All posts by h716a5.icu

Everton have been tipped to make a stunning summer swoop for Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale.

El Chiringuito TV report that Carlo Ancelotti wants a reunion with Bale at Goodison Park, having worked with him at the Santiago Bernabeu – Bale has spent the 2020/21 season on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, having fallen out of favour with Zinedine Zidane after Ancelotti’s exit.

How has Bale performed at Spurs?

A hat-trick against relegated Sheffield United at the weekend took the Welshman to nine Premier League goals for the season.

That’s more than any Everton player excluding Dominic Calvert-Lewin (15).

In total, Bale has scored 14 goals in all competitions, posting an impressive minutes per goal record of 105 (via Transfermarkt).

Bale, who will turn 32 in July, has just over a year left on his Real Madrid contract and is valued at £18million by Transfermarkt because of this.

He said during the March international break that his plan was to return to the Spanish capital at the end of the season, so it a long-term deal to stay in north London appears unlikely.

Ancelotti has already reunited with James Rodriguez and Allan on Merseyside – could he do the same with Bale?

Twitter fan feed The Toffee Blues relayed the rumour, and here’s how fans reacted.

These Everton fans urge club not to pursue Bale

“We going for the oldest team in the league ?”

Credit: @Stu17666455

“Does he want to sign Father Ted’s over 75’s too”

Credit: @efcshaz1878

“Hell we are becoming a retirement home”

Credit: @toddlonsdale

“Big no thanks”

Credit: @rowleydan

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Credit: @alandean1878

“Is he really worth it? No”

Credit: @matthew_nestor

“At this rate we’ll be linked with Inzaghi, Kaka and Dida”

Credit: @mannie_efcIn other news, this ex-Everton star revealed what Carlo Ancelotti told him before he left.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming produced a vital innings for his Middlesex side in the CricInfo County Championship today

Lynn McConnell11-May-2001New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming produced a vital innings for his Middlesex side in the CricInfo County Championship today.Playing against Gloucestershire at Bristol in the second division of the championship, Middlesex were in early strife with two wickets down for five runs.But Fleming played one of his better hands for the county so far when scoring 52 and seeing the score through to 102 before he was the fourth wicket to depart the crease after returning a caught and bowled chance to Mark Alleyne.Fleming batted 144 minutes and faced 118 balls and hit nine fours in his innings.Chasing Gloucestershire’s 272, Middlesex were 186/7 at stumps. The game has two days remaining.Meanwhile, in the Lancashire league, Tama Canning has been involved with Nathan Astle’s former club Accrington, and while he has enjoyed personal success, the club is struggling for wins. Canning was fon the brink of international selection during the last summer when he was given dispensation to represent New Zealand despite a long period of his life spent living in Australia.However, the call-up did not come as Canning lost form and opportunities before he could be named by the selectors.In his first match, against Colne, Canning took six for 43 before the match was abandoned due to bad weather with Colne 127/7.The following day saw Canning take five for 71 in 21 overs against East Lancashire who finished on 146/6. Accrington failed to score any more than 80 in their innings when Australian cricketer Brad Young took seven for 28.A week later Canning took four for 68 against Lowerhouse who were 138/8 at the end of their innings. Accrington again fell short however, as they were all out for 127.Last weekend, in their most recent game, Haslingden scored 170/6 with Canning taking three for 44. Canning came to light with the bat while scoring 36 but the side finished on 145/9.

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have reacted to Roy Hodgson’s latest comments regarding his future after they emerged on social media.

Hodgson, 73, is out of contract at Selhurst Park in around seven weeks time, however, the club or the manager are yet to confirm their plans for the 2021/22 season.

A number of managers have been linked with replacing Hodgson, including Sean Dyche, Frank Lampard, Eddie Howe, Patrick Vieira and Paulo Fonseca.

Palace fell to a 3-1 defeat to Southampton on Tuesday evening, and talking after the game, Hodgson was quizzed on his future.

Talking to Sky, relayed by Guardian reporter Ed Aarons on social media, Hodgson confirmed he will inform relevant parties on what he plans to do at the end of the season.

“I shall let people know what I shall be doing at the end of the season when the time is right. But I’m not going to answer the question until such time as I want to.”

