GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: FOR WHO THE BELL TOLLS NEXT.

Just five people shy of Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting incident that claimed 26 lives, the Uvalde Texas Robb elementary school mass shooting at 21 victims, now ranks among the highest grossing gun carnage in America. It is sad that such frequent blood spilling has tragically become part of our culture as a society. May the souls of the killed now rest.

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi once questioned former President Donald John Trump's fitness to remain in office due to what she claimed was his declining mental capacity. Does anyone know what Madam Speaker presently thinks about the incontrovertible case which America is now saddled with? Just curious!

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.

A HERO IS BORN.

I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.

WORD!

A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.

NOW, YOU KNOW.

When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.

JUST THE FACT.

In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle

DO YOU?.

“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

'The best way to keep peace is to be ready to destroy evil. If you Pearl Harbor me, I Nagasaki you.' - Ted Nugent.

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.

WORDS ON MARBLE.

"Birth is agony. Life is hard. Death is cruel." - Japanese pithy.

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

Homosexuality is a sin. It is not ordained by God, therefore same sex marriage cannot be blessed by the church - Pope Francis.

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

TWITTER IS BORING WITHOUT HIS TWEETS. #RestorePresidentTrump'sTwitterHandle.


WORD.

"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.

Friday, June 18, 2010

EAGLES COACH LARS LAGERBACK, SEND HIM PACKING AND BACK TO SWEDEN!

It is now obvious that the dream is dead and that there is no way in hell Nigeria will proceed to the next rounds in the World Cup 2010 competition in South Africa. They fell to a lowly-rated Greek side that had never scored any goal or won any match in any world cup tournament since the inception of the World Cup competition, over 74 years ago. Icheoku therefore says, for having fallen to such a rock-bottom low, and to a mediocre footballing nation Greece, a country still mired in the worst economic disaster of all times comparable to the BP gulf of Mexico oil spill, Nigeria has become a caricature of its past football glory days.

What a testament to the new level of mediocrity and hopelessness that Nigeria has sunk to as their foremost Eagles could not survive preliminary rounds in South Africa World Cup 2010. As far as Icheoku is concerned, no excuse is good enough notwithstanding the undeserved red-carding of aggressive and explosive Alaniya Russia’s Sani Kaita; who Icheoku thought only deserved a caution of yellow card but not the over-killed red card. But who knows what hallucinatory powder was ingested or inhaled by the referee to make him see red where he should have seen yellow, afterall he is from Colombia? Kaita’s conduct was unsportsmanlike and a closer slow-motion view shows that he made little or practically no contact with the pretentious Greek player, who faked serious excruciating injury and it also happened outside the field of play.

However, Icheoku is not making any excuses for Kaita as he should have known better, being a professional player in Alaniya Russia; and supposedly fully aware of the politics of football and FIFA’s rules, especially regarding the good guys and the usual suspects? But Kaita’s unprofessional infra-dignitious misbehavior is not on trial in this piece; but the incompetent coach Lars Lagerback who did not and failed to deliver on his performance based contract. His country, Sweden’s press-corp warned Nigeria that it was getting a dud with their hire of the then jobless coach Lars Lagerback, but no one at NFA or their supervising Sports Ministry listened? They were instead busy, scheming and salivating about all the goodies including bloated expenses and inflated estacode they are going to rake in from the South Africa jamboree? Icheoku learnt that the number of government officials who went to South Africa just for the World Cup tournament, conservatively put is about 164; and you wonder what that many officials are doing watching football when the business of governance is suffering? From the president, to the 64 senators, 58 representatives, state governors, local government chairmen, directors, ministers and NFA officials etc, all went on a jamboree to South Africa?

But back to Lars Lagerback’s incompetent outing with Nigeria Eagles in South Africa 2010 World Cup. Icheoku’s verdict, he is simply not good, he is incompetent, uninspiring and technically not savvy enough to take on such a world class big project of taking Nigeria to its world cup glory. Now that he has woefully failed by leading Nigeria to its worst world cup appearance, Icheoku says the authorities at Abuja should invoke the all inclusive performance clause of his contract and revoke his contract for his lack of performance. His duty was to take Nigeria to a successful world cup run, he has failed to perform his said obligation; therefore his contract should forthwith be terminated since the condition subsequent has failed.

When a third rate country and its third rate football authority which has been plagued by third rate leaderships hires a third rate coach from a third rate footballing country to lead a third rate, ill-prepared, timid, unfocused, non-motivated, and dis-shovelled team to a world cup competition, what you get is what was got. An abysmal mediocrity below-par performance by the timid and uninspiring side that was too afraid to take on Greece, with a ten man squad and fight to finish as if their lives were dependent on the outcome! But why should they sacrifice for motherland that has done nothing for them to become what they are today, and when behind their minds, they are thinking about the outrageous 90 million Naira each per quarter being demanded by the Nigerian Senators; and you wonder why the plundering! Icheoku says this world cup outcome is worst than the coach Clems Westerhof conspiracy of the 90s when he unceremoniously pulled out Amokachi and Amuneke to facilitate Italians’ come-back win from a 2-0 first half deficit? How can a Nigerian side with so many world class international players, competitively playing in some of the best clubs in Europe and elsewhere, not win or draw any match in their Group B’s preliminary play-off matches? There is no explanation that is acceptable other than that the incompetent Lars Lagerback could not coordinate these fine players and weave their play together; and it is not as if Nigeria was not warned of this supposed coach’s rustiness, but they choose to ignore it anyway to their detriment of a Nigeria’s first round elimination from the first Africa, South Africa hosted world cup mundial.

