All posts by z3u9t.icu

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals for Wolves, believes Adama Traore’s poor form is partially down to the absences of Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez, who he worked well with last season.

Traore has failed to register a single goal or assist in the Premier League this season, compared to the last campaign where he ended up with four goals and nine assists, and Bull believes being the only one left of their formidable trio is a big factor.

Wolves have struggled in front of goal since Jimenez fractured his skull against Arsenal last year, with nobody able to do what he does for the Midlands club in what has been a frustrating season for Nuno.

Speaking on Traore not being the same without Jota and Jimenez as well as on what has been a difficult season for Wolves, Bull told FFC exclusively:

“When we had the three of them; Jimenez, Jota and Traore they were a formidable force. When you take a piece of that jigsaw away the other two are thinking, ‘what’s going on?’

“Nuno’s had a frustrating year, it’s been like a transformation period. There’s been new players coming in and old players go out, so it takes time for them to gel.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/exclusive-andreas-sondergaard-wolves-premier-league” title=”Exclusive! Andreas Sondergaard talks all things Wolves”]

“I think Nuno signed a three-year deal at the end of last year, so we’ve got him for the next two years at least and he’ll be thinking about building for the future now.”

Wolves scored 49 times in the Premier League last season, however, they’ve only found the back of the net 26 times so far this campaign with their frustrations in front of goal obvious to see.

Traore has been good in his build-up play towards the final third but has failed to convert it into any meaningful passes or attempts at goal.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith must urge the club to make a summer transfer move for David Brooks, amid Lee Hendrie’s verdict on the Bournemouth star.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent months have suggested that the Villa boss is keen on landing the Wales international and offering him a return back to Premier League football following the Cherries’ relegation last season.

Former Villa ace Hendrie has now revealed that he’s a “big fan” of the versatile midfielder, and insisted that the 23-year-old could be a great player for Smith.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: “I’m a big fan of David Brooks. I’ve seen a fair bit of him this season and he’s an absolute talent, he really is. He’s a young man with bags of ability and I think if he comes into Villa, I think he’d be a great addition.

“He reminds me of Jack (Grealish). He’s very slight, he’s very mobile and, again, he’s another player that could set the Prem on fire if he’s given a chance.”

Get it done

In the £55,000-a-week earning Brooks, Smith would be getting someone who is able to play both in the number ten role and out wide, with the Welshman’s low centre of gravity and quick turn of pace something to really change the game – his former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe hailed him as someone who “turns well with the ball” and has “creative flair”.

This season has seen him bag four goals and provide a further five assists, and it’s no wonder that Chris Wilder, his former manager at Sheffield United, declared him a “match-winner” and someone he wanted to bring back in October last year.

Brooks could offer Villa that extra bit of dynamism going forward, with Howe also hailing his “creative flair” and “non-stop energy”.

It’s a move that Villa should be targeting this summer, with Hendrie’s glowing verdict another reason why the Midlands club would be foolish to pass him up.

Meanwhile, Gregg Evans has delivered a major transfer update on Aston Villa…

Ben Jacobs has dropped a behind-the-scenes claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United involving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium.

Writing as part of a Twitter thread in reaction to the emails between the Premier League and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that showed how close the deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA group was, the journalist and regular takeover commenter tweeted:

“Can also reveal prior to withdrawing, & in mid-June, club & consortium considered releasing a statement putting pressure on EPL to conclude Test. They spoke openly about this tactic, only to instead withdraw in July. Very possible DCMS were aware of this potential statement, too.”

Newcastle takeover talk looming again

As was very much the case in the summer, when the emails were said to be exchanged before the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) eventually decided to withdraw their bid, the talk of a potential takeover of the St. James’ Park faithful has come roaring right back in recent days.

Jacobs’ claim from within the club seems to supply more evidence of just how desperate both the Magpies and the consortium were to get this done, given that they were willing to try anything to heap pressure on those making the final call.

