₦airaland Forum

That's a fact. make we no deceive ourselves. Even Okocha said he convinced Iwobi. why Iwobi no tell he uncle since say he would so love to play for Nigeria like he did?
Anyways these boys are still more patriotic than our leaders and so many Nigerians for that matter who are claiming they love Nigeria so dearly. And you know what I mean.

Mujtahida:
Abeg oga I didn't make anything up. If it's my opinion I'd say so but what I have stated thus far is informed by an article I read.
'Yet Iwobi said himself in January that he would have “loved” to play for England and it would be intriguing to know why the FA did not try harder to make it happen before Friday’s cutoff point"
"Iwobi has apparently talked of feeling unwanted by England, though, in fairness to the FA, it did presumably play a part that the player’s uncle is Jay-Jay Okocha, football royalty in Nigeria."
Here's the link to the full article and pay attention to what Wenger said: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/mar/26/arsenal-alex-iwobi-england-nigeria

haha abi oh.. we dey deceive ourselves.

Mujtahida:
Nigeria never develop, them say make NFF develop football. See logic ba

To speak the truth e no pain me.. The only thing that pains me about Nigeria, is Nigerians -- very gullible people. They put priority and all their emotions on things they should care less about especially as the country has always been in a hot mess.

"slap on face"? Make the face red well well if they want to see it like that.

Mujtahida:
Hahahaha hahahaha. That's what I noticed oo. Seems na them e dey pain pass us that had hopes of him playing. I thought they've cancelled him out of their minds. Turns out that even Jotey wanted him to play for us. On the other hand, I guess some are hurt not because he chose England over Nigeria, but because of 'the slap on our face.' But then was there really a slap on our face?

So you don't know Okeleji? lol

TheGoodJoe:
Pulease.

Jordan Ibe is just another Queen hips watcher whose heart got broken. We already got Onyekuru.

we keep making calls that we should develop our own. na today? it's not actually an NFF problem. It's in fact a Nigerian problem. And of course NFF is ran by Nigerians.

Mujtahida:
Exactly to declare for Nigeria is the betrayal oo. Don't you guys see this thing we do as some sneaky poaching stunts? That's why goldfish80 says let's develop our own cos it looks like we want to reap where we have not sown. But then I don't know the day we will develop our own ooo. That's like waiting for Godot.

I got good news. real good news

u dey talk as if u no know how we dey do.. ur papa call u to come snap picture you go refuse?
Pinnick is like his uncle. He has to give him that due respect. But Tammy makes the final decision. His dad can only advise.
Forget 180 million Nigerians that cannot unite to push for good governance. na decision of a 19 year old dey pain them? make e pain them die.

safarigirl:
ehn, the recruiter is 180 million people. Abi?

Did Tammy say he was considering other options? Even Dominic said that, Onuoha said that.

Tammy went about snapping pictures.

very correct!!

We are suppose to be hugging those who identify with us early. We have to accept out place until we make Nigerian football really attractive.

Mujtahida:
See ehn it's painful cos we've lost one whether by hope or in actuality but I tell you that when you get to talk to him one on one you will change your opinion on alot of things. There's so much undercurrent to these kinds of things.

If we will be sincere we are second option to these guys. Many of them look at the wind to see the direction it's blowing before making up their minds. As long as they fancy their chances with England, they put us in second Base without actually coming out point blank to reject us(although some do reject us point-blank like lookman and Solanke if I remember correctly) but when they look, see say England no sure, they open up towards us. That's why it pains me when we ignore those who declare for us voluntarily and we don't so much as send even a word of appreciation to them, talk less of invitation. Dessers got no invitation for even training. It's that Deji that will drive me mad if we lose him and he turns out to be as good as Alaba.

madam.. at job interviews, I tell the recruiter I'm considering other offers. There is nothing to lie about that. Unlike Naija. it is a win-win situation if I take their offer. That's the real world, and that's no sin in that. If we must go religious, there is a reason why God gave us the ability to make choices.

safarigirl:
look them, but make the whole world no know say you dey look them.

If the world wasn't so phucked up, many behaviors would not have been seen as normal.

lol how na?

play with people's emotion in his personal life decision? You think he wasn't considering Nigeria at all. If I get two job offers, I go look both of them well oh, before I choose. How many girls today consider ONLY one guy at a time? Such is life o.

Na the people when dey put all their emotion I go blame then?

