NPFL Season 2019/2020: Matches, News and Developments

[Enugu II]

Come on Heartland, you are only 6 points from the summit. Go on and get it.

As I understand it Sunshine Stars reached agreement to transfer their prolific scorer Israel Abia to Rangers.

[ukwala]

[ukwala]

Rangers out of the relegation zone

[ukwala]

EII,

Rangers are 9 points behind Dakkada with 4 games in hand. You can see it is not a foregone conclusion that Dakkada will finish above old Reliable Rangers this season!

[Enugu II]

EII,

Rangers are 9 points behind Dakkada with 4 games in hand. You can see it is not a foregone conclusion that Dakkada will finish above old Reliable Rangers this season!

Ukwala,

I did note that Rangers will not be relegated and neither will Enyimba when you review the standings. Of course, both teams have games in hand which indicate more likely a middle positioning on the table when you use a average points obtained per game to contract a more realistic standing on the table. Another check is to use the sofascore website https://www.sofascore.com/tournament/fo ... eague/2060and check the away records of teams. I usually use the away record to estimate the better teams.

On Dakkada, my thought was only at that point in the league. Nevertheless I remain impressed by the club except for their rather surprising home record which is incredibly surprising given the usual situation in the NPFL. Dakkada, by the way, leads all teams as per away results. They must be an aberration even though I understand that they are often a counterattacking team which perhaps creates problems when at home. Just thinking out aloud.

[Enugu II]

Ukwala,

BTW, kudos for the mid season signings by Rangers especially with the view of solving the impotence in front of goal. Will those new boys be available to play in the Confederation Cup?

What is up with the huge turnouts in several NPFL games in the Northern part of the country, especially. I do know Kano usually shows for Pillars games annually but seeing the turnouts everywhere is a bit surprising. What happened to make this possible?

[Gotti]

Rangers 3 vs Abia Warriors 1

[ukwala]

Ukwala,

BTW, kudos for the mid season signings by Rangers especially with the view of solving the impotence in front of goal. Will those new boys be available to play in the Confederation Cup?

What is up with the huge turnouts in several NPFL games in the Northern part of the country, especially. I do know Kano usually shows for Pillars games annually but seeing the turnouts everywhere is a bit surprising. What happened to make this possible?

EII,

Yes, the Management finally woke up to do the right thing after a number of bad results. Recollect that they had earlier placed the attackers on reduced pay and demoted some to the B team.
I am not sure if the new signings will be eligible to play in the CAF Confed cup (will need to check on that) but in any case I think the Confed cup is a lost cause so I would not waste too much energy chasing it.

Again I can't think of any plausible reason for the upsurge in attendances in the North. Jigawa Golden Stars also play in Kano which, as you noted, has a history of good attendances to matches. For the rest, I honestly don't know what has changed.

[ukwala]

Rangers 3 vs Abia Warriors 1

Nice. Pity we have to scrounge on snippets like this to see our teams. No matches or highlights or analyses on TV.

[Gotti]

EII,

Yes, the Management finally woke up to do the right thing after a number of bad results. Recollect that they had earlier placed the attackers on reduced pay and demoted some to the B team.
I am not sure if the new signings will be eligible to play in the CAF Confed cup (will need to check on that) but in any case I think the Confed cup is a lost cause so I would not waste too much energy chasing it.

Again I can't think of any plausible reason for the upsurge in attendances in the North. Jigawa Golden Stars also play in Kano which, as you noted, has a history of good attendances to matches. For the rest, I honestly don't know what has changed.

Rangers beat Pyramids 1-0 this afternoon away in Egypt in the CAF Confederation Cup (with an Ifeanyi George goal), but it is probably too late to salvage the campaign. If only Rangers had beaten the Mauritanians home-and-away, instead of drawing.

[Enugu II]

EII,

Yes, the Management finally woke up to do the right thing after a number of bad results. Recollect that they had earlier placed the attackers on reduced pay and demoted some to the B team.
I am not sure if the new signings will be eligible to play in the CAF Confed cup (will need to check on that) but in any case I think the Confed cup is a lost cause so I would not waste too much energy chasing it.

Again I can't think of any plausible reason for the upsurge in attendances in the North. Jigawa Golden Stars also play in Kano which, as you noted, has a history of good attendances to matches. For the rest, I honestly don't know what has changed.

