[quote author=komekn post=72551105]

The claim of bad belle and negative prejudice towards Nigerian born players is simply nonsensical balderdash. Made by those who are the very thing they accuse others to be, “As a man thinketh so he is “

My approach gives no preferential treatment to a player because you were born in Nigeria. There is a universal standard that is used to judge all players irrespective of nationality that standard does not change because you are Nigerian. What you would like is for me to create a standard for Nigerian players born in Nigeria and birthed from our local leagues or academies.

I am knowledge biased towards the UK if you want to call it that. I have in-depth participatory and experiential knowledge of the English football system. That knowledge and participation creates network and that network creates access. Which in turn gives me understanding from an English perspective of expectations, standards, etc

English football is different than the continental style, its more physical, intense and a lot faster to some that means better, it’s a matter of preference. You do not assess a player with a Nigerian unit of measurement but an all-encompassing one. I have had to learn what we consider in Nigeria as exceptional attributes may amount to nothing in England. So doing rainbow flicks, nut megs and dancing on the ball may look very pleasing to the eye, in England, without end product that will amount to “TIME WAISTING”

You mentioned three players you claim I have been very biased towards and show great undue HATRED to them. Namely Isaac Success, Osimhen and KC. So let’s analyse objectively without fear or favour. Not with emotive favoritism and preference not based on performance.

This is Isaac Success’s third season in the EPL, he cost £12.5 million he was bought as a striker with great promise and expectation. Ages ago I started to get reports off the record through the network about him having an attitude problem and issues of gross indiscipline. Being an EPL player is an incredible privilege and opportunity. I don’t expect any one to need to be motivated and disciplined to meet the required standard. Then coming from Nigeria knowing our situations back home that should never happen my biased opinion.

Here is a player arrives at Watford FC three years ago and is found to be unfit, then he has discipline issues then shockingly is found to be overweight. Add petrol to fire he then gets into a drunken fight with 4 prostitutes in a hotel and refuses to pay them. He is lucky the club can not afford to rip up his contract otherwise he would be gone. Now what would you call that a great return on your £12 million investment please tell me or would you without bias say, what waste of money and hence the tag, “WASTEMAN” This season he has to sit up , he has shown some promise but that’s all. When he starts a game some of you act like he has won the Ballon dor. Now may ask you who is being emotive and biased.

Osimhen was invited to the SE when he has done nothing he couldn’t get into the Wolfsburg team. Now in his third season in Europe he is now in lower league and team and he is doing good. But to reach the higher standards there is a very long way to go. His call up was never justified when you had far better proven players available. That’s a simple objective assessment. But some of you being emotive tagged him special talent on the basis of past youthful glories. I did not. And to date do not feel there is any justification for his inclusion. My objective opinion means hate to you.

Finally, KC he was bought for £25 million as a striker and has never lived up to the billing we even had some of us putting him on par with Mbappe. I said ages ago the true test of his quality, will be when he leaves city and doesn’t have world class players around him. That test has come and quite honestly, he has failed to match the expectations. Second season and not more than 6 goals in the EPL. We have changed the goal posts so many times where he is concerned there is now no longer any goal post to change. KC is a very good player but currently and since he left city he simply has been a poor investment for £25 million. To whom much is given much is expected.

If this is what you call hate, player bashing then there are too many caught up in a delusion that we have world class players. Its not hate but simple reality.

What you want me to do is create a double standard, the team needs to change for him, or the manager is not being fair to him, Oh the fans are being biased, you need to appreciate his background its not easy for him, etc, etc I don't look at these players in isolation but in the context of general standards used to equate all players not just Nigerian players. These are expectations not created by me but the clubs. i can add i talk to players, ex-players, coaches, heads of recruitment, players agents often and then the odd Manager I know.

What you are asking me to do is to look at Nigerian players differently from their peers that would be positive discrimination from the perspective of a Nigerian. But that is not being real but deceptive telling a player he is doing well when he is not. That is setting him up to fail by telling him lies , its deception.


Anybody who compared iheanacho to mbappe is a desperate fellow and is living in denial

Left to me, whether its the local bred lads plying their trade in Europe, or the solanke's, onomahs, ejarias...etc...they are all the same.....none are world beaters, none will pull up trees

Komekn, I like the fact you defend solanke...its good....but I honestly don't see him playing for Nigeria at all...do you want to summon blood and thunder for someone who isn't really interested in Nigeria? Isn't that what this thread is for?

Fikayo tomori and other UK or foreign born players have the edge due to exposure to better coaching...like instilling discipline or monitoring a players diet....we in Nigeria are not on that plane at all

But in the end....to me...its about interest.....when you don't get the European country you wished to play for....will you be interested in playing for the other country?

