Okonkwo open to switching nationality from England to Nigeria

[danfo driver]

We are now back to promoting 4th division GK to become SE No.1 under the pretext of having a GK crisis.

The last 2 lower division GKs who were fast tracked to the SE No.1, We all saw the end product.

Although, there were more experienced GKs, somehow, lower divisions GKs are the way to go.

I went back and read some of the comments and some people are saying to cap him now and let him develop on his own. We don’t have to play him right away and the coach can let him know that. Most serious nations have their top 5 young goal keepers in waiting. England has James Traffird, Jason Steele, Angus Gunn, Freddie Woodman, Billy Crellin (all the big clubs want him) all waiting in line to take over from Pope, Ramsey and Pickford.

Nigeria capping Okonkwo is not different from big clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester city going after the players I named above. It’s not like the young keepers I named above will play right away once they sign for the big clubs. Okonkwo is not ready bait we can get him now if he’s serious about playing for us.

Anyway, your post is also weak, because like those ENGLISH players you mentioned in the English league system, who are eligible and available to play for their country, ENGLAND, I can also mention NIGERIAN players in the Nigerian League system, who are eligible and available to play for their country, NIGERIA.

The scotsman you listed, has gone to play for his country - SCOTLAND. He isn't waiting for ENGLAND, like you mentioned.

Even with my error, Gunn representing Scotland in 2023 proves my point. He was recruited by Manchester city but has been playing in the championship for stoke and Southampton (Div 2) in the last few years. Once Scotland saw a chance, they snapped him up. He has since made 7 appearances for them. Scotland is going to the Euro next year. I know we think we can beat every country in the world but I’m not sure on current form we’ll beat Scotland if we play them in a neutral site.

could you explain your point. I dont think I understand this part. As far as I can see, most Nigerians actually think the super eagles is sh1t. In fact, many Nigerians in Nigeria do not even watch our games.

P.s-- Becasue a white man does it, doesnt mean its right or that we should emulate it. I hope you one day get to understand that.

[niyi]

This your kingdom Osayi, why didn't Peseiro pick him over Ojo if he is that good?

Blame the coaches, especially the Naijarian assistants for failing to make a case for Kingdom Osayi who is actually one of the better Keepers in the country. There's also a case to be made for Sodiq Ismail the rightback for Remo Stars who is one of the leaders in assists (top assist man playing as right-back). His crosses are sublime. 2nd year running that he is one of the top assist guys in the league. He should have at least have gotten an invite.

For goodness sake, CAF allows for 27 players. Alahassan should have been on the original 25 or 27 so too should have been Chuba Akpom and Sodiq Ismail.

The reality is Nwabili won't have received an invitation with a chance to start if he was playing in Nigeria. That is the fact of how much the manager thinks about locally based players even though his team (SE) was huffing and puffing at home against Lesotho that was full of Lesotho league players.

The reality is also that he probably has improved a great deal in SA for all sorts of reasons, including training facilities, personal comfort, regular income, a better league structure and a generally more professional approach to the game by the SAFA.
I know you like to dismiss these things and harp on talent alone but we will continue to emphasise the importance of the little things which make up the big things.

There’s a reason why both you and I carried our ‘talent’ abroad to become better professionals.

Yep from what I read he didn’t play much the first season he was bought from the NPFL, he needed a full season to improve and get up to speed and luck of a coaching change to start getting PT…IMO a NT is for refined talent, not raw talent.

We can just speculate on things like how raw Nwabali used to be or how he has recently improved “a great deal” within a year just after moving to South Africa?

Somehow we were okay with the raw talent of Okoye when he was in the German 4th div and Uzoho when he was barely playing senior football. These guys played key matches for us and were not refined talents by any means and that’s a fact.

The bias here is that many of us, including the coaches and the NFF boss, sadly, think NPFL rawness must be more unacceptable compared to German 4th div rawness or Cypriot bench rawness?

Don’t put me in that list abeg, if there’s anything I’ve been very consistent and was against a lower division Okoye, but even with that he had started to get on the bench of his 1st division team, even at that I was still against it, talk less of a pure 4th division player…

Around this time last year, after Okoye joined Watford and was not even making the bench in the championship and had semi-retired from the national team. our options were:

- Uzoho (bench in Cyprus)
- Adeleye (starting in Israel where he was conceding buckets of goals)
- Nwabili (NPFL goalie)

Why did we not invite Nwabili? Was he too raw for the national team? It seems to me we always choose the unrefined European-based player when our options are limited.

