All posts by z3u9t.icu

Leeds United have been heavily linked to Championship starlet Louie Sibley going all the way back to October, and former Premier League star Rob Lee has given his verdict on whether this would be a good transfer.

Lee’s thoughts on Sibley

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern about Derby County’s Sibley, Lee said: “Yeah, he’s a good young player. Would he go straight into their team? I’m not sure.

“They’ve got certain way of playing, and if they’re going to buy someone they need someone who’s going to go straight in, bang.

“But it would be a good signing for easing his way in because he’s a good young player.”

One for the future

Derby U23s coach Pat Lyons piled the praise on Sibley after he scored a hat-trick for the U23s against Leeds’ youngsters last season. He said: “I’m delighted for him to get the hat-trick. He was outstanding all night. His driving with the ball is unbelievable, the way he goes past players and the way he makes things happen.”

The Rams starlet looks like he has the quality to succeed and he has taken these “outstanding” performances from youth level to first team football, as he shone in the FA Cup against Manchester United and also scored a hat-trick against Millwall.

He is just 19 years-old, and the fact that Leeds have been linked suggests that the Yorkshire side feel he has the potential to succeed at a higher level in the future. The midfielder has shown some great attacking intent in his 16 appearances this season (only five were starts) and the fact he is fouled 1.3 times a game suggests that defences find it very tricky to get a hold of him fairly.

It is hard to disagree with Lee’s comments as Sibley looks to be a good young player with lots of potential, but it might take him a bit of time to cement his place into a Marcelo Bielsa side. He would however add some good depth and become a valuable asset with an eye to the future.

In other news, find out whose return from injury has been deemed ‘massive’ here!

Glasgow Rangers may already have their Ryan Kent heir in former Aberdeen winger Scott Wright amid previous reports linking the 24-year-old with an exit from Ibrox.

After initially signing a pre-contract agreement which would have brought Wright to Ibrox in the summer, Ross Wilson tied up an immediate transfer for the 23-year-old.

Kent, who has six goals and eight assists in 27 Scottish Premiership top-flight appearances this season, still hasn’t signed a new deal at Ibrox and it’s believed a number of clubs across Europe – including Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United – are closely monitoring his situation.

But Steven Gerrard may not have too much to worry about given Wright’s form since the start of the season, having scored twice to help push Aberdeen towards the top half of the table.

Capable of playing on the left, through the middle, or on the right, the former Scotland U21 international scored his first goal of the season to double the advantage against Livingston in August. He followed that up by opening the scoring against Hibernian as Derek McInnes’ side ran out 2-0 winners at Pittodrie.

Wright also played an instrumental part in the Dons’ 3-3 draw with Celtic after he came off the bench to set up Sam Cosgrove’s goal, leading McInnes to heap praise on his former charge.

He said: “When he came on, what a reaction. He (Wright) was terrific.

“I gave him a special mention in the dressing room there because I don’t think we could’ve got the result without him.

“That shows how important he is and he needs to feel that importance.

“Cosgrove led the line well and gave them something to think about.

“All of a sudden we had a real counter attacking threat and speed at the top end of the pitch.”

Gerrard has since named Wright on the bench for the Premiership fixture with St Johnstone and, while he has yet to hand him his first start, has declared that he has every belief he can be a “big player” for the 54-time Scottish champions.

Wright has even been tipped to take over duties on the left wing from Kent should such an opportunity arise, with the Ibrox boss believed to be keen on seeing what he can offer the first team following his strong performances for the Dons.

He has now contributed to seven goals across all competitions this season after scoring seven and supplying eleven assists in 79 games for Aberdeen, and it surely won’t be too long before he adds to his tally again.

By the numbers, his 1.5 attempted dribbles per game in the Scottish Premiership, 1.3 key passes and 76.9% pass accuracy isn’t all too dissimilar from Kent’s himself, via WhoScored.

Should Kent depart Ibrox in the near future, it’s fair to say that Rangers already have a ready-made replacement in the 5 foot 7 Wright eagerly waiting in the wings.

AND in other news, Rangers’ Jordan Jones stars on debut for Sunderland…

Many West Brom fans have been left to slam Semi Ajayi after the central defender picked up a very silly red card in the first half away at Burnley.

He was adjudged by VAR and referee Mike Dean to have deliberately handled the ball which stopped Matej Vydra from going through on goal.

As he was denying a possible goal-scoring opportunity, the 27-year-old was shown a straight red card by Dean and thus given his marching orders.

