All posts by n8rngtd.top

Many Liverpool fans reacted in their droves to the latest update from the well-respected journalist from The Times, Paul Joyce.

He posted on Friday morning that captain Jordan Henderson has undergone surgery for the groin injury that he picked up against Everton and is “likely” to be out for up to eight weeks.

The 30-year-old joins the lengthy list of first-team names that are occupying the Anfield treatment room, with another central defensive option out of action.

Henderson has been covering the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip in an attempt to ease Jurgen Klopp’s headache – but has suffered a similar fate to his teammates, albeit not as severe.

With this in mind, supporters were devastated by the update on his fitness, with some suggesting that the 2020/21 campaign should be “null and void.”

Familiar feelings of injury woes for these fans

“Weekend in ruins and its 9 am on Friday.”

Credit: @andy_lane

“Thanks Paul, ruined the weekend”

Credit: @perryh

“just null and void the season. for the love of God.”

Credit: @StateOfReds13

“Cursed”

Credit: @dannyb96

“Season is well and truly done and dusted”

Credit: @RedOesterCult

“LORD MAKE IT STOP”

Credit: @kyannaskrdj

“Championship here we come”

Credit: @haavardanm

In other news, Liverpool loanee hailed as “excellent” after featuring out of natural position.

Southampton fans are delighted after journalist Adam Blackmore revealed Ibrahima Diallo, Kyle Walker-Peters and Takumi Minamino all have a chance of playing this weekend.

The Saints face Sheffield United on Saturday as they look to get back to winning ways – they have won just one of their last 14 games in the Premier League (Sky Sports). After a positive start to the season, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men have struggled to deal with a huge number of injuries.

However, there appears to be some positive news ahead of the clash with the Blades. Blackmore has revealed on Twitter that the aforementioned trio are all back in training and should be available this weekend. Minamino could provide a spark up front while Diallo and Walker-Peters would look to bring some much-needed stability at the back.

The St. Mary’s Stadium outfit’s fans were delighted with this update, and they took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the update from Blackmore below

“Finally. #SaintsFC”

Credit: @AdamAzor

“lovely stuff adam”

Credit: @sfcbilly_

“Great news.”

Credit: @Jan92539644

“FINALLY some positive news! #SaintsFC”

Credit: @C0AKESY

“Lovely”

Credit: @RitchieM03

“Finally some positive news”

Credit: @RhysTheSaint

In other news, Southampton enquire about this top Premier League striker.

With suggestions that Leeds United are after a new centre-half in the summer transfer window, Marcelo Bielsa may be better off thinking again, and looking to one of the club’s burgeoning academy prospects: Charlie Cresswell.

Reports in recent days and weeks have claimed that the Premier League side are interested in Torino centre-back Nicolas Nkoulou, whose contract with the Italian team is set to expire come the end of the season, thus allowing him to join on a free transfer.

But, rather than bringing in a soon-to-be 31-year-old, Leeds could in actual fact unearth their next Ben White, in Cresswell.

White was a huge presence for Leeds in their promotion-winning campaign last season, playing the full 90 minutes in every single game in the Championship.

In Cresswell, he appears to be tailor-made to step into those shoes given his style of play as a ball-playing centre-half.

Speaking about Cresswell earlier this season, Noel Whelan was glowing in his praise about the youngster, saying: “He is the future, he’s one for the future. At that centre-half position he’s got great attributes, he’s very calm on the ball, a great size to him, he’s quick, he can head, he can pass. He’s the modern-day, young centre-half.”

The 18-year-old is one of the rising stars of the Whites’ academy system, and only penned a new contract with the Elland Road side back in November, signing a new two-and-a-half year deal.

And, after the U23s beat Fulham 7-1 this term, Leeds Live hailed the centre-back in their post-match player ratings: “His security on the ball was convincing, even indulging in a Cruyff turn inside his own defensive third to evade danger in the second half.

