₦airaland Forum

Clementoke:
I don't gerrit!
How can a team lose at home by 3 goals to nothing in the NPFL? It's just not normal . When I saw the results at first, I thought the home team was walked over until I saw something like this:

Adamawa Utd 0-3 Sunshine Stars.
⚽️
Israel Abia 45’,
Timileyin Ogunniyi 75’,
Sadiq Yusuf 89’.

Plateau United and MFM also won (though at home) by 5-1 and 3-0 respectively too.

May we continue to see more of such emphatic away wins and plenty of goals.

Long live the NPFL.

Up sunshine

charlesemeka85:
Catch up on the Nigerian players that were on target for their clubs in league matches across Europe on Sunday, December 15.

In a Belgian First Division A clash at Jan Breydelstadion, Nigeria international Emmanuel Dennis ended a nine-game goal drought in all tournaments by scoring in the 30th minute as Club Brugge thrashed Mechelen 3-0 to maintain their eight-point lead at the top of the table.

Dennis scored a back-heel goal after beating an offside trap. The assistant referee's flag went up for an alleged offside but the goal was awarded by the referee after a VAR check.

Arsenal product Chuba Akpom [b]scored for the first time in ten league matches as PAOK recorded a 3-0 [/b]win at Panetolikos GFS in the Greek Super League.

The former England U21 international made an impact when he came off the bench in the 62nd minute, scoring and providing an assist within five minutes after his entrance.

Let's go to the Turkish Super League. Super Eagles striker Olarenwaju Kayode was Nigeria's star performer today after netting a brace and setting up a goal as Gaziantep FK registered a 3-0 victory against Kayserispor at Gaziantep Stadyumu.

Vural opened the scoring in the 67th minute with Kayode providing the assist, then the Shakhtar Donetsk loanee doubled the advantage in the 72nd minute before scoring from the spot in injury time to make it 3-0.

Elsewhere, Chigozie Udoji finally opened his account for the season as Enosis Paralimni and AEL Limassol shared the spoils with a 2-2 draw in a Cypriot First Division match staged at Stadio Tasos Markou (Paralímni).

Udoji's seventh minute opener was his first goal in ten league matches.

Finally, former Nigeria U23 international Ubong Ekpai ended up on the losing side despite his 51st minute goal for SK Dynamo Ceske Budejovice against Slavia Prague. The game ended 4-1 in favour of the Czech champions.

It was the winger's first goal of the season after six games in all competitions.

this Akpom na otu jare

Clementoke:
Moses Simon with an assist

This guy can be frustrating and also deliver in equal measure

Arsenal official facebook page, does it mean he's now officially ours?

Blueelf:
Eze already crowned Best Player in the championship after how many games

If we ask for evidence he'll start blowing plenty English

TheSuperNerd:
Yes he was majorly subbed because of that fair play incident with the Norwich guys. And No... At all, at all, Nacho was not playing badly up until that point. He was having a fine game. He even created Leicester's first shot on target with an outrageous piece of skill turn.

And wait ooo... Be like say dem don score Chelsea... Lol

I think Rodgers did well by taking him out, because he'll definitely be targeted by both the players and the fans

komekn:
I am not defending anybody but explaining matters with factual clarity and not assumptions.

Aspas was an established striker in La Liga not prolific but a very good scoring record. He came to Liverpool with great expectations.

On the other Solanke came to Liverpool with very limited expectations.

The chances is not the issue but the expectations.

You didn't acknowledge your other very erroneous claim that the British press are biased andcdidn't call Solanke a flop. Well that's proven too be totally UNTRUE.

Not true sir, highly rated young player, Chelsea had to drag Liverpool to the fa for some compensation fee plus he won best player award at the 2017 youth world cup, was definitely expected to do well

andrewbaba44:
I know but west brom kept on refusing to loose some games they are supposed to ,they have won some games with several late goals

Should I remind you they are 14 points clear from the team on 3rd position?

Wow, that's huge

kellycute:
Tomori didn't make bench.. Na wa o e be like say lampard don throway the guy

Injury

andrewbaba44:
This west brom will get promotion

Never believed they will win this game

Don't be too quick to predict, the championship is somehow before you know it now they may start struggling to make top 6

Nacho starts

This Watford deserve to relegate, but how will VAR say that Mane goal is offside?

edi287:
This is why in as much as I hate Spuds, I'll always respect Pochettino.
Dude didn't care that Spuds had spent 30m on Llorente. He put his faith in Kane and the rest is history.

Soldado

TheSuperNerd:
Nigeria: NPFL, Laliga Introduce U-12 Tourney for Nigerian Clubs


A tournament for players under 12 years is to be added to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and Spanish League (LaLiga) collaboration for youth football development on the auspices of NPFL/LaLiga U-15 Promises Tournament.

This formed the highlight of decisions reached at an exploratory meeting between the League Management Company (LMC) and the LaLiga Nigeria team which met to design a roadmap for the next edition of the NPFL-Laliga U-15 Promises Youth League.

