Category Uncategorized

Celtic got their latest SPFL campaign off to a strong start as the Bhoys took the first step towards regaining the title by securing a 2-0 win over Aberdeen.

Their next league outing sees Ange Postecoglou’s side travel to Dingwall to take on Ross County for their first away class of the season.

On the chalkboard

In terms of what the starting XI could look like for Saturday’s clash, one figure in the squad that didn’t start on the opening day of the season that we feel should be unleashed on this occasion is David Turnbull.

With 66 minutes on the clock last weekend, the midfielder came on for his first appearance of the season by replacing Reo Hatate.

After just nine minutes of action, Turnbull provided the assist for Jota’s stunning goal that doubled the home side’s lead and secured the three points for Celtic.

In addition to that, the 23-year-old totalled three key passes in total and ultimately earned himself an overall match rating of 7/10 from SofaScore, making him the highest-rated player that made an appearance off the substitutes bench.

The Scottish Daily Express picked up on his impressive cameo performance by saying that the midfielder delivered “a few sublime passes and could have added to the scoreline.”

Having been praised for his “phenomenal” performances for the Hoops in the past by former Scotland defender Alan Hutton, Turnbull has proved how significant he can be in front of goal from the middle of the pitch as he has racked up 19 goals and 17 assists in 78 appearances for the Parkhead club.

This sort of attacking prowess would surely be enough to put a lot of fear into County and their defenders, especially since they faced more shots at their goal (621) than any other side in the division last season.

In terms of who could come out of the starting XI to make way for Turnbull on Saturday, the fact that Hatate picked up some hefty knocks during the game against Aberdeen that ultimately led to him getting subbed off could make it a fairly straightforward decision for Postecoglou to make providing he is unfit to take part.

Should the Hoops boss decide to give the Scotsman his first league start of the season, this would surely give the away side a great chance of securing a win and adding more goals to their tally for the campaign.

Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Carney Chukwuemeka to Elland Road this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent report by Leeds Live, who claim that the Whites are the latest side to join the race for the Aston Villa central midfielder’s signing in the summer transfer window – with the likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund all believed to be extremely keen on a move for the 18-year-old.

The report goes on to state that, after Steven Gerrard omitted the England U19 international from Villa’s squad for their pre-season tour of Australia – as a result of the teenager rejecting the club’s offers of a new contract – the West Midlands side would be willing to accept an offer in the region of £20m for the Austrian-born starlet this summer.

“Generational talent”

Considering the sheer amount of potential Chukwuemeka undoubtedly possesses, it is not difficult to understand why Victor Orta would be keen on a deal to bring the 18-year-old to Elland Road ahead of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

While it is true that the £5.4m-rated starlet is yet to make a huge impact within the Aston Villa first team – having featured just 16 times for the club’s senior side – the midfielder’s returns at youth level have been incredibly eye-catching.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-more” title=”Read the latest Leeds news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Indeed, over his 26 fixtures during his time with Villa U18s, the youngster scored a quite remarkable ten goals and registered eight assists from the middle of the park, while, over his 28 fixtures for the U23s, the talent also bagged three goals and provided five assists.

Furthermore, the £2.4k-per-week sensation played a starring role in England’s U19 European Championship victory this summer, with the 18-year-old scoring three goals over his four appearances in the competition, including the all-important second to take an extra-time lead against Israel in the final – with his displays seeing him named in UEFA’s Team of the Tournament.

Further still, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie clearly believes that Chukwuemeka has a huge future in the game, stating of the youngster last August: “This boy is going to be the future. You talk about the [Jack] Grealish’s of the world. This boy has got composure, silk, [strength] and I think they are looking more from him in that he adds goals to his game.”

As such, should Orta manage to fight off the fierce competition for the player who Patrick Rowe dubbed a “generational talent” this summer, the Spaniard could well have unearthed a new Grealish-level talent – who left Villa for Manchester City in a £100m deal last summer – for the Whites, something that is sure to be an extremely exciting prospect for everyone involved with the club.

AND in other news: Sky Sports reveal “breaking news” that’ll leave Leeds United supporters gutted

Nottingham Forest are reportedly closing in on the signing of Troyes defender Giulian Biancone, according to journalist Jacque Talbot. 

The lowdown: Career so far

A product of the youth system at AS Monaco, the 22-year-old signed for Belgian outfit Cercle Brugge on loan twice before being sold to Troyes last August.

The France youth international enjoyed a superb campaign in Ligue 1 as Troyes finished 15th on their return to the French top flight.