Considering how close it was to being pushed through, it is very possible that the takeover will be revisited come the end of the 2020/21 term, when the fate of the North East club is sealed in terms of whether they manage to avoid being relegated from the top flight down to the EFL Championship.

Nonetheless, a path would have to be cleared for PIF to come back to the table, and the Premier League would surely have to hurry their Owners’ and Directors’ Test (ODT) given the growing impatience, with the results holding the key over whether the deal can be revived or not.

In other news, find out what revelation Craig Hope has dropped on the potential new owners here!

Many Southampton reacted in their droves to Danny Ings picking up an injury during his side’s Premier League clash against top flight strugglers Sheffield United.

After just 12 minutes, the 28-year-old went down holding his ankle and was unable to continue at Bramall Lane, making way for Che Adams during the first period.

Ings has scored eight goals and provided three assists from 21 appearances for Southampton during the 2020/21 campaign (Whoscored) – there is no doubting the Englishman is the club’s most prolific striker.

Despite this, Ings has struggled with injuries over the years which spans back from his days at Liverpool, where he picked up back-to-back serious knee injuries. However, his most common setback has been related to his hamstring since his move to St Mary’s (Transfermarkt).

With this in mind, supporters were incensed by his latest issue, which will now be his fourth of the season, with some suggesting that he may have played his last game for the South Coast outfit.

Fans flock to Twitter after Ings injury

“Ings going off is bad, bad news. Don’t look like anyone else can score apart from Minamino and a JWP free-kick. Gulp.”

Credit: @mattlc180

“Ings injured already………. Please find who has cursed a dark spell upon my club. This is ridiculous”

Credit: @RhysTheSaint

“I swear Ings is made of glass”

Credit: @Jackthebrit

“Danny Ings is done here. This is not good at all.”

Credit: @SouthamptonPage

“Ings off again. Time to sell”

Credit: @thepump74

“Ings injured. Imagine my shock”

Credit: @BristolSaints

In other news, Southampton enquire about services of £120k-per-week Premier League star.

After a scare in the FA Cup fourth round against Cheltenham Town at the weekend, Manchester City were eventually able to progress thanks to a late flurry of goals.

However, the performance may be a cause for concern for Pep Guardiola, as those on the fringes of his squad arguably failed to perform against League Two opposition.

Therefore, it seems likely that the Spanish manager will make plenty of changes for the trip to West Brom on Tuesday night, where a win could take the Citizens to the top of the Premier League table.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Guardiola to line his side up against the Baggies, with nine changes from the team that beat Cheltenham…

Ederson returns in goal with Zack Steffen having seemingly established himself as Manchester City’s cup goalkeeper with another appearance against Cheltenham Town last weekend.

Guardiola will likely rotate his entire defence, with John Stones and Ruben Dias resuming their partnership at centre-back, whilst Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko come in for Eric Garcia and Benjamin Mendy at full-back.

Phil Foden is one of just two City players to keep his place, and he drops into midfield to fill the void left by Kevin De Bruyne, who misses out through injury, with Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan providing the more defensive duties in midfield.

Raheem Sterling comes in for Ferran Torres on the left-wing, with Bernardo Silva replacing Riyad Mahrez on the right, with the Portugal international having finally found his shooting boots in recent weeks following his goal against Aston Villa.

Gabriel Jesus keeps his place up front after his winning goal at the weekend, but the Brazilian can not afford to be so wasteful against Sam Allardyce’s side on Tuesday night.

And, in other news… Txiki can sign Pep a Gabriel Jesus upgrade in “top goalscorer”

Glasgow Rangers are far from happy after the Scottish FA confirmed that Andrew Phillips will take over as the organisation’s new compliance officer.

As the Gers sit top of the Premiership by 15 points (BBC), it is fair to say it has been a fantastic campaign for the Gers so far. However, that does not mean they have not had their problems with the SFA this term – both Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe has received bans for challenges made during games, while Jordan Jones and George Edmundson picked up seven-game suspensions for breaking coronavirus regulations towards the end of 2021.

Now, the authority have confirmed Phillips will take over the role previously held by Claire Whyte (scottishfa.co.uk). While little is known about Phillips, it appears he has little background in football – his appointment has therefore gone down like a lead balloon.

