Kill your club loyalty before It kills you

Study shows that soccer fans experience greater level of positive emotion when the team is on a winning streak. Similarly, sport fans suffer physical and psychological consequences when their team looses. For example, research shows an increase in reckless driving which could lead to road accident, poor eating choice and frequent drinking too heart attack, and domestic violence. One particular research shows that domestic violence increases in an area where the local team loses a game.

Sport fans face this dilemma of staying loyal to a club. No one wants to be associated with a friend who stands by you when things are Rosy and leaves a sinking ship. Such friends are termed disloyal, snitch etc.. Some rules make sense on a general level, but not on a specific level. What applies to friendship does not apply here.

Loyalty to one club does not automatically mean a negative attitude towards other team and their fans. It does not mean we should not acknowledge our club shortcomings, either. There are fans who are ready to tell lies to defend their team. They will go to any length to deny allegation even on non-soccer related issue such as assault, tax evasion and rape allegation as if they eye witness to the incident. They can lose their identity and life over a club in the name of club loyalty.

Some of us have spent a considerable number of years supporting a club. The club has formed part of our identity. To leave the club means killing ourselves. It means admitting that we failed in our choice of club afteeall. No one likes to be associated with failure. It has little to do with loyalty

Guess what! Your club is not your friend. It is not a human being to begin with. It is like every other organization whose focus is to maximize profit. Today, loyalty is no longer taken into consideration when hiring or firing players. Once a club legend’s performance has dropped below par, the management decides not to renew his contract. Club managers have learned to prioritize individual players present performance over years of service. If clubs could treat their players this way, how much more would they treat their fans. Players switch clubs when a bigger club comes calling. The same is applicable to coaches. Clubs fire players and coaches at will. We do not show loyalty to a Friend who does not show us loyalty.

We saw the last attempt by club owners to participate in the European super league. The decision was taken via a close door meeting among club owners. Neither the fans nor the players representative were put into consideration. This gives us a clue of how selfish the game has been lately. Fans do not have a say which player leaves or who stays. Your friends seek your advice before taking a critical decision. The club did not seek your consent before agreeing to such proposal. The club owners are not your friend. They don’t know of your existence. The exit of one individual fan will not be noticed.

Just as club managers take decision based on what it considered its best interest. You got to take decision based on what you consider your own best interest. Asking me to support a club that is on a losing streak is like telling an investor to keep investing on a dwindling venture that is showing no plans of recovery.

Arsenal fans ought to understand that the values which the team is built upon is eroding. Commercialization of the Game is killing the game. Dirty trick are being employed to manipulate match outcome. Betting firms are highly involved in underground match fixing in European games. Even FIFA admitted that international friendly matches before the 2010 world cup were fixed. Why would I extend morals to a system that does not value morals.

Health is wealth. Could leave a loosing club and gamble on a team with more chances of winning, We can apply the same tactics in guarding against our mental health. Would we Rather lose our money or our psychological wellbeing? Your health should matter to you and if your friends, your club, your job worse your health, you have a duty to ditch them and protect your health. Kill your team before your team kills you.

When a club looses, fans suffer .some pour out their anger on the innocent wife. Guess what! The players get their weekly pay irrespective of result. The club generate more income in gate fee. Broadcasting station get more views and subscribers and ultimately more money. Every one goes home with something. Only the FANS go home worse. Only fans suffer unnecessarily in the name of loyalty.

The group I respect the most are those who watch the game just got entertainment purposes. Whenever any team scores, they jubiliate. Loyalty does not mean so will not acknowledge a great goal scored against my team. I remember celebrating Rashford long range free kick against Chelsea. My fellow Chelsea players immediately called me a betrayal. It makes me wonder if a goal is more spectacular when scored by a player we admire.

The first question to ask ourselves is Why do we support this team in the first place? Go back to the first time we began supporting the team or further down to what makes us enjoy the game of soccer, Most of us grow up supporting the club because our immediate family and friends supported that club, so we were accustomed to watching the club match more regularly. In that cases, Familiarity led us to the club. Others grew up to support a team that contains a player they admire or one that plays for the national team. . A little group supported a club because of the game play like Tiki-taka or counter attacking. There are other reasons for watching the game.

We grew up because we derived joy from doing so. If our current club does not give us the same hit, we sign for a club that does. If you grew up supporting Arsenal FC because it once had lots of African players like Eboue who were winning games like, Kanu Nwankwo and Kolo Toure, you may look for another club that contains African like liver pool. One who grew up supporting Barcelona because of their beautiful style of play is free to support Manchester City for a similar style of play. The point is to be loyal to that which you value in the game, and find it in other teams. Stick to team(s) which exemplify the values you hold darely in the game.

