Category Uncategorized

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 270 career appearances, believes that losing Jamaal Lascelles through injury will be a big blow for Newcastle United, but hopes they have other leaders in the squad.

Steve Bruce delivered the disappointing news in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Burnley clash that he will be without his captain for what appears to be the remainder of the season, in a match that could give them some serious breathing space from 18th-placed Fulham.

During Callum Wilson’s latest injury, Lascelles has been the club’s top scorer with two headers against Aston Villa and Wolves respectively with both goals earning the Magpies a point in each match.

Speaking on how big of a blow losing Lascelles will be for Newcastle but how he hopes they will have other leaders ready to step up, Howey told FFC:

“Obviously it is a blow losing your skipper, but you’d like to think that there are some more leaders in the group.

“It just came out of nowhere, because there wasn’t any mention of an injury and then all of a sudden, he’s got this stress fracture, which is a blow.”

Lascelles has been an ever-present when fit under Bruce, having featured 19 times in the Premier League this season.

The 26-year old was appointed captain during their last season in the Championship when eyebrows were raised, considering he was just 22-years old at the time, with Rafa Benitez claiming he had a big character and was a leader in the changing room.

MatériaMais Notícias

Com vistas ao jogo contra o Corinthians, na Arena Corinthians, nesta quarta-feira, às 21h45, válido pelo jogo de ida das quartas-de-final da Copa do Brasil, o Cruzeiro encerrou sua preparação na tarde desta terça-feira. Entre boas e más notícias, o saldo está zerado.

A parte boa ficou por conta da liberação do volante Lucas Romero do departamento médico. No último domingo, ainda no primeiro tempo da derrota para o Flamengo, o camisa 29 sofreu um pequeno entorse no tornozelo esquerdo. E ele deve começar jogando contra os paulistas. Nesta segunda-feira, o Cruzeiro já havia confirmado o retorno do meia-atacante Alisson para o jogo.

Por outro lado, o zagueiro Bruno Rodrigo foi poupado da atividade, com dores na panturrilha direita. Ele, porém, deve jogar nesta quarta-feira. Três desfalques estão confirmados para o goleiro: o goleiro Elisson, o lateral-direito Ezequiel e o lateral-esquerdo Bryan já jogaram a competição por outros clubes e não podem defender a Raposa.

O Cruzeiro enxerga na Copa do Brasil uma oportunidade de salvar a temporada. No Brasileirão, a Raposa amarga a 17° colocação, com apenas 30 pontos,e briga contra o rebaixamento. No Campeonato Mineiro, o Cruzeiro foi eliminado na semifinal.

Manchester City have been linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud recently and his signing could prove to be a repeat of the deal that saw Ilkay Gundogan join the Citizens in 2016.

According to the Daily Mail, a host of Premier League clubs including City, Chelsea, Everton and Chelsea are all interested in signing the 25-year-old, who has just one year left on his deal with BVB.

The report suggests that City were keen on the midfielder before his move to Dortmund from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016 and they could reignite their interest this summer as he continues to impress with the Signal Iduna Park outfit.

So far this season, the German international has made just 12 appearances in the Bundesliga, in which he has contributed one goal and no assists, averaging a solid if unspectacular 6.74 WhoScored average match rating for his performances.

However, he has impressed with his displays in the Champions League, as he has averaged a 7.21 WhoScored rating for his performances, which suggests that he can be a top midfielder when on form.

City’s last signing from Borussia Dortmund was the deal which saw Gundogan join in 2016 and he has certainly proven to be a huge success, despite the injury concerns many had when he made the move to the Etihad.

This season in particular has seen the 30-year-old impress, as he has contributed 12 goals and one assist in 23 Premier League appearances, resulting in a superb 7.23 WhoScored rating.

However, the Turkish-born midfielder was not usually renowned for his goals at Manchester City, with his six league goals in the 2018/19 Premier League season his previous best tally.

WhoScored suggests that both Dahoud and Gundogan’s main strengths are their passing and long shots, which suggests that the Dortmund midfielder is a very similar style of player to the 30-year-old and could duly be a big hit at City should he join Guardiola’s side this summer.

Therefore, sporting director Txiki Begiristain should definitely consider bringing the £7.65m-rated midfielder to the Etihad Stadium in the summer, as it could prove to be a repeat of the masterclass which saw them sign Gundogan five years ago.

In other news… Txiki may regret £25m Man City decision with “phenomenal” beast

According to reliable club insider ExWHUemployee, via West Ham Central, Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard has expressed that he would like to sign for the Hammers on a permanent basis – prompting plenty of West Ham fans to become excited. 

