I would retire if possession football did not work - Manchester City manager

Pep Guardiola revealed he would retire if possession-based football was unable to achieve results.

Ahead of a huge Manchester derby against United at Old Trafford on Sunday, Guardiola's City are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Asked what he would do if possession football stopped working, former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola said he would no longer coach.

"If that is going to happen, I'm going to retire, because I don't feel it another way," Guardiola said.

"I could defend more deep, but I want to have the ball and I want to play. From my first game with the second team in Barcelona, I always try to look for that.

"Sometimes it doesn't work, but that's because the other team is good or we are not good enough.

"But the idea [of changing], that is not going to happen. Never. Never in my life."

In a dominant start to the campaign, City have scored 46 goals and conceded only 10 in 15 league games.

Video :Speaking in tongues is fake, Nigerian pastors in ministry for money – Daddy Freeze

Controversial media personality, Daddy Freeze has again attacked Nigerian pastors. This time around, he said most pastors are into the work of God because of the money involved.

According to him, Nigerian pastors left their professions because they can’t earn as much unlike in the ministry .

In a video shared on Youtube, he said, “There are many fake pastors because of monetization; that pastor who cursed me is an architect, the one at BankyW’s wedding is a doctor.

“Many of them are leaving profitable field because ministry is a more profitable field.

“Monetization has made fake pastors come into two fold, it has made real pastors preach false messages.

“Every doctrine in Nigeria has been monetized, you hear pastors say this year you will find your ‘apollos’

“Apollos in the Bible was increase in word of God not referring to sowing, Matthew 13;7 this verse speaks of seed of faith not money; those that twist this to you are thieves. There’s nothing spiritual about those criticizing me, the only spirituality in them is the ability to twist your brain.

OAP Freeze also countered speaking in tongues in Nigerian Pentecostal churches, describing it as fake .

He added, “Speaking in tongues in Nigeria Pentecostal churches is fake but speaking in tongues is not fake.

“When speaking in tongues, you should speak in languages not in tongues that no one can understand.

1cor 14:26-28; someone must interpret tongues…There is no speaking in tongues without an interpreter

“Interpretation of tongues is missing in today’s pentecostal churches , if anyone speaks in tongues one or two should speak in tongues one at a time not multitude.That is falsehood

1cor 14:23 is what pastors used to confuse you, they tell you tongues is an unknown language which carnal mind cannot understand.
Everyone speaking in tongues in the church is false because it is a gift that everyone does not receive.

“I’m a preacher that speaks from history and bible not sentiments like others; that’s why I can’t say God told me to pay titheS like they say.

“I would tell you what God kept in bible not what God told me.” - Daily Post

Ten Kogi residents killed by herdsmen

Some herdsmen, on Friday, killed 10 residents of Ogabifo village in Omala Local government area of Kogi State.

Sources from the area said the herdsmen invaded the farmlands with their animals for grazing,  and when the farmers challenged them over the destruction of their crops, the invaders responded aggressively.

Farmlands were also set ablaze by the rampaging herdsmen.

They attacked the farmers and pursued them to their homes and killed some of them while several others were wounded.

It was gathered that after the said invasion, the herdsmen returned to the farms, destroying crops and then ran away.

One local source whose name could not be ascertained said that the Fulani herdsmen, about five in number, were armed with AK 47 and other dangerous weapons.

The source said that the villagers have deserted their houses, following threats by the herdsmen, to return.

In another incident, Fulani herdsmen invaded a rice farmland at Omi in Yagba West local government area of the state, with over 30 cattle.

One of the victims said that other farmers were on their farms working, when they heard gunshots, forcing them to run for safety.

All efforts made to confirm the incidents from the Kogi State Police Command proved abortive as of the time of filing this report.

Global powers lobby to stop special Brexit deal for UK

Theresa May’s hopes of securing a unique post-Brexit trade deal with the EU were under threat on Saturday night as Brussels said it was coming under international pressure to deny Britain special treatment.

After a week that saw May reach a deal with the EU that will allow Brexit talks to move forward on to future trade relations, EU officials insisted a bespoke deal more favourable to the UK than other non-EU nations was out of the question.

One EU source close to the talks said: “We have been approached by a number of [non-member] countries expressing concerns and making it clear that it would constitute a major problem for them if suddenly the UK were to get better terms than they get.”

The official said that once the UK is out of the single market and customs union in March 2019, there could be no replication of the terms of the current trading relationship, or anything close to it, and no special treatment.

