All posts by h716a5.icu

Leeds must avoid a major transfer nightmare over Danny Rose after Paddy Kenny’s claim about signing him.

What’s the story?

The former Leeds academy starlet sees his contract at current club Tottenham expire in the summer, and the indications are that he will not be expected to renew his deal, with Turkish giants Trabzonspor reportedly after him.

With Gjanni Alioski set to make his own departure from Elland Road, Kenny has insisted that Rose would be a great signing for Marcelo Bielsa’s side to potentially fill that left-back slot.

The former goalkeeper told Football Insider: “If you can get Danny Rose on a free, that’s an absolute no-brainer. His contract is up soon and it doesn’t look like he’ll sign another. He didn’t have much to shout about at Newcastle, but these things happen.

“He’s got a lot of experience at Premier League level. He’d be an excellent player to add to their squad. You can see why he is a top priority for them (Trabzonspor). He’s got quality and sometimes you’ve got to take a step back to come forwards. He’d be a really good signing.”

Bielsa would be making a mistake

While Rose may have a wealth of Premier League and European experience, the full-back just isn’t anywhere near the same level that he was before, with The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas even saying that the 30-year-old is “on the decline”.

Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane blasted him as “dreadful” only last season, claiming that he and Serge Aurier were “Dumb and Dumber” after defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Speaking after a particularly awful display at international level with England, the Manchester United legend said: “Rose gave a performance tonight, my goodness, someone has got to get a hold of that guy. He was shocking, abysmal. I think he’ll be the same in another three or four years. Some players don’t learn from their mistakes, that’s a big problem and at the highest level you will suffer for it.”

The £60,000-per-week ace hasn’t made a single first team appearance all season, while Newcastle decided against bringing him back after a spell on loan at St James’ Park last year.

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Leeds need to be moving forward, not back, and signing Rose would likely be a major nightmare for Bielsa. Paying a big wage packet for a player way past his prime, and whose form and fitness has been widely questioned, just doesn’t seem the right call to make.

It’s not the “absolute no-brainer” Kenny says it is.

Meanwhile, Leeds must finally offload this forgotten man who “Bielsa never trusted”…

The Chief Executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Tim Lamb,today responded to media comment regarding the length of Pakistan’s currenttour to England

Media Release09-May-2001The Chief Executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Tim Lamb,today responded to media comment regarding the length of Pakistan’s currenttour to England.He said: “It is completely wrong to suggest that the ECB’s decision to hosttwo npower Test Matches against Pakistan this summer reflects poorly on thetourists.”Our original plan for this summer was to play a six-Test Ashes seriesagainst Australia only. However, following our new broadcasting deal withChannel Four and Sky in 1998, we agreed to expand the international matchprogramme to seven Test Matches per summer and introduce a triangularone-day tournament, the NatWest Series.”This enabled us to extend an invitation to another international side andthe Pakistan Cricket Board readily accepted our offer to play two npowerTests this summer and take part in the NatWest Series.”It would not have made cricketing or commercial sense for us to play aseven-Test series against one country and we firmly believe that the currentinternational match programme is in tune with what cricket fans want.”It should also be stressed that Pakistan’s tour this year was originallyintended to be an additional tour over and above the visit Pakistan were dueto make here in 2004 under the previous touring programme. This has now beenovertaken by the new ICC Test Cricket World Championship whereby eachcountry has to play each other twice home and away during a five-year periodand, as a consequence, Pakistan will now not tour here in 2004.”I can reassure Pakistan supporters that the ECB has the utmost respect fortheir team’s ability. They are one of the most exciting sides to watch inworld cricket and we will be looking to play a minimum of three Test Matchesand possibly four when Pakistan are next due to tour here again in 2006.”

