₦airaland Forum

tbaba1234:
Several swiss junior internationals have played for other countries. The Albanian team has a few former swiss youth for instance.

He is the son of Murphy Akanji and is very proud of his Nigerian heritage. If Nigeria had approached him for a senior cap first, i believe he would have turned out for us.

The case of the Albanians and Kosovo is unique due to the polical situation there. I heard Granit Xhaka applied last year to switch back to his native Kosovo. Even his brother plays for Alabania wanted to switch to their native Kosovo.
My point is that Akanji was not ours in the first place. He was made by the Swiss system and his mother is from the country. He's not an immigrant. He has as much stake in Switzerland as he has in Nigeria.

tbaba1234:
NFF approached him but it was too late. He had already committed to Switzerland. There was a window where we could have approached him earlier.

This boy started playing for for the Swiss U19's through to their U21's. Knowing how the Swiss guard closely their age grade teams starting from 2009 when they won the the U17 world cup in Nigeria. They have invested huge sums in youth football and it is gradually paying off (see their FIFA ranking, a real emerging power)
It shouldn't count as a loss to Nigeria when he was never ours in the first place. I think his mother is Swiss, so what are we saying?

MetalJigsaw:
But why pay him before service? Did you think he would be the one to officiate the matches or what, bro? Haven't you ever pondered why he and his likes have to come online to sell odds for money when they can stake their life properties and become millionaires?? I thought this is too cheap a scam for any smart person to fall for.

Akwa Utd vs Rangers is live on Nta international.
Honestly speaking, Nta is not doing a job of the production. How can a media company in this century lack the technical know how to show replay when a goal is scored?
The commentator have been talking poppycock. He can't even identify a single player on the pitch.
What a mess.

jihday:
It's true what goodjoe said, the board sacked him cos they think he played negative football, they think they didn't score enough goals which in truth they struggled for goals last season though they conceded less too, you can't blame the board they were used to exciting football from Adkins, pochetino and koeman. so they tot this Spanish guy will bring back the Pochetino/Koeman intense attacking football.

They will play lots of exciting football next season in the championship apparently.

TheGoodJoe:
Like how Barcelona style they played against Fleetwood. Crap for yourself.

Southampton and Swansea will exchange positions with Leicester city at the drop of hat, even with the "Barcelona style"they played against Fleetwood.

TheGoodJoe:

I wonder where you came up with that. I made my statement September last year. Puel made his four days ago. Difference by months.

Your statement wasn't made 4 months months ago. You made that statement last week when Leicester drew their FA cup tie.

TheGoodJoe:
Puel was sacked by the board of Southampton for being negative. He has been negative. Yesterday he played in a more brave fashion and I commended him. So what is your problem?

Southampton made a weird decision to sack him. A decision that could see them pay with relegation.
Your description of Puel's tactics as negative doesn't hold water because Leicester city have seen an upward trajectory of their team, going from Premiership strugglers toa comfortable 8th on the table in just 3 months.
Technical players like Gray and Mahrez have improved while dependable players like Ndidi and Harry Macquire have become better. What else do you ask for a managse if not to steady the ship like he's done?

TheGoodJoe:
I made my statement in September last year, you are talking four days ago. It shows that I was correct pointing out that in a more offensive system, Ndidi could perform. I wonder why it is biting you?


Calling Super Eagles, Genk, etc is long story. The point is, Ndidi can perform in an offensive system.

Finito.

In other words, Ndidi is a complete player who have no room for improvement in ball handling/distribution and possession, he simply have to play in a "suitable system".
I dey laugh oh

TheGoodJoe:
I do not claim. I make my points and I also encourage positively. That is the big difference. When Mikel Agu came in and had a poor first half, some criticised his poor performance but I pointed out that Mikel Agu's mistake was committing instead of shielding the defence line. In the second half he shielded the defence and committed less. Had a far better second half.

So to you, you can write Ndidi has poor pass completion rate. Me, I will look at the system and suggest a way to improve the pass completion rate.

That is why watching Ndidi, I could see he could do more while you could only see poor pass completion.

Gerrit?

