Give Me Goals – Mourinho Cries To Players

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has admitted his side’s lack of goals in games is starting to take a physical toll on him. The Blues were nearly left to rue their lack of cutting edge against Swansea City but still managed to record a 1-0 victory. The Stamford Bridge outfit have failed to capitalise on their superior quality in recent times with Mourinho hinting that he may have to revert to defensive tactics to accommodate his misfiring forward line. But against Swansea, Mourinho believed it was forces outside his players’ control that kept Chelsea from not scoring more than the solitary goal. “They kill me,” Mourinho said. “Every game I’m tired in the end. At half-time we all should be relaxed with a comfortable result and we weren’t and the first thing that happens in the second half was probably the biggest chance of the game. “After that we had a clear penalty, after that the goalkeeper made another fantastic save from [Frank] Lampard’s shot, because the ball was going in the corner and had a deflection. “But the time goes on, we don’t score the second goal and you feel like the opponent now believes and the opponent is keen to risk a bit more and put in a second striker. In this moment you are a bit in trouble. “You don’t score, you finish feeling you are going to concede. But the boys, they worked hard defensively and in the last part they looked comfortable in their control of the game. “Deserved victory, important victory, and today I can say that the biggest responsible for the lack of goals was their goalkeeper, because he made three or four big saves. “We didn’t miss, the goalkeeper made fantastic saves. “The first half save from [Samuel] Eto’o’s shot was brilliant. The first save in the first minute of the second half is the same. “David’s pass just in front of me was good, Mata control and pass was fantastic, Eto’o attacks the ball perfectly. “My striker made the right movement to attack the ball, he did well, the goalkeeper made a fantastic save.” Chelsea now turn their attention to a top-of- the-table clash against Liverpool but will be without the services of midfielder Ramires after the Brazilian picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Keshi Confirms Omeruo’s Exit From Chelsea

Nigeria head coach, Stephen Keshi, has confirmed to supersport.com that Kenneth Omeruo, will leave Chelsea on loan. Keshi explained that it is imperative for the centre-back to leave Stamford Bridge to secure regular playing time to boost his World Cup chance with Nigeria. “I know he will leave Chelsea soon and it will be on loan. This is a World Cup year and I’ve told him that he needs to be playing regularly to have a chance of being part the team to the World Cup,” said the Nigerian manager. The 20-year-old defender last season spent 18 months on loan at Dutch club, ADO Den Haag and Keshi believes that the spell helped the young centre half’s development. “Kenneth is an important player for us and he showed that this year during the (Africa) Cup of Nations. It was good at the time that he spent his time on loan in The Netherlands (withADO Den Haag after signing for Chelsea) and that helped his career well. “I believe he will leave Chelsea soon (on loan) to have playing time since this is a World Cup year,” said the former Mali and Togo manager. Omeruo made his debut for Nigeria in a goalless draw with Cape Verde in a friendly match earlier this year and played a key role inthe Super Eagles’ run up to winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Youths will determine the success of APC – Buhari

Former head of state and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has insisted that the success or otherwise of the party in the 2015 general elections would greatly depend on the support it gets from the country’s youths. At the commissioning of an office owned by the APC Youths Vanguard in Katsina yesterday, Buhari said youths have a vital role to play in strengthening in Nigeria’s democratic process. Represented by former petroleum minister, Umaru Dembo, Gen. Buhari said the time had come for the youths to elect honest and sincerepeople who would protect the interest of the masses, which the APC is out to achieve. He said that it was through such an election that Nigeria could witness the kind of change that would lead to socio-economic development. He said that what the APC elders were doing was to prepare the ground for the youths to build a better Nigeria. “By the time the elders are no more the youths will continue to build on the foundation that was laid,” he said, and assured them that the APC would carry the youths along in all its actions. He however called on youths not to allow themselves to be deceived by politicians who use money to lure them into voting for them or encouraging them to engage in activities that do not promote democratic principles. Buhari also called on youths to eschew violence especially in the name of elections, but to engage in activities that would lead to the strengthening of the country’s democratic process. The national president of APC Youth Vanguard Ibrahim Bello said the association was established to unite the youths who are future leaders. The chairman of the association in the state Ibrahim Saulawa said the group would unite youthsin the country to work at defeating the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the next general elections.

Kidnapped Lebanese freed

A Lebanese businessman kidnapped in the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Monday has regained freedom, police say. Hassan Zaid was kidnapped by unknown gunmen at his factory in the Sharada area of the state five days ago. Kano state police spokesperson Musa Magaji Majia said he was found abandoned on the outskirt of the city.