Lingard, who has shined so far under Irons boss David Moyes since signing in January, even being nominated for February’s Premier League Player of the Month award, eventually missing out to Ilkay Gundogan, has already expressed a desire to join West Ham permanently, according to ExWHUemployee.

The 28-year-old has bagged four strikes and an assist in the Premier League already over just six starts (WhoScored), all while averaging an impressive and threatening 3.2 shots on goal per 90.

Now, Ex has revealed the attacking midfielder would like to sign for West Ham as a permanent player from parent club United – prompting plenty of excitement from supporters.

One Iron lauded the ‘great news’, and it’s hardly surprising given his fine start to life in east London.

Find all of their best verdicts down below.

West Ham fans excited by ExWHUemployee news

“Great news”

Credit: @riceTHEchamp

“Yessss”

Credit: @Lorrain94741983

“YESSSSS OF COURSE LİNGARD STAY AT WEST HAM”

Credit: @AtAvratLingard

“Let’s get the deal done!”

Credit: @SamanthaWalsh1

“perfect”

Credit: @DavidG87

“buzzing”

Credit: @ryan_hall27

“Things you love to see”

Credit: @WHU_CENTRE

“That’s great news COYIS “

Credit: @SandieBarrick

In other news: West Ham fans want this Premier League ace, find out more here.

أكد البرتغالي جايمي باتشيكو المدير الفني السابق لفريق نادي الزمالك، متابعته للكرة المصرية منذ تدريبه للقلعة البيضاء، مشيرًا إلى أن كارلوس كيروش المدير الفني لمنتخب مصر يعد من أفضل المدربين البرتغاليين، وذو خبرة كبيرة مع المنتخبات.

وقال باتشيكو في تصريحات تلفزيونية بفضائية “الحياة” عبر برنامج “كورة كل يوم”: “كيروش يستطيع قيادة مصر للفوز باللقب، ومباراة مصر ونيجيريا مهمة جدًا في مشوار الفراعنة، والانتصار على النسور يساعد منتخب مصر على التأهل بسهولة إلى المرحلة المقبلة من البطولة”.

طالع | محمد عبد الشافي لـ بطولات: تجديدي لـ الزمالك أمر طبيعي.. وأعتبر نفسي مثل شيكابالا

وأضاف: “حزنت لعدم وجود طارق حامد ضمن قائمة منتخب مصر لكأس أمم إفريقيا، طارق هو روح الفريق، ولكن أحترم قرار كيروش باستبعاده”.

وواصل: “علاقتي بمحمود عبد الرازق شيكابالا لم تكن سيئة، واللاعب نفسه يشهد على ذلك، هو من أكثر اللاعبين الذين كنت سعيدًا بتدريبهم، وحزين لعدم تدريبه منذ 10 سنوات، لو كنت دربته مبكرًا لوصلت به لمستوى لاعب عالمي مثل محمد صلاح”.

وتابع: “أوصيت بتصعيد حسين فيصل للفريق الأول، هو وغيره كانوا مستقبل نادي الزمالك ومنتخب مصر، ولو كنت متواجدًا كنت سأؤيد استمراره في الزمالك”.

وكشف: “إدارة نادي الزمالك هي من رشحت وتعاقدت مع سيف الدين الجزيري ومروان حمدي، ولكني طلبت من الإدارة التعاقد مع حسام حسن”.

واستطرد: “أكثر لاعب أحببته في الأهلي هو أكبر عدو لي، الذي أحرز الهدف الثاني في مرمى الزمالك بنهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا، محمد مجدي أفشة”.

واستكمل: “الأهلي والزمالك قادران على الفوز بدوري أبطال إفريقيا، وبسبب حبي لنادي الزمالك أتمنى يحقق اللقب”.

وواصل: “تلقيت عروضًا من أندية مصرية قبل تدريب الزمالك، ولكن احترامًا للأندية التي تفاوضات معي لا أريد أن أذكر أسماء”.

وأتم: “قبل تدريبي لنادي الزمالك ذهبت لدبي والتقيت مع مسؤولي بيراميدز ولكن لم نصل لاتفاق، بعد رحيلي من نادي الزمالك كانت هناك أندية تريد التعاقد معي ولكن لم نصل لاتفاق، أريد العودة لمصر ولكن لنادي لديه الطموح والإمكانية لكي ينافس على الألقاب”.

According to Glasgow Live, Rangers outcast Jordan Jones could be used as a transfer makeweight to help secure a move for Aberdeen star Scott Wright before the transfer window closes this week.

What’s the word?

Jones previously made headlines for all of the wrong reasons having been handed a seven-game ban by the SFA for breaking coronavirus protocols.

The Northern Ireland winger has served his suspension after being charged over the incident but is yet to to receive a minute of playing time for Steven Gerrard’s side this year.

