All posts by h716a5.icu

Crystal Palace have potentially been handed a huge boost in their search for a new boss thanks to AS Roma.

According to Corriere dello Sport, the Italian giants have opened talks with former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri concerning the prospect of him taking over at the Stadio Olimpico in the summer.

Of course, this would be great news for Steve Parish and the Eagles who have been linked with a move for current Roma manager Paulo Fonseca in the event that Roy Hodgson does not extend his current deal at the club.

The 73-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season so the club could certainly be on the lookout for a new boss come the summer.

Should Sarri actually be taking over at Roma, which would be his first managerial appointment since a solitary season in charge of Juventus, this would then make the process of luring Fonseca to Selhurst Park much easier.

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The former FC Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk man is also out of contract in the Italian capital come the end of the campaign so with the rumours regarding Sarri, it would suggest that the club have no aspirations in extending his deal, meaning that it would be a seamless process in appointing him at Selhurst Park.

It would also eliminate the need to pay any compensation to the Serie A outfit, an aspect that is sure to be appealing considering the impact that the pandemic has had on the financial situation at the club.

So, whilst the news surrounding a former Chelsea boss might not be all too exhilarating for the Eagles initially, it does actually give them a huge boost in their search for a new first-team manager as Hodgson’s contract continues to tick down.

AND in more news, take a look at why the appointment of Fonseca could be perfect for Palace… 

Celtic have relinquished their stronghold over Scottish football and no longer does Parkhead possess the honour of being home to the champions. Neither does it have Neil Lennon at the helm.

Thus, Sunday’s Old Firm derby will have very little riding on it.

That being said, the Hoops won’t lie down when their city rivals travel to the green and white half of Glasgow; this will be a chance to exert revenge.

On the chalkboard

John Kennedy’s team selection this weekend will be incredibly intriguing to see. After all, he witnessed his team labour to a 0-0 draw with Dundee United last time out.

Diego Laxalt was disappointing on the left while Ryan Christie was again left wanting in forward areas. However, one of the most disappointing performances was delivered by the club’s skipper Scott Brown.

When the Bhoys needed him most, the captain was anonymous and was incredibly isolated in the middle of the park. The 35-year-old completed just 77% of his passes as he struggled to maintain discipline and composure.

It was a display which was rather out of character with his mini-revival in recent weeks. The veteran scored and assisted Albian Ajeti in a delightful fashion against Kilmarnock. In the match against St Mirren, meanwhile, he rolled back the years with a complete midfield performance.

However, on too many occasions this term, he has let his side down. Brown has been dispossessed and taken an unsuccessful touch on 30 occasions, for instance. He was also sent off after five minutes against Livingston and has been off the pace in a number of games; namely Sparta Prague in the Europa League, when he missed his clearance for their opening goal and was run ragged by their midfield players.

If anything typifies his season, however, it would be the fact that he was left on the bench against Rangers in January. That was a huge statement from Neil Lennon, as he left the club’s leader on the bench in their biggest game of the season.

That being said, Kennedy must take the same stance this Sunday and drop the £23,000-per-week earner to the bench. As he proved against Dundee United last time out, he struggles against the counter-attack, something which could spell danger this weekend.

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Frank McAvennie has described the Celtic hero as “frustrated” in recent weeks week, and indeed that’s what he’ll feel if he’s benched again on Sunday.

With Rangers in a bubbly mood following their title win, they will be as keen as ever to get one over their old rivals. Thus, the power and energy of Ismaila Soro may well be needed instead of the ageing legs of Brown.

It’s a tough call to make but it’s one which needs to happen.

AND in other news, Hammond magic: Celtic could find their new McGeady by swooping for 15-cap dribble king…

Tottenham Hotspur defender Matt Doherty is fast-becoming a major issue following yet another shocking performance on Sunday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s side were beaten 2-1 by arch-rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to put their hopes of breaching the top four in tatters, and it was a massive surprise to see the 29-year-old play the entire duration of the game.

Only two other starters from the visiting side received worse than his 6.4 rating as per SofaScore, and this was the worst of Spurs’ backline – even despite Davinson Sanchez reverting back to his old calamitous self in conceding the match-winning penalty.

Doherty was absolutely dominated from minute one, struggling to combat the threat of Emile Smith Rowe and Kieran Tierney, whose 7.4 ratings utterly eclipsed the Irishman.

The £26m-rated defender was a busy man on the right-flank as he notched a whopping 78 touches, third to Sanchez (86) and Toby Aldweiereld (79) but he struggled to do much despite being so frequently involved.