Cardiff City sack manager Mackay

Malky Mackay has been sacked as Cardiff City manager after a meeting of the club’s board of directors. Billionaire Malaysian owner Vincent Tan said the dismissal was “regretfully” necessary to be fair to the club and its fans. In a statement, Tan said: “Far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze but, I stress, not by me.” The move comes a day after a 3-0 home defeat by Southampton left Cardiff only one point above the relegation zone. Mackay’s removal follows a public row with Tan, who wrote to Mackay on 16 December asking him toresign or be sacked. Tan also accused Mackay of overspending in the transfer market and announced the manager would have nothing to spend in the January window. The 41-year-old Scotsman refused to resign, and subsequently led the team in Premier League matches against Liverpool and Southampton before his dismissal. Mackay’s assistant David Kerslake is expected to be in charge for the home match against Sunderland on Saturday. Mackay, who is the sixth Premier League boss to lose his job this season, had been in charge at Cardiff for two-and-a-half years after taking over from Dave Jones in June 2011. He guided the club back to the top flight of English football after a 52-year absence when they won the Championship in April. Tan claimed in a statement that Mackay’s dismissal was necessary for the good of the club. “There has been a good deal of publicity generated by, and about, Mr Malky Mackay for the last few months,” it read. “I have deliberately not responded to this, hoping that the club can be judged on its football rather than personalised arguments about who said what to whom. “I have, however, regretfully concluded that it is no longer fair to the club, its players, its fans and the public more generally for this uncomfortable state of affairs to continue. “Cardiff City Football Club means far too much to us all for it to be distracted by this.” The first signs of a problem between the owner and the manager emerged in October 2013 when the club’s director of recruitment Iain Moody was removed from his post. Moody, a long-term friend and colleague of Mackay who worked with him at Watford, was replaced by 23-year-old Kazakh Alisher Apsalamov, a friend of Tan’s son. Moody played a major role in the recruitment of summer signings Gary Medel and Steven Caulker and the decision to remove him upset Mackay, who described his colleague as”a class act”. No official reason was given for Moody’s departure, but it emerged in December that Tan felt he was responsible for an alleged overspend of £15m on the club’s transfer budget. Tan claimed the club had spent £50m on transfers following their promotion to the Premier League after being given a budget of £35m. Moody and Mackay both denied there had been an overspend. The latest row was sparked by Mackay’s comments afterCardiff’s 1-0 win over West Brom on 14 December that he would like to recruit three players in January. The comments prompted a strident response from Tan, with many observers surprised that Mackay was still in charge for the game at Anfield on 21 December.

Pope’s first Christmas message

The Roman Catholic leader, Pope Francis on Wednesday called for dialogue to end the conflict in South Sudan and all wars, saying everyone should strive to be personal peacemakers. Speaking to tens of thousands of people from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the same spot where he emerged to the world as pope when he was elected on March 13, Francis also made another appeal for the environment to be saved from “human greed and rapacity”. The leader of the 1.2 billion-member Church wove his first “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) message around the theme of peace. He called for “social harmony in South Sudan, where current tensions have already caused numerous victims and are threatening peaceful coexistence in that young state.” Thousands are believed to have died in violence divided along ethnic lines between the Nuer and Dinka tribes in the country, which seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war. He also called for dialogue to end the conflicts in Syria, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, and prayed for a “favourable outcome” to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. “Wars shatter and hurt so many lives!” he said, saying their most vulnerable victims were children, elderly, battered women and the sick. The thread running through the message was that individuals had a role in promoting peace, either with their neighbour or between nations. The message of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was directed at “every man or woman who keeps watch through the night, who hopes for a better world, who cares for others while humbly seeking to do his or her duty,” he said. “God is peace: let us ask him to help us to be peacemakers each day, in our life, in our families, in our cities and nations, in the whole world,” he said. Pilgrims came from all over the world for Christmas at the Vatican and some said it was because they felt Francis had brought a breath of fresh air to the Church. “(He) is bringing a new era into the Church, a Church that is focusing much more on the poor and that is more austere, more lively ..” said Dolores Di Benedetto, who came from the pope’s homeland, Argentina, to attend Christmas eve Mass. Giacchino Sabello, an Italian, said he wanted to get a first-hand look at the new pope: “I thought it would be very nice to hear the words of this pope close up and to see how the people are overwhelmed by him.” In his speech, Francis asked God to “look upon the many children who are kidnapped, wounded and killed in armed conflicts, and all those who are robbed of their childhood and forced to become soldiers.” He also called for a “dignified life” for migrants, praying tragedies such as one in which hundreds died in a shipwreck off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa are never repeated, and made a particular appeal against human trafficking, which he called a “crime against humanity”.

