“Drastic” NFF! Samson Siasia returns to manage U-23 national team

Just as the sacking of Stephen Keshi was concluded, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday appointed another former Super Eagles player and handler, Samson Siasia as the new coach of Nigeria’s Under-23 team.

The decision was part of the many taken by the football body at its Executive Committee meeting which started on Wednesday and ended in the early hours of Thursday.

Siasia was coach of the same side in 2008 when he won won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The final reminds us of the “birth” of Angel Di Maria who scored Argentina’s lone goal to beat Nigeria.

The former Super Eagles coach, had in September, expressed his readiness and willingness to  manage the Super Eagles if approached by the NFF. We recall that he was axed after failing to qualify the country for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

DailyNewsWatch had quoted him as saying:"I have been there before and I did my best. Yes, I am always ready to come back and continue from where I stopped.

"Honestly, I will be delighted to come back if the Nigeria football authorities need my services. I have learnt my lessons and this time round I am ready to shame my critics. I had no time to prove myself with the team.

"I was there for only 10 months, which was not enough. It takes time to build a good team. Of course it is a thing of pride to be the coach once again.

"I have always felt I’ve an unfinished business with the Super Eagles considering the way I left. We had a great team that I could have built on for the future, but I was denied the opportunity and I really felt bad about it.”