Kaita’s red card should not be an excuse since it was not the first time a player was sent out in a football match; and therefore it is not out of place for a team to sometimes finish a game with ten men or with a two man deficit. A determined, highly motivated and driven team would have still thrived despite the Kaita bump on the road. But nay, they fell apart like a pack of cards and the outcome included a second goal that was rather too easily conceded by the Argentine-match much celebrated Hapoel Tel Aviv Israel goal-keeper, Vincent Enyeama. Icheoku asks where was the team’s psychologist or counselor to give them pep talk and psyche them up, not to be crest-fallen because of their one man shortfall. Where was the technical acumen of Coach Lars Lagerback in re-arranging their playing formation in order to withstand whatever trickery, the lowly-rated Greece might deploy? Nay, he just stood there throwing his hands up in the air, hoping for the miracle of soccer to take control?

The early warning signs of coach Lars Lagerback’s gross incompetence were clearly written on the wall when he did not allow one of Nigeria’s best known international, Kalu Nwankwo, to play in any of the games, despite his professional soccer exposure and gifted experience with goal-scoring; and this is his third world cup call to duty? It is inexplicable that this designated captain of the Nigeria’s Eagles was never allowed a playtime in the tournament? Coach Lagerback’s final list also excluded Everton striker Victor Anichebe, Nice defender Onyekachi Apam, Real Zaragoza’s Ikechukwu Uche who happen to be the top scorer in Nigeria’s Eagles world cup qualifying matches; and Lagerback sparingly made use of ace striker, Obafemi Martins,

In conclusion, the story of Nigeria’s Eagles South Africa World Cup 2010 inept outing when told, will gravitate around the incompetent coach Lars Lagerback who as his country’s head coach could not qualify his own country Sweden to South Africa 2010; a marvelous goalkeeper, Hapoel Tel Aviv Israel goal-tender Vincent Enyeama, Uche who scored Nigeria’s only goal in the tournament and Alaniya Russia’s midfielder Sani Kaita who was red-carded in the Greece match. But the biggest bullet-point that will be written is that Nigeria could not survive from their Group B, did not win any match and hopelessly disappointed millions of Nigerians, Africans and black people all over the world when they failed to qualify in the first world cup hosted in Africa!

Icheoku says, Swedish coach turned Nigeria Eagles non-performing coach of South Africa 2010, should be sent packing from Johannesburg and never allowed to return back to Nigeria for whatever reason, including to collect his articles of possession which he may have acquired over the brief period he domiciled in Nigeria. A third-rate coach who was written off by his home country, Sweden, for his inability to qualify them for the world cup and who Swedish journalists warned Nigeria against hiring, has now abysmally failed in his assignment to take the Nigeria Eagles to a successful world cup outing and therefore, should be fired! Except the squad he went to South Africa with was imposed on him by the ever “federal-character” minded Nigeria Football Association (NFA), which federal character only comes to play when it favors the north, Icheoku says, that squad sucks and deserved their humiliating exit from the world cup competition. Also were it not for the saving grace of the gummy hands of goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, may be Nigeria would have also had the atrocious record of being the team that sustained the most goals in a world cup competition as Argentine Lionel Messi severally threatened their goal-post.

It is instructive to note that the fabled goodluck of President GoodluckJonathan failed to and could not positively impact the dismal outcome, recorded by the Nigeria Eagles in South Africa. It is also very safe to posit that President Jonathan’s first international football outing ended in a disaster since he couldn’t take Nigeria beyond the preliminary rounds; even the midget of Kano, Sani Abacha brought home a cup to Nigeria during his murderous regime. On a last note, Shaibu Amodu should be apologized to by all those Nigerian officials who threw him under the bus, in preference to a pale-skinned foreign coach; despite his near miraculous qualification of the Eagles for the tournament. A colonial people’s mentality that “the master is good and fellow citizen is bad,” which makes less traveled and less exposed Nigerians and Africans in general to always defer to white people rather than patriotically supporting one of their own. It is also interesting to note that Shaibu Amodu did not get near what Lars Lagerback both in support, resources and financial perks got including payment in foreign currency; yet they want to compare both men. Icheoku says, look who is laughing now, as he who laughs last laughs best and Shaibu Amodu’s laugh is cosmetic-dentist approved. If only Nigeria will learn from the foolery of jettisoning Amodu Shaibu and hiring an incompetent foreign coach to reap where he did not sow; and this foreign mercenary-coach lacks any real vested interest in Nigeria’s success to make him go an extra mile to see the Eagles through? As a lasting panacea, may be Nigerian authorities should consider disbanding the Eagles and reconstituting them into a more nimble and dynamic football group; and also completely gutting or doing away with the NFA might not be a bad idea at all; so should every attempt be made to privatize the football association.