Australian captain Steve Waugh believes that despite England’s recent run of success, his side are still the favourites for the forthcoming Ashes series against England

Stephen Lamb30-May-2001Australian captain Steve Waugh believes that despite England’s recent run of success, his side are still the favourites for the forthcoming Ashes series against England.Waugh was speaking at the tourists’ first press conference, held at Worcester this morning before the squad embarked on a training season at the sun-drenched New Road ground.Waugh, who turns 36 on Saturday, also conceded that it would almost certainly be the last tour of England for him, and for several of his colleagues.”Common sense tells you you’re not going to play when you’re 40 and above – although Graham Gooch did it which was a great achievement – but the time will come when the squad will change pretty dramatically over the next couple of years.”This is a significant tour for a lot of us in that it is probably our last tour to England. From a personal point of view I want to really enjoy this tour, and soak up the atmosphere in every game we play and every day on tour.””When you’re young you think that it is going to last forever, but when you get towards the end of your career you want to make everything more special so that is the attitude I am going to take.”I am going to really enjoy every Test, every game and every one-dayer and just soak up what an England tour is all about.”Waugh is expecting a closely-contested series after England’s recent run of success at home and abroad.”We’re looking forward to playing England. They’ve done very well in recent times, they’ve got a good side, very together and they seem pretty tough.”They’ve won some good matches on the sub-continent, which is not easy to do. But they’re going to come up against a pretty good Australian side.”He added: “We’ve had some good results against England. A lot of their personnel hasn’t changed so from our point of view, if we get on top early, we can perhaps open some old scars up.”Waugh’s comments were echoed by Australia’s coach John Buchanan. “I don’t think there is any question that Australia should be number one. Obviously England’s current form is good – they should be up at the top somewhere.”And Australia’s vice-captain Adam Gilchrist also has a healthy respect for England. “It seems they’re heading in the right direction, with some positive results and a lot of support behind them. Who knows what they might do?”Australia meet Worcestershire at New Road for a three-day game in the Vodafone Challenge Series which starts on Friday.

Alan Hutton has dropped a big claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United after the Toon Army avoided relegation from the Premier League.

The Lowdown: Newcastle survive

The St. James’ Park faithful were confirmed to be staying up in the top flight for at least another season after Fulham lost 2-0 at home to Burnley on Monday night, meaning that they are mathematically impossible to catch, as they are currently 12 points above the drop zone with just three games left to play (Sky Sports).

It also means that Mike Ashley can likely still sell the North East club for his desired price if a deal is revived, and gives an incentive for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group to relaunch their bid.

The Latest: Hutton sees takeover positive

Hutton, who is now a pundit after a stellar playing career in the English and Scottish top flights, has since given his thoughts to Football Insider on the Tyneside club avoiding the dreaded drop, suggesting that it will indeed serve as a positive for the potential deal between Ashley and the KSA consortium:

“It’s absolutely huge. I think if they did go down, the takeover is off the table.

“It is what it is. Staying up was obviously huge, it means that a possible takeover will still be there.

“I just think for all the fans, Steve Bruce, everybody, that’s what it needs.  Obviously, they’ve not been happy for a long time with who’s in charge at the moment.

“I think it’s best for everybody if a new party comes in. Then you’re talking about the investment.

“We know how big a club Newcastle are and where they can get to with the right funding.

“If they do get the money, obviously the takeover has to happen first, but we’re talking about two different pathways.

“We can see two totally different teams if the takeover happens or if it doesn’t.”

The Verdict: Survival vital for potential takeover

It was clear that avoiding being relegated down to the EFL Championship was always going to be vital in terms of whether the potential takeover of the Magpies could still be revived or not.

Ashley will not have to lower his asking price now that they remain in the division where all the money is, and the attraction of still being a PL club will certainly still be there from the perspective of the potential new owners.

However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to get the bid back on track, with arbitration cases pending this summer and Ashley recently launching additional legal proceedings – Tyneside is going to have to remain patient.

In other news, find out what insight from sources Liam Kennedy has dropped on the timescale of the potential takeover here!

Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Joe Lumley is set to leave the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a statement posted on the official Middlesborough website, where the North East club have confirmed that the 26-year-old shot-stopper would be joining up with Neil Warnock’s side upon the expiry of his QPR contract next month.

In reaction to the announcement, Warnock said: “I’m delighted to have signed Joe. I’ve always rated him highly and I look forward to him joining us. I know he’s excited about coming here and he can’t wait to play in front of the Riverside crowd.”

