some are of the conviction that the involvement of foreign-based professionals should be limited as the Super Eagles struggle to come out of the valley of despair.

Things have really gone from bad to worse for the Super Eagles culminating in the team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nation (AFCON) hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and the subsequent dismissal of Coach Samson Siasia.

On the appointment of Siasia soon after the Super Eagles 2010 World Cup debacle, I’d asked if it was a gut decision or gut reaction: “The choice between Keshi and Siasia would naturally split soccer enthusiasts in opposing lines because as one analyst said ‘there is little to choose between the two former Nigerian internationals. Is the popular saying that the voice of the people is the voice of God a truism in this instance? Did the technical committee and NFF swayed by popular opinion or was there an unseen hand in this appointment? Is the choice of Siasia over Keshi a gut decision or a gut reaction?”

Late marketing guru, Mark McCormack who authored that unique book ‘What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School’ actually described gut decision ‘as the choice you face after you’ve collected and digested all the facts while gut reaction ‘is the same choice after you’ve heard only one fact.’

On hindsight, we can safely say that Siasia’s was a gut reaction because ‘it was made ‘quickly, emotionally, and often irrationally’ while the eventual appointment of Keshi (albeit after Siasia’s fall) could be said to be a gut decision since it was ‘based on instinct and experience tempered by information and a broad sampling of opinion!’

It is for this reason that close attention is being paid to Keshi’s Eagles but we must not run away from the fact that this exercise is going to bring some heartache along the line hence my encounter with the Big Boss need be amplified.

“I think we are on the right course with our program for the development of Nigerian football despite the result in Kigali,” Keshi said in apt reference to the listless performance of the Super Eagles against Rwanda in his first competitive game in-charge of the national team. “We’ve started so well by bringing on board the local players and they have really done well in those friendly matches we played prior to the game against Rwanda.

“Think that is why Nigerians were disappointed following our drawn game against Rwanda. But this would not deter us from doing the right thing by giving the local-based players the needed opportunity to be part of the national team,” he noted.

Keshi was of the view that revolution and reengineering of the domestic game is one of the prerequisites for the gale of change needed to turn the corner for the national team, begging for patience on the part of everyone. It is not as if he’s saying anything new going back to Super Eagles’ trajectory on their way to winning the 1994 AFCON in Tunisia before exploding at the world stage when they were voted the Second Most Entertaining team at the USA’94 World Cup for instance.

Under Dutch coach, Clemens Westerhof, the Super Eagles that held everyone spellbound actually passed through the crucible of fire: the team failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup; finished as runners-up at Algiers’90; won a consolatory bronze at Senegal’92 AFCON. The fans suffered so much heartache particularly in that ill-fated opening game of the 1990 AFCON when the Fennecs of Algeria thumped the Super Eagles 4-0 but the beauty of it all that this same team made up of local-based players fought back and eventually came second after a 1-0 loss to Algeria(again) in the final. The carcasses of that team later formed the bedrock of the team that eventually gave Nigerians so much to cheer about and there is that possibility again if Keshi can be goaded to follow this tried and tested path again.

There is indeed reason to think this is the right course having watched an unheralded Chipolopolo of Zambia ruled the African continent following their penalty-shootout win against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire at 2012 AFCON.  The battle-hardened Zambians had purpose, solidarity and self sacrifice-the same point that Keshi need to stress to his wards.

“It was unrealisable before the start of the tournament and we realised we have to believe in ourselves. We were not the best team but have the strength to fight on, “Zambia’s French coach, Herve Renard noted after that historic win by Chipolopolo.”My players were magnificent. We were not the best but we had a force that has made us African champions. They might make some tactical mistakes here and there but you can see the talent."

Of course, the point has been made time and again that Nigeria is blessed with talents but we need to wait for these talents to evolve under this dispensation least we fall into the same trap that has ensnared the development of the game in recent time.

Ojeikere: ‘Writer as a hired assassin!’

At a recent  media briefing to announce the rare honour did to Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr by Manchester United, ace  broadcaster,  Mr. Toyin Ibitoye made a clarion call on Globacom to consider picking sports journalists as its Ambassadors –the same way it has done for Nollywood  guys and gals.

