All posts by h716a5.icu

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Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay wrote in an article on Tuesday that Leeds United are hopeful that Pontus Jansson’s recovery will be quicker after it was announced on Monday that he will be out for three weeks with a knee issue, with the club ideally wanting him ready to face Birmingham City on April 6.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Sweden international – who was forced to withdraw from duty with his country due to the blow – suffered the problem in the 1-0 defeat against Sheffield United on Saturday.

He moved from the centre-back position to a centre-forward one because of his lack of movement, before replacing goalkeeper Kiko Casilla between the sticks for the final few minutes following the Spaniard’s red card.

Hay wrote that while the Yorkshire outfit expect the 28-year-old to definitely miss out against Millwall at Elland Road later this month, they hope he will be ready for to face Garry Monk’s men in April.

Do Leeds need him?

They certainly do.

While they have players like Gaetano Berardi and Kalvin Phillips who are capable of filling in at centre-back in the Swede’s absence, he is usually always missed when he isn’t in the side due to his commitment and never-say-die attitude.

Leeds will hope that they can cope without him at home to a lowly Millwall, but given they may well come up against a strong centre-forward in Lukas Jutkiewicz at St Andrew’s the following week, they will want a centre-back who loves an aerial duel on the team-sheet.

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While some Crystal Palace fans might tell you that their five-year stay in the Premier League has felt like twice as long – it has been an emotional ride full of ups and downs – the Eagles are now a fully established top-flight club and the squad they’ve got is proof of that.

None of this might have been possible though, if not for that memorable 2012/13 Championship season in which Palace won the play-offs and thus secured promotion to the Premier League.

Kevin Phillips scored the winner over Watford in the final and thus went down in the Palace history books. Despite having only made 21 appearances for the Eagles, the hitman is a hero.

However, it might not have all been possible if he hadn’t suffered early rejection in his Southampton academy days. The retired striker spoke to Palace’s official website about how he almost became a defender instead:

“I got offered apprenticeship forms at Southampton as a striker. However, when I went in to their full-time training every day, I was still quite small.

“The manager at the time, Dave Marrington, looked at me and basically said to me: ‘listen, until you develop, we have bigger and stronger players in that area at the moment. We can see you’ve got technical ability, we can see you can score a goal but for your development physically, how would you like to have a go at playing in defence, ie: right-back?’

“It wasn’t the greatest of news I wanted to hear but at the end of the day it got me in the team week in, week out. I wanted to play up front but I went in as a right full-back for virtually two years as an apprentice.”

Next, the former Blackpool and Sunderland forward played lower league football with Baldock Town, where he was granted opportunities up front – in a fantastic twist of fate, the Saints would pay big money to bring the reject striker back the south coast in 2003 after spells at Watford and Sunderland.

Did Gareth Southgate pick Kieran Trippier over “the best full-back propsect in the world”? Bhavs makes his case in the video below…

Since their promotion, Selhurst Park outfit Palace have been able to attract top players like Mamadou Sakho, Christian Benteke, Luka Milivojevic and – most importantly – keep hold of talisman Wilfried Zaha, none of which they would have been able to do a few years ago.

While the threat of relegation is never quite staved off, Palace are worthy of being a top-half team now and are ready to take the next step with huge improvements to their beloved stadium. They will be counting their lucky stars that Phillips persisted with his goalscoring dreams, then.

Hearts are close to securing the long-term services of former Everton and Rangers winger Steven Naismith when the player becomes a free agent in the summer.

The Express report, despite lucrative offers to play in the MLS, Naismith wants to sign on for a longer stay at Tynecastle in a bid to force his way back into the Scotland squad.

The 32-year-old is currently recovering from knee surgery, but still has an outside chance of playing again this season, before the official end of his loan-spell from Norwich.

The player has been on loan at Hearts since January 2018, and is said to be taking a significant reduction in salary to stay in Scotland, but he is prepared to do so, to fulfil his international ambitions.

Manager, Craig Levein, had made Naismith his top priority, and to get a deal over the line so soon will be a huge boost for the former Scotland manager.

With him also looking to tie-up a deal for Derby County midfielder, Craig Bryson and on the verge of securing Livingston defender Craig Halkett on a free, it bodes of promising times for the Edinburgh club.

Naismith is a popular figure at Tynecastle, and having him spurn more money abroad to commit to Levein’s cause, make his permanent signing a mutually beneficial move for both player and club.

With some new players and, hopefully, an injection of cash, it would be great for Scottish football if Hearts could get back to the good old days of challenging the top two on a regular basis.

All Jambos fans around Scotland would love that to be the case.

