Kini Big Deal about Siasia's N3M/Month Salary?

Oh yeah! What's the big deal? 


What's all the noise about Siasia earning N3M/month? When did we start hating to love ourselves so much? I know we can draw similarities from Europe, though we have seen some of them employing austerity measures, but common.

Siasia for all i care has got more to offer Nigerians than the so-called honourable Senators in Abuja, even more than Mr. Goodluck Jonathan with due respect. If there is anything that makes Nigerians genuinely happy and love to be called "Nigerian", it is the success of the Super Eagles. For me, what makes Nigerians happy is all that matters.

You can not blame a people for seeking solace in football, when everything else in the country smacks of sorrow and hopelessness.

Samson Siasia will earn $20,000 a month if he accepts the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) offer to handle the Super Eagles for the next four years. Surprisingly, some people have come out to say it is too much. I bet Siasia's annual salary doesn't come near to the take home of an obscure senator in a month in the National Assembly who since 2007 has contributed nothing of note to national development.


“Siasia actually asked for a sign-on fee of $1million, monthly salary of N15 million, a house, a brand new car with a driver and a cook too. He was accompanied by his lawyer in the discussion with the board.

“After much pressure he reduced the amount to N12 million but the board said they can't pay more than N2million but later increased it to N3millon.

“He however said he would come back to meet with us after his CAF Champions League assignment in Egypt with Heartland.

“He cited the contracts of Lars Largerback, the one of Berti Vogts and Shuaibu Amodu too. He said he is coming to handle a national team and he is confident and ready to do a good job so his case should not be different,” a top NFF official said.

Another official said: “Sincerely speaking, I think the N3 million is too small compared with what others before him were paid.

“But there is now a three-man committee set up by the board to discuss with his lawyer on the way forward.”?

I will wager on siasia. He's better than all the people mentioned above. Its simple, siasia has achieved more for Nigeria than any of the above mentioned names. The NFF should motivate him to perform. That N3/M is too meagre for the burden of responsibility. We all can recall how Siasia funded the under-20 team with his personal money. Let's not put him in a situation where he'll have to do that again. I believe if Siasia is given a free hand and enough time, we all will be happy with the outcome.

Lagerback took home $300,000 (about N45 million) for each of the five months he was in charge of the Eagles, while Shuaibu Amodu was on N2million a month . Amodu was also entitled to double the players' win bonuses. Now, can someone tell me what the heck is so special about Lars Lagerback? Is it just the skin? How can you have such a difference in pay for two men doing the same job.
Gimme a break! Common Sia One. You are the man!

Lars Lagerback: Profile

Lars Lagerbäck

Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck (born 16 July 1948 in Katrineholm, Sweden) is a Swedish football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Nigerian Super Eagles.

He is best known as the former manager of the Sweden National Team. ^[1] He managed the Swedish National Team from 1998 until 2009 leading Sweden in five consecutive championships. He resigned as manager in 2009 after Sweden's failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Contents:
1. Career
2. Managing Career
3. References
4. External links

Lasse Lagerbäck

Personal information
Full name	Lars Edvin Lagerbäck
Date of birth	16 July 1948 (age 61)
Place of birth	Katrineholm, Sweden
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1960-1969	Alby FF
1970-1974	Gimonäs CK
Teams managed
1977-1982	Kilafors IF
1983-1985	Arbrå BK
1987-1989	Hudiksvalls ABK
1990-1995	Sweden U21
1996-1997	Sweden B
1998-1999	Sweden (assistant)
2000-2009	Sweden
2010-	Nigeria
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

1. Career

As youth, Lagerbäck played for Alby FF. When he was 13 years-old, he began playing for their P16 team. In 1970, he left and moved to Gimonäs CK under the guidance of Calle Lindelöf. ^[2] He continued to play there until 1974. ^[3] In 1974, he attended Gynastik and Idrottshögskolan (GIH), where he was a classmate of current assistant coach Roland Andersson.

2. Managing Career

2. 1. Club

In 1977, he was called up to the senior team. It was former teammate Kjell Pettersson that recommended him to Kilafors. He coached the Division IV team until 1982. In 1983, he moved to Arbrå IK until 1985. In 1987, he takes over Hudiksvall ABK but leaves by 1989. ^[4]

2. 2. Sweden

In 1990, Lagerbäck takes a job with the Swedish Football Association. He began to coach the junior levels which included Fredrik Ljungberg. He helped Tommy Svensson and Tord Grip with Swedish National Team. ^[5]

In 1996, Lagerbäck takes over Sweden B national team, until 1997. In 1998, Tommy Söderberg takes him on as assistant coach for the Swedish National Team. In 2000, he is promoted to dual-coach, a responsibility he would share with Söderberg until 2004. ^[6] Under his guidance, the Swedish National Team qualified for the Euro 2000 but lost in the group stages.