I went home happier when Chelsea lost the F. A cup. The Joy in the faces of my Nigerian Stars — Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi overrode the disappointment of losing the trophy. A friend of mine supports Manchester United in England, Real Madrid in Spain and Juventus FC in Italy. Christiano Ronaldo inspired his decision. When Juventus started playing poorly this season, he simply reduced the number of times he watched the old ladies and spent more time watching Manchester United matches. He did not give one club the power to determine his overall happiness. It is not a sin to support another team in matches that your team is not playing. One of the best ways to cope is to have multiple favorite club in each league

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Religion , Corona Virus and Failed European Super league

Someone may wonder what religion, soccer and epidemic are doing in one sentence. The first signals faith, the second joy and the third sorrow. They all contain the letter “E”. The first two were affected by the third. Keep guessing.

A child is told he is bad. He is threatened by hell. Of course the human mind dreads pain. The person who threatens him with hell offers him heaven under givers own condition. Even a fool would choose pleasure over pain. The child accepts the condition. Religion wins. To take it a step further, religion develop a theory linking your unpleasant condition to your inability to give, and she has a cure for your suffering, but you need to pay tax and tithe to receive them. It is difficult to accuse him of greed. He is only here to help you.

If health workers were to instruct the whole humanity to stay at home, the human would refuse. A better way is to create an artificial virus or rather over- hype the mortality rate of a newly discovered disease. Then, tell the world to stay at home. They are more likely to obey. To take it a step further, produce a vaccine or a cure and watch countries struggle to buy. It is difficult to accuse pharmaceutical companies of greed, they deserve encouragement for finding a solution.

In both cases, the organization may take advantage of the human emotion of “Fear”. Whenever one plants fear on others, they are more liable to be controlled. The cashier is less likely to part away with cash unless at gun point. Here, the robber took advantage of fear of loosing his life. Discover a terrible condition. Exaggerate the condition and link them to his fears. Then sell a solution. He is more likely to accept your solution.

Have you read this far and still wondering how this is related to the game of football, think no more.

The super league organizers would have focused on the major stakeholders in the game- the players and fan and discover their greatest fear. By making the fans fearful, the organizers could then bring a solution- the super league. To illustrate,

August 2020- Lionel Messi to leave Barça as Spanish club unwilling to match his wage demand(fans wouldn’t like to see him leave)

Sept 2020 — Christians Ronaldo offered to club for free to curb club high wage bill(Italian league and Juventus fans would dislike this news)

October: Nigeria billionaire bids one billion dollars to buy arsenal as Most Ozil refuses pay cut ones again(some racist fans would mull on the prospect of a black man owning the club)

November 2020 :Chelsea players owed three months salary.(Players are affected)

December 2020 :Maguire, Rashford and Bruno Fernandez refuses to play until club pays wages.(players are affected)

January; 2020. Vardy scores three own goal in a match as a protest over clubs inability to pay staff and players six months wages.

February 2020: week 17 matches cancelled as Spanish players protest non-payment of wages.

March 2020 : Champion league to be suspended indefinitely unless financial situation of Italian, Spanish and English team improves

April 2021: American and Asia billionaire propose to Inject 490 billion annually to help stop closure of league

This technique will succeed in dividing the fans. The majority would be in favor. The fear of club shutdown is strong enough to draw supporters.

The clergy does not preach his financial desire to its members. Rather, he preaches concern for the members. The health workers did not ask citizens to stay at home for the benefit of the hospital management. Rather, she suggested stay at home because they cared for the masses. Our football club owners did not show any care for the fans. They only cared for themselves. An increase in revenue for them was all that matters. When dealing with masses, fear surpasses greed.

The rise and fall of early booming coaches

Paul Clement began to help soccer players as a Physical education teacher at the age of twenty-three. He was so effective in the job that he was asked to coach Fulham youth team. Chelsea snapped him up to work in their academy and finally promoted him as an assistant manager under Carlos Ancelotti. The duo did well together that the Italian manager took him to be his assistant at Paris St Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The duo won the UEFA champion league as well as other trophy.

Trouble began to kick in when derby and Swansea appointed him manager. Clement performed woefely that one began to doubt his coaching ability. What would make a wonderful assistant manager perform poorly as a manager?