It now appears as though a move to the Premier League could be the next step in a promising career for Biancone…

The latest: ‘Will join…’

Taking to Twitter, Talbot – a European football correspondent for numerous outlets – claimed on Saturday afternoon that the 22-year-old had passed his medical and was on the verge of completing a transfer to the City Ground.

He stated: “Exc: Told Giulian Biancone passed his medical an hour ago at Nottingham Forest and will join the side ahead of pre-season. Moussa Niakhaté will be done soon and there is confidence in Liverpool’s Neco Williams getting wrapped up as well. #NFFC”

Elsewhere on the deal for Biancone, The Athletic reported that the Reds will pay £5m for the versatile defender, who earned £3,200 per week at Troyes during 2022 (Salary Sport).

The verdict: Smart business

Holding a perceived market value of £3.6m and under contract until 2026 (Transfermarkt), signing the Frenchman for the aforementioned fee must to be regarded as a shrewd piece of business from the Forest hierarchy.

Last season, the former Monaco youngster earned an impressive 6.88 Sofascore rating whilst winning 4.9 duels and making 1.6 interceptions and two clearances per game, showcasing superb defensive attributes in the process.

Capable of operating as a central defender, in either full-back role and in more advanced wide positions, Biancone adds invaluable versatility to Steve Cooper’s squad as the Welshman plans for life managing in the Premier League.

Aston Villa are looking to strengthen their team ahead of the next Premier League season, and now a new potential transfer target has been revealed.

What’s the latest?

According to journalist and transfer insider Dean Jones, Aston Villa are interested in signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain this summer.

Jones told GIVEMESPORT;

“He is a player of interest, but there are others they want to look at too in that situation.

“I think the really interesting thing about Oxlade-Chamberlain is he’s so adaptable in terms of where they could play him.”

Gerrard loves him

There is no doubt that Steven Gerrard has played a part in the interest in signing the Liverpool midfielder this summer, and has always had high praise for Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Back in 2017, Gerrard was the Liverpool U18’s coach and praised the club’s signing of the former Arsenal star:

“Well I think he’s already become a fantastic player, and that’s the reason why we spent £35m on him.

“I think he definitely strengthens the group and the team.”

Since the compliments from the current Villa boss, the £10m midfielder who was dubbed “dynamite” by Jurgen Klopp has gone on to prove him right, playing a role in Liverpool’s success in winning the club’s first-ever Premier League title and a Champions League over the last five years.

This season Oxlade-Chamberlain has had more of a bit-part role in the Merseyside giant’s squad making 28 appearances, scoring three goals and contributing three assists in all competitions.

Despite his lack of game-time at Liverpool, the central midfielder is attracting attention from a number of clubs with Manchester United and West Ham United both linked with interest in the player this summer, so if Gerrard is interested he will need to make an attractive offer for the star.

The Villa boss could reunite Oxlade-Chamberlain with Philippe Coutinho after the pair played together at Anfield, and if Johan Lange can secure a deal it could be an opportunity for Gerrard to spark a formidable partnership between the two players at Villa Park next season.

With that being said, it would be a major coup for the Villains if Johan Lange could bring in a player with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s experience and winning mentality into the centre of the pitch for just £10m this summer.

AND in other news: Great news: Gerrard makes exciting AVFC summer decision that’ll delight supporters

Manchester United may have a chance to sign West Ham United star Declan Rice this summer.

What’s the word?

That is according to a report from Mark Ogden, via The United Stand, who has proclaimed positivity over the potential signing of the England star.

The United Stand Twitter page relayed the original quote from their YouTube channel, in which Mark Ogden states:

“United have a chance [to sign Rice] this year. Chelsea are in turmoil with the ownership, City and Liverpool have said they aren’t interested, Spurs and Arsenal aren’t an appealing move for him. United might have a free run to Declan Rice.”

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-man-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-nunez-ten-hag-nkunku-richarlison” title=”Read the latest Man United news!”]

Ten Hag needs him

With the likes of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic set to leave this summer in what is expected to be a mass clearout at Old Trafford, Declan Rice, who has been dubbed an “explosion” by David Moyes, is the exact signing that a club who lack motivation and direction need.

The acquisition of the defensive midfielder could make Ten Hag’s rebuild job a lot easier. His talent, desire and ability in possession is suited to that of a Dutch-orientated, mass-possession, total-football system that could also serve as a platform for Rice to elevate his game, whilst building towards success at Old Trafford.

The £150m midfielder’s match average of 54.29 passes completed per 90 bodes well, though it’s his 90.6% pass accuracy that makes him such a composed and reliable asset in the centre of the pitch.

