Tuesday 15 August 2017
Monday 14 August 2017
Kaka Shehu Lawan Sharing Money To Politicians (Photos)
According to a private media source,Commissioner for justice in Borno State Hon Kaka Shehu Lawan,was allegedly caught sharing money to people in the name of politics. Our said wrote...
'The Audacious Looter and the Goons
Good Product Indeed
This is Commisioner For Justice Borno State sharing the money among his criminal minded members.
And how do you expect our politicians to stop stealing our collective Commonwealth, when our judiciary is the ATM?
Now you see why Borno State is peculiar.
Now you see why some few will not want what's happening in Borno State to end.
Oh poor masses suffers the consequences of the rich, Criminal minded politicians and Public office holders in Nigeria'.
'The Audacious Looter and the Goons
Good Product Indeed
This is Commisioner For Justice Borno State sharing the money among his criminal minded members.
And how do you expect our politicians to stop stealing our collective Commonwealth, when our judiciary is the ATM?
Now you see why Borno State is peculiar.
Now you see why some few will not want what's happening in Borno State to end.
Oh poor masses suffers the consequences of the rich, Criminal minded politicians and Public office holders in Nigeria'.
Dismissed DSS Official Nabbed With Sixteen Bags Of Weed In Enugu
The operatives of the Anti Cultism Unit of the Enugu state command of the Nigeria Police Force on 13th August, 2017 through an intelligence information and a well coordinated operation arrested One Emmanuel Ogbonna who claimed to hail from Okpanam Delta state, Odo Chinedu of Aguabo Enugu with Sixteen Bags of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.
Also recovered from one of the suspects Emmanuel, is a suspected identity/warrant card portraying him as a member of Director of security services with the name Emmanuel Tako and number FCA552447.
Suspects were nabbed when the operatives acting on intelligence information swooped on them at New Market axis of the state and where the bags of the weeds suspected to be Indian hemp was concealed in the booth of their Camry car with registration Number LSR 769 DF hence the bags of the weeds alongside the vehicle were recovered from suspects.
Suspects are helping the police operatives in their investigations just as Emmanuel has revealed that he was dismissed as a DSS Personnel but uses the alleged identity card to ferry weeds suspected to be indian hemp using the said vehicle.
Investigations into their nefarious activities are in full scale.
Also recovered from one of the suspects Emmanuel, is a suspected identity/warrant card portraying him as a member of Director of security services with the name Emmanuel Tako and number FCA552447.
Suspects were nabbed when the operatives acting on intelligence information swooped on them at New Market axis of the state and where the bags of the weeds suspected to be Indian hemp was concealed in the booth of their Camry car with registration Number LSR 769 DF hence the bags of the weeds alongside the vehicle were recovered from suspects.
Suspects are helping the police operatives in their investigations just as Emmanuel has revealed that he was dismissed as a DSS Personnel but uses the alleged identity card to ferry weeds suspected to be indian hemp using the said vehicle.
Investigations into their nefarious activities are in full scale.
Femi Adesina: I Don’t Know If It’s Nigeria That Is Paying For Buhari’s Treatment
Femi Adesina, special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, says he is not sure if it is the federal government that is responsible for the medical bill of his principal.
Buhari has been receiving medical attention in London for the past 99 days and the issue of the cost has generated heated controversy between his supporters and opponents.
Before he left Nigeria on May 7, the president had spent 49 days in the United Kingdom, treating an undisclosed ailment.
When he appeared on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday, Seun Okinbaloye, anchor of the programme, asked Adesina, “Who is paying for the president’s treatment?”
“Does it matter at this point?” The presidential spokesman asked, to which Okinbaloye fired back: “We need to know, he is our president. He is a public official. This shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy.”
Then Adesina said: “I do not know who is paying, but as a president, he has a right to be treated by the country.”
“Nigeria is taking care of the bill?” Okinbaloye asked, and Adesina responded, “Most likely. I don not know for sure.”
The presidential spokesman also discussed his experience with his principal at the Abuja House in London.
Adesina was in the delegation that met Buhari during the weekend.
“The president I saw was sharp, he was smart, he was lucid. The president I saw was almost completely mending,” Adesina said.
“But like I said in the statement we issued, he will come when his doctors say ‘it’s time to go home’.
Dismissing the position that Buhari has not returned to the country because he is too frail to travel, Adesina said: “We can’t depend on the word out there, but I can depend on what I saw with my eyes. I saw the president and I know that he has recovered considerably.