“Perhaps the best action of his during the game was the frequent interceptions he made. Cresswell read the play excellently, seizing on forward passes as Fulham looked to break, turning the visitors’ attacks into countering opportunities for the Whites.”

That ability to read the game and make interceptions is somewhat reminiscent of White’s performances at Elland Road last season, who averaged 2.5 interceptions per game in the Championship.

So, rather than bringing in another centre-back into the ranks, Bielsa could be pleasantly surprised by promoting Cresswell into the fold. He’s got all the attributes that made White a big success at Elland Road, in terms of being the “modern-day, young centre-half” as Whelan says.

Now is just about being given an opportunity to shine at the highest level.

Meanwhile, Leeds could hire Bielsa’s dream successor in this 36 y/o…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 193 Premier League appearances during his career, believes the one difference between Newcastle United under Steve Bruce and Rafa Benitez is the Spaniard had Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez.

Rondon spent the one season on-loan at Newcastle but did strike up a great partnership with Perez – between them they netted 23 goals during the 2018/19 season.

The Magpies now have Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron to get the goals, however, with the trio out injured it’s become a struggle for Bruce to find an adequate replacement.

Bruce brought in Wilson last summer who currently has 10 goals making him the club’s top scorer this season, but Howey claims despite poor performances, the fact Benitez had two strikers helped him get results.

Speaking on the situation in front of goal for Newcastle and how Benitez could call upon Perez and Rondon during his time on Tyneside, Howey exclusively told FFC:

“Everybody talks about Rafa and rightly so because he did a great job, but at times the team was awful and they did have awful performances.

“He had two strikers in Perez and Rondon. Obviously, we brought in Wilson which was massive and I was really pleased with him as I’ve always liked him.

“I’m not being disrespectful to Gayle or Carroll but, where are the goals going to come from?”

Wilson has become someone Bruce relies on heavily since he signed the former Bournemouth striker for £20 million last summer.

Newcastle are fighting to stay in the Premier League as they sit just one point and two places above the relegation zone so, Bruce will be hoping his talisman can return to action sooner rather than later.

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to stop a run of seven straight defeats when they welcome their local rivals to Hillsborough Stadium this evening.

Darren Moore simply has to start picking up victories otherwise his new Owls side will be preparing for life in the English third division for the first time since the 2011/12 season.

The performance against Championship leaders Norwich City on Sunday afternoon was encouraging, but ultimately it was another match without any return, meaning the Yorkshire giants are now seven points adrift of safety with only 11 matches to play.

So, what sort of side will we see against Huddersfield Town tonight? Here’s our predicted XI…

There could be as many as three changes from the weekend as Moore could revert back to his usual 4-2-3-1 formation that worked so well at Doncaster Rovers.

Veteran goalkeeper Keiren Westwood made a shock return to the starting XI last time out, and he should remain between the sticks over Joe Wildsmith, whilst Moore is now able to welcome back Julian Borner from suspension.

The 30-year-old comes straight back in to partner Tom Lees at centre-back in a move that sees Osaze Uhoghide switch to right-back, with natural left-back Matt Penney returning to the line-up over the versatile Liam Palmer.

It also means that Sam Hutchinson goes back into his natural midfield position, alongside Barry Bannan as Joey Pelupessy makes way in Moore’s second change.

Adam Reach and Kadeem Harris should occupy the wide positions but there may be no place for Josh Windass, who is among WhoScored’s worst performers with an average rating of 6.44.

Instead, top goalscorer Calum Paterson will come in behind Jordan Rhodes. The 26-year-old has bagged six goals this season and should be starting for the Owls and could be the third and final change.

AND in other news, Darren Moore must drop “explosive” Owls star tonight…

Queens Park Rangers were left with a share of the spoils on Saturday afternoon after battling out a frustrating, but otherwise, entertaining draw against Reading in the Championship.

It means Mark Warburton’s side have lost just one of their last five league outings, though he should be concerned as usual talisman, Charlie Austin, was way off the pace on the day.

The 31-year-old veteran, on loan from West Brom, has been enjoying life back at Loftus Road having scored five times in 23 appearances. However, against the Royals, he was anonymous, lightweight and rather poor.