[packerland]

We are now back to promoting 4th division GK to become SE No.1 under the pretext of having a GK crisis.

The last 2 lower division GKs who were fast tracked to the SE No.1, We all saw the end product.

Although, there were more experienced GKs, somehow, lower divisions GKs are the way to go.

I went back and read some of the comments and some people are saying to cap him now and let him develop on his own. We don’t have to play him right away and the coach can let him know that. Most serious nations have their top 5 young goal keepers in waiting. England has James Traffird, Jason Steele, Angus Gunn, Freddie Woodman, Billy Crellin (all the big clubs want him) all waiting in line to take over from Pope, Ramsey and Pickford.

Nigeria capping Okonkwo is not different from big clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester city going after the players I named above. It’s not like the young keepers I named above will play right away once they sign for the big clubs. Okonkwo is not ready bait we can get him now if he’s serious about playing for us.

Anyway, your post is also weak, because like those ENGLISH players you mentioned in the English league system, who are eligible and available to play for their country, ENGLAND, I can also mention NIGERIAN players in the Nigerian League system, who are eligible and available to play for their country, NIGERIA.

The scotsman you listed, has gone to play for his country - SCOTLAND. He isn't waiting for ENGLAND, like you mentioned.

Even with my error, Gunn representing Scotland in 2023 proves my point. He was recruited by Manchester city but has been playing in the championship for stoke and Southampton (Div 2) in the last few years. Once Scotland saw a chance, they snapped him up. He has since made 7 appearances for them. Scotland is going to the Euro next year. I know we think we can beat every country in the world but I’m not sure on current form we’ll beat Scotland if we play them in a neutral site.

could you explain your point. I dont think I understand this part. As far as I can see, most Nigerians actually think the super eagles is sh1t. In fact, many Nigerians in Nigeria do not even watch our games.

P.s-- Becasue a white man does it, doesnt mean its right or that we should emulate it. I hope you one day get to understand that.

My point is if a young up and coming goal keeper in Div 2 is good enough to play for Scotland, Okonkwo is good enough to be added to our gk pool. Now before you misquote me, I’m only advocating for us to cap him and let him develop. Him and some local players can be invited to some friendlies/camp in place of washed up players like Musa.

[goke313]

Considering? Gtfoh! So the boy already turned Pesseiro down in October, he would likely be No 1 for SE at Afcon if he had accepted. Now he’s stuck at Wrexham with England looking far far away. I don’t know if we should call players who think they’re doing us a favor anymore. We have Okoye at Udinese playing as No 1, Ojehire at Arsenal who already came out to pledge his allegiance to Nigeria without condition and is better than Okonkwo and we still have Nwabili and Uzoho who could still pan out. I say let him wait until the WCQ are over before we even think about him.

FACTS

[Damunk]

Some of you might be a little too young to know that Nigeria used to have an unofficial football policy called CTY - ‘Catch Them Young’. Yes it was a completely different era back then but it worked quite well for us at the time. I think this was before there was a NFF-coordinated national youth program.
There was also the YSFON - Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria. If I’m not mistaken, this was also a private concern.

Anyway, you could say that 40 yrs later, the CTY Principle is still relevant when it comes to recruiting young foreign-born Nigerian talent.
Okoye, Okonkwo, Aina, and even Iwobi (who technically is also a ‘Landan Bwoy’) have been approached and successfully recruited before their countries of birth have had the opportunity to properly size them up and tie them up. Examples of failed attempts at using CTY are Eze, Oliseh, Tomori and Abraham just to name a few. But hey… look at them now!

There are many others like Zirkzee and going even further back, there was the young David Alaba (a missed opportunity). These kids are best approached early whilst cutting their teeth when loaned out by elite clubs to lower divisions. So all this derogatory talk about “4th division” is disingenuous.

Where do you expect young gifted kids to be playing? There’s a time-limit on such talents that have dual nationality. You spot them and you go in early before everyone else, get them committed if you can and you are sorted.
Michael Olise for example was spotted and mentioned on this site when he was barely 18 playing for Reading in Div 2. Eze was in QPR. Can’t remember where Tomori was. You win some, you lose some.