23 comments:

  1. NON-playing Captain of the Eagles, Nwankwo Kanu and Yakubu Aiyegbeni, have tendered apology to Nigerians over the performance of Sani Kaita and his remorseless action at the mixed zone where he snubbed international press.
    But importantly, Kanu wondered why Lagerback refused to use him in a match against Greece where he said that his experience would have saved the Eagles. “Please, forgive Kaita and other players. They have been crying since after the match. They are young players and don’t know the rules”.
    Thereafter, he fired “I don’t know why this man refused to use me. I should have been brought in as my experience would have helped”.
    Yakubu Aiyegbeni also pleaded with the press to forgive Kaita and Obinna Nsofor for snubbing the press.
    “Forgive them because they know not what they did. They don’t know that that singular action can end their careers. Please forgive them”, he pleaded.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Question marks for Lagerback
    SportsJun 17, 2010

    Greece's defender Vasilis Torosidis falls on the pitch after being kicked by Nigeria's midfielder Sani Kaita (unseen) during the Group B first round 2010 World Cup football match Greece vs. Nigeria on June 17, 2010 at Free State Stadium in Mangaung/Bloemfontein. NO PUSH TO MOBILE / MOBILE USE SOLELY WITHIN EDITORIAL ARTICLE - AFP PHOTO
    By Tony Ubani
    There were so many unanswered questions yesterday for Nigeria’s coach, Lars Lagerback, over the fitness of his players in their annoying 2-1 loss to Greece.
    Lagerback had repeatedly said that there were no injury worries in his team, noting that the Eagles MUST beat Greece. During the trainings that were opened to the press, he never engaged the team on serious tactical trainings apparently to avoid being spied by others.
    But there are serious questions following the self-inflicted injuries on Taiye Taiwo and Elderson Echiejile on the fitness of the players. Foreign journalists asked me over and over yesterday on what happened to the team. “Where they physically fit for this match?
    Was this the same team that sparkled against Argentina and gave so much hope? Is Lagerback going to be retained after this abysmal performance?
    Too many questions and only the Nigeria Football Federation boss who is seeking re-election and Lars Lagerback are in a better postion to answer them

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is why our team can never be cohesive on the field because all we do is to hire and fire...Then you bring a new coach and think he can perform signs and wonders..goodluck 9ja - kayboy

    ReplyDelete
  4. This writer is one of the few Nigerians expecting so much from a coach employed when other countries have already concluded their preparation for the world cup tournament. It will take a miracle for him to deliver and his employers are quite aware of that fact. The magic word is still "Corruption" which has eaten so deep into our system in Nigeria. Lars was only employed to fill their fat pocket and not to produce any good result. World cup is for serious minded people not a country like ours where corruption from presidency to local government has cripple the economy. God help our dear country, i wonder who will deliver us. - Dips

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  5. NFA - No Future Association - So what can we expect from such an association. I agree with the writer and Dips, Nigeria used a fire brigade approach, no constructive planning, Corruption in every nook and corner. Our politicians fighting for first class seats on the plane and all expenses paid hotels. Mr. Shaibu, keep laughing, at least its good to know that you are better than Lagerback, even without resources and proper support from NFA, you still got Nigeria to a respectable third place at the last ANC. Nigeria needs to look inward and break away from this colonial mentality, we have Siasia, amokachi, Jayjay, Steven Keshi who can competently manage the reins, revolutionize our dominance and bring back the past glory, dignity and respect we have squandered away.- ali pedro

    ReplyDelete
  6. Go and fire your sin)nators and reps and your mumu president, please leave the coach out of it. - tony h

    The millionaire players looked so fat and big it hurts to see them run. We should have brought their house-maid to run for me.


    Hope all of these Nigerian leaders or whatever they think they are arrive at OT international airport and went to sandton, and saw what is on ground there, shame on all of them uselsss kewere kewere as the south africans call nigerians big for nothing, 24/7 light and good roads, even the towwnships are changing my poor nigerians lets stop praying and start attacking these looters whenever you see them, saw one of these fools in club moloko and he is acting the fool person papa, with him daughter mate.- sele

    ReplyDelete
  7. ...
    This writer is completely clueless. What do you expect from Lagerback? Even the best coach in the World cannot get anything from the Eagles of Nigeria. We are talking of Nigeria here where everything is in disarray including our leadership. So leave Lagerback alone. When will you divorce yourself from this blame culture? - jeff

    ...
    This is a nonsense article. I wasted my time reading it... nobody is expecting Mr Lagerback to perform wonders. He has a very calming appearance and not the arrogant attitudes of a typical Nigerian as personified in Shaibu Amodu... All we need to do now is to force the whole members of NFA (I don't know what they call themselves now) to RESIGN! Can you imagine that they are seeking re-election? It is not because of Nigeria's success that they want to remain there, but because of their pockets. In Nigeria mediocrity is celebrated, dignity and morality have disappeared from public space!
    - dr. adejo

    ReplyDelete
  8. ...
    Typical Nigerian! You want to blame the coach as if you had good players lined up or as if you prepared very well for the World Cup. So you believe Shuaibu would have produced better results eh?I bet you were one of those who called for his head when we wobbled through out the qualification stage. Even before the tournament, we knew we were not going to do well so why are people suddenly acting surprised or disappointed?