Peters principle gives us a clue. A person is promoted due to their success in previous job until he is no longer competent in their new job as a result of lacking the skill needed . Many exceptional teachers perform very well as vice principal but when they are made the principal of the school, their performance drops. He begins to spend more time in the office appending signatures to files as well as attending to meetings upon meeting and less time in the classroom

The role of a youth coach differs from that of a club manager. The former is responsible for the Athlete whereas the later is responsible for the club managment. A youth coach is successful when he transforms a mediocre player into a super star. He instill the needed skill to the player to improve his performance. A team manager is successful when he wins matches and take home the trophy. To promote an assistant manager to a main manager comes with extra responsibility for which the individual may not possess The youth team coach enjoys bringing out the hidden potential of young athlete.The fact that he did well there was because he loves the work more than he loves to win. Not everyone loves competition . Not everyone is well suited to the fame and power that comes with taking the lead role. Some individuals are better off helping from the background.

Both positions come with different skills. Unless the coach has the new ability needed, he is destined for failure. This begs the question. If a youth coach is offered an opportunity to manage a club which he knows he lacks the ability to perform at that time, should he reject the offer?

The first factor is the individual perception and reaction to failure. Employee who perceive failure as a terrible thing hate being sacked.One who dreads to fail is better off in his comfort zone . Job security is Paramount to such individual. When a team fails, the fans blame the team chief manager . . The chief responsibility of facing the media falls on the head.The backroom staff are overlooked. Such person should first change his mindset on failure before he can accept such offer. Failing to step up counts as failure. Real failure comes from inability to learn from ones mistakes. He should see the offer as an opportunity to gain new experiences and meet more people in the sport sector. He should understand that all great coaches failed one time or another but learnt in the process. Every failed match is an opportunity to reflect on the likely reason and improve his knowledge.

The second factor depends on the individual ability to embrace the change that comes with learning . Slow learners are better off rejecting that offer as they are unable to deal with the immediate complexity that comes with the new role. Fast learners should take the job while asking for help from experienced persons outside the organization. For instance, he may choose a more experienced assistant manager. He should not hesitate to engage in additional training in that new skill which he lacks.

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Club owners are unreasonably optimistic. A club legend does not necessarily make a great coach . Diego Maradona is a typical example . A good sergent may make a bad captain or a worse general. One may be good at obeying order but terrible at knowing the best circumstance to give such order

Lampard and the Law of Karma

Ten years ago, AVB was appointed coach of Chelsea football club . His era was marked with early success until poor result started flowing in. First, he replaced John Mikel  Obi with teenager Romeo . He dropped drogba for Fernando Torres. Ashley Cole was sad for not playing regularly. Frank Lampard watched from the bench a few times.  The locker room was divided  . The senior  players  felt their position in the squad was threatened . Coach AVB was relieved off his duties after series of poor performance and his assistant Dimatteo took over. Dimatteo saw the unspoken grudges the senior players buried deep within.Dimatteo simply recalled the senior players

back to the starting line up. The players became fired up. They gave in their best that season.The team finally won the champion league trophy for the first time ever. Didier Drogba ,Solomon Kalou and a host of others  finally agreed to leave the club s hero.

When interviewed after the exit of the Portuguese Manager, Lampard simply stated that the former Porto coach got the job too early.” No one at the club was. Even Ash [Cole], who I know wasn’t happy not playing week-in week-out, would never have run off and said, ‘Please sack the manager, we’ve had enough of him’. That’s plain ridiculous. We are professionals.” Those were the exact words of the legend. A .  Fans were wandering why Lampard did not hold the same opinion of Jose Mourinho who left Porto FC to coach Chelsea like Villa-boas did

When Lampard uttered those words, he was speaking as player. He had no intention of getting into management at that time let alone coaching a the same team.

On July 2019, Chelsea announced the appointment of the Chelsea legend as team coach. Before then, he had only coached derby county- a championship side he  failed to take to  the the premier  league. pundits felt
he shoe was too big to fit in.

Few months to his reign, David Luiz announced his intention to leave the team. David Luiz was fond of making rash decision on the pitch so he received the backlash from fans . That would have been a sign that Lampard was too young to manage players thirty years and above. At the end of the season, William and Pedro announced their decision to leave the club .Sure It was not Lampard fault but one thing was clear. The experienced players were leaving.