Rangers beat Pyramids 1-0 this afternoon away in Egypt in the CAF Confederation Cup (with an Ifeanyi George goal), but it is probably too late to salvage the campaign. If only Rangers had beaten the Mauritanians home-and-away, instead of drawing.

Ukwala

I watched CAF highlights of the game. Kai, one Rangers ' player hit the bar with only the goalie at his mercy. Yes, I think it is too late. It was a terrible start to the season for the club. Hopefully, this idea of thinking ex-Rangers or indigenization is jettisoned. This club ought to be bigger than such political rubbish.

[ukwala]

EII,

Yes, the Management finally woke up to do the right thing after a number of bad results. Recollect that they had earlier placed the attackers on reduced pay and demoted some to the B team.
I am not sure if the new signings will be eligible to play in the CAF Confed cup (will need to check on that) but in any case I think the Confed cup is a lost cause so I would not waste too much energy chasing it.

Again I can't think of any plausible reason for the upsurge in attendances in the North. Jigawa Golden Stars also play in Kano which, as you noted, has a history of good attendances to matches. For the rest, I honestly don't know what has changed.

Rangers beat Pyramids 1-0 this afternoon away in Egypt in the CAF Confederation Cup (with an Ifeanyi George goal), but it is probably too late to salvage the campaign. If only Rangers had beaten the Mauritanians home-and-away, instead of drawing.

Ukwala

I watched CAF highlights of the game. Kai, one Rangers ' player hit the bar with only the goalie at his mercy. Yes, I think it is too late. It was a terrible start to the season for the club. Hopefully, this idea of thinking ex-Rangers or indigenization is jettisoned. This club ought to be bigger than such political rubbish.

Enugu II,

Yes, that miss was crazy. Enyimba also missed a sitter and so did Pyramids. The three misses are shown below.

Like I noted earlier, Rangers left themselves a mountain to climb and are now out. Like Gotti noted, if only they had beaten the Mauritanians, qualification would have been in their hands going into the last round.

I don't think there was any indigenisation or ex-Rangers political agenda in the appointment of Surugede. He was one of the assistant coaches and was put in temporary charge (as is done all over the world) when Ogunbote left abruptly. The Management was probably swayed by his good early results in qualifying for the CAF Confed cup group stage and thought they could save a buck or two by keeping him on. Note that they never confirmed him substantive coach so they were just biding their time.
They did the same thing with player recruitment and only reacted recently when relegation was staring them in the face. It's more of money matter than politics.

[The Eagle]

Come on Heartland, you are only 6 points from the summit. Go on and get it.

For you as a Heartland fan.

While there were some good goals in this one .... it is kind of not surprising that our clubs don't do well in Africa because the football can somehow have a bit more of an amateur vibe as opposed to the professional vibe you get elsewhere on the continent ....

.... including the professionalism of the TV coverage. The Tanzanian league is not particular strong quality-wise, but their domestic TV coverage in recent years was enviable to me as a Nigerian, especially the Dar Es Salaam derbies.

[/video]

[Cito]

Come on Heartland, you are only 6 points from the summit. Go on and get it.

For you as a Heartland fan.

While there were some good goals in this one .... it is kind of not surprising that our clubs don't do well in Africa because the football can somehow have a bit more of an amateur vibe as opposed to the professional vibe you get elsewhere on the continent ....

.... including the professionalism of the TV coverage. The Tanzanian league is not particular strong quality-wise, but their domestic TV coverage in recent years was enviable to me as a Nigerian, especially the Dar Es Salaam derbies.

[/video]

I see what you mean. The quality of play in this clip is a bit sad in some cases.

[Gotti]

Rangers are now officially out of the CAF Confed Cup...
But they brought the crowds out at the Cathedral on Sunday night!

[Enugu II]

Rangers are now officially out of the CAF Confed Cup...
But they brought the crowds out at the Cathedral on Sunday night!

I understand that the night games, especially, attract a huge turnout in Enugu. If this is the case, why have they been so few compared to the run-up to their 2016 Championship?

[ukwala]

Rangers are now officially out of the CAF Confed Cup...
But they brought the crowds out at the Cathedral on Sunday night!

