All posts by n8rngtd.top

Newcastle United host Brentford at St James’ Park this afternoon, and Eddie Howe will be hoping that the Magpies can build upon their win at Fulham, especially with the injury lifeline that his team has been handed.

What’s the latest?

Taking to Twitter on Friday morning, Craig Hope issued fitness updates on Allan Saint-Maximin and Aleksander Isak. Whilst the latest on the latter was not promising, there was notably some good news on the Frenchman.

The Daily Mail reporter tweeted: ‘Allan Saint-Maximin has trained all week & looks set to be in NUFC squad for Brentford. Alexander Isak still out. Eddie Howe confirms thigh injury. “He’s running on grass & increasing his speed, but medical team are holding him back from any more than that”. Timeframe “unknown”.’

Although it is a mixture of good and bad news, with the Swedish striker still ruled out, the boost of having the 25-year-old winger back will surely please Howe.

Howe will be delighted

It is incredible how instrumental Saint-Maximin has become to this Newcastle side, as he has featured for multiple managers with contrasting styles, but remained a constant in the team throughout.

He has played 97 games and counting for the Magpies and has recorded 13 goals and 18 assists. It is a respectable return, but one that he knows himself can be improved.

Five goals and five assists last season marked a genuine attempt to improve his numbers, which was perhaps the only side of his game which let him down at times. He had started this season in scintillating form too, earning an average SofaScore rating of 7.53.

The 25-year-old is averaging 1.8 key passes per match whilst offering a 58% success rate when dribbling. He seems to be adding more consistency to his game, which can be seen in his tally of one goal and two assists already this season, despite only appearing in the first four matches of the campaign.

Although the absence of Isak might be a big blow for the Toon, having Saint-Maximin back is arguably far more important, especially with Callum Wilson able to deputise up top.

Nobody on Tyneside, and very few in the Premier League, can do what the 25-year-old does in terms of leaving opponents in the dust – his match average of 3.5 dribbles far outstrips everyone else in Newcastle’s squad. He will likely be integral if the Magpies are to claim victory against Brentford today.

Transfer expert Rudy Galetti has revealed that Liverpool are in the race to sign Flamengo defensive midfielder Joao Gomes in the January window.

The Lowdown: Defensive midfielder needed

With Fabinho the only recognised defensive midfielder in the senior squad at the moment, Jurgen Klopp’s side could do with strengthening in that area of the pitch come January.

The Brazil international has been heavily criticised for some of his performances so far this season ahead of Sunday afternoon’s mega clash against Manchester City in the Premier League, and so perhaps the Anfield outfit need to freshen things up in his position, offering more chances for rest and rotation.

The Latest: Gomes race

Taking to Twitter, Galetti has revealed that Sevilla have joined the Reds among a number of other clubs in the race to sign Gomes ahead of January:

“#Sevilla want to enter in the race for Joao #Gomes (#Flamengo).  The midfielder is followed by #RealMadrid, #BayerLeverkusen and #Liverpool as well. Evolving situation.”

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The Verdict: Get it done

Fabinho needs some competition in his position in order to help him increase his performance levels, and fellow Brazilian Gomes would help do just that.

Likened to a ‘pitbull’ and hailed for his ‘tireless’ running, ‘tenacious’ tackling and ‘very high’ work rate by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, the 21-year-old is clearly a talent, and like Fabinho, has started his career in Brazilian football.

Gomes has amassed over 100 appearances for Flamengo already, scoring three goals and making three assists (admitted in the past that he would love to play for Liverpool.

Thus, this transfer could be a match made in heaven, and it will be up to the Reds to get a deal done in January.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have held an interview with Rob Edwards over the vacant managerial position, according to The Telegraph journalist John Percy.

The Lowdown: Lopetegui alternative

Fosun and Jeff Shi have been on the hunt to find Bruno Lage’s successor and had made the former Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui their number one target, but were sent back to the drawing board after he turned down the opportunity to move to the Premier League.

Edwards was sacked by Watford last month and is now a free agent, and it appears that the hierarchy have added the 39-year-old to their shortlist of ideal candidates as they look to appoint a new man in the dugout.

The Latest: Wolves interview Edwards

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Percy revealed that Wolves have interviewed Edwards, and whilst they are still set to hold talks with other candidates, the up and coming coach is a ‘surprise’ option.

“Wolves interviewed former player and ex-Watford manager Rob Edwards today. Process to appoint a new manager still in early stages with other contenders from UK & abroad to be approached, but Edwards is a surprise option. Reputation with club v high.”