The discussion which held at the corporate headquarters of the League body in Abuja, was attended by the Chairman of the LMC, Mallam Shehu Dikko, alongside the Chief Operating Officer, Salihu Abubakar, Sunday Obaseki and Surajudeen Yusuff while the LaLiga team had their Nigeria Delegate, Guillermo Perez Castello, LaLiga Nigeria Ambassador, Mutiu Adepoju and Ayodeji Adegbenro.

LMC Chief Operating Officer, Salihu Abubakar explained that the meeting was held to provide interface with the parties involved, as well as design a roadmap for staging the next edition of the championship which is expected to commence in January 2020 with a coaching clinic for the NPFL clubs' U-15 coaches. Arrangements have also been put in place to have a team of the U-12 cadre to represent the NPFL in a competition organised by LaLiga in Spain.


https://allafrica.com/stories/201912130676.html
(Original source: Daily Trust, Abuja)

I hope they won't use age cheating, favouritism and bribery to scatter it

Subzero047:
Unpopular opinion

Awaziem is a better defender than Omeruo

Don't know about better but he's definitely most versatile, he can play CB, RB and DM

charlesemeka85:
Cyriel Dessers is yet to put on the green-and-white jersey of Nigeria, but he has already put frost onto an already cold relationship between Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick.


There were more than a few Nigerian football followers and officials who metaphorically danced, skipped, and jumped with glee when Dessers announced officially that he was nailing his international flag to the country's mast.

Rohr was not one of them.

But this was quite the coup for Pinnick, who had spoken to the Belgium-born and raised player and seemingly got him to make the commitment.

Make no mistake, Heracles Almelo's Dessers is a big catch for the Super Eagles, who are one Victor Osimhen absence or dip in form from being almost toothless upfront.

Osimhen has stepped more than magnificently into Nigeria's central striking role since the retirement of Odion Ighalo last year, helping himself to four goals and two assists in the Super Eagles' four post-Africa Cup of Nations matches that he has started.

Fleet of foot, his vision and link play are additional assets that make him a tough opponent for even the best in the world, as Brazil's centrebacks discovered in the 1-1 draw in Singapore even though that was the only fixture of the four in which he did not score.

For a 20-year-old, getting his first crack at leading the international line, those numbers are a first-class return and provide an unending source of pride for Rohr, who identified the then-teenager, when he first took over the job three years ago, and made him a focal point of his Super Eagles rebuild.

Osimhen's success as marksman, however, also illustrates Rohr's failure to find a second goalscorer who is just as efficient. And that's not for want of trying.


Simeon Nwankwo was plucked from Serie A and taken to the World Cup in Russia but flamed out. Paul Onuachu still gets called up, but he has done practically nothing since that record quick goal against Egypt on debut.

Henry Onyekuru has failed to even break into the side, and the likes of David Okereke and Dennis Bonaventure are also bit-part players. None has established himself as back-up, let alone attempt to provide competition, to Osimhen.

That is exactly what Eredivisie's lead scorer Dessers offers.

Dessers is a proven goalscorer, as his numbers for unfashionable Heracles in the Netherlands prove. And he is not just a one-season wonder. He scored 22 goals in 36 league games for NAC Breda back in 2015 to propel them to promotion, and then joined Utrecht, for whom he scored nine in 32 the campaign after, and five in 15 last season before joining Heracles.

Standing at six feet and well built, Dessers, the son of a Belgian father and Nigerian mother, is exactly the kind of target man Rohr will want as both competition and backup for Osimhen in his 4-3-3 formation if the striker can translate his club form to the international arena.

But in all of the excitement that surrounded last week's announcement, Rohr's reaction was uncharacteristically muted. This was a departure from his usual loquacious self when talking about players.

Asked by ESPN if Dessers would be called-up soon after his announcement, Rohr's response was a noncommittal "we will see."

Pressed further about whether he had been monitoring the player, and for how long, Rohr said: "When we look at new players, we do it discreetly."



That response appeared to be a thinly veiled barb at Pinnick, who has either been photographed with intending players and/or their parents, or has made it known that he is speaking with the players and their families.

Quite clearly, the German did not want to talk about Dessers. And he was choosing his words carefully after being the subject of disciplinary action by the NFF over an interview last month.

Rohr's pique seems to stem from the fact that he has been in contact with the player on the down-low for more than two years, according to a source on the Super Eagles coaching staff. That contact was on the recommendation of defender William Troost-Ekong, himself born abroad before switching allegiance to Nigeria

"He was recommended by William [Troost-Ekong], who told us he knew him from their time as young players and that he had Nigeria connections and would be open to an approach," the source told ESPN.


"The coaches looked at him and were quite happy. He has been monitored very closely since then, with constant communication. This commitment was secured two years ago while he was at NAC Breda. It was just a question of the right time to bring him in."

Rohr's ire is not so much about Dessers, and having the rug pulled from under his feet -- he also apparently found out about the forward's announcement by reading about it -- as it is the overall strategy of Pinnick having photo ops with players.

There are concerns that England-born Ebere Eze's potential move away from EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers for a bigger club could now have been compromised after a meeting with Pinnick.