I'm the one that suppose to be crying more than most of you. But i've always said that these are personal/professional decisions and we have to respect their decision last last.

safarigirl:
oh. So you did not see where I said that I would turn down both if I had to?

I would not have entertained Nigeria to begin with, like what Ibe did. So, everyone knows where I belong, but he courted both countries and ended up slapping the other.

It is a question of integrity, you can see it however.

My conscience would not even allow me play tumbo tumbo with two countries. Never....

Better to never have given Nigerians hope to begin with, he played with people's emotions. That is not alright. Look how pissed off some people are, some feel slighted, it's a terrible situation.

He is responsible for that, not Pinnick.

I would never pull that sort of stunt, never. That is a question of integrity.

lol

Humility017:
abeg leave me joor

you call that a question of integrity?.. you have no idea what it has to be in that situation.
To turn down a country that has given u all the support to grow for another country that has done nothing for you is actually betrayal. Let's see if from the other perspective for once. It's actually a thing of integrity for them to turn down Nigeria. Saying it as it really is.

safarigirl:
yes. Either Nigeria, or I would have chosen neither party

I have been in such a situation numerous times, and I will tell you now, I would rather choose neither party than choose one party at the detriment of the other.


I did something like that recently and till today, my relationship with some of the parties has waned because of my choice, but I don't feel bad for making that decision, I have a very strong conscience.

You will most likely doubt me, but I have more integrity than some of these diasporans obviously

E go happy before na.. after rising the ranks of the junior team, to cap it up with a senior team call up at age 20, is a big achievement. How would you feel...?
He also felt flattered by Nigerian interests haha

Mujtahida:
There, you have it, your much sought after quote. Oya say byeeee Tammy.

e don enter God matter?

Humility017:
wicked coach....
only God will judge you....

Thank you my brother!!

tbaba1234:
It is a dilemma for kids born abroad. They have 2 identities.

As much as possible, i want to raise my kids with a stronger Nigerian identity. If any of them play sports, i would love them to play for Nigeria rather than America but the Nigerian system makes things difficult. Otigba refused an invitation from Hungary in favor of Nigeria, he was never invited even when he was in a decent league. We preferred Egwuekwe who was not as good...

Look at Gloria Alozie who ditched Nigeria after winning athletics medals. We just frustrate people who genuinely have the passion to serve Nigeria.

There is nothing to defend there.. Abi na u wan make decision for am. Have u been in that situation before? Will u have chosen Nigeria over England in this circumstances?

safarigirl:
all this long story to defend Tammy, una just dey cry upandan ....e don do abeg.

Make we dey think who go fit replace Ighalo, that is our immediate problem, not Tammy

When all hope is lost, yes they will.. Na all about belief. We already went far with Iwobi. It was too late for England. no be bold step. Let's stop deceiving ourselves.

kingphilip:
and you think all the names they've been reeling out without a call up for a while too will have taken that bold step?

before.. if the chance no come, Nigeria.. who no like better thing?

solonnachi:
This Ejaria guy also wants England

Oviemuno Ejaria likes this:

Reality is when Tammy gets cap-tied.
Trust me, Amaju ignited the war by his utterances, and they went ahead of us. The English Press went in.
But I repeat, the reality is until Tammy kicks the ball for England in a competitive match, he remains available.
And we will remain a fall back option for MANY of these lads.

Good points you made though as regards football development..

goldfish80:
Well, the anchor point of my epistle is for the Nff to really dig deep and fashion out a way to harness and develop talents back home.
The little effort we have put out in the past like Principal cup, Greater tommorow and others have helped in no small measure to establish us as a force in African football.

Nff needs to establish atleast 5 world class soccer academies across the country. Something modelled after the Clairfontain football academy in France. If we can pull this off and also have a highly successful league which absorbs these players like they do have in Brazil then we will be cooking with gas!

I read pages he back where you constantly disbelieved every quote about Tammy declaring for Ingurland. Well, you have to embrace reality. Tammy ain't coming

The myth is that these players won't give in their 100% after they consider us -- a fall back option.
I know it's not nice, and we don't like to hear that. But it's the reality that we are a fall back option. Who no like better thing?
Nigerians we need to wake up. If England comes good at the senior level, I will be happy for them. We are talking of years and years of solid youth football development, and it's beginning to pay off for a country that also take other sports seriously. But we Nigerians, expect excellence without solid preparation and doing the right thing. We refuse to accept the reality in our everyday life. Go to any federal government establishment, you will see a bunch of unserious lazy people. They don't come to work early, and they leave for home early, but yet they expect to get paid. They also get kick backs just like their leaders. The average Nigerians expect kickbacks. It's now in our DNA. We reward failure and celebrate excellence. Now we are pushing for another work free day --Fridays-- in the name of religion.