He lost possession 15 times, the second-most of any Spurs star, which meant that he handed the ball back to his bullies once every five touches, and once every six minutes, as per SofaScore.

It was that bad, Mourinho had to sacrifice Gareth Bale in the second half so that he could get Moussa Sissoko on to help Doherty defend, though the damage was already done by that point.

The Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick dubbed the right-back a ‘weak link’ after grading his abysmal showing a 3/10. He wrote:

‘Easily beaten by Tierney for Arsenal’s opening goal in a dismal performance. The hosts had the run of his flank and he looked nervy and was positionally poor throughout.’

Whilst fans were quick to lambast his performance, as seen in this reaction piece where the overriding consensus is that Doherty was a liability throughout.

His form throughout this season has been consistently poor. Indeed, the £15m summer arrival’s 6.71 average WhoScored rating sees him sit tenth in the squad overall.

Last month, worrying reports emerged that put Doherty’s long-term future in north London in serious doubt – according to ESPN, Mourinho is unconvinced by the former Wolves man and could be willing to offload him in the summer.

Well, going by that display alone, it’s easy to see why such claims could be true.

Everyone at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will now be worried after Heung-min Son came off with a hamstring injury early in the first half, but solving this problem at right-back is now the biggest issue for Mourinho.

If Doherty isn’t the answer, then it puts major question marks over his arrival and it would leave the Portuguese back at square one in looking for that long-term option at right-back.

The fact that he lasted the full 90 with Serge Aurier on the bench speaks a lot. This is an issue that Mourinho now has to solve before it’s too late.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Lloris: Spurs star who made only 9 passes badly let Mourinho down…

Nottingham Forest host Luton Town on Tuesday night in a match that could see them continue their rise away from the Championship bottom three.

Chris Hughton has managed to transform the East Midlands side, with the team having won four out of their last seven league games.

They head into the clash against the Hatters with a man in-form in James Garner and the on-loan Manchester United midfielder could be key to their hopes of victory once again.

The 21-year-old comes into the game against Luton fresh off the back of scoring his first senior goal. It could not have come in a more crucial game – the East Midlands derby.

According to WhoScored, Garner, who is valued at £3.15m, is the best performing Forest player this season with a rating of 6.97.

Whilst his attacking statistics are not the most inspiring with just 0.7 key passes per game and 0 assists, he is still attempting 1.9 shots per 90, which could be an extremely useful asset in a game where Forest will be eyeing victory.

Garner himself has even admitted that he needs to keep ‘adding’ goals to his game. It is not just offensively where the young midfielder could be key though.

His opposite number, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, is having a brilliant season for the Hatters so far. Whilst he hasn’t been as effective recently, Luton boss Nathan Jones has elected to play him through his tough run of form.

Garner’s battle against his opposite number could be key then, and his defensive numbers suggest he could be the victor. Only three players in the Forest squad produce more tackles than his 1.6 per 90, whilst his interceptions are also high at the same number.

If the youngster can operate effectively in midfield and ensure he gets the better of Dewsbury-Hall throughout the 90 minutes, there is an extremely good chance that Forest could earn three points against Luton.

Forest shouldn’t really be worried about relegation given that they are in 16th place, but there are teams below them with games in hand so a run of poor results could easily see them dragged into a dog fight. However, a win over Luton will take them to 43 points, which, given they’ll still have 12 games to play to pick up more points, should kill any talk of relegation.

Many Liverpool fans were not impressed with what manager Jurgen Klopp said after his side’s atrocious 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Thursday night.

Mason Mount was the difference between the two sides as the Reds lost their fifth game in a row at home in the Premier League – registering just one shot on target during the 90 minutes.

Speaking to reporters after the final whistle (via The Anfield Talk), the German tactician said that tactics were not the reason that they lost the game. Instead, not “showing heart” and not “being resilient” were the primary sources of the Merseysiders’ downfall, according to the charismatic boss.

Liverpool lost further track on the top four places and have lost their last four out of five games, leaving them behind the likes of Chelsea, Everton and West Ham, some of those still with a game in hand (via Fotmob).

With this in mind, supporters were stunned by Klopp’s comments, with some fans even bizarrely suggesting that he should leave the club after six years in charge.

Fans flip at Klopp

“‘It’s not about tactics’ This is so worrying to read…”

Credit: @LFCJosh23

“He’s done.”