Not many would agree with such high-vaulting demand but the point was made recently that journalists and indeed sports journalists are role models with the choice of Mr. Ade Ojeikere, hard-hitting writer and The Nation’s Group Sports Editor as one of the 2012 Olympic Torch Bearers.    

 Last month, the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) confirmed that over 7,300 inspiring people including Ojeikere would be carrying the Flame in the Olympic Torch Relay ahead of the Games of the XXX Olympiad.  

The choice of my buddy and boss, Ojeikere indeed calls for celebration. Love him or loathe him, Ojeikere brings into the job an uncommon drive and disposition which has stood him in good stead all these years. I witnessed  at firsthand his attitude to work at the defunct National Interest Newspapers(NIN) when he assembled what we usually referred to as the ‘Dream Team’- complete with the likes of Ben Alaiya, Desmond Ekwueme, John-Joshua Akanji, Toyin Ibitoye, Onyewuchi Nwachukwu, Sam Emehelu and two ace graphics designers, Segun Fajimolu  and Shina Ogunbiyi .It was at NIN that Ojeikere earned his reputation as a ‘bull-headed’ with  the sobriquet:  ‘writer as a hired assassin’ but it was evident that he love his job with passion.

German Philosopher and Inventor, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) was quoted as saying that ‘nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.’  Undoubtedly, Ojeikere’s passion and steadfastness has been rewarded with his nomination as one of the 2012 London Olympic Games’ Torch Bearers and it is indeed his moment to shine when he has the privilege and honour to carry the Flame in Broadway on July, 1 2012.

Face-to-face with Abbas Adam Mohammed

Chrisantus comes of age

MACAULEY CHRISANTUS

Contrary to general belief, the career of Macauley Chrisantus, the Golden Shoe Award winner at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World when Nigeria conquered the world, is on a steady rise as he would soon set the German Bundesliga on fire!

Signed by Hamburger SV in 2007, Chrisantus is under apprenticeship  on loan at FSV Frankfurt in the second tier of the German Bundesliga but it is just a matter of time before he set the big stage alight. This much has been exclusively revealed to National LIFE Sport by Abbas Adam Mohammed of Matrix Sports Management who incidentally spotted Chrisantus before his global acclaim when he signed for  the German Bundesliga side despite flood of interests from top English Premier League clubs.

Mohammed is not your run of the mill soccer agent as he doubles as a mentor to most youngsters under his books and he reckons that Chrisantus has definitely turned the page for good in his German adventure. 

  “We had many offers (for Chrisantus) even from the top European clubs but we analyzed all the options and at the end of the day, the decision wasn’t mine because he went to Hamburger SV after seeing things for himself,” Mohammed stated matter-of-factly.

“How would I have taken him to Qatar at that point in his career? Today, he is very happy with the choice he made though he has not played for the main club because he has been on loan. I’m very happy too because soon and very soon, Chrisantus is going to one of the best players to come out of Nigeria. 

“He is very strong now both on and outside the pitch. He has imbibed the culture well as he could speak German fluently. He has been scoring goals too, I think he has scored about eight goals this season and this is good for his career. When he left Nigeria, he did not even know how to live on his own but he has adapted so well. Hopefully by next year, he would be qualified to be an EU citizen and that is going to help his career a great deal,” noted Mohammed who sees himself more of a mentor than a soccer agent.

 Mohammed further shed light on the perceived role of an agent vis-à-vis the role of soccer academies in youth development as the panache to the dwindling fortune of Nigerian football. Excerpts...

ABBAS MOHAMMED

How do we differentiate between an agent and a mentor? I ask because of the perceived notion that agents are cheats and they are part of the problems necessitating against youth development?

There is a marked difference between the two, though an agent can also be a mentor. Let me use myself as an example, I registered as a FIFA-licensed agent not because of the money I wanted to make. I don’t need to be an agent to be able to survive or pay my bills as I have other businesses. But we have so many agents who live on the deals they make by transferring players from one club to the other. Yet, the work of an agent is more than that. It involves managing the career projection of players in such a way that he would have so much  to fall back on long after his career is over. The truth of the matter is that not many people are in this business for the long haul rather, they want to get what they could as fast as possible. My interest in this actually started when I was schooling in England and because of my love for the game, I was ready to help some players that I found along the line but nobody was ready to deal with me because I was not an agent.  I asked questions about what was involved in being an agent and that is why I was interested. I travelled far and wide and met with notable agents, this prepare me so well because I can see things from broader perspective. In this business, reputation is the key but you would agree with me that not many agents have good reputation.

