All posts by z3u9t.icu

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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Toby Alderweireld has been speaking about his future to Sky Sports.

Alderweireld said that he is ‘very happy at Spurs’, but also admitted that he is not looking beyond the end of the current season.

It is perhaps dangerous to read too much into what the centre-back has said, but one thing is for certain; his current contract at Tottenham expires at the end of next season.

A £26m release clause will come into effect this summer, though, and Manchester United have been strongly linked with a move.

The Tottenham fans have been on Twitter offering their views on the 30-year-old’s words.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he would have snubbed Tottenham for Arsenal if they’d come knocking in 2005…

Whilst there are those who have been encouraged by the latest developments, others feel that the Belgium international will be moving on this summer.

It will be very, very interesting to see how this one plays out.

A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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…

How impressive has Michael Hector been for Sheffield Wednesday this season Owls fans?

The defender, who is on loan from Chelsea, has thrived in England’s second tier for the Yorkshire-based outfit, delivering a number of stand-out performances for the club. Masterful displays in recent weeks against Sheffield United and Stoke City has seen Hector form a fearsome defensive partnership with Tom Lees which has contributed to his side achieving seven clean sheets in their last 12 games.

An outstanding level of consistency shown by the Jamaican international should force boss Steve Bruce into committing to permanently signing him in the summer. With first-team opportunities at Chelsea unlikely to arise in the near future due to the sheer amount of competition at the club, Hector would benefit from a move away from Stamford Bridge as it would allow him to fulfil his potential.

An undeniably talented defender, the former Reading ace will not want to get him caught in the cycle at the Blues which has seen players such as Lucas Piazon and Lewis Baker fail to reach their peak due to a plethora of short-term loan moves.

Considering just how good Hector has been for Wednesday, Bruce will undoubtedly have to spend big to warn off any other suitors when the transfer window opens in July but it is a risk that he should be willing to take. The 25-year-old has the potential to be a regular starter for the Owls for the considerable future and could play an imperative role in the future of the club.

However, any possible deal could hinge on the outcome of the 2018/19 campaign. With seven games to play, Wednesday are still in with a chance of reaching the play-offs and securing an unlikely promotion to the Premier League. If they secure top-flight football for next season, they will be more of an attractive prospect to Hector who has the ability to shine at the highest of levels.

What do you think Owls fans? Should Bruce break the bank to secure the signing of Hector? Who else would you like your club to sign in the summer?

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Loads of Rangers fans have been running the rule over their latest transfer target, as the Gers reportedly want to sign Aberdeen loanee Greg Stewart.

According to The Daily Record, Stewart’s move to Ibrox is “edging closer”, as the club have stepped up their pursuit of the forward in the last 24 hours.

Stewart, who has joined Aberdeen on loan in January, will be out of contract this summer, effectively making him a bargain regardless of what wages are on offer.

Check out the video below to see how Brazil fans reacted to being asked how Cristiano Ronaldo would perform for them in a hilarious prank by Pl>ymaker FC…

The Birmingham ace has spent time with four different Scottish sides now, but has only managed to rack up 22 appearances in England since joining the Blues in 2016.

This, combined with the fact that he has not exactly been a sure-fire starter with the Dons this season, has got plenty of Gers fans turning their noses up at the prospect of bringing him to Glasgow.

However, the forward does possess that little bit of craft and guile that could help Steven Gerrard’s side unlock deep defences, something they have struggled with this season.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are split on moving for Stewart…

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In England there has been a tendency to overhype young players. Cauley Woodrow was once someone who received that treatment. The striker made his Luton debut just 12 days after his 16th birthday and three years later found himself making his Premier League bow for Fulham.

A series of loan spells followed but the now 24-year-old never really found a way to get his career off and running.

However, the 2018/19 season has proven to be different for the Hemel Hempstead-born player. He’s managed to find consistency, changing his game to become a key figure in the Daniel Stendel regime at Barnsley.

And after scoring against Coventry last weekend, he only proved his worth once more to the Tykes.

