₦airaland Forum

op your poverty level Nah highest

nikkypearl: Post yo own joor!

why you fine like this ?

If there is one
thing to be said for
John Obi Mikel , it is that he is no
stranger to difficult circumstances.
The Chelsea midfielder is presently on
an extended break, resting up from
his World Cup exertions with Nigeria .
Upon his return, he is sure to find
the furniture at Cobham has been
moved around quite a bit.
The world is, to this day, in awe of the
genius of Harry Houdini, a master of
escapology. He contrived the most
difficult bonds and fantastical
contraptions, and materialised from
them unfettered to widespread
adulation. However, a lot of his
manacles were self-made. So it is with
the Super Eagles’ number 10. The
difference is people pay to see
football in stadiums, not escape
artists.
Not that magicians and footballers
are much different. However, when
expected to fulfil a role that indulges
sleight of body and mind, Mikel
conjured up no wonder in Brazil.
There have been reports that the
London-based club are eager to get
him off the books, and have slashed
his asking price in a bid to generate
interest. A year is a long time in
football, and a decade seems a
lifetime ago now for the 27-year-old,
whose arrival to British football was in
the wake of an acrimonious battle
between Chelsea and Manchester
United.
Mikel has gone from being sought
after to being hawked around.
It is not hard to see why, neither is it
overly surprising. Mikel has made a
Blues’ career out of managing
escapes, wriggling out of a hole he
has steadily dug himself into. Under
different managers, he has defied
initial predictions of doom to stay
relevant, but only just. The mental
and emotional wear appears to have
taken a toll: Mikel looked like a man
running in treacle at the World Cup,
and was completely unable to get to
grips with the flow of the Nigerian
team.

His contribution at Chelsea has also
steadily petered out, and he now
finds himself pretty much at the
bottom of the Chelsea midfield
pecking order. Oriol Romeu is back
from one of those loans the club
seems to specialise in; Marco van
Ginkel is very highly rated, and may
have gazumped Mikel already last
season had he not injured his
anterior cruciate ligaments; Nemanja
Matic towers above him, physically
and figuratively; and Ramires offers a
staple all coaches love: tireless
running round the clock.
Add to these the adaptable Oscar
and, at a stretch, new signing Cesc
Fabregas who can also play deeper in
midfield, and that is six players who
can fill the two deep midfield
positions in a 4-2-3-1. Even worse, all
of them are superior footballers
(perhaps Romeu might be deemed
the exception, but even that is by no
means clear-cut).

The writing was already on the wall,
even before Jose Mourinho petitioned
the club’s Russian cheque book to
bring back Nemanja Matic from
Benfica in the winter transfer window.
It is no secret that the Special One is
not on Rafael Benitez’s Christmas list,
and upon his return to Stamford
Bridge, he quickly moved to distance
himself from the Spaniard’s big
experiment in his short stint: using
David Luiz in midfield.
Soon enough though, Mourinho was
fielding the footloose Brazilian as a
midfield anchor, and many sneered at
what was perceived to be hypocrisy.
However, you can be sure only a
matter of absolute necessity could
have forced Mourinho to effectively
endorse his long-standing rival. Mikel
unconvincing displays held sway over
the Portuguese’s vanity, no small feat
in itself.
By electing to be the team’s
workhorse, content to do only as the
coach asks for the past decade, he
has failed to fulfil his potential and
truly push on on a personal level.
Even clay, however malleable, must
retain a certain consistency. That is
the paradox by which Mikel has been
hung out to dry as the clubs seeks to
get him off the wage bill.
What now for Mikel?
These are his peak years, and a good
player does not become altogether
rubbish. Specifically, it appears there
is an eye toward the Italian market.
For a price of £4.8 million, whoever
takes a punt will be getting a
multiple Premier League champion
and a Champions League winner, who
still has three years (at least) of
consistent performance.

If the desired interest was to
materialise, it is a move that makes
sense for all parties. Chelsea free up
some funds for wages; the buying
club gets experience and technical
ability; and Mikel gets to play in a
slower paced league. Serie A is
starting to earn a reputation as a
good hunting ground for veterans,
witnessed by Maicon’s successful first
season with Roma at the ripe old age
of 32. Already, Patrice Evra and former
team-mate Ashley Cole have moved to
the peninsula to stay competitive.
Perhaps Italian sun could be the
tonic that peps Mikel back to form.
Aside the less rough-and-tumble
nature of Italian football, Serie A
boasts a number of Europe’s brightest
coaches. Think what the charisma of a
manager like Vincenzo Montella could
do for the Super Eagles midfielder, or
the young and articulate Andrea
Stramaccioni who is settling in at
Udinese. Fiorentina or a move to
Friuli may seem a step backwards in
terms of prestige, but may turn out to
be a step forward in relevance.
Perhaps even at AC Milan too, with
Filippo Inzaghi shorn of team captain
Ricardo Montolivo presently.
What is undeniable is that in Serie A,
there will be a greater appreciation
for his calm passing and less
consequence for his lack of pace and
dynamism. No more an escape artist,
Mikel may finally be able to rediscover
a creative spark long forgotten, as well
as a quiet place by the
Mediterranean Sea.
First though, he must extricate
himself from West London.
It was 13 years ago when a certain
Andrea Pirlo got a positional
makeover on loan at Brescia that
transformed him into one of football's
finest ever deep-lying playmakers.
Mikel will never hit those heights.
If he applies himself in Italy (or
elsewhere) and shows some of the
personal ambition that has been
lacking in his career to date though,
he may finally achieve the recognition
befitting a player whose name was
once measured in the same
conversation as Lionel Messi