In 2002, he led Sweden to the World Cup where Sweden was in 'group death'. Sweden lost against Senegal. In 2004, Sweden qualified for their third straight championship. In the Euro 2004, Sweden made it to the quarter-finals where they lost against Holland. ^[7] That same year, Tommy Söderberg left the Swedish National Team to coach the U21 Team.

After the departure of Söderberg, Lagerbäck appointed Roland Andersson as assistant coach. In 2006, Lagerback took Sweden to their fourth consecutive championship, the first time in Swedish history. He led Sweden to the 2006 World Cup, losing against Germany 2-0 in the knockout stage. ^[8] Under Lagerbäck, Sweden also qualified for UEFA Euro 2008, however they were eliminated in the group stage after losing 2-0 against Russia. The team's early dismissal from the tournament led sport columnists to ask Lagerbäck to be sacked.. ^[9] Despite this, he signed an extension, which would keep him until the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign. After Sweden's unsuccessful qualification campaign for this summer's World Cup in South Africa, Lagerbäck resigned. ^[10] .

2. 3. Nigeria

On 26 February, 2010, he signed a 5 month (renewable) contract that would see him lead Nigeria to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa. ^[11]

Strengths: Lagerback earned a good reputation during his time in charge of Sweden, creating a well-drilled, hard-working team that was capable of securing results against sides with superior squads. It is understood that he was given the post after impressing the interview panel with his in-depth knowledge of Nigerian football, suggesting he is as well equipped to deal with the limited preparation time as could be hoped from a foreign candidate arriving a matter of months before the tournament.

Weaknesses: In 2007, Lagerback told the official FIFA website: "Certainly, I believe in continuity, and I think that national teams benefit from it every bit as much as clubs - if not more. After all, we don't work with our players every day like club coaches do, so it's vital to know those players inside-out, and it's only after some time you can achieve that." Although he has clearly done his research, Lagerback has very little time to get to know the players and he will struggle to experiment with tactics should his initial plans fail to succeed. The fact that his contract could well expire after the World Cup also does little to help promote a sense of stability about the side, plus in a country that expects a lot from its team, his conservative brand of football may fail to garner support.

Career high: Sweden were at their best under Lagerback during Euro 2004, when they thrashed Bulgaria 5-0 in their opening match before qualifying for the knockout stage at the expense of Italy, only exiting when they were beaten by Netherlands on penalties in the second round.

Career low: Having reached five successive tournaments in his time with Sweden, he will have been deeply disappointed at the failure to qualify for this year's World Cup, particularly as Scandinavian rivals Denmark topped the group.

Tactics: With Sweden, Lagerback favoured the 4-1-3-2 formation, with one defensive midfielder and three attacking midfielders, using the full backs to supply the width and he could well adopt a similar system in his new role. There is an issue with the lack of creative talent at present, but Lagerback made Sweden a very solid, hard-to-beat side and, given the constant changes and lack of discipline during Shaibu Amodu's recent spell, his approach should be of real benefit.

Quotes: "From what I have seen in Nigerian players, they have good individual skills and I know that the team needs to be organised - it needs to be disciplined - but, for me as a coach, I think the individual skills can do really well in the World Cup."

Trivia: Lagerback is often called 'Lasse', a common nickname for Swedes named Lars.

WC prediction: Lagerback has been set a target of reaching the semi-finals, but he is experienced enough to know that is very ambitious indeed. In a group with Argentina, Greece and South Korea, they have every chance of making it to the second round, but they will have to adapt to their new coach's methods quickly if they are to make any impression on the tournament.

Amodu Shuaibu Release Final Super Eagles Team List

Amodu Shuibu released final list of Super Eagles to Angola.
What do you guys think, is this the dream team?
Nigeria's squad list:

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel) Bamidele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda, Israel) Austin Ejide (unattached)

Defenders: Joseph Yobo (Everton, England), Danny Shittu (Bolton, England) , Obinna Nwaneri and Yusuf Mohammed (both FC Sion, Switzerland) Taye Taiwo (Marseille, France) Elderson Echiejile (Rennes, France), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Onyekachi Apam (Nice, France).

Midfielders: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth, England), John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham, England) Sani Kaita (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia) Yusuf Atanda Ayila (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Oluwaseyi George Olofinjana (Hull City, England), Kalu Uche (Almeria, Spain).

Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton, England), Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia), Michael Eneramo (Esperance, Tunisia), Obinna Nsofor (Malaga, Spain), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg, Germany).

Tunis-Super Eagles Last Chance Of Redemtion

Each time i come online to place a post about the super eagles, i can't help hating myself for having so much pessimism about our chances of qualification for the world cup. I know by now many who are frequent readers of my blog may have started hating me already especially for being "so unpatriotic".

You never know. You probably don't want the Super Eagles to have a good outing as much as i do.
From the beginning, my problem has been with the penchant of our NFF to set the bar so low when it should be high and so high when it should be low.

Till tomorrow, i will maintain that the decision to appoint Amodu as the Eagles coach was a blunder. I do not think the eagles should be worrying about qualifying for the world cup but rather, how far they will go at the world cup.
We have failed to plan once again, and now we hear trumpet blowers telling whoever cares to hear that everyone should rally round Amodu. While i have no problem with that, i maintain it wouldn't have been necessary especially at this stage we have done our home work and made the right decisions when we had time on our side.

Our dream should be surpassing our previous records at the world cup and if the NFF had that in mind, they should have known that the current technical crew headed by Amodu Shuaibu has not the technical-know-how to achieve that.
So for me it is painful and derogatory that we are once again at the mercy of another country as far as our world cup campaign is concerned. I am afraid! I don't just want to think it.

May we qualify i hope. At this moment for me, i am already thinking of the next world cup for i know that even if we manage to qualify, this team really has nothing to offer. Amodu dosen't have it. We should all hold the NFF responsible.

Did Amodu Shuaibu Fail His First Real Test? : Columbia1-0 Nigeria

Within 24 hours Nigeria's football teams, male and female put out an uninspiring display in Cali, Columbia and Malabo, Equitorial Guinea respectively. Well the Falcons are in danger of not qualifying from the tournament's group stages for the first time. For the falcons, commentators across the country have given several reasons why the Falcons have played two games against Ghana and Tunisia and garnered just 2 points. They now must win against a well poised South African team who defeated Ghana 2-1. Whether that is possible is yet to be seen.

In Far away Cali, Columbia, a more appalling situation occurred, though it was a friendly match, it was enough to show that as usual we are set for failure to qualify for the world cup, and if we do qualify,it may be just another charade of just showing up to be counted in the world cup without any genuine intentions to create an impact. That will be true if we continue the way it is currently. Yes, we missed some players but when i saw the line up, it was actually a 'strong' team that set out to play in Cali. With the likes of Austin Ejide, Onyekachi Apam, Danni Shittu, Taye Taiwo, Christian Obodo, Sanni Keita, Solomon Okoronkwo, Chinedu Ogbuche, Ikechukwu Uche, Uche Kalu, Kanu Nwankwo, Obina Nsofor, Yakubu Ayegbeni all featuring, the technical crew probably has no excuse as far as availability of players is concerned. Nigeria is such a big football nation that, the absence of John Mikel Obi, Joseph Yobo, Obafemi Martins, Osaze and Vincent Enyeama alone should be insignificant.

For the entire duration of 90 minutes i think the super Eagles was at the receiving end. If anyone has a contrary opinion, it could be that i was watching a different game. I set the alarm on my Nokia E61 phone to wake me up at exactly 3.00 am and as expected it didn't fail me(i was sure its traditional 70s ring tone will wake me up). The reason i was so determined to watch this game was so i can have a fair idea and opportunity to give the players and technical crew an unbiased judgement. The team's performance this morning was far below average. They played with no aggression to win and sparingly troubled the Columbian goalie. Whereas Austin Ejide was called to action from the start to finish and i must say that he made some silly mistakes but who wouldn't under that amount of consistent pressure from an obviously superior Columbians.The fact that the score line stayed that low was mostly due to his heroics at goal; I think the players did all they could especially in defence where Danny Shittu and Nwaneri were never allowed a moment of rest as Camilla kept probing centrally.

For some reasons the midfield just didn't click and even when Nsofor tries to make a run along the lines, such runs always ended abruptly probably due to lack of ideas as none seems to be coming off the bench. Nwankwo Kanu was thoroughly marked and kept quiet for 90 minutes.