Rangers have now made it clear they’re ready to offload him this month and Glasgow Live reports that he could find a new home with Derek McInnes’ side.

Get rid of him

After suffering a goal drought stretching back to the 3-2 win over Standard Liege in the Europa League last year, Ryan Kent ended his barron spell with a fine finish against Ross County.

Speculation is rife over his future at the club, but Kent looked to have his focus back against the Staggies in Saturday’s 5-0 win.

Whilst Gerrard is in dire need of options out wide, this doesn’t mean that he should turn to Jones. Indeed, it would be better for the Ibrox boss to simply offload the Northern Irishman – either permanently or on a temporary basis with an option to buy.

Jones has struggled to have any real impact for Rangers since he signed a four-year pre-contract deal with the 54-time Scottish champions in 2019.

The 26-year-old’s slump is stark – he has gone three games without a goal and has netted just once in 19 games for the Gers. Alarming figures for a forward who was once considered to be “a great talent” by his former Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke. This is a poor return by any player’s standards, especially when you consider the fact that he earns around £9,100-per-week at Ibrox, which is more than regular starter Joe Aribo.

For context, this is even fewer goals than Brandon Barker, who himself faces an uncertain future at the club having struggled for game time under Gerrard this season.

His salary could be used to pay for Wright’s imminent arrival with Gerrard seemingly eager to bring the 23-year-old left-winger to Ibrox before the transfer window closes this week.

However, the Dons are holding firm, as they are reluctant to part ways with one of their star players immediately, so Jones could be used to sweeten the deal instead.

AND in other news, Rangers are close to securing Scott Wright from Aberdeen…

After seeing Celtic’s Scottish Premiership campaign crumble in front of his very eyes, Peter Lawwell will desperately be searching for ways to hit the reset button and kick-start a new era of dominance.

The Hoops have endured a nightmare first-half to the season thus far, finding themselves 21 points behind leaders and Old Firm rivals Rangers.

If planning for next season isn’t already under way at Parkhead, then there is something seriously going wrong at the club. But, according to The Daily Mirror, the Bhoys do seem to be looking at ways of setting up a more exciting future, with it being suggested that Wigan teenager Kyle Joseph is someone who they’re looking at potentially signing.

The report claims that Celtic are not the only ones tracking the Scotland U19 international, with Rangers, Tottenham and Sheffield United all in the race to sign him too, although their hopes are boosted by the fact his contract with the Latics comes to an end in June.

And whilst the sample size is small – he’s played just 13 games of senior football at Wigan so far – he’s already shown signs of being a really impressive young talent.

The 19-year-old bagged a hat-trick in Wigan’s last game in League One, when they beat Burton Albion 4-3. Despite the Latics being near the foot of the table, Joseph’s goals showed that he’s got the mentality to continue playing his way, and that kind of fearlessness is something Celtic would surely love to add to their side.

His teammate, Kal Naismith, said he has a “great appetite for the game” and works hard, insisting that “he’ll be a top player”. At 19, Joseph isn’t going to come in at Celtic and hit the ground running or be the saviour to topple Rangers next season.

But he can be a major building block for their future as they start afresh, and Lawwell would do well to fend off competition to bring him to Scotland.

Meanwhile, Celtic can get an Edouard replacement in this 27-goal striker…

The first Football League World’s Fans’ Player of the Month awards of 2021 are here and, in this instance, we’re looking at the best performances in the Sky Bet Championship.

January is always a testing time for clubs in the EFL and the second tier arguably sees the most frantic fixture list with FA Cup football coming into the equation.

Throw in the unprecedented circumstances this season has provided and you get quite the potent mix for players and managers to deal with, though the six footballers below seem to have done so with aplomb.

Here, we take a look at the six Championship players who impressed us so much that they’ve earned nominations for the Football League World’s Fans’ Player of the Month award.

All stats courtesy of Whoscored.

The Goalkeepers Nominee: Seny Dieng

Dieng became QPR’s number 1 stopper at the start of the season and hasn’t looked back ever since.

The winter window saw him linked with the likes of Arsenal and Leeds United but there were no concrete offers and QPR will be delighted about that.

The Hoops embarked on decent form in January with their away form particularly pleasing as Dieng recorded clean sheets against the likes of Cardiff City and Luton Town.

The Defenders Nominees: Grant Hanley, Darragh Lenihan

Norwich City continued their promotion challenge in style during January and Hanley was a key part of their good form.

The likes of Teemu Pukki, Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell obviously get the lion’s share of the headlines but without the likes of Hanley at the back, the Canaries wouldn’t be where they are.

He helped the Yellows record four clean sheets in January.

