Sports
Fans In Calabar Call For Wenger’s Sack
Supporters of Arsenal FC of England in Calabar have called for the sack of the manager, Arsene Wenger, following the team’s scandalous defeat by rivals Manchester United on Sunday at Old Trafford.
Some of the angry fans said in Calabar that the 8-2 humiliation was an evidence of the sliding fortunes of the club.
“If Wenger continues to remain as the head coach of Arsenal, the club will be relegated because he has refused to buy experienced players,’’ said Mr Jude Okwe, a journalist.
Okwe said that Wenger had remained adamant in making reasonable signings, insisting that unless he was sacked, nothing would come out of the club in the current season.
“Wenger has forgotten that when he had the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Marc Overmars and Patrick Vieira, he almost won everything.
“So, he should know that a good team should be a blend of the old and new,’’ he said.
Another supporter, Mr Steve Ndem, a barber, said that Wenger needed to change his approach if he was to succeed.
“For Arsenal to succeed this season, Wenger must drop his tight economic policy and enter the market immediately for some quality players,” he said.
Ndem urged the club directors to go back to the drawing board on the issue of summer signings and make money available as soon as possible.
“The club directors should make funds available for more players and if Wenger refuses to buy, he should be sacked, ” he said.
Mr Ambrose Duru, a student, however, said that it was too early to call for Wenger’s exit, stressing that the premiership was still young to assess the strength of the team.
“The squad is very young and may overcome the initial stage fright before long but that should not stop the coach from buying mature and experienced players,” he said.
Duru further said it would be a miracle if Arsenal finished among the top four in the current season.
He said Arsenal needed overhauling from the coaching crew to the players, adding that the club’s policy of selling players without replacements was dangerous.
“The club sold Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy and is still planning to sell more before the close of the transfer market.
“Incidentally, they are not making any serious offer for top quality players in Europe, so this is ridiculous,” Duru said.
The loss to Manchester United was the second for the club in the three-week old 2011/2012 premiership season.
Arsenal had earlier lost to Liverpool FC 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Newcastle United in their opening game of the season.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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