Man U in Another Transfer Saga

Carlos Tevez recently agreed a deal with Man U but the deal seems to have ran into troubled waters. West Ham is said to be claiming ownership of the player, whereas the players agent says he still have certificates proving the player dosen't belong to west Ham. Tevez is said to have sent a letter to West Ham yesterday for termination of his contract and same is also said to have been rejected.

FIFA and the FA seem also not to know how to get out of this one. With MAn U not knowing to whom to pay the transfer fee to, Tevez's dream of playing at old trafford come next season might not come to pass afterall. The situation is very complicated and looks set to take the path the Mikel Obi saga took sometime ago.

Is it time for Man U to think of a different option upfront? It seems Tevez's case might be heading to the court.

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Naija Football Fans Forum

Cesc Fabregas to Madrid?

Now we do not know what to believe any longer. Today we hear that Fabregas can't do without Arsene. Tomorrow we hear he's asking Arsenal to please listen to the madrid offer. I have also heard Arsene wenger is asking for Robhino as part of the deal.

My comment? I think Wenger will be making a great mistake if he allows such a sensational player like Cesc to leave bearing in mind that he's yet to attain his best and is already making so much waves.

If Fabregas leaves, Arsenal might die the real death. For me I don't think thiery's exit will be as consequencial as a Cesc exit

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Naija Football Fans Forum

Man U wins the Tevez Race

After so much ado and many speculations, Man U has quietly snatched what I will term 'one of the most sensational players in the premiership in the past season'. Carlos Tevez single handedly took west Ham away from relegation despite all the controversies around his transfer to West Ham. Many can sometimes do alot as i can not understand why a struggling team like west Ham could even imagine selling off the best player. The mistake spurs have been making all this years before finally learning their lessons. Come next season, we are likely to have another struggling west Ham. I don't see any sense in this transfer.

In the mean time, let's congratulate Sir Alex on this very important coup .

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Naija Football Fans Forum

A Fans Lamentations as Thiery Leaves

On the forum today a fan replies to a forum post on Thiery Henry's departure and Eduador Da Silva's arrival........................

So many years ago Arsene picked Henry from Juve where he was rottening and built him up into the beauty he became. What people forget is that a footballer blossoms under a particular coaching system, club and most importantly--the fans. Thierry instead of going away with some dignity decided to open his mouth-which is becoming rotten again- too wide by hurting our sensibilities. Yes he played champagne football. yes he scored most goals. Yes he did this and all that. But that is history now. For those who might think i am being too harsh I want to say I don’t share all your historical perspectives. I have also been an arsenal fan for over 30 years. We have seen them come and go. Haven’t we? When Ian Wright was leaving our opponents said it was over for arsenal after a glorious period by Graham. But what happened? Our magician reached into his hat and brought out Thierry like a rabbit. The rest up till last week has now become history.

Let me call the attention of gunners to certain facts. How many matches did Henry play last season? How many of the most important matches were not affected by what one gunner called "nameless, mysterious injuries"? The fact is that he lost the arsenal plot that night in Paris against barca. Thereafter he signed a piece of toilet paper he has now flushed down the toilet!

Now Arsene has performed his magic again. Let them call Da Silva a Croat. To me and for football he is Brazilian. His hero is not Henry. It is-wait for it-Romario! As far as I am concerned our biggest loss is not Henry it was Viera. I also fancied Cole now at Portsmouth. So let Henry now blend into the barca team and coaching plans at almost 30.one gunner says he might also find himself in Los Angeles, Turkey or UAE 2yrs from now! I bet that will be something. We must remember that the English premiership league is like Hollywood. Others are like Bollywood and Nollywood. You can ask Beckam. While he played in England he was a demi-god. Now he is trying to pick up his broken pieces.

Most gunners knew that Thierry was a terrorist to the young gunners on the Field. He had a way of looking at Adebayor, Van Persie and Fabregas when they made mistakes that was menacing. Today I was glad to read a gunner say that those players can now mature naturally without Thierry’s long shadows. Ronaldo did not mature properly at manure until their former captain left!