It’s not as if there aren’t literally hundreds of Nigerians playing in lower divisions across Europe, but those approached by the NFF are the exceptional talents, not the typical ‘Division 4’ player.
We can all pretend not to know why Okoye, Okonkwo, Abraham etc etc were/are playing in those lower divisions at some point, but rather than give kudos to the coach/NFF for at least getting it mostly right with their foresight, we are playing the same stupid politics we accuse the authorities of playing. Anyway, some here love to point fingers at Nigerians whilst displaying typical Nigerian traits themselves.

Frederick, Durosinmi and Akinsanmiro are three talented youngsters that cannot be ‘kidnapped’ by any other country and so there is time for us to watch their development. But that hasn’t stopped some from calling for their invitation despite the fact that they’ve hardly even started playing with grown men yet.

Gift Orban on the other hand might eventually change his mind even though he has publicly cast his lot with Nigeria. But there are numerous Nigerians panicking that we might lose him to Togo because he hasn’t been capped. At least he has been invited once. Even Osimhen said he was ready to go play in the ‘4th Division’ somewhere when he wasn’t getting the contract he deserved earlier in his career. But he was never in danger of being kidnapped.

That’s the difference.
Not that y’all don’t already know this.

[danfo driver]

My point is if a young up and coming goal keeper in Div 2 is good enough to play for Scotland, Okonkwo is good enough to be added to our gk pool. Now before you misquote me, I’m only advocating for us to cap him and let him develop. Him and some local players can be invited to some friendlies/camp in place of washed up players like Musa.

I have heard your point. While its not entirely flawed, I disagree with it for two reasons.

1. Scotland does not have another option. In fact, Angus Gunn only got the opportunity when Craig Gordon, who was 40 at the time, went down injured and was out for the season.

2. Simply because a white man's team does it, doesnt mean its right and doesnt mean we should do it.


Scotland do not have options -- and Frankly, if I was the Scottish boss, absolutely no Div 2 player will smell my team! Like Tibo Courtois said, you either have to build the ambition to move to Div 1, or you can sit down in Div 2 and stay at home.

Scotland do not have options, but Nigeria does. We have 4 goalkeepers starting in Div 1 in Italy, Germany, Norway and South Africa. -- not to speak about the other Div 1 goalkeepers in the pool. Okonkwo knows what to do, since he has said is desire is to play for Nigeria and he loves us so much.

If I was the coach, I will fly to Wales and take him out to lunch. I will watch him in training and then watch him in one game for Wrexham. During the lunch I will tell him how much we appreciate him and how happy I am to hear that he wants to be one of us. I will tell him that we are watching him and will continue to keep track of him. I will then tell him the rule I made, which states that "no player playing in a lower division or outside the top 5 European league (in Europe), will be invited to the Super Eagles." I will then explain the rationale behind the rule to him and watch his reaction to see if he is a loser - because I will NEVER permit a loser into my team. I will the inform him that once he has moved to a Div 1 team, I will be excited to have him. I will then add him to whatsapp and keep in touch with him regularly, as I keep in touch with players in the pool.

So, yes, I agree with you that he should be in the "pool," but he should absolutely not stain our shirt with his division 4 presence. When he is ready to compete at the highest level, we can cap him. Many Nigerians are waiting to be capped, 2 goalkeepers in German Div 1 and Norway Div 1. They are not English and have not played for Arsenal youth teams, so I guess they are not prioritized.

If Okonkwo truly wants to play for Nigeria, he will show me (the coach) that he does by moving to Div 1 and waiting for us. If he doesnt want to play for Nigeria, he will wait for England.