So what are the distinctions between an agent and a mentor?

Well, some people especially in Nigeria think an agent is just someone that can quickly rush in and get trials for players overseas. But the real job of an agent is a more rigorous exercise and a tougher job as it requires registration and obtaining of a license from FIFA and your home FA. It is a more specialized job that requires you to have in-depth knowledge of the game as well as having eyes for talent. An agent should know which particular player would fit into a particular club.  The job of an agent is to analyze, decide and make the right contact in order to take a player to suitable club and to ensure that both the player and family are happy about the contract. Unfortunately, most players are always in a hurry but it is also the responsibility of an agent to be able to help the players to adapt to his new environment. Those are essentials and important, but the agent can also play the role of a mentor. A mentor provides parental guidance and he is a father-figure   who has to provide both financial and moral support for anybody to succeed. He has a moral high ground to be able to provide advice and counsel based on his own past experiences in the field. Basically, an agent should be able to do this but some believe being an agent is business but I think an agent should play both roles particularly for many Nigerian youths who so not know the intricacies involved about playing abroad.

Would you agree with the notion that Nigerian players are difficult to manage?

There has been a sort of mutual distrust between players and agent over the years all because both parties were not ready to play by the rules.  Some agents would tell you that Nigerian players don’t want to stay with a particular agent for so long and as a result, they want to get whatever they could from the next available opportunity. This hardly happens in Europe or even South America whereby a player would have just a single agent throughout his entire career. This way, it helps both parties because there would be trust and respect in handling things. Agents and players need each other; it is a sort of symbiotic relationship.  Before one can be an agent, there are stringent conditions attached by FIFA. More than, having a good reputation is one of the keys in handling some of these bigger deals but there are so many desperation  on the part of so many and that has not enhanced the images of agents.

Of course, every market or country has its peculiar characteristics in terms of attitude and football culture. From my experiences, I can tell you that managing Nigerian players is very difficult because their mentality is not as strong as one would expect. Generally, there is this laxity that they are just playing football for fun but not approaching it as a career. Many don’t see football as a professional career likes that of a doctor, banker, and engineer and that there is this laisser-faire attitude which doesn’t help their career on the long run. When compared with players from South America or North Africa for instance, there is a big difference with Nigerian players. I would still go back to your earlier question about the difference between an agent and a mentor. The unfortunate thing is that   not many agents are mentors hence the tendency to cheat and exploit the players. Is this job, loyalty is key and you can see that players often stay with a particular agent if they feel he has their best interest whenever.

You talk about an agent having eyes for talent, what are those things you look for in a player?

You must have passion for the game as well as the basics in terms of tactical awareness and technical abilities. You must have the temperament and patience. Of course, no two players are the same as such an agent must be able to relate with players based on their individual differences. Would the player be able to adapt in a certain culture outside of his immediate environment?  Would he be able to cope with the riches and glamour associated with the game? There are a lot of things that be grounded with          Football and bad life don’t

 How has it been managing the career of Macauley Chrisantus because many people thought going to Germany was not the best option in the first instance?

  As a good agent, you must never close your options. A lot of players have come through Barcelona because it is one of the best clubs in the world but at the same time, other great players came out from different clubs. What I’m saying in effect is that an agent must look at all the options available and take the best for a player based on the prevailing circumstances.  Would the player have the right environment to develop his career? What are the chances that he would be catered for adequately?  First and foremost, the consideration for him was where he would go to be able to learn the rudiments since he never play in any organised league here in Nigeria. Having the talent alone was not going to be enough; he needed to go to a country where they have strong football culture. Agreed, England is considered by many as the top league in Europe but Germany has won more World Cups as well as the European Championship. Germany is also the richest country in Europe by far and they have the best regional leagues where young talents can hone their skills. They have a strong football tradition and I challenge anybody to tell me what league is better than Bundesliga in respect of these? Overall, I don’t regret the decision to take Chrisantus to the German Bundesliga.

You are one of the few fans that followed with keen interest the screening exercise of the Golden Eaglets, why are you involved?