“Once the doctors certify him, he will surely come back… If you know the president, at the peak of his performance when he just assumed the presidency and went to different parts of the world, you will know that he is a man of tremendous energy and tremendous ability.
“If a man was healed and he has mended, that means he can do what he used to and even more.”
Buhari has been receiving medical attention in London for the past 99 days and the issue of the cost has generated heated controversy between his supporters and opponents.
Before he left Nigeria on May 7, the president had spent 49 days in the United Kingdom, treating an undisclosed ailment.
When he appeared on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday, Seun Okinbaloye, anchor of the programme, asked Adesina, “Who is paying for the president’s treatment?”
“Does it matter at this point?” The presidential spokesman asked, to which Okinbaloye fired back: “We need to know, he is our president. He is a public official. This shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy.”
Then Adesina said: “I do not know who is paying, but as a president, he has a right to be treated by the country.”
“Nigeria is taking care of the bill?” Okinbaloye asked, and Adesina responded, “Most likely. I don not know for sure.”
The presidential spokesman also discussed his experience with his principal at the Abuja House in London.
Adesina was in the delegation that met Buhari during the weekend.
“The president I saw was sharp, he was smart, he was lucid. The president I saw was almost completely mending,” Adesina said.
“But like I said in the statement we issued, he will come when his doctors say ‘it’s time to go home’.
Dismissing the position that Buhari has not returned to the country because he is too frail to travel, Adesina said: “We can’t depend on the word out there, but I can depend on what I saw with my eyes. I saw the president and I know that he has recovered considerably.
“Once the doctors certify him, he will surely come back… If you know the president, at the peak of his performance when he just assumed the presidency and went to different parts of the world, you will know that he is a man of tremendous energy and tremendous ability.
“If a man was healed and he has mended, that means he can do what he used to and even more.”
Rabiu Kwankwaso Dumps APC For PDP With 10 Kano State Lawmakers
Former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Tuesday, reportedly defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Senator Kwankwaso, it was gathered, defected with 10 Kano State lawmakers.
His defection may not be unconnected with his ordeals in the APC.
Kwankwaso has been at loggerheads with his successor, Umar Ganduje.
In March last year, the leadership of the APC in Kano chapter had initiated moves to suspend him over what it termed anti-party activities.
Details later…
'Out for blood': Man arrested in plan to bomb Oklahoma bank
A 23-year-old man who was "out for blood" when he attempted to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van outside an Oklahoma bank in a plot similar to the deadly 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building is expected to be formally charged Monday, authorities said.
During a meeting with undercover FBI agents in June, Jerry Drake Varnell of Sayre, Oklahoma, said he held "III% ideology" and wanted "to start the next revolution," a reference to the "Three Percenters" patriot movement — begun in 2008, galvanized by President Barack Obama's election — and that has rallied against gun control efforts and pledges resistance to the federal government over the infringement of constitutional rights.
Federal officials arrested Varnell early Saturday in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb in an alley adjacent to BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City. Varnell is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce. Court records do not indicate whether Varnell is represented by an attorney.
U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the allegations are a somber reminder that Americans must remain vigilant about home-grown extremism and radicalization in local communities.
On Saturday, a rally by white nationalists and others opposed to a plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a Charlottesville, Virginia, park turned violent and led to the death of a 32-year-old woman who was struck by a car allegedly driven by a man into a crowd of people protesting the rally. A Virginia State Police helicopter deployed in a large-scale police response to the violence then crashed into the woods outside of town and both troopers on board died.
A federal complaint filed on Sunday says a confidential informant told the FBI in December that Varnell wanted to blow up a building and "that Varnell was upset with the government and was seeking retaliation."
Officials said Varnell initially wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., with a device similar to one used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more.
In a series of text messages with the FBI's informant, Varnell "claimed to have a bunker for when the world (or United States) collapsed" and indicated he was trying to build a team, the complaint states.
"I'm out for blood," the complaint quotes Varnell's texts. "When militias start getting formed I'm going after government officials when I have a team."
But an undercover FBI agent posed as someone who could help Varnell build a bomb and the device used was actually inert, authorities said. Varnell's actions were monitored closely for months as the plot developed.
"There was never a concern that our community's safety or security was at risk during this investigation," said Kathryn Peterson, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.
The undercover agent met face-to-face with him on June 1 to discuss obtaining materials for an ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb similar to the one used in the Oklahoma City bombing, the complaint states.
