All posts by h716a5.icu

Neil Lennon is currently under a lot of fire as the Celtic engine continues to chug and splutter. The Hoops are now without a win for the third game in a row, with the start of their dip in form stemming from their Old Firm loss.

Rangers handed them their first loss in nine games and Celtic have struggled to regain their form since. Whilst Lennon is a long way off from being dismissed – and has even addressed this himself – there’s a lot that can be worked on in camp.

Looking back at their recent transfer history, it’s now proving to be a disappointment that the Hoops didn’t sign Scott McTominay when they were linked last year.

Would McTominay improve Celtic?

As a senior Scotland player, it goes without saying that the midfielder would be proud to represent his country on both the international and domestic stage. It would also be even sweeter to be able to challenge for silverware, with McTominay yet to win anything as a professional yet.

Celtic have struggled under the constant chopping and changing of their starting lineup over the last few fixtures. With several senior personnel ruled out through injury or coronavirus, Lennon has been moving his chess pieces about to search for a winning formula. For example, his choice to deploy a back four against Aberdeen is something he has only done once in the last eight matches.

His choice of attack has also changed up over the last few games, showing his lack of confidence in players like Leigh Griffiths Albian Ajeti and David Turnbull.

Last season, McTominay featured in 27 Premier League matches for Manchester United and his minutes in action gradually decreased towards the end of the campaign. Although, he was still able to contribute four goals and one assist (via Transfermarkt).

Solskjaer a fan of McTominay

Whilst his goal contribution numbers for the season weren’t groundbreaking, his other statistics were impressive. According to WhoScored, the Scot averaged a higher passing average (80.9%) and more long balls (2.3) compared to teammate Andreas Pereira with 78.3% and 1.2 respectively. The Brazilian also tallied less dribbles per game (0.8) compared to McTominay (1.1) despite playing in a more attacking role.

After a win against Spurs in December, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer waxed lyrical over the 23-year-old’s performance and labelled him as ‘undroppable’ during that time (via Daily Mail).

With McTominay just signing a new contract to keep him at Old Trafford until 2025, it doesn’t look like much will tempt him away from the club. Lennon and co will be disappointed they didn’t capitalise on snapping up the £20.2million-rated midfielder when they could, as they continue to battle their crisis at Celtic Park.

In other news, Albian Ajeti was a disappointment for Celtic in another Neil Lennon switch up…

Steven Gerrard can’t have much to complain about after Glasgow Rangers thrashed Hamilton Academical in a thrilling 8-0 win at Ibrox to stay nine points clear of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon.

The Light Blues are currently unbeaten in 20 games, stretching all the way back to the 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at the start of the season, and Rangers will look to resume their remarkable run when they face the Dons after the international break.

Scott Arfield combined with Ryan Kent to open the floodgates, as goals from Kemar Roofe and Joe Aribo put the Gers three goals up inside 19 minutes to put the game beyond Hamilton, before Aribo and Roofe doubled their efforts, and Brandon Barker and a brace from club captain James Tavernier capped off Gerrard’s biggest win since he first took charge of the club.

Whilst Aribo, Arfield and Roofe ran riot over the Accies, there was one player who’s poor performance went relatively unnoticed – Ryan Kent.

Before we get started, let’s just make one thing clear – Kent is still one of the club’s best players by a country mile. But that doesn’t mean that he can be totally exempt from criticism, if anything, far from it, as he still has some areas he urgently needs to address, namely working on his aerial duels, which are a glaring weakness.

Per SofaScore, the 23-year-old received a respectable rating of 7.3, but this was the lowest score out of the entire front three – he lost possession more times than Jermain Defoe and Roofe (15), whilst he only won five out of ten duels overall, hit the woodwork once and missed one big chance.

It’s fair to say that this was a rather disappointing display from a player of his standards, as he once again failed to find the back of the net, although he at least assisted Arfield’s opener. In fact, he has failed to score since the 4-0 win over Willem II in the third round of the Europa League qualifying stage this season.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former Leeds and Aberdeen striker Noel Whelan insisted that the erratic Rangers ace “needs to improve” his finishing and goal contributions in general.

Kent has only scored four goals and supplied two assists in 19 games in all competitions so far this season, whilst he is averaging 2.9 shots per game, via WhoScored. He just needs to be more clinical in front of the goal, that’s for sure. Maybe the international break will give him a chance to rest his weary legs.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers chief Ross Wilson may have struck gold with Kai Kennedy loan move…

According to 90min.com, Tottenham Hotspur are amongst a number of clubs interested in RB Salzburg midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.