First and foremost, I think  anybody that is passionate about football should be concerned about the  state of Nigerian football and  I believe  we  can no longer fold our hands rather, we must do all the best we can do for the development and growth of the game. The Under-17 level should be the bedrock of our national team and it is important that we raise fresh talents because age and time is no longer on the side of many of our today’s star. Of course as a mentor and a FIFA-licensed agent, I’m interested  in  young players and this  screening exercise for the Golden Eaglets has given  us  the opportunity to see the level at which we are  in  unearthing new talents.  I think this is a fantastic team in terms of commitment and humble people who are committed to doing their jobs very well.  I have seen dedication, I’ve seen commitment and I think this team would succeed. I’m not talking about winning tournaments but if we can just have four or five good players from this Golden Eaglets, the job is done. 

Is there any reason to be hopeful based on what you have seen?

Of course, yes. There are reasons to be hopeful because we have seen many young, talented players during this screening exercise and I must commend the coaches for being patient enough to see each of these players show what they are capable of doing.  I think the essence of this programme was discovery of new players and on the evidence of what we have seen so far, there is light around the tunnel. I have followed this exercise from the first day because I want to see things for myself because most of other top soccer playing countries on the continent have left us behind in terms of youth development.  For instance, you can’t compare us with Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and even South Africa in terms of youth development. We no longer have a large pool of talented young players that can take over  from the  established ones in the national team today  and  that should give all of us some worries.

 But there is this impression that  we have abundant talents coupled with the fact that there are so many soccer academies spread all over the country....

I don’t subscribe to that. I have been privileged and opportune to visit so many notable clubs in Europe and beyond and the truth of the matter is that we have not even scratched the surface as per establishment of a proper soccer academy. What we have all over the place are just mushrooms and I don’t think it would help us on the long run. Take for instance, the ASEC Mimosas () academy in Cote d’Ivoire, they have perfect things so much so that the bulk of players in the Ivorian national team passed through the academy. We can’t compare the calibre of players that have come through ASEC with the quality of players that have been discovered through over thousands of academies in Nigeria for instance. Nigeria is no longer the first choice when it comes to looking of fresh players by top European clubs for obvious reasons. The academies are not well structured and funded and that makes it difficult for proper planning. Most clubs and agents prefer to go to Ghana, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire and I believe there would be a huge interest in Zambia after their young team won the African Cup of Nations. So the truth of the matter is that we have lagged behind too long and we need a new approach at redressing the inherent problems in our football. We need a new focus and strategy.

You speak so glowingly about ASEC and I know we have  some other  big academies like Feyenoord in Ghana, Ajax Cape town in South Africa, why is it difficult for Nigeria to key-in into such arrangement?

Part of the problems is that people are finding it difficult to come to Nigeria to do business here and that is the honest truth. Let me share this recent experience had with officials of Red Bull from Austria who have established an academy in Ghana. I actually asked them ‘why not establish an academy in Nigeria?’ But I was told that the government of Ghana provided them with land guarantees and other incentives that make it easier to establish the academy there. Other investors look over Nigeria because of political instability because most investors would look at the country’s risk analyses compiled by international agencies as well as foreign embassies which unfortunate, might not be favourable at times. They have gone to other countries where they think things are favourable.

Marching with Golden Eaglets

Marching with Golden Eaglets

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

L-R: Olarinoye, Garba, Amuneke, Ugbade, Amadi and Oyegunna

First, my apology for taking a French leave on this page as it were but this was actually due to ‘circumstances beyond my control.’ Too many things actually contrived against me and in the milieu, I suffered what is generally termed as the writer’s block in spite of the fact that many things were happening in quick succession.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German Philosopher was quoted as saying that ‘the strongest have their moments of fatigue’ and I was left thinking aloud like Laine Moriarty: ‘I'm so tired of trying and trying and trying. I don't have anything left. I'm done. I would like to go to sleep for a year or two.’

Where would I get or who would grant me such luxury? So, it’s good to be back at a time when so many things are happening on the horizon with some bothering on the very foundation of Nigerian sports. Yet, nothing catches my fancy as much as the experience garnered over my recent working visit to the camp of the national Under-17 team where players that would make up the Golden Eaglets for the upcoming African U-17 Youth Championship to be hosted by Morocco in 2013 were screened. 