Blackburn bolstered their play-off challenge in January with some impressive results.

Many have marvelled at their attacking potency this season in the Championship and rightly so but it was their defensive work that really earned them the points in January.

Skipper Lenihan was crucial in that as they recorded three clean sheets with him in the side, with two of those matches seeing 1-0 scorelines in favour of Rovers.

The Midfielders Nominee: Matt Crooks

Rotherham United really upped the ante in the relegation battle in the Championship with some excellent form for Paul Warne’s men.

Matt Crooks enjoyed a fine time of it, as well, with him regularly breaking lines and linking up nicely with Millers forward Michael Smith.

They’re dovetailing well and Crooks scored three and set up another in a strong month, with big performances coming against Stoke City, Middlesbrough and Derby County.

The Strikers Nominees: Lucas Joao, Ivan Toney

Reading forward Joao was back in the Royals’ side after a recent injury and underlined the quality he brings with a stellar January.

Veljko Paunovic’s men have been one of the stories of the season with their play-off challenge and last month suggested they are going to be there for the rest of the campaign.

Joao scored four goals and set-up another one during the month of January.

Joao, though, is chasing Toney in the Golden Boot race with the Brentford star continuing his exemplary form in front of goals for the Bees.

Thomas Frank’s side really are hitting their stride at the moment and will be eyeing the title, with Toney leading the charge.

He scored six goals and added three assists in the month of January, with a hat-trick coming in the 7-2 demolition of Wycombe Wanderers.

Leeds must bite the bullet on Rafa Mujica and call time on his career at Elland Road.

What’s the story?

The Spaniard arrived from La Liga giants Barcelona in the summer of 2019 following the expiration of his contract, with the Whites confirming on their official club website at the time that he would “initially link up with Carlos Corberan’s Under-23 side, with a view to training with the first team”.

That just hasn’t been the case, however, with the 22-year-old having played a grand sum of zero games under Marcelo Bielsa. The striker has spent this season on loan at Real Oviedo, but now, Udlaspalmas.net (via Sport Witness) claim that he could end up joining Las Palmas if they cut short another loanee’s stay at the club to accommodate his arrival .

Orta disaster

At 22, Mujica surely can’t be considered a young up-and-coming talent, and the fact he’s yet to play a single competitive game for Leeds is indicative of how out of the first-team picture he is at Elland Road.

The fact he’s just made five total appearances for Oviedo this season – a side languishing in Spanish football’s second tier – says everything about his ability and whether he is even remotely close to being a Premier League player.

Continually just sending him out on loan makes no sense whatsoever, and it would just be better for all parties if the Whites make a decisive call and just accept that Mujica may not turn out to be a Victor Orta success story.

Leeds’ director of football has worked his magic in the transfer market for the Whites since he’s been at Elland Road, helping Bielsa build a side that are battling against the top sides in the Premier League this season, where they have picked up some big results – not least the draw against Manchester City at home.

But Orta’s signing of Mujica will go down as nothing but a disaster, and whilst the player’s short-term future looks like it might include yet another loan spell at yet another club, his long-term future should not be anywhere near Leeds. They simply have to bite the bullet.

Meanwhile, Leeds are interested in this Premier League starlet…

Exciting news on Celtic’s summer target Mark McKenzie has emerged after the defender admitted that he would be open to a move to Parkhead in January.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Philadelphia Union ace highlighted Virgil van Dijk’s success story as something that has inspired him. If the Hoops return for the £2.7million-valued centre-back next month, they could be looking at their next big club project.

McKenzie can be Celtic’s Ajer replacement

The 21-year-old defender has already dropped a huge hint with his recent interview and if that’s not enough to convince Peter Lawwell, he must look at the bigger picture. Celtic run a very high risk of losing star centre-back Kristoffer Ajer amid a flurry of interest all across Europe.

Several clubs came knocking for his services in the summer but the Hoops were able to hang onto their 6’5 colossus. However, as he continues to shine in Glasgow, it’s surely only a matter of time before he is whisked away on his next journey.

AC Milan prepared a summer offer of £14million for the Norway international and it’s unlikely they – and many others – will just drop their interest completely. Should Ajer be poached in summer, or even in January, Lawwell will have to make a new central defender his priority. Especially given the fact that Shane Duffy is only on loan and will return to Brighton in six months.

McKenzie is the perfect fit to join the Hoops and he has already expressed his desire to make the move sooner rather than later. His ability to stand strong in the heart of the defence as well as ping long balls towards the attackers will suit Neil Lennon’s team very well.

This move is something that Lawwell should be all over, as it would be a huge statement for both the club and the player.

In other news, Rangers transfer blow could be big positive for Neil Lennon…