Varnell indicated at the meeting that he had previously made homemade explosives and that he "was of the same mind with people who wanted to use explosives and make a statement," the complaint says.
"Something needs to be done," Varnell said, but killing a lot of people was not a good idea, according to the complaint. During text conversations in July, Varnell stated he wanted to conduct the attack after closing hours to prevent casualties but conceded that some bank workers or custodians who were inside the building could be killed or injured in the blast, it says.
The complaint says Varnell helped assemble the device and load it into what he believed was a stolen van. Shortly after midnight on Saturday, Varnell drove the van by himself from a storage unit in El Reno, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the bank in Oklahoma City, and dialed a number on a cell telephone that he believed would trigger the explosion. The FBI and members of a Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Varnell shortly before 1 a.m.
The complaint also states that Varnell prepared a statement to be posted on Facebook after the explosion which reads in part that the attack was "retaliation against the freedoms that have been taken away from the American people" and "an act done to show the government what the people think of its actions."
Both of Oklahoma's Republican U.S. senators said the alleged plot could have rivaled the devastation caused by the Oklahoma City bombing 22 years ago.
"It is chilling to think that a sympathizer of Timothy McVeigh would want to act on hate, as a tribute to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil before September 11," Lankford said.
Sen. Jim Inhofe said law enforcement authorities "successfully prevented a hateful act of domestic terrorism."
If convicted, Varnell faces between five and 20 years in prison.
Saturday 12 August 2017
Lamido, Dankwambo & Fayose Campaign At PDP Convention (Photos)
The trio of presidential aspirants under peoples democratic party (PDP) have began lobbying and campaigning for their ambitions of occupying the number one seat in the country at the ongoing PDP non-elective convention in Abuja.
The two currently serving governors, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe state and Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state whose tenures will elapse in 2019, and Immediate governor of Jigawa state Dr. Sule Lamido were pictured in the midst of their supporters rocking customized T-shirts and Babbar-riga with their names and photos printed on, and campaign posters of various shapes and sizes.
The PDP, after its sack from Aso villa and unprecedented heavy defeat at the 2015 polls by the APC, have lost focus on its bearing till the recent court ruling that ousted its embattled former chairman Ali Modu Sheriff.
The success of the recent convention signalled a new dawn for the PDP, the new leadership, unity of purpose & learning from past mistakes has put the party in a new path to reclaim lost glory.
PDP power to the people.
The two currently serving governors, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe state and Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state whose tenures will elapse in 2019, and Immediate governor of Jigawa state Dr. Sule Lamido were pictured in the midst of their supporters rocking customized T-shirts and Babbar-riga with their names and photos printed on, and campaign posters of various shapes and sizes.
The PDP, after its sack from Aso villa and unprecedented heavy defeat at the 2015 polls by the APC, have lost focus on its bearing till the recent court ruling that ousted its embattled former chairman Ali Modu Sheriff.
The success of the recent convention signalled a new dawn for the PDP, the new leadership, unity of purpose & learning from past mistakes has put the party in a new path to reclaim lost glory.
PDP power to the people.
Everton 1- 0 Stoke : Wayne Rooney scores winner in his Everton return
when you are planning an emotional homecoming after 13 years, it is always useful if your boss knows a perfect script when he sees one.
Bill Kenwright, Everton's chairman, watched Wayne Rooney's second Premier League debut end with the winning goal and must have considered the stage direction perfect. Rooney's Everton sequel has started encouragingly enough to suggest those predicting a flop spoke prematurely.
Rooney has won five league titles, broken notable goalscoring records and lifted the Champions League since his last goal for Everton in 2004.
Yet as he slid on his knees and looked skyward having earned his side the 1-0 win over Stoke, it is hard to imagine him more expressive on a football pitch.
This was a moment to encapsulate why he came back to Goodison Park – it is always going to mean so much more when it is shared with his own fans. He will surely appreciate this more than did any of the 17 he struck as a teenager, each of those seen as a means to an end as he was perennially linked with a move away.
There was no gimmicky, pre-meditated 'once a blue, always blue' T-shirt unveiling on this occasion – just genuine delight at the first serious validation of his return.
Not since April 13, 2004 – a 1-1 away draw at Leeds United – has Rooney felt such joy among boyhood friends. The timing was especially appropriate as Everton were meandering looking bereft of ideas and inspiration prior to Rooney's intervention.