As per SofaScore, Austin was Warburton’s lowest-rated player, bringing him a 6.4. Only one other started from the 22 on the pitch managed to be graded worse.

He just could not get into the game whatsoever. The 6 foot 2 striker was hauled off in the 65th minute after making only 25 touches – the lowest of any QPR starter. Even Geoff Cameron, who played a good 20 minutes fewer than Austin managed to match that number, and goalkeeper Seny Dieng (36).

Austin also made just nine passes – that’s just one every seven minutes and was comfortably the worst return of any player on the pitch.

West London Sport were particularly scathing in their review, grading him as QPR’s lowest-rated outfield player, They wrote: ‘Missed two presentable chances in the first half and was loose in possession far too often.’

Indeed, it is hard to argue with that.

The £1.8m-rated loanee lost possession ten times, which means he handed the ball back to the opposition every 2.5 touches – hugely wasteful.

In addition to that, Austin even lost five of his eight duels (62.5%), both on the ground and in the air, meaning more often than not he was beaten all ends up by the Reading defence – only adding to his, and probably Warburton’s, frustrations.

It’s no wonder he was hooked with just under half an hour to play. He badly let his manager down, and will need to improve substantially after the international break to keep his place, with Macauley Bonne waiting in the wings for that golden opportunity.

AND in other news, Forget Dykes: QPR monster who had 92 touches stole the show for Warburton on Wednesday…

Celtic’s hunt to find themselves a new manager has just taken another twist after one of the Hoops’ targets spoke to the media this week.

Unfortunately, it’s yet more bad news for Dermot Desmond and the club’s hierarchy.

What’s the word?

Celtic have had a number of targets lined up from Frank Lampard and Roberto Martinez to Rafa Benitez.

Before Neil Lennon even left his post, the Spaniard was linked with the Parkhead hot seat. The Mirror claimed he was primed and ready to take over but the likelihood of that happening has now been quashed by the man himself.

Speaking to The Times, Benitez revealed where his next job may be. Unfortunately, it made it sound like Celtic wouldn’t be at the top of his list.

When asked about what he wanted, the former Liverpool boss commented: “A competitive team that allows you to challenge for trophies, or a project that allows you to improve and grow and do better.”

“The priority is England. Why? Because obviously I like the Premier League and my family is here,” he added.

Desmond angry

This is becoming a particularly frustrating ordeal for Desmond and those at the top of the Celtic food chain.

He has been dealt regular setbacks over the last week with a number of targets now seemingly off the table.

Jesse Marsch revealed it would be an honour to take on the job before German reporter Christian Falk admitted a day later that he wouldn’t be going to Glasgow in the summer.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-celtic-manager-and-transfer-news-boupendza-mcgeady-marsch-mccarthy” title=”Latest Celtic manager and transfer news!”]

That was followed by the news that Chris Wilder is unlikely to take on a new role until the summer. That’s because his pay-off from Sheffield United will get smaller if he receives a fresh job in the next six months.

Therefore, to hear that Benitez solely has his sights set on a move to England will have Desmond tearing his hair out.

Slowly but surely, their desire to hire someone in the immediate future is wilting away. Consequently, Roy Keane has emerged as an option in recent days.

He’s a candidate that hasn’t managed for the best part of ten years, something that perhaps says it all about the lack of ambition this Celtic hierarchy has.

No wonder Desmond was questioned about selling his shares this week.

AND in other news, Celtic star could leave after worrying phone calls emerge, Desmond must be scared…

Rangers are reportedly considering a summer move for IF Elfsborg centre-back Joseph Okumu as they eye up potential replacements for Filip Helander in Steven Gerrard’s squad, with the Swedish international having been linked with a move away from Ibrox in recent weeks.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Light Blues have made preliminary enquiries for the 23-year-old defender, as they prepare for the possibility of both Helander and Edmundson leaving this summer.

