He is currently in fine form, scoring 14 Premier League goals for Watford as they continue their impressive return to the English top tier. As things are going on well on the pitch, Odion Ighalo is making sure the home front remain as fun as possible also. The 26-year-old striker took out time from football to enjoy a cosy dinner with his wife of six years, Sonia. Ighalo shared a photo of himself and Sonia on Instagram. The location on the post suggests that they dined at the ZaZa Restaurant, 21 Church St, Rickmansworth WD3 1DE in the United Kingdom.…
Author: David F.
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng wants to give Pep Guardiola the perfect farewell by winning the treble. The Bundesliga champions announced last month that Guardiola is leaving at the end of the season, with Carlo Ancelotti his replacement. Guardiola confirmed on Tuesday that he wants to manage in the Premier League, and Boateng is determined to give the Spaniard the best possible leaving present – just as Bayern did when winning the treble before Jupp Heynckes’ departure in 2013. “He wants a new challenge in England, that’s the way it is,” Boateng was quoted as saying by TZ. “We will…
Former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro has today kicked off her wrongful dismal case against the club and Jose Mourinho at an employment tribunal court. The 42-year-old alongside her husband Jason De Carteret arrived court this morning, Wednesday, January 6. The private hearing before a senior judge is holding at a London South Employment Tribunal in Croydon, south London.ormer Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro has today kicked off her wrongful dismal case against the club and Jose Mourinho at an employment tribunal court. The 42-year-old alongside her husband Jason De Carteret arrived court this morning, Wednesday, January 6. The private hearing before…
Coming out of the festive period, the current standing of several managers is hardly stable. Are more managerial changes on the way in the Premier League? Who is leading our Sack Race? How things change in football. Since the last edition of the Sack Race, Louis van Gaal (1/2 to be the next manager to leave his job) has gone from fielding a stodgy but relatively effective team to the brink of losing his job, and asking the press to apologise for writing as such. As ever, it’s results that have done it, with United meekly shuffling out of the…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s high-intensity approach has been a major factor in the club’s current injury crisis, according to Graeme Souness. Liverpool beat Stoke City 1-0 in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semifinal tie, but the win was marred by two more players for the club — Dejan Lovren and Philippe Coutinho — leaving the match with apparent hamstring injuries. The Reds have also seen Martin Skrtel, Divock Origi, Jordan Rossiter and Daniel Sturridge suffer hamstring problems, compounding an injury crisis that has also seen the likes of Jordan Henderson, Mamadou Sakho, Joe Gomez and Danny Ings…
Just over two weeks into his return as manager, there’s been no grand gesture so far from Guus Hiddink to the Chelsea squad, nothing to signal massive change. There have only been little moments that have stood out. That has never been more evident than during training. According to sources at the club’s Cobham base, Hiddink spends the majority of sessions observing and leaves most of the work to his back-up staff. Yet that changes when he spots something he feels needs specific instruction. Then, he will stop the session and offer some tactical insight, something that subtly changes the…
Thierry Henry says Arsene Wenger is teaching him how to be a manager, with the former striker having returned to Arsenal to help train the club’s youth teams this season. Henry became Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer during his time as a player, and is now working toward getting his coaching licence at the club. He said he is making the most of the opportunity to learn from the current Premier League’s most experienced manager, having regular chats with Wenger about every aspect of leading a club. “We speak about training youngsters and how it’s different to training senior players. We…
Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos is “certain” his former club will improve under new manager Zinedine Zidane. Roberto Carlos and Zidane played together at the Bernabeu from 2001-2006, and the Brazilian said his former teammate will have an easier time relating to the players than his predecessor Rafa Benitez. Zidane won the Champions League and La Liga as a player with Real and took home the Ballon d’Or after winning the World Cup with France in 1998, and Roberto Carlos said that experience will help him relate to Real’s current superstars. “Finally, [president] Florentino [Perez] with his intelligence has brought…
Bayern Munich star Douglas Costa has praised Pep Guardiola as a “genius” but has no intention of leaving the club when the coach exits at the end of the season. Douglas Costa, 25, has enjoyed a successful start to life at Bayern following his summer move from Shakhtar Donetsk, and he was this week named the Bundesliga’s best outfield player in kicker’s prestigious player poll. He has recorded 12 assists — more than any other player in the league — and scored two goals. The Brazil international said last month that he opted to join Bayern over Chelsea because he…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits injuries to Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren cast a shadow over Tuesday’s 1-0 victory at Stoke and may force him to dip into the January transfer market. Mamadou Sakho missed the game with a minor knee problem, leaving Kolo Toure as the only fit centre-back — and even he suffered with cramps late on at the Britannia Stadium. Klopp is now considering calling for reinforcements with their next game on Friday night. “In this moment with no centre-back fit I would say it is a situation where we have to think about going into the…
