When former Nigerian striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni signed for Coventry City a fortnight ago, their manager Russell Slade genuinely believed the 34-year-old veteran would propel them to safety in League One.
‘Yakubu brings vast experience and a terrific goal record,’ Slade gushed. ‘His professional career speaks for itself, having scored consistently at the highest level of English football.’
Unfortunately, the reality appears to be rather different. A two-and-a-half minute clip of Yakubu in action for Coventry during their 3-1 loss to Swindon on Saturday went viral on social media for all the wrong reasons.
Here's Yakubu not doing anything for 2 & 1/2 mins. He was the closest outfield player to Burge (our GK) during a City attack in this period pic.twitter.com/XxgoIiiRD8
— Cj Joiner (@Cj_covblaze) February 25, 2017
The video shows ‘The Yak’ loitering around on the half-way line as the play continues at pace around him. The Nigerian appears in a daze as he wanders aimlessly around, showing little to no interest in chasing the play.
At one point, a team-mate remonstrates with him for the lack of effort, but Yakubu appears completely unmoved.
The clip, by Coventry fan CJ Joiner, was retweeted hundreds of times, with some describing it as ’embarrassing’.
Yakubu came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining with Coventry trailing 2-0 thanks to goals from Nicky Ajose and Jonathan Obika in the first-half.
The Sky Blues conceded a third, again from Ajose, within seconds of Yakubu joining the fray, though they did gain a stoppage time consolation via George Thomas.
The result deepens their relegation gloom – Coventry are rock bottom and 11 points from safety.