Sports
‘Title Challenge Next Season Not Realistic For Man Utd’
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that Manchester United faces a battle to finish in the Premier League’s top six next season, let alone challenge for the title, though the Red Devils manager is confident he will be granted time to lead the club back to the summit.
United has not won the Premier League since Alex Ferguson’s final campaign in 2012-13 as the Manchester club languish in sixth position this term, 31 points adrift of leaders Liverpool heading into their final match of the season.
Solskjaer was permanently appointed manager in March, having impressed during his interim spell following Jose Mourinho’s December sacking, but United have only won two of their past 11 games in all competitions.
And Solskjaer does not think United will challenge for silverware next season, warning of the threat of not slipping further off the pace amid the growing competitiveness of the top six and below.
“I have regular meetings with Ed [Woodward, the executive vice chairman], I’ve seen Joel [Glazer, the co-chairman] and the [other] owners: they are very realistic on where we are and what we want to get to and how long that will take,” Solskjaer said.
“You don’t suddenly catch 27 points in one season; you’ve got to take it gradually. It’s not just this season but the last five or six – we know where we are more or less at and it’s not good enough. Hopefully we can produce better performances and they [City and Liverpool] can produce worse and we’ll get closer.”
But Solskjaer doesn’t see his club pushing for a title next campaign.
“It is not realistic,” Solskjaer said of challenging next season. “Of course I’m an optimist but I don’t think that’s realistic, because the two teams now at the top of the table they are far ahead of the chasing pack.
“We have to make sure that we are getting closer and moving that way up the table and not looking over the shoulders because there are big clubs, good clubs wanting to chase that top six.
“You’ve got Leicester [City], Everton, Watford, probably Newcastle [United], you’ve got clubs that want to chase us. We have to make sure that we are ones who chase those ahead of us.”
The manager also wants to see his side settle into a more defined style of play.
“We’ve got to find a way of playing – what is the best? The style here is attacking quickly, playing forward, running forward, chasing back, winning the ball back. I’d love to get to where we have a set system but it hasn’t worked that way [so far].
“You see the teams who get two or three years together, they know each other, they know the relationships. As a football manager or a coach you know the more time you get to work on relations the better it will be, because then you’re a step ahead all the time instead of at the moment we maybe react too much to the opposition. We want to get to a shape on and off the ball that we’re comfortable with.”
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.