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It has been a truly awful year to be a Bradford City supporter, hasn’t it?

Having witnessed their side sack two managers, concede 77 goals and win just 11 games in League One, it would have been understandable if some of the Valley Parade faithful breathed a sigh of relief when their car crash of a season came to an end earlier this month.

With the Bantams now preparing for their first fourth-tier campaign since 2013, it is imperative that boss Gary Bowyer makes the correct calls when overhauling his squad this summer.

Whereas the vast majority of the players who contributed to the club’s relegation should rightfully be allowed to leave in the transfer window, the 47-year-old must resist the temptation to cut ties with Eoin Doyle.

According to Sun journalist Alan Nixon, the forward is reportedly a target for Swindon Town who are looking to bolster their attacking options ahead of next season.

Although it is fair to say that Doyle didn’t set League One alight last year and suffered tremendously with his consistency, the fact that he still managed to find the back of the net on 11 occasions suggests that it may be worth prolonging his stay in West Yorkshire.

Furthermore, when you consider that he has a track-record of scoring at a higher standard than the fourth tier, there is no reason why he cannot thrive over the coming years if Bowyer brings in some new additions that compliment the £650k-rated ace’s (via Transfermarkt) style of play.

Indeed, keeping Doyle instead of letting him go for a fee would undeniably be a risk for Bradford to take yet unless they have a sufficient replacement lined up for the 31-year-old, it may turn out to be the correct decision.

What do you think Bantams fans? Should Bowyer sell Doyle this summer? Or would it be more beneficial to keep the forward at Valley Parade? Get in touch below.

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West Ham are set to trigger Salomon Rondon’s £16.5million release clause as they attempt to sign the West Bromwich Albion striker, per the Northern Echo.

What’s the word?

The 29-year-old scored 11 Premier League goals during a loan spell with Newcastle United in 2018-19 and is now a man in demand.

The aforementioned report claims that the Magpies would like to sign him permanently, but that the Hammers are hoping to steal a march on their domestic rivals.

Indeed, the Northern Echo state that there remains uncertainty over the future of manager Rafael Benitez and that there will be no transfer activity until that is resolved.

Rondon’s clause is active after West Brom failed to win promotion to the Premier League.

And Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini is keen to sign an experienced striker this summer as he looks to build on his club’s 1oth-placed finish in 2018-19.

The first of many

West Ham need more than just one striker this summer.

Football FanCast understands that Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic is also a target, with the Hammers trying to ascertain whether or not his contract contains a release clause that has been activated by the Cottagers’ relegation to the Championship.

And FFC has also reported that Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez are all likely to depart the club this summer.

Only bringing in Rondon, then, would leave the Hammers with just the Venezuela international and Marko Arnautovic, whose future is far from certain, given the £45m release clause in his contract.

This deal, if completed, then, cannot be the last for Pellegrini’s men, as they look to push on and attempt to qualify for Europe next season.

Assessing Bournemouth’s squad, it is quite clear where the south coast club need to strengthen in the summer.

If Eddie Howe does not believe the promising Mark Travers is ready to become the Cherries’ No.1 yet, then he needs to go out and buy a new goalkeeper.

Asmir Begovic has made too many errors between the sticks this season, while Artur Boruc is 39 years of age.

That explains Bournemouth’s interest in Jack Butland, with the Daily Mail reporting that Burnley’s Nick Pope is also a target for the Premier League outfit.

Seen as a cheaper alternative to the Stoke City shot-stopper, Pope is exactly the sort of goalkeeper the Cherries need.

Should they be unable to land Butland, then they should go all out for the 27-year-old.

Pope has obviously featured very little this season due to injury. But prior to that, the former Charlton man enjoyed a highly successful 2017/18 campaign where he went on to win his first senior England cap.

Reliable between the sticks, Pope offered Burnley even more security behind a sturdy central defensive partnership of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski.

That reliability is something Howe has not seen nowhere near enough of from Begovic.

Bearing that in mind, ditching the Bosnia and Herzegovina international for Pope is certainly the play here for the Bournemouth boss.

Bournemouth fans, would you welcome the addition of Pope in the summer? Join the discussion by commenting below.

Arsenal fans everywhere are extremely disappointed that they couldn’t secure Champions League football via the top four, instead resting all their hope on winning the Europa League. Risky, risky stuff for the Gunners. 

Clearly, that is a dangerous game and probably not one Unai Emery intended to happen but that is the current situation the Gunners find themselves in nonetheless. With a distinct lack of confidence in the team during the closing stages of the season, all potential for the next campaign is resting on who they can bring in this summer.

Unai Emery must do everything he can to demand a sizeable budget so he can really make a difference, because as he probably well knows, there are a number of positions that need improving.