    Our boys except Vincent Enyeama were dreadful. Aiyegbeni was just a bag of garri and Yobo was just there for being there. Argentina did not have a good coach but their squad was good so they got results. Let us agree for a second that Lagerback was bad. His formation for a 'must win' match was bad. How many good players did he have to execute a better formation in view of the fact that our defence was just a wide basket and your midfield players could not hold on to the ball? Please spare the man. Its high time we stopped believing in too much luck over hardwork.- vivi

    ...
    The problems of Nigeria only seem to aggravate, and so because of such ideas of this writer. Lars Lergeberg should remain till we see his "real" performance in the coming tournaments.
    Meanwhile, if there is a 'god-of-football' he is of the world and not from nor for Nigeria alone.
    Goodluck Niger - donald p

    ReplyDelete
  9. ...
    NIGERIANS; IT WAS NOT ONLY THE ACTION OF KAITA THAT DERAILED OUR WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN.HIS ACTION MIGHT BE SEEN AS TIMID BY SOME BUT ACCORDING TO THE FIFA RULE,KAITA'S STUPIDITY AND UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOUR DESERVE THE RED CARD.
    YES OUR PREPARATION WAS AS USUAL SHODDY AND SERIOUSLY BELOW STANDARD.
    IF I MIGHT SAYS NEVER AGAIN SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO BELIEVE THAT FOREIGN COACHES ARE ALWAYS BETTER.
    RECORDS WILL SHOW THAT OUR COACHES PERFORM BETTER THAN OUR 'MERCENARIES' AT WORLD CUP COMPETITIONS.
    OUR COUNTRY PRODUCE KESHI,AMOKACHI,AMODU,AMUNIKE,SIASIA AND MANY OTHERS WHO ARE COACHES OR GO EX-PLAYERS IF THEY ARE NEVER GIVEN THE CHANCE WE WILL CONTINUE TO REGRESSS AND NOT PROGRESS.FINALLY, IF WE ALL SAY OUR LEADERS HAVE FAILED OR FAILING AND WE HAVE NOT INVITED FOREIGNERS TO RULE OUR COUNTRY WHY DO WE ALWAYS INVITE FOREIGN COACHES. A YORUBA ADAGE TRANSLATE LITERALLY THAT 'FISH GET ROTTEN FROM THE HEAD'
    - bowale ojo (UK)
    ...
    Here we go again, blaming Lagerback for the player lack of commitment, indiscipline,poor attitude and gross irresponsibility. lf this writer don,t have anything sensible to write, why can't he go to bed and sleep. The writer want Lagerback to take them to the stream and force them to drink water,typical nigerian.As far as l'm concern, the team should be disbanded and start afresh. Apart from Enyiama (Goalkeeper) none of the rest should play for Nigeria again. The society where l live,a player happiest moment is when he is called to play for his country. but nigeria players believes that they are doing nigeria a favour by playing.- olu freddie

    ReplyDelete
  10. What you sow is definitely what you reap. I doubt if God will help Nigeria. Heaven only helps those who helps themselves. There is nothing bad employing a foreign coach but he/she should be a very capable and ready one. NFA was only ready to employ a corrupt foreign coach who is ready to cooperate with them to inflate his contract. Shame on all of them.
    What do you expect from a person whose contract is based on corruption and deceipt?
    SOLUTION: The so called fake President Jonathan Goodluck should set up an independent commission to investigate the whole sage right from qualifications, firing of Amodu, contents and process of interview of all applicants for the post of new coach (now being held by Lagerback), preparation for the world cup, selection of players including sick, unfit,not-in-form ones, fielding etc. in order to prevent this madness in future competitions.
    I doubt this will be done anyware, since this is Nigeria and everybody is after his pocket.- watson

    ReplyDelete
  11. ...
    It is not that Largerback is a bad coach, but the timing of his recruitment was bad. May be nemesis is catching up with Nigeria and NFF for punishing a coach who qualified you to a world cup, for the second time of asking (first was 2002),with a sack 3 months to the tournament. Amodu certainly deserves an apology by NFF and Rotimi Amaechi's PTF and his journeymen.

