Where did Dido go wrong?

It is the metaphorical equivalent of being ejected from the casino even before the roulette wheel has stopped turning. You never even had the chance to find out whether you betting the house on 13 had paid off. In football terms it would equate to giving Fabio Capello the boot for having the gall to not pick Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the same team. In slightly more specific terms, it would be similar to showing BFF (Bangladesh Football Federation) president Kazi Salahuddin the door because of his non-linear approach towards football development. No youth structure but already talking professional league? Out you go.

The comparisons could continue but nothing would justify the shocking late night decision by the BFF on Monday to terminate Brazilian coach Edson Silva Dido's contract. The ex-Santos player lasted just ten months and his aspirations of developing Bangladesh football under his tutelage will remain unrealised.

The decision to part company with Dido came after the Brazilian had nominated a squad chock full of youth but lacking the traditional big names like Rajani Barman or Biplab Bhattachariya. Rajani, long a stalwart of the defence had been left out in the cold in favour of teenaged defender Al-Amin who had not even found a club in this season's Bangladesh League.

There were obvious murmurings of discontent as numerous clubs made their displeasure with the squad known. However, the decision to sack Dido, after an emergency meeting of the executive committee was still very much a shock.

It would be unfair to say that this wasn't coming. For a while Dido had been at loggerheads with certain influential quarters. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star as early as May, he had complained of "a few egos" who had interfered with his promised autonomy towards team selection, most notably during his squad pick for the AFC Challenge Cup.

The naysayers however quieted after most of Dido's unknowns played pretty well, notably Manik and Emon Babu who are subsequently part of Farashganj and Sheikh Russel's Bangladesh League squad.

But the fangs bared again in July when an internal discord with players was mismanaged out of proportion by certain quarters. The situation became untenable and only the timely interference of Kazi Salahuddin in the last minute prevented a crisis.

It seems however, that the interest group has finally managed to run Dido out of town. His squad has been branded not good enough, even before they have played a single game. The Brazilian was however, understandably unwilling to change the squad based on external pressure and his my-way-or-the-highway approach meant that the only other resolution was to sack him.

And sack him they did to bring an end to what was shaping up to be a good tenure. The wiry Brazilian may not necessarily be a world beater coach. But his approach towards the game, and his belief in the young players carrying out his philosophy should have at least been given a chance to be tested in the long run. Autonomy in team selection is a trait enjoyed by every single national football coach in the world. Examples are countless with numerous coaches belying popular belief and peer pressure to exclude big name stars. A good reference point is that of Luiz Felipe Scolari who fended off pressure by the Brazilian president himself to exclude Romario from his 2002 World Cup squad.

Also, if the BFF did not agree with the team selection in the first place, why did they even bother to let Dido announce his squad? And why then did they question his selections? Hypothetically this overt drama could have been all avoided and Dido need not have been embarrassed.

Dido's departure represents a massive step back by the federation led by Kazi Salahuddin. The president's reformist attitude now looks to be nothing more than rhetorical promises and the head of steam that he had built up is now threatening to be ripped apart at the seams.

Bangladesh may go on to do well in the SAFF Champion ships, they may not. But what Dido understood and what many here seem not to understand is that development is a far-sighted process. Sometimes you must be prepared to let go of short-term goals to achieve long-term ones.

Dido realised that, many others do not. And that may be exactly where the deck of cards, we had stacked up, come tumbling down.