All posts by z3u9t.icu

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Celtic have been credited with an interest in Fulham’s Tyrese Francois by Sky Sports.

What’s the word?

The midfielder is out of contract at the end of this season, at which point Celtic would be able to sign him in a compensation deal.

Celtic have exploited this route in recent seasons and were able to turn around a huge profit on Moussa Dembele as well as using the striker to help the Hoops to a double treble.

Celtic are fairly well off for midfielders, but are always on the lookout for emerging talents.

Crystal Palace and Valencia are also interested in Francois, suggesting he has some potential – either that or a very imaginative agent.

Shrewd business

Selectively picking up on this type of signing has to be a very viable option for Celtic in the current market place.

Showcasing Dembele has to be the way ahead – illustrating what two Champions League campaigns can do for a player’s profile.

18-year-old Francois could well enjoy a similar rise if opportunities allow him to be involved in Celtic’s first team squad next season, although he’s yet to feature for Fulham in senior competition outside of the EFL trophy.

Crystal Palace secured a massive victory against London rivals Fulham at the weekend to widen the gap above the relegation zone.

The Eagles took a first-half lead after Luka Milivojevic netted from the penalty spot when Cyrus Christie was penalised for handball in the area. Fulham pushed for an equaliser but victory was secured late on when Jeffrey Schlupp tapped home following a Michy Batshuayi shot. Roy Hodgson’s side moved four points clear of Cardiff in 18th after the result.

Without the suspended Wilfried Zaha, Palace performed admirably but the Ivorian will key to their survival bid this season. The former England boss must also look ahead to the summer transfer window where more funds will be available to strengthen his squad. To get Palace challenging at the right end of the table, they must look to lessen the goalscoring burden on the shoulders of Zaha.

Therefore, Palace should make a move for Kasimpasa flyer – Trezeguet. Valued at £4.95m by Transfermarkt, the Egpyt international moved to Turkey in the summer after lifting the Belgian league title with Anderlecht. The forward has made an instant impact at his new employers and has been one of the league’s most impressive performer so far.

Trezeguet has netted five goals and registered six assists for his team-mates in 20 Super Lig appearances so far highlighting the threat he poses to defences. The 24-year-old can play right across the forward line and has all the attributes to be a success in the Premier League. Blessed with blistering pace and expert dribbling skills, he would be a nightmare for defenders alongside Zaha in the Eagles attack.

Still developing and improving, Trezeguet could prove to be a wonderful addition to the squad.

Crystal Palace fans, thoughts?

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Mohamed Salah returned to form on Saturday and it is no coincidence that Liverpool, too, got back to winning ways.

The Egypt international was deployed on the right flank against AFC Bournemouth and scored as the Reds won 3-0.

On the chalkboard

Liverpool’s return to 4-3-3, and Salah’s move to the flank, brought the best out of the forward almost immediately.

He has been used in central roles recently and was quiet in the Reds’ last two league outings, in draws against Leicester City and West Ham United.

This time out, however, Salah was at the centre of everything Liverpool did right.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Per WhoScored, Salah touched the ball just 42 times against Leicester and completed just 16 passes. Similarly, the forward touched the ball 47 times in the draw with West Ham, completing 24 passes.

By comparison, Salah had 77 touches in the win over Bournemouth and completed 43 passes. His contribution, essentially, was doubled, as he was given the freedom to roam into the centre and affect play further forward, instead of having his back to goal.

It is no surprise, then, that he scored, and also made three key passes.

Stick with a winning formula

It makes no sense for Klopp to change this now.

Liverpool have a remarkably tough week coming up, as the Reds face Bayern Munich in the Champions League before a clash with high-flying rivals Manchester United.

United are yet to lose a game under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and they will be out to stop the Reds’ title challenge in its tracks.

It would be logical, then, for Liverpool to stick with 4-3-3 and allow Salah the freedom to roam.

He is a world-class wide player but his effectiveness is limited when he is deployed through the middle.

Against the defences of Bayern and United, he should play on the right, and be allowed to wreak his own inimitable brand of havoc.

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It has been a good weekend for Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Matt Doherty.

Indeed, the 27-year-old signed a new long-term contract with Wolves before starring in their 1-0 win over Bristol City in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

Doherty provided the assist for Ivan Cavaleiro to register at Ashton Gate, and the Portuguese’s goal decided the fifth-round contest.

The assist was Doherty’s seventh in all competitions this season, with two of those coming in the FA Cup and five in the Premier League.

There is absolutely no question that the Republic of Ireland international is enjoying a fine campaign.

And therefore it was not a surprise when a whole host of Wolves fans took to social media to lavish praise on the 6ft defender’s recent performance.

Wolves have a number of talented footballers, but few have made a bigger impact than Doherty during the 2018-19 campaign.

A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Manuel Lanzini has been sidelined for the entirety of the season so far, depriving Manuel Pellegrini of an incredibly talented playmaker in the process.

West Ham have plenty of quality players within the squad but the presence of a fully fit central attacking midfielder continues to elude them.