    No way will the Greek side of very ordinary players would have defeated Amodu's SE, even with 10 men, with a 1-goal lead. Amodu would have known the type of players to bring in to fortify our midfield and defended that one goal lead. Largerback did not know his players and their strenght yet. But the problem is not of a coach but a general crisis destroying all aspects of Nigeria. Refusal to do the right things at the right time, including corruption.
    - nzeman
    ...
    pls nigeria should keep this guy for another 2 more years be 4 any thing is done send him back will be bad for our game.- momodu momoh

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a load of nonsense! How can you blame Lagerback for Kaita's insane and unprofessional behaviour? You simply cannot attempt to kick an opposing player like that and expect to remain on the pitch! Dips got it right. How can a manager who effectively has 3 weeks to get to prepare his team be expected to produce results? Get real please!- bruce almighty
    ...
    Yeah right! He is the architect of your poor planning and organization and official ineptitude. He hired himself as Nigerian coach a few months to the world cup abi? He is the reason why Keita lost his composure and got a red card. You should have taken to South Africa; Amodu and then your "greatness" as a nation and Nigerianess would have truly shown thru. UNGRATEFUL RACE. When will ye learn?!- timo

    ReplyDelete
  13. ...
    The writer seems to have been blinded by emotion to facts and rules of the game. In the first place, the referee was supported by the rules to give Kaita the marching order. Referees are judges of intention. An intended foul play is a foul play, irrespective of whether the kick hit target.
    Also, you cannot compare this team to any of the teams of the last 17 or 18 years. There is so much paucity of talents at their disposal. This is the time to rebuild and strategise, starting with the FA.
    We have to put a developmental programme on ground.
    - demoski
    ...
    i wonder what people expect from a society where corruption is institionalized, corrupt leaders are honoured and rewarded. unless and until we observe and abide by the teachings of our holy books, we will never have solution to all our problems that have been inimical to our development as a nation and on individuals. God have mercy on us.
    - ksl
    ...
    Here we come again. They have started, sack him? When will Nigerians allow a coach enough time to build a team? In as much as it pains me deep to see eagles poor performance, I cannot haul the blame on a coach who only met his players 3 weeks before world cup started. South Africa hired their coach(one of the few best coaches on earth) 4 years ago to prepare their team, did a lot of camping and 98% of their team play in their home league, yet, they have not impressed. I think it is high time the media stop destroying Nigerian sport with their negative and destructive reporting. - abdul ningi

    ReplyDelete
  14. ...
    The writer is the bigest fool of thie century.He is criticing the coach for not doing enough.The writer Meniru Anigbo is a jobless ranting rat who has no job only to cricise without substance.He should have directed his criticising to the footall administrator who employed a coach when the world cup is weeks away.Even if Guus Hudink or Luis Van Gall is hired they wouldnt have done more than Lagerback.How many friendllies did the super eagles play?
    Was there proper arangement for their flight to south Africa?The so called Meniru Anigbo should forcuss on the politicians.adminitrstaor who are looting the treasury of the nation insteda of abusing the coach who did is best onder a harsh and limited enviroment.I hope the so called Meniru Anigbos of this world will nt be calling for tghe sack of the coach.He should begiven a new contract and let him plan for the future instead of the firebrigade approach we h ave in Nigeria.
    - blackamsterdam
    ...
    I'm sure the writer of this empty unresearched piece must have been watching a different match when Nigeria was playing Greece. For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria was in perfect control of the game and was headed for a landslide victory before the Sanni Kaita's gaffe. Every follower of the Super Eagles will bear testimony that the Eagles wwe are seeing iin this world cup cannot be compared to Amodu by any stretch of imagination. I dare say that Lagerback is a good and coompetent coach, lets leave him alone and if possible give him time to help develope pout football
    - okito magna
    ...
    He should go, he couldn't keep his own side of the contract. Bring on SIASIA and lets start from scratch.
    - jameo

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  15. ...
    i have this feeling that Nigeria is still gonna make it out of the group,it is not over yet and i see us going very far in this World Cup to the amazement of everyone.
    sometimes you need luck to excel in life, luck determines success in football to a large extent and i believe that that luck is with us this time around.i can confidently tell u guys that this trophy is going to no where but to Abuja-Nigeria,yes i can feel it......
    - football optimist
    ...
    Playing Keita wide right was a clear sign of incompetence. Not playing a lone striker upfront and packing the mid was atrocious after the sending off incident. Its clear the guy is incompetent. he decimated our mid, allowing the young shoulders of Haruna to play deep rather than play further foward. He had wingers he did not use. He went with only one CM - Haruna!- amina adamu

    ...
    Its take years of preparation not hours or months to ready a team for the world cup-our players are dead-they are not patriotic-very lazy and stupid to a fault-the hunt for fresh players should start now-government should hire a coach from brazil to start grooming or searching for new players across the country and not just one geo political zone as we saw in the useless team-the present coach should be left alone to do his job-its not his fault-look at ghana-the pride of africa even in wrestling their name is there-While -ALL WE DO IS TO ORGRANISE CREDIT CARD FRAUD-and change coaches like wrappers-LET THE COACH ALONE BIKO
    - deri