Key to promotion

In 29 matches this season, Woodrow has 15 goals, 12 of which have come in League One. Barnsley needed a goalscorer and after struggling to find the net on a regular basis in the Championship last season had to look elsewhere.

Step forward the former Fulham man. He initially signed on loan from the recently relegated Premier League club last summer, but his move to Oakwell was made permanent in January. Having a settled club has benefitted Woodrow considerably, who rather than potentially playing for a contract at the Cottagers has his sights firmly focused on his current team.

But this season looked as though it would be another typical one for the forward. He didn’t play until November 2018 because of injury but he’s bounced back in some style since.

Career turnaround

What is it about his game that’s changed? Well, he’s certainly benefitted from the confidence Stendel has in his players. He’s generated a fantastic atmosphere around the club and Woodrow is someone who has fed off of that tremendously.

Before finding the net against Coventry on Saturday, he’d gone four matches without scoring. In the past, he may have dwelled on that but a renewed attitude and sense of composure in front of goal is what has seen him stand out so often this term.

He’s become more resilient and most of all, at such a young age, a leader. Speaking to The Yorkshire Post in February after the Reds beat Wycombe, Stendel said: “He takes his responsibility and played very well. He is a leader in our team.”

With Barnsley being closely followed in the race for promotion by Portsmouth and Sunderland, they will need Woodrow’s renewed purpose and attitude more than ever.

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It’s not often you’ll hear Sheffield Wednesday and £105m valued player uttered in the same sentence, but after the club emerged on a list of names that had sent scouts to watch Benfica take on Frankfurt in the Europa League, fans on Twitter amusingly speculated they were about to sign Joao Felix.

The Portuguese wonderkid scored a hat-trick on the night and is one of the most sought after players in Europe, but he has a huge release clause in his contract.

Of course, Wednesday could have been there to watch any one of the 22 players on show, but Felix is the main name to catch the eye over the course of the night.

After seeing the news, one fan simply wished them good luck, whilst another said they’d have to sell the club to have any remote chance of bringing the hot talent to Hillsborough.

Who would make a combined Sheffield XI? Ingood Nick makes his picks in the video below…

The reaction from football fans just about summed up how ridiculous individuals can be on Twitter but would have provided amusement for Wednesday fans nonetheless.

They currently sit tenth in the Championship but are six points behind Bristol City in the race for a play-off place.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

Departures are surely inevitable at Celtic after this season.

Before they can brace for some potentially big outgoing moves, they need to offload the unnecessary stock from the squad as the club look to move on from the Brendan Rodgers era. Indeed, there are a few who must be surplus to requirement, earning big wages for doing absolutely nothing.

At the top of such a list is outcast goalkeeper Dorus de Vries, who’s yet to make an appearance this season. The 38-year-old goalkeeper, signed by Brendan Rodgers from Swansea City, is in the final few months of his Celtic contract and the club will ship him off after the campaign, according to Football Insider.

Thanks to Scott Bain’s commendable work and fitness, there’s no real need for someone else. At long last, Craig Gordon has some real competition between the sticks and there’s also the small matter of young Conor Hazard waiting in the wings.

Amazingly, the experienced de Vries (who the Daily Star claimed on slide 5/27 earns £7.5kp/w) has made the matchday squad in the past five encounters but hasn’t been used a single time. Experience only goes so far in prolonging one’s career.

Indeed, the Hoops are paying him for nothing right now and can benefit from cutting his wages from their financial structure.

Going forward, Celtic will be able to use that freed up salary in their budget to possibly add it to a new signing’s wages instead.

Regardless, it’s a smart move from those behind the scenes to remove the unnecessary talents from the squad. The goalkeeper position is in safe hands thanks to Bain’s fantastic work, as the Hoops can now save some finances by removing the ineffective de Vries from their wage bill.

Celtic fans, do you think releasing de Vries is the right move? Join the discussion by commenting below…

If any team is planning to take Wilfried Zaha out of Crystal Palace this summer, it is not going to be easy for them.

According to the Daily Mail, the south London club will demand a staggering £80m fee for their star man.

And should one outfit be willing to pay that, then they will look to Jack Grealish and Ademola Lookman as potential replacements, the same outlet reports.