The Verdict: Ideal candidate?

Edwards previously played for Wolves and even became a coach in the club’s academy after retiring so it’s no surprise to learn that they value him so highly.

The Telford-born man, who likes a 3-5-2 system, has only lost 27 out of 101 games throughout his managerial career (winning 47 and drawing 27), and also has a promotion to his name after guiding Forest Green Rovers to glory last season.

Hiring Edwards would be a risk given he’s never had a senior position in the top flight, but Old Gold figures knowing him so well would surely mean he’d have the support network to atone for any shortcomings in experience.

Liverpool reporter for The Athletic James Pearce has shared an injury update on Darwin Nunez ahead of their game away at Nottingham Forest.

The Lowdown: Injury concern

Jurgen Klopp confirmed that Nunez ‘felt something’ in their 1-0 win at home to West Ham United in midweek, as he was substituted before the hour mark.

The Uruguay international grabbed the only goal of the game in the first half with a well-placed header, and would have likely stayed on for longer if he did not pick up his injury.

The Latest: Treatment needed

Taking to Twitter on Friday afternoon, Pearce shared an update from Klopp on Nunez, as he confirmed that the striker has had ‘treatment’ on a tight hamstring, and is now a potential doubt for the match at Forest:

“He had treatment yesterday so we will see.”

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The Verdict: Would be a big blow

It would certainly be a big blow for Klopp and his team if Nunez is unavailable to play against Forest.

The 23-year-old looks like he is starting to find his feet after getting himself sent off earlier in the season, with three goals in his last four matches in all competitions (Transfermarkt).

With both Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota injured as well, Klopp’s options in the forward line are limited at the moment, and losing Nunez as well would not be ideal, as the Anfield outfit need to keep on winning to put pressure on the top four.

It has been with us for a while now and for the vast majority of football fans in the English Premier League, it shows no signs of actually improving, improving the game and not simply being another way for incompetent referees to unfairly influence a game in favour of the media big boys.

Yes, we are talking about the Video Assistant Referee technology, although the use of the word technology is meant in the loosest sense. We have seen how well VAR can work in European leagues previously, but for some reason when it comes to the Premier League and the Champions League it seems like an endless kerfuffle of mistakes, contradictions and absolutely infuriating moments that simply serve to further diminish the raw passion and emotion of our beautiful game.

The latest controversy came in the midweek Champions League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Sporting Lisbon. Spurs manager Antonio Conte saw red and was sent off after England striker Harry Kane saw his stoppage time potential winner ruled out for an offside, which in turn delays their qualification through to the last 16 but you will get good a sportingbet sign up offer on not letting this result effect their chances.

Ranting to the media following the full time whistle, the 53-year-old Italian was simply perplexed as to how such an obvious mistake could be made, as in his mind, such mistakes should be impossible under VAR itself.

“What happened in the last game was incredible. You score, you are already qualified for the next round, you are celebrating and then you have to stay for five minutes to look at the situation with VAR and you take the decision and you don’t know if it’s right or wrong. For me it’s impossible to make a wrong decision with VAR and also to take four, five or six minutes to make it. To stay there five or six minutes already means you have confusion in your mind. It’s incredible.”

Conte was so incensed his proper post game press conference lasted a single question.

“This is not football in this way also because you cut the emotion, the emotion of everybody and especially the players because you don’t know. You score a goal and you don’t know what happens later. Did someone commit a foul one minute before? Or discover a foul one minute before and then they go to disallow this? It happened but it only happened when they want it to happen. This is the difference. But when I stay at home and I see the image, I am watching another game and I see the image, the VAR, then for me it is easy to take the best decision.”

I think most will agree with what Conte was subtly trying to say.

Photo by Unsplash

Southampton’s unbeaten run came crashing to an end yesterday, as they fell to a disappointing defeat in the Premier League against Crystal Palace.

With the Eagles coming off the back of a 3-0 drubbing at Goodison Park, there may have been widespread belief on the south coast that the Saints might be able to snatch some points from the hosts at Selhurst Park.

There were some decidedly poor displays from the visiting team, with full-back Lyanco arguably the pick of the bunch.

His SofaScore rating of 6.1 is indicative of an awful display, but it was the team’s toothless nature which truly cost them. This is no better exemplified than in Che Adams’ rating of 5.8, the worst of anyone on the field.