The source added: "There are very influential people who do not want him to switch allegiance. That is why it is important to handle these discussions discretely. [Eze] has a Premier League team looking at him, and a Championship team with promotion prospects also in the picture. But this whole thing [photo with Pinnick] could compromise that."

Eze's saving grace comes in the shape of Tammy Abraham, who committed to England despite a similar publicised meeting with the NFF boss; Eze will be feeling that his prospective transfer can still be salvaged because he can argue that meeting Pinnick doesn't necessarily mean he will switch allegiance -- even if he plans to.

Still, the Nigeria coaches would prefer the NFF president to step back from his public displays of affection with potential players -- especially if Rohr already has the same players on his radar.

"There are over 450 players on the database," the source within the Nigeria team told ESPN. "Of that number, 65 are foreign-born but eligible to play for Nigeria.

"All of them are being monitored and most of them we have spoken to. But the process requires diplomacy and constant communication, and the timing must be right."

It does not appear the coaches will get their way soon; meanwhile, Dessers is caught in a crossfire about which he has zero idea.

Pinnick should stop acting like a typical Naija politician and allow Rhor do his job

Danielnino00:
If he doesn't win the league or UCL this season, he will leave...

He will then head to another money spining club like PSG or Juventus .
Or maybe head back to Barca...

Na him way na

Blueelf:
Where's your source?

This is huge if true

The Ancelotti part is all over the media

jimmyiovine:
Super Falcons fall in world rankings. Women's U17 and U20 world cup qualifiers for african teams will start in the first quarter of 2020, yet NFF not appointed coaches for said teams. Why don’t we like doing things on time?! Smh. Since the junior female teams world cup in 2018, falconets (bar all africa games) and flamingoes have not played any matches yet. Nations in south, central and east africa have been holding regularly regional tournaments, no wonder they’re catching up with Nigeria and west african countries

I guess all Nigerian teams aside the Super eagles don't have a coach at the moment

forgiveness:
Bros, let us give honour to whom it is due. 4 goals in 4 matches with some assists. Haba! The law of here and now don dey activate. Mo we leave matter and forget about then and then. Here and now ti take over.

If you continue, you can be labelled as hater oooooo.

Chei, so I'll see the day forgiveness will disagree with Kome

AndSunGorilla:
Solanke says hi.

Klopp gave him his chance but he didn't grab it and they let him go for good money. No time for mediocre players

Curtisaxel7:
As if Man City wants a player that struggles to trap the ball. Keep fooling yourselves!. A couple of cameo appearances mean nothing!. Let Iheanacho play five premier league games this season first before we can rate him.

As it stands, Guardiola won't take Iheanacho even for FREE.

Even in his worst nightmare he won't take him back

TheGoodJoe:
We need cover because Aguero is 31. Not the perfect age to have a player running at such intensity. Nacho also offers a smooth midfield addition when he drops deep which I feel Guardiola urgently needs with sides playing too deep against us.

if Pep needs a striker to replace Kun he can never ever ever look at Nacho, he'll rather go for a 100mill pounds striker

somehow:
But how many people go play for SE?

Looks so big

Zirkzee is a weird surname for an Edo person

the best nooni

komekn:
I don’t know any football analyst that will use the minutes you played determine your quality.

You may not believe me but l know a lot who are backroom staff in EPL clubs. They bring forth the analysis but in actual fact don't make the decision.

Managers, coaches review the stats and data and make a deduction from there. The assumption is that if your limited minutes count the you will get more.

If you don't it's because you didnt use your limited minutes to impact the game.

Using this statement I can say Iorfa isn't EPL quality that's why wolves decided to send him to the reserve the moment they gained promotion

andrewbaba44:
Mind games from pep

A football fan should it’s same as rohr

Even the coaches that said their own squad is ready to win the afcon ended up not winning it

It’s a normal thing in football

Many people here said rohr was not ambitious because of this

I sure know it's mind game, it's one of the major points people have used to criticise Rhor, that he's killing their confidence

Pep have repeatedly said his squad isn't ready to win the UCL despite being one of the most expensive in Europe but when Rhor said our squad isn't good enough to win the AFCON many people here started foaming in the mouth

This is so sad, some families are straight from hell
https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/fallen-eagle-B5

komekn:
I guess he's struggling in Watford and in the EPL.

Not good enough because it seems hwes playing more like a striker now. But don't forget he's a winger primarily and was quite impressive on the wings in French league last season.

However, he has still been very influential for the Senegalese team.

Iheanacho has more goals from just one start and he doesn't even play for us unlike Sarr who's a regular for Senegal

tbaba1234:
Looks like, they do not expect to win it so they are resting their key player.

They don't even need the game, they are last with no hope of Europa qualification

Danielnino00:
I agree. He isn't even bossing the Greek league .

What stops us from inviting Chidera Ejuke or David Okereke instead?

Akpom have not been invited na

tbaba1234:
We are in the process of switching Akpom and Lookman..

We don't need them, they've been underwhelming this season, I'm particularly disappointed in Lookman