The Eagles still have three Premier League fixtures remaining, with their final match of the season against Liverpool at Anfield on May 23.

Palace fans react

This is what these Palace fans had to say in reply to Aarons’ Twitter post. Plenty were angry with Hodgson, with one describing his comments as ‘arrogant’, while one pointed the finger at Steve Parish.

“He’s done”Credit: @Sumo08112″Happy retirement, you killed my club. Cheers.”Credit: @HenryKerrG”If you want Roy Hodgson to stay then be prepared to watch the same boring football which suits Parish as long as he keeps Palace in the Prem! The only way forward is for Parish to go!”Credit: @Paul06179713″This is real selfish of Roy, the uncertainty behind the club, including the players and manager has contributed to our poor form across the season. If we knew what was going on we’d have no choice but to back the manager and the team. Fans would feel a lot more connected too”Credit: @tyrickmitch”Sounds very arrogant to me. Maybe I’m just bitter towards him though….”Credit: @Leemunden24″I’ll start the car.”Credit: @stuartAchalmers

In other news: Many CPFC fans buzz at plans for another documentary series, find out more here. 

The Test playing countries in Asia have agreed in principal to a system by which a side failing to honour contractual obligations to play in a series has to offer compensation to its rival team

26-May-2001The Test playing countries in Asia have agreed in principal to a system by which a side failing to honour contractual obligations to play in a series has to offer compensation to its rival team.The Asian Cricket Council secretary Zakir Mohammad Sayeed told PTI over phone from Lahore that the presidents of the Cricket Boards of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who met during the two-day ACC meeting that concluded on Friday, agreed that such a system was desirable but left the detailsto be worked out later by a sub-committee.Pakistan had been demanding such a compensation clause to be included in the International Cricket Council’s ten-year calendar for Test playing countries unveiled at its Executive Board meeting in Melbourne earlier this year.Claiming that India’s decision to cancel its scheduled tour to Pakistan starting in December last year had cost substantial financial losses to it, the Pakistan Cricket Board had urged the ICC to introduce such a clause to deter any country from going back on playing commitments in future.The Indian government had refused to allow its team to tour Pakistan in keeping with its policy of not playing its neighbour in a bilateral series because of Islamabad’s continued support to cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.The government also refused permission to its team to play in a triangular one-day series in Sharjah involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka in April, a decision that had angered the PCB which threatened not to play against India in any tournament anywhere in the world in future.However, PCB officials today appeared happy after the BCCI president AC Muthiah explained to them India’s stand that the ban was only on a bilateral series and tournaments at ‘non-regular venues and that the two countries can play intournaments featuring other nations.Sayeed too welcomed the explanation and said the Pakistan officials had not made an issue of the Indian government’s decision to skip the bilateral series. “We are very happy about it (that India and Pakistan can play in multi-lateral tournaments),” he said.India has expressed its willingness to participate in the Asia Cup scheduled to be held in Pakistan next year and in the Asian Test championship.Meanwhile, after informal meetings between the heads and officials of the various member Boards, the ACC delegates settled down for a formal meeting today during which they discussed the proper utilisation of $6.5 million provided by the International Cricket Council for the development of the gamein the region.

England’s in-form batsman Graham Thorpe has been ruled out of the first two opening NatWest Series games through a right calf muscle injury

CricInfo07-Jun-2001England’s in-form batsman Graham Thorpe has been ruled out of the first two opening NatWest Series games through a right calf muscle injury.The Surrey batsman, who hit a century in the Second Test against Pakistan, sustained the injury while warming up for today’s NatWest Series opener against Pakistan at Edgbaston.His county colleague Ally Brown was drafted in as a replacement – the first time he has played in a One-Day International for three years.It had been hoped that Thorpe would be available for England’s next game against Australia in Bristol on Sunday but, after an examination, physiotherapist Dean Conway ruled out that possibility.Thorpe’s condition will now be assessed at Lord’s on Monday before England’s game against Pakistan at Headquarters on Tuesday.England’s selectors plan to name a temporary replacement for Thorpe in thenext 24 hours as cover, with Worcestershire’s Vikram Solanki and Owais Shah ofMiddlesex among the contenders.

