All posts by z3u9t.icu

[ad_pod ]

Rarely-seen Leeds United youngster Aapo Halme should be one of the players in contention to replace the injured Pontus Jansson at the heart of the defence when the Whites host Millwall at Elland Road on March 30, and the stats suggest he should feel aggrieved if he doesn’t get the nod.

On the chalkboard

There is no doubt that Jansson and captain Liam Cooper are Marcelo Bielsa’s first-choice centre-back pairing when fit and available, but the Argentine has been given a decision to make after the former was ruled out for up to three weeks after suffering a knee injury against Sheffield United last time out.

Gaetano Berardi and Kalvin Phillips look likely to be the frontrunners to replace the Sweden international in the backline, but Halme will also be looking to impress his manager on the training pitch over the next seven days or so.

The 20-year-old can point to the performances he has put in when called upon this term to back up his claim, given he has looked both calm and assured despite his tender years and lack of first-team experience.

Should he start?

It’s a difficult one for Bielsa in the circumstances, with Leeds desperately needing three points to try and work their way back into the automatic promotion positions.

Are Leeds set for another spectacular fall from grace? Ingood Nick believes so in the video below…

Phillips has shown that he can be sorely missed when not in a defensive midfield role and should remain there now Berardi is fit again after a long injury absence, and it makes sense if the choice is between the Swiss player and the young Finn for a starting XI spot.

Considering Halme has played his part in two wins and two clean sheets when he has played more than an hour – from the start against Bristol City and as a substitute for Cooper away at Sheffield United – this term, he has proven that he can step up when needed.

Whether he gets the chance to do the same in what is a huge clash against Millwall remains to be seen, but he probably has a case to feel aggrieved if he doesn’t.

[ad_pod ]

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has revealed that James Chester is making steady progress in his recovery from a knee injury, but is still not ready to return.

What’s the latest?

Smith told Villa’s official website:

“James Chester has had a course of injections. He’s now doing light work on the bike and in the gym.”

Chester only missed one of Villa’s first 29 matches of the 2018-19 campaign, but has been on the sidelines since the start of February due to a knee problem.

Smith has said that the centre-back ‘has had a course of injections’ and is currently undergoing recovery work in the gym as he bids to be fit before the end of the season.

There is no indication when the 30-year-old might be fit to make his return, but Villa have been boosted by the news that on-loan Manchester United ace Axel Tuanzebe is fit again.

Chester admitted last month that it had been a frustrating period, but it seems likely that he will be able to play some part between now and the end of the campaign.

How important is Chester to Villa?

Very, very important. It would be fair to say that some of the focus has been taken away from the Welshman due to the form of Tyrone Mings.

Mings arrived on loan at Villa during the January transfer window and the 6 ft 5 ace has been in excellent form for Smith’s side in recent weeks.

Kortney Hause, meanwhile, has impressively slotted in at centre-back due to the absences of Tuanzebe, Chester and also Tommy Elphick.

Tuanzebe is now ready to return, whilst Smith said that Elphick ‘should be back soon’, which does take the pressure off Chester in terms of forcing his return.

The 5 ft 11 ace is still hugely important to Villa, though, and will be desperate to return as soon as possible as Smith’s side look to secure a playoff spot.

If he is not able to return soon, it will have an extremely damaging effect on the club’s  surge for promotion.

We live in a time where the FA have reached the right level of cup competitions that should be on in a season.

In the past, such classics like the Watney Cup, the Full Members Cup and the Texaco Cup were once the hottest thing in English football, but now these failed competitions are only remembered by those fans who experienced glory and defeat in these obscure cups.

One such competition to be created and collapse before it really got going was the Anglo-Scottish Cup, an annual tournament from 1976 to 1981 that pitted 16 English teams and eight Scottish sides against one another in a competition with a mix of group stage games and two-legged knockout matches.

A moment in time – Leyton Orient, 1977

It is in the second edition of the tournament where Leyton Orient almost pulled off an upset and nearly went all the way in the competition.