Despite Southampton having more of the ball and more shots than the Eagles, they somehow still managed to not find the net with any of their 14 attempts, via SofaScore. This was largely in part to the wasteful Scotsman, who showed little involvement throughout and when he did was instrumental in killing attacks.

Having touched the ball just 36 times and lost it on 12 occasions, the 26-year-old was dispossessed once for every 2.9 touches. However, it was in the final third that his lack of contribution really stood out.

He missed an astonishing three big chances, not managing to score with any of his five shots. His lack of proficiency will surely leave his manager furious that he squandered so many opportunities, in a game which was wholly winnable.

To further compound his miserable performance, Adams also won just three of his 11 duels throughout the game.

Lyanco might have made the error which led to the goal, but had his attacking team-mate finished any of his three fine opportunities, then it would have been a different game. Therefore, it is the Scotland international who should face the brunt of Hasenhuttl’s wrath.

Southampton now sit just one point and one place above the relegation zone, with their unpredictable form lending to their slump down the table.

Perhaps the manager might think twice about Adams inclusion after yesterday’s performance, in which the 26-year-old showed himself to be the team’s true villain.

Glasgow Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was recently hit with a frustrating injury blow as summer signing Ridvan Yilmaz has been ruled out until after the World Cup.

The Turkish international had finally won his place in the team at left-back and pulled up in the first half of the 4-1 win against Aberdeen in the Premiership, which forced him to come off within the first 10 minutes.

He is now facing a number of weeks on the sidelines and will need to prove himself yet again in order to get in the side ahead of Croatian defender Borna Barisic.

Whilst they are the current first-team left-backs available to the manager, van Bronckhorst could look to the academy team to provide cover whilst Yilmaz is out injured.

Rangers signed Romanian youth international Kevin Ciubotaru back in February and the Dutch head coach could strike gold by unearthing his talent in the coming weeks, months, and years.

The 18-year-old has been a regular in the B team for the Light Blues this season as he has played four times in the Lowland League and twice in the UEFA Youth League.

Kinetic, the academy Rangers signed him from, co-founder Harry Hudson previously heaped praise on the youngster, saying:

“[He] plays left back or can play left wing-back. Very attack-minded. [A] powerful runner, [a] good dribbler, gets forward well and [he] contributes really well in the offensive phases.

“Defensively he’s worked really hard with us so he covers both those sides of his game. He’s very good aerially, a strong player with an exceptionally high ceiling so looking forward to seeing how he gets on and watching his progress at Rangers.”
These quotes suggest that he is a young player with a lot of potential as he can make an impact at both ends of the pitch from left-back, with Hudson believing that he has offensive and defensive qualities.

The full-back, who has described himself as a “robot”, has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve before making the step up to first-team level. At the age of 18, van Bronckhorst can work with the gem on the training pitch to get him to a point where he is comfortable enough to play regulars in the senior squad.

For now, he could be named on the bench in the absence of Yilmaz to get a feel for what it is like to be in the squad for a Premiership match, with a view to him playing matches in the future.

Van Bronckhorst could strike gold by unearthing the teen’s talent as the gem appears to be a player with high potential and he could be a star for Rangers in the future if he can adapt to playing professional football, after excelling at youth level.

Pundit Kevin Campbell has been reacting to footage involving Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Bailey and Martinez

Unai Emery began life in charge of Villa with a fine 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday, with Bailey betting the first goal of the Spaniard’s era in the Midlands.

The two sides meet again this evening in the Carabao Cup, with Bailey and Lisandro Martinez potentially facing off at Old Trafford.

Ashley Preece shared footage from the 3-1 win of Martinez elbowing Bailey twice as he protected the ball in the second half, with the Villa man taking to Twitter after the match to criticise the officials.

The Latest: Campbell’s comments

Talking to FI regarding Bailey and Martinez, Campbell, who contributes for Sky Sports, couldn’t believe what he saw and how Martinez avoided any action, admitting he is ‘shocked’ and ‘really surprised’.

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“The days of these sorts of actions are over.

“You should not be allowed to get away with that. I am shocked that nobody picked up on it.

“That is dangerous whether you like it or not. You cannot do that on a football pitch.

“I am really surprised the officials did not act because I guarantee certain other players would have been highlighted.

“I have no problem with being physical but elbowing people like that… There is no place for it. Why is he being allowed to get away with it?”

The Verdict: Spot on

When you see the footage, it is bizarre that the linesman or VAR didn’t pick up on the incident, with Martinez going in twice on the Villa winger.