So goodbye king Henry. Welcome Da Silva, the king is dead and the king lives as far as i am concerned gunners should not pay attention to our black hot-headed brother Drogba and his comments on Arsenal. They should read what "mr cool" lampard said yesterday. The coming season to me hold very awesome possibilities for us even more than the disastrous 2006/2007.that is why i said it will be a matter for the hungriest.

Nigeria Makes first Impact at U-20 World Cup

Yesterday was a good one for our boys representing Nigeria at the world U-20 championship. I never gave them a chance reason why was that following the kind of preparation they had, you can't help both hope only on prayers for them to make an impact.

That however dosen't mean i now give them a chance. I watched the match and i must say in some cases they were really impressive. I hope whatever is driving them on continues. It just might be a miracle for us. Some times people make a head way when you least expect. I pray it happens but i won't stake my money on it.

Can English Players Flourish In Arsenal?

Every Club seems to have its own favoured kind of players and many have said black players can't make it in at Old Trafford.
Similar arguement is now makig the rounds and many have said that it will take a miracle for an English player to make it in Arsenal. This is precipitated by Lampard's recent call out that English clubs should develop English talents.
Arsenal is know to be the premiership club with the least number of English players in it's first team. In reserve may be more but the first team definately have more french speaking players both of African and European decent than in any other team. Currently, apart from Theo walcot and Hoyte, no other English player is found in the gunners team. These two however are not regular. In the last two champions league when Arsenal knocked out Juventus and Real madrid, they are reputed to have done so without a single English player.
The arguement therefore is not misplaced.
In this case i wish to defer. Without going too far to start mentioning English players that have been so successful both at the pre wenger period and even under wenger, should call us all to remeber that until just last two seasons, Ian Wright an English player remained Arsenal's greatest player with 185 goals for the club. Wright was more than a success and so I wonder if this people ever remember there was ever a player called Ian.

Unfortunately we see less of these English players now. But can you blame Arsene? Maybe we'll see more of them. Ofcourse when English players start going for the right price.

Real Madrid sacks Capello

What with real Madrid and acking of coaches. Is the Club so confused that they changes managers like African countries? The issue is not really changing mangers for underperfomance, but always going back to hire under performing coaches.

Mikel Obi's Ban Too Harsh?

Yes. I agree that the treatment is harsh. But too harsh? No!It is too harsh to let 150 million Nigerians down instead. Mikel's father has confirmed that Mikel is a sturbbon boy who dose not listen to even his parents. "I told him to always honour National calls".That is the best a father can do for his son. It is okay for him to beg for Mikel's forgiveness but I will prefer that plea comes from Mikel himself to sure that at least there is some remorse after the ugly incidence.Sunday Oliseh tried it and had his national team carrier truncated and ofcourse he has to live with that regtret for the rest of his life. So it is not as if Mikel is the first to suffer this kind of Punishment.Though we know that the FA has it's faults, blatantly refusing to honour national calls is an insult to Nigerians. It is better for a player to tell us he no longer wants to play for Nigeria than play games with our feelings. I would also want to use this opportunity to send the same message to Celestine Babayaro who has refused to honour National calls for years now despite not coming out to tell us that he no longer wants to play for Nigeria. He'd better come out plain and say so. So that he will also live with his conscience.

Igwe (Thiery Henry) Is Gone!

Arsenal fans all over the world woke up to hear the sad news of their mecurial and talismanic striker signing for Barca. In hundreds many a Arsenal fans are waiting to see how the club respond to this . Already many fans have indicated that if the club countinues what they have termed mediocrity in the transfer market as was the case last season, they were going to decamp to Barca.

This at a time Man U, Chelsea and liverpool are brazing up for the title challenge come next season.

Some even say that as it is, Arsenal might finish much lower that they did last season come the end of ne3xt season.