Szoboszlai on Mourinho’s radar

Spurs are one of a whole of hosts of teams across Europe who are eyeing the 20-year-old, including Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

The report says that the Hungary international’s real value is at about double his release clause, which stands at just over £20m, which would make any deal for the youngster well worth Jose Mourinho’s time.

Star talent

Szoboszlai is without a doubt a star talent. So far this campaign, he has managed five goals and nine assists in just 13 matches, which comes after he racked up 12 and 18 in 40 matches respectively last term. He already has 12 caps for his country, and has come in for plenty of praise. Journalist Tomasz Mortimer compared him to Germany star Toni Kroos, while Hungary manager Marco Rossi says he is “one of the top 10 talents in Europe”.

Given the interest in his services, signing him for such a price as mentioned in this report would be an absolute bargain for Daniel Levy and co. It will be a hard task, of course, but there is no reason to believe that north London would not be an attractive destination for Szoboszlai.

In other news, this Spurs summer signing surprised Football Insider pundit Kevin Phillips.

After starting his Newcastle career in the perfect fashion with a goal and assist on his debut against West Ham, Jeff Hendrick’s form has tailed off dramatically in recent weeks.

Despite starting every game in the Premier League bar one (he was dropped to the bench agaisnt Chelsea), the midfielder hasn’t managed a single goal contribution since the opening day.

He’s been similarly disappointing at international level with the Republic of Ireland too, and following his latest howler against Crystal Palace on Friday night, Steve Bruce surely has no choice but to drop him from his starting line-up.

Lining up on the right hand side of midfield in a 4-4-2, Hendrick just looked all at sea, both going forward and tracking back.

As per Sofascore, he lost an incredible 11 of his 12 total duels (92%), made just one tackle and no interceptions, and was dribbled past four times – that last stat being the worst of any Newcastle player on the pitch.

In attack, he was just as anonymous, registering no shots on goal whatsoever, attempting no dribbles, and providing zero key passes. In fact, he made just 18 successful passes on the night.

His performance even saw Newcastle fans take to Twitter to slam the midfielder, with a few even suggesting that they had forgotten he was playing.

Whilst the fact the Magpies won may tempt Bruce into thinking changes to the starting line-up might not be necessary, he surely has to consider dropping Hendrick after this latest shocker.

Whether Allan Saint-Maximin would have played instead of him if he was fit is up for debate given reports that Bruce was set to leave him out of the side anyway.

But if the Frenchman returns to full fitness soon, the Newcastle boss simply has to play him and drop Hendrick.

Mark Douglas has shed light on the latest development that may well hinder the chances of the proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium from happening.

The Premier League have agreed to extend their current Middle East/North Africa (MENA) TV deal with beIN Sports to cover the period between 2022 and 2025, with it being worth $500m (£367.8m) over the course of the three years.

It also means that the people of the KSA will have to continue to watch games from the Premier League on illegal streams given that the Qatari broadcaster is currently banned in their country.

Douglas has since shed light on the breakthrough news, with The Chronicle journalist claiming that the announcement of the MENA TV deal “feels significant” while highlighting that the fact that the Saudis have not engaged with it shows that ill feeling between the two parties still remain.

He also added that while the resolution to this conflict does not seem to be close at this particular moment in time, the KSA group are not going away and Mike Ashley remains committed to getting the deal done.

Significance to Newcastle takeover

The fact that there is still ill feeling between the Saudis and England’s top flight may hinder the chances of the prospective takeover at St. James’ Park from happening, and given the already fragile relationship between the KSA and Qatar, the Kingdom may be encouraged to stamp out all forms of piracy in their country once and for all.

In other news, find out which NUFC ace blasted his team’s display versus Leeds here!

Leeds United weren’t afraid to splash the cash during the summer transfer window and some of their signings have proven to be great swoops form Victor Orta. However, Marcelo Bielsa’s latest injury update revealed that both Robin Koch and Diego Llorente are out with respective knee and muscle injures, which sees them very exposed at the back.

Defence is the one area that the Whites must fine-tune to avoid slipping into worrying territory in the league table. Meanwhile, their attack could also use a spruce up but they have options ready and raring to go.