For us we will keep waiting for the next golden generation. Oh yes we are a nation of over 200 million football fanatics. A golden generation will come. But we will have to wait every now and then.

exactly the point I tried to make earlier

Mujtahida:
When you guys talk about this team in comparison to our teams of the past I feel there's something very significant that you guys overlook. And it is this : Westerhof began the process of building that team in the early 90's and harvest time peaked from 94 up to 2002. Now as far as this current team is concerned do remember that we have been on a decline for close to a decade and only just beginning to pick up and climb. If things go smoothly, if there's stability we will probably have a very strong team by 2022.
Having said this I recognise the fact that our team especially from 94-2002 had more quality, more finesse and technically gifted players than our current team. I bet even the Brazilians will say so when they compare their past teams with this current star studded side.

Iwobi wasn't that strong-willed as we may want to believe. He was already on his way to the airport. He had already made up his mind after some efforts at convincing him. Aina never got a look in by England for awhile. He waited in vain for an England call up. It was a case of no hope for England for him.

kingphilip:
i feel it accelerated it too

but i still feel he might not be as strong-willed as Iwobi who resisted the overtures or as daring as Aina who came to the Super Eagles camp in London for Rohr to have a look in

if he hadn't made that appearance i'm sure we would not have gone hook line and sinker for him

England case na stunt.. The war is not won, but about to be won. Now Tammy has to DEMONSTRATE where his allegiance truly lies.
If Tammy had not played for England at the youth level, all Nigeria needed to do was to call him up officially, then it will be up to him to reject the call. This is the advantage England always had over us.
Did Southgate speak to Tammy after the Arsenal game? I doubt it. But Southgate didn't have to. He just needed to be official about it.

kingphilip:
i feel it accelerated it too

but i still feel he might not be as strong-willed as Iwobi who resisted the overtures or as daring as Aina who came to the Super Eagles camp in London for Rohr to have a look in

if he hadn't made that appearance i'm sure we would not have gone hook line and sinker for him

Although Oluwashina Okeleji's tweet was in line with my utterances on Tammy, I wasn't carried away.
Even when The Times reported that Tammy was in line for a call up, I wasn't convinced.

My position remains I want to see credible quotes first, before I run with any story. Still waiting for Tammy to get cap-tied first. But one thing is certain, Tammy has a bad PR in Nigeria.

All this your epistle. What was the priority of previous adminstration? How many years do we need to have a youth league? How many years do we need to have school games well sponsored and working? What does it take to sustain it? What we have is a national problem, and we can see it in all other sectors..
Naija na Naija..

goldfish80:
Don't we like living in denial in this country? For all the tea in China,Tammy was never going to play for us. After the English triumph at the WYC, Tammy was speaking talking up being part of the generation next for England.

Reaching out to him was the right thing to do but on the long run, investing in the talent at hope should be the priority of any FA. I have never heard about any homegrown talent who rejected Nigeria.

We are currently ranked just inside the FIFA top 40. The Nff should kick off a conciese programme which would see us crack the FIFA top 10 and remain there for a long time. If we can achieve this feat, the Super Eagles will be the beautiful bride and a very vaiable option for some food the best talents who weren't born in Nigeria.

We will continue to get the Tammy, Aogo, Owomeoyla, etc treatment till we get it right.

At the moment, Nigeria is like a man who walks into a Ferrari dealership, eyeing up a $200k FF. Only for the attendant to look up and see the man in question is putting on a sandwich paperbag instead of a shoe.

If these lads have a real opportunity with the other nation, we will always be a fall back option. Never forget that.

As a coach you have to start from somewhere. Rohr is not going to event Nigerians in top clubs over night. You work with the situation on ground.
Bonfrere benefited from what we've been building for 5 years with continuity. You know the situation leading to now.
I've been talking bout Qatar for no reason. Let's not expect magic in Russia. But for the efforts of Amuneke and Manu Garba in the recent past, and now Rohr. we will have a very strong side leading to Qatar.

komekn:
That's true but the reality is that quality and class are not defined by age.