There was as much to concern as satisfy as Ronald Koeman's new look side searched for balance and dynamism in the first half, Rooney hunting deeper for possession, Everton's midfield packed with players of similar qualities of diligence but lacking pace and creativity.
Yet for all the scepticism regarding Rooney's current powers, he still has the capacity to change and define games.
Rooney struck with his first and only chance on 44 minutes. Dominic Calvert-Lewin crossed from the right, and Rooney was free to pick his spot with a header.
Aside from a couple of shots from distance by Idrissa Gueye, it was the first time Stoke keeper Jack Butland had been occupied.
The momentum utterly shifted from then.
Rooney dropped deeper when Koeman changed shape in the second half, and his confidence visibly grew and class told as he began to control the game.
Rooney dropped deeper when Koeman changed shape in the second half, and his confidence visibly grew and class told as he began to control the game.
He was helped by Calvert-Lewin moving back to striker from an uncomfortable wing-back role. With a target, Rooney was able to deliver some probing balls beyond an increasingly fragile Stoke defence.
Stoke are searching for their own formula. Mark Hughes has radically changed the system to accommodate the flair of Bojan and Xherdan Shaqiri. They are certainly prettier on the eye when exchanging passes, but Saido Berahino was a lightweight centre-forward. It was no surprise when he was replaced by the evergreen Peter Crouch midway through the second half and the visitors went direct in search of an equaliser in the latter stages.
The lack of penetration ensured Everton's debutant keeper Jordan Pickford's experience was vastly different to that he enjoyed at Sunderland. Adjusting to prolonged periods of unemployment will be one of Pickford's immediate challenges.
He suggested he is up to it with a brilliant fingertip save to deny Shaqiri in injury time.
Wayne Rooney's return to the Everton side after 13 years at Manchester United has seen him set a new Premier League record.
A product of the Toffees' academy system, and a boyhood blue, Rooney left Goodison Park for Old Trafford in 2004.
A trophy-laden spell with United delivered countless major honours, over 550 appearances and history-making exploits as he became the club's leading goalscorer of all-time.
Rooney holds the same record with England but is fully focused on domestic matters for now after taking the decision to return to his roots and join an ambitious project under Ronald Koeman .
Players are often warned to 'never go back', but Rooney's emotional attachment to Everton has taken him home.
He will be determined to repay the faith shown in him and prove that he is no fading force after slipping down the pecking order at United under Jose Mourinho.
His last spell with the Toffees delivered 77 appearances and 17 goals, with it now time to open a new chapter after 4,837 days.
Rooney's first outing back in familiar surroundings came against Stoke, with Everton seeking to make a positive opening to their 2017-18 Premier League campaign.
He helped them to make the best possible start on Saturday, with the 31-year-old opening the scoring on an emotional afternoon for him in first-half stoppage-time.
Rooney has now been involved in 300 Premier League goals – 199 scored himself and 101 assists.
Plane Crashes Into a Car in Russia!
Why was the pilot trying to take-off on a street with cars? the question still remains unanswered.
This happened in Russia, where it isn’t certain if the pilot tried to take-off on a public road or tried to recover from a failed landing, a car happened to be on the same road and the plane ended up in the rear of the car.
The plane was said to be spraying the fields with anti-locust. Fortunately, the driver of the car and the unsuspecting pedestrian left unscathed, only the pilot, was injured and hospitalised.
This happened in Russia, where it isn’t certain if the pilot tried to take-off on a public road or tried to recover from a failed landing, a car happened to be on the same road and the plane ended up in the rear of the car.
The plane was said to be spraying the fields with anti-locust. Fortunately, the driver of the car and the unsuspecting pedestrian left unscathed, only the pilot, was injured and hospitalised.
WATCH VIDEO THROUGH LINK BELOW!
EPL Season Preview: Comparing The Top 5 EPL Clubs To Avengers Characters
So this is not your average, regular Joe season preview, nah. Those things are a dime a dozen, here we take it to another level.
Warning: This is not for “serious” people, it’s about to get very silly.
How do you do a season preview that’s absolutely lit, fun and different from the gazillion others? Simple, add a bit of theatre magic : )
Ever wondered which Avengers character your team would be? Probably not. Here we go.
