Like a bad dream just waiting to happen, the “technically bereft” one himself, a.k.a Ladan Bosso, has inflicted severe humiliation and shame upon the Nation called Nigeria.

 

Late coach Yemi Tella would still be writhing in extreme pain inside his grave as his spirit watched the mangling that the “cattle-rearer” has done to his team.

 

The South African U-20 team just showed how technically bankrupt this fellow called “Bosso” really is.

 

There had been several clamour from well-meaning Nigerians (yours truly one of them) calling on the Nigerian Football Federation (Another sore point in the Nigerian Soccer ambience) to stop Ladan Bosso from associating with the Yemi Tella (May his gentle soul rest in peace) tutored team. The team had been brought up under the best possible disciplinary environment, they were tactically grounded under the late lecturer and only needed time to emerge as a strong force in the global soccer scene, unfortunately for Nigeria however, the great man departed this world, but more unfortunately for us we let them come under Ladan Bosso.

 

The team could still have been on course for greatness had the NFF taken pain to ensure that they shield the team from lacklustre individuals who still believe football is a game of “race”.

 

The South African U-20 team made that once-glorious team from Nigeria (surely I am not proud saying this now) look like a hastily assembled secondary school team from one of the interior local Villages in Kebbi state (Apologies to Kebbi State, but I have to ensure the picture is made lucid).

 

There was perfect incoherence amongst all the departments of the team (A trademark of Ladan Bosso) and there were a few players that ought to have been strolling on the streets of Kigali rather than being in that team.

 

Ladan Bosso looked like a helpless fugitive on the sideline, I actually felt sorry for him at a point. Not the pity one shows to an individual in lack or despair, but that you show to one who brags of his illiteracy in public.

 

Like every other of his kind in the soccer scene (the unfortunate hockey-umpire who thinks he is a soccer coach), his substitutions were very suspicious and smelt of “National quota system”.

 

For example, I don’t think “Mr. I-should-have-been-fighting-sumo-wrestling” had any business on that pitch (not like any of our demoralized boys did anyway), neither did the goal-scorer himself……..or wait a minute! They all should have been on the pitch of play, but that semi-retarded herdsman just did not know that it was a game of soccer, so he arranged the players like they were set for a game of polo. That must explain why they were scattered on the pitch, unable to connect with each other, and galloping instead of running!…..That really must explain it!

 

I feel so distraught now, not that we lost the match to our arch-rivals, South Africa or that the NFF did not heed the well intended advise of several Nigerians to drop this man like a bad habit, or that we might not be making it to the World Youth Championship in Egypt BUT the fact that a perfectly good bunch of future glory-getters for Nigeria have been blown up into pieces.

 

Right now I believe that the team is in a state of shock and disbelief, a terrible thing to do to a good fit.

 

Tears and vituperations really would not undo the vile done now, it would not even change the scoreline (Had the NFF not been blinded with their selfish intent, none of these would have happened), but it is now time to re-align these boys along the path of Soccer (Yes soccer and not “Dembe”)

 

They have to be re-educated about the philosophy guiding football, they have to be washed clean of Ladan Bosso’s leisure ride into stagnation. Let us not le these boys rot away like those he took to Canada.

 

 

 

Awenlimobor Sylvester

The most shocking decision ever made by any Football Federation worldwide was unleashed on Nigerians by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) late last week when it decided to let go the most successful Nigerian coach in recent times, Samson Siasia.

 

This decision has fully exposed the hollow-mindedness that the body possesses; their vain quest for selfish glorification at the expense of patriotism has also come to the fore.

 

When professionalism and merit are thrown out of the window and in their place nepotism, greed and selfishness become the yardstick for recruiting people into our various senior national teams, the country is bound to fail. This is a fact that cannot be contested, it is as solid as saying the sun will rise tomorrow!

 

A brief look back into history will show that all the period Nigeria (Super Eagles) has ever achieved any form of glory either in the continent or in the globe; it has always been with a coach that had discipline. The lack of it (Discipline) has ensured that Nigeria has gone years without achieving any form of worthwhile glory. Save Yemi Tella (May his gentle soul rest in peace) and Samson Siasia, there is no discipline-instilling coach in this country anymore.