Samir Nasri’s January arrival was presumably made with that problem in mind, but he has suffered from a calf injury of late.

However, according to quotes from Manuel Pellegrini last week, Lanzini could be in line to return to the squad to face Fulham on February 23rd.

The Chilean’s admission has already got supporters eagerly anticipating his return, and they took to Twitter on his birthday on Friday to heap praise on the 26-year-old midfielder.

Indeed, plenty of fans believe that he has been a huge miss this season, and the prospect of seeing him link up with the likes of Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic is naturally evoking huge reason for them to feel optimistic for the future.

After such an extended period of time on the sideline there’s no doubt it will take the Argentine a few weeks if not months to reach top form, but once he’s back in full flow Pellegrini will have an exciting set of midfield options at his disposal.

Here’s what the Hammers’ faithful have had to say about Lanzini’s return:

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Aiden McGeady is a thriving big fish in a small League One pond.

What’s the word?

The margins in League One football are often so minute that they’re practically intangible.

Barring the gulf in class between the top-six and the rest of the Premier League, the same principle can typically be applied throughout England’s top four divisions.

But in the midst of a bundle of evenly-matched football teams and an even bigger sample of evenly-matched players, there are always a handful of standout individuals.

At Sunderland, McGeady is one of those outstanding players who can produce moments of technical quality which others can only dream of.

The 93-cap international bagged his 10th League One goal of the season against Bristol Rovers with a delightful free-kick, which earned him esteemed praise from Black Cats boss Jack Ross in the aftermath of proceedings, per Sunderland Echo.

“Aiden’s pedigree and what he has achieved as a player shows the quality he has.

“I don’t think he gets enough credit for how good he is if I’m honest. Working first hand with him, he is a really talented footballer.”

As Ross has alluded to, McGeady is a supreme technician who stands out on the football pitch, but his reputation does not align with his ability.

The reasons for this perhaps lie in his failure to make the transition to Premier League football.

Never stepped up in the Premier League

England’s top-flight is often used as a tool from which to measure a player’s overall quality: only the very best players can hack the physical and technical demands of the division, so the theory goes.

McGeady failed the Premier League test during an unsuccessful spell with Everton, and that has served to tarnish his reputation.

When the then 24-year-old swapped Celtic for Spartak Moscow in a £9.5 million deal he was highly regarded as a truly exceptional product and a genuine star for the future; the move was merely the first step towards a much bigger challenge.

Pat McCourt, a player who struggled to fill the void left by McGeady, claimed that Celtic had “probably lost the best player in the league” when he departed for Russia.

The promise he showed during the formative stages of his career should have translated into a glowing career in one of Europe’s top leagues, whether it be in the Premier League or elsewhere, and the fact he underachieved at Everton after leaving Spartak can explain why he doesn’t get the credit Ross feels he deserves.

McGeady is merely a victim of his eye-watering success with Celtic and his subsequent struggle to live up to the hype which characterised the early stages of his career.

Perhaps he was always destined to be one of those players who flourishes as a big fish in a small pond.

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The arrival of a new manager typically instigates an upheaval in both the personnel within the squad and the philosophy which the players are asked to adhere to.

While Claude Puel’s tactical approach may not be radically different to that which Brendan Rodgers promises to install at Leicester City, it’s fair to say that the squad could be a different entity altogether by the time the 2019/20 season gets underway.

Simply put, Rodgers’ squad is full of deadwood which is draining the resources of the club, so he must take decisive action in the summer to free up space on his wage budget.

With that in mind, we’ve dived into Leicester’s wage structure using figures provided by Spotrac and suggested that the club could save a staggering sum of money by trimming the squad.

End of an era

Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs, Danny Simpson and Shinji Okazaki all have a special place in Leicester hearts for the roles they played in the title-winning campaign of 2015/16, but it’s important sentiment and nostalgia are cast aside as their contracts tick towards expiration.

All four players, earning £3.12m, £2.6m, £2.34m and £1.82m per year respectively, are tied down to deals which expire in June 2019.

Morgan is the only player of the four who still has enjoyed anything close to resembling regular opportunities so far this season, but at 34 years old it’s time he was released along with the aforementioned trio to pave the way for the next generation.

Those who aren’t warranting their wage

Rodgers should chop four central midfielders to free up more space on the wage budget. Adrien Silva, currently plying his trade on loan at Monaco, is one of the club’s top earners on £4.16m per year – equivalent to £80,000 per week.

The new boss may yet be inclined to help the Portuguese midfielder resurrect his career at the King Power Stadium, but his lacklustre performances since joining the club hint that he should be on the transfer list when the window opens for business.

Andy King and Matty James, who earn £2.06m and £1.66m respectively, are both surplus to requirements and should be offloaded in a bid to stretch the wage budget.

Rachid Ghezzal, meanwhile, is simply below the standard which Leicester need to fulfil their ambitions. His departure would chop £2.34m from the annual wage bill.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Results of Leicester’s sale

If Rodgers is able to find suitors for all of these fringe Leicester players the financial implications could be huge. A grand total of £20.1 million would be slashed from the yearly wage budget, leaving the new manager with plenty of scope to offer lucrative contracts to some of Europe’s top players.