In other words, Ndidi have been playing in a negative system all his career. Genk, Leicester City and Super Eagles play negative football.

Have it ever occurred to you that Ndidi could have been poor at ball handling because he started out as a Centre back?
Going by history, it will take a lot of of hard work and consistency to see him polish his ball handling.
This is exactly Puel's submission in the recent interview.

TheGoodJoe:
That is different than trying to sell Puel as a man who Puel's reign like Mancini in Inter Milan. I abhor his negative style and I celebrate his offensive approach and clever build up play yesterday.

The coaches made it seem as if Leicester City lacked the quality to attack. My assessment was proven right yesterday that Leicester City can do it with the talents they have. Even if your trying to twist the real point and notion.

I am not twisting anything. Your submissions earlier about Puel on this thread at least is well documented.
You tagged his style negative, even when they have played some good games the few times I've watched them.
A highly skilled and technical player like Mahrez is thriving in a negative system.
What a paradox

darkelf:
Puel is undoubtedly an excellent coach bro.

Only someone with an ulterior motive will argue this despite his proven track record.

TheGoodJoe:
I did not watch Ndidi in Belgium and unlike you, I will not read stats and brag as if I saw signs.

I noticed Ndidi could do more creatively but Shakespeare's system was holding him back, just like Mahrez and Albrighton. Simple. If you can not understand something so simple and tag it seeing improvement under Shakespeare, then no need quoting and arguing what you can not comprehend.

I actually watched Ndidi in Belgium and in the Europa League. I told anyone who cared to listen that his passing game was poor and sometimes he gets caught out of position. Micheal2 argued this until I provided clips.

Funny you didn't watch him I Belgium but you are arguing like you knew him all these while. If never watched him earlier how could you habe known his celine?

TheGoodJoe:
And he broke their consecutive run of winning the league seven times by finishing third.

Nobody remains on top forever. They were bound to loose grip at some point after wholesale sales of their important players overtime.

TheGoodJoe:
I have hammered it repeatedly that it is not about Iheanacho but the system is affecting other players including Slimani, Gray, Albrighton etc. I praised Puel yesterday even though Iheanacho did not play and I said I hope he continues that way. That is my philosophy of what works. Not about Iheanacho.

I supported Unsworth of Everton because I believed in his system. By his last game, he won 4-0. Did I support him because of Iheanacho? It just shows your analysing with bias and sentiments. That is why Iheanacho crept into an unrelated talk.

But his system have seen Ndidi, Harry McGuire, Mahrez, Gray, Okazaki thrive and generally improved.

TheGoodJoe:

Stop being economical with the truth. Puel was terrible for Lyon. Spoilt their seven years consecutive league title wins and forced the fans to protest against him on the streets with banners begging him to honorably resign. Then the board terminated his contract.

Was it not under Puel that Lyon made their first and last ever champions league semi finals? How many French ligue un and champions league semifinals have Lyon managed since his departure?

TheGoodJoe:
What is wrong with you? What concerns Kelechi Iheanacho here? I praised Puel yesterday, did you see Kelechi Iheanacho play yesterday? Stop painting fake stories to score cheap points.

Your attack on Puel started when it became clear Kelechi couldn't find a place in his team.
You claimed his tactics was negative and Kelechi should leave to to Bristol.

Your attack on Puel was as a result of Kelechi's lack of game time. Prove me wrong

TheGoodJoe:
I am not rubbishing a man. I said his system was negative. I praised him for bravery yesterday and hopes he continues that way. I am not a person who will start praising someone when I see he is heading down the wrong path.

If Puel continues in the same path as yesterday, I will praise him repeatedly. My stance on offensive, possessive play will not change to please you.

Finito.

I wasn't begging you to please me. I'm pointing with relish that you were wrong to tag Puel a poor manager when his track record speaks for him.
Because Kelechi doesn't start fkr Leicester doesn't make Puel a lesser manager.
Under him, Mahrez seem to have discovered his mojo and the other chap on the wings have seen his stock rise amid muted calls for an England call up.

You're dead wrong about Puel, that is a fact.

