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Mike Ashley can set Newcastle United on a brighter path by replacing Steve Bruce with Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper.

What’s the word?

According to the Mirror, the Jacks gaffer is on a seven-man shortlist of likely options for the Toon to consider should the axe fall on Bruce’s Tyneside tenure.

The Magpies are approaching their sacking season for under-fire managers, with Steve McLaren relieved of his duties and replaced by Rafa Benitez with 10 games remaining of the 2015/16 season.

Alan Shearer also replaced Joe Kinnear in the hot seat with eight games to spare in the 2008/09 campaign, but – like Benitez – was unable to avoid relegation with not enough time left on the clock to change the fortunes at St. James’ Park.

Newcastle have 13 games to play in the current term to save their Premier League status for another year, with Bruce’s side currently just three points clear of the relegation zone. They have also lost 14 of their 25 fixtures played to date – only basement boys Sheffield United (20) and West Bromwich Albion (15) have been beaten more often.

Ashley is now nearing his hit or stick moment with Bruce, and there are said to be several candidates in with a chance of taking over in Benitez, Roberto Martinez, Graeme Jones, Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche, Cooper and a possible Toon return for Alan Pardew.

Newcastle are not currently seen as a priority for Ashley, who is focusing on his Fraser Group high street empire, while Chronicle Live report that the United owner is reluctant to pay Bruce a seven-figure pay-off amid a lack of gate revenue.

But things could change quickly if the Magpies lose to Wolverhampton Wanderers and 18th-placed Fulham beat Crystal Palace this weekend, with Ashley’s stance thought to be dependent on Bruce keeping Newcastle out of the bottom three.

Should Ashley hire Cooper?

It remains to be seen if Ashley takes any action on Bruce’s position anytime soon, but the Newcastle owner can set United on a brighter path by appointing Cooper as his replacement.

Newcastle could face a lot of competition to hire Cooper, not least from Swansea with the Welsh outfit in the midst of a Championship promotion battle, but also from Crystal Palace.

The Eagles are said to have been impressed by his record at the Liberty Stadium and see the 41-year-old as a potential replacement for Roy Hodson, whose contract is up at the end of the season.

Cooper is also an attractive coach for his connections from the Young Lions fold, while his knowledge of the emerging youth talents in the country are seen to have given his current side a boost in the transfer market

He won the Under 17 World Cup with England’s youth ranks in 2017 after orchestrating a comeback to beat Spain 5-2 in the final, having trailed 2-0 in the first half. And those connections would certainly be useful at St. James’ Park this summer, where funds are expected to be tight and several gaps will need to be plugged.

Former England international Kevin Phillips additionally once lauded Cooper for doing a “fantastic job” at Swansea, while The Guardian describe his Jacks side as being built on solid foundations in Freddie Woodman – the Toon loanee has 16 clean sheets in 28 Championship games this season.

It would surely take a lot to prise cooper away from the Liberty Stadium, which may not appeal to Ashley after paying Sheffield Wednesday £4m for Bruce, but hiring the Swansea boss could be the best route to securing a brighter future on Tyneside.

AND in other news, Newcastle are exploring a deal to sign a £31.5m-rated star for free this summer…

Barry Ferguson believes Glasgow Rangers will need to sell one or two stars during the summer, but he thinks Alfredo Morelos will not be one of the players to depart.

Morelos to stay

Ferguson was writing for The Daily Record about the Colombia international and what the future may hold for him.

The former Gers captain suggested the Ibrox outfit may need to sell in the summer, but Morelos may not be one of those to depart. He said:

“I know Gerrard joked afterwards that Morelos enjoys playing in the Europa League because he knows clubs from all the biggest leagues will be watching him. I also know that Rangers will need to sell one or two of their biggest assets to keep the club financially stable moving forward.

“But Morelos looks settled and highly motivated right now – I even saw a wee smile out of him the other night – and I actually wonder if he’s already got one eye on making a mark on next season’s Champions League.

“Yes, he’s made a big impact in Europe already but the Champions League is where players really showcase what they’ve got. That’s the pinnacle.

“Just hearing that music blast out before kick-off sends a shiver down the spine and that’s exactly where Morelos will want to be performing. He’s about to have the chance to do it in a Rangers shirt next season and it could present him with the ideal platform to take his career to another stratosphere.
“I think he realises now how badly he is needed by the rest of his teammates. Quite simply, Morelos at his best makes Rangers a better team.
“I’d love to see him doing that next season under the floodlights on the greatest stage of them all.”