Every new season begins with a thousand hopes and expectations, there are twenty teams that dream of winning the league, seven that will fancy their chances more than the rest, but you and I know there are only four (yes, four) real contenders. So here we’ll take a look at the seven, their transfer business, where they’ll finish and of course, choose the Avengers character they most resemble.
let the fun begin:
Manchester City
After six matches last season, Manchester City were top of the log with 6 wins from 6 and 18 goals scored. Pep magic. The Spaniard, brought in to lead City to European dominance like his Barcelona team had begun on a soaring note. The came the Spurs.
City traveled to White Hart Lane on October 2, four points clear of the chasing pack. A punishing 90 minutes later, Pep was truly “welcomed” to the Premier League. It finished two nil, it might have been more. City remained top but the lead had been decimated, they would only win one of the next four yielding the top spot to Liverpool at the end of Matchday 11.
Somehow the problems were attributed to defensive frailties, perhaps helped by Pep’s suggestion that his full-backs (Kolarov, Zabaleta and Sagna) all belonged in a museum.This of course is not borne out of facts, only three teams (United, Spurs and Chelsea) conceded fewer goals. And in terms of goals scored only two scored more than the 80 Pep’s side notched. Which suggests that the problem lies elsewhere, but never mind that, City have thrown a poo load of money at the problem.
Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, and Danilo have replaced the aforementioned trio with City breaking the record fee for a defender twice. Bernardo Silva and Ederson Moraes are the other new buys. So now that the problem is solved they’ll surely finish first, right?
Final League Position: 2nd. Sorry. City have spent close to half a billion pounds since Pep arrived but I think the problem is that Pep is yet to come to terms with just how stubborn PL teams can be. Can fully integrate all these new signings while dealing with champions league expectations, I don’t think so.
Avengers Character: Iron Man. Obviously.
Arsenal
Arsenal are always difficult to get a fix on. I have been predicting that they would fall out of the top six for the last couple of seasons and they always managed to confound me. However, last season they did. For the first time in two decades.
How did Wenger respond? In typical fashion. He put his head down and went about business in his usual way. Two new signings will be on show at the Emirates, record signing Alexandre Lacazette cost 52m from Lyon while Sead Kolasinac cost nothing. I told you, typical.
This season not only will Wenger have to deal with Europa league football, there’s the added pressure of two of his key players (Ozil and Sanchez) being into the final year of their contracts and of course, the now annual #WengerOut protests that will start sometime in November. I think it will be too much.
Final Position: 5th. And no, they will not win the Europa League.
Avengers Character: Captain America. All that wholesome goodness, reliability, etc
Manchester United
Goals. If you had to choose only one thing that overshadowed the good work Jose Mourinho did at Old Trafford last season you’d probably choose goals. United scored a paltry 54 of them last season. Put this in context with the rest of the teams wee’ll be looking at they were last for goals scored. Tottenham scored 32 more!
The answer to this problem for Mourinho was to shell out £75m for Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian will replace United’s top goal scorer from last season Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With 85 goals to his name over the past five seasons there are few more potent marksmen (only Aguero over that time period) in the league and frighteningly, at just 24 years old, there’s still room for improvement.
Mourinho will be pleased with the business done so far in the market, although he got three of his intended four targets, United look a tough proposition with strength in depth for all four competitions.
Final League Position: 1st. This one was not difficult to call really, Mourinho’s second season syndrome is famed and legendary.
Avengers Character: THOR. Yes United is the Asgardian god of thunder.
Tottenham Hotspurs
If there is anyone that characterizes just what Spurs have become over the last two seasons then it is their Captain, Harry Kane. Just four seasons ago, Kane was on loan at Norwich City and finished at Leicester scoring just two goals across 16 appearances. Fast forward three seasons, the 24-year-old has been named in the PFA Team of The Year in all three seasons, he was won the Golden Boot in the last two. Trophy Cabinet? Empty.
Spurs have punched above their weight in the last two seasons finishing 3rd and then 2nd. They needed to buck the trend, they are fast becoming the league’s “almost men”. The normal way to do that would have been to splash out in the transfer window, add some star dust to what was without doubt the best team in the League last season. But Daniel Levy is not normal. Spurs are yet to add a single player to their squad.
How will they get on? Well, I think Levy will eventually unclench his fists before the window closes, but I doubt it will open too much. As it is, Spurs have been cut off at the knee by their Chairman, but what Pochettino should concentrate on is getting some Silverware into that trophy cabinet. The FA Cup, hell even the EFL Cup are all within their grasp. Grab it, Poch!
Final League Position: 3rd. It could have been higher, if only.