TheGoodJoe:
Stop behaving like if you can not comprehend a simple point or you are trying to lie to score cheap points.

Shakespeare's negative system was inhibiting/stopping/preventing Ndidi's creative attributes. Just like Puel's dross side was holding Ndidi and the team back. They played bravely yesterday, Ndidi and the team excelled. Very simple point.

How the hell that is attributing Ndidi's creativity to Shakespeare frightens me.

You claimed you saw the improvements from Shakespeare's time months ago. Are you tactically denying your claims just few minutes back?
Since Ndidi always had it in him why does his pass completion for Genk stand at 70 something percent? At a point im Belgium it was a lowly 72%.
Was Genk also playing negative football?

ChrisKels:
Yea that's true bro but this is a friendly match and it will be played in Europe, they will not be needing a Nigerian passport to partake. I'm open to ur corrections. Maybe the rules have been amended

Passport is not the issue but the getting the international clearance from FIFA. The process is quite stringent in addition to the bureaucratic bottlenecks since you're dealing with a foreign government.

TheGoodJoe:
How the hell did I credit Shakespeare for yesterday's performance in September last year. It seems you have lost direction in the debate. The point is simple, the fire was there but the system was inhibiting Ndidi. It is so logical. I pointed it months ago. Yesterday, Puel decided to lead his team in a brave fashion and Ndidi's creative side showed. Simple.

Keep in mind Southampton sacked Puel because of his negativity. Not results.

Even for Genk and Super Eagles, Ndidi have never managed to hit those passing average. Genk and Nigeria play negative football too?
Why are you at pains to admit Puel have improved this aspect of Ndidi's game? You dont want to be proved wrong that Puel is a good a coach because of Kelechi's misfortune?

How have the sacking of Puel improved Southampton? Puel took them to a comfortable 8th position and a cup final. Presently, Southampton is just 2 points off the dreaded relegation zone. Infact, they could be bottom of the table by this time next week if results go against them.

How you take pleasure to rubbish a man who polished Benzema, Lisandro Lopez, Essien, Juninho, Diarra and generally the famous Lyon mid 2000's squad which generated hundreds of million in transfer revenue for Jean pierre Aulas beats me hollow.

TheGoodJoe:
He worked on Ndidi's weakness? Funny. I said the negative system was inhibiting Ndidi. Play Ndidi in a more creative system and he will sparkle. It was clear to see for those who could see. It was not just Ndidi. It was the whole team. There are people who celebrate results from negative tactics. Not me. If Puel had played his dross football yesterday, the results would have been different. Stats less convincing and Ndidi would not sparkle.

You did not see the creative spark in Ndidi. I saw it months ago and even pointed it out. Trying to pin it on improving Ndidi is hilarious because I did not see such spark against Fleetwood. Ndidi in a more creative side will shine like a million stars. Not handling Ndidi.

So when I pointed it out months ago, it was Puel handling Ndidi? Funny.

Hold on a second, you're saying in Ndidi's 3 years playimg in Europ, last night was the very first time he played in a "creative system"? I say this because Ndidi have never managed 86% pass completion in his career. I challenge you point out a game he managed such average from Genk till date, even for the national team.
You're over stretching your limits on this one.

“He puts in some fantastic work on the pitch. “I think also he improves with the ball and plays with quality. “I think he can make further progress in this area. He has great potential for the future.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/ndidi-great-potentials-says-leicester-boss/

This was Claude Puel quote just 4 days ago. I am chuffed to bits how a rational person will attribute Ndidi's improvement to Shakespeare or whatever system.

ChrisKels:
It's a breaking news bro. There were doubts earlier when Onyekuru made that claim that was why his loan club came out of to rebuff it. But now it is official, after thorough checks by one of the finest knee specialists in Europe, hence no room for doubts no more and his club won't be coming out to kinda debunk it again.

Read that article via the link I provided to see the time it was written.

About the big news, here is a hint; As Rohr has adopted the 3-5-2 as one of his formations, he is looking forward to start integrating the German boys as early as March. Of the three German boys, Akpoguma and of course Uduokhai, I was told are already in the bag and this might be Rohr's backline against Poland.