Credit: @1CraigFisher

“He looks totally lost in this interview”

Credit: @stujohn4

“It’s about tactics mate. Leave my club”

Credit: @devinLFC__

“Klopp is suddenly clueless and it’s shocking to see”

Credit: @freddystarr1

“He’s lost the plot here”

Credit: @HoodPxlitics

In other news, Emile Heskey believes Liverpool star man needs to “take a backseat.”

Despite there still being plenty of games left to play in the current Scottish Premiership season, Celtic undoubtedly will already have one eye on the next campaign.

Neil Lennon’s side are in the midst of their worst period in recent history, seeing their ten-in-a-row hopes go up in smoke and having to watch Rangers run away with the title.

But ahead of their Scottish Premiership clash against Kilmarnock tonight, the Hoops could take an important step to realising a brighter future by giving one of their stand-out young talents a chance to shine: Stephen Welsh.

The 21-year-old has played just 218 minutes of league football this season, and has hardly put a foot wrong, including a fine display in the Old Firm clash against Rangers – speaking on A Celtic State of Mind podcast, Paul John Dykes thought he had an “excellent game” against Steven Gerrard’s men.

Writing in a post-match Q&A for The Athletic last year, Kieran Devlin described him as a “very intelligent and modern defender, not just a bruiser”.

The Hoops have had to bear witness to Shane Duffy taking to the old-fashioned approach a bit too much this season, showing little poise on the ball and invariably hoofing it into row Z or trying to play it long – his total of 3.8 long balls per game ranks him fourth in the entire Celtic squad, whilst his pass accuracy is the worst of any centre-back.

It’s no surprise that many Celtic fans have been frustrated with Lennon’s refusal to give Welsh a genuine chance in the first-team, instead sticking with Duffy through his woeful performances, and shoehorning Bitton – a natural midfielder – into the centre of defence.

The 6 foot 3 Welsh is the man Lennon should be building Celtic’s future around, whether he remains the club’s manager for the long-term or not.

The rebuild needs to start here, and it needs to be centred around players who could form the spine of this Hoops team for the next several years.

Welsh falls into that category, just like the 22-year-old Ismaila Soro. The latter’s already made his mark on this side and ousted Scott Brown.

Now it’s surely time for Welsh to be given the same opportunity, starting with a game against Kilmarnock tonight.

West Ham United have been linked with a move to sign Copenhagen striker Jonas Wind as a potential replacement for former star Sebastian Haller.

Haller left the London Stadium earlier in the January transfer window and this has left the Hammers looking for a potential replacement in the market, following a rejected bid for Sevilla striker Youssef-En-Nesyri.

West Ham interested in Wind

The Telegraph has stated that David Moyes’ men are keen on the signature of Wind, with the Hammers looking to bolster their attack following Haller’s departure. While the interest is certainly there in the Copenhagen man, the report also claims that a move for him remains an unlikely possibility this month. Wind hasn’t been in the club’s squad in the last four games.

The 21-year-old Danish forward has made nine league appearances for Copenhagen this season. He has found the back of the net five times, assisting once. He also scored twice for the club in the Europa League qualifying stages (as per Transfermarkt).

In the 2019/20 campaign, Wind had made 19 appearances in all competitions and scored ten times, picking up four assists. He had suffered a knee injury that had kept him out of many games.

In an interview with TipsBladet, Wind recently said that he’s not in a hurry to leave Copenhagen and he wants to win trophies at his current club before potentially moving on.

Wind would be a good move for West Ham

Wind has already made four appearances for the Danish national team, scoring two goals and he made his debut last year. He is still 21 and might still have the potential to develop in the future.

The Hammers do have Michail Antonio as a striker option in the team and he has scored twice in the last two games. This shows that as long as Antonio is fit, West Ham may not need a readymade striker and since Wind is 21, still young and perhaps not a finished article, he would fit the bill in terms of a backup option.

In other news, West Ham are pressing to sign a Serie A star – read more here.

Sunderland could be heading for an all too familiar mistake…

What’s the word?

The Black Cats have several members of the first-team squad out of contract in the summer, ranging from veteran trio Aiden McGeady, Grant Leadbitter and Danny Graham to some emerging young hopefuls like Jack Diamond and Denver Hume.

One name that falls into the latter category is Elliott Embleton. The 21-year-old midfielder has been out for much of the season through injury but did appear against Burton Albion prior to Phil Parkinson’s sacking.

He also impressed in an EFL Trophy outing at Fleetwood Town with some reports suggesting that he was the ‘creative spark’ that they had been lacking.

Maja 2.0?

Indeed, it’s going to be very important to tie him to a new deal, something that the north-east giants have never really got right. The fact that he’s been allowed to enter the final six to seven months of his deal speaks volumes.