It is good to see Hearts getting some business done early, but is it good business for your club, Hearts fans? Do you hope for more incomings over the summer? Let us know your thoughts…

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Loads of Sunderland fans have been discussing the future of manager Jack Ross, with some even calling for his head if they cannot secure promotion this season.

It’s been a funny old season for Sunderland fans, as the despair of relegation was somewhat quashed by the hope on offer from new owner and chairman Stewart Donald.

Donald, along with Ross, has united the club and its fans once more and created a genuine sense of optimism around the Stadium of Light for the first time in a long time.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though, and a run of draws around the turn of the year has left the door open for Barnsley to swoop in and steal that second automatic promotion spot, presuming Luton Town don’t completely collapse in the closing stages of the campaign.

Most of those draws came from a problem Ross is clearly struggling with as a young manager, getting that second goal and putting the game to bed; 1-1 draws have unfortunately become his speciality.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

The Checkatrade Trophy final defeat was yet another example of this as he sat back to preserve a 1-0 lead. It of course did not work, and plenty of fans are having their say on his role in the dugout…

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Seven years ago today Hatem Ben Arfa scored one of the great Premier League individual goals in his side’s 2-0 win over Bolton, in a season in which the Magpies finished fifth and played some swashbuckling football.

Ben Arfa was the embodiment of that team, as he produced his most productive season with the Toon Army registering five goals and five assists.

The best of those five though was this sensational effort against the Trotters.

He received a pass from Yohan Cabaye on the halfway line, before turning Sam Ricketts inside out and driving towards goal.

Mark Davies attempted to bring him down but, the mercurial Frenchman breezed past him and then flicked the ball over David Wheater and Tim Ream, followed by calmly rolling the ball into the bottom corner, sending St James’ Park absolutely wild.

This was Ben Arfa at his magical best and has led to Toon fans on Twitter remembering both the good and the bad of the extremely talented former Marseille man.

Is there another club in world football that have more strikers than Sheffield Wednesday?

Probably not.

Steve Bruce has a total of seven forwards at his disposal with one, in particular, staking his claim during Tuesday’s 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest. After 12 games without a start in the Championship, Marco Matias was brought into the side as part of a front-three at Hillsborough and made a superb impact against the Reds.

Knowing that only a victory would keep his side in contention for a play-off position, the Portuguese marksman took the game by the scruff of its neck and fired home a stunning striker from range in the 47th minute. George Boyd then doubled the Owls’ lead before Matias secured all three points with his second.

With his contract expiring in the summer (according to Transfermarkt), the 29-year-old’s performance was a clear statement to Steve Bruce that he should consider offering him a new deal. Used in a number of different positions this season, Matias, who is valued at £1.35 million (by Transfermarkt), has demonstrated an outstanding level of versatility which has undoubtedly benefited his side, especially since the arrival of their new manager.

Indeed, the fact that he has only scored six goals in 26 appearances in the Championship during the current campaign suggests that he needs to sharpen up in-front of goal. However, if he is given the opportunity to play under Bruce over a period of 46 games, Matias may improve his output, especially if the Owls bolster their creative options in the upcoming transfer window.

If the former Nacional ace backs up his performance against Forest in Wednesday’s final five fixtures, he will undoubtedly create a situation where his boss has no other choice but to extend his stay in Yorkshire for the foreseeable future.

What do you think Owls fans? Should Bruce give Matias a new deal? Or should he let the Portuguese midfielder leave in the summer? Let us know below…

Everton are in need of an overhaul in the summer transfer window as far too many players are failing to pull their weight at this moment in time.

The Toffees still have the chance to secure a European spot in the current campaign but that doesn’t look likely after witnessing their recent defeat at Craven Cottage.

However, they may not have to spend to bring in an attack-minded midfielder as Nikola Vlasic is set to return to Goodison Park in the summer once his loan spell expires at CSKA Moscow.

Of course, one player who he could replace is Andre Gomes as the Portugal international is set to return to Barcelona at the end of the season, and it remains to be seen as to whether the Toffees will purchase him permanently.

Vlasic is very similar to Gomes in many ways as he loves to get forward and influence the game and he also tracks back to try and win possession, as well as starting attacks. But, the one big difference is that Vlasic can operate in more of a No.10 role and he’s produced eight goals and five assists this season, so he could be a real asset.

Gylfi Sigurdsson currently operates in the No.10 role so Vlasic may have to operate in more of a free roam role, which would definitely benefit him as he loves to get on the ball and make things happen. And, the fact that he’s only 21 years of age just shows how bright his future could be, with regular minutes next season aiding his development.

Everton fans, would you like to see Vlasic in the first-team ranks next season? Join the discussion by commenting down below! 