Arsenal officials have flown to Switzerland to tie up the move for Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny, sources have told Theinfostride. Arsenal have been in advanced talks for several weeks to sign Elneny in the January window and Basel confirmed this week that the Egypt international is discussing an exit. Elneny, who is expected to cost around £7 million, has already passed a medical and but the transfer has been held up as Arsenal wait on international clearance and a work permit. Sources have told ESPN FC that an Arsenal delegation has now flown out to Basel in an effort to…
Manuel Pellegrini has said he would choose winning the Premier League with Manchester City and being shown the door over continuing as the team’s manager for an extended period without any major success. Uncertainty has surrounded the future of the Chilean, whose contract at City expires at the end of the 2016-17 season, with Spaniard Pep Guardiola, who will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, being linked with the club. Guardiola said this week he wanted to work in the Premier League and already has ‘several offers from England’. “I do not think my position in the…
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane does not want to be compared with former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola despite the similarities in their routes to the hot seats at Spain’s two biggest clubs. Zidane, a former Real player, took over as coach on Monday following the dismissal of Rafa Benitez and, like Guardiola when he became manager at the Nou Camp in 2008, has no top-level experience in the job. “Guardiola is a fantastic coach and what he is doing is very impressive,” Zidane told a news conference on Tuesday. “Guardiola is Guardiola. I will do my best. I will not…
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has admitted he wants to manage in the English Premier League in his first press conference since announcing he will leave the Bundesliga giants at the end of the season. “I want to coach in England,” said the Spaniard on Tuesday, before adding that he “has no new club yet”. Guardiola’s departure at the end of his third season in Bavaria and his replacement by Italian Carlo Ancelotti were announced by the club on December 20. The former Barcelona coach has since been linked with Chelsea after Jose Mourinho was sacked, and also with Manchester…
Gareth Bale’s future at Real Madrid is assured after new coach Zinedine Zidane praised the Welsh winger on Tuesday. Bale joined Real two-and-a-half years ago for a world record transfer fee but has struggled at times in the Spanish capital. Despite renewed interest from Manchester United, the 26-year-old was thriving at Real under Rafael Benitez and Zidane moved quickly to reassure Bale that the former Chelsea and Liverpool manager’s sacking would not affect the Welshman. “I can understand that he might feel aggrieved by Benitez’s departure but I will show him the same affection that he had from Rafa,” said…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could enter the transfer market after Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren suffered hamstring pulls to deepen the club’s injury crisis, British media reported. The duo suffered first-half injuries in the League Cup semifinal first leg match against Stoke City at the Britannia stadium on Tuesday. “In this moment with no centre-backs fit I would say in this situation maybe we should think about that,” Klopp said, in response to questions about whether Liverpool would add to the squad in January. Coutinho and Lovren join Daniel Sturridge, Martin Skrtel, Divock Origi and Jordan Rossiter at the treatment…
Jordon Ibe came off the bench to drive home the winner as Liverpool took a big step towards reaching the League Cup final with a 1-0 victory at Stoke City in the first leg of their last-four tie on Tuesday. Ibe was summoned into the action early and the winger fired home left-footed in the first half as Juergen Klopp’s side grabbed a narrow but potentially priceless advantage ahead of the return leg on January 26. Liverpool’s hopes of a record-extending ninth League Cup title were given a stern examination in the second half as Stoke piled forward in search…
The Lagos State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Monday, Jan. 4, disclosed that no less than 149 drug dealers were convicted in 2015. As contained in a statement, the anti-graft agency said three of the offenders were jailed for life. “One of the convicts will spend 25 years behind bars and another will spend 17 years in prison,” a statement by agency’s spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju. “Four others got 15 years each. Another four convicts were sentenced to 10 years each while 19 others got five years each,” the statement said. Reacting to the convictions, acting…
FR. Ejike Mbaka’s prophecy stating that there is a plot to assassinate President Buhari is really causing a stir in the nation. After the man of God’s revelation, Nigerians from all around the world stormed various social media platforms to condemn, commend or analyse the audacity of the controversial Priest. The latest group to air their stern opinion is the Buhari South-East Youth Movement (BSEYM). The group has threatened to shut down Nigeria, if anything happens to Mr. President. According to Vanguard Newspapers, the group said Nigeria will not know peace, if Buhari is harmed, while calling on anyone that…
ccording to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode over claims that he accepted N1.7 billion in cash from former president, Goodluck Jonathan. According to Sahara Reporters, Fani-Kayode used the money to buy an unspecified number of vehicles. “EFCC operatives said they are investigating a petition alleging Femi Fani-Kayode @realFFK received N1.7b cash from GEJ & bought SUVs,” the platform wrote on Twitter today, January 5, 2016. Corruption under Jonathan’s government has been a major subject of discussion in recent times after it was alleged that officials misappropriated funds meant for Nigeria’s…