Albanian side KF Tirana have warned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to stay clear off their coach Ndubuisi Egbo, who has is off Interest to the NFF.

A former Nigeria international Egbo led the Albanian side to their first ever league title since 2009 and recently handled them in the UEFA Champions League play offs where they fail to progress pass the second round.

Only last night they were dumped out of the Europa League Qualifiers as well by Young Boys. That has led to talks about a departure for the coach who has been approached by the NFF.

Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that Egbo was contacted by the NFF to fill the void created by the recent exit of Salisu Yusuf as coach following the expiration of his contract with the NFF.

The former Super Eagles goalkeeper was expected to join the technical crew of coach Gernot Rohr with the plan of having him succeed the coach after the 2022 World Cup.

That plan has been blocked by his Albanian team who are not entertaining any talks of a departure for the coach and their stand has been made known to the NFF.

Egbo has two more years to run on his deal as coach of the team he started handling in 2016 when he made the step up from the goalkeepers coach to the role of head coach following the sacking of the head coach.

Former Nigeria international Finidi George wa surprisingly not appointed as coach of any of the national teams by the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF).

Finidi who has worked with La Liga side Real Betis as Director of International football and also with the Reserve team of Mallorca applied to coach one of the national teams of Nigeria.

However despite having a qualification that dwarfs every other contender for the job his name was conspicuously missing from the appointed coaches made public last week by the NFF.

Explaining the rationale, a chieftain of the NFF told Owngoalnigeria.com that it was a case of having better options who understand the system and how it works.

“ Finidi applied for the position of head coach of the U17 team. He was among 12 others who applied. Yes he came with a very good qualification but he has little or no experience of how the system works.

“ The wise thing would have been for him to work as assistant like Austin Eguavoen, Daniel Amokachi, Ben Iroha and Emmanuel Amuneke did before stepping up the ladder. That way he will understand how the system works before taking the reins as head coach but he wasn’t open for that”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

“ He wanted the head coach job which isn’t bad but when you consider the rigorous nature of the screening and more that we have here and compare to the atmosphere he worked with abroad. It’s two different things”, he concluded.

Manchester City and Algeria start man Riyad Mahrez has listed Nigeria among top teams that will make an impression in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mahrez who scored the late winner that helped Algeria beat Nigeria 1-0 in the semi final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations says he has nothing but respect for Nigeria.

Both nations will once again clash in an international friendly on the 9th of October in Austria with Mahrez once again expected to lead the onslaught against the Nigerian team who are spoilt for revenge.

“ You know the teams in Africa who are not going to be easy to face. Nigeria will always be there and at the last AFCON we had to labour to beat them. As usual they will do well in the qualifiers. I respect them a lot”, he said while speaking on the Super Eagles.

In his words despite the rise of some other football nations in Africa, Nigeria , Ghana , Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire are still the force to be reckoned with when it comes to football on the continent.

Coach is the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr insist that the team will put up a very good performance despite the absence of two key players in Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo.

The duo have been ruled out of Nigeria’s upcoming games against Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire on the 9th and 13th of October respectively in Austria.

Rohr has used the duo as his preferred combination in midfield the last three games of the team leading to suggestions that the team will be unbalanced without the duo.

“ They are key players who know how we want to play and what we want from them but without them we have other players who can step up. Mikel Agu, the new boy Frank Onyeka , the upcoming Samson Tijani as well as Semi Ajayi who can play there too. So we won’t struggle”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

The coach also hinted that the team will use same formation in the absence of the duo as he plan to give the team an identity and way to play “ The idea is to get a style that we are known with. It’s a process we will maintain”, he concluded.

Former Real Madrid defence hardman Pepe says newly invited Super Eagles player Zaidu Sanusi is a top player in the making.

Zaidu teamed up with Pepe at Porto and so far he has played in all of their league games but as a substitute. Despite that Pepe has seen enough to rate the 22 year old who was at Santa Clara last season.

Already Zaidu has been called up to the senior national team of Nigeria for their games against Algeria and later Tunisia next month. He will he hoping to make his debut in one of the games.

Pepe believes if he gets to play for the national team of Nigeria, it will further aid his development. Zaidu is seen as the like for like replacement for Alex Telles who is linked with a move to Manchester United.

“ I like him a lot. He is a young kid who will be a top player in the future. Playing for the national team will also aid his development”, Pepe said while speaking on the new signings at the club.

Coach of Russian side CSKA Moscow says new signing Chidera Ejuke need to improve some aspect of his game in order for him to fulfill his potential.

The 22 year old joined the team from Dutch side Heerenveen for a fee in the region of €12 million this summer but he hasn’t shown the form that made him a hit in the Netherlands and also in Norway while at Valerenga.

He has scored once in four games as he comes to terms with the demand of playing in a new role as the top striker of the team. He has so far struggled in that role.

Speaking after the 0-1 loss to Locomotive Moscow, coach Victor Gancharenko said the Nigerian need to improve certain aspects of his game if he is to reach his potential.

“ We have a wide bench. We looked very good with the way we are playing hence we decided to continue and we did well. The team gave too much freedom to the opponent’s central defenders. This is Ejuke’s main problem as a striker he has to improve to reach his potentials”.

The Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) have set a deadline for Arsenal teen star Bukayo Saka To begin the process of his nationality switch else he won’t be considered for the 2022 World Cup.

Saka is yet to decide on his senior international future with Nigeria keen on having him as part of their senior national team despite his present status as a youth international with England.

Officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have already sounded out the 18 year old but even though he seems interested in the switch he hasn’t started the process of clearing himself up for Nigeria.

“ Saka is different because he has been very honest with us. I must say his parents, agents and advisers have done well in raising him up. As a nation there are things we have in place for our team to do well.

“ One of the things is a deadline for players wanting to be part of the team. We can’t start bringing in players after qualifying for the World Cup with a different set of players. So for Saka and co there is a deadline for them to switch or forget the representing Nigeria at the next World Cup”, a chieftain of the NFF told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Former Nigeria international defender Efe Ambrose says his new role as assistant coach of the Reserve team of Scottish Premier League side Livingston is temporary.

Livingston announced the engagement of the former Celtic star who is still active for their first team as assistant coach to their Reserve team. A role that came as a surprise to many.

The 31 year old in an exclusive chat with owngoalnigeria.com revealed that the appointment is just for a short while to help the young players in the team following the departure of their coaches.

“ I’m still very active. As a matter of fact I haven’t missed any of our games so far. I thanks all of those who have sent me messages of congratulations but it’s not yet time to make the transition from a player to a coach “, he said.

“ In the nearest future I will likely make that switch but this role is temporary. I still have some years to give as a player. I will only assist by sharing my knowledge with players of the Reserve team but let me not lie I’m really excited “, he concluded.

Frank Onyeka enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a goal for his Danish side FC Midtjylland as they seal progress to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League with a 4-1 win over Slavia Prague.

Onyeka who was dominant in midfield capped his performance with a fine finish two minutes from time to put his team 3-1 up before Anders Dreyer scored the 4th goal for his team.

The game started on a shaky note for the Danish side when out of favor Super Eagles forward Peter Olayinka opened scoring for the visiting Slavia Prague.

Slavia went into the break trailing 0-1 but Sory Kaba who twice missed a penalty in the game after an incident drew Midtjylland level to set them on the road to the famous win.

Midtjylland will be playing in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. They won the Danish league last season.

Super Eagles defender, William Troost-Ekong has completed his move from Udinese to Watford, joining the English Championship club for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old returns to the country of his birth, having signed a five-year deal with Vladimir Ivic’s team.

Troost-Ekong’s switch to Vicarage Road has naturally attracted contrasting opinions from Nigerian football fans, with many arguing that moving from the Italian top flight to the second tier of English football represents a step down in his career. On face value, that is definitely the case.

He is departing a league that has Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Duvan Zapata, Ciro Immobile, Victor Osimhen and Edin Dzeko to a competition where he only has to defend against forwards like Teemu Pukki, Josh King and Andre Ayew. That represents a big drop in quality, and will definitely slow down his development as a player.

However, for Troost-Ekong, there is a method to the madness. The defender sees the move as a means to an end, as it takes him closer to fulfilling his dream of competing in the English Premier League.

“I believe in the project for Watford to get back into the Premier League”, said Troost-Ekong, who will put on the No. 5 shirt for his new club. 

“It’s always been my dream to play in the Premier League and Watford has given me the platform now to get there. Looking at the squad, I believe we have the quality to do it”.

Troost-Ekong is right. Watford have one of the strongest squads in the Championship, and are highly fancied by many betting sites in Nigeria to gain promotion this season. They have made a decent start to the campaign, picking up seven points from their opening three matches. It might be worth having a punt on them to get straight back into the Premier League!

Even if Watford fail to gain promotion, there is still a very good chance that Troost-Ekong will be playing top-flight football in England next year. If he performs as well as he can for his new club, he will not be short of Premier League suitors next summer.

Another good thing about Troost-Ekong’s move to Watford is that it offers him the opportunity to take on a different challenge. He was starting to get a little stuck at Udinese. In his two seasons in Italy, Udinese finished 12th and 13th, and weren’t really going anywhere.

How does this move affect Troost-Ekong’s Super Eagles career?

Well, Troost-Ekong’s international career is not in any immediate danger. As long as he plays regularly for Watford, he will still get into Gernot Rohr’s squad. We have seen players like John Mikel Obi, Oghenekaro Etebo and Semi Ajayi play regularly for Nigeria while they were competing in the Championship. 

Having said that, it is not a great look for the Eagles that one of the most important players in the team plays in the second tier of English football. Hopefully, he will not be in the lower division for too long.

There is a school of thought that believes that Troost-Ekong’s switch to Watford will toughen him up as a defender. The English Championship is nowhere near the Serie A in terms of quality, but it is arguably a more difficult league to play in.

The second tier comprises 24 teams, with each club required to play 46 matches per season, and possibly, promotion play-offs. Football betting fans know that it is one of the most unpredictable leagues in the world.

The championship is a grueling and bruising division that tests your strength, pace, stamina and general fitness.

If our player can improve in all these areas, then it would be great for the Super Eagles!

Leaving Udinese for Watford may seem bizarre on the surface, but as Troost-Ekong explains, it is a “tactical decision” that gets him closer to Premier League football.

If he guides Watford into the top flight this season, it will be seen as a brilliant decision!