With a match average of 6.60 passes into the final third, he poses threat even if his game is more defensive.

His ability to carry the ball makes for another case as to why the 52-year-old should sign him, with United lacking a forward-thinking and defensively sound asset in their engine room.

A large majority of United’s 57 goals conceded, at a rate of 1.5 per game, have come from poor organisation making for easy penetration through the midfield, so Rice, who is a natural leader, would have a licence to make his presence in the middle of the park known.

Out of the aforementioned clubs that Ogden mentioned, Rice would have the biggest impact at United.

In other news: Offer made: Man United have submitted bid to sign £85.4m “lion”, he’s Lewandowski 2.0 

Sky Sports journalist Tom White has now revealed some ‘talks’ going on behind-the-scenes at Sunderland.

The Lowdown: Shares sold?

There have been rumours circulating on social media that both Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven have now sold up their shares at the Stadium of Light.

Football Insider have reported that they would part with their shares for £10.7m, while The Sunderland Echo claim that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is looking to take full-control of the Wearside club.

The Latest: Sky Sports update

Taking to Twitter, White, a presenter on SSN, has revealed that Donald and Methven have not shared their shares at the Black Cats, in spite of the rumours, but ‘talks are at an advanced stage’ with one group:

“Regarding the rumours that Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven have sold their shares in Sunderland, it’s my information that talks are at an advanced stage with one group, but there is still a long way to go.”

The Verdict: Get it done

Donald and Methven are clearly not connected to the club anymore, as finance expert Kieran Maguire has claimed that they have left a ‘toxic legacy’, and so their shares need to be sold as soon as possible.

Whether Louis-Dreyfus takes full control, or their shares are sold to another bidder, they need to get their board structure finalised before the start of next season.

Rich Energy drink founder William Storey has reportedly submitted his own takeover offer to the club, and so this is another path to consider as they look to cement their place in the Championship, and potentially push for promotion to the Premier League in the future.

In other news, find out which three Championship clubs are now eyeing this ‘incredible’ SAFC star here!

Everton’s decision to sign Theo Walcott from Arsenal in 2018 proved to be a disaster as he struggled to show anywhere near the level of performance at Goodison Park as he had done with the Gunners.

The Toffees confirmed in January 2018 that the 28-year-old had completed a move to the club, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract having spent almost all of his senior career with Arsenal.

During his time with the north London club, he hit 108 goals in 397 appearances but he would show no such form in Merseyside, registering just 11 goals and nine assists in 85 appearances for the club.

The 2020/21 season saw Walcott shipped to Southampton on loan as the club looked to ease their wage expenditure and inevitably, after a year on the south coast, the former England international completed a permanent move back to the club where it all started for him.

To sign a player for £20m and let him leave on loan the season before his contract ends represented awful business by the Toffees, as surely they could have simply sold him to Southampton the season before to avoid losing him for nothing, as even a minimal fee is better than nothing.

It was clear from when Walcott signed that he was no longer at his best, as he featured in just 63 minutes of Premier League action for Arsenal in the 2017/18 season before his January switch to Everton, which again begs the question of why the club felt he was worth £20m.

It has been a sad decline to Walcott’s career after he showed such promise as a youngster with the Gunners, with the 2012/13 season perhaps the best of his career, when he managed 12 goals and 13 assists in the top flight.

During a strong run of form in 2016, Arsenal legend Lee Dixon sang the winger’s praises, saying:

“His speed and quality on the ball is unquestionable.

“Now all of a sudden he is unplayable. He is thinking about the game. It seems like he has turned into a different player.”

Unfortunately for Everton, just two years later and he was unplayable in a different sense, in that you couldn’t justify his selection anymore because his performances were so poor, as he averaged a shocking 6.51 rating from WhoScored in his first full season with the club.

[freshpress-quiz id=“638086″]

While the Toffees have signed some poor players in their history, the deal to sign Walcott and then release him a few years later will surely go down as one of the board’s worst transfer decisions.

And is Rahkeem Cornwall set to become the heaviest Test cricketer ever?