 

Is it Christian Chukwu? A man that was afraid of his players? A man that lost the right to select his starting team to his Captain? A man that was being controlled like a puppet by the NFA? Definitely not Christian Chukwu! Most definitely not!

 

Or is it Augustine Eguavoen? A man that could not define his role all through his stay with the team? A man that had (still has anyway) a suspicious vacuum in his tactical depth as far as I am concerned? Hell no!  Maybe Keshi, but definitely Not Eguavoen.

 

Is it Amodu Shuaibu? A man that could barely gather enough players to play a grade A friendly match in Columbia a few months back? A man that can not list his career achievements in more than two sentences? This is most definitely not the man for the job! And we all know it, so why do we keep deceiving ourselves?

 

Undoubtedly, the best Nigerian coaches in the last ten years have been Samson Siasia and Yemi Tella, the latter is now deceased leaving only Siasia as the best option for the country.

 

But the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) obviously has other sinister plans and ideas. They hope to crumble our football, probably they would be thinking to themselves…”If Galadima did not die for not taking us to the last World Cup, why should we be afraid?”

 

We are currently at the precipice of another woeful and disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign, the signs are boldly written on the wall, in plain English and yet the NFF can’t see. Their eyes are blinded with fat allowances and bonuses.

 

 

 

 

Awenlimobor Sylvester

The most shocking decision ever made by any Football Federation worldwide was unleashed on Nigerians by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) late last week when it decided to let go the most successful Nigerian coach in recent times, Samson Siasia.

This decision has fully exposed the hollow-mindedness that the body possesses; their vain quest for selfish glorification at the expense of patriotism has also come to the fore.

When professionalism and merit are thrown out of the window and in their place nepotism, greed and selfishness become the yardstick for recruiting people into our various senior national teams, the country is bound to fail. This is a fact that cannot be contested, it is as solid as saying the sun will rise tomorrow!

A brief look back into history will show that all the period Nigeria (Super Eagles) has ever achieved any form of glory either in the continent or in the globe; it has always been with a coach that had discipline. The lack of it (Discipline) has ensured that Nigeria has gone years without achieving any form of worthwhile glory. Save Yemi Tella (May his gentle soul rest in peace) and Samson Siasia, there is no discipline-instilling coach in this country anymore.

Is it Christian Chukwu? A man that was afraid of his players? A man that lost the right to select his starting team to his Captain? A man that was being controlled like a puppet by the NFA? Definitely not Christian Chukwu! Most definitely not!
Or is it Augustine Eguavoen? A man that could not define his role all through his stay with the team? A man that had (still has anyway) a suspicious vacuum in his tactical depth as far as I am concerned? Hell no!  Maybe Keshi, but definitely Not Eguavoen.

Is it Amodu Shuaibu? A man that could barely gather enough players to play a grade A friendly match in Columbia a few months back? A man that can not list his career achievements in more than two sentences? This is most definitely not the man for the job! And we all know it, so why do we keep deceiving ourselves?

Undoubtedly, the best Nigerian coaches in the last ten years have been Samson Siasia and Yemi Tella, the latter is now deceased leaving only Siasia as the best option for the country.

But the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) obviously has other sinister plans and ideas. They hope to crumble our football, probably they would be thinking to themselves…”If Galadima did not die for not taking us to the last World Cup, why should we be afraid?”

We are currently at the precipice of another woeful and disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign, the signs are boldly written on the wall, in plain English and yet the NFF can’t see. Their eyes are blinded with fat allowances and bonuses.

Awenlimobor Sylvester

A lackluster performance by the country’s U-20 side in a friendly encounter against lowly Nigerian league outfit, Heartland FC of Owerri, has cast further doubt on the ability of the side to lift the trophy this year.

 

Though the Nigerian side won the encounter 1-0 courtesy of a goal by Ganiu Oseni, off a fine cross from Germany-based striker Macaulay Chrisanthus, the display of the team on the day left much to be desired.

