All posts by z3u9t.icu

Back in the summer of 2020, Neil Lennon’s Celtic scouts were reported to have been incredibly impressed by the form of Grady Diangana, who had lit up the Championship during a season-long loan spell with West Bromwich Albion.

Indeed, over his 30 second-tier appearances in 2019/20, the West Ham United winger played an influential role in the Baggies’ promotion back to the Premier League, scoring eight goals, registering six assists and creating eight big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.6 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

These returns saw the former England U21 international average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking him as Albion’s third-best player in the league that year.

And, as a result of this form, the likes of Celtic, Ajax, Newcastle United and Everton were all reported to be interested in the 23-year-old, for whom West Ham were demanding a fee in the region of £15m-£20m in order to part with.

However, it would ultimately be West Brom who went on to secure the forward on a permanent basis, with Slaven Bilic’s side coughing up around £18m in order to prise the youngster away from the London Stadium.

Although, while Diangana’s switch to The Hawthorns would undoubtedly have come as a gutting blow to Celtic at the time, nearly two years down the line, it is becoming apparent that the Baggies massively overpaid for the winger.

Indeed, over his 20 Premier League appearances in 2020/21, the £7.2m-rated forward failed to make any real mark on the top flight, scoring one goal, registering no assists and creating no big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of just 0.7 shots and making 0.3 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Lee Hendrie dubbed a “magnificent” talent who’s “easy on the eye” average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.47, ranking him as Albion’s joint second-worst player in the division.

Things have not improved much for the £25k-per-week attacker over his 35 Championship outings this season, with the 23-year-old having scored two goals, provided one assist and created three big chances, with these metrics seeing the winger average a SofaScore match rating of 6.67 – ranking him as Steve Bruce’s joint eighth-worst performer in the second tier.

As such, it is clear to see that Celtic hit the jackpot when missing out on the £18m signing of a player who Adrian Goldberg labelled “desperate” and claimed looks “like a youth player playing in a men’s game” back in 2020 – as Diangana’s form has fallen off a cliff since his permanent move to West Brom.

AND in other news: Huge boost: Ange reveals major Lennoxtown development, it’s brilliant news for Celtic

West Brom confirmed on Wednesday that midfielder Jayson Molumby has had to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad through injury.

As to be expected, a number of Baggies supporters have been reacting to the news on social media.

Molumby made the switch to The Hawthorns over the summer, joining on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion. He has had to be patient for a chance under Valerien Ismael but has now featured in seven of West Brom’s last eight Championship fixtures.

The 22-year-old was called up by Ireland for World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Luxembourg, but he suffered a hamstring issue in training and has now returned to the Midlands for further assessment.

Molumby now joins a long list of injured Baggies players, with West Brom sweating over the extent of the midfielder’s muscle issue.

WBA fans react

Here is what these Baggies fans had to say in reply to the club’s official post on Molumby’s injury.

“Can’t we just sack this season off at this rate?”

Credit: @LukeRowland015

“are you kidding me”

Credit: @Lottie1546

“Squad getting thinner and thinner by the day”

Credit: @JakeWBA97

“OH NO”

Credit: @WbaOllie

“NO DEPTH LIKE WE SAID WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT IT”

Credit: @Adam_WBAFC

“IRELAND MAN, I SWEAR IF YOU INJURE ROBBO”

Credit: @Jayden_WBA

An update has emerged on Gio van Bronckhorst, regarding Rangers’ plans for his potential backroom staff in Glasgow.

What’s the talk?

According to The Times, Rangers are insisting the Dutchman brings in a player experienced in Scottish football to be a part of his coaching staff behind-the-scenes, with Billy Dodds, Barry Ferguson and Neil McCann named as candidates.

The report claims Jan Wouters, his assistant at Feyenoord, is unlikely to follow him to Ibrox, with the aforementioned trio potentially in line to take his place.

Buzzing

Rangers fans will surely be buzzing with this inside insight into Ross Wilson’s plans for the make-up of van Bronckhorst’s backroom team. The Gers chief is seemingly keen to get as much experience in to help the Dutchman as possible, which could allow him to hit the ground running.

Instead of needing an adaptation period, the experience from the likes of Ferguson, McCann and Dodds could mean that he is able to meet the requirements of Scottish football straight away. They will have the games under their belts as coaches and players to know what it is all about, which could be valuable for the 46-year-old.