He obviously did some damage to the Jamaican, who admitted he was struggling to breathe as a result. Hopefully, there is no lasting damage to Bailey and the officials can see that they may have made a mistake on the weekend.

Glasgow Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is reportedly closing in on the end of his time as manager of the Scottish giants.

Football Insider recently reported that it is ‘increasingly likely’ that the Gers boss will be dismissed during the break for the 2022 World Cup after a disappointing first half of the campaign.

The Light Blues board have already held crisis talks and could now wield their axe and task Ross Wilson with finding a replacement for the Dutchman.

Charlie Nicholas claimed that former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl could be one of the “serious contenders”, alongside Sean Dyche, to replace van Bronckhorst in the dugout.

Rangers’ current manager recently came under fire from Brian Laudrup as the retired midfielder criticised the head coach’s body language on the touchline.

Speaking in the Daily Mail, via Football Scotland, former Gers man said: “With the World Cup break looming next week, it’s time for the Rangers board to think seriously about the direction of the club and the manager’s part within it.”

He added: “Van Bronckhorst has tried a lot of different things with his team and is still trying to find answers. I also look at his body language at times. Hands folded. Looking down. He doesn’t look like a manager who is certain he can turn things around. It looks almost like he has given up a little bit.

“I’m not sure if he always knows his best line-up or the best approach to games. A dressing-room can feel that. Players become insecure.”

Hasenhuttl, meanwhile, has been compared to Jurgen Klopp in the way that he behaves on the touchline as he is prone to a wild celebration, seemingly not afraid of showing his emotions in front of the crowd.

Current Southampton boss Nathan Jones praised the Austrian’s “aggressive” style and that translated into his antics on the side of the pitch, which could endear him to the Ibrox faithful in a way that they have not been able to feel towards van Bronckhorst’s downbeat demeanour.

Klopp claimed that the 55-year-old did an “exceptional” job with the Saints, as he kept them in the Premier League in each of his four seasons at the club prior to the current campaign.

The head coach had enjoyed a successful spell in Germany before moving to England. Hasenhuttl led Ingolstadt to the second division title before finishing 11th in their first season in the Bundesliga, before earning himself a move to RB Leipzig where he finished second and sixth in the table.

This shows that he is adaptable as a manager as he has proven that he can manage in two major European leagues and that he can achieve relative success at the top and the bottom of the table, which is why he could be able to adapt to managing the expectations at Rangers.

Therefore, his managerial ability and the engagement he could get from supporters who have been seeing a reserved van Bronckhorst could make him an excellent alternative to the Dutchman, which is why Wilson must look at a reunion with the tactician he worked with at St. Mary’s.

Tottenham Hotspur have been told to sell Ryan Sessegnon by club expert and pundit John Wenham.

The Lowdown: Tottenham’s leaky defence…

Antonio Conte’s side currently have the leakiest defence out of any team in the Premier League top eight. No team above Chelsea have conceded more goals than Spurs, who have let in 21 over their 15 top-flight matches so far in 2022/23.

The Lilywhites have also leaked 11 goals in their last five league matches before the World Cup break, potentially ringing alarm bells to the manager that some defensive players need to be dropped.

Their recent record has prompted links with the likes of Alessandro Bastoni, but according to pundit Wenham, Conte may need to bin certain assets before thinking of major signings at the back.

The Latest: Spurs told to bin Sessegnon…

Speaking to Football Insider, the club ‘expert’ has told Tottenham to sell Sessegnon, who hasn’t quite established himself as a star player in N17 since joining from Fulham in 2019.

Injuries have played a big part in that, although there have been some bright moments for him under Conte.

Spurs’ head coach has even called him an ‘important player’ whilst praising him recently, yet Wenham still believes it is time for the club to call time on Sessegnon as a Tottenham player.

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He explained: “Someone who you might think this is harsh, Ryan Sessegnon. You can talk about potential but he signed in 2019 and has now played under Poch, Mourinho, Mason, Nuno and Conte.

“At what point does it stop being potential? I remember reports a while ago that we were going to offer him a new contract.

“It’s interesting that all of that talk has now gone away. He has a deal until 2024 so we have a decision to make there, I would move him on.

“He’s not at the level to play in a system where the ability for the wing-backs to offer you creativity is imperative.”

The Verdict: Right call?

The 22-year-old has excelled at points since Conte took over at Spurs, and we believe that he could still have a role to play for Tottenham.

Sessegnon’s presence also helps to fill the club’s homegrown quota, an ever-important aspect of the club, so selling him right now could be detrimental in that respect.