Avengers Character: Hawkeye. Part of the team, deadly, but lacking that extra intangible that makes Cap and the rest
Chelsea
Antonio Conte won the battle of the new managers last season, he won it by a country mile. Spending less than Mourinho and Guardiola, the Italian recovered from a poor start, to win the league in style. Chelsea broke the record for most wins (30) in a single Premier League season, equalled the record for the most consecutive wins (13) and set a new record for copycat managers (16), lol.
His 3-4-3 formation revolutionized tactical approaches in England, by the end of the season, 17 of the twenty teams in the top flight had tried a 3-man defence at some point.
Now a new season begins, with European exertions this time around, how will he fare? Well we suspect he might have a more difficult season. In the market they have gotten upgrades in three positions, Morata for Costa, Bakayoko for Matic and Rudiger for Terry as well as a back-up goalie in Caballero. But in allowing those upgrades o be replacements rather than additions they failed horribly.
With Costa set to join the other two in leaving Stamford Bridge, Chelsea find themselves understaffed ahead of a gruelling campaign. If they do not get at least two new signings across the line before the window shuts, it could be de ja vu again.
Final League Position: 4th. And just barely. With Hazard out for the start of the season, Bakayoko injured and Morata yet to bed in, Chelsea are in for a bumpy ride.
Avengers Character: Black Widow. There’s that Russian connect, plus she’s probably the most ruthless of them all
Warning: This is not for “serious” people, it’s about to get very silly.
How do you do a season preview that’s absolutely lit, fun and different from the gazillion others? Simple, add a bit of theatre magic : )
Ever wondered which Avengers character your team would be? Probably not. Here we go.
Every new season begins with a thousand hopes and expectations, there are twenty teams that dream of winning the league, seven that will fancy their chances more than the rest, but you and I know there are only four (yes, four) real contenders. So here we’ll take a look at the seven, their transfer business, where they’ll finish and of course, choose the Avengers character they most resemble.
let the fun begin:
Manchester City
After six matches last season, Manchester City were top of the log with 6 wins from 6 and 18 goals scored. Pep magic. The Spaniard, brought in to lead City to European dominance like his Barcelona team had begun on a soaring note. The came the Spurs.
City traveled to White Hart Lane on October 2, four points clear of the chasing pack. A punishing 90 minutes later, Pep was truly “welcomed” to the Premier League. It finished two nil, it might have been more. City remained top but the lead had been decimated, they would only win one of the next four yielding the top spot to Liverpool at the end of Matchday 11.
Somehow the problems were attributed to defensive frailties, perhaps helped by Pep’s suggestion that his full-backs (Kolarov, Zabaleta and Sagna) all belonged in a museum.This of course is not borne out of facts, only three teams (United, Spurs and Chelsea) conceded fewer goals. And in terms of goals scored only two scored more than the 80 Pep’s side notched. Which suggests that the problem lies elsewhere, but never mind that, City have thrown a poo load of money at the problem.
Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, and Danilo have replaced the aforementioned trio with City breaking the record fee for a defender twice. Bernardo Silva and Ederson Moraes are the other new buys. So now that the problem is solved they’ll surely finish first, right?
Final League Position: 2nd. Sorry. City have spent close to half a billion pounds since Pep arrived but I think the problem is that Pep is yet to come to terms with just how stubborn PL teams can be. Can fully integrate all these new signings while dealing with champions league expectations, I don’t think so.
Avengers Character: Iron Man. Obviously.
Arsenal
Arsenal are always difficult to get a fix on. I have been predicting that they would fall out of the top six for the last couple of seasons and they always managed to confound me. However, last season they did. For the first time in two decades.
How did Wenger respond? In typical fashion. He put his head down and went about business in his usual way. Two new signings will be on show at the Emirates, record signing Alexandre Lacazette cost 52m from Lyon while Sead Kolasinac cost nothing. I told you, typical.
This season not only will Wenger have to deal with Europa league football, there’s the added pressure of two of his key players (Ozil and Sanchez) being into the final year of their contracts and of course, the now annual #WengerOut protests that will start sometime in November. I think it will be too much.
Final Position: 5th. And no, they will not win the Europa League.
Avengers Character: Captain America. All that wholesome goodness, reliability, etc
Manchester United
Goals. If you had to choose only one thing that overshadowed the good work Jose Mourinho did at Old Trafford last season you’d probably choose goals. United scored a paltry 54 of them last season. Put this in context with the rest of the teams wee’ll be looking at they were last for goals scored. Tottenham scored 32 more!