Starting with left-back, Arsenal (touted as a potential landing spot by A Bola via the Sun earlier this week) should consider Benfica’s Alejandro Grimaldo to be a fine acquisition. Grimaldo, (who is valued at £25.2 million on Transfermarkt) is usually one of the first names on the team sheet for Benfica, given his commitment to the club since 2016.

He cost the Portuguese giants just short of £2 million and what a deal that has transpired to be.

This season alone, Grimaldo has played a staggering 52 games in all competitions, going on to provide seven goals and 11 assists.

He not only provides defensive stability but as shown by his statistics, going forward is where he really thrives. Playable further up the pitch as a wide midfielder, Grimaldo is used to darting up and down the wing, providing balls into the box for his team-mates, or going alone himself.

At the age of 23, his stock is very high considering the performances he has put in this season. It would surely be an expensive deal but one that could solve Arsenal’s left-back problem for the next five years at the very least. As a potential heir to Nacho Monreal’s throne, he could make the side so much more exciting.

Heaven knows they need to be…

Gunners, how much would you like to see Grimaldo arrive? If not, why not? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Giving his usual EFL predictions to Sky Sports, David Prutton has determined how he thinks Aston Villa’s match with Rotherham on Wednesday evening will play out, claiming the Villains will prevail 2-0.

What’s he said?

With both teams having something to play for, Prutton thinks that Rotherham may be able to cause a bit of a scare as the Millers try desperately to stay in the division. Speaking to Sky Sports, the former player said:

“Rotherham are still within reach of survival, and they will fancy their chances of giving Aston Villa a scare at home, even though Dean Smith’s side are in such good form.”

The pundit then chose to focus on Villa’s last gasp win in their previous game, explaining that despite Paul Warne’s side potentially providing stiff opposition, they should be able to maintain their good form. He added:

“That was a huge result for Villa at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday as they look to seal a top-six spot. Rotherham is a tough place to go but I can’t see them not continuing their incredible run.”

All to play for

Given Rotherham’s position in the table, on paper, this match should be a walk in the park for Smith’s side. But fighting relegation, they will be battling hard for a result after defeating Nottingham Forest last weekend.

It’ll be a tough game for Villa but Prutton is right to predict that they’ll come out on top. The confidence they will have gained from that incredible win over Wednesday last Saturday will be immense and the effect those two injury-time goals will have cannot be underestimated.

The fact both teams have something to play for will make this a fascinating clash. However, given their six-match winning streak Villa should have enough about them to continue in the same fashion.

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Wolves’ three-man defence has been a key system deployed by Nuno Santo since he arrived at the club and the formation has served particularly well in the Premier League.

Conor Coady and Willy Boly have been superb as part of that defensive shape but the club have encountered a dilemma when it comes to Ryan Bennett.

What’s the problem?

Bennett was excellent during the Championship winning season but has sometimes struggled for consistency stepping up a level.

The central defender missed two matches through suspension recently for collecting ten yellow cards but returned to the starting XI against Manchester United. However, despite winning 2-1, his performance was one of the worst from a Wolves perspective and only flags up his consistency in 2018/19.

During the game, he won just one of his four aerial duels and completed a solitary tackle.

So how do you solve the problem? Starting Romain Saiss over him would be the perfect answer.

Nuno has played the Moroccan in central midfield and defence this term, but the 29-year-old has flourished as part of the back three.

Stopping Deeney

The Midlands club may have tasted defeat against Burnley last week but Saiss still performed admirably in place of Bennett at centre half. He won a remarkable 10 aerial duels and completed five tackles.

It was a brilliant display from the 6 ft 1 man who after recent events simply has to play against Watford.

The Hornets play an attractive brand of football under Javi Gracia but they still have the physical presence of Troy Deeney. His performances have been severely underrated this term but by playing someone with the aerial prowess that Saiss possesses they’ll stand a better chance of nullifying that particular threat.

Bennett has been a reliable figure in the past, but the Morocco international must now overtake him in the defensive pecking order.

Duncan Watmore experienced the high and low of football within a frantic few minutes at the end of the Black Cats draw at Wycombe Wanderers two weeks ago.

He scored his first goal for the Wearsiders for over three years deep into stoppage time, before being crudely fouled, suffering ligament damage and being ruled out for at least two months.

It is not new for flame-haired winger, having suffered two ACL injuries in as many years, but this latest setback will see him miss Sunderland’s Wembley outing in the EFL Trophy final on Sunday.

Watmore’s dad, Ian, the thought of missing that game, as well as his belief that he had finally found a run of form, were the two things that “dawned on him” after the extent of the injury was confirmed.

Ian told the Sunderland Echo: “What really annoyed him about it was he’d just had his high. You can imagine scoring that goal in front of the fans, the equaliser in the 94th minute is the sort of high that you dream of when you’re doing those endless hours of rehab.

“He’s had two years of that and then he finally comes out and does it and then it’s two minutes later and he didn’t really get the chance to enjoy the moment.

