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Author Topic: Marvelous Nakamba - gone  (Read 161241 times)

Offline Nunkin1965

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #345 on: October 07, 2019, 08:14:35 PM »
Disgusting.
Stupid pathetic knobs.
If anyone is identified they should be banned for life.

Offline frankmosswasmyuncle

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #346 on: October 07, 2019, 08:42:29 PM »
It's the same at almost every away game....a very small group of about 16 year olds, a bit pissed and inhibitions lost after 2 pints of Heineken before they start throwing the 3rd pint over anyone in the vicinity. Embarrassing.
They'll be back at school on Monday morning telling their mates what a great time they've had and how brave they were.

Offline frankmosswasmyuncle

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #347 on: October 07, 2019, 08:43:30 PM »
BTW, Marvelous is bloody magic!

Offline Havencheese

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #348 on: October 07, 2019, 09:08:22 PM »
Not only is it ultimately offensive but the words to it have been cobbled together horribly, it sounds awkward too. Shitful in every way you could imagine.

Offline Nastylee

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #349 on: October 07, 2019, 10:25:21 PM »
A chant with the wit of 13 year old on a school playground. It's such a shame that these dozen or so idiots have besmirched the club and its supporters. To get chucked into the same pot as perennial racists is embarrassing.

Offline Dogtanian

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #350 on: October 08, 2019, 07:44:59 PM »
Where and who was singing this song? Cos we didn’t hear it at the game so we were puzzled when we saw the headlines.

Offline PeterWithesShin

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #351 on: October 08, 2019, 08:03:29 PM »
Where and who was singing this song? Cos we didn’t hear it at the game so we were puzzled when we saw the headlines.

https://twitter.com/adamAVFC/status/1180576941025288192

Online Sexual Ealing

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #352 on: October 08, 2019, 08:23:53 PM »
I heard it at Palace and Arsenal. It's deeply sinister. The Konsa version - would people be singing about a young substitute unless they were on some level excited about being publicly racist?

Offline SamTheMouse

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #353 on: October 08, 2019, 08:57:02 PM »
Nakamba, McGinn and Grealish is a seriously good midfield. Really.

Online john e

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #354 on: October 08, 2019, 09:03:10 PM »
Nakamba, McGinn and Grealish is a seriously good midfield. Really.

throw in Luiz and it’s potentially the best we’ve had for many a year

Offline frankmosswasmyuncle

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #355 on: October 08, 2019, 09:11:34 PM »
Nakamba, McGinn and Grealish is a seriously good midfield. Really.

throw in Luiz and it’s potentially the best we’ve had for many a year
That's exactly what I'd do too!

Online paul_e

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #356 on: October 08, 2019, 11:27:27 PM »
Nakamba, McGinn and Grealish is a seriously good midfield. Really.

throw in Luiz and it’s potentially the best we’ve had for many a year
That's exactly what I'd do too!

As 4 of the 5 with AEG and Trez rotating for the other spot I think that's a very strong and there's a few decent options as backup for them as well.

Offline Monty

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #357 on: October 09, 2019, 12:16:14 AM »
Nakamba, McGinn and Grealish is a seriously good midfield. Really.

throw in Luiz and it’s potentially the best we’ve had for many a year
That's exactly what I'd do too!

As 4 of the 5 with AEG and Trez rotating for the other spot I think that's a very strong and there's a few decent options as backup for them as well.

Who knows if he'll keep it up, but I wouldn't understate how good Hourihane has been since he came in. He might not have the Elite Midfielder Look but he consistently creates chances, which at this level is real gold-dust.

Online paul_e

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #358 on: October 09, 2019, 07:29:42 AM »
Nakamba, McGinn and Grealish is a seriously good midfield. Really.

throw in Luiz and it’s potentially the best we’ve had for many a year
That's exactly what I'd do too!

As 4 of the 5 with AEG and Trez rotating for the other spot I think that's a very strong and there's a few decent options as backup for them as well.