....................Ekong Balogun Uduokhai
...............Ebuehi Idowu.

Awaziem and Akpoguma as deputies while Omeruo would be given another chance to know if his showing against Argentina was a fluke. Omeruo doesn't have the technical team's trust unlike before and he would do well to redeem his dampened image with the scrimmages.

Rohr has cooled the interest on Jordan Torunarigha because he hasn't been seeing enough game time and this doesn't seem to end anytime soon as he is his club's third choice left back behind Platenhardt 25 and Maxi 20. Hence isn't better than what we have in Aina, Idowu and Echiejile.

As it stands now, our three lovely right backs might make it to the world cup.

Ebuehi as a wing back cum makeshift left back
Shehu as a full back
Aina as a full back cum makeshift left back.

I fear for Echiejile, can't remember the last time he played for his club. If Idowu maintains the form he showed against Argentina... Ur guess is as good as mine

Great news about Onyekuru. Since he wont be needing surgery, I figured he could be out of action maximum, 3 months. Hopefully there won't be setback or reoccurrence during rehab.
I am skeptical about the possibility of the German boys being ready in time for the Poland friendly since the documentation process with FIFA and DFA haven't started. From our experience in the past, this process usually takes us 6-8 months to complete.

TheGoodJoe:
Puel changed strategy from the dross he was playing. Praise the man for building confidence and doing the right thing than try to make it look as if Puel played this way always.

You are even saying this is the first time your seeing Ndidi averaging such stats.

Months ago under Shakespeare, I even pointed out that Ndidi was metamorphing into more creative player and Shakespeare was holding him back. Yesterday was a testament of my cries. The negative tactics is not only holding our players back but the team.

I hope Puel embraces it and continue encouraging his players to play in a brave fashion.

By the way, did anyone see Ndidi pull off the turn Mikel Obi usually makes in tight situations? Got me clapping.

I find it a bit odd that you think a guy who have grinned out results for Leicester and steered them off relegation dog fight to an upward trajectory of a comfortable 8th position is a bad coach.

You have lead a campaign of calumny against Claude Puel just because he doesn't find Kelechi good enough for his system. Youre even at pains to admit that he has worked on Ndid's weakness (which is ball handling and passing).

It is laughable you will rather credit Shakespeare for Ndidi's improved passing numbers against Chelsea, (a man who have left Leicester City over 4 months and counting )when it is on record that Ndidi 86% pass completion he pulled was a career high.
I dey laugh o

joseph1013:
Wilfred Ndidi vs Chelsea:

56 passes
82 touches - 2nd to only Azpilicueta
86% pass completion
5 tackles - most on the pitch
4 interceptions - most on the pitch
2 dribbles
@WhoScored rating: 7.9/10 - 2nd to Leicester goalkeeper.

This is the first time I see him average 80+% pass completion. Massive improvement.
And people believe Puel is not a good coach?

eazyjakes:
Ur points are also valid but dis is not d fundamental problem of d league!....ur point will obviously provide more money and improve d business side of d league but ultimately not its entertainment value a key to its sustainability and growth. There must be business reasons why MTN and recently GLO gave up sponsorship of the league....it does not add value in d long run to dia business (a sad reality). Even d money dey will provide may end up in d wrong hands (corruption)....Football is a big platform in Nigeria and Companies do not need to be forced to identify with it if the govt does its part.....diz companies will at best fold up if govt policies forces dem to invest in non-profitable businesses and hence d govt is wary of such policies.

The objective of d local content act is to increase value and and most importantly transfer technology. I work in a multinational O&G company and can say d local content does provide jobs but dat it has improved d value is subject of debate as a lot of diz local companies do not av a working template for transfer of technologies through training and development.

The music industry in nigeria today is big and needed such policy but it was only until recently dat a teenager wants to be a musician like David or whizkid...our musicians needed to be heard more but football already has a platform here.....a policy dat commits local stations to air local music is different from a policy dat commits a company to invest huge sums in sports sponsorship without a guarantee of a good ROI.