The fans took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the appointment of Phillips below

“The @ScottishFA are an absolute joke!!! I doubt this guy has had any football experience apart from being a fan of a club!!! You have basically appointed a fan to this position who does not know the game!!!”

Credit: @james248602

“Ridiculous appointment. Should have been an ex referee”

Credit: @andythephotoDr

“They’d do well to get rid of the role altogether, what an absolute shambles, but we expect nothing else”

Credit: @DelSmithRFC

“Consider me confused. Should this role not go to someone with a background in football? I mean there’s millions of people in Scotland with a passion for football too.”

Credit: @bferguson4

“Bizarre CV for a footballing role.”

Credit: @RoyalBlue1872

“What part of Parkhead is his Season Ticket for?”

Credit: @Broxburngers

In other news, Rangers fans react to these Steven Gerrard comments.

Aston Villa have suffered a major blow ahead of their Premier League clash against Newcastle on Friday night, with Jack Grealish once again ruled out of action.

The England international has missed the last four Premier League games for Villa after picking up a lower leg injury last month, with the club picking up just four points in those matches in his absence.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against the Magpies, Villa boss Dean Smith said: “Jack has been making really good progress and we are happy at where he’s at but, unfortunately, he won’t make it (Friday’s game).

“He has been ill this week so he’s been off for a couple of days as well, but we’re hopeful for the Tottenham game now, that’s for sure. Jack is still in and around the training ground. He takes part in the meetings. He’s got a voice and an opinion, which is good.”

Given how badly have Villa struggled without him in terms of their results, Smith will no doubt be gutted that the 25-year-old will once again be missing from first team action.

Grealish has been one of the shining lights of what has been an impressive Premier League campaign for Villa, scoring six goals and providing 12 assists.

It’s no surprise that, in the games that he has missed, Villa have lacked creativity and an eye for goal, finding the back of the net just twice in his absence.

The rest of his teammates will have to try and step up once more when they visit St James’ Park to take on Newcastle on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Villa could land a new Tyrone Mings in this ace…

Manchester United were outfoxed by Manchester City on their own home turf on Wednesday night, leaving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a lot of work to do as the club’s wait for silverware continues.

Goals from City duo John Stones and Fernandinho dumped the Red Devils out of the Carabao Cup semi-final, as Pep Guardiola’s side set up a Wembley clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

Hunting their first trophy since 2017, Solskjaer’s side seemed to have shrugged off early pressure from City after Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford both squandered chances. But poor set-piece defending ultimately proved to be their undoing when Harry Maguire failed to deal with a free-kick from Phil Foden – Stones bundling home from close range to give City the lead.

And their suspect defence came back to haunt them after Anthony Martial and Aaron Wan-Bissaka combined only to clear the ball as far as the edge of the box for Fernandinho to hit the ball first time into the back of the net.

Several players were at fault for the sub-par performance, none more so than United left-back Luke Shaw, who arrived at Old Trafford from Southampton for £27m in 2014. He reportedly earns around £150,000-per-week, as per Spotrac.

SofaScore graded the 25-year-old as the worst player on the pitch by a country mile with a miserable 6.2 rating – he lost possession 16 times, failed to win any of his duels from six attempts, was dribbled past once and committed two fouls.

The Manchester Evening News gave Shaw a low grade of 5/10 and claimed he ‘let Stones go for the goal,’ while The Sun were equally scathing in their assessment, insisting ‘he found himself tucked in centrally and was often a passenger on the break.’

Not only did he look lethargic, but he was also uncharacteristically lightweight as well with his teammates Fernandes and Paul Pogba managing more tackles between them, as per SofaScore.

After Alex Telles’ arrival in the summer, Shaw may have been forgiven for feeling a little threatened. But his latest shocking display may have given him more reason to do so and he ought to be nervously looking over his shoulder after he suffered a horror show against Guardiola’s side.