source: m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/4981445

Stexy: ;DLol...moon sighting committee

lol can't stop laughing too

Daniel

wanted to give it a try but viewers plenty rotten belle everywhere

Harbosede02: liedwatz d meaning?

I dunno o,my English teacher said its the past tense of lie is she correct?

Caracta: *yawns*

Bla bla bla bla...

are u hungry?

Harbosede02: i swear

somebody just lied

bimbola85: Here is my transcript house

Me: Gud Morning Ma
One stupid kekere winch wey no reach 20years no answer . Dat one sef add to d tension.
V.O: Where U going in d US
Me: Saint Joseph's University,Philadelphia
V.O: How many schools you applied to?
Me: 3
V.O: Which schools?
Me: SJU,GVSU nd UCO
V.O: How many offered U admission?
Me: 1,SJU bt my application to other 2 schools got there after deadline nd is being considered for Fall 2014 admission.
V.O: Did U take SAT
Me: Na only SAT I hear ooo cos d winch dey talk like some1 aving extremely hot dodo 4 mouth. I said No(na dier d gobe start)
V.O: When did you finished ur *****
Me: Sounded like secondary school for my ears. I said 2003 because d GCE I'm using was written in 03.
V.O: She asked what av U been doing since then?
Me: Na dier I pick say mehn I don messed up.Realised she was asking abt my UG. I started story say I did waec in 2003 nd started diploma in 2004 b4 I graduated in 2011 nd went for my NYSC in Nov 2012 nd jst completed dat abt 2months ago. Nov 5th 2013 precisely
V.O: Diploma in what?
Me: Bus Admin
V.O: nd ur degree in what?
Me: Philosophy
V.O: what u going to study as M.S.
Me: I said Criminal Justice
V.O: She den repeat all these wanting to be sure she heard me well. Like dis,Ur Diploma Bus Admin nd I said Yes,UG Philosophy nd I said Yes nd now U going for M.S Criminal Justice nd I also said Yes.
Me: Na dier I knw say she no see hw all these courses related to demselves I guess,bt she's wrong cos Philosophy is somehw interwoven with CJ.
V.O: Who's ur Sponsor
Me: My dad
V.O: Pack my I-20 with my Int'l Pp joined with dat suicide blue paper con giv her papa oooo. She con dey look me like make I dey beg her after she don already handed me d blue paper.

Note:
She did asked me to repeat my answer to abt 2questns or so bt can't really remember d qstns cos I still dey blame myself till now. I would have gotten it if I didn't loose my composure nd maybe didn't mention d diploma @ all cos she no ask me wen I entered uni na

wicked vo and harsh too but u messed up big time pls I would encourage u to try again

funny but true......op tie wrapper if jean no gree u wear

Samsung and tecno the difference is clear and the choice is yours

fredx4: True talk. If it's a new convert then it's excusable(still wrong), but most ladies know exactly what they are doing and the pastors are saying nothing about it.

the truth is as a pastor if u decide to speak against indecent dressing amongst ladies and even men more than half of your congregation would be gone and u know the competition for crowd amongst this Pentecostal churches what many pastors fail to realise is not how big your church is or the thousand of worshippers you have in your church its how many souls you can win that matters.

this is serious I think most churches should look into this girls now mistake church for night clubs very bad.

not really

Okin Soap-apart from bathing it is very universal e dey wash clothe,plate,car,bathroom and toilet.....if I don't take care of me who will?

Amefrica: 1. if you can write GRE and TOEFL and get some good scores, you should be able to secure some sorta scholarship.

2. You can prove that by telling the VO where you intend to work after studies etc

Take your time to read this thread from part 1 since you are still looking @ 2015


Goodluck man!

thanks boss u rock I would start working towards that you really made my day

Morning house,I have been a follower of the thread from part 4 I must confess that u guys are doing well.I am a student who wish to do my masters in the US its a dream I want to see come thru right now am studying am Still in the uni would be thru by 2015 so I still have enough time to save money and work harder to make that dream come thru but I have problems I want u guys to help me out with

1.A sponsor or better still a statement of account to present to the embassy as prove that I have good financial support (am not sure if my mum have upto 200k in her acct)

2.how do i prove that I have a strong home tie my dad is late am left with my mum and two sisters

I just want to weigh up my chances and seriously know what to work on before then Thanks a lot

This just broke my heart

nairaman66: How come this made the FP?

nairaland mods are not photogenic

buy her chewing stick let her chew her way to glory