To put this figure into context, Leicester’s third highest earner, Harry Maguire, is currently on a £90,000 per week deal, which equates to £4.68 million a year. The results of Leicester’s proposed summer clear-out would create space for four new players earning the same figure as the England fan-favourite with money still left to spare.

A summer clean up operation should be firmly at the forefront of Rodgers’s summer strategy, allowing him to make his mark on the squad by freeing up wages for new arrivals.

Former Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin thinks the sentence handed out to hooligan who attacked Jack Grealish is too lenient, and fears that a player could be killed if harsher punishments are not enforced.

The thug — who we will not name and give any further unwarranted publicity to — was sentenced by the Birmingham Magistrates Court to 14 weeks in jail and a 10-year football banning order, although Birmingham City have said they have banned him from St Andrews for life.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Debate show, Dublin said: “It’s good that he’s been jailed, I just don’t think it’s long enough. What he dis is so, so dangerous. If he had a knife in his hand, he could have killed him… and that’s not going over the top.

“The only way to stop it [similar incidents] is to put fencing all the way round the pitch, [but] it’s not fair on the 99 per cent of the fans that are bang on.

“Why not ban him for life completely, and give him a longer sentence? Ban him from all football venues world wide [for life].”

If it was a first offence, the sentence served could be as short as seven weeks, and Dublin was asked if that is enough of a deterrent?

He replied: “Maybe not. We don’t know what is going to happen now. If people have seen this and though ‘right, ok, I’m not doing that’ [and] it doesn’t happen again, then yes, it was the right sentence.”

Paul Merson, another former Villa star and fellow guest on the show, said it was “the worst I’ve seen on a football pitch” and also suggested that a relatively short sentence like that could be seen by some as worth it for a moment of infamy.

We certainly think the sentence should have been longer, but the courts have guidelines for offences that they have to stick to. But the fact that he is off the streets and banned from football, preventing him from repeating his idiocy again must be seen as a good thing.

What are your thoughts on the incident and the subsequent sentence Birmingham and Villa fans? Let us know…

Is it going to be the year we finally see Sunderland climb up the leagues rather than fall down them? Well, no quite knows. Perhaps expecting the Black Cats to instantly turn around their form after so many years of disappointment was a bit much, but hope certainly remains. Indeed, SOME fans feel they need to prepare for playoffs, MOST, however, believe automatic promotion is theirs. 

With a game in hand, is it time to get excited once again for the Black Cats? Boss Jack Ross will certainly feel that the fate of the club is in their own hands. Isn’t that a nice feeling for everyone on Wearside? Clearly, it’s not been perfect, but there’s certainly an element of control at the Stadium of Light for the first time in years.

So, with an important home game against Walsall up next, we take a look at who should come in and boost the team to the next level.

Drop Lee Cattermole 

Cattermole is by far one of the Black Cats’ heroes of the modern day, being at the club for over nine years, he has faced the highs and the extreme lows of Sunderland Football Club.

This season, however, has seen the 30-year-old look his age, if not even older.

Looking slower, and short of ideas in the Black Cats’ 0-0 draw with Barnsley, it can be argued that it could be time for a change up in the midfield, giving the Englishman a break towards the latter stages of the season.

As the campaign enters its proverbial business end, they’ll need him fresh.

Start Dylan McGeouch 

Having struggled to get into the side in recent weeks, it may be time for McGeouch to step up and help push the team over the promotion line as the games come thick and fast. A player of immense quality on the ball, the Scottish international can help Sunderland exert their class later.

With his experience in the Scottish Premiership, there is no doubting that the 26-year-old knows how to control games. Needing to prove his worth at the club ahead of a potential promotion, McGeouch mus recapture his form.

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Loads of Rangers fans have been reflecting on Tuesday’s defeat, and something the club posted on Twitter after the match has really riled them up.

Rangers fell to defeat at Ibrox for just the second time under Steven Gerrard on Tuesday, and once again it was at the hands of Aberdeen.

The sides were playing their sixth meeting this season, and goals from Niall McGinn and Connor McLennan were enough to send the Dons through to the Scottish Cup semi-final, where they will face Celtic.

McGinn’s goal was particularly poor from the home side’s perspective, as the Reds ace simply nicked a square pass from Glen Kamara on the edge of the Rangers box, skipped past a defender and slammed it home.

While Derek McInnes’ side deserve credit for their performance, the Ibrox faithful are understandably fuming at what was a lifeless display from their side.

They are particularly disappointed by the apparent lack of leadership in the team, as key figures like James Tavernier and Connor Goldson are not leading from the back as expected.

Jermain Defoe, who came on with the score already at 2-0, gave the post-match interview, which is surely the responsibility of players like Tavernier.

The Gers’ official Twitter account posted Defoe’s interview, and judging from the reactions below it has tipped fans over the edge…