Who knows if he'll keep it up, but I wouldn't understate how good Hourihane has been since he came in. He might not have the Elite Midfielder Look but he consistently creates chances, which at this level is real gold-dust.

I agree but I think he drifts out of games for long periods as well, which is why he'd been on the fringes of the squad until the last couple of matches. However I'm perfectly happy with us rotating that midfield a little because I'd trust any of them to come off the bench and have a positive impact as well.

Offline purpletrousers

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Re: Marvelous Nakamba - confirmed
« Reply #359 on: October 09, 2019, 02:52:16 PM »
https://theathletic.co.uk/1276628/2019/10/09/aston-villa-marvelous-nakamba-how-he-was-first-spotted/

Quote

How a youth tournament in Dallas sparked Nakamba’s journey to the Premier League

By Gregg Evans  Oct 8, 2019

Marvelous Nakamba was so good as a teenager that he earned his life-changing move from Africa to Europe despite playing in a make-or-break youth-team tournament while battling the flu.

It can be revealed that Aston Villa’s in-form summer signing was spotted playing for Bantu Rovers at the 2012 Dallas Cup in the United States by a scout who convinced French side AS Nancy to offer him a breakthrough.

But that’s only half the story as the Zimbabwean side — the first African team to enter the under-19 competition in 20 years — faced exasperating difficulties that almost ended their participation.

Visa complications initially prevented Bantu Rovers from competing but co-owner Peter Grieve, an American investor who had worked tirelessly to secure their entry, made the magic happen and that allowed Nakamba, albeit a shadow of himself in the contest because of illness, to realise his dreams.

“Marvelous was the best player in our team. He was also the only player to be signed up from that trip as he moved to Nancy soon after,” Grieve told The Athletic. “We actually thought he had a bad tournament, though, because he had a bad cold throughout, but I suppose his quality came through.”

Nakamba has shone for Villa in recent weeks and was the stand-out performer in their last two games against Burnley and Norwich.

It’s not been an easy journey, though, as his upbringing was tough.

Nakamba left the small coal-mining town of Hwange during his school years and moved to Njube, a high-density suburb of Zimbabwe’s second-biggest city, Bulawayo.

Bantu Rovers spotted him playing football in his local neighbourhood and offered not only the platform to nurture his talent, but also financial support to continue his education. Part of the deal to join them was an agreement to teach children how to avoid contracting HIV and AIDS through football drills with a linked health organisation called Grassroot Soccer (GRS). But more on that later.

When the midfielder was given the chance to showcase his talent in the USA at the Dallas Cup, he didn’t let the opportunity pass.

Grieve told The Athletic how Bantu Rovers’ high-flying under-19 team earned an invite to the Texas event after three years of competitive action without a defeat.

Not only did they hold their own in the tournament — reaching their section’s semi-finals — but four members of that team, including prized asset Nakamba, would end up representing Zimbabwe at Africa Cup of Nations 2019 seven years later.

“It was touch and go, but we got there,” said general manager Wilbert Sibanda.

Grieve, founder and managing partner of private investment company Windy River Group, played a huge part in getting the team over to the States.

He invested in the club and paid for the flights. The Dallas Cup organisers then found host families for the players to stay with during their two weeks in the States, with help from some unpaid volunteers who also assist with management at the club.

“We knew we had a golden generation of talent who deserved the chance to test themselves against other top teams in their age category,” Grieve added. “When I found out about the Dallas Cup — one of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the world — I just had to make it happen for us.

“That said, we had so many problems trying to get the visas because the State Department were concerned that some of the players might not go back. I assured the officials that they would all be returning (which they did) and gave them a personal guarantee.

“It was a wonderful feeling when we got the all-clear. We made a kitbag for all the players with their individual shirts and it felt like Christmas such were the grins on their faces.”

