Sports
Tottenham Captain Criticises Club’s Hierarchy
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero appeared to take aim at the club’s hierarchy, accusing them of telling lies in a since edited Instagram post.
Spurs have won just one of their past six Premier League games and sit 14th after losing 3-2 at Bournemouth on Wednesday.
Following the defeat, Romero stated on Instagram “other people” should be coming out to speak and adding that they “only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies”.
Romero, 27, has since deleted that post and uploaded a new, almost identical statement , omitting the part about telling lies but still appearing to criticise senior figures at the club.
“Apologies to all fans who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be,” Romero posted. “We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that. But we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for the club.
“At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t, as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well.
“We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football.”
Tottenham fans have expressed their frustration towards manager Thomas Frank and the players in recent weeks following a poor run of results.
They chanted “boring, boring Tottenham” during a goalless draw at Brentford and booed the team off following a 1-1 draw against Sunderland on Sunday.
Tensions began to spill over at the Vitality Stadium as Micky van de Ven and Palhinha exchanged words with Spurs fans, while Pedro Porro also had to be talked into stopping an argument with supporters by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
There was also an unfortunate moment for Frank prior to kick-off when he was photographed holding a coffee cup with Arsenal branding.
It is not the first time Romero, who has made 146 appearances for Tottenham, has spoken out on social media about the way the club is run.
The Argentina defender posted about “the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist” when paying tribute to sacked former manager Ange Postecoglou on his Instagram page in June.
And in December 2024, Romero criticised the board for a lack of investment.
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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