Wolverhampton Wanderers have fired head coach Gary O’Neil following their disappointing loss to Ipswich Town. The defeat, which capped a series of underwhelming performances, has left Wolves struggling in their campaign, prompting the club to take decisive action.
A statement from the club thanked O’Neil for his efforts but emphasized the need for a change in direction to improve results. The search for a new head coach is reportedly underway as Wolves aim to turn their season around.
Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is on the verge of agreeing to a deal to lead the USA men’s national team as their new head coach. Talks are in advanced stages, with Pochettino being the primary target to guide the team through their home World Cup in 2026.
Despite receiving numerous offers from England and Europe, Pochettino is inclined to accept the USA role. The 52-year-old Argentine has never managed a national team before, but his impressive club managerial experience makes him an attractive candidate.
Pochettino’s achievements include leading Southampton to early success, guiding Tottenham to their first Champions League final in 2019, and winning a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain.
Once the deal is finalized, Pochettino will work alongside US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker, with whom he previously collaborated during his time at Southampton. The pair’s familiarity is expected to facilitate a smooth transition.”
German Clubside, Bayern Munich are in talks with former Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane over becoming their next manager,
The present head coach, Thomas Tuchel will step down at the end of the season.
Bayern have now turned to Zidane, after they were turned down by Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso.
Alonso, who also snubbed Liverpool, has said he wants to remain with the newly-crowned champions beyond this summer.
Zidane has not coached since the end of 2020/21, when he left his role as the coach of Real Madrid of Spain.
But he recently revealed that he wants to return to the bench and Bayern Munich could be his next destination.
The Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) will announce a substantive head coach for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in April 2024.
Recall that former coach, Jose Peseiro announced his resignation from the national team when he couldn’t reach an agreement with NFF for contract renewal.
A number of local and expatriate coaches have already applied for the job.
They include Emmanuel Amuneke, Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi and Antonio Conceicao.
“NFF wants the best for Nigerian football and will go all out to ensure that they get it by hiring only the person who will take the Super Eagles to the highest level. The World Cup qualifiers will be coming in another three months and we cannot afford to make a mistake in our choice of a coach at this point,” an impeccable source told Completesports.com on condition of anonymity.
“We want to improve on the recent good run of form by the Super Eagles and whoever gets the job must be ready to hit the ground running. So whoever gets the job must be someone who knows the enormity of the job and must have the managerial expertise and experience to handle our star-studded team.”
NFF’s technical director, Augustine Eguavoen is now expected to take charge of the team for the friendlies against the Black Stars of Ghana and Eagles of Mali later this month.
Head Coach Jose Santos Peseiro has recalled defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Bright Osayi-Samuel, as well as midfielder Alex Iwobi and forward Terem Moffi to the Super Eagles’ squad for this month’s international friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique in Portugal. The quartet were absent from the team that demolished Sao Tome and Principe in last month’s 2023 AFCON qualifier in Uyo.
Midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, of Hatayaspor FC of Turkey gets his first-ever invitation, while Peseiro has decided to retain the trio of Francis Uzoho, Adebayo Adeleye and Olorunleke Ojo in goal. Yet-to-be-capped defender Jordan Torunnarigha is also called.
Wilfred Ndidi, who captained the team against Sao Tome and Principe, as well as Raphael Onyedika and forwards Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen, Taiwo Awoniyi and Kelechi Iheanacho have also been invited.
The Super Eagles take on the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia in the city of Portimão, Portugal on Friday, 13th October 2023, starting at 5pm before a clash with the Mambas of Mozambique in the same city three days later.
The players are all expected to arrive in Faro, Portugal on Tuesday, 10th October.
Both encounters have been arranged as tune-up games for the Eagles ahead of the commencement of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, in which the three-time African champions host Lesotho’s Crocodiles in Uyo on 17th November before travelling away to play Zimbabwe four days later.
ALL THE INVITED PLAYERS:
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho (Omonia FC, Cyprus); Olorunleke Ojo (Enyimba FC); Adebayo Adeleye (Hapoel Jerusalem, Israel)
Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce FC, Turkey); Jordan Torunarigha (KAA Gent, Belgium); Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa FC, Turkey); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Jamilu Collins (Cardiff FC, Wales); Bruno Onyemaechi (Boavista FC, Portugal)
Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); Joe Ayodele-Aribo (Southampton FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Hatayaspor FC, Turkey)
Forwards: Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Italy); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Ademola Lookman (Atalanta FC, Italy); Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli, Italy); Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest, England); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)
The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), says it has appointed Coach Rena Wakama as Head Coach for Nigeria’s Senior Women’s National basketball team, D’Tigress.
The federation made the announcement in a tweet on Friday.
D’Tigress have been without a head coach since Otis Hughley resigned from his role with the five-time Afrobasket champions in 2022.
According to the tweet, Wakama’s contract with the D’Tigress would run for a two-year period.
Wakama was a former Nigerian National team player, and currently an Assistant Coach at Stony Brooks University, New York, U.S. as Head Coach.
She was a four-year letterman at the University of Western Carolina and played professional basketball in the U.K., in addition to playing for the Senior Nigerian National Team.
She received a bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Western Carolina in 2014 and an MBA from Manhattan in 2019.
She is an indigene of the Rivers, Nigeria.