Current England internationals Jesse Lingard and Michael Keane competed in that same 2012 tournament for a Manchester United academy team who ended up as runners-up in its Super Group. Meanwhile, Bantu Rovers impressed in the next category down — especially Nakamba, who has since turned out for Nancy, Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem and now Villa, joining in August from Belgium’s Club Brugge for £12 million.

Sibanda explained further on why that Dallas Cup trip was so special, adding: “We had a squad of just 14 players and they managed to get through five 90-minute games in seven days! Other teams had a full squad. When you factor in the travelling, the change of scenery and the climate, that’s so impressive, because we were the only African team there.

“It was a real eye-opener for the boys but they loved it. The host families who they stayed with also didn’t want them to leave at the end of the tournament. They were telling us how friendly, polite and well-mannered our boys were.

“Obviously for Marv it was so important because he was signed up by Nancy soon after.”

After the tournament, Bantu Rovers ditched their senior team and focused solely on youth development. Students now have a passage into prep schools in New England, USA on scholarships.

“While we always want to develop the next Marvelous, we recognise that only a small minority of our players can pursue this path, so an education does more to ensure a better life for them,” says Grieve.

Three other players from that 2012 team — Teenage Hadebe, Kudakwashe Mahachi and Danny Phiri — all joined Nakamba in turning pro, though, and all four made the Zimbabwe squad for this summer’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Not only have that group found international fame, they also played a part in raising awareness of AIDS and HIV during their younger years back home as part of a link-up with GRS, an adolescent-health organisation that uses football to educate and inspire at-risk youth in developing countries.

During football camps, Nakamba would spend 10 hours a week teaching youngsters how to improve their on-field skills but also explain about HIV in more detail.

Former Zimbabwe captain Methembe Ndlovu, who co-owns Bantu Rovers with Grieve and is also the co-founder of GRS, came up with the idea.

The football drills Nakamba would often be involved in were varied. As an example. coaches (Nakamba and other Bantu Rovers team-mates) set up cones in front of a goal for the players (the young children) to dribble through and then shoot.

Each child would then have to repeat the run with their legs tied to another player and arms also interlocked. The number of players interlocked then increased to three, and then four, and so on…

“It was a drill to drive home the message that the more partners (referring to sexual partners) you have, the more difficult it is to get through life in a clean fashion,” said Grieve. “It certainly works.”



Another drill involves a tennis ball with ‘HIV’ written on it. One player stands in front of the rest of the group who pass the ball between them behind their backs. The middle player can only see the hands moving but has to guess who has the ball.

“The kid in the centre obviously will not know for sure which player is holding the ball,” Grieve continued. “The point that is driven across is that we need to demystify HIV. You cannot tell, just by looking at someone, if they have it, so you have to be aware when getting involved with that person. You also cannot be judgemental of people in the community if they do have HIV, either.

“It’s about helping the community understand and Marv was great at all that.”

Grieve, the man who provides the financial backing, describes business partner Ndlovu as the ‘‘sweat equity partner” and the “heart and soul of Bantu”.

“It was Methembe who decided on the coaching scheme,” Greive added. “He also insisted that fostering education was to be a tenet of our club, so we provide books, school uniforms, as well as school fees for our players.

“It was also his network of coaches, relationships with school administrators, and his renowned role model skills that made him such a great recruiter of talent.  He was and still is Marv’s mentor. They are very close.”

Already a superstar in his country, Nakamba is quickly becoming a claret and blue hero, too. Football fans in Zimbabwe gather to watch his games and put rivalries aside — the majority follow Manchester United — to cheer on their nation’s only Premier League representative.

Humble, well-mannered and caring, Nakamba has settled in with ease at Villa. The Athletic understands he sends a large chunk of his wages back home to his mother and he still keeps in touch with the Bantu Rovers officials who helped him on his way.

“Whenever he’s back in Zimbabwe, he will come and see us, smiling, and bringing positive energy,” added Sibanda.

Nakamba is inspiring not only his team, but his nation, and there’s already so much excitement surrounding the next step in his journey.

 


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