[bret- hart]

Nigerians in general cannot think beyond their noses. That is why we are a mess. Yes Okonkwo plays for Deadpool fc in the English league 2 but he is on loan. He is an Arsenal GK who next season will probably be loaned out to a better club in a better league. Last season he played for Stum Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga and played excellently well. Most young goalkeepers get loaned out to smaller teams to get playing time it is normal so i don't see what the big deal is after all GQ model was called up while playing in the German 4th division. Now he is at Udinese. You have to think long term. Even Carl Ikeme was keeping at a low level b4 earing a callup. Saying Okonkwo should not be called up because he plays for Deadpool Fc is so dumb and shortsighted. This was how we lost Eze back in 2018. The same eediots here that are yabbing Okonkwo were the same ones that were against Eze being called up back then and are the same ones crying about not having creativity in the midfield today. Sometimes i wonder why some Nigerians are so dumb. Anyways i hope Piss-ero calls him up post AFCON. To me he is more talented than GQ model and very soon you will be glad he is a Nigerian international.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Nigerians in general cannot think beyond their noses. That is why we are a mess. Yes Okonkwo plays for Deadpool fc in the English league 2 but he is on loan. He is an Arsenal GK who next season will probably be loaned out to a better club in a better league. Last season he played for Stum Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga and played excellently well. Most young goalkeepers get loaned out to smaller teams to get playing time it is normal so i don't see what the big deal is after all GQ model was called up while playing in the German 4th division. Now he is at Udinese. You have to think long term. Even Carl Ikeme was keeping at a low level b4 earing a callup. Saying Okonkwo should not be called up because he plays for Deadpool Fc is so dumb and shortsighted. This was how we lost Eze back in 2018. The same eediots here that are yabbing Okonkwo were the same ones that were against Eze being called up back then and are the same ones crying about not having creativity in the midfield today. Sometimes i wonder why some Nigerians are so dumb. Anyways i hope Piss-ero calls him up post AFCON. To me he is more talented than GQ model and very soon you will be glad he is a Nigerian international.

What happened to Adeleke? Is he still on loan in Israel?

[maceo4]

I thought he said he’s committing to us? If that is the case how does losing him come into play? They commit their future to us, fine, that doesn’t mean they will automatically get selected for the NT without meriting it. Chuba Akpom committed, Torunarigha committed, no one is saying let him not commit to us, but his invitation should be based on when he merits it. It’s people who are trying to do wuruwuru that don’t like standards and prefer the chance to take advantage of a system that is not well defined. If he truly wants to play for us he will go through the process to do so. Eze never really wanted to and he said as much on Onuohas podcast, which was way before he got an England call. We can’t lose what we never had, if Okonkwo wants us he will go through the process, once he qualifies for a call up, he will then get called…only someone trying to pull a fast one will disagree with this common sense…

[Robotnik]

Nigerians in general cannot think beyond their noses. That is why we are a mess. Yes Okonkwo plays for Deadpool fc in the English league 2 but he is on loan. He is an Arsenal GK who next season will probably be loaned out to a better club in a better league. Last season he played for Stum Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga and played excellently well. Most young goalkeepers get loaned out to smaller teams to get playing time it is normal so i don't see what the big deal is after all GQ model was called up while playing in the German 4th division. Now he is at Udinese. You have to think long term. Even Carl Ikeme was keeping at a low level b4 earing a callup. Saying Okonkwo should not be called up because he plays for Deadpool Fc is so dumb and shortsighted. This was how we lost Eze back in 2018. The same eediots here that are yabbing Okonkwo were the same ones that were against Eze being called up back then and are the same ones crying about not having creativity in the midfield today. Sometimes i wonder why some Nigerians are so dumb. Anyways i hope Piss-ero calls him up post AFCON. To me he is more talented than GQ model and very soon you will be glad he is a Nigerian international.

Yeah you only have so many goalkeepers in a team so they spread across divisions, not necessarily because of quality.

[ohenhen1]

Okonkwo is not ready for the SE. But will not be against inviting him to the U23 team. Eventually he can make his debut in a friendly game.

[Damunk]

I thought he said he’s committing to us? If that is the case how does losing him come into play? They commit their future to us, fine, that doesn’t mean they will automatically get selected for the NT without meriting it. Chuba Akpom committed, Torunarigha committed, no one is saying let him not commit to us, but his invitation should be based on when he merits it. It’s people who are trying to do wuruwuru that don’t like standards and prefer the chance to take advantage of a system that is not well defined. If he truly wants to play for us he will go through the process to do so. Eze never really wanted to and he said as much on Onuohas podcast, which was way before he got an England call. We can’t lose what we never had, if Okonkwo wants us he will go through the process, once he qualifies for a call up, he will then get called…only someone trying to pull a fast one will disagree with this common sense…

If you spot a young player you reckon is going to ‘blow’ in a year or two, or one that plays in a position of extreme weakness in your team, you snap him up.
If you can cap him then you secure him. If you don’t, you risk losing him because they can still ‘turn his head’.
The big countries do it, so weytin be our own playing the gentleman’s game?