The answer to this problem for Mourinho was to shell out £75m for Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian will replace United’s top goal scorer from last season Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With 85 goals to his name over the past five seasons there are few more potent marksmen (only Aguero over that time period) in the league and frighteningly, at just 24 years old, there’s still room for improvement.
Mourinho will be pleased with the business done so far in the market, although he got three of his intended four targets, United look a tough proposition with strength in depth for all four competitions.
Final League Position: 1st. This one was not difficult to call really, Mourinho’s second season syndrome is famed and legendary.
Avengers Character: THOR. Yes United is the Asgardian god of thunder.
Tottenham Hotspurs
If there is anyone that characterizes just what Spurs have become over the last two seasons then it is their Captain, Harry Kane. Just four seasons ago, Kane was on loan at Norwich City and finished at Leicester scoring just two goals across 16 appearances. Fast forward three seasons, the 24-year-old has been named in the PFA Team of The Year in all three seasons, he was won the Golden Boot in the last two. Trophy Cabinet? Empty.
Spurs have punched above their weight in the last two seasons finishing 3rd and then 2nd. They needed to buck the trend, they are fast becoming the league’s “almost men”. The normal way to do that would have been to splash out in the transfer window, add some star dust to what was without doubt the best team in the League last season. But Daniel Levy is not normal. Spurs are yet to add a single player to their squad.
How will they get on? Well, I think Levy will eventually unclench his fists before the window closes, but I doubt it will open too much. As it is, Spurs have been cut off at the knee by their Chairman, but what Pochettino should concentrate on is getting some Silverware into that trophy cabinet. The FA Cup, hell even the EFL Cup are all within their grasp. Grab it, Poch!
Final League Position: 3rd. It could have been higher, if only.
Avengers Character: Hawkeye. Part of the team, deadly, but lacking that extra intangible that makes Cap and the rest
Chelsea
Antonio Conte won the battle of the new managers last season, he won it by a country mile. Spending less than Mourinho and Guardiola, the Italian recovered from a poor start, to win the league in style. Chelsea broke the record for most wins (30) in a single Premier League season, equalled the record for the most consecutive wins (13) and set a new record for copycat managers (16), lol.
His 3-4-3 formation revolutionized tactical approaches in England, by the end of the season, 17 of the twenty teams in the top flight had tried a 3-man defence at some point.
Now a new season begins, with European exertions this time around, how will he fare? Well we suspect he might have a more difficult season. In the market they have gotten upgrades in three positions, Morata for Costa, Bakayoko for Matic and Rudiger for Terry as well as a back-up goalie in Caballero. But in allowing those upgrades o be replacements rather than additions they failed horribly.
With Costa set to join the other two in leaving Stamford Bridge, Chelsea find themselves understaffed ahead of a gruelling campaign. If they do not get at least two new signings across the line before the window shuts, it could be de ja vu again.
Final League Position: 4th. And just barely. With Hazard out for the start of the season, Bakayoko injured and Morata yet to bed in, Chelsea are in for a bumpy ride.
Avengers Character: Black Widow. There’s that Russian connect, plus she’s probably the most ruthless of them all
Another Fire Of Fury In Port Harcourt,Over 20 Killed
There was tension in Port Harcourt on Friday as residents of the Rivers State capital witnessed a cocktail of fire incidents in four different locations.
While residents around Abuloma Jetty were jolted by the explosion of a vessel that claimed the lives of at least 30 persons, workers of Rivers State Newspaper Corporation lost property worth millions of naira as fire gutted the second floor of The Tide Newspaper building located on Ikwerre Road.
Also, the Engineering Department of a Port Harcourt-based radio station, Rhythm FM, was razed by an early morning fire that had made the station to go off air.
At Eneka, operatives of the Joint Military Task Force codenamed ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ set fire to five tankers loaded with illegally refined oil, completing the blend of fire incidents in Port Harcourt in a day.
On the explosion of a vessel at the Abuloma Jetty, it was gathered that the occupants of the ship, excluding three persons who escaped, were dead.
An eyewitness, who identified himself as Gideon, told SATURDAY PUNCH that members of the crew, some ladies suspected to be students of tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt, were among those who lost their lives in the explosion.
The ladies, according to Gideon, were on their way to spend the weekend with their friends and relatives offshore before they met their untimely death.
A resident of Abuloma, Mr. Jame Israel, who witnessed the incident, said the blast occurred about 9.30 am as a result of the maintenance work being carried out in the vessel by welders.