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  16. ...
    we use our own hands to rub ourselves with shit and dare to blame others for the fact that we stink?! as usual, we as nigerians are not ready to accept responsibility for our pathetic roles in watching silently while our nation is crumbling down! l'm sure this is the worst job the coach had ever had to take on - poor man! - whizzy

    ...
    This is absolute nonsense! Direct your anger at the daft and corrupt NFF...., and your intellect! You are expecting miracles from a trainer that was hired just a couple of weeks before the World Cup, from a team that had its first training on May 20 or thereabout! A serious preparation takes years!!
    You have the mindset of a delusional individual, who wants to reap where he didn´t sow! Not surprising! With all your Gods and miracle-workers!!! Stupid!
    - ramses osiris
    ...
    The problem is not the coach but the constant interference of political idiots who dont know a fiddle about football!! The likes of Sanni Kaita are in the National team because he has PDP backup "Ibrahim Kaita", everything in Nigeria is Politicized. We have very competent footballers playing on the streets of Nigeria with no hope of an International ambition..even if the "choosen one" Josef Morinho becomes the Nigerian coach, there'l be no difference.- poni

    ReplyDelete
  17. ...
    (One)
    I commend the writer for this piece. Everyone is free to have an opinion, but insulting the writer for the views expresssed in this piece does not and will never add value to the discourse aimed at improving the level of soccer in Nigeria.Let's see one or two issues:
    Kaita got a red card and so what? Other teams like Australia played 10 against 11 and they remained strong in the game not conceding defeat. That tells me that Lagerback and the coaching crew failed to respond well to the situation. And the players also proved they were not fit and prepared as a result of Lagerback's mediocre and third-rate coaching!
    - the cross
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    Our football administrators are blinded by Greed and corruption, they were told not to hire a Foreign Coach by well meaning Nigerians, even SATGURU MAHARAJ JI wrote to the NFA and published it in the Compass that a Foreign Coach of any calibre will reduce the Divine Grace needed to win the Tournament. SATGURU MAHARAJ JI said with the Manifestation of the Satguru in Nigeria, any Nigerian all over the World is spiritually more blessed to achieve anything than any other person anywhere. So the NFA offended the ancestors by employing a spiritually less person instead of the spiritually more empowered Nigerian, who can will anyhow, due to the over flowing Grace. The NFA Jettisoned his advice and the result of the whole game is the manifestation of what happened, it was a Game we can will anytime, but failed because we ignored the Divine advice of the SATGURU. Next time, listen to people and be wise.- patriot olu

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  18. ...
    Largerback is not the problem.the fact is that we have no mature/good players at this time.no striker or midfielder who could stood up and cordinate/create space for others to score or possible score himself.like amokachi,okocha, and olishe used to do.also the secrete of formal/good super eagles was the ability of their able wingers that crosses ball to Rashidi to score.like amunike and finidi george and this present eagles did not cross a single ball all through 90minutes.that will not allow them to defeat their opponent.unless the opponent is so weak.- abolanrind

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    The Nigerian performance in World Cup 2010 in South Africa is more than just the qualifications of the coach in Lars Largerback. Let's step back and look at all the African teams in the World Cup 2010. They are 6 in total, 18.75 percent representation, excellent. Out of the 6 African teams, only one has a native coach. So 83.33 percent of the African nations in the world cup do not see either their fellow country men or continent men (or women) capable enough to coach them through the World cup. Out of the other 26 teams only Australia went outside its country/continent to find a coach deemed capable to coach them in the world cup.
    The quick fix has not worked and it will not work. Most other countries in the world have the same issues as Nigeria - their players play in Europe where the soccer money is great - but they still go home and prepare in the same amount of time and perform well at the world stage. Leadership on and off the field is still plaguing us.
    - michael atogu
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    (Two)
    Lagerback did not employ himself.But the man should be sacked because he is a third rate coach. A coach who did not qualify his native Sweden to the WC should have no business taking another country's team to the same event. Remaining with the Eagles even after the WC will produce the same result he had with his Swedish team. It is the NFF that should be held squarely responsible for Nigeria's dismal performance in SA. The NFF should be dissolved and its members prosecuted; infact a State of Emergency should be declared in that sector.
    Nigeria did a great injustice to Amodu Shaibu. Having qualified the Eagles to the WC, he should have been allowed to lead the team to SA as his final assignment. He could have made a difference. Indeed, with the sorry performance of the team and Lagerback, no harm would have caused Nigeria if Amodu had led the team! - the cross

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  19. ...
    The passion for the game is no crime for us to call for immediate removal of what we passive as a failed coach. The issue we as lovers of the game must address is that inadequate preparation for a quintessential game does not produce magic.
    At what stage in maturity of our feeling would we agree to allow a build up for something that can translate into worthy growth. If we did not get it right this time but realize that we have an assemble of quality products, why then should we not face the reality of the fact that nothing happen overnight. Let us begin to talk on build a team rather than jumping on disbandment every time it did not work well.
    We need an assemble of worthy materials, a technical trainer for whom they respect and a start up time to put things in place. magic is not made in short time blending, even countries that had prepared long enough may not emerge the best in the game of tested materials and faith.- hot saw