You make it seem as if choosing from an array of juicy career path options for a young man early in his career is an easy black and white decision. It’s not, esp if the decision is an irreversible one. But maybe for you it was. Good for you.

As a young Nigerian, I had options of leaving Nigeria for the UK, Australia and the USA.
I chose the UK based on sentiment and familiarity. I never considered the USA (guns and violence) and turned down the Australian option.
Now young UK doctors have been leaving in droves for Australia - life style.
I sometimes wonder whether I made the right choice back then.

If you don’t lock these players down, they can still be made to change their minds.
They’re young. They reserve the right to be erratic!!

[fabio]

I thought he said he’s committing to us? If that is the case how does losing him come into play? They commit their future to us, fine, that doesn’t mean they will automatically get selected for the NT without meriting it. Chuba Akpom committed, Torunarigha committed, no one is saying let him not commit to us, but his invitation should be based on when he merits it. It’s people who are trying to do wuruwuru that don’t like standards and prefer the chance to take advantage of a system that is not well defined. If he truly wants to play for us he will go through the process to do so. Eze never really wanted to and he said as much on Onuohas podcast, which was way before he got an England call. We can’t lose what we never had, if Okonkwo wants us he will go through the process, once he qualifies for a call up, he will then get called…only someone trying to pull a fast one will disagree with this common sense…

If you spot a young player you reckon is going to ‘blow’ in a year or two, or one that plays in a position of extreme weakness in your team, you snap him up.
If you can cap him then you secure him. If you don’t, you risk losing him because they can still ‘turn his head’.
The big countries do it, so weytin be our own playing the gentleman’s game?

You make it seem as if choosing from an array of juicy career path options for a young man early in his career is an easy black and white decision. It’s not, esp if the decision is an irreversible one. But maybe for you it was. Good for you.

As a young Nigerian, I had options of leaving Nigeria for the UK, Australia and the USA.
I chose the UK based on sentiment and familiarity. I never considered the USA (guns and violence) and turned down the Australian option.
Now young UK doctors have been leaving in droves for Australia - life style.
I sometimes wonder whether I made the right choice back then.

If you don’t lock these players down, they can still be made to change their minds.
They’re young. They reserve the right to be erratic!!

Catch them young was what we were told when inexperienced GKs (Uzoho and Okoye) were fast tracked to SE No.1. What was the end result?

[Damunk]

I thought he said he’s committing to us? If that is the case how does losing him come into play? They commit their future to us, fine, that doesn’t mean they will automatically get selected for the NT without meriting it. Chuba Akpom committed, Torunarigha committed, no one is saying let him not commit to us, but his invitation should be based on when he merits it. It’s people who are trying to do wuruwuru that don’t like standards and prefer the chance to take advantage of a system that is not well defined. If he truly wants to play for us he will go through the process to do so. Eze never really wanted to and he said as much on Onuohas podcast, which was way before he got an England call. We can’t lose what we never had, if Okonkwo wants us he will go through the process, once he qualifies for a call up, he will then get called…only someone trying to pull a fast one will disagree with this common sense…

If you spot a young player you reckon is going to ‘blow’ in a year or two, or one that plays in a position of extreme weakness in your team, you snap him up.
If you can cap him then you secure him. If you don’t, you risk losing him because they can still ‘turn his head’.
The big countries do it, so weytin be our own playing the gentleman’s game?

You make it seem as if choosing from an array of juicy career path options for a young man early in his career is an easy black and white decision. It’s not, esp if the decision is an irreversible one. But maybe for you it was. Good for you.

As a young Nigerian, I had options of leaving Nigeria for the UK, Australia and the USA.
I chose the UK based on sentiment and familiarity. I never considered the USA (guns and violence) and turned down the Australian option.
Now young UK doctors have been leaving in droves for Australia - life style.
I sometimes wonder whether I made the right choice back then.

If you don’t lock these players down, they can still be made to change their minds.
They’re young. They reserve the right to be erratic!!