This is where I'll make a distinction between the group of balogun ekong and ebuehi...and the group of victor moses (yep, I said it) solanke, akpoguma torunarigha and the likes

You may not have the talent....but if the desire/passion is there...you'll always play to your max, cuz you are happy doing it

Bottom line is, I personally prefer the foreign players due to exposure and realistic age...but where the player doesn't care about donning the gwg...then we shouldn't bother about him/them

Mistake... Accidentally posted twice...sorry

EEGA:
This is just like inviting Alhassan Ibrahim ahead of Iheanacho because he doesn't get game time for City.

Wolfsburg is far far better than Gent.

So because a striker is playing for Wolfsburg means automatic invitation? Even without no game time and no goals ?

Anyway osimhen deserve his invitation I cannot say more than that

komekn:


Being one of the more level headed contributors i expected more from you. But i understand that your support for Nigerian born players is o emotive you loose sight of objectivity, its ok its allowed. But because i dont have the same view as you doesn't mean HATRED or player bashing.

Your approach will not prepare them for success in Europe but failure by accepting mediocrity and changing the standard to suit them. The price of success will come to those who are prepared to pay the price in blood and guts, bravery and courage and not expecting preferential treatment.

Nice

Ryan giggs slept with his brother's wife. John Terry slept with a teammates wife or girlfriend, dele Alli had a video of him receiving Mouth Gig, come on Southgate. These things happens. Players get drunk leaving bar and drive recklessly, they get fattened up... Players have goal drought for seasons..

There are no emotional bias when u see a country man playing or starting, it's patriotism and not bias. We are not saying Isaac success is the best player or hyping him in Watford, we are only appreciative that is all

kentebemoney:

How can you be so sure?
Haba mana !!!!

Lol trust me i am so sure

Before rohr invite onyekuru despite the goals flowing from Eupen days to anderlecht we first fry egg

M7even:
Ryan giggs slept with his brother's wife. John Terry slept with a teammates wife or girlfriend, dele Alli had a video of him receiving Mouth Gig, come on Southgate. These things happens. Players get drunk leaving bar and drive recklessly, they get fattened up... Players have goal drought for seasons..

There are no emotional bias when u see a country man playing or starting, it's patriotism and not bias. We are not saying Isaac success is the best player or hyping him in Watford, we are only appreciative that is all

You made a point but please kindly remove ryan giggs and terry as example,i beg you

Those 2 men are very wicked and they can kill,dat 1 no b drunkness issue o

tbaba1234:
The worst invitation is that of Ezenwa, the man does not play every week but continues to get invited. Our journalists should ask Rohr tough questions.

Rohr list are always okay to me,even with the list for the south africa game,i am just concerned that they are just less midfielders thats all

But i always wonder why ezenwa is always invited,for crying out loud this guy is not the best in the npfl and this guy is always warming enyimba bench.

Mickael2:


Going by this judgement, shouldn't we have said Keshi loves Agbim? Or maybe Oliseh loves Igboun? When it comes to a foreigner we use everything to defend them, you hear stuffs like Rohr does not rate so-so player(although he has scored a ton of goals and is a solution to an ailing part of our team) instead of saying it straight and direct that Rohr too is biased. I do not care if he is biased or not so long as he gets the result but sugar-coating it is my problem. Rohr said he does not think any player from Rangers or Kano Pillars is good enough for the SE, then he goes ahead to invite a player from FCIU who has not played in ages and was not the standout defender in FCIU when he was playing, yet nobody is talking, if na Keshi invite Agbim this thread will not rest. Rohr keeps on inviting Ikechukwu Ezenwa and we will say it is because he is in his plans, if na Keshi invite Egwuekwe war start. Like I said, call it what it is 'selection bias', forget all these professional names

You are making sense

BascoVanVeli:


What pressing issues are there at LB? We have Collins and Idowu. Ikwuowem is on the U20 team. He wouldn't displace either of them because he is not as convincing defensively as he is going forward.

So all of a sudden you believe Idowu is a fantastic player now? Let me make this a little bit easier to understand. Ekong is a good player, Balogun is a fantastic player on his day, waiting for their opportunities are Omeruo(who I personally believe is a better defender them), Awaziem(who despite the hype I do not really think he is better than the first three but he has talent nonetheless) and Ajayi(one of the revelations of the Rotherham season).
Now come over to the right side of the defence and we have Shehu, Ebuehi and Aina, all are solid players on their day. But on the left who do we have? Only one naturally left footed player in Collins who hasn't exactly shown what he is made of against decent opposition, or should we continue to make do with Idowu who has been poor for God knows how long? Like I said, Ikwuowem should have been invited as a legitimate contestant for that LB spot, who says he cannot improve defensively?