At the beginning of his second season, fans were surprised to see Tammy Abraham having more playing time than Giroud . Last season, Giroud had a greater goal per minutes ratio. This season he surpasses the English man in that criteria once again. The French international always delivers when It matters most. His consistency in finding the back of the net ensure Chelsea champion league qualification. His four goals against Sevilla was vital for Chelsea to move beyond the group stage. Nevertheless,he has seen only.   Minutes of game play ahead of the English  . On what basics does Lampard select his starting line up? Youth or performance?

Jorginho has been functioning as the team deputy captain until the arrival of newly signed Thiago Silva. The decision to allow the Brazilian put on the captain arm band on his debut did not go down with the Italian. He may not speak up so as not to get the Luiz Treatment. His morale has gone down ever since. To worsen situation, newly promoted Abraham tried taking the penalty kick in his presence. The newly promoted dude must have lost respect for his vice captain. No way, Captain Azcipuelta would not take that. He stood up for his deputy, dragged the ball from the England International and handed the ball to his deputy.

Things were getting stable until Caesar Azcipuelta began to loose his place in the starting line up to another young lad Reece James. Truth be told, Reece James excellent crosses and his involvement in attack earned him that spot. But when Lampard opted to start a not- too – fit James and injured Chilwel for the match against Arsenal, Fans raised their eyebrow. Caesar could play at either flanks and was expected to start . Perhaps, Lampard is trying so hard to displace Azcipuelta from the first team as he has succeeded in axing Jorginho so Thiago Silva would take the captain armed ban? Perhaps he is trying to promote the English lads at all cost. Is he trying to face out the senior players and build a new team among young and newly signed players who would remain loyal to him.

Remember he is a professional, he would not tell one in the face to leave. He would first build a replacement for the player he wants to axe and make him irrelevant in the team before axing him . But the senior players are human, they are reading meaning to his unspoken words. Action speaks louder than words . They know their days are numbered and are no longer giving their best to the team. They see the new signing and young boys as threat and are not helping them settle down. Kante is a shadow of his former self. Kovacic looses possession easily. New players adapt fasterbin a stable environment. The new players unwelcome off pitch which is affecting their performance. Lampard has caused a rift in the team.

English+ German against rest of the world

Senior players against new signing

. Youth agsinst old

Lampard is the architecture of his misfortune. To sack him will not solve the problem. H should realise errors this and undo his actions. Like Dimatteo, Senior players should be reintegrated into starting line up. Thiago Silva should stop wearing the captain armed ban on his debut season. Werner and havertz should operate from the bench.

TEN WAYS SOCCER IS TURNING INTO RELIGION

TEN WAYS Soccer IS TURNING INTO RELIGION

1

Players performing regular repeated behaviour called rituals on the pitch. ; Chelsea loanee zouma bowshis head to the ground as soon as he enrers the pitch. Kaka doing sign of the cross the moment he scores a agoal.fans sing songs and hymn on match day.

2

Both are taken serious ; people don’t go to church to have fun.viewers don’t go to viewing center just to be entertained.

3 Both are institutions meant to promote teamwork, love etc.Feeling of togetherness among similar group.; going to stadium is like going to church.

4Each has its constitution and structured pattern which is used to achieve a goal. They are bodieswith rules and punishment for deterrence. Referees,pastors and imam are thereto remind members of rules and ensure they are enforced.

5Competition is key: in Nigeria, there is a struggle over which religion is the dominant one same way fans believe their club is the best. Followers are kin on gathering more believers for God as clubs want to buy the best talent to play for them.

6Conversion to opposite side is frowned at; Liverpool fans burnt down Fernando torress jersey when he signed for opponents Chelsea. Jehovah witness withdrewlove for their members who threaten to 7live the fold. Muslims who wish to convert to Christianity are disowned or beaten to death

8Both lead to violence ; fans fight each other during matches on stadium and viewing centers. Muslim-christian fight occur frequently in kaduna

9Both have their symbol of faith. Trophies, gloves ,balls bible and jersey.srrkers of kingdom, loyal devotees, shrine-hall of fame.

10Both worship the living as well as dead heroes. Lionel messi is adored by barca fans as daddy adeboye is. They are treated more than celebrities. Make a negative remark about cronaldo or oyedepo and watch his faithful attack you as they have done to freeze. Statues are built to honour them. Statue of st Thomas aquinass and statue of maradonna

Ironically, both collect money from their faithfull football clubs sell jersey as most churches sell handkerchiel, olive oil etc. some churches collect gatefee from members in form of tithe offering or donation the wa faithfuls pay to watch match.

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