This cancels out any suspected move for reported transfer target Gyrano Kerk, who Leeds were reportedly interested in according to a report from The Mirror (September 27, page 74), and whom Robin van Persie has been praising in recent days.

Why Leeds mustn’t sign Kerk

Orta did well to recruit Helder Costa on a permanent basis from Wolves during the summer after bagging himself five goals and eight assists in white last season (via Transfermarkt). He currently has two goals and two assists in the Premier League this term and already faces competition from rising 20-year-old talent Ian Poveda.

The two are clamouring to catch Bielsa’s eye, which is proving difficult recently due to the club’s third right-wing man Raphinha impressing the boss. Paying big bucks for another right-winger would only upset the applecart at Leeds.

Despite being valued at just £5.8million, Kerk has attracted a lot of attention and Utrecht have been holding their breath. Luckily for them, they survived the summer window without losing the star forward and are likely planning to slap a hefty price tag on his head to ward off any future interested parties.

Not only do Leeds need to invest their funds in other areas of the pitch, but signing Kerk could seriously hinder the growth of Poveda, who is learning from older teammates Costa and Raphinha. The club is stacked with talent down the right-hand side and splashing the cash on yet another winger would raise some serious questions at Elland Road.

In other news, Marcelo Bielsa drops huge clanger which could cost him against West Ham…

Wilfried Zaha scored the decider as Crystal Palace somewhat stopped the rot from spreading further by drawing with Leicester City in the Premier League at Selhurst Park.

Following back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, Roy Hodgson will have had every right to feel a little bit anxious about his position.

After failing to score against ten-man Villa, Hodgson’s side rediscovered some of their attacking edge as they picked up a vital point.

Zaha gave the Eagles the lead in the second half after Vicente Guaita saved a pathetic penalty attempt from Kelechi Iheanacho, only for Harvey Barnes to level the score.

While Zaha will most likely receive much of the plaudits, Jairo Riedewald deserves the spotlight after he put in such a solid defensive shift against the Foxes.

The Palace defensive-minded midfielder has earned his stripes so far this season and really seems to have embraced the challenge, causing all sorts of mischief in the midfield. He’s already scored one goal in the Premier League this season but even though he couldn’t get himself on the scoresheet on Monday afternoon, this was easily one of his best performances yet.

Riedewald, who earns roughly £55,000-per-week at SE25, was a constant nuisance for Brendan Rodgers’ side as he took delight in breaking up attacks at almost free will.

The 24-year-old was involved in most of the action in the midfield as he made one clearance, one interception, two tackles – more than his teammate James Tomkins – and blocked one shot.

Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t help Palace keep their first clean sheet since the 1-0 win over Southampton at the start of the season, although it’s worth pointing out he had already been replaced by James McArthur by the time Barnes found the bottom corner.

However, this will do little to take the shine off his impressive shift, as Riedewald made the most of his sixth start of the season with a dominant display shielding the defence.

Per SofaScore, he won four out of his five duels overall (80%), showing his strength by winning the majority of his individual battles with Leicester midfielder Nampalys Mendy.

It feels like we’ve said this before, but this is just the latest example of impressive performances from the former Netherlands international. You do have to wonder why he hasn’t started more often after his latest showing.

AND in other news, Lightweight: Crystal Palace defender Cheikhou Kouyate was shocking vs Aston Villa…

As Victor Orta dotted the Is and crossed the Ts in the summer transfer window, he did so knowing he’d signed a collective group of players capable of taking Leeds towards a brighter future.

Of course, Rodrigo’s addition stole the headlines but it cannot be underestimated the work Orta did in securing a host of players for their academy.

The likes of Joe Gelhardt, Cody Drameh and Crysencio Summerville all arrived to bolster the ranks in the U23s but the young player who has caught the attention the most is Sam Greenwood.

The teenager took the bold decision to leave his hometown of Sunderland in 2018 to join Arsenal, but just two years later he was moving back up north.

This time his destination was Leeds United, and since arriving, he hasn’t looked back.

Gelhardt was the main attraction as far as young prospects go last summer but it’s Greenwood who has impressed more than anyone.

The 18-year-old has been superb for the U23s and already has six goals in just nine outings this term. A minor injury set him back but the highs have certainly outweighed the lows in his first few months at Thorp Arch.

He scored a hat-trick against Sunderland and is very nearly ready for first-team action. His left foot is as sweet as a nut and he is an instinctive finisher capable of hitting rasping drives. It’s no wonder that he’s been compared to Robin van Persie – someone with a breathtaking shot and left foot.