Ferguson is currently the manager of Alloa Athletic and has taken charge of 20 games to date, with over 100 games in Scottish football as a head coach overall in his career. This is after he played over 200 games for Rangers during his playing career, winning five league titles.

Dodds, however, is managing at a higher level with Inverness in the second tier. He has won 1.70 points per game across 20 matches in charge, having also played for Rangers before becoming a manager.

Interestingly, he took the Inverness job after Neil McCann’s spell as caretaker – where he won 1.50 points per game across 16 matches. McCann, a further ex-Gers player, managed 60 games at Dundee but was only able to pick up an unimpressive 1.12 points per game.

This shows that all three of them have experience as players and coaches in Scottish football and could provide van Bronckhorst with valuable information behind the scenes to help him perform to the best of his abilities at Ibrox, should he take the job.

Therefore, this is a shrewd decision from Wilson and shows that he is working hard to piece together the best set of staff possible to replace Steven Gerrard’s influence following his move to Aston Villa, which is why fans will be delighted by this news.

AND in other news, “Spoke to club”: Rangers insider provides manager twist that’ll leave fans delighted…

The last thing Everton needs right now is losing any key players, as they try to navigate their way through an injury crisis and a lack of depth in many areas of their squad that has resulted in only five wins from 17 games in the Premier League, leaving them 15th in the table.

With the transfer window in less than 72 hours, Rafa Benitez must avoid the departure of any important players in his side to ensure he can rebuild and climb the table to get back into the top half for a satisfactory finish with the Toffees.

Everton superstar, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, has been rumoured with a move away to Arsenal for weeks, and even pundits have been adding fuel to the flames by encouraging the injured striker to make a move to Arsenal.

Gunners legend, Lee Dixon, spoke to the MailOnline about the potential of Arsenal signing the Toffees forward in the January transfer window;

“Would I like to see Calvert-Lewin at Arsenal? I think yes.

“It would be a step up for Calvert-Lewin, no disrespect to Everton.

“He is fit and athletic, he is strong and good in the air and a good finisher. I would take him.”

The MailOnline did also reported earlier this month, that Arsenal were interested in signing Calvert Lewin, but there has been no further links or official interest made by the London club as of yet, despite both Dixon and Paul Merson making their feelings clear about Arsenal’s potential signing of the player this week.

Fans will be fuming

If Benitez wasn’t already unpopular with fans, due to his successes as manager of fierce local rivals Liverpool, selling Calvert Lewin would be the final nail in the coffin for fans of the club and considered unforgivable, with the goal machine being arguably Everton’s best player, scoring 56 goals and bagging 16 assists in 176 appearances.

Selling the centre forward would be unwise with Everton’s severe lack of goals and creativity conceding more than they’ve scored this season so far, even with or without the fans on the manager’s back, it doesn’t make sense to cash in on him when what he can potentially offer to the side in the second half of the season is priceless.

It would be unlikely that Everton would let the £40.5m-rated star go, unless there was a huge, inflated offer from interested clubs, which actually isn’t unheard of in the January transfer window, Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m springs to mind, especially with many clubs desperate for prolific goal-scorers to assist with securing a good finish in the second half of the season.

The 28 year old has been side-lined since the early stages of the season sustaining a quadriceps injury and a broken toe, meaning he hasn’t played since scoring against Brighton on August 28th 2021.

He then suffered a setback with his recovery progress, and is only now in contention for selection for the side as we head into 2022, with the possibility of an appearance against Brighton on Sunday, although the England international did expect to be back in the side on Boxing Day, however postponement of fixtures hasn’t allowed that.

In other news: Benitez could solve problems by signing Vecino

According to a recent report, Tottenham Hotspur do not appear likely to spend big this summer after Joe Lewis instructed Daniel Levy to run the club more sustainably.

The report by Football Insider claims a Tottenham source has revealed that – following losses of £63.9m in the club’s last set of accounts, as well as Levy’s warning of further losses in the region of £150m if football remains behind closed doors for the remainder of the season – Spurs do not appear to be in a position to splash the cash on new signings in the summer window.

In addition to the club’s rather bleak financial circumstances, Football Insider also reported that Tottenham and ENIC owner Lewis has instructed Levy to run the club in a more sustainable manner in an attempt to balance the books, rather than relying on the businessman’s personal fortune to fund future transfers.

Transfer Tavern Take

As such, if Football Insider’s source is to be believed, it appears extremely unlikely that there will be any major incomings for the club this summer, something which is not likely to please either Jose Mourinho or the Tottenham fanbase.