Steven Lynch13-Aug-2019If Rahkeem Cornwall plays against India, will he be the heaviest Test cricketer ever? asked Junior Williams from Trinidad
He’ll certainly be close: the latest estimates put Rahkeem Cornwall’s weight at around 140kgs, or 22 stone (he’s also about 6′ 6″ tall, so among the tallest Test cricketers too). The problem is, it’s not usual for players’ weights to be faithfully recorded, so it’s difficult to be precise.Just about the only contender for Test cricket’s heavyweight championship is the former Australian captain Warwick Armstrong, who was quite svelte when he first toured England, in 1902, but had expanded considerably by the time he led a very strong side immediately after the Great War, winning eight Tests in a row against England in 1920-21 and 1921. Describing the 1921 version of Armstrong, Ronald Mason wrote: “He was an enormous man, huge-shouldered and heavy-hipped; he stood well over six feet and by the year of this his last tour had a disproportionate middle-aged spread. Estimates of his weight vary agreeably from 18 to 22 stone [114-140kgs].” Gideon Haigh, in his excellent biography of “The Big Ship”, says the latter-day Armstrong was “as manoeuvrable in the field as a Pullman carriage”. I did see Armstrong’s shirt when it was displayed in the museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and it looked as if it might come in useful as an emergency sail.Since we can’t really be sure, I’d like to declare it a tie between Armstrong and Cornwall!Is it true that Don Bradman averaged 100 in Ashes Tests? Who’s in second place? asked Ricky Dooley from Scotland
Don Bradman didn’t quite manage to average 100 against England, but he still sits comfortably on top of the pile, with 89.78. Of those who had a dozen or more innings in Ashes Tests, the Australian opener Sidney Barnes comes next with 70.50, ahead of the England pair of Herbert Sutcliffe (66.85) and Ken Barrington (63.96). After the Edgbaston Test, Steve Smith had climbed to fifth place with 60.84.If you don’t impose a qualification, there is someone on the list with a three-figure average: Albert Trott made 205 runs in five innings for Australia in 1894-95. Three of them were not out, so he averaged 102.50.What’s the highest identical score by a batsman in both innings of a Test? asked Thanura Perera from Sri Lanka
You’ll probably be pleased to hear that a Sri Lankan holds this particular distinction: against India in Madras in 1982-83, Duleep Mendis hit 105 in the first innings, and followed that up with 105 in the second.The only other man to make an identical three-figure score in both innings of a Test was Misbah-ul-Haq with 101 and 101 not out for Pakistan against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014-15. Here’s the ever-expanding list of those who scored two centuries in the same Test.Anderson Cummins represented Canada in the 2007 World Cup, almost 15 years after he played for the West Indies in the 1992 edition•Getty ImagesLiam Plunkett played in the 2007 World Cup and then in the 2019 edition, after missing 2011 and 2015. Is this the longest gap between World Cup matches for any player? asked Gurdeep Singh from Malaysia
Liam Plunkett actually lies third on this particular list, a few days behind someone else who reappeared in the 2019 World Cup for the first time since 2007 – Shoaib Malik of Pakistan. Lameck Onyango of Kenya (1996 to 2007) and Carl Hooper of West Indies (1992-2003) also missed two World Cups, although the actual time gap between their matches was slightly shorter than for Shoaib and Plunkett.However, the overall leader missed three World Cups: fast bowler Anderson Cummins represented West Indies in the 1992 World Cup, and Canada in 2007, when he was 40. He went four days short of 15 years between World Cup match appearances.I know Sachin Tendulkar is the only man to play 200 Test matches. But who was first to 50, and 100, and 150? asked Pradeep Patel from India
Sachin Tendulkar did indeed become the only player to date to appear in 200 Tests, signing off against West Indies at home in Mumbai in November 2013.The first man to appear in 50 Tests was Syd Gregory, the Australian, who was born in 1870 on the Sydney Cricket Ground, where his father was a groundsman. Gregory reached a half-century of caps in 1909, during the seventh of his eight Test-playing tours of England.England’s Colin Cowdrey was the first to play 100 Tests: he marked the milestone, against Australia at Edgbaston in 1968, by scoring a century.And the first to 150 was Australia’s Allan Border, in the match against New Zealand in Brisbane in 1993-94: he marked the occasion by scoring 105, his 27th and last Test century. At the time, Kapil Dev came next with 127 caps.Finally there’s a clarification on one of last week’s questions:
A few people have queried the answer about only three pairs having bowled unchanged in the fourth innings of a Test, and winning. In trying to condense the question I managed to lose an important stipulation, which was that the bowlers had to have shared all ten wickets. The three shown last week are the only three of those. But there are five other instances (look at the fifth column) of a pair bowling unchanged in a final innings, without taking all ten wickets, usually because of run-outs.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The part-timers low-slung spinners have accounted for some big names

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2017

Thanks to Ajinkya Rahane, India have posted the highest total of the series, and his average in India is past 22 now. That absolute failure of a series, which looked likely, can wait despite such tough conditions

