All posts by h716a5.icu

The Daily Record has suggested that Glasgow Rangers and Steven Gerrard should look at bringing in Stewart Downing this summer.

The 35-year-old currently plays for Blackburn, and his contract is set to run out at the end of this current campaign. Downing is actually a former teammate of Gerrard’s, with him playing with the Gers boss following his £20m move to Anfield in 2011.

Now, as a free agent this summer, he could be available for a move to Ibrox, and there is no doubt that he would add a potentially massive edge to Gerrard’s squad. There are few players who are as experienced in English football as the 35-time England international – he has made 408 appearances in the Premier League and 171 in the second tier as well during a career that has taken him from his home town of Middlesbrough to Sunderland, the Reds, Aston Villa, the Rovers and West Ham United.

He has been a creative force no matter where he has been, regularly averaging over 1.5 key passes per match, and he has regularly contributed with a number of goals and assists.

At his age, and with the likes of Ryan Kent for Gerrard to choose from, it is unlikely Downing would be a guaranteed starter, but his experience could be a huge boost to the Gers’ chances of winning a first major trophy since 2011. It may be a deal worth looking at for the 54-time Scottish champions.

Let us know what you think below!

A lot of West Ham fans are discussing the latest news surrounding Sean Dyche and his links to the club.

The news suggests that co-owner Karren Brady knows Dyche quite well and that he has expressed interest in managing the Irons. This news was broken by ExWHUemployee speaking on his West Ham Way podcast, via West Ham News, as he said: “Before we got Moyes he [Dyche] was heavily linked by myself and a number of people. He’s a good friend of Karren Brady for some random reason.

“I don’t know why, but he is. And he has also expressed an interest in managing us. I believe if we wanted to get Sean Dyche next year we could. (But) I don’t think if we stay up they’ll get rid of Moyes, I think Moyes will be the manager next year and I think if we did go down Dyche would obviously not leave Burnley for us.

“But if Moyes was to suddenly go or he was to get the sack then I think Dyche would be interested and I think we would approach him.”

In the Premier League, Dyche has a pretty respectable record with Burnley, as he has managed 186 games and he has been in charge of 57 wins, 45 draws and 87 losses, this gives him a win percentage of around 30.6%, per Transfermarkt.

Meanwhile, Moyes at West Ham this season has won four, drawn three and lost 10 of his fixtures, which gives him a 23% win record at the club, per Transfermarkt.

With Burnley notoriously not spending a lot and Dyche having a better win percentage than Moyes, it is understandable that some believe the Clarets boss is a better manager, and many fans of the East London side seem to agree, with one labelling him a ‘proper manager’.

Here is what fans have said following the news:

Hammers fans, what are your thoughts on this? Comment below!

With the season coming to an end, fans are now eagerly waiting for the 2020/21 campaign. Sheffield United supporters will be very excited for it to start following their return to the Premier League last season which saw them finish in the top ten.

One of the players who has helped them achieve this position in the division is Oliver McBurnie, who signed last summer from Swansea City for £17.19 million, per Transfermarkt. The Scottish international scored six goals for the Blades, which made him the joint-top goal scorer at the club, per WhoScored.

It looks like he won’t be going anywhere in the summer and his latest Instagram post proves that whilst also giving Blades supporters something else to smile about as they wait for football to return.

The forward posted a

/CDbj9b-pMEt/?igshid=1kcnsruv82h31″>picture of himself in the new Sheffield United home kit for the 2020/21 season, supported with the caption: ‘Doing up model🤣 what we thinking about the new kit???’

The new home shirt, made by Adidas, looks very nice, with the standard red and white stripes, but instead of it the stripes starting at the shoulders, the new update sees the shoulders completely white, with the stripes starting from the chest down.

The simple change seems to have gone down well, with many commenting on McBurnie’s post to suggest that they enjoy the new design, whilst those who have not seen it yet should like what they see. Hopefully McBurnie will get even better next season and if he can improve on his goal tally and possibly reach ten goals, then it will be a very successful campaign for the 24 year-old.

Blades fans, what are your thoughts on the new kit? Let us know down below!

As Tottenham close in on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, chairman Daniel Levy could land a 1-2 sucker-punch on the rest of the Premier League with the addition of another midfielder.

What’s the word?

According to Le10 Sport, north London rivals Arsenal have entered the race for Marseille’s Morgan Sanson with the Ligue 1 outfit needing to push a few departures in order to garner some income.