Lastly,a govt dat wants to enforce such policies must be serious about playing its own role..When a team travels from portharcourt to maiduguri on a bad Road, it will tell in in its performance and fans will not com out to see such crappy teams and d sponsors will lose d customer base dey are trying to get!

You seem to have in depth knowledge but on your first paragraph, I have to disagree with you. What value does Man Utd add to the the chivita brand ? Or UBA to Arsenal? Since their market is not in England. Do you see Marks and Spencer or Tesco advertising on Nigerian television?
Glo is regarded as the national Telekom carrier with demise of NITEL, they currently have a subscriber base only 2nd to Mtn (who had a 5 years head start).
You cannot say with certainty that Glo didn't benefit from their investment in Nigeria/ African sports when the facts is right there in our faces.
Recall, Glo pulled all stop to ensure Mtn never took the league sponsorship off their hands. The matter even went up to the presidency. If the league wasn't viable, Glo wouldn't have gone out of their way to stop Mtn from taking over (recall Mtn tabled a better offer)

I like looking at the larger picture when analyzing things. For what it's worth money is the name of the game. If money was pumped into the sports sector, things will pick up. The Npfl already have foreign partners starting from the days of Chief Obaseki, when they partnered the Epl and currently with their partnership with La liga. These guys are willing to offer technical support if the money was available.
The Chinese league picked up considerably when they invested Billions into the project, money is everything in sports.

If there was money in the system no team will travel by bus from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri in the first place, so the question of bad roads is totally eliminated. You will find clubs booking chartered plane to honour away games. The Algerian team that Rangers played last season in the champions league flew to Enugu with their supporters on a chartered plane! Until recently, our national teams don't even travel on chartered plane. A friend interviewed their team manager and discovered the team was sponsored by an oil company.
Don't we have oil companies in Nigeria? Without a policy to force their hands to commit to their social responsibility, then we are kidding ourselves to think they will find anything worthy of investment in the country.

Leon Balogun was on the bench for the full duration in Mainz 3:2 loss.
Is he injured?

eazyjakes:
The key word here is "value".....football is both business and entertainment. Every business model identifies with a product dat adds d highest value with a d best "ROI" while from d fan perspective,We identify with a product dat offers d highest level of customer satisfaction in d form of entertainment!......The basic word used in dis piece is "support" but diz sponsors are business people and not a charity organisation!.....The EPL was rebranded in 1992 and has gone ahead to overtake all other leagues( purely based on its entertainment value) including Serie A dat was d best league den.The EPL attracts investors all over the world as it offers a good ROI but diz attractions is still based on the overall healthy state of the UK economy and governmental policies.

The state of a country's economy directly affects d ease of doing business dere hence until we fix key components of the nigerian economy like key infrastructures such as power,good road networks,security,IT,good stadia etc,our league will continue to suffer. The difficulty in doing biz in diz country is one of d reasons why clubs owned by government( a serious anomaly) survive while dose owned by private biz and individuals av gone into oblivion e.g Julius Berger FC, Stationery Stores FC,Ufuoma babes(female), NITEL lagos, NPAfc, etc.

From a technical and talent perspective, the nigerian league av failed to churn out or retain pure talents overtime hence its entertainment value have dropped significantly....i watched the league from the early 90's and the nigerian fans would defy the poor stadia,poor security and sometimes bias officiating just to see some pure breed of football....there was a Chidi Orji,Usman Mohammed,Justice Christopher (eventually played for d eagles),Ediri Okwagbe dat made me look forward to going to d Warri Township Stadium then despite standing from 90 minutes as i could not afford a sitting VIP ticket and dis guys were playing in the second tier (now NNL) for Delta Stars!.....there was a Roland Ewere of Bendel Insurance,Edema Fuludu,George Finidi,Isaac Semitoje,Bright Omokaro,etc......We had a working model then dat was not sustained.....it is called "school sports".....we had the best legs in public schools and had competitions dat unearthed dem like d interhouse sports competions ( more of athletics though) and state's principal cup competions.....our education system became very bad that public schools were no longer attracting d best students including sports talents....