Sidharth Monga in Delhi03-Dec-20151:44

Manjrekar: Rahane benefitting from playing a lot straighter now

The last time Ajinkya Rahane played a Test in Delhi he was a nervous youngster debuting on a square turner. He had got there after scoring heavily, and after long resistance had managed to get past the preference for anyone but him: flashier batsmen, batsmen returning from injury, batsmen over the hill; even Ravindra Jadeja had got in ahead of him. It was understandable he was nervous; this debut had just taken too long coming. He played two shots befitting a nervous debutant, the second one under no pressure of the match situation, and we were left wondering if he had blown his chance because he was dropped for the Tests against West Indies later in that year, 2013.Then India embarked on a testing spell of 13 straight Tests outside Asia and four more outside India. Sachin Tendulkar had just retired. The timing of that retirement, not letting the replacement bed in during home Tests, was unfortunate, but you can’t say Tendulkar planned it that way. He must have been confident he could make it to South Africa too. At any rate this left Rahane with a big challenge: you want to get yourself a Test spot, do it in these testing conditions.In the 17 Tests that he played away from home, Rahane succeeded on every tour. He missed a hundred in Durban by four runs, scored one in Wellington, went on to score a match-winning hundred at Lord’s, surprised the aggressive Virat Kohli with his aggressive batting in Australia, which took some heat off the future captain, and piled on top of them a second-innings hundred in Sri Lanka.Rahane’s biggest challenge of conditions, though, came at home when India chose to play on rank turners to negate the might of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla. They were prepared to pay collaterals, for which they deserve their due credit. The biggest price was perhaps paid by Rahane, coming in at No. 5 by which time the ball has scuffed up and starts to turn even more. He also has to score runs with the lower middle order, considering he was the last specialist batsman in the first Test. Coming to Delhi, Rahane averaged under eight at home.It is easy to make a flawed argument that only one of four Rahane’s dismissals was down to the pitch, when a half-volley found enough time to stop at him and take the edge. On two other occasions he had played without reaching the pitch of the spin and once played a loose drive to Morne Morkel. Rahane was making mistakes on tough pitches. It is ironic that Rahane was having his first poor series at home. . In his last chance, Rahane has turned it around, at the venue that might have had some demons for him.To add to the demons from the debut was India’s position in the game. At 66 for 3, on a pitch that played easier than Nagpur or Mohali, India needed a big effort from somewhere. Rahane came in determined. It helped that Kohli looked in great touch. Along with certain periods in de Villiers’ innings in Bangalore, Kohli looked the most authoritative a batsman has looked this series. Rahane could afford to bed in a little inconspicuously.”I think what has been happening in the past two Test matches was that he was slightly hurrying through his shots earlier on in his innings,” batting coach Sanjay Bangar said. “But he reworked his strategy a bit and is willing to spend time in the middle during initial stages waiting for the loose balls. All credit to Ajinkya for the way he turned out after first two games with low scores to turn things around for himself. It speaks a lot about his character, speaks a lot about the character young Indian batsmen possess.”There seemed another small change, which batsmen usually make on pitches with variable bounce: stay low, cover the low bounce, have a low back lift. When preparing to face spinners here, Rahane hardly took his bat up. The tap on the pitch as the bowler ran in came from a much lower height than it did earlier.While Rahane was looking to take his time early on, he was lucky he got two loose balls pretty early. Two boundaries hit in the first 22 balls he faced – off a short ball and a full toss – and Rahane looked in for the long haul. The responsibility, though, grew after the freak dismissal of Kohli after more than an hour of the most assertive all-round batting in this series. Two more wickets fell soon, as they tend to do on such pitches, and India were 139 for 6.At Lord’s, on a similarly testing pitch, India were 145 for 7 once. Rahane was on 28 then, he was on 31 now. He spent 16 balls on that score. Between Kohli’s dismissal and this spell, he had scored one run in 22 balls. This is the time of his innings when Rahane likes to flow freely. Here a combination of the team situation and a testing pitch asked for caution. He had paid the price for pulling the trigger too early in the series, he wasn’t going to do that now.At Lord’s, Rahane got support from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and here Jadeja provided him solidarity. Thanks to Imran Tahir’s inconsistency, South Africa’s three-man attack had to wilt at some time. Smart Rahane kept his back lift short until the fingers grew tired in the longest session of the day. And then he punished every error in length severely. What was more remarkable was his defence, and his being prepared to defend, until such bad deliveries arrived.Rahane now has the highest individual score of the series. Thanks to him India have posted the highest total of the series, and his average in India is past 22 now. That absolute failure of a series, which looked likely, can wait despite such tough conditions.