However, with it being reported earlier this year that the club are open to selling one of their current stars to fund summer acquisitions, perhaps this could be a way of Mourinho freshening up his squad over the summer market, albeit at the potential expense of an important part of his current side.

In other Tottenham news, this Spurs transfer admission lifted the lid on a failed Daniel Levy coup with Pochettino – find out more here!

After an impressive 1-0 win over Leeds United last weekend, Aston Villa would no doubt have been expecting to make light work of the Premier League’s bottom side Sheffield United in midweek.

Instead, Dean Smith’s side put in a dismal performance as they slipped to defeat to the Blades, with David McGoldrick earning the home side all three points.

With European qualification for next season still within their sights, however, Villa will be hoping to get back to winning ways, starting with Saturday’s clash against Wolves.

The midweek defeat may prompt Smith to make a few changes, and, with that in mind, below is a look at how Villa might line up when Wolves come to town.

In goal, Emiliano Martinez will be hoping to keep another shutout after experiencing the rare feeling of having to pick the ball out of his own net against Sheffield United.

The back four should also remain unchanged, with Matty Cash still not recovered from his injury. The form of Matt Targett, meanwhile, has seen some shouts of a potential England call-up, and the left-back will surely be desperate to do well against Wolves to further stake his claim.

The midfield could see one key change, with John McGinn’s woeful performance in midweek surely warranting him to be dropped from the starting line-up, especially with the likes of Morgan Sanson and Douglas Luiz pushing for a start – Smith could opt for the latter after benching the £24.3m-rated star for the past couple of games.

That would certainly be a big call considering that McGinn has started every game this season in the Premier League bar one (when he was suspended).

Further ahead, Bertrand Traore has struggled in recent weeks to deliver an end product, with just one goal and one assist in his last eight Premier League games. That could see Trezeguet come in on the right-hand side, with Smith sticking with Anwar El Ghazi on the opposite flank having netted against Leeds last week.

Predicted XI: Martinez; Elmohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Luiz, Nakamba; Trezeguet, Ramsey, El Ghazi, Watkins.

Meanwhile, Villa could recreate a magic partnership by signing this £36m-rated star…

Everton manager Frank Lampard should cash in on “dreadful” defender Michael Keane this summer and re-build the club’s defence.

According to a report in The Daily Star, West Ham United would be keen on buying the 29-year-old if the Toffees are relegated from the Premier League.

We think that they should sell him regardless of what league they’re in next season and use the money to improve the rest of the team. He is rated at £19.8m by Transfermarkt, a far cry from the £30m they paid for his services in 2017.

It would be unfair to say that Everton don’t have any talented players, however, they simply haven’t been performing good enough this season and they find themselves in a real survival battle as a result.

They have conceded the fifth most amount of goals this season and have only kept six clean sheets in the league, and at the heart of that is Keane who has made 28 appearances.

When you analyse his statistics they further highlight Everton’s defensive worries. He is in the bottom 15% compared to other defenders in the league this season when it comes to progressive carries, proving that he isn’t great at playing out from the back. He’s also netted two own goals this campaign.

Last month former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy blasted Lampard for continuing to pick Keane in his team saying that “he’s physically gone” and didn’t understand why he kept being played.

The simple answer is that the Toffees don’t have many better options. Yerry Mina who is arguably the best defender at the club has been out injured for the majority of the season, with his current hamstring injury coming in February.

It won’t be long before Keane is the wrong side of 30, at which point his value will start decreasing and Everton will get even less of the money they paid for him back. It’s not all doom and gloom though; he has had a pretty decent career overall which includes 12 appearances and a goal for England.

But ultimately he can’t cut it at the top level, and with the position they’re in, now is the time for the Toffees to build for the future. They have a perfect manager in Lampard to do this, he even has experience managing in the Championship if they do end up being relegated.

IN other news: More misery: Alan Myers drops four-word Everton claim that’ll leave supporters fuming…

Newcastle United may lose up to six players in the January transfer window, including Dwight Gayle, according to The Chronicle.

As per the news outlet, Jacob Murphy, Christian Atsu, Henri Saivet, Achraf Lazaar and Rolando Aarons could also be let out through the door at St. James’ Park in order to recoup some cash for some possible new arrivals.

Aarons may well be on his way to Huddersfield Town in the EFL Championship, while Rangers have apparently retained their willingness from the summer to strike a loan deal with Murphy, while Gayle only has a few months left on his current deal in the North East and he has not yet signed a new one.