A more disgraceful event was Sanni Keita's sending off as the team and the entire bench protested what i think was a beautiful goal scored by the Columbians- a well deserved one- it was just a matter of time. I was really surprised! They all protested so vehemently i started doubting what i saw despite watching four replays of that goal. AIT wasn't very clear on my TV so I hope to have a fifth look at that goal. They just might be right but even if they were and the game ended goalless, we have seen enough already to know that the technical crew has nothing to offer Nigerians

We have been celebrating wins against teams like Uganda, south Africa and Equitorial Guinea and for me, this was Amodu's first real test. Who isn't doing something right, Amodu, NFF or the Players? Definitely not the players!

Please leave your comments.

Fatai Amoo on Obagol, Ogbuke Plus Probable End to English Euro Dominance

Super Eagles’ assistant coach, Fatai Amoo, is feeling up beat about the scoring form of Newcastle of England’s Obafemi Martins and Hoffenheim of Germany’s Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi in their club football and the fact that they have now won a place in the hearts of their respective coaches.

Both players have only scored four goals each for their clubs and i don't think that is enough for us all to start jubilating. We have seen it before when Obafemi in particular came out blazing and then the expectations rise, but he suddenly went under. Amoo, an ex-international, said he is very impressed with their performances. That is expected from a coach any way, but we all know the truth. Not that i am being a pessimist.

We will be able to know if it is time for huhuru when they perform against credible opposition if the rumoured friendly games ever come to be.

Amoo said he is happy that the players have hit form for their clubs, and if they can maintain their present form when the final round of the 2010 World/Nations Cup qualifying series kicks off it will be good for the country. That's what i mean-transferring that form to country

“I’m excited seeing the players scoring for their clubs,” Amoo said. “This is a good development for the boys and the country, if they keep this present form intact,” he said.

On whether Martins, a former Inter Milan of Italy forward, can still reclaim the top striker's spot in the super Eagles from Getafe of Spain’s Ikechukwu Uche, he declined  to comments.

“Martins is one of the Super Eagles’ players invited for the international friendly match against Colombia, the question of him getting back the number 9 jersey will depend on his performance during training.”

In Europe the scare and poor performances of English teams continued yesterday after Liverpool secured a scrappy win against Athletico Madrid and Chelsea lost incredibly to Roma. Yesterday saw Arsenal once again failed to deliver despite having most of the possession dropping two valuable points in a goalless draw at the Emirates against Fernanache. Manchester United secured a late goal away to celtic with a Ryan Giggs header to saved them from an Ugly draw. Are teams finally finding an answer to England's Euro dominanation?

Siasia: The Bolton Challenge

Samson Siasia is one coach from Nigeria whose rise to stardom has come somewhat sudden considering the fact that most of his mates (the famous 1994 team) who have also ventured into coaching are yet to get the limelight as much as he has.

How dedication pays! Siasia in my understanding has achieved all that he's achieved today not due to any special assistance from the NFA but by his own personal conviction to succeed and the reason he went all out despite a lingering dearth of resources, provided for his lads and inspired them to WYC final against Argentina in 2005 and would have won but for the referee's controversial penalties awarded the south Americans.

I knew Siasia was destined for great things when despite how glaring it was that the referee's decisions was what denied his team the trophy, he chooses to blame the lack of professionalism of his lads instead.That was the first real sign this man is a professional. I am however not surprised he has continued to rise up the ladder of the big coaches. He knows how to pick his job. He doesn't just take a job because he needs the pay but appraises the situation to know whether he can impact in the status quo.

Whether he finally gets the nod to take Bolton next season or not, the truth remains that, to even be considered is great honor. I have no doubt in my mind Siasia can deliver at Reebok Stadium.

Do you think Siasia can perform at Bolton? Let's here your comments.

Amodu Shuaibu: Definitely The Wrong Man

I have never for one minute been deceived that Amodu Shuaibu is the best coach for the Super Eagles. As a matter of fact, Amodu does not have what it takes to thinker the super Eagles.
It is natural for people to argue that, after all he's very experience but the question is what did his experience bring to us while he was at the helm of affairs.

Why was he sacked in the first place if he was performing so so well. Are we now saying we are being forced due to circumstances to accept what was not good enough for us in the past?
Amodu was sacked for under performance, what sense does it make bringing a man you have once sacked for failure back into the fold?
Even if Samson Siasia refused, which i think he should in order to concentrate on Dream Team IV, there sure should be someone else good enough. Twice we have gone back to our vomits to hire Amodu and at the end what? We get nothing. All we do is allow him chill out for a while and then bring him back to continue with the same old thing and where he left off.
Coaches are hired based not just on an on-lookers experience but past achievement at the same level he's expected to work.
With Amodu, i don't see us moving a step further than the disgrace of Ghana 2008.

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