Catch them young was what we were told when inexperienced GKs (Uzoho and Okoye) were fast tracked to SE No.1. What was the end result?

The end result is that you have one Serie A keeper and one akpere on your books.
Where is Golden Glove Alams today? Where are all our national youth keepers that have been winning U17 World Cups?
I no see dem.
“You win some, you lose some.”

Don’t be the short-sighted Nigerian you are all so good at disparaging left and right.
Immediate gratification

[maceo4]

I thought he said he’s committing to us? If that is the case how does losing him come into play? They commit their future to us, fine, that doesn’t mean they will automatically get selected for the NT without meriting it. Chuba Akpom committed, Torunarigha committed, no one is saying let him not commit to us, but his invitation should be based on when he merits it. It’s people who are trying to do wuruwuru that don’t like standards and prefer the chance to take advantage of a system that is not well defined. If he truly wants to play for us he will go through the process to do so. Eze never really wanted to and he said as much on Onuohas podcast, which was way before he got an England call. We can’t lose what we never had, if Okonkwo wants us he will go through the process, once he qualifies for a call up, he will then get called…only someone trying to pull a fast one will disagree with this common sense…

If you spot a young player you reckon is going to ‘blow’ in a year or two, or one that plays in a position of extreme weakness in your team, you snap him up.
If you can cap him then you secure him. If you don’t, you risk losing him because they can still ‘turn his head’.
The big countries do it, so weytin be our own playing the gentleman’s game?

You make it seem as if choosing from an array of juicy career path options for a young man early in his career is an easy black and white decision. It’s not, esp if the decision is an irreversible one. But maybe for you it was. Good for you.

As a young Nigerian, I had options of leaving Nigeria for the UK, Australia and the USA.
I chose the UK based on sentiment and familiarity. I never considered the USA (guns and violence) and turned down the Australian option.
Now young UK doctors have been leaving in droves for Australia - life style.
I sometimes wonder whether I made the right choice back then.

If you don’t lock these players down, they can still be made to change their minds.
They’re young. They reserve the right to be erratic!!

Catch them young was what we were told when inexperienced GKs (Uzoho and Okoye) were fast tracked to SE No.1. What was the end result?

The end result is that you have one Serie A keeper and one akpere on your books.
Where is Golden Glove Alams today? Where are all our national youth keepers that have been winning U17 World Cups?
I no see dem.
“You win some, you lose some.”

Don’t be the short-sighted Nigerian you are all so good at disparaging left and right.
Immediate gratification

Your scenario does not apply to this div 4 keeper…he’s not about to blow and Ingurland is not about to call him. So let’s nip that in the bud. The only reason we are discussing him is because we are fed up of Uzoho and are willing to take anything. But still standards have to be there.

Also, when you say snap up isn’t that just having them change their allegiance to us like Akpom did? I said we should do that, but doesn’t mean we have to cap the player by force - that’s the part I’m not quite understanding. If they really want to play for us they will respect it more when they get the opportunity after actually earning it. This just sounds like preferential treatment for all things foreign whether they deserve it or not.

If you want to play for us, by all means sign up to fight for a position, that doesn’t mean you are going to get one just because you signed up. But no one should stop you from signing up to compete. Then the rest is up to you to get yourself to the standard necessary to deserve a call up. To me this is fair, but na una know sha…I give up on this argument that seems to be going nowhere…

[waka-man]

This is a refreshing thread. People disagreeing respectfully. No insults and personal attacks. Nice to read on a Saturday morning.
For what it’s worth, since Enyeama retired and Ikeme got ill, we’ve struggled with goalkeeper and there are few exciting options in the wings. So special measures are required. There will be no instant solutions. We’re really looking towards 2026 and beyond. So one of those special measures might be to cap as many foreign born goalkeepers, even if they’ve only got an outside chance of making it.

[packerland]

My point is if a young up and coming goal keeper in Div 2 is good enough to play for Scotland, Okonkwo is good enough to be added to our gk pool. Now before you misquote me, I’m only advocating for us to cap him and let him develop. Him and some local players can be invited to some friendlies/camp in place of washed up players like Musa.

I have heard your point. While its not entirely flawed, I disagree with it for two reasons.