Consider that the class of 96 were leading players for thier top level teams in top leagues. This is a standard just as has rightly been said not more than 2 in the current group would have made that team.

My conclusion give me group of old men that will win than a group of youngsters that will fail.

Exactly!
A war we should have won easily.

tbaba1234:
NFF dropped the ball on Tammy. They simply accelerated his english call-up. All the best to him.

I beg make una leave Tammy alone. Wetin he do?
Blame Pinnick for all the noise. Besides, England SEEMS to have won the war. Now I concede.

jotey:
so joebie mujtahida after all your rants and assurance bla bla bla. Tammy still chose England over us

he was under pressure indeed

very funny

haha.. dem dey give award according to the hosting country or the domicile of the sponsoring company?
My friend let's be realistic, I will prefer we win because we earned it, not because of politics.

Ghana will host the next Awards Gala

krattoss:
but seriously. .our top nff officials dey F*ck up oooo..how can you host something at ur backyard, still foreigners go come ur own backyard Rob u ...

I remember was it in 2013 AFPOTY. ..mikel was supposed to win considering the fact he won nation's cup and also was a Chelsea key player..yet yaya toure from nowhere grabbed the title... our glo was the sponsor..hosted in our backyard still they manoeuvres us ...if it is to embezzle money, they I'll come first..but to do some covert ops..they won't...

This year.aitoe a Nigerian oil company is sponsoring the award, we have some one in the position of pinnick. .then the hosting will be done in our own backyard. ..let me watch and see how they I'll come and clinch the title again ...

Atleast let's help our own..

Very insightful!
We are a sentimental nation. So things like this are always bound to happen.
It doesn't stop the coach from pressing for who he really wants.
Enyeama will be back in the team despite all the talk of forces against this and that. The coach knows that he alone gets the knocks if he fails.

Kog45:
It seems you don't understand Kayode issue.Let me tell you little i know about his situation with national team.

The sport administrators don't want outspoken ones in the team,this is what affected Jonathan Akpoborie chances in the Eagles,the same thing James Obiorah,to some extent Wilson Oruma,even Godwin Opara,look at Enyeama scenario,the NFF w make sure they block Enyeama recalled coz they don't want him.

Did you know Enyeama/Olishe feud was a script written by NFF and Olishe acted on it,telling Olishe if you want to succeed just get rid of certain players like Enyeama,Mikel, Emenike,benching Mikel for Onobi was a script,Emenike saw the handwriting on the wall he resigned, kudos to Mikel he didn't let it bother him he carry on with the team despite the humiliation.

Kayode Olarewaju issue with football administrators started when he came out publicly to indict Taiwo Ogunjobi in his transfer brouhaha when he was in cote d voire,this confession affected Ogunjobi career as a football administrator,till today he never forgive Kayode.

Since then Kayode has been under watch of NFF,they don't want to have anything to do with him,though Ogunjobi is no longer in NFF he still waxes influence as former sec Gen.

The last invitation Kayode got against South Africa was a forceful one and i can tell you Rohr you are accusing was the one that made it possible,if it's NFF he w never be considered.I can tell u if he get another it's Rohr.

The issue has nothing to do with tribe cos Kayode's problem is Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi who happened to be his kinsman not Rohr and as i said in one of my comments that Rohr just need to listen to some people cos thet are the forces who made it possible for him to be appointed as a coach,so don't be surprised if Ogunjobi was one of the people that made Rohr appointment as a coach of Super Eagles possible.

Clemens Westerhoff got Nigeria job through Chief SB Williams and he listened to the man,some players came to national team through Kojo Williams,

I remember Stephen Keshi got his first coaching appointment with Togo through Patrick Okpomo and when he got fired the same man make sure he got him Mali job,so these people are cabal,this is the problem in Africa,a lot are happening behind the scene,not only in football, look at Maina case and the presidency.

James Obiorah made 2002 WC when he openly said national team coaches are collecting money, it was international interview and this prompted Onigbinde to force NFF to invite him,NFF dont want Obiorah in the team.He came to camp and made the team.

Think of it highest goal scorer in Austria league and even the best player last season before moving to man city and loaned to Girona in LA liga, on a good day he supposed to be in national team but forces working against him are the same forces working against Enyeama recalled.

Truly it's corruption but i just want you to know that Kayode is not victimize for being from one tribe in Nigeria cos the man behind the whole show is from the same tribe with Kayode.