Segun Oluwaniyi

Drogba would have been 25 during that transcendent season at OM. When Eto'o was 25, he scored the equaliser in the Champions League final, won the Pichichi, and was top scorer for the best team in the world. I like Drogba much more tha Eto'o, but the Cameroonian's consistency at the top level is astounding.

Pele's a black Brazilian. You Africans and your clutching at straws. Abedi Pele. Father of Jordan and Andre Ayew

They essentially lost the entire side except for Kalusha Bwalya, who is their best player ever. That team was easily one of the best in Africa at the time. Despite this, Bwalya led the team to the 1994 ACON final where they lost to Nigeria. Thier football never recovered. However, the team looked very promise at the 2010 edition and would have beaten us in the quarters if not for Enyeama being the penalty master (saved several and slotted the winner home himself). I would tip them to get out of that group and possibly beat CIV in the quarters. Interestingly, Gabon, the nation is which the plane crashed, is one of the hosts for this tournament.

The Drog has never played for the best team in the world. Kanu 1 CL 1 UEFA CUP 2 PL 3 FA CUP 1 Olympics 2 AFOY Geremi 1 CL 2 La Liga 1 Olympics 2 ACON 2 PL The best African footballer ever is definitely Weah or Pele, imo.

Be the old Spanish connection no? Bit like Angola and Portugal, Algeria and France etc etc. Theres about 10 countries supplying France's teams the last 20 years. Not quite. Almost all of these players are first or second generation immigrants. It is one of the benefits of being a colonial power. The Caribbean nations have as much claim to players like Rio and Ashley Cole as some African nations have on French players.

That changes the story completely, for both the player and the club, btw. It is just a good, logical move on all fronts now. All the fuss seems useless, now.

Traore can play on the wing, yeah?

Players finish transfer during the Cup of Nations very frequently. It is not rare and the tournament is often a shop window. His hands are deformed.

How many Nigerian players will waste their careers playing for ghastly clubs on high wages before they realise that money should not be their only objective in their careers. I love both players, but Musa can enjoy the cold freezing his inner thigh as racist fans throw fruit at him and Taiwo can take the tube to Holloway road stop so he can stare at the Emirates and think about what might have been as he competes for position with Luke Young and Fitz Hall. You are in the wrong part of the city. At what point does common sense and career direction take priority over your wage packet? I cannot understand why Milan were so eager to get rid of him, anyway. He's not impressed, but he's hardly been given a chance at all. He hasn't been disastrous when called upon either, just average and uncomfortable (which would fit a foreign player who is given no time before he is thrown aside) edit: We don't need Taiwo. We need a right back.

I still prefer 4-5-1/4-3-3 with the personnel we have in midfield (We have no talented player who is a traditional winger). It is difficult to stick both of the Senegalese in such a formation, though, so we will have to persist with two strikers in all likelihood.

It is a dangerous precedent, imo. It is very strange for a manager to talk about the availability of employees based on the word of the agent and not the club. Most of these players are not transfer listed. It really is an exacerbation of the "tapping up" that is so common in England.

Well, this is mildly surprising. I have to admit I haven't really seen the guy much, but looking at statistics and Youtube, he seems a more interesting prospect than Erdinc or Maiga. Neither of those two are natural goal scorers like this boy seems to be. Frankly, it delights me to welcome him into our family.

Everton relinquished the wrong fat, overpaid, aging Black striker. Saha is completely finished.

It is imperative to pass when you have players like Ben Arfa...Guthrie.............Ryan Taylor.

It's been one minute Ray, you fool.

Speculation, then. It doesn't jutify abusing our manager, who happens to have done a bloody good job. If he doesn't actually have a reason, and genuinely believes this is the best way to set out with the players available, the criticism is more justified. He is a good manager, but we have the potential to achieve something special here, and prioritising industry over quality will not see us accomplish this goal.

Ben Arfa anywhere in the vicinity of poor centrebacks fills me with expectations of joy. Ryan Taylor occupying one of the four attacking positions causes me nothing but pain.

I like Pardew quite a bit, but he has produced another baffling team selection. Given the choice between starting a world class playmaker who is comfortable on the wing and a mildly competent right back who has consistently failed to perform on the wing, only a fool selects the latter. It is damage control management against a team we should be looking to attack from the off.

Well, the Russians will definitely take to him. I am extremely unhappy about him going to Russia, but Musa definitely deserved a bigger club, and a bigger stage. VVV Venlo have secured a nice pipeline of Nigerian and Asian players, but generally the team is extremely poor. It will be interesting to see if he features against Real Madrid in the CL 2nd round. It is crucial that he avoid the demons in that country and continues his progression.

Out of all the winners since 1992, only Tunisia will be there. I've talked to my Cameroonian friends about this. We are just going to watch the one next year and erase this from memory. Cote d'Ivoire will probably bottle again despite clearly having the best side. I think Mali or Senegal will take it, and it will be an extremely lackluster competition.

I don't care about this mickey mouse competition, I just want our players to come back quickly and uninjured. Hopefully none of them contract malaria or Dengue.

If there is a time to attack in a two legged aggregate tie, it is definitely when you are on top in the away match. City coming back and scoring an equaliser would not have been overly damaging. Liverpool scoring a second may have ended the tie. They might regret it in the second leg.

It is sad that English football has become so stratified that the peasants have to hope that one of the rich boys win the cups for them to have a shot at the Europa. 10 men Lyon came back from 1-0 down to beat Lille. Joe Cole scored. He's been impressive this season, and I would look into putting him into the squad if I had any desire for England to meet success.

Unlike Nolan, he won't be able to adjust his game to a high level if his fitness levels begin to reflect his lifestyle.

Main issue 1st half was he was dropping deep to pick the ball and try to link the play as Abeid and Cabaye both sat to deep. I don't really think he has the vision or the patience to be at his best in the center. His game has always been about using his inhumane dribbling talents to take on players and lay the killer final ball. While he is a good passer and can handle himself in tight, physical congested areas, he is not someone who is best suited to simply moving the ball along and keeping the flow of the game.