Can Coach Eric Chelle Chisel 6 Points Out of The World Cup Qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin?

Okay, you solve a problem, but another rears its all-too-familiar ugly head.

Injured Osayi-Samuel is replaced, but the lack of a recognisable right full-back persists. Out of interest, I looked up the stats of Tyrone Ebuehi (remember him? the one-time heartthrob of many a Super Eagles fan), and, to my surprise, he has been burning rubber for Empoli in the Italian Serie B this season.

However, as rust is to iron, injury has been to what was once a glittering international career for Ebuehi, eroding his attributes, leaving behind a hollow shell of what he once brought to the table.

But, at 29 years of age, from this shell can still emerge the oyster of rejuvenation, recovery and rebirth. So I will encourage our national team handlers not to overlook him totally as playing regularly in Italy warrants consideration.

Enough on Ebuehi and to the World Cup qualifiers at hand.

I am completely sold on Chelle and will be all too happy for him to stay beyond this World Cup qualification campaign. Let's be honest though, he was never the right man for this sort of rescue mission which his glaring shortcomings in in-game management, team selection and substitution choices have laid bare.

But, due to his appointment, even at this later stage, the points he has garnered have given us a fighting chance if results elsewhere go our way and the Super Eagles players do the business against Lesotho and Benin this October.

Chelle will have to do what he has never done since assuming this Super Eagles manager role: gather 6 points from 2 competitive games. His glass ceiling seems to be 4 points - commendable, but it will not be enough on this occasion - nothing but 6 would break the bank.

Do I think he can do it? Hell No (hahahaha!), to say yes will be misplaced loyalty and a baseless projection laced on faulty analysis that is built on a pie in the sky in the name of foundation.

What I do think is that he will give it a damn good fight and, if mother luck shines on him, and us, the heavens will finally rain the manna of 6 points for him (which might or might still not be enough to qualify, anyway).

But I like this squad.

It now has slack in certain areas. A few of the forwards can function in midfield, there is firepower on the flanks and in centre forward, the centre midfield is solid, and, with the leadership of Ekong and the lungs of Fredricks, the defence should be dialled in.

I have come to appreciate Chelle's rather unique 4-1-3-2 "strategic constellation" (make I blow grammar small; "formation" would have been a simpler word here). If he gets the team selection right, I think he has the players to make this formation crash out of your TV screen to grab you by the balls with shock, excitement, and orgasm. 

I think he needs to be bold and ambitious. And, yeah, ruthless. Drop Ekong to the bench if needs be; bring Lookman as a sub; play Chukwueze in the middle; start Arokodare from the start and haul him off at half-time if he fails to seize the moment; play Olakunle Olusegun from the start; or - for the shocker of all - name Amas Obasogie in goal in the starting line-up.

Do something different, man (ah!)!!!

It is that old saying, isn't it (that has become a cliche, yet it retains its impact): if you do the same things the same way, you are doomed to achieve the same results, erm, 4 points.

Playing Ekong, Nwabali, Simon et al. have gotten you decent results that, sadly, haven't just been enough, making a cross section of Super Eagles fans of ask for Coach Eric Chelle's head to dance the horizontal tango with a guillotine cutlass.

To break this 4 points-per-2-games hoodoo, it calls for a radical approach!

What that will be, if Coach Chelle is even capable of orchestrating a strategy to raise the bar of his own outputs, we will have to find out later this week!