Like one fan said on the Naija Football Fans Forum today, the club lacks a sense of "self Preservation".

Truely it looks like a team about to self destruct. After the controversial exit of Dein, one expected that Arsenal would work hard to keep what is left of it's family. With Thiery leaving on the grounds of uncertainty of Wenger's future, it is only a matter of time before we wake up to the news that Wenger is gone. That it will become a vircious circle with different players asking out as soon as possible. Atleast we know players like Cesc Fabregas, Denilson etc have said they will play for Arsenal as far as Wenger remains.

I hope it dosn't get to that stage. If Arsenal must retain it's teeming fan base accross the globe, now is the time to take decisive action to convince fans of it's willingness to compete both in the premiership and in Europe.

Criteria for coaching a Nigerian team according to the NFA

According to the Nigerian Football Association, a coach can only be successful if he satisfies the following criteria:

1. If the said coach has a white skin
2. If that coach is not Nigeria
3. If the coach is ready to play the scratch my back I scratch your back game
4. The said coach must be very timid and not as out spoken as a Clemens Westerhoof
5. Must be ready to have his team selected by the NFA and not a coach who would refuse this arrangement like Sampson Siasia.
6. Must be easily be induced with money
7. Must be ready to work without pay for at least 6-8 months
8. Should not be as ambitious as to defend self in the media when the NFA tries to twist facts else be sacked.
9. Should mind his own business by not fighting for players to be given unpaid bonuses
10. Must be confused enough and be ready to coach all of Nigeria’s national teams.
11. Must be ready to work in a disorganized environment where there are no basic facilities
12. Must be ready to be hired and fired at any time without compensation.

What do we do with super Eagles?

At last Nigeria's super Eagles arrive the point we all have been praying it dosen't get to. We have been bashed severally by various national teams and yet we have remained steafast hoping and praying that our dear team improves. But what do we do now? Now that we are very sure the eagles have become definately the weeping boys in African football? Against Ghana many a fan of the super eagles thought it was a fluke. But against Uganda? We have played at home and away and in both games, the Ugandans had a upper hand. What do we do now?

Football Suffers Another, As May 29 Handover Draws Near

Yesterday was one of those days i had more reasons to stand by my believe that football in Nigeria is not about to take a turn for the better. It was an eclectic atmosphere at the Abuja National stadium. A novelty match organised as part of activities to mark the May 29th 2007 handover and as usual politicians, business Business men comprising mainly the who-is-who of coperate Nigeria converged at what was supposed to be an epoc making event. Behold it turned out to be another event organised only to showcase the vastness of our leaders' ineptitude.

One would have expected that in such a high profile event, what ever form of recreation organised should be one that can keep one hoping it never came to an end. Like in many countries where things are done properly, the football match would have matched the event. That was not to be as the organisers went ahead to organise a mock football game in an event on live telecast and on National TV. For the time the event lasted, i kept thinking 'what a game this would have been if this was featuring the super eagles and another world class football nation'. I kept watching a differnt match while something else was actually what was on TV.

This brings us back to the question of why we always fail to seize opportunities as a nation when they present themselves. At least a week before now, most of the super eagles players have rounded up games in their various leagues. So it wasn't the usual excuse of the players being very busy. It aslo can't be due to lack of funds to organise a high profile game that suits the occassion. I am saying this because after all, we shall be presented with large figures and sums of money and told all that was expended on organizing that single event.

Could it not serve a good opportunity for the super eagles to prepare for the forth coming game against Uganda? It is only in Nigeria that such a low profile team can be presented in such a high profile event. I have nothing against developing our youth teams but one should only think of what such an opportunity for a high profile game could possibly contribute to our World Cup/Nations Cup qualifying Bid.

Viewing Center Business: A Goldmine.