    ...
    During the selection process, we had the opportunity of hiring tested and proven winners in G. Hoddle and G. Hiddink, but the so called NFF chose Lars Lagerback and tried to paint him as Lars Lager-FRONT, so hu ever has to blame this Lars Lagerback, haz every right to do so. When he took the job, he personally set a target of a semi final berth. Did he not actually know that this is N-I-G-E-R-I-A? come to think of it, did he qualify his own country of bith and allegiance to the WC, we should not mull over his appointment just 3 months to the tournament, but look at Ivory Coast, they already have 1 point to their name despite Sven G's late appointment.Lets call a spade a spade, Lars Lagerback was appointed to come and fail us as usual.- lordly cy

    ...
    seems you are talking with the influence of some malam in abuja...is the writer a woman? then she has to let his malam friends deceive her at abuja where she gets hot things for money. Lagerback has become research name for the writer. Lagerback is not the problem, it is the nations government who is confused. tomorrow they would have to send Lagerback back home without maintining him to gain ground with teaching and making a strong team for the nations before or if at all his exit. nations in nigeria government is a macro harlot to diagonistic social scientist, as they are in position with expecting to be sent packing anytime, which shapens their attitude to eat and go style and so is nations in nigeria legacy in continous contention.- profet

    ...
    This has nothing to do with Lagerback! The man had two months to do what other countries spent two years to do. Where have Nigerians excelled? Look at our ministers, our legislators, our governors, our local government chairmen etc etc. All that we know to do well in Nigeria is to amass wealth. Do we need Lagerback to do fire brigade work for us? Just look at our rebranding project: Mama Dora wants to whitewash the dirty paint - can she really? What is wrong with Nigeria cannot be solved by Lagerback and Mama Dora. We need deep internal cleansing to remove the rot.- nina

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  20. The writer is funny, but he got his points correctly. LargerB' is a "job man" period! Its obvious he is not a good Coach! He simply came in and disrupted the rhythm of the team Amodu put together.I am very convincd that Amodu would have gotten some result by now in the WC, if NFF had left him to handle the team.He knows the boys and knows the players to pair togther inorder to get a result. He was not appreciated because he is a local boy. Why are some commentators now talking about luck? Why are we being asked to pray and wait for the last minute to know if we must qualify,when they initially argued, that once Amodu was sacked and a white man comes all will be well? Nigeria will never beat SKorea,instead, Skorea will complete the disgrace for Nigeria. Nigeria asked for this and got it! Amodu is laughing last and I believe this will serve as a lesson to all, if only they will understand.- chief cc okeke (mosco,rf)

    ...
    Lager beer or whatsoever you are call, you better stagger back to your country. Poor Shuaibu. Monkey dey work baboon dey chop.- miko

    ...
    This writer is a disgruntled man.If you investigate him,either his sibling lost out in the fight to hire this our present coach or he is mentally deranged.Nigerian will never see anything good in what one does if their interest is not secure.To me this man has tried but mother luck is against us in the fight against Greece.Nigeria presented a good team but you cannot be a winnr all the time.Blame your administrators for starting the preparation late
    listentome
    ...
    I am disappointed by this Icheoku's article! I thought you were more intelligent than what this article potrays. You sit here in the US and blame the coach, he's not competent etc why did you not remain at home to help sort things out in Naija. So what if NFF hired a foreigner? The same way we couldn't have used home based players is the same reason for a foreign technical adviser. Please be objective.
    Unfortunately,it was so glaring that Amodu too has lost the technical ability and bereft of ideas. This was galantly displayed at the African Cup of Nations and in recent years where Eagles are known to struggle and fumble. Whether we retain Largerback or not we need to plan ahead of competitions, Proper Preparation they say Prevents Poor Performances.I also doubt if you know football well. In all, Super Eagles are not really yet out! and we should just pray for luck against South Korea. Go Eagles, Go Naija!!! - vigilante

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  21. ...
    theCross@ if you play 10 and against 11 and you have a draw is due to luck, it is so difficult to play 10 against 11 in a world cup which every country has prepared for 4 years, and the fact that this Kaita was sent of 25 minutes into the game does not help at all. Apart from Australia who manage to get draw, do you see any team down to 10 in a world cup that beat the 11 team? Germany was in the same position with us, as good as they are, were they able to win, they lost so also Algeria, it is not the Coach's fault. Australia was able to survive because it is Ghana they are not good enough, imaging they play against Mexico, Chile, not to talk of d European teams, we have to be real, our prepartion is not good enough, giving a coach two months to win the world cup? with no preparation, and out players are so overaged, the are heavy they cant run, no special skill, can you compare these players with those that win in America in the 90s'?
    - rlow
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    "The continued recycling of players in the senior national team does not augur well for the country's football" The present crop of players in our national team ranging from Kalu to Yakubu have all outlived their lifespan and so should make way for younger ones. The entire team along with Largerback should be disbanded completely for a new super eagle.
    - bede
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    Pessimistic Icheoku, and Saharareporters alike should monitor the kind of report to & not to publish and also sensor the write to their columnist. VERY BAD&ANNOYING REPORT. This guy Icheoku company or family lost out in the bidding for the eagle's manager. YES! Will president Goodluck leave his sit to start a coaching job? What has Enyama done also? If Nigeria gives Icheoku a coaching job he will fail VERY WELL. Why is Icheoku so pessimistic? Or he just wrote this aticle to the people offended? If we want win, then Nigeria must learn to prepare before hand and not fire brigade approach. England is one of the best footballing nation in the world but they still hired a foreign coach. If Icheoku don't know how to contribute, then why don't u just SHUT UP.- bobby