Sunderland are in the play-offs for the second time in three seasons and with a new owner in Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, former Premier League defender Steve Howey exclusively told Football FanCast that he expects them to invest and build the club back up from next season.

Stewart Donald, who bought the club from Ellis Short in 2018, eventually got out of Sunderland after several attempts to sell the club and Louis-Dreyfus could see his new club promoted within months of becoming their new owner.

Sunderland suffered two consecutive relegations as they fell drastically from the Premier League all the way into League One, which now consists of the likes of Sunderland, Portsmouth, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic.

If the Black Cats manage to win the play-offs and get themselves back into the Championship then their fans can expect smart and sensible investment meant to follow. That is according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to FFC.

He said: “I think the new owner recognises the potential of the club and we’ve seen that through the people he’s brought into the club to support him. They all seem very shrewd people that hopefully know what they are doing because let’s be honest, the last owner didn’t.

“He’s got people around him that can offer good advice and they can maybe build the platform for next season if they go up, and I’m pretty sure that there will be investment in the club.”

Sunderland entered the play-offs in awful form having won just one of their previous seven league games and that was against Plymouth Argyle to secure their play-off spot.

The Black Cats will be hoping that they can achieve their goal of getting out of League One as that would help them in potentially keeping the likes of Charlie Wyke and Aiden McGeady.

The International Cricket Council on Monday decided to implement allthe recommendations of the Sir Paul Condon report on corruption incricket and gave an ultimatum to Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta tobecome a formal approver by July 1

19-Jun-2001The International Cricket Council on Monday decided to implement allthe recommendations of the Sir Paul Condon report on corruption incricket and gave an ultimatum to Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta tobecome a formal approver by July 1.”The ICC has approved the report in full and will be implementing allthe 24 recommendations,” ICC President Malcolm Gray told reporters inLondon after the Executive Board meeting which unanimously approvedCondon’s findings.Condon, who heads the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of the ICC, led aworld-wide probe into match-fixing and his findings culminated in a36-page report released last month.Condon told PTI that a two-member team of ACU will travel to Indialater this week to serve the ultimatum on Gupta who claimed to havegiven money to a number of international cricketers and figuredprominently in the CBI report on betting and match-fixing.”My team will be in India later this week in pursuance of thismessage. Gupta will be a formal witness or he won’t,” Condon said.Condon said he had met Gupta twice in March this year and the bookiehad verbally confirmed all his allegations he made to CBI. “(But) thatis not enough to move forward with disciplinary proceedings (againstthe players). We have to have evidence to bring some closure to allthis as otherwise it will be unfair to allow the cloud of suspicion tohang over the players’ heads,” he said.”I have given Gupta an ultimatum that it is necessary to let us knowby July 1 whether he is willing to cooperate with his evidence eitherin India or outside. If he fails to heed to the ultimatum, we mustassume that he is not prepared to cooperate further,” Condon said.He said ICC would guarantee Gupta his safety if he agreed to testifybefore the ACU.Condon also reaffirmed his intention to talk to England stand-incaptain Alec Stewart about allegations that he accepted cash fromGupta. “When the CBI report was issued last year, Stewart denied theallegations and wanted to come and see me, and give his side of thestory. His is exactly the same position as other people’s. I amanxious to see him. We are waiting for an early meeting,” said Condon,who added his unit would also interview former New Zealand captainMartin Crowe by the end of this month and Brian Lara of West Indiesearly next month.Condon was all praise for the CBI and described the agency as a “veryprofessional outfit” for which he had a “lot of admiration”.A CBI team will be visiting London this week in connection withinvestigations into alleged bungling in the allotment of TV telecastrights case for the 1998 ICC Knock-out tournament in Dhaka and Condonsaid the ACU will offer whatever support it can to the team. “We workvery closely with the CBI,” he said.

New York Red Bulls director Kevin Thelwell has recently revealed that some at Celtic wanted to keep forward Patryk Klimala at Parkhead.

The Lowdown: Klimala’s big-money deal and wage increase

Klimala made the move to the MLS last month, ending his Celtic Park career after just 15 months.