NSCDC arrests 44, convicts 4 pipeline vandals

Out of 44 suspects that were arrested by the Oyo State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, for alleged vandalism of petroleum pipelines, four of them were convicted in the year. Other suspects are still standing trial in various courts in the state. Also, yesterday, Vigilante groups in Ogbomosho/Gambari axis of Oyo State apprehended a tanker with registration number Lagos XE 431 LSD loaded with 40,000 litres of fuel. The three suspects were handed over to the police. In addition, 21 vehicles and five motorcycles were confiscated over related offences. This was disclosed by the NSCDC state Commandant, Mr. Shem Obafaiye at the end of year programme organised by the command at Railway compound, Iyaganku Ibadan. Commandant Obafaiye, while giving performance reports disclosed that there was proliferation of private guard companies which duly registered with his command. According to him, the number of the private guard companies surged from 69 to 81, while 10 staff of alleged illegal private guards companies operating in Ibadan were arrested and five companies sealed in the year. The command gave awards to some of its outstanding staff in all departments, units and divisions.

Falana supports Jonathan, seeks for Obasanjo probe.

Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday commended President Goodluck Jonathan for reeling out a detailed letter in response to the missive written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to him. Accordingly, he told the president to direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to reopen investigation into the Halliburton Scandal, Siemens Scandal andother corruption cases involving Obasanjo. In a statement he personally issued on Monday, Falana also urged President Jonathan to sack his Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah following her indictment in the alleged financial irregularities in the purchase of two bullet- proof cars to the tune of N225 million by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the minister. “In this regard, since the Aviation Minister, Ms Stella Oduah has been unanimously indicted by the presidential panel of inquiry, theEFCC and the Aviation Committee of the House of Representatives for illegally allocating N643 million for the purchase of two armoured cars, President Jonathan should remove her from office without any further delay”, he stated. Specifically, the legal luminary lauded the president for his decision “to request the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the allegation that snipers are being trained and armed to annihilate political opponents in the country”. He, however, said “the investigation should cover the Killer Squad set up by Sani Abacha’s murderous regime whose members were not disarmed and de- mobilised by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration”. Falana also urged Jonathan to ensure that the allegations of official corruption and politically motivated killings are not swept under the carpet.

NSF,IGP to host shooting competition very soon

A shooting competition aimed at discovering shooters to represent Nigeria at international tournaments like the All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympics is underway based on a plan being hatched between the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Shooting Federation. The plan was reached during a visit of the board of the Nigeria Shooting Federation to the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Mohammed, at the Police Headquarters, Abuja recently. A committee to that effect will soon be formed. President of the federation, Wole Madariola, who intimated the IGP of the federation’s plan to hold a tournament in his honour due tohis contribution to sports development and the force’s contribution to the shooting sport, said the tourney will sharpen the skills of most of Nigerian shooters who are in the police service. The police alone contribute about 30% of Nigeria shooters to the federation, a development the federation is willing to encourage. The IGP, impressed with the plan said he had had similar initiative all along but had to waituntil the completion of the facility in Abuja to commence the competition. He promised that once the federation and the police force finalise plans, he will announce a winning price tag on the tournament. “We are thinking alike. I have been nursing such plan but could not introduce because of lack of facilities and equipment. But can now have it based on the facility on ground. We have built a Peace Keeping Centre, one of the best in Africa with 180 beds, 210 sitting capacity conference room with internet facilities for combat training and inspected by the United Nations. Once we conclude plans for the championship, I can put a price tag on the tournament to motivate shooters. It will start with men in the police service before we eventually open it up for outsiders. I had to solve the challenge of facility first and this will give the police opportunity to produce more marksmen. We can hold the championship in 2014 and will have to begin with setting up a committee for the competition.” He stated.

Terry G attacked on stage

The IBB Square, Makurdi in Benue State was thrown into confusion and disarray last weekend when the Benue youth fiesta staged there was disrupted as a popular Nigerian musician, Terry G, the crooner was performing on stage. The musician hails from the state. The Benue fiesta, which attracted hundreds of youth, including men and women was was organized by the member representing Guma/Makurdi federal constituency, Barrister Emmanuel Jime, who is known to be nursing gubernatorial ambition in 2015. The venue of the event was jam-packed as all fun seekers in the agrarian state attended to unwind. Prominent Nigerian artistes including J. Martins, I Go Dye, Ice Prince and Pastor Nicodemus Mbatsavtampu performed at event and it was such a lively occasion before it was rudely interrupted. Trouble started as Terry G was on stage performing and some youth suspected to be hoodlums began to throw sachet water on the musician and later broke bottles and charged towards him, while making loud noise. There was confusion as people ran helter skelter for their lives. The particular IBB square arena has remained a beehive of social activities preparatory to the Christmas and new year celebrations and none of the events had been marred by such rude interruption and violence.