Talking about Greenwood earlier this season, Joe Donnohue of Leeds Live said: “His start may have been excellent, so imagine how much better he could be with consistent football.”

Excellent is something that typifies the teenager perfectly and in a month where Leeds favourably look away from entering the transfer market, he could profit significantly.

The likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta and Diego Costa have been touted with moves but the Whites should forget about those attackers and focus on promoting within.

Greenwood is as explosive as they come and would surely suit the style of football Marcelo Bielsa plays perfectly.

He deserves his chance as much as any at Leeds.

AND in other news, “He’d fit into Bielsa’s team” – Exclusive: Pundit claims £30m gem would be perfect Leeds signing…

Leeds United must desperately look to offload Jay-Roy Grot amid reports linking him with a move to ADO Den Haag.

What’s the story?

Since joining from NEC Nijmegen in the summer of 2017 for a reported fee of £750k, the 22-year-old just hasn’t been able to mark his mark at Elland Road, making just 22 appearances in total for the Whites, scoring one goal and providing one assist.

But now, Dutch publication Algemeen Dagblad (via Sport Witness) claim that Den Haag have their eyes set on bringing Grot back home to his native Netherlands, and that he’s actually been training with them for a few days this week.

The report adds that with Grot’s contract at Leeds coming to an end this summer, and Marcelo Bielsa not including him in his plans, the key way for Den Haag to get their man is for the forward to terminate his contract at Elland Road.

Radrizzani must intervene

Having not played a single competitive game for Leeds since the 2017/2018 season, it’s fair to say Grot’s signing just hasn’t worked out for the club.

Whilst his £7.15k-a-week wages aren’t the biggest, especially in the context of the modern Premier League game, it’s still the fact the Whites are continuing to pay someone who is nowhere near Bielsa’s first-team plans.

It’s a financial nightmare that won’t make owner Andrea Radrizzani happy at all, and it’s why he might consider personally intervening in the matter.

With the report claiming that Den Haag would look to pick Grot up if he has his contract terminated, then Radrizzani may consider biting the bullet on the young Dutchman and coming to an agreement where he can just walk away in the January transfer window rather than in the summer.

Grot’s time has been up for some time now, and Leeds have to make a ruthless, yet ultimately understandable, call on the 22-year-old this month.

Meanwhile, Leeds surely regret not signing this Bundesliga dynamo…

According to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, Leeds United ace Tyler Roberts is expected to stay at Elland Road in this January transfer window.

What’s the story?

The 7-cap Wales international has struggled to figure into Marcelo Bielsa’s plans this season, featuring only sporadically in the Premier League – he’s yet to complete the full 90 minutes in the top-flight, whilst he’s only played around 50 minutes in the division since November 7.

Despite interest from Championship sides about a potential loan until the end of the season, The Athletic has claimed Bielsa is not “minded” to consider those offers before the January transfer window.

The report adds that Bielsa is “sympathetic” towards Roberts’ situation and a lack of game-time, and that attention on his long-term future at Elland Road is likely to ramp up given he will enter the final year of his contract.

Bielsa’s ruining him

With no 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, it’s safe to say Roberts has been on the fringes of the Leeds team,

Speaking back in mid-November, former Leeds man Noel Whelan said: “Right now we are looking at a lad that is very low on confidence and very low on belief in his own ability.

“He is struggling to find form and maybe it is a step too far for him right now, the Premier League. It would be very harsh for me to say that he is not a Premier League player but he is not showing it right now.”

Much of that lack of confidence can be put down to the lack of consistent chances Roberts has had to shine in the Premier League this season. Cameo appearances here and there, and just expecting him to change the game at the tip of a hat is just foolish, especially given how he’s still only 22-years-old.

Players need to get into a rhythm to really showcase what they can offer, and Roberts just hasn’t been afforded that.

Blocking a loan move for him where he would be able to get regular game-time and feature week-in and week-out seems like a hugely strange decision from Bielsa, especially when you consider Leeds already have Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo up front, and are continuing to be linked with a move for another striker themselves.

Bielsa’s decision seems more focused on the short-term goals of the club, rather than the long-term needs of the player. If Roberts doesn’t come good at Elland Road, then much of that responsibility will have to fall on the Leeds boss’ shoulders.

Meanwhile, this Leeds United ace is facing an uncertain time at Elland Road…