It is a game that Sam Allardyce’s men really need to win if they are to have any sort of hopes of surviving relegation from the Premier League, but Ajayi let his team down by giving the referee a decision to make, and thus his action has not gone down very well with several members of the Hawthorns faithful.

West Brom fan reaction to Ajayi handball

These Albion supporters slammed the Nigeria international on Twitter, with one Baggie even going as far as to claim that he is a ‘massive liability’:

“Silly from Ajayi. Just what we need”

Credit: @Benhadlington1

“Ajayi what are you doing?”

Credit: @RogerRiley2

“Ajayi playing basketball”

Credit: @Jasemor

“Stupid decision by Ajayi, but Gallagher’s pass back was horrendous. We would have slaughtered Sawyers for that #wba”

Credit: @AshTurnerDJ

“It’s an incredible harsh red card but Ajayi is a massive liability #wba”

Credit: @BigAjayi

“Ajayi again, awful player.”Credit: @SaulSanders8In other news, find out what injury update has been dropped on one WBA ace here!

Manchester City will be looking to make it 21 wins in a row in all competitions when they take on Wolves at the Etihad on Tuesday evening.

Pep Guardiola’s side are currently 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and have the chance to extend that lead further with three points against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

The Citizens weren’t at their best for the 2-1 win against West Ham at the weekend, with Guardiola having rung the changes following the Champions League win against Monchengladbach earlier in the week, so he could go back to full strength against the Old Gold on Tuesday.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Spanish manager to line his side up against Wolves, with six changes from the side that started against West Ham…

Ederson keeps his place in between the sticks and will be looking to secure another clean sheet in the top-flight, having already kept 15 in the Premier League this season.

There are two changes in the defence, as Aymeric Laporte comes in for John Stones and Joao Cancelo replaces Kyle Walker at right-back after being rested against the Hammers.

Rodri makes his return in midfield, replacing Fernandinho who is perhaps unlikely to start two games in such quick succession.

Guardiola is perhaps likely to switch both of his wingers, with Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva coming in for Ferran Torres and Riyad Mahrez respectively.

During the 2018/19 season, the former Barcelona manager was full of praise for his Portuguese winger, saying:

“He’s a fighter. He’s one of the best players in Europe. One of the best.”

The former Monaco man, who earns £150k per week at City, has started to rediscover that form with City in recent weeks, do deserves to start against Wolves on Tuesday.

Finally, Gabriel Jesus replaces Sergio Aguero up front, with the Argentinian struggling to have much impact on his return to the side against West Ham at the weekend.

And, in other news… City signing 20 y/o “beast” could force Txiki’s hand with club legend

Rob Lee spoke exclusively to Football FanCast as he paid tribute to former Newcastle United and West Ham United manager, Glenn Roeder, who sadly passed away on Sunday.

The former Newcastle midfielder spoke glowingly about the man who gave him his debut for the Hammers, his boyhood club, at the age of 38.

Roeder was a well-loved and respected man within football as seen by all the tributes which have been pouring out since Sunday and Lee emphasised that point and thought he was too nice for football.

Lee, like many people, was shocked when he heard the news that a good friend had passed away, despite not seeing him for a number of years.

Sadly, Lee believes he was treated poorly while managing the Hammers and not fully respected for the manager and person he was, with many people highlighting how nice of a man Roeder was, before mentioning his footballing ability which pays testament to the legacy he’s left behind.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast Rob Lee spoke at length about Roeder as a man, player and manager, he said:

“I’ve known Glenn and the family a long, long time. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years, three years, I think since he moved to NewMarket.

“So, I didn’t even realise he was ill. So, it was a massive shock when I was told. He was a great guy, really nice. Probably too nice for football people would say.

“He got me into West Ham when I was 38. Made me be able to play for my boyhood team, very late, but he was the manager then. I think he was treated very badly by West Ham.

“It’s a huge loss for his family and friends. You know, the good ones are taken too soon, unfortunately.”

Clubs up and down the country paid their respect to one of football’s good guys, but none more so than Newcastle United where he captained the club before becoming manager and stabilising the club.

Lee remembers fondly the type of player Roeder was and his signature ‘Roeder shuffle’. All the tributes paid by Newcastle fans can hopefully squash the myth once and for all that they do except people from London, as Lee explained:

“He got massive tributes from all his clubs, especially from Newcastle. You know, I mean, if you think of that team, you know, they always get mentioned the team that got promoted back in the 80s was Keegan, Beardsley, Waddle and Terry McDermott but Glenn Roeder was the captain.

“He was the one, I think everybody remembers the Glenn Roeder shuffle. Everybody knew it and no one could stop it.

