The Super Eagles of England

[Bigpokey24]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Yup! They’re trying to force us into fish n chip Eagles but it will never happen. Most of the Championship boys/England rejects will be found out on the green grass of Yaoundé, Kumasi and Abidjan.

[Damunk]

Yup! They’re trying to force us into fish n chip Eagles but it will never happen. Most of the Championship boys/England rejects will be found out on the green grass of Yaoundé, Kumasi and Abidjan.

If that is your prayer, you are wasting your time.
Small time you people will be abusing VanCity for wishing disaster on the SE.
Putting your personal beef before SE success.
Get over it ogbeni.

[The YeyeMan]

Get over it ogbeni.

Too late. Kongi has been lost soul for years.

[kalani JR]

Yawn, you sound like Le Pen crying in 1998, that he doesn't feel like he won the World Cup. They are Nigerian kids with Nigerian names, if you want to cry about foreign influence go to the basketball federation about Dinwiddie.

[jette1]

Yup! They’re trying to force us into fish n chip Eagles but it will never happen. Most of the Championship boys/England rejects will be found out on the green grass of Yaoundé, Kumasi and Abidjan.

Ol boi na wa! for you sha’ you seem to enjoy to open mouth Without reasonable perceptible understructure or intelligibility

[ANC]

Yup! They’re trying to force us into fish n chip Eagles but it will never happen. Most of the Championship boys/England rejects will be found out on the green grass of Yaoundé, Kumasi and Abidjan.

They are not rejects, please. They just didn't make the cut.

Bafana bafana will be drinking garri with SE soon enough.

[Bigpokey24]

Yawn, you sound like Le Pen crying in 1998, that he doesn't feel like he won the World Cup. They are Nigerian kids with Nigerian names, if you want to cry about foreign influence go to the basketball federation about Dinwiddie.

Huh

[Enugu II]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

[The YeyeMan]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

What policy? Selecting players born overseas? This isn't a new "policy".

[Enugu II]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

What policy? Selecting players born overseas? This isn't a new "policy".

The Yeyeman,

It is indeed a new policy in various ways. Never in the history of Nigeria's football have we witnessed the all out effort to focus almost to level of exclusivity (we are not yet there but increasingly close if you have been following) to players developed in European academies. This isBTW not simply by accident. Amaju made no bones about this in his early media presentations that eventually culminated in a camp in London for these boys. BTW, let me also make clear that this movement is not just exclusively at the SE level, there is an increasing commitment to do this at the youth levels. Be sure to open your eyes to see what is clearly and increasingly happening around you.

[The YeyeMan]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

What policy? Selecting players born overseas? This isn't a new "policy".

The Yeyeman,

It is indeed a new policy in various ways. Never in the history of Nigeria's football have we witnessed the all out effort to focus almost to level of exclusivity (we are not yet there but increasingly close if you have been following) to players developed in European academies. This isBTW not simply by accident. Amaju made no bones about this in his early media presentations that eventually culminated in a camp in London for these boys. BTW, let me also make clear that this movement is not just exclusively at the SE level, there is an increasing commitment to do this at the youth levels. Be sure to open your eyes to see what is clearly and increasingly happening around you.

So in other words the policy remains the same but it's now being pursued more aggressively.

[Dammy]

I don't know what the problem is? The Algerian team that knocked us out of AFCON and are current African champions is made up of players born in France, including former African footballer of the year, Riyad Mahrez, whose free kick sent us packing.
I'm not aware of any debate about the Algerianess of the team and that's despite Algeria having a better domestic league than Nigeria.
Ditto Khalidou Khoulibaly of Senegal was born in France, does that make him less Senegalese?

[kalani JR]

I don't know what the problem is? The Algerian team that knocked us out of AFCON and are current African champions is made up of players born in France, including former African footballer of the year, Riyad Mahrez, whose free kick sent us packing.
I'm not aware of any debate about the Algerianess of the team and that's despite Algeria having a better domestic league than Nigeria.
Ditto Khalidou Khoulibaly of Senegal was born in France, does that make him less Senegalese?

The big irony is some of the loudest voices on this topic live OUTSIDE of Nigeria, when their kids are born they refer to them as future Eagles/Falcons, you can't tell me should those kids become good enough to play for the Super Eagles they will tell to decline because they aren't really Nigerian.

[vancity eagle]

Please let us know who all these homebased players are that we are missing out on.

SE is for the best Nigerian players who are eligible for our team, no matter where they were born or where they play. End of.

Multiple WC winners like Germany have even paraded Brazilians and Africans mercenaries in their teams.

Yet somehow a non power like Nigeria should be so picky to deny blood Nigerians from playing for SE because of where they were born.

