Sunday, October 16, 2011

Yakubu Aiyegbeni wants Siasia replaced


Blackburn Rovers' striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni has passed a damning verdict saying that Nigeria head coach, Samson Siasia should leave his post.

Aiyegbeni's reaction in an interview on Brila FM on Thursday morning comes after Nigeria's Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The former Everton man also believes that the blame lies at the doorstep of Siasia and he should accept responsibility for the country's failure to claim a spot at the Afcon.

Aiyegbeni, 28, also holds the view that Stephen Keshi can turn out to be a perfect replacement for Siasia.

He said: "He (Siasia) failed to take the team to the Nations Cup. Unlike coach Christian Chukwu who took the team to the Nations Cup and still got sacked or another that took the team to the World Cup. So he (Siasia) should go and they (the Nigeria Football Federation) should bring in a technical adviser, may be a person like Stephen Keshi.

"The manager didn't do well so they should look for another person to take the opportunity."

The striker, who has been blacklisted from the Super Eagles since his infamous miss against South Korea at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, said missing the Afcon is disappointing for Nigeria.

He added that the players will feel the pain more when the Africa Cup of Nations gets underway in January.

"It's sad that we will not be there (at the Afcon)," he lamented. "For the players they don't know what has happened to them right now. By January they will know what they will be missing."

However, Aiyegbeni refused to lay into the players saying that it is the prerogative of the coach to know when a player is having a bad day in the office.

He pointed to his miss against South Korea at the World Cup as an example.

"A striker misses and scores goals, which are part of the game. When I missed a goal at the World Cup I was criticised. Even (Fernando) Torres too missed his own too. But it is still the coach that will go if any of this happens," he said.

The NFF Technical Committee will meet in Abuja on Thursday to decide on the future of Siasia amidst clamour from Nigerian fans for his sack.

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