Bhatia disaster

While Lumley has by no means been a regular in Mark Warburton’s first team at QPR this season, there are a number of arguments the can be made as to why allowing the ‘keeper to leave west London is something of a disaster for the Rs.

When he has been called upon this season, the £7.1k-per-week man has highly impressed, as, over his five Championship appearances for the Hoops this year, the 26-year-old helped his side to keep three clean sheets, as well as winning 100% of both his ground and aerial duels, in addition to earning an average SofaScore match rating of 7.04 – ranking him as QPR’s joint fourth-best performer in the second tier.

As such, while it is clear that Seny Dieng is now Warburton’s first-choice shot-stopper, Lumley – who the 58-year-old manager himself dubbed as “outstanding” as well as an “example” to others in training – is an excellent backup to the Senegal international, as well as providing the 26-year-old with top drawer competition for his spot between the sticks.

On a related note, unless Warburton is planning on bringing in a new goalkeeper this summer, it appears as if Liam Kelly will be the number two at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium as of next season – a player who has not made a league appearance for the Rs since the back end of the club’s 2019/20 campaign.

Furthermore, considering Lumley is just 26 years of age, he is still rather young in relation to a goalkeeper’s footballing career, meaning that he very much has time to improve as a shot-stopper, something that QPR will now no longer see the benefit of.

Finally, with Lumley joining one of QPR’s Championship rivals in Middlesborough, there is an obvious feeling amongst other teams that the ‘keeper can do a job in the league, while the possibility of the 26-year-old coming back to haunt the Rs in a second-tier fixture is now a very real one.

As such, it appears as if Amit Bhatia letting Lumley leave QPR this summer is indeed a mistake and is a decision that the Rs could very much come to regret come next season.

In other news: Bhatia must sanction QPR swoop for “incredible” £3.5k-p/w gem, Warburton would love it – opinion

Manchester United fans have not wanted the Glazer family owning the club ever since they first took ownership back in 2005 but unfortunately, they could well be here to stay for longer, according to former United winger Keith Gillespie.

The supporters of Man United made their feelings very clear before their scheduled match against Liverpool last month which saw fans enter the pitch and set off flares before the game was called off due to safety concerns.

Despite calls and protest for the Glazers to sell the club, no parties have been credited with a genuine interest and the last person who was linked with buying Man United was Prince bin Salaman, the same person who was behind PIF’s attempted takeover of Newcastle United last year.

There has been a meeting scheduled between fans and Joel Glazer, which will be his first-ever interaction with the Man United fans but they appear set to stay at Old Trafford, according to Gillespie as he spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“The fans have not been happy with them for a long time, pretty much since they took over the club and they’ve remained there this whole time. Ultimately, they’re in control of the club so it’s their call if they sell up or stay.

“All the abuse and stick they get on social media, they’ll just brush that off but I’m sure there’ll come a time when they’ve had enough, but I think they will still be here for a little bit longer.”

Man United fans did manage to get one person out of the club that they wanted to leave as Ed Woodward confirmed that he would be leaving the club in December after spending 16 years at Old Trafford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping that matters on the pitch can overshadow any feelings or actions off the pitch as he looks to win his first piece of silverware as Man United manager when they take on Villareal in the Europa League final next week.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is lamenting the absence of his first-choice bowling attack of Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Shayne O’Connor but backing their replacements with a longer term view in mind

