To salvage improved Everton contract from the brink of collapse

Jay-Jay Okocha after helping Bolton avoid Premier League relegation

By Rasheed Adewuyi

Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi has decided to fight for his Everton FC future by saving his club’s improved one hundred thousand pounds a week contract agreement by helping the Toffees avoid imminent.

To this end, the Super Eagles midfielder has charged his Everton Fc teammates to buckle up and be more resolute in the onerous but achievable task of saving the side from relegation at the end of the 2022/ 2023 Premier league season.

Sports Joust reliably gathered that Iwobi’s inspiration to motivate his colleagues to buckle up is coming on the heels of the Everton’s decision to place his yet to be signed mouth watering contract offer on hold pending the outcome of Everton’s swim or sink relegation battle.

Iwobi confided in CBS Sports on Saturday after Everton’s 0-2 loss to Manchester United that he believes his club would be able to survive their relegation battle if teammates would approach their remaining matches with a winning mentality.

The Toffees have so far garnered twenty-nine points from thirty matches and are currently occupy the 17th spot on the league table, just two points above the relegation zone with 8 matches to play.

“Football is a team work. I believe we can still salvage our season but everybody must be actively involved in the process. It is not over yet” he told CBS Sports.

Iwobi, who is not ready to miss out of the bumper package, has pledged to do his best to ensure that Everton escaped relegation to enable him sign the new contract that was put on hold by the management due to the club’s sagging form and poor position on the league table.

The Nigeria international appears to be copying a textbook play from his legendary uncle, Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, who, with his remarkable captivating skills successfully motivated his Bolton Wanderers FC teammates in his Premiership heydays to stave off imminent relegation in the 2002/2003 season.

At the beginning of November 2022, the Reebok men sat rock-bottom of the Premier League table with just the hope for a Messianic figure to deliver them from the dreaded drop.

With his fledgling Premiership season already severely blighted by injury in the first matches of the season, Okocha struggled to play the preceding five Premiership games as a sub. He then started only his second game of the season on Saturday, November 2, 2022 and proved to be the vital positive in an otherwise cataclysmic day.

The Bolton News wrote at the time: ‘The Fifty-nine times capped Nigerian star could be finding his feet at just the right time.

‘After scoring Wanderers’ goal in the 3-1 defeat, crashing another inspirational 30-yard effort against the crossbar and linking up play with his silky smooth skills, Okocha said he was happy to be with Wanderers despite the league position and that he was determined to help get them out of this mess.

“I’ve no regrets about coming to Bolton at all. It has been a difficult time for me because of the injury and for the last few games I have been working to get my fitness back,” he said.

“It was great to score a great goal but it means nothing because we lost the game.

“I would have preferred three points to scoring a goal. We all know we are in a difficult position and it will be very difficult for us to get out of it.

“That is what we have to do now and I am determined to help the team.

“I have been working very hard since the first game of the season to get fit. It has been a difficult time for me and I am happy to be back.

“We have a good squad and we just need to get our game together but I am confident we can save ourselves.”

‘Manager Sam Allardyce believes he has a rare talent on his hands in the 29-year-old, enthusing: “We have been waiting for him to come back and people have been on my back saying when is he going to play.

“I had to play him when he was ready. Because of the injuries at the start of the season and the move of his family to a new country it has taken time.

“But looking at him in training told me that he was ready and he was magnificent at Birmingham and we need that kind of performance from him on a consistent basis.”

‘Okocha’s team-mates are also hopeful he can bring an extra dimension to their game with Per Frandsen leading the accolades.’

“I thought Jay Jay did really well, as did Bernard Mendy, and now is the time for them to settle into the side and make an impact.

“It was the first full 90 minutes I have played with Jay Jay and I really enjoyed it. He has so much skill and is quick too.”

Twenty-one years on, Iwobi his nephew must find inner determination and outwardly profusive skills like his legendary uncle once did to save another Premier League outfit from relegation.

Can Iwobi’s feet be able to fill up the king-sized prints left behind in the indelible mark of time by Okocha’s shoes?

Time will tell.