Struggling to break into Everton’s starting XI, a transfer to a side like Crystal Palace could be a good move.

And from the Eagles’ perspective, it is not hard to see why they would want the 21-year-old.

Quick and a capable dribbler, with his direct style of play, Lookman looks an ideal fit for the 4-4-2 formation Roy Hodgson often goes with.

The England U21 international alone, though, will not be enough to make up for the loss of Zaha.

Arriving with another creative attacker like Grealish would obviously lighten the blow but, if not, Crystal Palace could find themselves in big trouble next season.

For as good as Lookman is, asking the Everton man to instantly deliver and replicate Zaha’s impact might be a bit too much.

Considering his talent and potential, Lookman is certainly worth bringing in. But if the Eagles are going to be without their Ivorian talisman, then the ex-Charlton winger’s arrival has to come alongside another attacker and a goalscorer.

Crystal Palace fans, do you want to see Lookman arrive at Selhurst Park? Join the discussion by commenting below.

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Almost a decade ago, Liverpool were managed by Roy Hodgson, and we all know how that ended up.

Appointed in the summer of 2010, the current Crystal Palace manager lasted less than six months at Anfield, winning only seven of his 20 games and leaving the Reds just four points clear of the relegation zone.

Whilst that in itself is fairly humorous, some of the signings Hodgson made during his time on Merseyside were horrendous, to say the least.

Watch “Jurgen Klopp’s” hilarious masterplan for winning the title in the video below…

The likes of Christian Poulsen, Milan Jokanovic, Paul Konchesky and Fabio Aurelio, who was signed on a free transfer having only left the club a few months prior, were all baffling acquisitions by Hodgson – but, it gets worse.

Amazingly, the now 71-year-old boss wanted to bring Carlton Cole to Anfield with just days remaining of the transfer window, and was willing to exchange Ryan Babel in order to get his man.

The move never materialised, luckily for Liverpool looking back on it – just to make matters even more ridiculous, the pursuit of Cole came after Hodgson missed out on Ola Toivonen, who recently played for Sunderland and had hit just 13 Eredivisie goals in the season before Liverpool’s interest. Hardly phenomenal numbers.

Throughout his entire Premier League career, Cole has never hit over 10 goals in a single season – it was that figure that he reached in the campaign before Liverpool’s interest in him.

In the term that saw Hodgson last just six months before Kenny Dalglish replaced him, the West Ham forward netted only five goals in 35 appearances – a bullet well and truly dodged for Liverpool.

Cole, a Chelsea academy graduate, is now 35 years of age and plays in Indonesia for Persib Bandung.

It is truly astounding to think Hodgson felt that Cole would add anything to a side of Liverpool’s magnitude, and the fact that he was even a target sums up the former England manager’s botched reign at the club.

He might not have been the impact signing many Liverpool fans expected, but Naby Keita is finally starting to show why the club shelled out so much money for him.

The £48 million signing from RB Leipzig has taken some time to adapt to life in the Premier League and has found it difficult at times to find his form that made the midfielder such a prized asset in Germany, but heading into the business end of the season, Keita is finally starting to find his rhythm again.

The Guinean international has scored his first goals for the club against Southampton and Huddersfield, the latter of which came within the first 15 seconds of kick-off, and as well as Keita managing to score goals for Liverpool the central midfielder is beginning to show signs that next season will be the time he really takes up the mantle of Steven Gerrard’s replacement.

Keita has taken control of the Liverpool midfielder since his run of form started against the Saints, and since then has gone on to be one of the Reds’ best players in the team and is one of the driving forces behind Jurgen Klopp’s mean taking Manchester City all the way to the end for the Premier League title.

The midfielder failed to live up to the hype at the start of the season after a year of Liverpool fans waiting for his arrival and taking the prestigious number eight shirt from Gerrard, but Keita has found his feet in English football at the right time, and there is no doubt that next season the former RB Leipzig man will flourish for the Merseyside club if he carries on this form he has found.

Liverpool fans, will Keita step up next season? Let us know!