Lynn McConnell25-Mar-2002New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is lamenting the absence of his first-choice bowling attack of Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Shayne O’Connor but backing their replacements with a longer term view in mind.New Zealand saved the second Test with a plucky display of batting, ending on 158/4 when given a target of 356 off 86 overs, but in difficult conditions where any chase was always going to expose the home side.England had held all the cards with the rough on the pitch with left-arm spinner Ashley Giles being able to dictate the pace of the chase and Fleming’s feeling was, the more risks New Zealand took, the more it played into England’s hands.But Fleming rued the fact that his side could create opportunities but not sustain the attack to exploit them, and that came down to the inexperience of his attack.”The guys that are missing are world-class players, and when you implement certain things they deliver and just offer the experience.”We’re missing that and while the young guys have got talent, I’ll back them 100%, there are just some stages where we don’t create enough pressure,” he said.”I still think that if we get England under a certain type of pressure which is going to take us playing well, I just look forward to that period because then you just think about winning the Test and creating options.”And Test cricket is about creating options.”When we create one, we are losing it fairly quickly. From my point of view I’d love to get in the position where we can put a little more pressure on them and sustain that for a little bit longer,” he said.The final National Bank Test in Auckland offered a chance for New Zealand to at least tie the series and with another drop-in pitch there was the opportunity for a result.He was still very keen to tie the series, because it was one he had dearly wanted to win when he had the side at full strength.There was satisfaction the series was still alive but he conceded that for most of the game New Zealand were outplayed.”We are pleased we have kept the series alive because that took another type of determination, and we showed that today, so we can go to Auckland with still the chance to finish the season well.”The English are bowling very well as a unit, and as a unit they are able to apply pressure and [Nasser] Hussain is captaining the team very well and using his field placings very well.”Andrew Caddick is performing very well in both areas. He’s going for no runs and he’s also taking wickets. He’s providing a good spearhead for his captain.”They are able to dictate to us a little more probably than we are. When they bat we are probably giving them too many four balls right from ball one and they are able to get away to a healthy run rate. It takes the pressure off then our areas of attack are minimalised.”We were very happy to get through today, we would have been very disappointed if we didn’t get through today. That’s a good thing,” Fleming said.

West Ham are reportedly edging closer to announcing David Moyes’ new contract…

What’s the word?

That’s according to The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas, who delivered a fresh claim on a recent episode of the ‘U Irons’ podcast.

Speaking about the 58-year-old’s current situation, he said:

“David was asked about this last week at his press conference, and he said he’s hopeful something will be announced this week.

“I’m hearing that something should be announced, it should be this week, to be fair, and we’re hearing it could potentially be a three-year deal for David Moyes.

“I spoke to Kevin Nolan last Friday, he was saying [it was] in the final stages of negotiations for the contract, so everything’s pretty much all but confirmed really, so that’s great news for the club, great news for the fans.”

Exciting times ahead

Moyes has completely transformed the Irons’ fortunes in the past 12 months or so.

Having steered them to safety with one game to go during the 2019/20 campaign, he has now guided them to the Europa League.

And he’s done so contending with regular injury problems, as well as a lack of backing in the transfer market.

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For instance, the club’s hierarchy sanctioned the exit of club-record signing Sebastian Haller in January but failed to replace him, leaving Moyes with only an injury-prone Michail Antonio up top.

GSB also gave up on him during his first stint, so this is the least he deserves and it’ll merely continue an exciting era at the London Stadium.

Thomas has got his information from about as good an insider source as you could find, Moyes’ first-team coach Kevin Nolan, so something must be on the horizon at Rush Green soon.

This latest development signals a sign of encouragement that the club are moving in the right direction with some much-needed long-term stability, and that, as The Athletic reporter describes, is “great news for the fans.”

It could even give the East Londoners a huge boost heading into a pivotal transfer window. It’s a fantastic move from GSB.

AND in other news, Soucek 2.0: Moyes can deliver West Ham another bargain in £14m gem who “can do it all”…