When I was appointed by the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) as the media officer of the team last year, I knew that this was not going to be a piece of the cake knowing the criticisms and controversies  that had trailed past experiences particularly over the vexed issue of age cheating in age-grade competitions. I was not deluded that this was going to be a simple exercise given my own past condemnation of the win-at-all cost syndrome which had pushed many coaches to pick players who had past their prime in previous exercise. A friend actually reminded me about my scathing remarks (Eaglets won...and so what?) when Nigeria won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup for the third time in 2007; adding ‘we wait to see how you’re going to handle this dilemma.’

Recall that we have repeatedly said here that the U-17 World Cup was just a means to an end but not an end itself. The tournament was designed by the world soccer governing body, FIFA, so that countries could discover new talents for their respective national teams but that point has been sorely missed so much so that all kinds of tricks were being used to ‘acquire’ success. Regrettably, Nigeria and her West African counterparts, Ghana, have won five U-17 World Championship but one begins to wonder why both countries have not won the real thing –d in his usual soft-spoken style. “God would not forgive us if we pick players based on factors other than what they are capable of doing on the pitch.”

On the pitch, there was plenty to talk about with Coach Nduka Ugbade (MON) leading the team out on a regular basis. The session was fun-filled for the youngsters with the coaches spicing things up with the Spanish, Italian and German languages to show the cosmopolitan set up of the Golden Eaglets. In fact, the most common expression within the rank and file of the Golden Eaglets today is: ‘Use the line.’ This was actually coined by Coach Emmanuel Amuneke (MON) and despite his no-nonsense attitude, he was truly liked by many youngsters who were inspired by his own rag-to-riches story.

“The truth is that it is not every one of you that would make it by being part of this Golden Eaglets,” Amuneke said with a measure of sincerity. “I did not play for the National Under-17 team yet I eventually played for the Super Eagles. So it is not the end of the world if you fail to make it at this level. You can still make it to the top even if you don’t this time around.”

Despite the seriousness of the job at hand, there is so much camaraderie within the team and this became so evident when the team’s coordinator, Abubakar Suleiman broke his shoulder during a practice session with his colleagues at All Stars FC of Abuja. The grief that enveloped the camp that night was palpable which reinforces the belief that there must be a unity of purpose for any enterprise to bode well.

 Lest I forget, there is this unique chemistry between the ‘godfather' and the ‘godson’- Coach Emeka Amadi and Physiotherapist, Gabriel Oyegunna. Amadi’s genial personae usually spice things up.

How can I forget the untiring efforts of our super secretary-Tayo Egbaiyelo of the NFF. He brings an uncommon devotion to the job telling everyone: ‘We are condemned to succeed.’ Ditto for Dr. Ayodeji Olarinoye who ensured that we all stayed healthy throughout the rigorous exercise. My tag-team in camp ironically, is the equipment’s manager; Mohammed Kafa-he was always pulling me aside asking: ‘Oga Moraks, do you think we have a team? What do you think of that player? Are you impressed with what the coaches are doing?’  

I’m equally impressed with the way so many former Nigerian internationals have rallied behind the team with solidarity visits. From the Big Boss, Stephen Keshi to former Golden Eaglets’ star, Peter Ogaba, the tenor of the message was the same: ‘You guys have what it takes to succeed on this job.’

 “I must confess to you that I really like the combination of coaches for the Golden Eaglets because they all played football locally and at the international level,” Keshi said at a breakfast meeting. “The Under-17 level is the foundation for the national team and having this crop of coaches here means that our young players would be exposed to many things at this level.”

These same sentiments were stressed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the supervising Sports Minister and National Sports Commission (NSC) Chairman, when he paid an unscheduled visit during one of the team’s training sessions.

He lamented the decadent past urging the coaches to do the right thing and that he would be there all the way to support the team all the way: “I was worried about what used to be the case in the past when we said we were assembling players for Under-17 only to find players who are over-aged in the team.

“The reason for coming is to see things for myself because there is nothing big in Nigeria winning the Under-17 World Cup tournament again. Our emphasis now should be on development and rebuilding our football and I’m going to support this team.”

 Despite initial misgivings, the screening exercise was a resounding success and I belief it would serve as foundation for greater things to come for the Golden Eaglets and Nigerian football in general. More later.