The Stadium of Light could soon see another Josh Maja situation should they not resolve it in due course.

Embleton is one of the more promising players to come through the Academy of Light, picking up ten caps for the England U20 squad whilst he impressed at Grimbsy Town on loan too.

Then-Black Cats boss Jack Ross lauded his young midfielder at the time, he said:

“Embleton has been terrific since he came back for pre-season. You can see what he can provide in the final third, so I was pleased with that.”

Even Parkinson lauded Embleton in pre-season, dubbing him the “standout” from their victory over Gateshead.

He is very much highly-rated in Tyne and Wear, so he really does deserve to be offered new terms and we’ve already seen with Johnson this week that he isn’t afraid to hand the reins to youth when the time is right after starting Diamond in midweek.

If there’s anything to come from this new era, then Sunderland have to start keeping hold of their youth.

AND in other news, Sunderland must offload “hustler” before he robs Dreyfus blind…

Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko is reportedly attracting interest from Serie A side Lazio this month and the Citizens should cash in on the Ukrainian.

According to Italian news outlet La Lazio Siamo Noi (via Sport Witness), the Manchester City man has emerged as a January target for Lazio after he was proposed to the club, with manager Simone Inzaghi keen on the idea of signing him.

It also suggests that while no contact has been made yet, the Serie A side could look to sign Zinchenko on loan before paying €20 million (£18 million) to sign him permanently.

Should City cash in on Zinchenko?

The 24-year-old has struggled for game time at Manchester City this season, making his first start in the Premier League in City’s 3-1 win against Chelsea recently, which was perhaps only due to the number of first-team players Pep Guardiola was missing for that match.

Nathan Ake has done at left-back since joining from Bournemouth in the summer, whilst Joao Cancelo has also impressed there at times this season, meaning Zinchenko has mainly been limited to appearances in cup competitions.

Whilst he is perhaps more reliable than the Benjamin Mendy at left-back, there is unlikely to be interest in the former Monaco man because of his injury issues, so this interest from Lazio represents a real opportunity for City to cash in on a player who is perhaps unlikely to ever be a regular in Guardiola’s side.

City signed Zinchenko from FC Ufa in 2016 for a reported fee of just £1.8 million, with Guardiola later converting him to a left-back, and he has gone on to make 76 appearances for the first-team in his time with the club.

The 24-year-old was rewarded with a new contract with City in 2019, with Txiki Begiristain full of praise for him after signing, saying:

“Zinchenko has shown over the past two seasons what a superb talent he is.

“Not only does he have a wonderful first touch and left-foot, he is a player completely focused on becoming the best footballer he can be.”

However, it seems that he is unlikely to be a first-team regular again any time soon, so if City could sell him for £18 million this month, or in the summer, they would be making a huge profit on the Ukrainian, which would represent excellent business by the club’s sporting director Begiristain.

And, in other news, Txiki signing “different level” beast would be more bad news for Laporte…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Carlton Palmer has delivered his verdict on Chris Wilder amid Sheffield United’s poor form.

It’s safe to say the Blades are having a season to forget in 2020/21. Last term, they were fluent and bustling in everything they did.

However, this time around, they look a shadow of their former selves and are bringing up the rear in the Premier League.

Wilder’s men are rock bottom of the top-flight and have just a solitary point to show for their efforts. They have lost nine times and shipped a total of 16 goals in only ten outings.

The differences between this season and last are remarkable. In 2019/20, Sheffield United were superb, gaining some impressive results against some of English football’s big boys.

They ended the campaign in ninth place on 54 points, which was just two points behind an ever-improving Arsenal side.

There hasn’t been much talk surrounding the future of Wilder in the press, but there have been some strong shouts from supporters at the club calling for him to depart Bramall Lane.

Speaking to FFC, former Sheffield Wednesday man Palmer defended the United boss.

He told us: “I’m hearing a lot of Sheffield United supporters who I know are already criticising Chris Wilder and I’m like, hang on a minute, do me a favour. He got you to back-to-back promotions. He’s got you in the Premier League.”

The former midfielder was so strong in his defence of Wilder that he then tipped him to stay in Yorkshire even if the Blades go down:

“For me, even if they get relegated this season, Chris Wilder should be given the opportunity to bring them back. That’s how much he should stay in the job,” Palmer concluded.

Sheffield United face Premier League highflyers Leicester on Sunday before facing matches against Southampton and Manchester United.

Unfortunately, they may have to wait a little longer before their fortunes turn around.