Just a quick question

Cricinfo05-Apr-2002PROVINCIAL NAMESJust a quick question. Why have you two teams in your domestic cricket carrying the name Mashonaland? It would seem to me that if you were to have two teams operating out of the same province (granted that Mashonaland is the strength of Zimbabwean cricket) then it would be both more marketable and professional if the name Mashonaland `A’ was dropped as it implies that this is a second-string (read -rate) team. In my humble opinion I feel that the names for these two sides should be Mashonaland and Harare rather than the `A’ team, this being an accurate reflection on the current strength of cricket in Zimbabwe.Also we in Australia support Zimbabwe in its current time of political turmoil. Our thoughts and prayers are with the peace-loving Zimbabwean people during this time and can only hope that a peaceful outcome arises with the majority support of all Zimbabweans. Our tour may be off for now but we can guarantee that we will be back in more certain times to help in the development of Zimbabwean cricket. We in Australia are both perplexed and surprised by the occurrences in your beautiful land.Marty Lauritsen (Geraldton, West Australia)THANKS TO ZIMBABWE: JAMES CORNFORD OF MIDLANDSCan I take this opportunity to say many thanks to the ZCU, and all the cricketing fraternity in Zimbabwe, for all the help and friendship they have given to James, my son. He told me he has gained a great deal from the six-month stay in Zim, socially and of course in cricketing terms. We are all grateful for James to play at Harare Sports Club and to be helped at the Academy by David Houghton, and all the good people in the Midlands.I must say that to give James the opportunity to play first-class cricket in Zim, we consider it an honour. I sincerely hope that your super country will resolve its problems soon, and perhaps we might visit one day soon. So thank you again and good luck to all involved in your cricketing set-up. Please keep your super Zimbabwe cricket online site going.Bill Cornford (Cheshire, England)TRIBUTE TO CAMPBELLI wrote a little something, it’s about a certain ADR Campbell. Here it is.Alistair Campbell is man out of all time. To look at his statistics would be to look at another man. His average belies the batsman that he is. After all, were all cricket to be done on a statistical basis ADR Campbell would have been dropped, and never recalled, after approximately 1994, but this is where the `Lies, Damned lies and statistics’ effect comes into its element. On his day never has Zimbabwe produced a more devastating batsman (except Davy Houghton or Graeme Hick). The details of his individual innings can be found elsewhere, but as for the man, his record shows that we need not be a Bradman, we need not the statistics to prove that we are a batsman of international quality. We are all but human.John Meffen (country not stated)

Tottenham Hotspur could be about to do something for the first time in over six years…

What’s the word?

According to Italian news outlet Tuttosport, Spurs are interested in bringing former Juventus general manager Fabio Paratici to North London this summer.

The Athletic have previously suggested that Daniel Levy could look to appoint a new director of football, something he has not done since the departure of Franco Baldini in 2015.

Paratici is very close to Spurs’ mooted managerial target Antonio Conte, who left Inter Milan this week after winning the Serie A title. Reports suggest the pair have remained in touch since their time in Turin.

Imagine him and Conte

A move such as this one would signal a significant change in direction at the Lilywhites, moving back to a more foreign model that we tend to see in Italy and Germany.

In recent years, the bulk of all club decisions have been made between Levy and technical performance director Steve Hitchen but there is a void between them and what happens on the pitch.

This is where Paratici could come in, and given his relationship with Conte, the Spurs chairman could well be onto a winner by eyeing the pair of them for his vacant roles.

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His chances of securing Paratici have been increased since it was officially announced that the 48-year-old would be leaving the Serie A giants after 11 seasons.

Paratici is widely considered to be one of the masterminds behind the golden era at the Allianz Stadium, where Juventus secured 19 trophies under his tenure, as well as bringing big names like Cristiano Ronaldo to the club.

“Fabio has written the history of Juventus in recent years,” claimed president Andrea Agnelli. “A journey characterised by professionalism, self-sacrifice and many successes. Nineteen trophies in 11 years are the best testimony of his work, which is fully part of the long tradition of our club. Today is the time to thank him for having been able to create a strong professional bond, accompanied by daily passion.”

Conte steered the Italian side to three league titles and two Supercoppa Italianas during his time under the long-serving general manager and has since continued his successful managerial career, adding a Premier League title and FA Cup triumph with Chelsea to his record as well as winning this season’s Serie A with Inter.

Given their history of success, this could be exactly what Spurs need considering they have not won anything since 2008, yet have gone close on more than one occasion.

Paratici and Conte has been a very lucrative partnership before, so Levy could do no wrong in sealing the pair of them to help transform the perennial North London strugglers into a club the fans will be proud of.

AND in other news, Spurs surely risk losing Harry Kane after talks with “pathetic” coach with 30% win rate in the PL…