We will av to find a better and upgraded way of unearthing and retaining talents in nigeria to increase the league's entertainment value to attract the fans and corporate sponsorship. Corporate sponsors will beg to sponsor the league just as bees are attracted to honey if the league becomes attractive! Most importantly, infrastructural development is also key to its sustainability in dis present age!

You have made valid points but the truth is that things cannot be allowed to continue like this. Government must come in at some point with pro indigenous polices to grow our sports industry.

First of all, indigenous companies who leave the the shores of Nigeria to sponsor foreign clubs or leagues must be made invest 40% of the said sponsorship amount in our local sports industry.
For instance, I find it incredulous that a company like chi group, makers of chivita and Chi exotic sponsors Man utd to the tune of $2M USD.
There market is not in Europe, not in Britain. Even with our lack of infrastructure, they still make profit from the local market. They owe it as its cooperate social responsibility to invest and encourage the local
Industry. A government policy can solve this at the drop of the hat.

Recall in the mid 2000's , American Music was ruling our airwaves. Until the indigenous policy by the government of Obasanjo which mandated radio and tv stations to play 80% local content. Prior to that, Nigerian local music was dead. Nobody will collect a demo from an up coming artist. Radio stations will rather play Awilo ..... Look at how far we have come since then. If there is no turn around policy to protect the local sports industry, we will continue to be embarrassed in World championships like the world cup and Olympics.
As simple as that.

Interesting article. Something is definitely wrong with the black man's mind.
................................
How Can We Be So Myopic, Where are the Sponsors as the NPFL Resumes?

https://i2.wp.com/s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/leadersandco/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/10011158/100316-NPFL-LOGO.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1
The Nigerian Professional Football League begins the 2018 season this weekend without any major sponsors. Despite years of hard work to keep the league alive with lean resources, the expected sponsorship windfall has failed to materialize. It costs hundreds of millions, even billions, to run the league, so how do we expect success without quality sponsorship support? Nigerian brands like everyone else are struggling to meet their targets under the harsh economic realities we face, yet, rather than support the domestic league and create jobs and wealth locally they have continued to spend their dwindling resources on further entrenching the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League in Nigeria – feeding the already fat Europeans while deepening poverty in our country. What I find incredibly surprising is how these brands cannot understand that they kill their own businesses doing this.

N igerians have probably blown over one trillion naira on the European game over the last 20 years, money that when it leaves our shores never comes back. Even as broke as we are now, in 2018 we will blow at least a further N50b. The sub-saharan broadcaster currently pays 84m pounds (N40.9b) annually for the EPL TV rights. Nigeria probably accounts for half its revenue projections, which would mean, plus profits, an amount in excess of N20b. Add the vast sums we spend travelling to the UK to watch live games and buy merchandise. Captains of industry who should be concerned about the capital flight and top political leaders who should worry about creating value for the electorate, are the ones in the vanguard of this detrimental culture. A few fly in their private jets to watch EPL games live, while some others join resources to charter planes. Some fly first class in commercial airlines, many fly business class and thousands fly economy to watch these games. If 25,000 trips are done yearly with an average of 2,000 pounds spent, that is a further 50m pounds (N24b) out of our economy to the UK.
Then there are those who do not travel but order club items online or buy directly from retailers across Nigeria. That is probably another N3b-N5b industry. Then add the billions some of our brands spend to bring us the games. Some even sign direct sponsorship contracts with EPL and other European clubs. That is likely another N5b taken out of our economy. By the time you add the UEFA Champions League spend for rights, advertising and tourism, we would be way over N50b. This is a joke, and it is why we are seen as a basket case around the world. Chances are that of every N100 we make in Nigeria, N70 finds its way overseas under different guises, football being just one of them.
No nation can survive, let alone prosper, that way. How does it make sense that Arsenal FC of London has more fans in Lagos than in the entire UK?! How does it make sense that outside London, Third-World Lagos is the city where the most Arsenal jerseys are sold – not wealthy cities like Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, Berlin?! How does it make sense that fans die in Nigeria defending the honour of their foreign clubs?!
If we continue to invest in other people and economies and not our own, we will continue to be poor however much we pray and whoever the leaders we elect into public office. Just to underline the poverty in our minds, China currently pays just 13m pounds to watch the EPL. For some perspective, sub-saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world, while China is the second largest economy in the world. The Chinese also love football and have a larger population than the entire Africa, yet they pay six times less to watch the EPL than us in sub-saharan Africa.
Of all the sponsors perpetuating the European game in Nigeria, the ones I find most frustrating are the banks. Banks are supposed to understand the way money works, but sub-saharan banks appear a different breed. Around the world banks are leading sponsors of domestic sports, it makes easy sense. All the money generated from sports ends up in banks. When people travel around the country, when lawyers negotiate business deals for clubs and players, when architects and builders upgrade infrastructure or build new ones, when medical practitioners manage the health of stars, when hotels accommodate visitors from other cities in town to support their clubs or favourite stars, when farmers increase sales to food vendors as fans celebrate, when retailers sell club merchandise, when advertising agencies get briefs to build sports brands, the list goes on, all the money ends up in banks.
In South Africa, for instance, ABSA bank has sponsored the Premier Soccer League for ten years, and recently signed a five-year extension of the contract. In Nigeria, rather than build our local sports, our banks splash the scarce resources they (we) have on the European game, under the guise that they are reaching more eyeballs. As I have asked many times here, are they not aware that many of the eyeballs in Nigeria have lost their jobs, or had their salaries slashed, or have not been paid for months, meaning many cannot even take action if they find the advertisers’ proposition interesting?
One day we will wise up to how the world really works. Meanwhile high fives to the League Management Company for keeping the league running even in the face of scant sponsorship. They must however engage society more to succeed. They must also work more with key professional bodies to help sell the message that football is a multi-billion naira industry from which every professional benefits handsomely.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/01/13/how-can-we-be-so-myopic-where-are-the-sponsors-as-the-npfl-resumes/#