I understand that the night games, especially, attract a huge turnout in Enugu. If this is the case, why have they been so few compared to the run-up to their 2016 Championship?

Those were the days of TV coverage by Supersport and that probably influenced the scheduling.

[Enugu II]

Lobi Stars Miss Top-Spot Chance, Hold Rangers In Makurdi
https://npfl.ng/lobi-stars-miss-top-spo ... n-makurdi/
By Kola Daniel

On Feb 5, 2020 342 0
Lobi Stars forced Rangers International to a 1-1 draw in a pulsating rescheduled NPFL matchday 6 decided at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi on Wednesday.

The game started on a very good note as both teams exhibited some flashes of good football.

It was an action-packed encounter full of talking points and great intensity as the two teams showcased good football artistry to the delight of the scanty spectators at the stadium.

The first clear cut chance of the game rested on Samad Kadiri of Lobi whose greatest undoing was indecision as Rangers goalie Nana Bonsu came out to pick the loose ball with just 13 minutes into the proceedings.

Abdulkadir Mumini of Lobi Stars was another culprit in the 25th minute as his glancing header from John Lazarus’ cross crashed against the crossbar.

Israel Abia would then open scoring for Rangers International on 43 minutes to take his goal tally for the season to eight.

Rangers’ celebration was cut short two minutes later when Samuel Mathias headed home from a goalmouth scramble after the visitors could not clear their line to restore parity and the first half ended 1-1.

It was a ding-dong affair in the second half as both teams threw more men forward in search of the winning goal.

Nigeria U23 star, John Lazarus burst forward on the right and created a shooting space for himself but his long range effort went just wide on 52 minutes.

Ibrahim Olawoyin could have put the visitors ahead after dribbling past two Lobi Stars defenders but his thunderous volley was parried to safety by Lobi’s goalkeeper Faith James.

Rangers was dealt a big blow after injured Nana Bonsu was substituted for Japhet Opubo following a collision with Lordson Ichull on 60 minutes.

Lobi came close to stealing the show once more on 62 minutes. This time, Utibe Arit’s close range header agonizingly missed the target.

Both teams introduced fresh legs in a bid to add bite and energy to the game.

However, it was Lobi’s substitution that almost paid off as Sunday Adetunji came close to claiming maximum points for the hosts but he couldn’t hold his own and his effort went wide on 72 minutes.

A horrendous blunder from Faith James on 77 minutes that would have caused Lobi Stars an upset following a wrong timing of the ball was cleared by Ernest Governor.

Both teams looked desperate at the dying minutes of the game but nothing to show for their efforts as the game ended 1-1.

Samuel Mathias of Lobi Stars was voted most valuable player by the pressmen at the stadium.

Teams

Rangers: Nana Bonsu (Japhet Opubo 60′), Osas Okoro (Ifegwu Ojukwu 71′), Anthony Shimaga, Tope Olusesi, Kehinde Adedipe, Ibrahim Olawoyin, Isaac Loute, Semiu Liadi (Uche John 65′), Pape Ousmane Sane, Kenechukwu Agu, Israel Abia

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: Dauda Madaki, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu, Ifeanyi Nweke, Christian Madu

Lobi Stars: Faith James, Lazarus John, Akile Monday (Obasi Chigozie 53′), Ichull Lordson, Desmond Agbe, Governor Ernest, Samad Kadiri (Sunday Adetunji 68′), Abdulkareem Mumini, Utibe Arit A., Mathias Samuel, Omotayo Adebogun

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: Atsaka Daniel, Nnaemeka Anyanwu, Chinedu Udeagha, Chinonso Okonkwo, Austin Ogunye,

CAUTIONS: Osas Okoro 45′, Pape Ousmane 47′

[ukwala]

[Gotti]

[Gotti]

After going 6 games unbeaten in the NPFL (4 wins and 2 draws), and 9 games unbeaten overall, Rangers is now out of the drop zone with 4 games in hand...

[ukwala]

After going 6 games unbeaten in the NPFL (4 wins and 2 draws), and 9 games unbeaten overall, Rangers is now out of the drop zone with 4 games in hand...

Up Rangers

[YemiBrazil]

They have used wuruwuru to climb up the table. Nonsense