Helander has played a key role in Rangers’ title success this season and has earned admirers from the Premier League as a result, with both Leicester City and Aston Villa said to be keen on the former Bologna man.

Would he be a good signing?

After spending time in his home country Kenya, Okumu has had spells in South Africa and the USA before finding his feet in Sweden with Elfsborg.

Since then, he has made 34 appearances for the Allsvenskan side, in which he has contributed no goals and one assist.

The Kenyan international clearly had an impressive impact last season, as Elfsborg lost just two league games when he featured, which helped them to a second-place finish in the 2020 league table.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Rangers news, transfer rumours and more!”]

When Okumu made the move to South Africa earlier in his career, a source at the club praised Okumu as one of the best signings the club made that year and praised the defender, saying:

“He spent few days with us training with us and did well to impress the coach. He is a young, talented boy destined for a great future in football.”

The 23-year-old could help realise that potential should he make the move to Rangers in the summer, although with the report suggesting that there has already been a £2 million bid for the youngster, it seems that he won’t come cheap this summer.

[freshpress-quiz id=“588789″]

However, the 6 foot 3 defender could well prove to be an excellent replacement for Filip Helander, so Ross Wilson and Gerrard should definitely look at bringing him to Ibrox ahead of next season.

And, in other news… Rangers could make huge summer profit on gem dubbed “the steal of the century”

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 150 appearances for Newcastle United, has called on Steve Bruce to start Sean Longstaff on Sunday against Tottenham as Isaac Hayden’s replacement.

Hayden has been a mainstay in Bruce’s side having started 48 games in the Premier League, as well as constantly being a reliable and underrated part of Newcastle’s midfield receiving a 6.67 WhoScored rating.

When Hayden went off injured during Newcastle’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton before the international break, he was replaced by Jeff Hendrick who has been largely ineffective since he joined in the summer with fans not impressed with a number of his performances.

Asked who should replace Hayden in the Toon midfield, Howey told FFC:

“I’d probably say Sean Longstaff because I think he’s got a good range of passing, but I think both the Longstaffs will feel as though their noses have been well and truly pushed out.

“So they’re obviously not going to be happy with the current situation but if one of them does get a chance it’s a case of right, ‘I’ll show you’ and it’s up to them to prove to Bruce that he was wrong to leave them out.”

Longstaff has made just nine Premier League starts for the Magpies this term, with the last of those coming on January 12 against Sheffield United.

Hayden picked up an innocuous injury when Yves Bissouma fell into his leg while it was planted and as a result, he’ll miss the remainder of the season.

That injury news came just as Bruce was starting to see players such as Javier Manquillo, Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson start to return from their injuries.

Many Manchester United fans have been left to fume at some early team news before their UEFA Europa League tie away at Granada.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed that Marcus Rashford is travelling with the squad.

This has caused outrage among several members of the Old Trafford faithful as they feel that the England international needs to be rested, given that he has only missed two games in total over all competitions across the 2020/21 term so far (Transfermarkt).

The Red Devils should be strong favourites against the La Liga club to go through into the semi-final stage of the competition, and they may be able to do that without having the need to play Rashford.

Manchester United fans on Rashford news

These MUFC supporters slammed the news that Rashford is going to be travelling with the squad on Twitter, with one fan even going as far as to claim that it is ‘disgraceful’:

“This is actually disgraceful he’s honestly going to ruin him”

Credit: @UTDdriz1

“He is going to kill him”

Credit: @selamdizi

“What do I have to do? Tell me what I have to do for you lot to rest him? Just name it and I’ll do it”

Credit: @Farnaz936

“If he can’t play 90 minutes he shouldn’t be there…he should be resting …it’s also insulting the rest of the forward line suggesting that a half fit Rashford is better than them”

Credit: @LoucasAndreou2

“He is gonna be finished by 27 because of injuries. Poor management yet again”

Credit: @Herbert1521

“I swear if this clown doesn’t bench Rashford to rest…..”

Credit: @Maticism

In other news, find out what Edinson Cavani update has left fans fuming here!