One more season

In the long-term, Morelos’ future does not lie at Ibrox. The £10.8m-valued (Transfermarkt) 24-year-old has already said he has hopes of playing in a more competitive league (The Scottish Sun), and he was very close to a move to Lille just last summer when he reportedly agreed personal terms with the Ligue 1 side.

However, one more season in Scotland may be the best thing for all involved. As Ferguson said, Morelos could have the chance to play in the Champions League next term. A series of good displays in that competition would drive up interest in Morelos and could well offer him more lucrative options, while it would also put the Gers in a stronger position when it comes to the transfer fee they would demand. In that scenario, everyone would be a winner.

In other news, Rangers fans slam this journalist’s article.

Marlon Harewood has urged West Ham United to sign Tammy Abraham after the Daily Telegraph reported that they are interested in the Chelsea striker.

Speaking to Football FanCast, the former Hammers forward thinks that the England international should be given a chance at his old club:

“That’s where West Ham should be looking, and I think Moysie [David Moyes] is that sort of person that he will be looking for a striker of that calibre, young, he’s ready to go, he’s been in the Premier League quite a while now. 

“I think he needs a chance, just like (Jesse) Lingard coming from Manchester United obviously not playing coming into the club, got a lot to show, and Tammy is one of them, got a lot to show [too] and would complement Antonio very well.”

West Ham should sign Abraham

If Abraham becomes available for sale in the summer transfer window, then the London Stadium faithful should absolutely jump at the chance to sign him.

The 23-year-old still has a lot of potential, and has scored no fewer than 12 goals and made a further six assists in 30 games in total over all competitions so far in the 2020/21 term (Transfermarkt).

It is not just this season that Abraham has proven himself to be a prolific goal scorer either, with a total of 91 strikes combined for both club and country at senior level.

With Michail Antonio currently being the only recognised senior striker at the East London club, he could definitely use some help up top, and Abraham could well be that man.

Currently valued at £36m by Transfermarkt, he certainly would not come cheap, but Abraham is most definitely a player that the Irons should seriously be looking at to sign should he be made available for transfer.

In other news, find out what big West Ham update has erupted fans here!

Southampton’s Premier League form may have fallen off a cliff in recent months but the Saints are still going in the FA Cup and have a great chance of reaching the last four as they face Championship side Bournemouth in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

In order to give his side the best chance of success at the Vitality Stadium, Ralph Hasenhuttl should consider unleashing Mohammed Salisu at the weekend.

After a difficult first few months with Southampton, the centre-back finally made his debut for the club in the 2-0 win against Wolves in the last round and he has gone on to make a further five appearances for the Saints since then. However, he was left out of the line-up against Brighton last weekend.

The 21-year-old also showed his versatility in the recent 5-2 defeat against Manchester City, with Hasenhuttl selecting him at left-back and Ryan Bertrand moving to right-back as a result.

The former Chelsea man has been Saints’ first choice at left-back for the whole season despite a poor run of recent form, with his 6.42 average rating comfortably the worst of Southampton’s regulars in defence.

Therefore, it is perhaps time that he was dropped, with Salisu the natural replacement for the Englishman at left-back, especially after youngster Jake Vokins was sent on loan to Sunderland in January.

Earlier in the season, Jannik Vestergaard dubbed the former Real Valladolid man a “big talent” despite his lack of appearances, and his debut at Wolves certainly showed what he is capable of, as he earned an impressive 7.02 WhoScored rating for his performance, helping Hasenhuttl’s side to a rare clean sheet.

Bournemouth’s main threat on Saturday will arguably come down the wings, with both Junior Stanislas and Arnaut Danjuma having impressed for the Cherries this season. Hasenhuttl should arguably select his two most in-form full-backs to deal with them, and that should see Salisu start ahead of Bertrand on the left.

Playing the young centre-back out wide also allows Southampton to shift into a back three with Walker-Peters pushing forward on the right, so having a natural centre-back in that position could well prove to be a game-changer for Hasenhuttl, not just against Bournemouth but maybe for the rest of the season.

And, in other news… Forget Ings: Saints should hand new deal to £13.5m-rated beast who Ralph loves

48 long years of hurt are finally over for Sunderland. It might not have been the long-awaited promotion or a competition as prestigious as the FA Cup, but their Wembley hoodoo is over.

The Mackems have regularly lost on their travels to this part of London but on Sunday, they laid their problems to rest with a 1-0 win over Tranmere.

Everything at the Stadium of Light feels a lot more positive now. The Black Cats look in a good place to be promoted and they’ve now won their first trophy since 1973.

With Lee Johnson and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus at the helm, they appear to have finally struck up a recipe for success. Under Phil Parkinson and Stewart Donald, that never looked like happening.

