Nigeria caretaker head coach Shaibu Amodu believes that Stephen Keshi should have been allowed to take charge of the remaining Afcon matches.
Amodu explained to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday that he is of the view that Keshi could have qualified Nigeria for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations if he had been given the opportunity to handle next month's matches against Congo and South Africa.
The former BCC Lions trainer also thinks allowing Keshi to stay on for the two Afcon qualifying matches would have been a good avenue "to appraise him properly."
The 56-year-old, however, expressed shock at being appointed the coach of the African champions in spite of telling the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to exercise patience in Keshi at the time.
Amodu stated that he clearly told the NFF that he was keen on occupying the office of the head, technical department.
“Personally, I believed that it was not over yet for my colleague, Stephen Keshi, because if enough patience was shown for him to prosecute the remaining two matches, I am sure he could have probably seen us through. That would have allowed us to appraise him properly.
“But a decision was taken even after I made efforts to allow my colleague to continue in the midst of the situation then. It seemed to me that superior reasoning prevailed over my own sentiment.
"I preferred to head the technical department having been appointed to that role three years ago. But I've been offered the (Super Eagles) job to salvage the situation despite making my position clear to the NFF president. We will do our best," said Amodu.
Amodu is expected to pick players from a 66-man list for the Afcon qualification matches against Congo and South Africa on November 15 and 19 respectively.
SOURCE: supersport.com