Abeg take that nonsense and shove am. We no want.

[Enugu II]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

What policy? Selecting players born overseas? This isn't a new "policy".

The Yeyeman,

It is indeed a new policy in various ways. Never in the history of Nigeria's football have we witnessed the all out effort to focus almost to level of exclusivity (we are not yet there but increasingly close if you have been following) to players developed in European academies. This isBTW not simply by accident. Amaju made no bones about this in his early media presentations that eventually culminated in a camp in London for these boys. BTW, let me also make clear that this movement is not just exclusively at the SE level, there is an increasing commitment to do this at the youth levels. Be sure to open your eyes to see what is clearly and increasingly happening around you.

So in other words the policy remains the same but it's now being pursued more aggressively.

No. The policy changed from supplementing call up of Nigerian players playing in Nigeria to (2) supplementing that call up with Nigerians everywhere, and moving towards (3) a focus on only Nigerians playing outside the country, and (4) perhaps shifting to focus on players with Nigerian parentage groomed in foreign academies.

[Damunk]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

What policy? Selecting players born overseas? This isn't a new "policy".

The Yeyeman,

It is indeed a new policy in various ways. Never in the history of Nigeria's football have we witnessed the all out effort to focus almost to level of exclusivity (we are not yet there but increasingly close if you have been following) to players developed in European academies. This isBTW not simply by accident. Amaju made no bones about this in his early media presentations that eventually culminated in a camp in London for these boys. BTW, let me also make clear that this movement is not just exclusively at the SE level, there is an increasing commitment to do this at the youth levels. Be sure to open your eyes to see what is clearly and increasingly happening around you.

So in other words the policy remains the same but it's now being pursued more aggressively.

No. The policy changed from supplementing call up of Nigerian players playing in Nigeria to (2) supplementing that call up with Nigerians everywhere, and moving towards (3) a focus on only Nigerians playing outside the country, and (4) perhaps shifting to focus on players with Nigerian parentage groomed in foreign academies.

So again, Prof...the key question is who and where are these local players being sidetracked in pursuit of FB players?
The pursuit of FB players is a symptom of a serious problem, not the cause.

It is like complaining that we are not treating COVID19 with dogonyaro or agbo, but instead prefer antibiotics, pain killers, cough syrup, oxygen and ventilators.

None of these have any bearing on the CV itself but keep us alive, fit and (in this case) even stronger while we attempt to fix the causative agent of the disease.

We still have to compete on the world stage and Nigerian fans are no longer willing to wait for Nigeria to fix its myriad problems before we turn to football.

[Enugu II]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

What policy? Selecting players born overseas? This isn't a new "policy".

The Yeyeman,

It is indeed a new policy in various ways. Never in the history of Nigeria's football have we witnessed the all out effort to focus almost to level of exclusivity (we are not yet there but increasingly close if you have been following) to players developed in European academies. This isBTW not simply by accident. Amaju made no bones about this in his early media presentations that eventually culminated in a camp in London for these boys. BTW, let me also make clear that this movement is not just exclusively at the SE level, there is an increasing commitment to do this at the youth levels. Be sure to open your eyes to see what is clearly and increasingly happening around you.

So in other words the policy remains the same but it's now being pursued more aggressively.

No. The policy changed from supplementing call up of Nigerian players playing in Nigeria to (2) supplementing that call up with Nigerians everywhere, and moving towards (3) a focus on only Nigerians playing outside the country, and (4) perhaps shifting to focus on players with Nigerian parentage groomed in foreign academies.

So again, Prof...the key question is who and where are these local players being sidetracked in pursuit of FB players?
The pursuit of FB players is a symptom of a serious problem, not the cause.

It is like complaining that we are not treating COVID19 with dogonyaro or agbo, but instead prefer antibiotics, pain killers, cough syrup, oxygen and ventilators.

None of these have any bearing on the CV itself but keep us alive, fit and (in this case) even stronger while we attempt to fix the causative agent of the disease.

We still have to compete on the world stage and Nigerian fans are no longer willing to wait for Nigeria to fix its myriad problems before we turn to football.

Damunk,

The point you miss here is that the current situation is a solution designed strategically by Pinnick to solve a "problem" that he has assumed exists. Pinnick came into this expressing pride in flying each weekend to watch EPL. For him EPL became the standard of football and drives what he does. Among his first move was to organize a training session of England-born Nigerian youths in London during a weekend that a Nigerian international did not take place. He informed the media immediately that his intent was to have those players form the Nigerian national team under his leadership. For him this was the way to improved the national team and perhaps win laurels. I hope you remember the above?

