I Deserve Some Respect – Amodu

Under-fire Nigeria coach, Shuaibu Amodu says he has earned the right to treated with respect by the fans and media alike.

Amodu qualified Nigeria for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but has failed to convince the fans, and is barely tolerated by the local media, many of whom have wasted little time calling for him to be fired and replaced with a foreign manager.

“What they are doing is disrespectful, not only to me, but also to the thousands of local coaches in this country,” Amodu told Tidesports source

“We have qualified this country for the World Cup for the second time. The first time, things had gone so bad that it took a lot of hard work and personal sacrifices both from the players and the coaches to get us there.

As a club coach, Amodu won domestic and continental titles with BCC Lions, and has racked up an impressive competitive record as Nigeria coach, losing just one competitive game in his four spells at the helm, spanning 29 games.

Jis only loss was to the surging Senegal team that went on to beat France enroute to reaching the World Cup quarterfinals, and Amodu insists that those numbers should be enough to earn him credit.

“If they cannot respect me for what I have achieved both as a club coach and national team coach, then they cannot respect any other local coach.”

Calls have been growing increasing strident on the need for a foreign ‘Technical Adviser’,  Amodu says he has no objections.

“I am not saying they should not bring their technical adviser, but they should learn to respect those of us who have given everything and achieved a lot with a fraction of the resources that would be spent on a foreign coach.”