“The welders were trying to seal an opening to block a leakage on the deck of the vessel’s fuel tank and in the process, the vessel exploded. The welders died, but we cannot ascertain how many people died inside the vessel,” Israel added.
Another eyewitness, who identified himself as Ifeanyi, said the explosion threw one of the welders above the vessel before he (welder) landed into the fire that sent a heavy smoke into the air.
“I saw it; the impact of the explosion pushed one of the person suspected to be the welder very high before he landed back into the fire. The explosion caused the buildings around this place to vibrate.
“When we heard the sound, we initially thought it was a bomb blast from a terrorist group. But we later learnt that the explosion occurred as a result of the welding work being done in the ship,” Ifeanyi said.
The Rivers State Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Kayode Olagunju, said, “An oil vessel around 9.45 hours caught fire and exploded at the Abuloma Waterfront in Port Harcourt.
“The fire is still restricted to water areas. FRSC, NEMA, police, fire service and other rescue agencies are on the ground. Casualty figure is not yet known. We shall keep you posted.”
The state Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Emenike Umesi, said the agency did not get any casualty figure.
Umesi told SATURDAY PUNCH that it was not certain if people were trapped in the vessel, promising that figures of casualties would soon be released.
At The Tide office, the editor of the paper, Mr. Soye Jamabo, said fire gutted the second floor of the building about 2 am, destroying vital documents.
Jamabo added that fire fighters across the road tried to put out the fire to no avail as their pipe was not long enough to get to the second floor of the building.
Similarly, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Okpaka Dokubo, explained that the state-owned fire service officials were helpless as their equipment failed them at a critical time.
“The fire fighters came, but their equipment were ineffective. Their water pipe could not go beyond the first floor of the building. If not for the intervention of fire fighters from Total, the entire building would have been razed,” Okpaka stated.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, who visited Tide, was said to have directed workers to go home pending when they would get instructions from the government.
In another development, JTF operatives had set five tankers loaded with suspected illegally refined oil on fire in Atali on Rumuokwurusi-Igwuruta Road.
The JTF troop had impounded the five tankers within the area in the night and had directed that they should be driven to the bush where they were set ablaze.
It was gathered that the JTF ignored entreaties from residents that buildings around the area could be affected by the fire.
Spokesperson for the JTF, Operation Pulo Shield, Capt. Sunday Samuel, said the tankers were involved in illegal bunkering, adding that the mandate of the JTF was to destroy products seized from illegal bunkerers.
Samuel stated that six persons were arrested in the process of impounding the tankers, adding that the suspects would soon be handed over to appropriate authorities for further investigation and prosecutionJust In... Gov Obiano Submits Party Nomination Form as APGA Screens Aspirants Tomorrow... #Anambra2017
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State few moments ago visited the APGA National Headquarters, Abuja to submit his Party Nomination Form for the November 18 Anambra Governorship Election.
The National Chairman of APGA, Ozonkpu Victor Oye; National Secretary, Labaran Maku; other members of the National Working Committee; delegates from APGA UK and a host of party faithful were on ground to receive the APGA governor who has redefined leadership through his sterling performance in less than 4 years in office.
In company of the governor was the Director General of his Campaign Organization, Chief Sir Victor Umeh, who is the immediate past National Chairman of APGA as well as the immediate past National Secretary Alhaji Sani Shinkafi.
The governor who arrived amidst cheers by obviously very happy party faithful and members of staff of the National Secretariat was led straight to the office where the nomination form was submitted.
Arsenal defeats Leicester City 4-3 in an incredible season opener
Photo Credit: Twitter-@Arsenal
Summer signing Alexandre Lacazette couldn’t have wished for a better start to life in the premier league after scoring Arsenal and the premier league’s first goal of the 2017/18 season just 94 seconds into the game. Goals from Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy, however, silenced the Emirates in an incredible season opener.
Danny Welbeck scored an equaliser right on half-time to put the game on 2-2 before the break.
Leicester took the lead again when Vardy headed in Riyad Mahrez’s corner before Arsene Wenger made an inspired double substitution which sparked Arsenal’s comeback.
The Gunners boss introduced super-subs Aaron Ramsey and Oliver Giroud after 67 minutes and within 20 minutes both players had scored as Arsenal incredibly turned defeat into victory with 7 minutes left to full-time.
*Haven’t picked your favourite to win the Premier league this season? Predictions are ongoing.
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