The O’s, who were in the Second Division, topped a group with the likes of Chelsea and Norwich City, and in the quarter-finals Jimmy Bloomfield’s side continued the run of giant killings, beating Scottish side Aberdeen, who that season would go on to finish third in the league and win the Scottish League Cup, 2-0 on aggregate.

The disqualification of Newcastle from the tournament in the final eight due to the Toon fielding a weakened team in the first leg of the quarter-finals meant that the semi-finals would pit two English teams and against two Scottish teams, Leyton Orient and Nottingham Forest against Ayr United and Patrick Thistle.

Drawn with Thistle, who has just won promotion to the Scottish Premier Division the season before, Orient looked to have reached the end of the road and normality was about to step in and deny the east London side a famous win, but the magic of the cup was still with the O’s.

A 4-2 aggregate win sent Orient to their first cup final since the 1973 London Challenges Cup final, another FA competition to have a place in the pantheons of short-lived cup competitions.

Their opponents in the final would be Brian Clough’s Forest, who were looking for promotion to the First Division and were also keen on winning their first piece of silverware in over 18 years.

It is here where Orient’s fairytale run would end. Despite getting a respectful 1-1 draw at home, the away leg to the City Ground would prove to be their downfall. Forest wiped the floor with the O’s, winning 4-0 and defender Colin Barrett scoring a brace.

It would be Clough’s first piece of silverware as Forest manager, something the legendary coach valued during his time at the time, saying in his biography: “Those who said it was a nothing trophy were absolutely crackers. We’d won something, and it made all the difference.”

For Orient, the club was unable to break into the top 10 of the Second Division, and in 1982 the club were eventually relegated to the Third Division.

The Anglo-Scottish Cup might be lost to the halls of obscurity, but winning or losing the long-forgotten cup sends ripples through time that can send clubs to either unprecedented glory or unavoidable destruction.

Orient fans, would the club’s fortunes have changed if they won the Anglo-Scottish Cup?

[ad_pod ]

Few were surprised when QPR boss Steve McClaren was sacked on Monday given the terrible run of form the R’s have endured in 2019 that has seen them slide apathetically towards the bottom three.

Results weren’t improving and the fingers were naturally pointed at the manager, although Paul Parker thinks that the blame for QPR’s failures was misdirected, as he spoke in depth about the deeper concerns at Loftus Road.

What did he say?

Well, speaking on TalkSport (via Football London), the former Manchester United legend launched his defence of McClaren and subsequent attack on the hierarchy:

“The agenda (for QPR’s next manager) has to be that they’ll play young players because they’ve got a situation with the money.

“They can’t go out and spend. They’re going to come in and all we’re looking for is for them to bring young players through and keep us in the Championship so that we can get ourselves sorted.

“Steve McClaren – it wasn’t his fault. The fault is with the club. The fault is with the people in charge of the club. That’s the biggest problem.”

Doomed from the start

The 54-year-old believes that, given the well-documented financial hole QPR have dug themselves into, whoever takes the poisoned chalice next will have to make best use of the young players; there will be next to no funding in the transfer market.

McClaren neglected to use the likes of Eberechi Eze and Ryan Manning as frequently as he perhaps should have but the former England boss shouldn’t have had to rely on players who he clearly felt didn’t fit or didn’t deserve to be in the starting XI.

The QPR keeper was giving it large to Bolton fans at the weekend. Find out who had the last laugh in the video below…

Whoever comes in next is going to have the same dilemma and will have to get results under the same difficult circumstances as McClaren struggled to – now who would take that job?

[ad_pod ]

Greg Docherty has opened up about his time on loan at Shrewsbury and his future at Rangers.

Rangers have always had a habit of bringing young players through into the first team, and Docherty looks like he could be the next in a long line.

The 22 year-old midfielder joined Shrewsbury on loan last summer, and he has been absolutely sensational for the Shrews, racking up nine goals and 11 assists in all competitions this season.

Now, the youngster says he will fight for a place in the first team at Ibrox.