“It is not just an indication of some strange rigid principle. It is because things won’t work,” he said.

“First and foremost we need to stick to this balance of rights and obligations, otherwise we will be undermining our own customs union and single market. Second, we cannot upset relations with other third countries,” the official said.

“If we were to give the UK a very lopsided deal, then the other partners with whom we have been engaging and who entered into balanced agreements would come back and question those agreements.”

The comments underline the difficulties May and the government will face as the Brexit talks enter phase two in the new year. She and her ministers have repeatedly said they are seeking a bespoke deal that will allow “frictionless” trade with the EU and as much access as possible to the single market.

The EU warnings came as senior EU and UK diplomats predicted it would be impossible for London and Brussels to complete any new trade deal within the two-year timeframe May envisages for a transition period after the UK leaves in March 2019.

Lord Kerr, the former diplomat who drafted the article 50 process for leaving the EU, said: “The chances of concluding even a modest deal [like the EU- Canada deal] and getting it ratified in all 27 [EU member] countries, during a two-year standstill period, verge on zero. So the cliff-edge still beckons: the standstill only postpones it.”

Nick Macpherson, former permanent secretary at the Treasury, said: “Trade agreements are long and complex and invariably take more than five years to agree. It is therefore very likely that the transitional period after the UK leaves the EU will last until 2024.”

Any extension of the transition agreement beyond two years will further alarm pro-Brexit MPs already uneasy at having to comply with EU rules, including free movement of people and the European Court of Justice, after 2019.

Nicky Morgan, the Conservative MP who chairs the cross-party Treasury select committee, said there was already pressure from business for a longer transition period and more legal clarity over how it would work.

“Definitely, people in the City are calling for more than two years. I can see why Theresa May is setting two years as a limit for political reasons. But these are things that will need to be unpicked as we move in to phase two,” she said.

While the deal struck by May received a favourable initial reception from Tory MPs and ministers, there were increasing signs that pro-Brexit figures in the party believe too much has been ceded to Brussels in the first round of negotiations. One prominent Tory Brexiter said: “We are being quiet for now. But, yes, we are worried.”

There was also a backlash among some Tories after Michael Gove appeared to undermine the prime minister by saying any deal could be undone later by voters in an election. The environment secretary was accused of trying to appear as a “king across the water” and gearing up for another tilt at the leadership.

Anti-Brexit Tory MP Anna Soubry said: “I was a bit disappointed at what looked like a bit of a rowback. I think it is important that everybody puts their own ambitions to one side and unites behind Theresa May. We should be seeking to build a consensus – one we appeared to have on Friday morning.”

Meanwhile, May, who will make a statement to parliament on the deal tomorrow, could also face her first defeat over her Brexit legislation this week, as rebels prepare to force her to hold a “meaningful vote” over the UK’s EU exit deal. Tory ministers fear they may not be able to prevent a defeat without further concessions. - The Guardian, UK

Shocking !!! ‘Frustrated’ soldier guns self down in Yobe

In what came as a surprise, a soldier identified as Samaila Gabriel, recently shot himself dead in Yobe state. 

The deceased with service number 09NA/63/2867 was said to have taken his life out of frustration.

One of Gabriel’s  colleagues told TheCable that he got frustrated as a result of the refusal of the authorities to transfer him out of the north-east since he was posted there three years ago.

Some of the soldiers on the battlefront have not been allowed to visit their loved ones in years, while many have been killed by insurgents.

Gabriel’s corpse has reportedly been deposited at the Sani Abacha hospital in Damaturu, the state capital.

The army is yet to make a statement on the issue but TheCable understands that investigation is ongoing.

Sani Usman, spokesman of the army, did not respond to a text message which TheCable sent to his telephone line on Saturday evening.

The tragic incident comes less than a month after a staff sergeant identified as Silas Ninyo killed one K. Mani, his superior, and injured four people in the Chibok local government area of Borno state.

Ninyo took his own life after wreaking the havoc.

Mani was reportedly killed in the process of disarming the sergeant who was said to be drunk.

A source had told TheCable that a team of soldiers led by Mani, who was providing security for worshippers during Sunday service, received a distress call that Ninyo was beating civilians for unknown reasons.

Mani had led his men to the scene but lost his life.

“Captain Mani, accompanied by soldiers, moved to the scene to free the civilian but while trying to disarm the errant soldier, Captain Mani was shot dead by Staff Sergeant Ninyo, who later killed himself,” the source had said. - Cable Nigeria