“It’s a myth that geordies don’t accept cockneys, geordies accept anybody as long as you play well for their club and Glenn did that.

“He was a captain for a long time, he looked after the young Gazza coming through. So, yeah it was a huge shock.”

Roeder was a true gentleman of the game and ahead of his time with his ability to bring the ball out of defence, and he’ll certainly be missed.

A specialist in sports law has dropped a claim on the proposed arbitration panel amid legal disputes from Newcastle United over the failed takeover.

The St. James’ Park faithful are still committed to proceedings despite the setback of not being able to remove arbitrator Michael Beloff QC from the panel because of suspected bias.

However, the legal team at the North East club were successful in their bid to make the ruling public, which means that it is now known that both Lord David Neuberger and Lord John Dyson will also sit as part of a three-man panel in the pending arbitration case against the Premier League.

Speaking recently to The Chronicle, sports law specialist Peter Nunn has claimed that both the Tyneside club and the English top flight should not have any concerns whatsoever about the panel that has been chosen:

“For any big arbitration case, and this is a high-stakes one, you are going to get the best people involved.

“They are all very senior QCs, who are not going to get the law wrong in any case. It’s a very heavyweight line up, and Newcastle or the Premier League should have no concerns about that panel.

“They are going to be impartial, they will not reach an unfair decision because one of them advised the Premier League 11 years ago. It’s not worth their careers to be biased in any way.”

Arbitration case will make things clearer

The results of the pending arbitration hearing will certainly makes things clearer in terms of whether the proposed takeover of the Magpies by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group can still be revived or not.

If the Toon were to win their legal battle, then it may well edge them a step closer with regards to its resurrection, and a path for the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) could be cleared.

In other news, find out what light Ben Jacobs has shed on PIF and the potential takeover here!

Rangers played out a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague at the Sinobo Stadium on Thursday evening and Steven Gerrard’s side will be confident that they can progress further in the Europa League by winning next week’s second leg at Ibrox.

Nicolae Stanciu gave the hosts an excellent start when he curled into the top corner after just seven minutes but Rangers fought back and equalised thanks to a scrappy goal from Filip Helander before half-time. Gerrard’s side were on top in the second half but had Allan McGregor to thank for securing a draw as the 39-year-old made an unbelievable save in the final few minutes to ensure that the teams finished level.

Although there were some excellent performances on show from Rangers, one man who struggled throughout the game was Nathan Patterson.

The 19-year-old continued his recent run in the side by starting in the Czech Republic, as captain James Tavernier is still sidelined through injury and Leon Balogun showed his vulnerabilities as a right-back in the previous round against Royal Antwerp.

However, he was tormented by the impressive Stanciu for much of the game, with SofaScore awarding the right-back a disappointing 6.4/10 rating for his performance, which was the worst of any Gers player who started the game.

Whilst the teenager made an impressive five clearances, three tackles and three interceptions during the game, the Slavia attackers regularly had the better of him down his side, as he was dribbled past as many as five times on Thursday evening.

For context, Filip Helander and Connor Goldson weren’t dribbled past at all, whilst left-back Borna Barisic was dribbled past just once, so it definitely seems like the home side targeted the young right-back and exploited his inexperience.

It was also arguably a poor display from the defender from a passing perspective, as he would complete just 17 passes during the game, which was fewer than the 24 passes McGregor would complete, which emphasises that he wasn’t able to get on the ball very often.

Unfortunately for Gerrard, on the few occasions when Patterson did have the ball at his feet, he was wasteful with it, as he lost possession 16 times, which again was more than both of Rangers’ centre-backs despite them having much more of the ball.

After the game, Gerrard suggested that the academy talent “became a man” with his performance on Thursday but the stats suggest that the youngster still has a lot to learn before he can be considered a serious challenger for Tavernier at right-back in this Rangers side.

And, in other news… No time for niceties: Wilson must axe £7.5k Rangers flop this summer; he’s simply not good enough

Many Manchester United fans were left to slam the display of Dan James despite their 1-0 win in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team had it all to do in the second leg after only managing a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the first, but Paul Pogba came up trumps just a couple of minutes after coming on for Marcus Rashford to give his side the win and thus put them safely through into the quarter-final stage.

However, although there were some very good performances in a Red Devils shirt, James flattered to deceive several MUFC supporters.

The former Swansea City man lost out on six of his duels and also failed to record a single shot on target or long ball, while losing possession on no fewer than on 14 separate occasions, the third-most out of any of his teammates to have set foot on the pitch (Sofascore).