It comes just a few weeks after it was reported that Spurs were leading the charge for the Frenchman – Le Phoceen claim that the 25-year-old’s exit to England is rather likely and that Marseille are wanting €35m (£31.5m) for his services.

Although no concrete offers have come in for Sanson, the Gunners’ interest should spark Levy into making his move.

Box-to-box upgrade

Yes, Jose Mourinho will have an array of midfield options following the imminent arrival of Hojbjerg, but that shouldn’t stop the Europa League-bound outfit from looking to bolster the squad even more.

Sanson is a perfect box-to-box type that would fit the Portuguese’s system to a tee with the incoming Saints man the ideal lynchpin to tie it all together.

Per WhoScored, the Marseille star has averaged 2.2 tackles, 1.5 dribbles, 1.4 shots and 1.1 key passes per appearance in Ligue 1 this term, which is better than fellow countryman Moussa Sissoko.

At 30 years of age, the Spurs man is coming towards the end of his career and his numbers for the campaign are hardly inspiring, given he’s managed just 1.3 tackles, 0.6 key passes and 0.5 shots per match, also via WhoScored.

If that’s not enough to convince, then Sanson’s comparisons to a PL rival should set pulses racing, one Birmingham Mail journalist believes Sanson is “like Ruben Neves but with an edge – if maybe not quite the same level of genius.”

He goes on to call him “outstanding” too, so Levy should absolutely consider a move for the Frenchman this summer.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold delivers verdict on Spurs move for lower league STAR…

Make no mistake about it, Wednesday night was one of Celtic’s most humiliating defeats in European competition.

The Hoops suffered their earliest exit from the Champions League in 15 years as they were beaten by Hungarian top-flight champions Ferencvaros, meaning they will now drop into the Europa League’s third qualifying round.

Speaking after the game, Celtic boss Neil Lennon – who has come under fire for his team selection and tactics – was very critical of his players, even calling into question whether they wanted to be at the club.

He said: “We seem to have made the same mistakes as last year. I don’t know if it’s attitude or mentality but it’s cost us again. I’ll have to carry the can, and take the responsibility for it. I’m not saying Ferencvaros are a bad team – they’re not – but we had so much control we should have won. That doesn’t make us weak, it doesn’t make me weak, but people will cast aspersions.

How’s your Celtic knowledge? Always been a loyal fan? Well can you spot Stilian Petrov from John Hartson? Give it a go if you’re brave enough …

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

When asked what message he would send to his players, Lennon responded: “Get your mentality right, get your attitude right. If some of you don’t want to be here, leave.”

One man whose attitude and desire can’t be questioned, but whose his performance certainly can, was Scott Brown.

For all the mistakes Lennon may have made with his starting line-up, including the baffling decision to not start with an out-and-out number nine, Celtic’s skipper badly let the side down with a deeply frustrating display.

As per Sofascore, his 6.9 match rating was the lowest of any outfield player for the Hoops, and when you look at the some of the numbers behind it, you can clearly see why.

Despite seeing his team dominate the ball – Celtic enjoyed a whopping 70% of the possession – Brown failed to attempt a single shot or dribble, not getting himself forward enough to unsettle Ferencvaros.

Whilst he was his usual tigerish self – he made three tackles and four interceptions – Lennon’s side desperately needed their captain to be far more adventurous with the ball at his feet.

His 93 touches was the highest of any midfielder or attacker on the pitch, but he could only provide one key pass in the 90 minutes – to put that into context, left-back Greg Taylor delivered six.

The Scottish Sun’s Robert Grieve wrote in his post-match ratings that Brown looked “nowhere near his best”, and that he “was almost trying too hard at times”. Celtic needed their captain to step up when needed, and he simply didn’t.

It goes without saying that Odsonne Edouard is a wanted man. For the majority of the ongoing summer transfer window and when they were not chasing targets of their own, Celtic were simply repelling offers for their young star left and right.

Neil Lennon and the Hoops are now on a quest to clinch their historic 10th Scottish Premier League title in a row and of course, Edouard is a huge part of their plans for 2020/21.

The young star is among their best players and losing him now would definitely be a big hit. According to the latest reports from the Daily Record, Arsenal are still heavily interested in the France youth international and Lennon might need to repel another attack from the Gunners.

The English Premier League side have already secured Kieran Tierney from the Bhoys so they are confident another deal could be struck, this time for a much bigger target. But so far, there are no indications a breakthrough is on the cards.