Key to their revival has been Aiden McGeady, a player who capped off a remarkable turnaround on Sunday afternoon.

McGeady was the scorer of two goals when they lost the 2019 final to Portsmouth and he came up trumps again this weekend. On this occasion, his influential performance inspired a memorable victory.

However, if it wasn’t for Johnson, he probably would not have been in the XI on Sunday. The Irishman was alienated from the entire senior squad when Parkinson was at the helm.

McGeady was snapped at McDonald’s with Chris Maguire after a defeat in December 2019 and as a result, was transfer-listed by the club. He moved to Charlton on loan and then after returning to the north-east in the summer, didn’t get any minutes.

The winger earned his first outing of the 2020/21 campaign during Johnson’s opening match in charge. Since then, the pair haven’t looked back.

Only George Honeyman (12) has more assists (11) than McGeady in League One this season and he was at his creative best during the EFL Trophy final win on Sunday. He supplied the game’s only goal with a mouth-watering assist.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-sunderland-news-and-gossip” title=” Latest Sunderland news and gossip!”]

The 34-year-old picked up the ball just inside Tranmere’s half before taking several defenders out of the game with a sensational pass. Gooch ran onto it and then fired home with immense composure.

McGeady was the beating heart of Sunderland’s win, as he supplied a considerable eight key passes at Wembley. For context, that’s substantially more than his season average of 2.1 key passes per match.

He was a constant thorn in the Tranmere defence as McGeady also recorded four dribbles, the joint-highest number of any player on the field.

Perhaps most impressive, though, was his desire and energy. For someone in the twilight of his career, it would have been easy for McGeady to fade as the game went on. He didn’t however, ensuring he ran himself into the ground to get Sunderland up the pitch in the dying embers.

McGeady was the outcast at the start of the season but he is now the undoubted star of this Sunderland team. His turn around, like Sunderland’s in recent months, has been superb.

AND in other news, Worse than McFadzean: SAFC liability who won just 14.2% of his duels let Johnson down…

Former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has exclusively told Football FanCast that James Forrest should come straight back into the side for Sunday’s Old Firm Derby.

Forrest spent six months on the sidelines after fracturing his ankle against Riga in the Europa League back in September, only returning to action in Celtic’s goalless draw at Dundee United earlier this month, the day Rangers were crowned Scottish Premiership champions.

The winger, who reportedly earns £16,200-a-week, replaced captain Scott Brown with 12 minutes remaining at Tannadice Park, handing the managerless Hoops a major boost ahead of their third meeting of the season with Rangers, as they hope to salvage some pride from what’s been a miserable campaign.

Despite that late cameo being Forrest’s only first-team competitive action since his long-term injury, McAvennie believes that the Scottish international has to be picked by John Kennedy to start the game at Celtic Park, providing his fitness allows him.

He told Football FanCast: “I think if he’s fit enough, I think he’s a must. They’ve been playing Christie in there, and he keeps coming into the middle, he’s not a winger.

“I think him and Jonjoe Kenny can form a good partnership, so if he’s fit, he’s a stick on to come back into the team. I would get an hour off him, then you know if he’s got it. I don’t agree with giving him half-hour because the guy is a talent and will cause him problems.”

When Wolves spent £35.6m on Fabio Silva last summer, they ticked plenty of boxes.

Not only were they signing a talent they could develop for the future, but he was Portuguese and a client of Jorge Mendes.

When playing transfer bingo at Molineux, they were clearly onto a winner here.

Unfortunately, the teenage sensation has been a flop in English football so far. He has scored just twice since his club-record move and he hasn’t managed to replicate the eye-catching achievements of Raul Jimenez.

Willian Jose was signed in January to add to Silva’s woes, a season where Steve Bull expressed that a simple solution would be to cut his hair.

As his luscious locks cover his eyes, he often plays like a man who can’t see the full picture. Of course, he still has ample time to grow, but initial signs aren’t very promising.

In a bid to bolster their forward line, Wolves are targeting La Liga forward’s Lucas Ocampos and Goncalo Guedes, but they’re also targeting another young forward.

That happens to be Wahid Faghir, a 17-year-old currently plying his trade for Veijle BK in Denmark.

Faghir was the subject of interest from Leicester last summer but now it’s thought that Wolves are in the race for a player valued at just €2.5m (£2.1m). That being said, Sempre Milan anticipates his price tag to rise in the coming months.

The teenager has already been compared to a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic and standing at over 6 foot, you can certainly see why. The youngster has netted five times in 22 Danish top-flight outings this term, while he’s particularly adept with the ball at his feet.