United have now lost four cup semi-finals in the past 12 months following yet another semi-final defeat at the hands of City in the Carabao Cup. With a trip to Liverpool on the horizon, this could be Shaw’s last start for quite some time after this latest showing.

AND in other news, Manchester United could find their next Nemanja Vidic…

Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed on his ‘Here We Go’ podcast recently that Manchester City were extremely close to signing Isco in 2018 but they could not find an agreement with Real Madrid.

As per Man City Xtra on Twitter, the Spanish playmaker had agreed terms with the Citizens but they couldn’t negotiate a fee with Los Blancos, who were demanding €90 million (£80.3 million) for the midfielder.

Considering the 28-year-old’s downturn in form in recent seasons, Guardiola will surely be delighted that the club didn’t shell out what would have been an enormous fee plus hefty wages for the Spanish international, as he currently earns £210k per week at Madrid.

So far this season, the former Malaga man has been extremely disappointing, having averaged a 6.32 rating across his seven appearances in La Liga, with no goals or assists to his name (per WhoScored).

Isco’s market valuation has truly plummeted in recent years, with Transfermarkt currently valuing him at £18 million, whilst he was valued at £81 million just two years ago, suggesting that Real Madrid weren’t far off with their valuation but that City were right not to pay it.

When he was linked with a move to Barcelona back in 2017, his international teammate at the time, Andres Iniesta, was full of praise for the attacking-midfielder, saying:

“He is a fantastic player, with an incredible talent.

“For many years he has been doing things very well and he is playing for one of the best teams in the world.

“He is an important player not just in the national team but in his club. He is young and has many years to grow and improve.” (per FotMob)

To be so highly-rated by one of the best midfielders to ever play the game certainly suggests that Isco was an extremely talented player, so it is surprising that his career seems to have fallen off a cliff somewhat in recent seasons.

He has also endured his fair share of injury problems in recent seasons with the La Liga giants, suggesting that he would’ve struggled with the physicality of the Premier League had he joined back in 2018.

Therefore, City will surely be glad they didn’t splash the cash on Isco back in 2018 and they now have the immensely talented Phil Foden establishing himself as a key member of Guardiola’s squad, which may not have happened had Isco joined two years ago.

And, in other news… Manchester City may already have their next Kevin De Bruyne in “fabulous” academy talent

When you think of Sam Allardyce’s managerial career, one player sticks out like a sore thumb.

Kevin Nolan has played under the 66-year-old more times than anyone else, racking up 390 appearances across two different clubs and the ‘firefighter’ will need characters like him in this West Brom side if they are to beat the drop.

Luckily for Big Sam, he has an almost like-for-like already at the Hawthorns in the shape of Jake Livermore.

Whilst his old skipper, Nolan, was often deployed in the hole behind Andy Carroll, it wasn’t his attacking exploits that made him so effective, but rather his defensive contributions.

Combative, efficient and industrious. The ideal mix for any Big Sam midfielder. That’s pretty much Livermore down to a tee, is it not?

The Albion captain started his first game in five outings in Slaven Bilic’s swansong draw at Manchester City and proved to be a hassle for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.

In nine Premier League starts, the 31-year-old is averaging 2.2 tackles and 2.3 fouls per match, via WhoScored. A perfect combination of being hard to beat and disrupting the opposition.

Indeed, Big Sam should be salivating over the prospect of unleashing the former Spurs powerhouse against Villa this Sunday.

He arrived in the west Midlands for just £10m in 2017 and has been here ever since and this unwavering loyalty is another factor that will have the new Baggies boss rather excited.

SmarterScout claimed earlier this season that the midfield veteran had “been massive, an aggressive defender with decent tackling” but lacked that extra bite in his duels with poor ball-retention, and that’s something Allardyce will need to improve fast to restore some stability.

The Albion “leader” could well hold the keys to Big Sam successfully pulling off another phenomenal safety bid. If Livermore is on form in the engine room, then at the very least, West Brom will have a firm foundation to build off going into 2021.

AND in other news, Big Sam may already be heading for his FIRST mistake at the Hawthorns…