Wakama’s immediate task would be to prepare the three-time defending champions for the upcoming twelve-nation 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket tournament, scheduled to hold from July 28 to Aug. 6 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti dismissed claims of a deadline over his commitment about next season.
Ancelotti is a confirmed target for the Brazilian Football Confederation as they seek a new national team coach. It’s been claimed he has a May 25 deadline to make a decision.
But Ancelotti said: “I’ve already said that I’m not talking about my future. But, I’ll answer: the deadline is nonsense. There is no deadline because I never… I haven’t talked to anyone.”
Ancelotti has previously said of the Selecao job: “No (I don’t plan to retire). Let’s see.
“I am very excited that Brazil wants me, but I have to respect the contract with Madrid, which I want to fulfil.”
The Nigeria Football Federation on Wednesday expressed “deep sorrow” at the death on Tuesday evening of former Head Coach of the U20 Girls’ National Team, Dan Evumena.
“The news of Dan Evumena’s death is too hard to take. I am still in shock. This is a young trainer who has done creditably well at Club and National levels, and still had so much in his tank with which to fertilize and nurture the growth of many more women footballers.
“The death of every human being diminishes us, especially the death of every young person. He had his life in front of him. Our prayer is that Almighty God will grant him eternal life and also grant those he has left behind, particularly his young family, the fortitude to bear the big loss,” NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said in Abuja.
Thenff.com learnt that the former Falconets’ chief strategist was hospitalized for a few days but did not recover from the ailment.
Evumena served as Assistant Coach of the Super Falcons before his upliftment as Head Coach of the U20 Girls. As Head Coach of the Falconets, he steered the team to the quarter finals of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Chile in 2008, before the squad lost to France.
Roberto Martinez exited his role as the head coach of the Belgium national team after leading his team to an early exit at the ongoing FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Martinez got appointed as the head coach in 2016 but has since failed to win laurels with Belgium.
He led Belgium to finish third at the 2018 World Cup, after entering the tournament as the world’s second-ranked team.
But they were eliminated after a poor group stage, which saw them lose against Morocco and draw against Croatia.
After Belgium elimination last night, following their 0-0 draw with Croatia. Martinez said he was done with the team as head coach.
“That was my last game. It was emotional, as you can imagine,” Martinez said at his post-match press conference after Belgium’s World Cup exit on Thursday.
“The decision was taken just before the World Cup. I always work towards long-term projects and they need to be set in advance.
“Since 2018 I have had many opportunities to leave to take jobs at club level. I always wanted to be loyal and finish the job. I don’t resign – it’s the end of my contract. That was always the plan.”
The Belgian football federation is yet to comment on Martinez’s exit.
Ex-Flying Eagles player and Lobi Stars head coach Eddy Dombraye has hinted that his wife and daughter are still stuck in Ukraine amid the Russia invasion.
According to a news platform The Cable, Dombraye said his wife and 5-year-old kid have been stuck at the train station in Ukraine trying to escape to Poland.
“They were supposed to catch the train from Boryspil which is about 15 kilometers away from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, but the train was cancelled. They are currently looking for a different alternative,” he said.
“The train was supposed to move by 11 am this morning (Monday) but it was cancelled. I have been in touch with them every minute to work on alternatives.”
He said he returned to Nigeria from Ukraine after he got the job as Lobi Star head coach in September 2021.
Dombraye, whose other child is in Poland, also said his wife and two children were supposed to join him in Nigeria on Sunday but their flight was canceled due to the crisis.
“I have two kids and one of them is in Poland. He is a Polish citizen while the other one who is 5-year-old is currently with my wife,” he added.
“I followed the crisis on CNN since the first day it started. My wife and I thought the war will not escalate as we never anticipated it was ever going to happen. Even my wife said there would be no fight or war. Now, she is blaming herself and I am also blaming myself, wishing they had relocated earlier.
The worst part of it is that she has a Nigeria visa already. She was supposed to return as her flight originally was supposed to be yesterday to Nigeria, so, everything is so painful.
“We were both residing there. I have lived there since 2002. I based there like a dual citizen but moved down to Nigeria when I got the job as Lobi Star head coach in Nigeria. I have always wanted to come to Nigeria to coach. So, when I returned to Nigeria, I asked my wife to hold on for a few months until I am properly settled in the new space.
“Their flight was supposed to be yesterday. I returned to Nigeria on 6th of September 2021 as Lobi Stars football coach of Makurdi in the Nigerian Professional Football League ( NPFL).”
The 42-year-old also expressed concerns over his inability to rescue his family, adding that “this is the worst thing to happen to any parent.”
“As a football coach, I am trying to put on a brave face when I go out to meet my players but when I am indoors, it’s a different thing. It’s not like I am crying but I am feeling bad because I can’t actually do anything. With my 5-year-old kid trapped in a crisis area and I can’t help, It’s very bad. That is the worst thing to happen to any parent,” he continued.
“Yesterday, they were at home and today we decided to board the train that will take them to Lviv, a border town close to Poland so that my 18-year-old son who lives in Poland as a citizen would pick them up but the train was cancelled. They are currently looking for other alternatives to get there.
“I am worried because getting there is about 12 hours and it’s not a fast train.”
Dombraye is a former Super Eagles player who had played professionally in Poland and other parts of eastern Europe.