Edouard is simply not up for sale and Celtic’s stance is unlikely to change. The same source explains Brighton and Hove Albion are also among the interested parties but the player’s camp are believed to have told the Seagulls Edouard does not want to move to the Amex.

For that reason, they don’t exactly stand a chance in the race. Will Arsenal be able to snatch him up in the end?

That remains to be seen but at the moment, it looks rather unlikely.

And that must be music to Lennon’s ears.

Verdict

It goes without saying that keeping Edouard at the club should be the Hoops’ biggest priority in the ongoing summer transfer window. The new season is already underway so they need their star to be fully focused on what lies ahead.

Of course, the market is unpredictable so we’ll have to wait and see what happens next.

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with an ambitious reunion with one of their former stars this week but it could spell disaster in north London…

What’s the word?

According to Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), Real Madrid are hoping that Spurs will make an offer for outcast winger Gareth Bale this summer.

They claim that Jose Mourinho has long been an admirer of the Welsh international but the La Liga outfit are yet to receive any offers.

Zinedine Zidane will not let the 31-year-old leave for free either with a fee of around €25m (£23m) being mooted, although he’ll be hard to offload with two years still to run on his current contract.

Financial nightmare

Not only will Spurs have to pay a transfer fee for Bale, but also his astronomical wages – even if he takes a pay cut, it’ll still be an outrageous amount as he’s reportedly on £350k-per-week after tax.

Harry Kane and club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele are the highest earners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on wages thought to be £200k-per-week, as per Spotrac (via the National).

Mourinho made a run at clinching Bale whilst in charge at Manchester United in 2018, claiming that he could win the Balon d’Or and even before that, he tipped him to become better than his old Chelsea mainstay Ashley Cole which is quite astonishing.

Last season, the veteran winger was barely used by Zidane. In just 12 La Liga starts, he provided two goals and two assists whilst averaging 2.1 shots, 1.1 dribbles and 0.8 key passes, via Whoscored.

You’d have to wonder what sort of impact he would now have at Spurs considering Heung-min Son, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn are all first-choice wide options.

Bale has been described as everything from “exceptional” to “special” in the past, so there’s no doubting that he’d be adored should he swap Madrid for his former club.

Although, it just simply doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense as Levy is trying to sell before he brings in a new backup striker.

It’ll be a financial catastrophe to bring Bale back to N17.

AND in other news, Spurs tipped perfect location for “game-changer” who Poch wanted in 2016…

Liverpool are on the verge of cashing in on castaway Anfield talent Harry Wilson after an official bid from Burnley was recently placed on the table.

However, Michael Edwards is sticking to his guns and indeed his £15million price tag set for the 23-year-old. The Clarets offered £3million short of the transfer fee but until they can make up the full amount, there’s a very slim chance they will get their man this window.

Darren Bent has urged Wilson to take a move away from the Merseyside outfit, after several loan stints have left him no closer to a permanent place in Jurgen Klopp’s starting lineup.

Harry Wilson’s future away from Liverpool

Despite Liverpool boasting an impressive number of academy graduate success stories, it seems Wilson is not set to join his youth teammates as part of Klopp’s plans. Edwards has listed the Wales international as part of a £50million planned sale involving fellow fringe players Marko Grujic and Rhian Brewster, who has already made a permanent move to Sheffield United.

Wilson’s first loan move got him noticed after shining for Hull City. He netted seven goals and assisted a further four in just 14 appearances (via Transfermarkt), setting him up for his next short-term move which was as Derby. The Rams welcomed him with open arms and it was there that he really found himself.

After contributing an impressive 18 goals and six assists in 50 appearances, it looked like Klopp would be unable to ignore Wilson once he returned to Anfield. However, yet another loan move later – this time to Bournemouth – and the 23-year-old is no closer to securing regular minutes in the first team.

Wilson should be a starter

As highlighted by 36-year-old pundit Bent, Wilson is now at the age where he should be part of a club’s starting line-up. His talent is too high to simply keep on the bench.

“Listen, Harry Wilson, I’ve watched him for the last few years – when he was at Hull City, he really impressed me, was very, very good,” the former striker told Football Insider. “He went to Derby, was superb at Derby that season. Went to Bournemouth, did okay-ish and then he’s here now and you think it’s got to a point now for Harry Wilson that he’s got to get out.”

With Liverpool signing Diogo Jota and integrating Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott into the first team, there isn’t a lot of wiggle room for Wilson to get himself some senior minutes. He has already proved he can dominate for both club and country and he deserves the chance to continue this form.