komekn:
I think you need look at it from two perspectives there are those that could be called loosely football analysts. And there are those who are fanatical fans thier approach is not based on rational but emotive deep passion.

So you you are trying to rationalise the irrational, it's an exercise in futility.

My brother, you've said it all. Some people can be willfully dense. I will learn to ignore some mentions.

AllforJesus7:
Those who comprehend the above will get to appreciate thegoodjoehunt's concerns about Nacho leaving Pep.

There's a litany of players at Barcelona and even Bayern Munich whose Pep's magic wand didn't develop.
There was no guarantee Kelechi would have developed under Pep.

Also, we must appreciate there are numerous way football could be played/interpreted. A couple of hours ago, I read about Hassenhutl's pressing philosophy and was blown away by such brilliant gengen pressing philosophy.

Xavi mostly talked about Barcelona's pattern of the game,which I found illuminating but there are other interesting philosophies which work in equal measure.

ChrisKels:
Only goldfish spoke the language I was reading through to see. U gotta be Street-wise, garnish it with a Lil education (since -9ja footballers hardly go any further than high schools).

A typical Nigerian, brought up in Aba, Lagos, Warri, obi agu enugu, onitsha etc can hardly be duped by someone who ain't a close friend. Just like goldfish said his bane was "trust". Oruma trusted his pastor, goldfish trusted his friend. These two guys probably never thought that such close friends could be nursing that idea.

Educated or not, as long as u easily trust ur close allies, u can easily be duped. Education can only help shape u up, help u make wise decisions (investments), it can never make u unsusceptible to defrauding.

Sometime last year, a Prof, a Doc and a spare parts dealer were in court over a piece of land sold to them by Nkanu people in Enugu. One piece of land deliberately sold to 3 different men. Ain't the doc and the Prof educated enough? But the all got defrauded.

My brother that land matter na another thing oh...These bad guys have insiders who work in the land ministry. These office insiders switch up the cloth copy of the original survey plan of the real owner there in the office, unsuspecting land speculators who come for verification will see the fake document, registered to the fraudsters name, then proceed to payment..... Even king Solomon will fall for this trick.

Doing business is very tough in Nigeria! If one is not willing to go all macavelli every now and then, you will be swallowed alive.

Look at MMM.... You will be amazed at the number of well informed and educated people who lost huge sums in that scheme.