1. Scotland does not have another option. In fact, Angus Gunn only got the opportunity when Craig Gordon, who was 40 at the time, went down injured and was out for the season.

2. Simply because a white man's team does it, doesnt mean its right and doesnt mean we should do it.


Scotland do not have options -- and Frankly, if I was the Scottish boss, absolutely no Div 2 player will smell my team! Like Tibo Courtois said, you either have to build the ambition to move to Div 1, or you can sit down in Div 2 and stay at home.

Scotland do not have options, but Nigeria does. We have 4 goalkeepers starting in Div 1 in Italy, Germany, Norway and South Africa. -- not to speak about the other Div 1 goalkeepers in the pool. Okonkwo knows what to do, since he has said is desire is to play for Nigeria and he loves us so much.

If I was the coach, I will fly to Wales and take him out to lunch. I will watch him in training and then watch him in one game for Wrexham. During the lunch I will tell him how much we appreciate him and how happy I am to hear that he wants to be one of us. I will tell him that we are watching him and will continue to keep track of him. I will then tell him the rule I made, which states that "no player playing in a lower division or outside the top 5 European league (in Europe), will be invited to the Super Eagles." I will then explain the rationale behind the rule to him and watch his reaction to see if he is a loser - because I will NEVER permit a loser into my team. I will the inform him that once he has moved to a Div 1 team, I will be excited to have him. I will then add him to whatsapp and keep in touch with him regularly, as I keep in touch with players in the pool.

So, yes, I agree with you that he should be in the "pool," but he should absolutely not stain our shirt with his division 4 presence. When he is ready to compete at the highest level, we can cap him. Many Nigerians are waiting to be capped, 2 goalkeepers in German Div 1 and Norway Div 1. They are not English and have not played for Arsenal youth teams, so I guess they are not prioritized.

If Okonkwo truly wants to play for Nigeria, he will show me (the coach) that he does by moving to Div 1 and waiting for us. If he doesnt want to play for Nigeria, he will wait for England.

Everything is not black and white. Morocco and Senegal are recruiting in such manner. I do like your plan with how the coach can stay in touch with potential prospects. The problem is that time waits for no one. This is how we lost David Alaba at a time we were short in RB/LB area.

In 2007 Alaba wanted to be a part of our u-17 and we never made a formal approach to him. He was told by an agent that we were only inviting local players and some other excuses about logistics. At that time Alaba was playing for Austria Wien (Vienna)II. One year later he was at Bayern Munich’s youth team and a year later the guy was starting for the senior club and never looked back. Even today at an old age he’s starting for Real Madrid.

We chose a guy named Mathew Edile over Alaba. I fact that whole 2007 U-17 team didn’t add anything to our SE. I just went through that whole WC winning squad and the closest person to achieve any success for club or national team was Haruna Lukman, and the guy played most of his career in Ukraine.

[danfo driver]

Everything is not black and white. Morocco and Senegal are recruiting in such manner. I do like your plan with how the coach can stay in touch with potential prospects. The problem is that time waits for no one. This is how we lost David Alaba at a time we were short in RB/LB area.

In 2007 Alaba wanted to be a part of our u-17 and we never made a formal approach to him. He was told by an agent that we were only inviting local players and some other excuses about logistics. At that time Alaba was playing for Austria Wien (Vienna)II. One year later he was at Bayern Munich’s youth team and a year later the guy was starting for the senior club and never looked back. Even today at an old age he’s starting for Real Madrid.

We chose a guy named Mathew Edile over Alaba. I fact that whole 2007 U-17 team didn’t add anything to our SE. I just went through that whole WC winning squad and the closest person to achieve any success for club or national team was Haruna Lukman, and the guy played most of his career in Ukraine.

When we connected with Alaba, He was not in Div 4 and in fact, the Super Eagles was NOT interested in him. He was going to connect with the U-17, which is normal for lower league players, youth players and even unattached players. 16, 15 and 14 year olds are not in Div 1.

P.s-- We lost Alaba because he claimed we were trying to extort his father.

My position here is simple -- it is an insult to those who have worked hard, and who have gotten themselves to become first choice in Div 1 in italy, Germany and Norway, to go and give an invitation to a Div 4 player before them. It is not just an insult to them, it shows them clearly that we do not value merit or hardwork! And we only value "Anglocentricism." Okonkwo is only getting this push because he is English and is on the books of Arsenal.

