Leicester Stars Must Stay For "One Year More" - Ranieri

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has asked his Premier League title winners to “stay one year more”.

The Foxes completed one of sport’s greatest shocks when they won the league with a squad costing £57m.

Winger Riyad Mahrez, striker Jamie Vardy and midfielder N’Golo Kante are among the previously unheralded players to be linked with moves away.

“I’m very, very confident,” Ranieri said. “Don’t go. If you go another team, you might not get on the pitch.”

The Italian, who only replaced Nigel Pearson as manager last summer, was given a standing ovation by journalists as he came into his news conference for Saturday’s home game with Everton.

“From the beginning I felt something special,” he said. “Never could I imagine this, but it’s good. We work so hard.”

He laughed off suggestions that he could quit on a high this summer, and added he will not be signing global stars for next season’s Champions League campaign.

“I don’t want big names here. My lads are special. We have to bring some good players but they must have the same spirit.”

Algeria forward Mahrez, 25, won the PFA Player of the Year award after scoring 17 goals and 11 assists.

However, his agent Kamel Bengougam says it is “50/50 at the moment whether he stays or goes”.

“We have interest from the UK and overseas,” he added.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez, who takes his side to Leicester on Saturday at 17:30 BST, thinks a shock winner of the Premier League is likely to be a one-off.

“What Leicester have achieved is a great inspiration for any team sport and for any group in order to dream high and have huge expectations but I think we need to be realistic that this is not the norm.

“It’s something we haven’t seen in the modern game and I don’t think that’s going to be repeated easily.”

Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew, whose side face Manchester United in the FA Cup final, said: “Leicester won it after 36 games. Last year for 10 games they were in the best form. For nearly 50 games they’ve been best in the country.

“It’s proof the underdog can do it. And it will give us a boost for the cup final.

“Leicester have shattered the glass ceiling, and I thought it was impossible to break. They’ve gone and done it. Amazing.

“Football isn’t all logic. It’s almost like some stardust has fallen on Leicester – great for them. Let’s hope it falls on us for the final.”

Opera star joins the party

Opera star Andrea Bocelli will perform at King Power Stadium before Saturday’s game.

Ranieri revealed the 57-year-old – who has sold more than 80 million records – called him and offered to perform two months ago.

“He was so happy about what we were doing in Leicester. He said: ‘I would like to come and sing something’. I said: ‘Great, why not?’,” said Ranieri.

“I gave all the information to the club and they made all the arrangements. It is great for all the community.”

BBC

Leicester Stars Must Stay For "One Year More" - Ranieri

Four Goals Is Good But, We Can Do More - Herbert Addo

Inter Allies head coach; Herbert Addo said his side could have scored more than the four goals they recorded in their Ghana Premier League (GPL) game last Sunday at Tema.

The Tema based club beat Bechem United 4-0 at the Tema Stadium to register their second win of the campaign after going winless in their last four games.

And Coach Addo expressed satisfaction on his team’s performance but stressed that they could have done a lot more in front of goal.

“We created a lot of chances to have buried them on the day,” he said, but, praised the efforts of his charges as they registered their first win since the opening day.

Isaac Twum, Gockel Ahortor, Prince Baffoe and Ropapa Kwabena Mensah were all on the score sheet as they moved to eighth on the table with eight points. Bechem United are 14^th with seven points.

“Hopefully, we will build on this performance going into the rest of the games and I believe we will rise up to the challenge as the season wore on,” he said.

Inter Allies will next play Medeama SC in Tarkwa when the GPL resumes after the MTN FA Cup round of 32 games this weekend.

Four Goals Is Good But, We Can Do More - Herbert Addo

Ibrahim Musah Eager To Do More For Hearts of Oak

Striker, Ibrahim Musah says he is happy with his form at Accra Hearts of Oak at the moment and is eager to do more for the Ghana Premier League (GPL) side.

The marksman has scored three goals in the six games old GPL and believes he can deliver more for the Phobians in their quest to wrestle the premiership title this season.

Musah scored a brace coming on as a substitute in Hearts’ come from behind 3-2 victory over Inter Allies at the Tema Sports Stadium in a Match-Day Five fixture and followed it up with the solitary goal as the Phobians lost their unbeaten start to the season in the 1-3 defeat to Wa All Stars in Accra last Sunday.

The player expressed disappointment after their defeat to All Stars but believes it is a wake-up call for the side to respond.

“We were disappointed with the result in last Sunday’s game as we lost our unbeaten record, but, we will bounce back even stronger than before as we target winning the diadem at the end of the campaign,” Musah said.

“Personally, I am happy with my form having scored three goals so far, and, will continue working hard to improve on my sharpness in front of goal to propel the team to even greater heights,” he added.

“Goal scoring is the hallmark of every good striker and I hope to score more for Accra Hearts of Oak and do well at this football club,” he stressed.

Musah will hope to be part of the Hearts of Oak side that travels to the Brong Ahafo region on Sunday to play Techiman City in their next GPL game.