    ...
    Those who agitated for the hiring of a foreign coach should bury their faces in shame because Amodu would have done better. Those blaming the poort outing on lack of preparation and attitude of players are just begging the issue as these have been the bane of our football managment and yet same confused people were blaming Amodu. FOr God's sake why do you sack a man who toiled despite the name callings, and qualified the team for the mundial and you think the God of justice will help you. God does not help wicked people except they repent and do the right thing. Siasia, Amodu, Keshi, Ebuh etc are better than most of the foreigners who may even take side with their brothers in such high staked competition to cause our downfall. The behaviour of the foreign coach after the red card portrays sabotage to give his white skinned brothers a hedge over us.- gam

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  22. ...
    I really don't understand the clown that wrote this article. Without any iota of doubt, Lagerbag is better than Amodu. The team of Lagerbag is a vastly improved ( though bad) version of Amodu's despite the short time of preparation. The problem with the team is that we have no talented and disciplined players. We should stop all this fire-brigade approach and sign the coach on for 3-4 years and see what he would be able to achieve. Rome was not built in a day! - kolade

    ...
    I agree that Lagerback must go but this writer doesn't have a clue what he is talking about; who told him Nigeria was leading Italy 2-0 and Westerhoff removed Amokachi and Amuneke? Nigeria led Italy 1-0 for most of the game until the dying minutes. Amokachi and Amuneke were strategically 'taken out' by the Italians. They were injured and substituted. Was this guy under a rock? Please don't pick up a pen if you don't have your facts right.
    - biafra will rise again
    ...
    Most are blaming the Coach, but the fact is our boys (men) are too old, heavy, no skill and outdated. Maradona played in the team that played against Nigeria in America, when we won, he is retired for over 8 years now and is the Coach of his country, but Nigeria still feature Kanu as part of our team, what do you people expect?, the average age in the world cup teams is 22, but in our team, we hardly have a player who is less than 30, (real age)even some of them are almost 40 and you people want miracle from the Coach, we get what we deserve, this problems lies with the NFA, now we should allow the coach free hand to look for brilliant, skillful players both at home and abroad, and have enough preparation for next competitions.- rlow

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  23. lebbystar said:
    ...
    I don't know when Nigeria will learn their mistake, for many years now we manage to qualify for any round in any tournament praying an irelevant prayer for one team to loose before they qualify, before the commencement of the world cup Satguru Maharaj Ji advice the Nigerian's NFF, and all concern citizen not to support or go for foreign coach, that foreign coach cannot give us victory in the world cup but they refuse to listen to the Divine Directive, they have forgotten that this Satguru MAharaj Ji is The Spiritual Controler of The World today and He continue to say that He can give us World cup only if Nigerian's are ready to for HIS advice, but Nigeria have never listen to HIM. So we should all wake up and meet HIM to help us to WIN the World Cup. - lebbystar

    ...
    The facts of the matter is that all African teams in the 2010 have failed abysmally. Their lack of passion, patriotsm and commitment is only matched by their lack of sense of history. One would have hoped that the first ever hosting of a world cup in the Afican continent would have spurred African players to excel. What has happened is similar to a man standing akimbo while one comes through his backyard to steal his wife! -manpikin

    ...
    How did they allow this moron's article to pass through?

    Have played our final match for him to summarise and assume so much?

    What makes this fool sure that SE would not play Kanu in the final game?

    What makes this fool sure that we will not win our final game and get to the quarter finals before he came to the retarded conclusion this is our worst WC outing?

    Sahara Reporters please explain how you allowed this retarded write up to pass through your article assessment process.
    - sagamite
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    I would not want to say useless write up, cause everyone is entitled to his opinion, BUT this is the typical fire brigade, nonsensical armchair analysis of another Nigerian supporter. Must you force it down our throats? DO YOU KNOW THAT NIGERIA HAS GONE THROUGH 17 COACHES SINCE USA `94?

    Nigerians better wake up. Point of correction, its the Greek economy that is shambles NOT their football, kapisch.
    - usiomame
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    They should not have hired the coach in first instance knowing fully well that the time is short, now there is no difference btw leaving Amoudu to finish the work he started than hiring a new coach with so much cost. - nuel ola

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