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Showing posts from April 8, 2016

Watford Coach calls on Midfielders to help Ighalo

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Watford manager, Quique Sanchez Flores, has asked his midfielders to chip in with some goals, to take the burden off their top scorere, Odion Ighalo. Ighalo has scored 16 goals this season, but has only found the back of the net in the Premier League once in 2016. Nathan Ake, Craig Cathcart, Almen Abdi and Ben Watson with one goal each, are Watford’s only other current outfield players to score apart from Ighalo and skipper Troy Deeney who has 10 goals this season. Flores said: “In this moment I am not going to put pressure on Ighalo or Deeney. We need to score more goals and we need help from the second line behind them. “It’s not enough to rely on one or two players to score. This is not our style of football. “The responsibility is the same for all the players – they need to be contributing more.”

Federal High Court sacks Amaju Pinnick as NFF president, upholds Giwa’s election

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A Federal High Court sitting in Jos on Friday granted the prayers of Yahaya Adama and Senator Obinna Ogba, to relist the case which among other things had sought to nullify the Warri General Assembly and the subsequent elective congress that turned in Amaju Pinnick as President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Justice Musa Haruna Kurya, while delivering his ruling on the matter went ahead to also sustain all the previous orders of the court, effectively making Ambassador Chris Giwa the Head of the federation until the final determination of the suit. By the orders of the court today, the Minister of Sports is compelled to recognize Mr. Giwa-led Board of the NFF as the recognized board by the law. The order also barred individuals from interfering with the duties and functions of the NFF board under the leadership of Chris Giwa. The court effectively by Friday ruling has set aside all the proceedings and decisions of the Warri Extra Ordinary meeting of the 20th Sep

Tyson Fury vs Wladimir Klitschko II confirmed for Manchester on July 9

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Tyson Fury will defend his WBA Super and WBO world heavyweight titles in a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko in Manchester on July 9.

Arsenal Finally Agrees Fee For £34m Long Term Target

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In the media lately are anything to go by will be signing Granit Xhaka this summer. Wenger has met with the player’s father and there is an agreement reached in principle between both parties and a fee of £34m will exchange hands between Arsenal and Borussia Monchengladbach for the player. The high rated Swiss has in the last two transfer windows ( the last summer one and the one in January ) been linked with a move to Arsenal although nothing happened last summer, it is expected a deal will be done this summer. Normally, at this period of in time, taking rumours with a pinch of salt is often advised but with Sky sports and BBC getting involved, it may well be time to take these rumours serious. But should Xhaka sign for Arsenal, where will he play? With Santi Cazorla now 32 years old and Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky leaving this summer, by signing Xhaka, Wenger would have a ready made replacement for the aforementioned Arsenal oldies. Blessed with long range passes and Fabreg

Anthony Joshua will challenge Charles Martin for his world title... but who is the American standing in his way?

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    Anthony Joshua has knocked out each of his 15 professional opponents He will challenge for a world title against Charles Martin on April 9 The American won the belt when Vyacheslav Glazkov retired in their fight Joshua is quickly interviewed... "I asked how he was feeling. Camp's over. Let's put on a good show. I was just spurring him on for a good show on Saturday night. It's a pleasure to be bringing big time boxing back to the UK. "There are a few butterflies of course. I'll just rest tonight and perform, then chat to you guys after and hopefully I'll have the win. I see myself coming out and outclassing him." Martin is quickly interviewed... "I just won it and I ain't done having fun with it. We're all ready to get up in his head tomorrow. You can train all you want - that's just conditioning and doesn't win fights. Conditioning is a recipe but it's the heart. "I

John Stones and Aymeric Laporte to Manchester City: Pep Guardiola targeting centre-backs in summer

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The highly-rated pair could set Pep Guardiola back as much as £100million Everton defender John Stones is a £50m target for Manchester City  EPA Manchester City’s manager-in-waiting Pep Guardiola has targeted John Stones and Aymeric Laporte after deciding that centre-back is the priority for this summer’s expensive rebuilding programme. Director of football Txiki  Begiristain is already working on City’s list of targets and is close to completing a deal for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. Guardiola wants signings in most positions, including a whole back four, but has identified central defence as the area that needs most work, even though it could cost £100million. Guardiola’s teams build up from the back and he has identified ball-playing Stones as his preferred target this summer once he takes over after leaving Bayern Munich.  He won’t come cheap. Everton turned down a £30million bid from Chelsea for the 21-year-old last summer, but with even more int

Jack Wilshere: Arsenal midfielder defended by Arsene Wenger as 'not a drinker at all'

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The 24-year-old was questioned by police in the early hours of Sunday morning following an altercation outside a nightclub “Jack is not a drinker at all,” Wenger said. “I don’t even have that worry, not at all. What he did [last Saturday night] I don’t know, honestly I don’t think so. He had a hard [training] session on Monday and he did very well in the session, so if he had been heavily drinking on Sunday I don’t think he would have survived.” Wenger even positively compared Wilshere’s behaviour with that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two best players of their generation. “Before games they have been photographed [out], 48 hours before games,” Wenger said. “Which Wilshere has never been done.” “I invite you to come in every day and watch him work,” Wenger said. “You will understand that he is very, very dedicated. The only thing that could stop him from having the career he could make is injuries. He has a history of injuries, but I hope he can get rid of tha

Chris Smalling talks up playing alongside Daley Blind at Manchester United: 'He has put his critics to bed'

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Chris Smalling and Daley Blind before kick-off  Getty “Ever since he joined the club he has rarely been injured. He has been able to bang out the games and have a very high consistency,” he said. “As [an] obviously.. natural midfielder, he has that passing range and ability down to a tee. He brings a lot to our defensive line in being able to play the ball out and cut through teams. I think he deserves more plaudits. Everyone is standing up and taking note that Daley is one of the mainstays of this team and he is keeping us ticking. Blind blocks Romelu Lukaku in Sunday's win over Everton “One of the main reasons the manager first put him there was he could play on the ball and he was a left footer. He has got a lot more to his game than any of us really thought. In one on one duals for instance, as you saw against Everton, Lukaku didn't get any change from him. Daley is not the biggest or strongest but he is very clever and smart and big strikers or fast stri

Leaked Pics Reportedly Showing Arsenal’s Kit For Next Season Will Divide Opinion

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It is around this time of year that designs for next season’s kits are finalised – and if this Arsenal one turns out to be accurate, then it will certainly be cause for debate. Images began doing the rounds on social media late last night purporting to show the home shirt that the Gunners will be lining out in next season, in what could only be described as a radical departure from their usual design. Immediately, one of the main talking points is the colour of the shorts. Arsenal have only ever had white shorts with their home kit, so to be changing things up by adopting navy would cause a bit of division among the more traditional members of their fan base. The large cannon on the lower torso is also a bit of a departure from the plain blank red that they normally adopt for the front of their shirts – though there are only so many times that plain red with white sleeves can be used before it becomes a bit jaded, especially if Puma are committed to changing the kit every