It is that very strategy that guides the selection of players to the Super Eagles today and has trickled down to age teams as we saw at the U17 level. This isn't happenstance. Tis is a STRATEGY. Make no mistake about it. The fact that home based players are ignored is a strategy not happenstance. This is why Adelakun's revelations (inspite of his failed attempt to call it back by wordsmithing, in my view, is HUGE. Adelakun admitted that ignoring local guys was because there was no data to access them and not necessarily that they are not good. This explains the call up of a third division goalkeeper ahead of tons of goalkeepers playing at the top level in Nigeria. Nigeria has admitted to investing in training this keeper who;e he is in the national team he way resources were spent training Uzoho at the national team level. Bear in mind that we are talking about the national team here. None of this extra training session was offered to the likes of Ezenwa by the way. This is not conjecture. It is happening right before all of us.

Now, should Nigeria ignore these foreign-based talents? Not at all. They are Nigerians and should be called up except, of course, the discriminate decision on the goalkeeping position. What I rail about is the obvious discriminotary act against Nigerians simply because they are based in Nigeria. That is not acceptable and should never be acceptable.

Damunk, if you look you will notice the gradual change in the composition of Nigeria's national teams. Pinnick has staked on this. The test is whether his goal can be achieved by this obvious strategic decision. That goal is to consistently dominate Africa and do much better than we have ever done at the World Cup. If he achieves it then power to him. Although, his strategic design has not become fully implemented the results on the field, this far, have not borne out his optimism.

You do not have to wait for an express statement by Pinnick to know what is happening. Several years ago I blew the lid on the listing of five players that the NFA had blacklisted for the World Cup under Onigbinde. I did not wait for an official NFF statement to make that call but the signs were there and if you can put 2+2 together it would be obvious. Later, that revelation became clear when Taribo West had to apologize before he became one of the first five to be recalled. I am now blowing the lid on a design that is quite clear only if you are willing to look and put 2+2 together. The question is whether such a policy is right, moral, and just.

[Bigpokey24]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

Bigpoke,

Why is it a surprise when our NFF Chairman spends his time watching EPL games and being in photo ops attending the games? We are celebrating Arsenal and celebrating youth players as best players. Until and until this policy wins an AFCON or goes beyond the second round of the World Cup, it cannot be celebrated as a viable policy.

Just look at what pininc did to the Track and field teams? He imported a lot of Americans( passing them as Nigerians before the Olympics a while back..That model failed woefully and has been abandoned. Today we have no one to compete ) Now just look at what is happening to our football... We cannot even perform in youth competitions .... failing to even qualify for the Olympics...so of what point is the u17s, 20s if we constantly only recruit from the English championships etc ?

[Damunk]

So again, Prof...the key question is who and where are these local players being sidetracked in pursuit of FB players?
The pursuit of FB players is a symptom of a serious problem, not the cause.

It is like complaining that we are not treating COVID19 with dogonyaro or agbo, but instead prefer antibiotics, pain killers, cough syrup, oxygen and ventilators.

None of these have any bearing on the CV itself but keep us alive, fit and (in this case) even stronger while we attempt to fix the causative agent of the disease.

We still have to compete on the world stage and Nigerian fans are no longer willing to wait for Nigeria to fix its myriad problems before we turn to football.

Damunk,

The point you miss here is that the current situation is a solution designed strategically by Pinnick to solve a "problem" that he has assumed exists. Pinnick came into this expressing pride in flying each weekend to watch EPL. For him EPL became the standard of football and drives what he does. Among his first move was to organize a training session of England-born Nigerian youths in London during a weekend that a Nigerian international did not take place. He informed the media immediately that his intent was to have those players form the Nigerian national team under his leadership. For him this was the way to improved the national team and perhaps win laurels. I hope you remember the above?

It is that very strategy that guides the selection of players to the Super Eagles today and has trickled down to age teams as we saw at the U17 level. This isn't happenstance. Tis is a STRATEGY. Make no mistake about it. The fact that home based players are ignored is a strategy not happenstance. This is why Adelakun's revelations (inspite of his failed attempt to call it back by wordsmithing, in my view, is HUGE. Adelakun admitted that ignoring local guys was because there was no data to access them and not necessarily that they are not good. This explains the call up of a third division goalkeeper ahead of tons of goalkeepers playing at the top level in Nigeria. Nigeria has admitted to investing in training this keeper who;e he is in the national team he way resources were spent training Uzoho at the national team level. Bear in mind that we are talking about the national team here. None of this extra training session was offered to the likes of Ezenwa by the way. This is not conjecture. It is happening right before all of us.