The 22-year-old cost the Hoops £3.6m back in 2020, however, Celtic sold the striker for £3.93m despite the Pole scoring just three times in 28 appearances.

Reports have suggested add-ons could take the deal up to £5m, with Klimala now on around $22,000-a-week (£15,500) stateside.

The Latest: Thelwell’s claim on the forward

New York Red Bulls director Kevin Thelwell was recently talking about Klimala to The Atheltic and admitted that some at Parkhead actually ‘didn’t want to let him go’ – an intriguing six-word admission.

“I had outstanding references on him at Celtic. There were some people there who didn’t want to let him go, didn’t feel he had the opportunity perhaps he should have done and were also saying if he did get the opportunity Celtic would have been a lot better for it.

“These are people I trust and people we trust within our network.”

The Verdict: An offer too good to turn down

Let’s be honest, the offer from New York Red Bulls was just too good to turn down. Celtic have ended up making an immediate £330,000 profit on a player who averaged a goal every nine appearances.

He failed to become a mainstay in the Hoops side and had to deal with cameo appearances from the bench.

If the bid from New York Red Bulls was less than £3m, we could understand the Hoops rejecting it and keeping faith with the forward.

However, that wasn’t the case and we don’t feel that Celtic have made the wrong decision, even if some inside Celtic Park feel they might have.

In other news: ‘Howe wants…’ – Alan Nixon drops Celtic managerial demand which could be good news for Dom McKay, find out more here. 

Glamorgan`s pre-season tour of South Africa began with a 189 run victory overa Cape Technicon XI at the Green Club in Cape Town

Andrew Hignell04-Apr-2002Glamorgan`s pre-season tour of South Africa began with a 189 run victory overa Cape Technicon XI at the Green Club in Cape Town. The Technicon side containedseveral leading club players from the area, but they were outclassed by theGlamorgan professionals in this 50 overs friendly.After winning the toss and batting first, Keith Newell and David Hemp gave Glamorgan a rousing start, adding 157 in just 25 overs. Hemp was eventually dismissed for 72 off 65 balls, hitting 2 sixes and 9 fours, whilst Newell departed two overs later for 83.After the loss of Robert Croft for 6 and Matthew Maynard for 19, captain Steve James and Mike Powell then shared another productive partnership, adding 96 for the 5th wicket, with James scoring 74 and Powell being 40* when the Glamorgan innings ended on 312-6.Accurate new ball bowling by Andrew Davies, Owen Parkin and Darren Thomas restricted the local batsmen, who never looked likely to score at the asking rate of six runs an over. Spinners Robert Croft and Dean Cosker then took three wickets apiece as the Welsh county cruised to a comfortable win.

Plenty of Aston Villa fans were left disappointed after defender Ezri Konsa was left out of Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for this summer’s European Championships.

Southgate named Tyrone Mings, Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins in his 33-man squad, with no room for Konsa or Matt Targett.

That squad will have to be trimmed down to 26 players over the coming days, but plenty of Villa supporters were baffled at Konsa not making the initial 33.

He missed just two Premier League games all season and was key in a Villa defence that kept 15 clean sheets during the 2020/21 campaign.

Konsa, who can also represent Portugal, has turned out for the Three Lions at Under-21 level, but a maiden senior call up will, unfortunately, have to wait.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news on Mings, Grealish and Watkins on their official Twitter page on Tuesday afternoon.

However, these supporters wanted to talk about Konsa’s exclusion, with one describing the decision to overlook him as ‘terrible’.

“Disgusting that Konsa hasn’t gone”Credit: @Harry34740948″How Konsa hasn’t been named is a travesty. He’s our best defender and a Rolls Royce of a player. He only called up Jack after major pressure from fans/pundits and squad injuries. No doubt he’ll bin off Ollie too later for his favourites.”Credit: @Scott84764090″Konsa robbed”Credit: @joshkentx”How konsa hasn’t gone is terrible”Credit: @harry79050597″justice for konsa I say”Credit: @catrinedwards18″Feel for Konsa. Deserves a chance.”Credit: @JayVtid

In other news: Many AVFC fans buzz at Emiliano Buendia latest, find out more here.