Segun Oluwaniyi

It is best to read statistics like these with a bit of context. NBA basketball teams carry 12 to 15 players. NFL football teams carry 50 to 70 players I think, and I believe American baseball has somewhere around 30 players. Therefore, there is a massive difference as to what the teams are actually paying as total wages. Only American baseball is comparable. Also, all the American sports seasons, with the exception of baseball I believe are shorter than European football seasons.

That was brilliant. Seems so long ago. Oba, Owen, and Viduka combing for the third goal was brilliant and Martins solo run for the fourth was fantastic. Tonight is more special though, even if the performance isn't as memorable. That game was meaningless, this was the biggest match we have won for quite some time.

http://www.itsfootball.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/ameobi-215x300.jpg OGA SHOLA!!!! TEN MORE YEARS!!! TEN MORE YEARS!!! TEN MORE YEARS!!!

Brilliant from Ameobi, what a back-heel!! ENRIQUE!!! To the Premiership!!

It actually amazes me how slow Ameobi is. I think Kanu would challenge him in foot race. However, just like Kanu he has magic in his boots so it doesn't matter.

Jonas really is everywhere It is good to see.

He's from Zaria. I'm claiming him at this point.

SholA!!!!!!! It's a brilliant goal!! Great finish!!

Calling it now: He'll come on, score twice in ten minutes and then get injured again and be out for the rest of the season. That's actually a good summation of his season. Good player at this level. It's unfortunate that the only consistency in his game is in the form of injuries.

I heard that too. It's funny also because the guy is commentating by himself and says some cringe-worthy things. It's the same for every Newcastle match on ESPN. Still, 46,000 for a Monday second divison match is astounding.

ESPN commentator: "Again he shows great spirit. It's not just Kevin Nolan's goal that have caught the eye this season, it's his all-around play."

Poor defending for that Blackstock chance. Needs to improve, can't afford to go down here.

Is this Jeffren decent? I haven't seen him before.

I really don't know what your problem with him is.

IP, do you have experience in graphic arts or something? I have to say your efforts in this thread are really of a high calibre.

The MLS has enough problem keeping the teams viable and successful (wll not successful, but alive) without random, no mark second divison teams filling up the top division.

Box-to-box has always struck me as, barring a select few, a player who isn't particularly good defending or attacking really. Recklessly banded about term making players sound better than they are. Position doesn't really exist in the modern game anyway.

I like that kit a lot. Nicer than Addidas ever put together for NUFC. The pose is quite ridiculous, though. I have one of these type MetroStars shirts with Diallo on the back. http://www.byronalvarez.com/chivas_alvarez_08142002v111.JPG Or at least I used to have one.

How is that Nigerian kid Ekpo? He looked decent in the Olympics.

Porto angry as Hulk gets belated reprieve -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Porto will seek compensation from the Portuguese league after the federation reduced Hulk's suspension from four months to just three games - 14 less than the forward has already sat out. Hulk was suspended for four months by the league, with team-mate Cristian Sapunaru handed a six-month ban, for their part in a tunnel bust-up involving Benfica stewards last December. However, the federation has now slashed that to just three matches - four for Sapunaru - following Porto's appeal. The centre-forward has already missed 17 games, which has had a detrimental effect on Porto's hopes of retaining the title, leaving coach Jesualdo Ferreira fuming. "Finally we have the decision of the Portuguese Football Federation's Council of Justice to remove Hulk's and Sapunaru's punishments, after nearly three months of absence," he said. "When I said it was a disgrace, it seems that I was right. All this damaged Porto, its players. They are major investments and we feel aggrieved." Porto have released a statement announcing they have "instructed their lawyers to bring the appropriate measures of accountability and compensation" against both the league and its directors, as well as calling for heads to roll. The repercussions following the federation's decision have already started with league president Herminio Loureiro handing in his resignation. However, Ferreira believes that should be just the beginning. "We were deceived," he said. "The sackings, which have started today and will probably continue, are not enough for us, because we went through some very complicated situations. "We are happy that Hulk and Sapunaru have had their sentences reduced, but we are angry to have been harmed. The way we were penalised on a sporting level is hard to tell. "How is it that Portuguese football, which will have a team in the World Cup, can transmit these images to the world?" Porto were one point behind Benfica in the Liga Sagres standings when the suspensions were enforced but now trail the league leaders by 11 points with just seven games remaining. Sapunaru was sent out on loan to Rapid Bucharest in February. --------------- I think I'd be slightly aggrieved as well. "Penalty" seems to a be word most people cannot say correctly. I know a lot of Nigerians say "penarity".

I'll assume he no longer plays for MLS, but Mamadou Diallo is he greatest player in the history of that league. My cousin gave me a Metrostars shirt of him that I used to wear, until it stopped fitting and I didn't wear it anymore.

We've got by far the easiest run-in of the lot but we've left it a bit too late to get fourth. It would take a collapse by more than one side. tbh I wouldn't mind finishing 6th/7th and still missing out on the Europa League because less games would make it easier to have a proper push for 4th next season. Let's be entirely honest, the Europa League is a total waste of time. I shed precisely zero tears when we went out at the first hurdle this year. Love these team that kill themselves to get in Europe, and don't try when they get there ammuses me. The arrogance from teams who haven't been in the CL in ten or more years is quite funny to me.

If Kadar counts, than we definitely need to be counting N'Zogbia.

Napoli are a very good side and have passed them in the table. Tons of talent on that team, but yeah Juve are rather pitiful now. Can you imagine a Juve team with a GD of +3 30 matches into the season? Still, they are only 3 points off of fourth place. It will be a dogfight to the end.

Maybe I am being misunderstood here. What I am saying is that for the welfare of the gay footballer it is probaly beneficial not to come out. Who wants to deal with the inevitable media storm or negative attitudes that will be present among other players? I've posted two examples of openly gay atheletes. One was isolated from the community and the other met some similar negative reactions from honest players, which is representative of what he would have faced in the locker room. If one was to come out today, the reaction from the media would be positive (The politically-correct nature of society), but I honestly think it would be much different among players and other people in football. This is why no gay player has come out, imo. It is obvious they exist. Religion doesn't isn't really relevant in this case.