Ibrahim Musah Eager To Do More For Hearts of Oak

Ibrahim Musah Targets More Goals For Hearts of Oak

Accra Hearts of Oak striker Ibrahim Musah is atrgeting scoring more goals for the club after his cameo performance in last Sunday’s victory over Inter Allies at Tema.

The bulky striker came off the bench to score two late goals as the Phobians came from behind to win 3-2 at the Tema Sports Stadium to maintain their unbeaten start to the season and keep their leadership of the Ghana Premier League (GPL) after five games.

Musah said after the game that he was happy with the opportunity handed him by the technical team to contribute when the situation was tough.

He wants to repay that faith by getting in among the goals as often as possible to help the club attain their aim of winning this season’s championship at the end of the campaign.

“I was told to go into the game for a specific purpose by Coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi, and, this worked out to perfection, hopefully, this will continue on a consistent basis for me and the club,” he told the club’s official newspaper, the Hearts News.

“This has been a very special moment for me, scoring two important goals for Accra Hearts of Oak as we came from behind to win 3-2, and, I dedicate these to the coach and his staff for the trust they put in me,” he said.

He hoped for many more of such opportunities as the seasons continues and believed that if the team keeps playing the way they are, success will crown their efforts at the end of the campaign.

Ibrahim Musah Targets More Goals For Hearts of Oak

Djokovic Wants More Prize Money For Men

World number one Novak Djokovic says male tennis players should earn more money than their female counterparts because more people watch them play.

Earlier, Indian Wells tournament CEO Raymond Moore said the women’s WTA Tour “ride on the coat-tails of the men”.

After claiming victory at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, 11-time major winner Djokovic said the men’s tennis tour “should fight for more”.

But the Serb described Moore’s comments as “not politically correct”.

Djokovic, 28, said women “fought for what they deserve and they got it”, but claimed prize money should be “fairly distributed” based on “who attracts more attention, spectators and who sells more tickets”.

There has been equal prize money in all four majors – the Australian Open, US Open, French Open and Wimbledon – since 2007, and combined Masters events such as Indian Wells and Miami pay the same to men and women.

But female players are paid significantly less at women-only events when compared with similar sized men’s events.

World number one Serena Williams said Moore’s statement was “offensive”, calling it “mistaken and very, very, very inaccurate”.

“There’s only one way to interpret that. Get on your knees, which is offensive enough, and thank a man,” added 21-time major winner Williams, 34. “We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.”

Credit: BBC

Djokovic Wants More Prize Money For Men

More Oil For Ghana

Tullow Ghana, operators of Jubilee field, and Kosmos, operators of Mahogany and Teak, have presented a Plan of Development (PoD) for the Greater Jubilee Full Field to Government ahead of schedule.

 

Petroleum Minister, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, received the PoD on behalf of the Government of Ghana in his office at the Ministry.

The Greater Jubilee Full Field is an integration of nearby Mahogany and Teak discoveries in the West Cape Three Points Block with the currently known Jubilee Field.

This is a collaborative effort between Tullow Ghana and Kosmos and it is also supported by GNPC.

The integration will be such that all wells will be produced through the current Jubilee FPSO vessel with the expansion of the existing subsea architecture to accommodate the additional wells required for economical exploitation of the discoveries.

 

Jubilee has been developed using a combination of water and gas injection for pressure support and sweep. Mahogany will be developed via water injection only and Teak via gas depletion in the Development Case.

 

It will be recalled that during the Ministry of Petroleum’s 2015 Meet-The-Press Series, Hon Buah indicated that a joint Front End Engineering Design (FEED) was being carried out to determine the facilities needed for the integration.

He further stated that both contractors had until the end of the year to submit the Greater Jubilee Full Field Development Plan. It is in this regard that Hon Buah congratulated both contractors for delivering the PoD on time.

 

Hon Buah also stated that the Ministry together with the Petroleum Commission and GNPC will review the entire document and if satisfied, an approval will then be granted.

Mr Lawrence Apaalse, Petroleum Director at the Ministry explained that the Plan of Development is an integrated documented scheme designed to optimize the development and production of discovered hydrocarbon resources.

 

Mr Apaalse further added that a “PoD is needed to provide the legal, regulatory, economic and technical basis to guide both the state and investor in the processes involved with extracting oil and gas” he said.

 

The field is expected to deliver about 60mmbls of oil and 100bcf of Gas. First oil and gas is expected in 2018 and has an expected field life of 20 years.

Other dignitaries present were the Deputy Minister for Petroleum, Hon Benjamin Dagadu, Chief Executive Officer of Tullow Ghana, Mr Charles Darku, Vice President and Country Manager of Kosmos Energy, Mr Joe K. Mensah, Chief Director of the Petroleum Ministry, Professor Thomas Mba Akabzaa, Legal Director of the Ministry, Mrs Vivienne Gadzekpo, Petroleum Director of the Ministry, Mr Lawrence Apaalse and reps from both Petroleum Commission and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

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Energy Ministry

More Oil For Ghana