Let us respect ourselves and respect the hardwork of people. One thing I have learned in leadership is that your troops are motivated (or demotivated) by the culture you create. You cant tell them that you are selecting players based on "what I think they will do in the future," and expect people to work hard presently. They wont. There is no incentive for them to perform, when they know that merit is not the way to stand out for their leader.

[ohenhen1]

Wont shock me if Peseiro invites him. He is currently using division 2 players and etc. Peseiro hasn’t won anything. How can he call some one a loser.

[packerland]

Everything is not black and white. Morocco and Senegal are recruiting in such manner. I do like your plan with how the coach can stay in touch with potential prospects. The problem is that time waits for no one. This is how we lost David Alaba at a time we were short in RB/LB area.

In 2007 Alaba wanted to be a part of our u-17 and we never made a formal approach to him. He was told by an agent that we were only inviting local players and some other excuses about logistics. At that time Alaba was playing for Austria Wien (Vienna)II. One year later he was at Bayern Munich’s youth team and a year later the guy was starting for the senior club and never looked back. Even today at an old age he’s starting for Real Madrid.

We chose a guy named Mathew Edile over Alaba. I fact that whole 2007 U-17 team didn’t add anything to our SE. I just went through that whole WC winning squad and the closest person to achieve any success for club or national team was Haruna Lukman, and the guy played most of his career in Ukraine.

When we connected with Alaba, He was not in Div 4 and in fact, the Super Eagles was NOT interested in him. He was going to connect with the U-17, which is normal for lower league players, youth players and even unattached players. 16, 15 and 14 year olds are not in Div 1.

P.s-- We lost Alaba because he claimed we were trying to extort his father.

My position here is simple -- it is an insult to those who have worked hard, and who have gotten themselves to become first choice in Div 1 in italy, Germany and Norway, to go and give an invitation to a Div 4 player before them. It is not just an insult to them, it shows them clearly that we do not value merit or hardwork! And we only value "Anglocentricism." Okonkwo is only getting this push because he is English and is on the books of Arsenal.

Let us respect ourselves and respect the hardwork of people. One thing I have learned in leadership is that your troops are motivated (or demotivated) by the culture you create. You cant tell them that you are selecting players based on "what I think they will do in the future," and expect people to work hard presently. They wont. There is no incentive for them to perform, when they know that merit is not the way to stand out for their leader.

I didn’t hear the extortion claim by Alaba. What I read was that the NFF didn’t make any formal approach for him. It was agents that were relaying information to him. It more than likely it was agents that were trying to extort him.

Okonkwo recently was in the Arsenal match day squad and went on loan to Sturm Graz. You’re getting carried away with Okonkwo playing in division 4. You forget what club he plays for. Wrexham is no ordinary Div 4 club. They’re backed by wealthy Hollywood owners and there is this push to accelerate their promotion. He might have gone there for the exposure. Wrexham are well covered for a lower division club. They’re probably covering his wages or some kind of trade off.

I think we have to factor how long a player has played in the lower league. Do you see Ndidi and Kele as Div 2 players and not worthy to be in our team?

[danfo driver]

I didn’t hear the extortion claim by Alaba. What I read was that the NFF didn’t make any formal approach for him. It was agents that were relaying information to him. It more than likely it was agents that were trying to extort him.

https://saharareporters.com/2019/05/04/ ... e_vignette

Do you see Ndidi and Kele as Div 2 players and not worthy to be in our team?

Yes.

[marutimon]

Abeg, who are these GKs from Norway, Italy and Germany you speak of?

[Damunk]

I didn’t hear the extortion claim by Alaba. What I read was that the NFF didn’t make any formal approach for him. It was agents that were relaying information to him. It more than likely it was agents that were trying to extort him.

https://saharareporters.com/2019/05/04/ ... e_vignette

Do you see Ndidi and Kele as Div 2 players and not worthy to be in our team?

Yes.

Guy, that was FAKE NEWS!
Don’t tell me you missed Alaba denying it himself?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=294625&p=5428110



CE chitchat around the time,

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=294550

More. Again he never brought up bribery when he visited the SE prior to the 2018 WC.





viewtopic.php?f=1&t=220426&p=3503855