“The fact he’s had to bounce around here, there and everywhere, it isn’t good,” Bent continued. “For me, I would like to see him go somewhere, sign permanently, play week, in week out and then we’ll see the best of him.”

In other news, Liverpool have plan for Rhian Brewster’s potential Anfield return…

It may have taken around 18 months and a new manager to resolve, but it certainly seems like Tottenham Hotspur have finally filled the void left behind by industrious fan-favourite Mousa Dembele.

The Belgian powerhouse swapped north London for the Chinese Super League back in January 2019 and Mauricio Pochettino’s failure to secure a viable replacement could well have cost him his job just ten months later.

Dembele’s form during the 2015/16 season was arguably his best in a Spurs shirt as he averaged a whopping 3.6 tackles, 2.9 dribbles and 1.9 interceptions per game in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

And his absence was most felt during the Champions League final where Pochettino selected Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks in a midfield two, neither managing above a 6.6 rating on SofaScore.

Whilst the likes of Jordan Henderson, Gigi Wijnaldum and Fabinho ran the show for Liverpool.

But now it appears as if Jose Mourinho has made amends by finding a like-for-like lynchpin fit to lace the 33-year-old’s boots and that much was proven once again on Wednesday evening as summer signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg put in a masterclass against Harry Kane’s England.

Having lasted 88 minutes on the pitch, the £15m arrival made 78 passes at an accuracy rate of 93%, won 62.5% of his ground duels, recorded three tackles and even chimed in with one successful dribble attempt, per SofaScore.

Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet lauded Hojbjerg’s showing post-game giving him four marks out of five, they said: “Is finding the necessary tactical discipline for the role of defensive anchor. Very strong in his duels and is never afraid to play the ball forward.”

The £22.5m-rated star’s defensive discipline will have undoubtedly improved thanks to the stewardship of Mourinho but it also goes to show he can be relied upon as much as Dembele was under Pochettino.

In 166 appearances under the Argentine, Dembele never once received a red card despite picking up 22 yellows, via Transfermarkt, which only goes to show his impressive control in the midst of intense matches.

Spurs finally have the anchorman they’ve been craving for the best part of two seasons.

AND in other news, Spurs star must reinvent himself or become Mourinho’s next De Bruyne…

Glasgow Rangers will look to continue their winning start to the Europa League group stages when they welcome Lech Poznan to Ibrox. Steven Gerrard’s side cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Standard Liege last week, with Kemar Roofe scoring one of the best goals in the club’s history.

However, the Light Blues suffered a blow as left-back Borna Barisic limped off the pitch, whilst he was left on the bench for the 2-0 win over Livingston, so it’s unlikely he will be risked on Thursday night.

The Croatia international has arguably been one of the club’s best players ever since he joined the Ibrox outfit back in 2018, having made 10 appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season, scoring one goal and supplying four assists so far, via Transfermarkt.

Whilst Barisic isn’t exactly a player who we would consider to be injury prone, he has picked up his fair share of knocks so far, which has seen him ruled out for several games, and this has given Calvin Bassey the perfect opportunity to stake his claim in the starting line-up.

The Scotsman’s David Oliver claims the 20-year-old “has been shining just fine whenever he’s stepped into the limelight and replaced his Croatian team-mate”, whilst Gerrard heaped praise on his “outstanding” performance against Standard Liege last Thursday.

Gerrard told GlasgowLive: “I thought he was outstanding. For someone who has very little experience. To come into a game of that level and perform like he did. I’m really proud of his performance.”

This season, Bassey has averaged 1.5 tackles per game in the Scottish Premiership so far, whilst Barisic himself is only managing 0.8 tackles per game in the Scottish top flight, via SofaScore.

Another member of the Rangers hierarchy believes that Bassey is a “refreshing change” from Barisic, with assistant manager Gary McAllister giving the Leicester City academy graduate a glowing review for his most recent performance against Livingston.

“It’s about players being competitive. It’s a competitive squad with two players for every position. And when you get an opportunity to grab the jersey that’s what you do – and Calvin Bassey has been really refreshing”, McAllister told Rangers TV, via The Daily Record.

“We’re at home on Thursday and we need to have a strong performance but we just need to trust what we do. We’ve done all our due diligence on them already so we know what they’re about.”

For a reported fee of £230,000, what an absolute bargain the youngster is turning out to be! If he can continue to impress like this, it may not be too long before he is ousting Barisic from the matchday squad.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must return for Sheffield United ace John Lundstram…