BascoVanVeli:


Adeleye was our best defender at WAFU and would have been a sure starter at Chan if not for injuries. He might not have been active lately but this is not a bum we are talking about.

I remember him now, he was solid till injury took him out.
Make the guy join Enugu Rangers, their defence need help.

andrew444:


Lol trust me i am so sure

Before rohr invite onyekuru despite the goals flowing from Eupen days to anderlecht we first fry egg

Bro this coaching work no be child's play, ur thinking tactics 247 and managing men and boys from different backgrounds.
Am sure if you are privy to be with the coach and his staffs when decisions are made, you go understand better.

tbaba1234:
The worst invitation is that of Ezenwa, the man does not play every week but continues to get invited. Our journalists should ask Rohr tough questions.

I tire o cos Ezenwa invitation lacks merit and not good for our football development.

A third keeper with Enyimba and always getting invitations,no wonder we always result to team B players in Europe.

edi287:

I believe I wrote in English and not French. Upward climb based on results - yes.
This is the same thing we said before the world cup and he hid with the "we have the youngest team and are the lowest ranked team in the group" excuse to mask his tactical deficiencies.
The same people that see no problem with this are the same ones that were on Amodu and Keshi's case.
Amodu would get accused of playing with 6 defensive players even when we win but let's excuse Rohr for inviting 3 midfielders..

IMO the world cup came too early for us (based on player's form).
I like rohr and the stability he's brought to the team.
We are beating African teams anyhow now so it's very easy to forget that three years ago we were struggling to beat these same teams.

From my little experience with coaching, stability is KEY and I won't trade it for ideological eldorado (most especially during qualifiers).

kentebemoney:

Bro this coaching work no be child's play, ur thinking tactics 247 and managing men and boys from different backgrounds.
Am sure if you are privy to be with the coach and his staffs when decisions are made, you go understand better.

I always respect the coach decision despite any foul play

GBAM

komekn:


"As a man thinketh so he is"

To the man who has no car, seeing some one driving a basic car playing music with the A/C on, will seem like, Dude is showing off"

I do not have to prove anything on a faceless , that would be stupidity.

But the things i talk about are for me every day occurrences they are simply no biggie , to you they may be, but not to me. If you like believe if you like no believe , it adds nothing or takes away nothing.

Mickael2:


So all of a sudden you believe Idowu is a fantastic player now? Let me make this a little bit easier to understand. Ekong is a good player, Balogun is a fantastic player on his day, waiting for their opportunities are Omeruo(who I personally believe is a better defender them), Awaziem(who despite the hype I do not really think he is better than the first three but he has talent nonetheless) and Ajayi(one of the revelations of the Rotherham season).
Now come over to the right side of the defence and we have Shehu, Ebuehi and Aina, all are solid players on their day. But on the left who do we have? Only one naturally left footed player in Collins who hasn't exactly shown what he is made of against decent opposition, or should we continue to make do with Idowu who has been poor for God knows how long? Like I said, Ikwuowem should have been invited as a legitimate contestant for that LB spot, who says he cannot improve defensively?

The only difference between collins and Ikwuowem even Duru is Europe based and home based.Apart from this nothing more

Kog45:
The only difference between collins and Ikwuowem even Duru is Europe based and home based.Apart from this nothing more

Simple and short. If Ikwuowem goes to Europe and trains for a year, Collins won't be able to hold a candle to him. As at now the difference there isn't much difference

Kog45:
The only difference between collins and Ikwuowem even Duru is Europe based and home based.Apart from this nothing more

Collins is far better..

Mickael2:



Simple and short. If Ikwuowem goes to Europe and trains for a year, Collins won't be able to hold a candle to him. As at now the difference there isn't much difference

Not true,

Ikwouwem is not national team quality, so many flaws in his game.

I watched him against raja casablanca and he could not complete a pass.

Far from national team standard.

Collins is much better.

tbaba1234:


Not true,

Ikwouwem is not national team quality, so many flaws in his game.

I watched him against raja casablanca and he could not complete a pass.

Far from national team standard.

Collins is much better.

Ukouwem, for sure is not a Super Eagles material for now and has a lot to improve on his game. With the AYC and WYC(if we qualify) he will sure gather more experience. Also recon him to be part of the Olympics team.

Icon4s:


Ukouwem, for sure is not a Super Eagles material for now and has a lot to improve on his game. With the AYC and WYC(if we qualify) he will sure gather more experience. Also recon him to be part of the Olympics team.

If he is indeed 20 or close to it, then he can certainly improve and reach a good level.

