Ngr vs Rwa: NFF weighs Keshi, temporarycoach

The Nigeria Football Federation members are considering retaining Stephen Keshi for Nigeria’s next match which is a qualification game for the 2015 Africa Nations Cup match fixed for September or use another coach for the game. The NFF members are now certain that negotiations with Keshi for contract renewal may not be over until after that match which has now left them with the option of asking Keshi to continue until the final decision is taken or use another coach on a temporary basis, The PUNCH has learnt. Both sides got through the early stages of the negotiation with Keshi affirming his interest to continue on the job on Monday. His initial contract expired with the 2014 World Cup. A former Super Eagles coach Christian Chukwu who is also a member of the NFF technical committee said that the country could make use of a temporary handler for the men’s senior national team if the contract talks with coach Keshi foot drags. Chukwu, who handled the team between 2003 and 2005, said that if the contract talks seem to witness any bottleneck, the federation should not hesitate to hire a temporary coach who will handle the team till the contract talks are resolved between Keshi and the NFF. He said, “There can never be a vacuum in nature, if they hurry up with Keshi and finalise the deal quick enough, it is good and better. “But if there is a bottleneck anywhere along the line, we need to bring in people who can handle the team in a temporary capacity till it is resolved. Some coaches can do the job at least till we play the first match. “When the contract has then been finalised, the coach can step aside for Keshi to continue his job.” The former Enugu Rangers defender added that the Eagles’ group in the qualifiers is not as easy as imagined by some people. The Eagles have been drawn in Group A along with Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan. “There is no group that is easy. For the other countries to get to this stage, it means that they have worked hard and have good teams to do the job for them. Also, there is no small team in football anywhere. “What we need to do is put our house in order and face the qualifiers with the zeal needed to prosecute the matches.” Nigeria will face Rwanda in the first match of the qualifying series on September 5