With a small but vocal group of fans marching from Highbury to the Emirates prior to kickoff to protest against the manager and call for him to leave the club, the show of support within the ground felt almost apologetic — pitying, even. It did not develop into a louder, more widespread show of support. Instead, it melted away as a more vociferous section turned on Arsenal’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, by calling for him to “get out of our club,” only in more colourful, belligerent language. Whichever side of the divide Arsenal supporters find themselves standing on, there can…
Author: David Folami
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright believes Arsene Wenger’s reign at the club is “imploding.” Arsenal conceded five second-half goals to Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium to slump to a 5-1 loss in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie, going down 10-2 on aggregate. Defeat, sparked when Laurent Koscielny was controversially dismissed in conceding a penalty which led to Bayern’s equaliser on the night, followed reports ahead of the match of a training ground bust-up involving star player Alexis Sanchez. That was denied by Wenger, but Wright said it would take a “cataclysmic effort” for the Frenchman to…
The Special One’s Inter were drawn against Rubin Kazan in the 2009-10 Champions League group stage. The Milanese, who thoroughly deserved to lose on their trip to Russia, somehow managed to salvage a 1-1 draw after Mario Balotelli was sent off. On the final matchday, Inter needed to beat Rubin at San Siro, and did so thanks to goals by Samuel Eto’o and the very same Balotelli. Mourinho went through at Berdyev’s expense, and eventually lifted the cup. The success continued in latter seasons. In 2011, Rubin won 1-0 at home against Tottenham in Europa League and finished ahead of…
Enugu State Government has said that it will employ 2,000 volunteer teachers in public secondary schools to fill the spaces created by retiring teachers. The Commissioner for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday. Udeuhele said that the move was in addition to the 2,000 primary school teachers employed at the beginning of 2017. “Within this year, we have been able to recruit 2,000 teachers in public primary schools to boost teaching and learning and all of them are now teaching. “Approval has also been secured…
Set against the positives surrounding Manchester United this season, the team’s poor home league form is the major negative, the stone in the boot which continues to cause discomfort and frustration. United, a club with a historically formidable home record, have drawn more games at Old Trafford than they’ve won. Saturday’s poor 1-1 draw against Bournemouth was the latest after disappointments against Stoke City, Burnley, Arsenal, West Ham, Liverpool and Hull City. The team’s home league win rate of 42.8 percent is the lowest since 1990 when they finished 13th. A draw or three could be written off as bad…
On Sunday, March 5, 2017, Kemen was disqualified after a video of him touching TBoss without her consent went viral. Defending Kemen, a Speaker at Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, encouraged the disqualified housemate to take solace in the biblical story of Jesus and His triumphant entry to Jerusalem. “The song on the lips of everyone was hallelujah, but that song on those same lips changed the following period to a condemnation and shout of crucifixion,” he wrote. Read Onofiok’s Facebook post below; I have never really watched the big brother Nigeria, I only follow it activities…
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, on Monday announced the suspension of a scheduled nationwide strike after meeting with the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. IPMAN said this in Abuja in a statement released by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division. According to the statement, Chairman of the IPMAN Committee on FOREX Intervention, Products Sourcing and Distribution, Alhaji Musa Felande, said the meeting also addressed all pending issues concerning the Association. Felande said the meeting put to rest earlier grievances on issues relating to products supply, equalization fund,…
Kemen has finally gotten all the attention he could possibly handle, only for all the wrong reasons. The recently evicted Big Brother Naija housemate set social media on fire with his perverted moves on TBoss over the weekend. The fitness instructor was evicted on the Sunday Eviction show for sexually harassing TBoss. Who knew that something like this would garner this much attention on a show where almost everything goes? And yes, many agree that he got what was coming to him but with the attention he is finally getting, we wonder if he really just ruined his career or…
Alexis Sanchez’s Arsenal future has been plunged into doubt after reports of a bust-up with under-pressure boss Arsene Wenger. Paris Saint-Germain are said to be watching developments but Wenger insists he has no problem with Sanchez, who was dropped for the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool last Saturday. Sanchez’s contract expires in 2018, meaning this summer is the last time Arsenal would be able to command a sizeable fee for a player they landed for £35 million in 2014. Should Arsenal cash in? Was Wenger right to bench Sanchez if the reports are true? James McNicholas: I’m not so sure. Sanchez…
Staff of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretariat on Monday said they will not return to work even after the reopening of the secretariat until they were assured of their safety. The workers, in a communiqué issued at the end of a meeting at the party’s temporary secretariat in Wuse II, Abuja, said the certainty of end to the leadership crisis in the party had remained hazy. Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff had on February 23, 2017, forcefully reopened the national secretariat after the Court of Appeal In Port Harcourt affirmed him as authentic national chairman of PDP. In the…