What has he said?

“Rangers are such a massive club,” Docherty told The Daily Record.

“Having taken a step back this season, I realise how huge it is. There are Rangers fans coming up to me in Shrewsbury!

“There is an army base down here and it’s massive the following. They just ask if I’m going back and wish me good luck for this season.

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 Rangers fans have been unbelievable with me this season. They are absolutely incredible and the best fans in the world for sure with the way they follow the team.

“It’s been an incredible experience for me to be part of that as a Rangers player.”

Speaking on his future plans, the 22 year-old had this to say: “I’ll fight and try my best. The contract (until 2022) is there and I’ve got time on my side.”

Number ten hunt solved?

Docherty has clearly already fallen in love with Rangers fans, speaking at length about the passion the Ibrox faithful hold for their side.

More importantly though, he spilled the beans on his future plans, and is hoping to avoid the fate of so many youngsters who are loaned out and never really get a chance at their parent club.

And Docherty’s stats actually suggest he would indeed add something the Gers have been struggling without all season – goals from midfield.

With 20 goal involvements this season, averaging a goal or assist every 173 minutes per Transfermarkt’s stats, he has produced more in the final third than any Gers midfielder has mustered this campaign.

Despite Scott Arfield’s hat trick last weekend, the Gers have never really found the right balance in the number ten position this year, and the lack of a quality player to get between the lines and break down deep, organised defences has cost them points.

While the standard of League One football should be taken into consideration, is Docherty the man to solve the long-running problem for Steven Gerrard and the Gers? The boss may already have his next number ten right under his nose.

[ad_pod ]

Sheffield Wednesday fans on Twitter are already up for the Sky Bet Championship trip to Preston North End later in April after a club ticketing update on the match was issued.

The Owls have received a generous allocation of a whopping 5,540 for the clash, which will take place on Saturday 27 April with a 3pm kick-off.

Supporters have been informed of how and when they can buy tickets for the away trip and how much the trip to Lancashire will set them back.

The last game of the month could be key for Wednesday in their push to make the play-off places under Steve Bruce as they currently sit six points off Bristol City in sixth.

One of English football’s lesser known rivalries was reignited on Saturday thanks to an unlikely source. Check out the video above to find out which one…

And fans of the Yorkshire club were absolutely lapping up the update on social media, with comments such as “all over it” and “always a decent away day at Preston” flying around the Twittersphere.

Below is the pick of the supporter reactive tweets to the news…

[ad_pod ]

Newcastle United have been operating on a stringent budget under Mike Ashley’s tenure.

That the January arrival of Miguel Almiron, a player with no experience in European football prior to his move to the North East, was greeted with such unparalleled enthusiasm speaks volumes about the distinct lack of exciting transfer activity at Newcastle in recent years.

But did the Magpies actually allow a potential Premier League star to slip through the net before he had been afforded ample time to discover his mojo? Well, a recent report from CIES Football Observatory certainly appears to suggest so.

According to the well-respected website, Florian Thauvin is now worth a whopping €61 million (£52.6 million) and is the most valuable player residing within Marseille’s squad.

That is some turnaround from a player who was frozen out of the first-team at Newcastle after failing to impress on a handful of appearances for the club.

To place this valuation into perspective, the same report reveals that Jamaal Lascelles is the most valuable player at Newcastle, yet his valuation is a measly €18 million (£16.4 million) – just under a third of what Thauvin is reportedly worth.

Perhaps that valuation would have been considered a touch unfair on the Newcastle enforcer at the end of a phenomenal 2017/18 campaign. His influence this season, however, has diminished and he has often been overshadowed by the brilliance of Fabian Schar, who supplements a similar level of defensive solidity to his counterpart with a daring but effective level of ambition when distributing the ball from deep.

The knee-jerk reaction would be to label the 26-year-old as one that got away. He has since gone on to notch an eye-watering 41 goals in all-competitions and provide a further 28 assists in less than two seasons. Marseille got all this for just £9.9 million.