 

Who would believe that the large chunk of players that make up this team were two years ago FIFA U-17 World Champions with the late NIS Professor, Yemi Tella? How could they have deteriorated into this mess in so short a period? Well the answer cannot be far-fetched….Ladan Bosso

 

The NFF as usual are setting the ground for catastrophe (something they have become used to), watching as a talented bunch of players go to waste in the hands of a “talent-destroyer”.

 

Whatever happened to the players that Bosso took to Canada two years back? Someone ever asked that question? NO!

 

I think we can stop this cataclysmic process at its infant stage before we kill a perfectly good generation of future Super Eagles players.

 

 

 

Awenlimobor Sylvester

Embattled coach of the Nigerian Under-20 team, the Flying Eagles, Ladan Bosso might have pushed himself closer to being sent packing from his job by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), after he allegedly angered the Nations Soccer house with certain statements that insinuated that the Glasshouse was without funds.
According to reports monitored on Kickoffnigeria.com, the under-achieving coach stated in the interview with a Radio station that the NFF cancelled a proposed training camp to Kenya for his boys because they had run out of money.
The coach’s utterance set the Glasshouse on fire, with the President, Sani Lulu, reportedly calling for the immediate sack of the former Nasarawa United handler.

Appeals from several other board members however ensured the “loud-mouthed” tactician retained his job. He was however instructed to keep off the training sessions of the team thereby still putting in doubt his future as head coach.
It would be recalled that two years ago at the World Youth Championship in Canada, after leading his team to a disastrous 4 goal rout in the hands of Chile, Bosso went wild accusing the referee of racism. This bagged him a fine from FIFA and also suspension.

Many soccer pundits have wondered why the NFA bother recycling the coach, especially considering his track record of non-achievements.

Awenlimobor Sylvester

Birmingham free Owusu-Abeyie

Ghanaian international midfielder, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie has been set free by English Championship side, Birmingham after the club refused to pay the US$10 million requested by his Russian employers Spartak Moscow for a permanent deal.

Manager of Birmingham, Alex McLeish confirmed that the player would not be staying

“His deal was an expensive one for just one player and we will now look to use the money to bring in new faces.

“We thank Quincy for his efforts and wish him well for the future.” He added

Quincy, 22, joined the English outfit last summer on a six months loan deal, and was tipped to remain at the club side by several soccer pundits. This would however come as a blow to the player’s aspiration to return to the Premiership where he once played with London club, Arsenal.

The fleet-footed winger has however played on 13 times for the Blues, netting only three goals.

 

Awenlimobor Sylvester

A new year has come and undoubtedly the big question on the mind of every soccer loving Nigerian right now is … can Amodu lead the Super Eagles comfortably to the 2010 World Cup in near-by South Africa?

 

The past year 2008, was undoubtedly a year to quickly erase from the mind as far as Nigerian soccer is involved. The solitary bright spark came from the Samson Siasia inspired Olympic team that “against all odds” went ahead to reach the finals of the male soccer event at the four-year event in China.

 

A certain Berti Vogts assisted by a perennial “show-watcher” in the name of Augustine Eguavoen, began the year in the most disastrous fashion by taking the “Almighty” Super Eagles to their worst outing at the African Nations Cup in almost 16 years.

 

The Nigerian team paraded at the tourney looked more like a hockey team that just found out that the game they were involved in required the use of legs.

 

The disgraceful outing, which was orchestrated by the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) now Federation (whatever they hope to achieve with the name change is still left to be seen) and hatched perfectly by the boring and dour ex-German international (who eventually ended up being the fall guy anyway) ensured that the hollow centre that is the “Super Eagles” which was being covered by past glory became fully exposed for the whole continent to see.

 

The Nigerian team became (and if you ask me, we still are) the laughing stock of the continent, and the world soccer governing body FIFA, who had hitherto kept the country at a suspicious ranking level quickly acted upon the unfolding revelations ad dropped the country down the pecking order like you would to a hot frying-pan.

 

The NFA (I still prefer referring to them by that name) decided to replace (can’t exactly say for sure that this is the right word to use for what the ignominious body did to Vogt’s anyway) the German they “begged” to come in the first place. Unfortunately for them, they continued with their character of listening to popular demand, rather than doing what’s best for the country and decided the best thing to do was to get an indigenous coach as replacement. Really it amazes me so much that the NFA would always chose to get their next line of action from what the press desires from them. The fattening salary they get, along with all the allowances is just for them to pick up a soccer tabloid or browse the net and then make their decisions I guess.

 

Anyway, in their usual fashion the NFA decided to return to their recycle bin to pick up a washed-out coach in the form of Amodu Shuaibu, who would be better off sitting in his verandah with a tooth-pick in his mouth, reminiscing on his past achievements in his coaching career (if he can remember any) and quietly enjoying his retirement period. A certain Samson Siasia and his fellow ex-international Stephen Keshi, who had both proven themselves worthy candidates with exceptional feats in recent times, were quickly ushered out of the race to avoid “succeeding” with the Nigerian team.

 

Siasia was to put temporary smile on the faces of Nigerians as he “single-handedly” (despite several attempts by the NFA to ensure his team’s failure) guided the Nigerian Olympic male soccer team to a fantastic tournament in Beijing where they came away with the Silver medal. Well, that sure put a dent on the NFA’s aspirations to ensure total failure for the Nation’s soccer team. The Glasshouse went wild and set up machineries to ensure it never happens again. And surely they succeeded in their sinister quest.

 

Who the hell is “Coach Jossy Lad”? Why would they bring an hotelier to coach the Nation’s female soccer team? Beats me!

 

That fellow brought series of shame and disgrace to the Nations once untouchable status in female football as far as the continent is concerned. And like his “calamitous” compatriot, Ladan Bosso, his ability to always verbally attempt to provide explanations for his inexcusable lack of football tactics made me wonder if the NFA just casts die to pick their coaches.

 

The Nation’s U-17 team also put further smiles on the faces of the NFA, and sadness for the soccer loving Nigerian as they were knocked out of the qualifying race for the African U-17 tournament by neighboring Benin republic in a shameful and disgraceful exhibition of Soccer played in the “Cricket style”. Alphonsus Dike! Another senile “tactician recruited by that same group of fattened oafs called the NFA (No Future Ambition).

 

Well we had started counting our losses for the year and hoping for a better year when Okey Emordi (A bald headed figure, whose knowledge of soccer is purely based on “monkey-post” tactics) ensured Ghana!, yes Ghana, knocked us out of qualifiers for the newly inaugurated African Nations Championship (CHAN) right in our house.

 

A year without any form of silverware for the country, no thanks to the “antique” collection of indigenous coaches our dear NFA pumped into the system. To tell you how bereft of soccer knowledge these coaches were, Belgian born tactician Maurice Cooreman, was doing well with Enyimba in the CAF Champions League and lo and behold the spirit of NFA came upon the Enyimba management and they brought in old cargo Eguavoen, along with his cohort of charlatan show-spoilers, and the Enyimba team that was riding high in he tournament suddenly crumbled like a pack of cards (I think cookies would best explain what they did to that team).

 

Well 2009 has come, and this is a World Cup qualifying year for the Super Eagles, a tournament year for the U-17 and U-20 teams. With Amodu in charge, I get nightmares of Angola. I wake up sweating terribly in the middle of the night because I get dreams of Tunisia flogging us at the Abuja stadium. My palms suddenly get wet when I imagine “Ladan Bosso”, the radical racial activist, taking the U-20 team to the African Championship. I get dizzy with headache when I cannot conjure up a team that we can call U-17 that can successfully get past the group stage o the World Cup to be hosted by Nigeria (Hopefully those Stadiums would be 40% ready before the tourney kicks-off). I still see Columbia on the horizon, with our players perpetually calling for the offside flag.

 

If the truth be told, all is not well with the Nigerian soccer scene, it could get worse in 2009, unless…………………….

 

 

 

 

 

Awenlimobor Sylvester