Manchester United fan reaction to James display

These Man Utd fans slammed his performance on Twitter, with one supporter even going as far as to compare the Wales international to a ‘Sunday league’ player:

“Man, Dan James made me bald last night. Pulled out a lot of my hair after every stupid decision he made, or pass he didn’t make. #MUFC”

Credit: @OnFaaya

“Daniel James, not United quality! #mufc”

Credit: @ThorsethFillip

“Pogba class when he came on, Fred brilliant 2nd half. Bruno and Dan James awful. But job done, that’s the main thing, and probably just knocked out the best side left in this comp. #MUFC”

Credit: @dink2k5

“Dan James must be bribing someone. How is he playing? #MUFC”

Credit: @Jamewalte

“What is Dan James and what is it’s purpose? #MUFC”

Credit: @lsr1988

“James and Fred are definitely Sunday league players – they don’t appreciate the shirt, the club and @ManUtd. They are both lucky to be playing for #MUFC. Pogba showed he is class! Still poor game management from Ole. Ole is right Cup can cover the cracks.”

Credit: @Sauba_Oumesh

In other news, find out which Premier League ace United are interested in signing here!

Manchester City continued their march towards a potential quadruple in March, winning five of their six games this month, which saw them progress in the FA Cup and Champions League, whilst also pushing themselves closer to the Premier League title.

Although Pep Guardiola’s side have undoubtedly been in sensational form in recent months, not all of his players have been at their best and Bernardo Silva, in particular, had a disappointing month.

The Portuguese forward appeared in all five of City’s wins, in which they managed 16 goals, and yet the former AS Monaco man failed to register a single goal or assist.

The 26-year-old has been utilised in a number of different positions by Guardiola this season, featuring as a false nine, on the wing and in midfield, yet he struggled to really have much influence on any of the games he appeared in during March.

His first appearance came in the 4-1 win against Wolves, where he earned a solid, if unspectacular, 6.7 rating – which is lower than his 7.09 average in the top-flight so far this season.

He followed that up with two fairly strong performances against Southampton and Fulham, although when you consider the number of chances City had in both of those games, it is disappointing that he wasn’t able to get himself on the scoresheet or provide an assist.

This may have knocked his confidence, as he then slipped back down to a 6.7 rating for his performance against Borussia Monchengladbach, before producing his worst display of the month against Everton last time out, earning a less than impressive 6.37 rating for his performance.

After recent seasons where he has been a solid contributor of goals and assists, his measly return of two goals and three assists in just 22 Premier League appearances this season is slightly concerning, and also baffling when you consider how dominant City have been in recent months.

Therefore, you could definitely argue that Silva, who is currently valued at £63 million by Transfermarkt, dropped his standards in March after an impressive February, as he once again failed to contribute a single goal or assist in all competitions.

And, in other news… Some City fans were ‘underwhelmed’ by 23 y/o beast, but Txiki has delivered again

A well-versed saying goes that a failure to prepare is preparing to fail but that might not actually be the case at Leicester City with Brendan Rodgers potentially set to hand the club a big boost in their upcoming summer transfer plans.

The Northern-Irishman has suggested that the Foxes “don’t plan to lose anyone” in what will be a huge break from what has seemingly become a yearly tradition at the King Power Stadium.

Year upon year since winning the Premier League crown in 2015/16, the Foxes have raked in a considerable amount of cash by selling a key cog in their team.

Immediately following the Foxes’ title success, N’Golo Kante departed for Chelsea before being followed to Stamford Bridge by fellow midfielder Danny Drinkwater the season after.

Riyad Mahrez was then the next to depart, with Algerian departing in a big-money switch to Manchester City.

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire’s record-breaking move to Manchester United saw the Foxes earn approximately £80m, whilst more recently, left-back Ben Chilwell also joined Chelsea in the last summer transfer window.

Those departures have led to Leicester spending considerable amounts, albeit less than the fees they received, in an effort to plug the gaps in their squad.

For instance, since Kante’s departure all the way back in 2016, the East-Midlanders have forked out an eye-watering £359m in the transfer market, specifically spending just under £30m on the likes of Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy to compensate for his loss.

However, with Rodgers not envisaging a big-money departure this summer, this allows the Northern-Irishman to invest in more depth or other departments as opposed to recruiting a direct replacement for a potential key player.

This then bodes extremely well as the Foxes potentially embark on another European campaign, with their key players retained and possibly more new recruits arriving too. It would also assist in their task of disrupting the so-called ‘big six’ in the fact the club would halt strengthening direct rivals by selling them key players.

AND in more news, take a look at which player’s mysterious international absence could be a concern for the Foxes...