It must be considered that there was little evidence to suggest that the winger was worth the £12 million fee they paid for him in his 13 Premier League appearances. But therein lies the problem: 13 appearances, just three of which were starts, is an obscenely transient length of time for any player to be expected to prove themselves after landing in a new division.

Steve McClaren’s personal ruling on the French wing-wizard’s talents following his arrival hint that the trigger was pulled prematurely, per Chronicle Live.

“He is a perfect for this club – someone who is young, with great potential and is one of the best young players in Europe.”

If he was indeed one of the best in Europe at the time, why on earth was he not not afforded a proper chance to prove himself at Newcastle? A greater level of patience should have been shown towards Thauvin as the transition from Ligue 1 to top-tier English football is seldom a seamless process.

The short-term thinking employed by McClaren and the decision-makers deprived the club of a game-changing talent when he was staring them in the face.

Almiron has injected a level of flair, creativity and dynamism into Newcastle’s midfield which has been absent for longer than most supporters would care to remember, but Thauvin’s scintillating form in France proves it didn’t have to be that way.

[ad_pod ]

Sheffield United fans have been praising David McGoldrick and Chris Wilder after the striker netted a brace against Hull City, taking his tally to 15 for the season in the Championship after joining on a free transfer.

The Republic of Ireland international cost the Blades absolutely nothing and has proven to be a key man in their race for promotion.

United may also have eyes on the league title after their victory, with Norwich dropping points for the third game in a row to leave the gap between the Canaries and the Blades at just three points.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

The Yorkshire club’s 3-0 win over Hull on Easter Monday means that they remain second in the Championship with just two games of the season to go.

Wilder and his staff have received plaudits on Twitter for signing McGoldrick in a time where many clubs were unwilling to give him a chance after he was released from Ipswich.

Wilder’s gamble has clearly paid off as 15 goals later the Blades are within touching distance of the Premier League.

Here’s what Sheffield United fans have been saying on Twitter…

Considering how things are currently going for Romelu Lukaku at Old Trafford, some Everton fans will feel the club made the right decision by selling him to Manchester United back in 2017.

Though his stats for the campaign are certainly respectable, the 25-year-old no longer looks like the striker he once was.

His pace seems to be diminishing, while he also does not appear to be the greatest of fits for the way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is trying to make Manchester United play.

With all of that in mind, many will argue the £76.23m Everton got for Lukaku was insane business, especially considering the Merseyside club paid £31.82m for his services (Transfermarkt).

That being said, even amid his struggles, the Belgian is still the quality of centre-forward the Toffees could do with.

As already mentioned, with 12 Premier League goals to his name this season, Lukaku’s numbers in front of goal are by no means the worst.

For as good as Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been in recent weeks, with that sort of firepower up front, Everton would have had seventh place wrapped up.

And had he remained at Goodison Park and not bulked up the way he has at Old Trafford, Lukaku would have also probably still had the pace and explosiveness to bring even more firepower to the table.

Gaining over £40m profit from his sale, it is not hard to understand the decision-making behind letting a wantaway player with an expiring contract go.

But you cannot help but wonder where Everton would be under Marco Silva had they managed to convince Lukaku to buy into their project.

[ad_pod ]

According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton will face competition for Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes in this summer’s transfer window.

Gomes has spent the 2018-19 campaign on loan at Everton, having joined the club from the Spanish champions ahead of the start of the season.

The 25-year-old has been impressive for the Toffees this term and according to the Liverpool Echo, Marco Silva’s side are the favourites to sign him this summer.

However, the same report has said that the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Roma and Inter Milan are closely monitoring developments.

It remains to be seen what plans Barcelona – eliminated from the Champions League after a 4-0 loss at Anfield on Tuesday night – have for the Portuguese this summer.

In this era of ‘big 6’ dominance, has finishing 7th become as good as winning a trophy? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

Everton are seemingly well-placed to secure a deal, though, and the Merseyside club’s fans have been on social media offering their views on the latest developments.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: