Since his re-appointment as Chief Coach of the senior national team, Stephen Keshi has been treading cautiously and trying to avoid the mistakes of the past, by making sure that he gets his acts together in his third stint in charge of the Super Eagles.
And for fear of failure in the tasks ahead, Keshi is expected to open camp for players in the domestic league this month, ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in Abuja against Chad in June.
According to close sources, the “big boss” said he needs to start camping for the home-based players on time, with the fixtures for the AFCON qualifiers grouping Nigeria with Egypt, Chad and Tanzania.
“We need to start camping early in May, by the special grace of God, because time is not on our side again, since the fixtures for the AFCON 2017 qualifiers have been released by CAF.
“We will definitely start off with the players based here in Nigeria and move on until the required time the overseas clubs can release our players for us.”
Our source said Keshi would be expecting the players to hit Abuja camp as from Sunday, May 17, since the players would be involved in weekend matches for their various clubs in the local league in the country.
His words: “The camp is expected to kick off middle of May, since we will be playing our first qualifying match at home in Abuja to Chad on June 13.
“So the players are expected to start arriving camp after their league matches on Saturday, May 16. So we should expect them to be available on Sunday, May 17.”
Keshi was expected to have submitted his programme to the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Former Super Eagles forward, Jonathan Akpoborie, had tipped Keshi to fail after his confirmation last month.
Akpoborie does not see the former Super Eagles captain succeeding as coach of the Super Eagles and criticised the NFF for the way they handled the contract signing of Keshi.
He said: “The way things are now, I don’t think he has anything to offer our Super Eagles at this time. If everybody faulted Samson Siasia for not qualifying for AFCON 2012, because our Super Eagles must get results, how then can you celebrate another’s failure by offering him a new contract?
“With the way it is now, I am not saying we should not watch the Super Eagles; but I will not stop short of saying people should boycott the team, to inform the NFF that their decision was wrong.
“The quality of football they played the last time was not good. What experience has he added to convince anybody that things will change?” Akpoborie queried.
Keshi signed a two-year contract on Tuesday, April 21, on his third stint with the team.
In his first spell, he won the 2013 AFCON, but the deal was not renewed after the 2014 World Cup.
He later returned on a match-by-match deal, which ended in November after failure to reach the 2015 Nations Cup.
The Super Eagles have been drawn in one of the seemingly toughest groups, alongside seven-time champion, Egypt, as well as Tanzania and Chad for the AFCON 2017 qualifiers.