Football, apart from being Nigerians’ favourite pastime and greatest unifying factor, it has in recent times brought about a fast growing business which side by side has been blooming with same popularity of the game. You’ll hardly walk a hundred meters in Nigeria’s major cities without coming across a place with the trademark black wall scribbled on it, different match fixtures for the coming weekend.

More and more people are fast realizing how profitable the business could be that we can only expect it to get better especially with the high prices of Direct-to-Home television services in the country making football lovers to opt for these viewing centers. A typical viewing center has between 40-100 viewers and spots can sometimes boast higher patronage especially if you can offer dual view where viewers can watch two matches at the same time. Such places charge a minimum fee of N30, while some places can charge up to N50. I have paid N70 and N100 and I’m sure most of us have too.

It’s a beautiful thing that the country’s economy has so opened up that anyone serious about making honest money doesn’t have to wait too long. All you’ll probably need is a 23`` television, a satellite TV subscription which ranges from N6000 to N10000/month depending on which DTH you are using. You’d need some good benches and maybe one or two ceiling fans. A good space that can contain at least 5 to 7 long benches, a small generator just enough to power your TV, fans, bulbs and the decoder then you are as good as done. Some centers make as much as N10, 000 every week. Imagine that you are charging just N50/person/match and you have 50 viewers which is very modest, you’ll make N2500 as in most days where there is at least two premiership matches and say one seria A and another one La Liga matches, you’ll be talking four matches a day. That goes to about N10, 000. You still have Sundays and in some cases midweek matches come handy when the UEFA Champions league games are on. You can make in one week alone N20, 000 and that runs into N80, 000 per month. Let’s say you spend N9, 000 for TV subscription and N6000 on fuel for the generator and maybe N5000 on rent which in my opinion the last two are inflated. You still have N60, 000 left per month. That’s not bad for an extra income. Is it? You are also sure of recouping your investment in your second month. Note that I have not included International friendlies, world cup and nations cup qualifying matches etc. If you have a little money and thinking of what business to invest it in, this is one business you can start earning good income from the onset.

Champions Chelsea

Chelsea just played a fast one Manchester united this evening by waiting till the last 4 minutes of the 2nd half of the extra time before pulling the carpet off Man U's feet.

An encounter characterised by boredom the entire lenght of the first half saw real action in the second half. Though both teams had good chances to over run the over severally, Man u's played was mared by poor maskmanship which saw them bungling a handful of opportunities. Betwen Wayne and Giggs alone, the game should have taken a different dimension.

This brought back bad memories of the FA cup final between MAn U and Arsenal, where Man did the playing and Arsenal stole the game by a penalty shootout.

Chelsea played their usual style, uninspirational waiting for e break many times. Arjen Roben was particularly inspirational for the Blues but as usual it was always going to be Didier Who will take the most decisive action. The game ended 1-0 in favour of Chelsea which means they end the season with a double. Wether their season is justified with this or not is something for Abromovich to dedcide.

Please you comments. Thanks

Admin
Naija Football Fans Forum

Man U: one in the bag one to go

MAn U made good their promise yesterday when they lifted the title at the expense of thier bitter rival chelsea. Arsenal came 4th, liverpool 3rd place and we have the traditional big four arrangement again. Man U and chelsea still have the FA cup and Liverpool the champions league.That makes Arsenal's season the worst among the big four.

What ever happens at the FA Cup, champions league, truth remains that this season has been one of the most competitive in recent times. With United having to wait for the last days to be sure they have won the title and 3rd and 4th places decided just yesterday after Arsenal played 0-0 against portsmouth.

At the table bottom, the drama was more intriguing with west ham escaping at the expense of Shefield and Watford. Though many thought they deserved to stay after all of Tervez's heroics in the last days to rescue his team from relegation. It was all fun!

In the weeks to come, we look forward to African nations/world cup qualifiers, Euro cup qualifiers, the under 20 world cup and the Female world cup. Good thing is that, there is always enough action the world of football to keep us busy. I hope all these could serve as enough fun in the forum in the weeks to come.
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