Mr William Awinador-Kanyirige, the High Commissioner of Ghana to Nigeria, says Nigeria played a fundamental role in attaining Ghana’s independence leading to a strong relationship between the two countries. Awinador-Kanyirige made this known at the celebration of the 60th independence day anniversary of Ghana which took place on Monday at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja. He said “the struggle of Ghana’s independence was a struggle not just by Ghanaians but by all Africans that were in that territorial region. “When we talk of the heroes of Ghana’s independence, we are also talking of the Nigerians that assisted us in…
Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged local government councils to be prudent in their expenditure, considering the precarious financial situation in the country. The governor, according to a statement issued by his spokesman, Malam Imam, gave the advice on Monday during a meeting with the 23 local government chairmen in Sokoto. Tambuwal said that the councils also needed to look within and diversify their revenue sources. “We need to double our efforts in enhancing internal revenue in the state. “The local councils have an important role to play in that regard,” he said. Tambuwal charged people at local…
Successful music producer, Cobhams Asuquo is not ruling out a future career in politics from his trajectory. According to the producer, a new set of leaders need to wade into the challenges caused by the current crop of corrupt leaders in Nigeria. He stated this in an interview published by Punch News on Saturday, March 4, 2017, where he also added a career as a preacher to the menu. “I would venture into politics later in life. I might also become a preacher. “I would want to venture into politics because I feel like someone needs to step up and…
Oge Okoye is in for it, big time! The Nollywood actress shared an adorable photo of two cute puppies, announcing via her Instagram page that her babies had arrived. This would have been everything cute, except, the picture was stolen! Okoye shared the photo of the adorable pups sitting in the back of a car, commenting, ” Yippeee, my new babies just arrived. #Rob#Rosy#.” Cute right? Except, Rob and Rosy are actually King and Twirl and belong to Hollywood actress, Kenya Moore. Moore had shared the exact same picture earlier on, with the caption: “Did you say you had treats…
“Tinsel” actor, Gbenro Ajibade has denied claims that he married his wife, Osas Ighodaro in order to secure a United States of America green card. According to him in an interview with Punch News’ Saturday Beats, he is yet to apply for a permit to live in the US after two years of marriage to his partner. He said, “Right now, I have a bone to crack with her family because they think I am intentionally refusing to do my green card. I have not done it even now. “It is funny how people think. I and Osas had been…
On the condition of anonymity, 140 current MLS players from 21 teams were asked whom they would most like to see play in MLS, and 22 percent pointed to Manchester United’s Swedish striker. New York City FC was the only team that declined to participate. “Ibrahimovic would be great entertainment,” one player said. “He’d be on SportsCenter almost daily.” When Ibrahimovic was a free agent last summer, sources said that the striker had discussions to move to MLS before he ultimately signed with United. But in November, Ibrahimovic said MLS remains a “huge option” for him in the future, adding…
The former Tottenham Hotspur attacker joined Real Madrid in 2013 for a world record fee and has since notched up 54 goals in 96 appearances, winning two Champions League titles in the process. Madrid travel to Italy on Tuesday to take on Napoli in the second leg of their round of 16 Champions League match where they hold a 3-1 advantage from the first leg. While Los Merengues are expected to make it through, the same cannot be said of English teams like Arsenal and Leicester, who lost 5-1 to Bayern Munich and 2-1 to Sevilla in the first leg…
United face FC Rostov in the first leg of their round-of-16 encounter this week, ahead of the second meeting back at Old Trafford on March 16, and the club are reportedly covering the cost of Russian visas for fans making the journey. The Premier League club are concerned about the safety of their supporters, having issued a similar warning when they travelled to Ukrainian team Zorya Luhansk in December. “For you safety and security you are advised not to wear Manchester United colours when in Rostov, or attract attention to you presence in the city,” a letter sent by United’s…
Goals in each half from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were enough to secure Chelsea an 18th victory in 21 Premier League matches since Conte’s decision to switch to a 3-4-3 formation in late September, with Manuel Lanzini netting a consolation for the hosts in the final seconds. Conte admitted that Chelsea went into the match feeling pressure after Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool all won over the weekend, and criticised his team only for failing to score more goals at the London Stadium. “Today was not easy, to play after your opponents and know they won, so if you…
The pair clashed shortly before half-time, with Mings seen to stamp on Ibrahimovic’s head before the striker then caught his opponent with his elbow. Neither player was dismissed by referee Kevin Friend during the game. A statement from the FA said the incidents “were not seen by the match officials at the time but caught on video.” It continued: “Furthermore, The FA has submitted a claim that the standard punishment that would otherwise apply for the misconduct committed by the Bournemouth defender is ‘clearly insufficient.'” Ibrahimovic and Mings have until 6 p.m. on Tuesday to reply to their respective charges.…