Now, should Nigeria ignore these foreign-based talents? Not at all. They are Nigerians and should be called up except, of course, the discriminate decision on the goalkeeping position. What I rail about is the obvious discriminotary act against Nigerians simply because they are based in Nigeria. That is not acceptable and should never be acceptable.

Damunk, if you look you will notice the gradual change in the composition of Nigeria's national teams. Pinnick has staked on this. The test is whether his goal can be achieved by this obvious strategic decision. That goal is to consistently dominate Africa and do much better than we have ever done at the World Cup. If he achieves it then power to him. Although, his strategic design has not become fully implemented the results on the field, this far, have not borne out his optimism.

You do not have to wait for an express statement by Pinnick to know what is happening. Several years ago I blew the lid on the listing of five players that the NFA had blacklisted for the World Cup under Onigbinde. I did not wait for an official NFF statement to make that call but the signs were there and if you can put 2+2 together it would be obvious. Later, that revelation became clear when Taribo West had to apologize before he became one of the first five to be recalled. I am now blowing the lid on a design that is quite clear only if you are willing to look and put 2+2 together. The question is whether such a policy is right, moral, and just.

Prof, with reference to the highlighted which are the key elements of your post....

IF what you say is indeed OFFICIAL POLICY (even if unstated publicly) then you are right in that it is MORALLY NOT RIGHT AND UNJUST.
Again, I reiterate IF it is official policy.

I am not convinced however that it is the case.
I still believe the policy is for the best man to get the role, regardless of where he was born or plies his trade. Unfortunately, I believe our league is weak at the moment and it is not producing the quality of players that can displace other Nigerians from the world's top leagues.

Its a chicken and egg situation:
Is it the poor league that is driving the NFF to seek better players abroad or is it players abroad that are driving the NFF to ignore the locals?

The NFF has the absolute responsibility of developing our leagues and the huge problems we as a country face aren't helping matters. I listened to Shehu Dikko the other day speaking extensively on the NFF plans for sourcing and injecting funds and know-how into developing our league the right way, and unless you are saying Pinnick runs a one-man dictatorship, it is wrong to assume that the rest of those responsible for developing and running our football are docile and clueless. Pinnick alone cannot dictate policy and Shehu for one isn't on the same page with him if that is indeed OFFICIAL policy as you suggest.

I implore you to listen to the Shehu Dikko interview here. The issue of Arsenal and ManU fans within the NFF even came up at one point, but i won't reveal Shehu's response because I want you and several others to watch it.

The GK position is a pretty unique one and cannot be held up as representative.
Ezenwa and Akpeyi have been loyally stuck by, even to the consternation of Nigerians. One might argue that there are 'other' 'keepers somewhere in the league but who are they and where are they> Afikolahi didn't impress and I believe Femi Thomas has also had a shot. Moreover, our CHAN and WAFU 'keepers have not been able to displace Ezenwa even with our local coaches.
Uzoho and Okoye are the future - according to Rohr - and like you said, if he turns out to be right, it'd be pure genius. If not, he (or they) will 'fall on their sword' and die by their decision.

I, like many fans (I'd argue the majority of Nigerian fans), need a lot more convincing before we follow your line of argument. It does not make us right and you wrong, but the inherent weakness in your argument is that you have repeatedly failed to show evidence that the wrong choice of players is being made due to "discrimination".

What we can all agree on, is that the NPFL needs a whole new injection of funds and management.
Maybe then it will start to produce SE-ready players. But like they say, "Antelope meat is sweet, by while it is cooking, what shall we eat?"

For now, we are harvesting a large amount of foreign-born Nigerians.
We hope the Nigerian-bred antelope meat is cooked and ready soon.

[fabio]

Prof, with reference to the highlighted which are the key elements of your post....

IF what you say is indeed OFFICIAL POLICY (even if unstated publicly) then you are right in that it is MORALLY NOT RIGHT AND UNJUST.
Again, I reiterate IF it is official policy.

EnuguII has given facts, empirical evidence etc. The foundation of your reply is IF. Come on, chief!

This is what Pinnick said:

Maduwuba, writing in Pulse in 2015, reiterated a speech given by Pinnick to parents of foreign-developed players in England. Maduwuba credited Pinnick with stating that he would rather these players that “have been exposed to the scientific methods of football in terms of coaching style, amenities and equipment as well as discipline in areas of fitness and nutrition” to build a new-look Super Eagles than the hungry local players still scratching the ground.

[paj]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

so now the two horses go relocate go where...Fernando Po?

[Bigpokey24]

That will be our new name...also the eagle's Crest will be replaced by that of a 3 lion

so now the two horses go relocate go where...Fernando Po?