A.s Roma,Chelsea,Newcastle and Everton are all interested in the services of Bordeaux Nigerian Winger,Samuel Kalu.

andrew444:


You made a point but please kindly remove ryan giggs and terry as example,i beg you

Those 2 men are very wicked and they can kill,dat 1 no b drunkness issue o

Yes, but that didn't stop them from being some of the best players in Europe.

Nnamdi Ofoborh was an used substitute for AFC Bournemouth as they beat Norwich 2-1 in last night's League Cup game.

safarigirl:
did he compete in the Aiteo Cup with them?

Yes ma.

Kog45:
The only difference between collins and Ikwuowem even Duru is Europe based and home based.Apart from this nothing more

Collins and Ebube can actually defend. That trait is kind of important in a defender you know

kentebemoney:

I remember him now, he was solid till injury took him out.
Make the guy join Enugu Rangers, their defence need help.

That would be a good option. I think Rohr is trying to set him up for a move abroad. As a free agent Rohr would rather not call him up if his next move is within Nigeria.

BascoVanVeli:


Oga don't twist my words, I didn't say hate, I said bad bele. Don't try to justify your bad bele towards Isaac Success with that bailey's scandal because ur bad bele towards Isaac Success was shown the day u queried a La Liga list of top young players saying he didn't score enough goals at Granada to be on that list. BTW we both know Watford could afford to rip his contract up if they wanted but they didn't because a blind man could see that the boy was special. This leads us to why I say ur idea about football is flawed or veiled by god knows what. Wilfred Zaha is one of the most exciting players in England but yet he doesn't score 100 goals. Iwobi nko? If all u do is look for stats at the end of a match I feel sorry for u because u are missing what is important about football. Isaac Success has been pivotal to his team as of late not because he is scoring hattricks but because he is working towards the team succeeding. Victor Osimhen was being touted by all his coaches and he was working his way into the team but all u saw was that he didn't score goals. Well he took that same great discipline and attitude that his coaches were raving about and applied it in Belgium with a club that wanted him. We all see the result and know that u were wrong. It is clear that ur standard was put to shame by these players. If

I am not sure what the difference is between bad belle and hate. Let's be matured please.

I don't look at stats alone go back to my posts, I always say statistics are indicative and not conclusive.

However, there are some stats you can't get away from as a striker you are EXPECTED to score GOALS that's what you will be measured against.

I don't think shame has anything to do with it.

I don't set the standard they are universal for all to see.

I understand your position but I don't agree with it.

Zaha is arguably the best winger in the EPL he is much more than a goal scorer he drives the whole team forward. And he looks like poetry in motion when he is doing it.

Do you truly believe the bold in your write up. Osimhen was so highly regarded by his coaches that over two years how many minutes of football did play maybe 300 minutes more ot less. Couldn't even make the bench most times. And your deduction is he was highly REGARDED even you don't believe that delusion.

Daninya11:
A.s Roma,Chelsea,Newcastle and Everton are all interested in the services of Bordeaux Nigerian Winger,Samuel Kalu.

Wow!. Let him not near Chelsea abeg.

Unless if he is ready to be loaned to death.

komekn:


First person to ask such a curiosity led direct question.


Obviously i can not tell you the specifics that would make me loose anonymity.


One of my friends came from Nigeria and i took him to watch an EPL match after the game we went to the players lounge , he was star struck and he said if get back and i tell people they will call me LIAR , LIAR, LIAR. Exactly what some people think here. LOL

You still haven't answered my question. Now I'm even more curious. Oya just give me a hint.

Mickael2:


So all of a sudden you believe Idowu is a fantastic player now? Let me make this a little bit easier to understand. Ekong is a good player, Balogun is a fantastic player on his day, waiting for their opportunities are Omeruo(who I personally believe is a better defender them), Awaziem(who despite the hype I do not really think he is better than the first three but he has talent nonetheless) and Ajayi(one of the revelations of the Rotherham season).
Now come over to the right side of the defence and we have Shehu, Ebuehi and Aina, all are solid players on their day. But on the left who do we have? Only one naturally left footed player in Collins who hasn't exactly shown what he is made of against decent opposition, or should we continue to make do with Idowu who has been poor for God knows how long? Like I said, Ikwuowem should have been invited as a legitimate contestant for that LB spot, who says he cannot improve defensively?

So a player that plays left back in the champions league is not good enough for you abi? When have you seen idowu get exposed defensively. Against Argentina he was our best defender.
Adeleye will not make either match day squad and neither would Ikwuowem. Eze got these same invites but never played, nevertheless he is doing well in Europe right now. Rohr knows what he is doing