On the 2nd June 2014, Liverpool announced the signing of Rickie Lambert from Southampton for a reported fee of £4 million.

The veteran striker was an unusual signing for the Reds, who were off the back of one of their best ever seasons in the Premier League where Brendan Rodgers’ side went within touching distance of sealing their first league title in over 20 years, but fell short in the final few games.

With Luis Suarez hotly tipped to make a move to Barcelona, a transfer that would happen a month later for a reported fee of £75 million, Liverpool were in need of strengthening in the attack that came so close to winning the Premier League title, and with Lambert available on the cheap after a second season with Southampton where the English international scored over 10 goals, it seemed like a smart move for the Reds.

Lambert joining Liverpool was also seen as a fairytale move, as the veteran striker had been a fan of the club for most of his life and even played for the team’s youth-sides before being released at 15-years-old.

Here’s how Liverpool fans reacted to the signing…

Despite the fairytale return to his boyhood club, Lambert’s time at Liverpool is often forgotten about when asking fans about his time back on Merseyside.

Lambert only spent a single season at Liverpool, making 36 appearances, most of them off the bench, and scoring just three goals.

His goal against Ludogrets in the Champions League made the striker the only player in history to score in all four tiers of the professional English footballing pyramid, the England national team, and in Europe for an English club.

The striker was sold to West Brom after just one year back in Liverpool for a reported fee of £3 million, where yet again Lambert failed to make much of an impact for. Though he would spend two seasons with the Baggies, the ageing forward only managed one goal for the club in his time there.

His final stop in his inspiring career came at Cardiff City, where after scoring just four goals in the Championship, he was released by Neil Warnock, and not long after that Lambert announced his retirement from the game.

Lambert’s fairytale return to Liverpool didn’t go as expected, but it was still a fitting deal for a striker who started his career on a low and ended it on one of the highest of highs.

Liverpool fans, what was your favourite memory of Lambert? Let us know!

Dale Jennings’ move from Tranmere Rovers to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in 2011 was an odd one to say the least.

Tranmere Rovers fans may remember Dale Jennings to be quite the player despite him only spending a season at the club before the European giants swooped in and stole him away.

A gifted winger with all the on-field traits you would expect from a pending star, Jennings whipped around League One with relative ease, bagging six goals and supplying five assists in his first and only season with Tranmere.

His efforts were enough to earn the attention of former Liverpool man and Champions League winner Dietmar Hamann personally recommending the Jennings to Bayern’s technical director, Christian Nerlinger.

Youngsters dream of “making it” on the European stage, don’t we all? But very rarely do they ever get to realise that dream in the same way as 18-year-old Dale Jennings, who made the jump from the lowly third tier of English football to Bayern Munch in 2011 for a reported £1.8million.

It was unprecedented territory, a Tranmere Rovers player moving straight to the Bundesliga – sort of the equivalent of one of us jumping from Sunday League into the Championship. But here was Jennings doing just that.

Unfortunately for the midfielder, it was a case of too much too soon and the move never really worked out. He failed to integrate into his new surroundings, and with the language barrier proving to be a huge problem, became increasingly isolated from his teammates and the coaching staff.

Such was his incapacity to live independently, it is said that one cupboard in his Munich apartment was used purely to store Pot Noodles. We have all been there, Dale, do not worry.

You may ask yourself, what happens in this kind of situation? What becomes of a player who essentially peaked too early in their career? Who will likely never reach the highs of Bayern Munich ever again? Well, the only way is down – clearly.

Jennings moved from Bayern to Barnsley in 2013, before being loaned out to and purchased by MK Dons.

After being released by the Dons in 2016, it took Jennings two years to find his feet again, settling for ninth-tier side Runcorn Town in 2018 in the hope that he can restart his career.

Tranmere fans, what are some standout memories of Jennings? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Tottenham Hotspur fans have slammed the club for letting Jan Vertonghen try to play on after sustaining a head injury in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Ajax.

The Belgium defender was involved in a clash of heads with team-mate Toby Alderweireld in the first half.

He was tended to by Spurs’ medical team, with blood pouring from his wound, which appeared to be just below his eye.

Mauricio Pochettino and his medical team refused to substitute the 32-year-old, however, and he was allowed to return to the field of play.

Despite that, he asked to be substituted just a couple of minutes later, with Vertonghen clearly dazed from the clash with his compatriot.

Spurs lost 1-0, with Donny van de Beek scoring the only goal of the game.

And supporters took to Twitter to express their disgust at the club’s concussion protocol.

Indeed, many believe that he should have been substituted immediately, particularly with his face left a crimson mask.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!