According to Smarterscout’s data system (via The Athletic) where they rank abilities out of 99, his carry and volume dribble for a Premier League standard player sits at 84.

Faghir is currently playing for Denmark at the European U21 Championships but he had a pretty poor start against France last week. The forward was hauled off on the hour mark having taken 15 touches and making just six passes.

The hotshot clearly has plenty of talent and room to grow but Wolves would be foolish to consider another young striker. They have already spent far too much money on Silva only for it to backfire. Thus they should target players with more experience instead.

In Ocampos and Guedes, they have more nous and knowledge of elite-level football.

Faghir, however, could yet be another expensive blunder. Jeff Shi must swerve this move until the goals are flowing at Wolves again. He shouldn’t be taking another risk.

AND in other news, Forget Carvalho: Wolves must unleash rarely-seen 20 y/o who “challenges the norm”…

According to Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers sources claim the Gers are interested in Jonson Clarke-Harris, as they step up their plans to replace Alfredo Morelos.

Gers eye Clarke-Harris

Morelos has recently spoke about his desire to play in the Premier League, and could therefore leave Ibrox this summer.

Were he to depart, he would of course need replacing, and the 55-time Scottish champions have their eyes on Peterborough United striker Clarke-Harris as a result. The Gers had scouts at Posh’s game against Accrington Stanley last weekend, with the 26-year-old scoring a hat-trick as Peterborough won 7-0.

Goalscorer

Clarke-Harris has been in terrific form so far this campaign, scoring 25 goals in 37 games in League One and 27 times in all competitions (Transfermarkt). No other player in the English third tier has hit the back of the net on so many occasions in the league (BBC).

Morelos has been a fantastic servant for Steven Gerrard’s side, and has finally picked up a trophy after helping the Gers win the Premiership title this term. However, he clearly has ambitions above what Rangers can provide, and so Ross Wilson and co must be prepared to let him depart if he so wishes. Bringing in Clarke-Harris as a replacement, though, could very well be a good bit of business for the Gers.

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this act of vandalism.

Some Manchester United fans have been left to fume at an update involving Edinson Cavani.

As per Argentinian news outlet Olé, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team would like to renew the striker’s current deal at Old Trafford.

This is despite the veteran striker being 34 years of age, with much younger talents like Mason Greenwood able to play in his position, who may find their pathway for a regular starting place blocked by Cavani.

The Uruguay international has been suffering with various injury problems in recent times and has not scored for the Red Devils in over two months now (Transfermarkt), so the decision to potentially reward him with a new contract does seem a little strange.

Of course, Cavani can still be world class on his day, but maybe it is time for MUFC to head in another direction in the transfer market.

Manchester United fans on Cavani update

These Man Utd supporters fumed upon reading the update on Twitter, with one fan even going as far as to claim that it was ‘nonsense’:

“Nonsense, the game against Brighton showed why we need to give Greenwood more chance to play central. Cavani is already feeling tired. Let him go, we need young blood in that position.”

Credit: @MKJohn254

“If he is considering, then it would be shameful for us to offer him an extension”

Credit: @JecintaNwo

“This club is dead man, Mata, Jones and now Cavani”

Credit: @vybzsdante

“Worrying that we’re STILL trying to convince players to stay. And 34 years as well”

Credit: @JoeQuigleyCoach

“Noooo”

Credit: @jack10ii

“We are actually finished as a club.”

Credit: @IrishBrian24

In other news, find out what David de Gea update has left fans fuming here!

According to recent reports, Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is attracting strong interest from one Premier League side.

The report by Football Insider claims that an Aston Villa source has revealed the Premier League club are keen on the Rangers boss, as Dean Smith’s position is not overly secure in the medium to long term, despite the club currently occupying ninth place in the top-flight standings.

Football Insider then claim that it is Villa’s chief executive, Christian Purslow, who holds a particularly “strong interest” in the 40-year-old, with whom the Villa chief has a previous relationship, as he was the managing director of Liverpool between 2009 and 2011 – when Gerrard was still captain at the Merseyside club.

Transfer Tavern Take

Having just won his first league title at Rangers, it would appear an unlikely scenario that Gerrard would simply up and leave Ibrox in the near future, particularly as the former England international and his backroom staff signed new contracts with the club back in 2019, with these deals running until the summer of 2024.

Having said that, with Aston Villa performing impressively in the Premier League so far this season, perhaps, if an enticing proposal was put in front of the Rangers boss, he could be convinced of a move south of the border.

In other news: ‘I am not surprised’ – Pundit backs ‘exceptionally’ good talent to join Rangers after agent hint – find out more here!