Gayle and Murphy would be biggest losses to Newcastle

Given that both players have played their part for the Tyneside club so far in the 2020/21 term, both Gayle and Murphy could be the biggest losses to Steve Bruce’s team.

The latter has played in nine games in total in all competitions, scoring two goals and making a further two assists (‘magnificent’ by Toon legend Alan Shearer, he also praised the ‘great cross’ put in by Murphy.

It is clear that both of these aces would be a miss to NUFC should they be allowed to leave next month.

In other news, find out who was ‘out of his depth’ against WBA here!

Leeds must avoid making an unforgivable mistake amid reported transfer interest in Patrick Bamford.

What’s the story?

The striker has been a revelation for Marcelo Bielsa’s side in the Premier League this season, netting 15 goals and providing another eight assists in the division.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that, while Leeds extended Bamford’s contract at Elland Road by an extra year – his deal now expires in the summer of 2023 – he is already attracting admiring glances from elsewhere.

Ornstein claims that “Bamford’s progress has not gone unnoticed, with several clubs, including Liverpool, believed to admire the forward.”

Bielsa would be fuming

Given his incredible importance to this Leeds side – he tops the charts for both goals and assists at Elland Road this season – there’s no questioning that Bielsa would be absolutely fuming if Andrea Radrizzani and co decided to make the call of cashing in on him.

While his stock is high, and the Whites would be expected to command a hefty fee for him – especially with the contract extension update – Bamford has developed into the kind of all-round striker that Bielsa loves.

Even Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “What a player, Bamford! I can remember people saying, ‘Leeds need a proper goalscorer, Bamford is not good enough’, stuff like this. I’m so happy that he could prove them all wrong.

“He’s an exceptional player. The work rate is outstanding and he still plays the football he plays and scores goals. That’s rare.”

As omeone who works selflessly for the cause and buys into the pressing game, can both plunder goals and set up his teammates, the 27-year-old would be very difficult to replace if Leeds made the decision to sell him to Liverpool or anyone else.

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It’s exactly why Radrizzani must avoid making an unforgivable howler this summer by keeping Bamford regardless of the potential windfall from selling him.

Meanwhile, Bielsa could light up Elland Road with this £26m-rated magician who’s “something special”…

When it comes to Wolves’ promotion-winning squad of 2017/18 there are a host of names that’ll spring to mind.

Ruben Neves will be one, Diogo Jota is probably another. John Ruddy’s immense campaign will even be remembered with fond memories too.

Although his football has been limited since they were promoted to the Premier League, it has not been as worse as Roderick Miranda’s.

The centre-back played 17 games en route to gaining promotion but unfortunately, he’s not made a single appearance for the Old Gold since they came up to the top-flight.

That means that despite still being on Wolves’ books, his last appearance for the club came in 2018. Considering he’s now 29, it’s dumbfounding to think that he still holds a contract with the club.

Signed for an undisclosed fee four years ago, his £10k-per-week contract at Molineux finally ends in the summer but the player is hoping a resolution to his future is found soon. After all, he is merely blowing a hefty hole in Jeff Shi’s pockets.

He’s earning a wage at Wolves but isn’t playing and after a set of loan spells at Olympiacos and Famalicao, is training with the youth players at Compton.

It’s a sorry state of affairs for a player who was actually quite important in the back half of their triumphant Championship-winning season.

He was named in their Premier League squad for the current term, but unsurprisingly, he’s not played a single minute and has become nothing short of a flop in the Midlands.

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He’s watched the likes of Max Kilman picked ahead of him, while he couldn’t even earn a spot on the bench when Wolves travelled to play non-league Chorley in the FA Cup.

Instead, young defenders Lewis Richards and Nigel Lonwijk were among the substitutes instead. It’s damning that even in a game of this magnitude he is ignored.

If Wolves can’t find any suitor for him this month, they’d be wise to just terminate his contract entirely. It’s a method Arsenal used with wantaway defender Sokratis so it’s certainly not unfashionable to do so.

The Old Gold have tried desperately to find a new striker this month and after securing the signature of Willian Jose, must take it upon themselves to get rid of deadwood.

That starts with Roderick. He isn’t good enough for Wolves and Nuno clearly has no plans to use him.

AND in other news, Shi must seal Wolves swoop for “outstanding” 6-goal gem, he’s shades of Bakary Sako…