former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu
As the appointment of Samson Siasia as Super Eagles coach continues to elicit cheers and applause from Nigerians, a former international Christian Chukwu has warned the new manager must live up to the giant expectations.
Tunisia‘94 Nations Cup winner Siasia on December 1 assumed duties as Nigeria coach after penning a N5m-a-month two-year deal with the Nigeria Football Federation in Abuja.
His immediate task is to win a ticket to the 2012 Nations Cup to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. He also faces a challenge to build a formidable squad for the tournament.
Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, former Green Eagles captain Chukwu, who was Dutch coach Clemens Westerhof‘s assistant when Nigeria won the 1994 Nations Cup, urged Siasia not to get too carried away in the moment.
”The praises he has been getting will put him under pressure,” Chukwu, who coached the Eagles to a third-place finish at the 2004 Nations Cup in Tunisia, said.
”Siasia should know now that Nigerians expect much from him and he must work hard to meet the high expectations.
”Certainly, he has a lot of work to do and my appeal to Nigerians is to allow him settle down.”
The former Enugu Rangers captain, who was a member of the panel that interviewed Siasia and Stephen Keshi for the job, dismissed the reports that the latter performed woefully at the interview.
The NFF Technical Committee member said, ”It wasn‘t that Siasia‘s presentation was better than of Keshi, or that both presented something other Nigerian coaches don‘t know.
”They did well, and it happened that Siasia was given the job. He‘s the peoples‘ choice.
”Siasia‘s knowledge of the domestic league gave him the job.
”He‘s been on ground and knows the players, unlike Keshi who has been outside the country for a long time.
”We‘re serious about the domestic league and getting some of the players into the national team.
”We believe is that if the home-based players know they will be given an opportunity to play in the senior national team they will not go to some funny countries in the name of professional football.
”We believe Siasia will involve the home-based players in his programme.”
Source:http://www.punchng.com/
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