“The second thing that dawned on him was he wasn’t going to be able to play at Wembley which is one of the things he’s never actually done.

“Much more importantly he really thought he was just coming into a bit of form and that goal would have spurred him on just at a critical time with games coming up to get to automatic promotion.”

Ian went on to describe the “unbelievable” support of manager, Jack Ross, who has challenged him to regain his fitness by the end of May.

“The club has had a good couple of games and the manager has given him a target to get himself playing fit again by the end of May so he can have a proper pre-season.

“I think probably in the back of his head, he hopes he doesn’t have to play again this season because it means automatic promotion, but if there was a need to go to Wembley for the play-off final, he might just be fit for that.”

It is unlikely that the player will feature again this season, with managers and medical departments preferring to err on the side of caution regarding major injuries nowadays, but setting himself a target like that can only help him in his rehabilitation.

If it turns out that Watmore is being considered for a play-off final appearance, then it would mean that Sunderland’s finish to the season has not panned out as planned.

The play-offs will be the last thing anyone at the club is hoping for, or even thinking about, with automatic promotion the sole focus on everyone’s mind.

Failure to go up in one of those two spots would still be considered a failure by many within, and associated with, the club.

To endure a nightmare scenario that involves the lottery that is the play-offs would be an impending disaster for the club that must go up at the first time of asking.

A club like Sunderland should not end up in a position where they are one bad performance away from staying in League One.

What are your thoughts on the luckless Sunderland winger? Would you see promotion via the play-offs as something of a failure this season? Let us know below…

Manchester United lost out this weekend in the FA Cup as Wolves dispatched them 2-1 at Molineux. 

The Red Devils were far from their best but there has to be great credit given to Wolves, who once again put in a fine display to see off Ole Solsjkaer’s men and move into the last eight of England’s premier cup competition.

The loss is really the first massive setback for Solskjaer since he took the reins at Old Trafford, and it will be interesting to see just how they bounce back now as the run for Champions League football enters it’s final few hurdles.

Most of what Solskjaer has touched since being the manager at United has turned to gold, and they are still in with a chance of winning the Champions League too, with a tough test against Barcelona the next obstacle for them to overcome.

Seeing how the Red Devils bounce back from a defeat like this is going to be a big test of the credentials Solskjaer will bring to the table on a full time basis if he is given the job, and it really is a chance to show once and for all just why he should be offered the role on a permanent basis.

United have improved massively, but the FA Cup would have been a nice trophy to add to the cabinet to cement the Norwegian’s success at the club so far.

United fans, what do you think? Will this prove a big setback or will you come back with ease? Let us know your thoughts!

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Paul Pogba enjoyed a match-winning display against Chelsea in the FA Cup on Monday evening.

The France international laid on the first goal, sending in a peach of a cross to Ander Herrera, who headed home, before scoring the second himself, sending a diving header past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Pogba’s form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been exemplary – in the Premier League he has scored eight goals and laid on five assists since the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

And against Chelsea, yet again, he was at his irrepressible best in midfield, dominating proceedings with his flair and precision dribbling.

Per WhoScored, Pogba, who briefly became the world’s most expensive player when he moved to Old Trafford for £89million in 2016, had 58 touches of the ball, made two dribbles, won three tackles, and scored with his only attempt on goal.

He was handed the Man of the Match award by the BBC during their broadcast of the game and several United fans on Twitter lavished praise on the 25-year-old’s performance. Take a look at some of the best reaction below.

West Ham fans will be disappointed to see their side not secure three points at home to Liverpool on Monday night.

The Reds opened the scoring early in the first-half through Sadio Mane who beat Lukasz Fabianski despite James Milner crossing from an offside position. However, the Hammers soon equalised from a well-worked free-kick with Michail Antonio beating Alisson Becker expertly on his right foot. Liverpool almost stole victory late on but Divock Origi couldn’t beat Fabianski even though he was offside.

Nevertheless, Manuel Pellegrini will look at the result as a good point gained. The Hammers’ progress under the Chilean has been steady and a good run of form in the latter stages of the campaign could secure European football at the London Stadium. The club must also look ahead to the summer window for players who could take them to the next level.

A perfect addition to the squad would be Eibar maestro – Joan Jordan. Valued at just £7.2m by Transfermarkt, the midfielder joined his current employers for just £900k in the summer of 2017 after departing Espanyol. Jordan has since become a crucial player for his side, making 21 appearances in La Liga so far this season.

Jordan is a well-rounded midfielder who would add another dimension to the Hammers engine room. The Spaniard loves to transition defence into attack meaning he would be the perfect partner for Declan Rice in a double pivot. Jordan has scored three goals and registered four assists for his team-mates this season, averaging an incredible 2.1 key passes per game – more than any other West Ham player so far this season (WhoScored).

While he may be an unknown name, this move could prove to be an astute piece of business.

West Ham fans, thoughts?