All posts by z3u9t.icu

Frank McAvennie has claimed that Celtic will axe Ryan Christie for the Old Firm derby on Sunday lunchtime and replace him with James Forrest.

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Parkhead striker thinks that the more natural width that Forrest offers will be needed if the Hoops are to end the unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership that Rangers are currently on:

“Forrest has to start and I think he will.

“We have tried Christie out on the right-hand side and it just does not work.

“I think Jonjoe Kenny and Forrest will work well together. Forrest can hit can go past people on the outside but he will pull in if Kenny goes by him. Ryan doesn’t do that because he is not a winger.

“I think it will be very congested in the midfield on Sunday and we need width. They have tried matching them in the middle and it has not worked.

“The only player that will stay wide is Forrest. We need him to stretch them.

“Kennedy has got a big decision to make because you cannot just play the usual suspects. They have not done it.  If he wants to be a manager he needs to be strong.

“Why not get an hour off James Forrest and then bring him off? I would definitely start him. There is joy to be had on the right-hand side.”  

Celtic should axe Christie and start Forrest

If the Hoops are to get anything out of the game against Steven Gerrard’s men, then they could indeed look to exploit their Glasgow rivals down the wings, and Forrest would do a better job at that than Christie given his added pace and being more comfortable out wide.

Although Christie has brought up relatively decent stats so far in the 2020/21 term, with five goals and 14 assists in total in 38 games over all competitions (Transfermarkt), playing Forrest out wide would allow him to play in his more natural position in centre attacking midfield.

John Kennedy could well decide to start both players, but if he had to pick one to go out wide, Forrest is likely his best bet.

Nonetheless, it will no doubt be a big decision for the manager as McAvennie points out, which could lead to Christie being dropped to the bench.

In other news, find out which club have opened talks with one Bhoys man over a transfer here!

Jannik Vestergaard has enjoyed an excellent season with Southampton and the centre-back continued his impressive form with Denmark at the weekend, as they defeated Moldova 8-0 in a World Cup qualifying game.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach man has been one of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s top performers in the Premier League so far this season, with his 7.09 average rating in the Premier League only second to James Ward-Prowse in the Southampton squad.

As a result of his performances, Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for the 28-year-old recently, and Jose Mourinho may well have had his eye on the defender as he impressed for Denmark at the weekend.

As per SofaScore, Vestergaard would earn an impressive 7.6/10 rating for his display in what proved to be a comfortable win for Kasper Hjulmand’s side.

During the game, the colossal centre-back would have 113 touches of the ball and would complete 101/105 of his passes during the game, resulting in an excellent 96% pass accuracy.

This emphasises that, although he is renowned for his ability in the air, Vestergaard is an excellent passer of the ball and is capable of big switches of play, as eight of his 11 long balls would find a teammate against Moldova.

Although you can argue that the standard of opposition made things easy for the Danish defender, his average pass accuracy rate of 83.9% in the Premier League rates him third of any Saints player who has made more than five top-flight appearances.

The 28-year-old was also his usual imperious self in defence against Moldova, as he won all four of his duels during the game, whilst he also contributed three tackles, one interception and one clearance during the 90 minutes.

Despite his lack of pace, Vestergaard also wasn’t dribbled past once, which demonstrates his excellent defensive ability and shows how he has improved his game during his time at Southampton, especially this season.

Therefore, should Spurs, or any other side, make an official bid for Vestergaard in the summer, they should be wary that if he continues to produce displays similar to this one for both club and country, then his current value of £16.2 million will soon be on the up.

And, in other news… Shades of Schneiderlin: Southampton could repeat transfer masterclass with 19 y/o gem

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who is a Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Famer, has claimed that whenever he’s seen Pedro Neto at the training ground or Molineux he has been smiling and happy.

Neto has impressed during an indifferent season for Wolves which has attracted interest from Manchester United who are reportedly preparing a £50 million bid, however Bull told FFC last month that it should be closer to £75 million.

The Portuguese winger is only in his second season with Wolves but in the absence of Raul Jimenez, the £50,000-per-week winger has stepped up and has the most goals and assists at the club this campaign.

Speaking on how the fans have helped make Neto at home in the Midlands and how he always seems happy in and around the club, Bull told FFC:

“He’s delivered the goods on the pitch so the fans have taken to him really well by cheering him on every week, but I can’t think of any reason why he’d leave.

“When I see him at the training ground he’s got a massive smile on his face and that’s a big part of our football club, because I think if you see players with smiles on their faces when they’re working hard, then you know they’re in a happy place.”

It was reported by The Athletic earlier this week that Fosun International, the Wolves owners, will be looking to cut back on their usual transfer spending this summer.

Wolves have been looking for a box-to-box midfielder to potentially replace Joao Moutinho and Josh Brownhill is one name that has been touted as a potential signing.

Crystal Palace have been linked with a potential summer switch for Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.

The youngster, currently on-loan at West Bromwich Albion, is reportedly being considered for a summer move to Selhurst Park according to The Express.

The 21-year-old would be the perfect arrival to regenerate and rejuvenate an ageing Palace squad.

At the current time in the Premier League, Roy Hodgson possesses, on average, the oldest squad with an average age of 28.8 months. As a matter of fact, a whopping 13 players in the current squad are over the age of 30, a huge reason as to why the Eagles desperately need some younger recruits.

Gallagher is exactly what the club need then, should he elect to leave Chelsea.

He has impressed in his debut Premier League season with the Baggies having also caught the eye in previous loan spells with Charlton Athletic and Swansea City.

So far this season, the central midfielder has made 22 appearances in the league, racking up two goals and two assists. As a matter of fact, only current Baggies top scorer Matheus Pereira has been more productive than Gallagher this season in what has been a thoroughly forgettable campaign for the club.

One of the bright sparks, his adaptation and trajectory have been noticed, too, with former boss Slaven Bilic admitting that the youngster is “going to be big”.

Despite that, he may find it tough to break through at parent club Chelsea considering the immense competition he’d have in midfield positions including from fellow academy graduate Mason Mount, meaning a move could benefit his career.

Rated at just £9m at the current time, Gallagher looks to have the talent, and also potential, to give a spark to a declining Crystal Palace side.

His arrival is one that chairman Steve Parish should certainly look to prioritise in the summer.

AND in more news, take a look at our closer analysis of Wilfried Zaha’s poor return to the Palace squad against Spurs…

Sheffield Wednesday defender Matthew Penney dropped a massive clanger in what was a rare start for the Owls on Wednesday night.

The south Yorkshire outfit were defeated on their return to Championship action, also ending an unbeaten run of four league games.

Interim boss Neil Thompson faces a tough task as his side remain some six points from safety and in losing to Coventry City, gave a potential relegation rival some extra leg room at the bottom of the table.

On paper, it was probably one of the strongest line-ups the Owls caretaker could select with Keiren Westwood returning between the sticks, veteran midfielder Sam Hutchinson making his second debut with usual culprits Barry Bannan, Tom Lees and Adam Reach all starting too.

Plenty of stick was given to the Owls’ former captain on social media, one member of the Hillsborough faithful went as far as wanting him gone from the club.

However, he was probably one of the only shining lights of the match, recording a squad-high 7.1 rating per SofaScore.

YorkshireLive’s Dom Howson was particularly glowing about Lees in his post-match ratings, he said:

“Defensively solid. Strong in the air and made a number of important clearances. A no-nonsense performance.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-sheffield-wednesday-news-transfer-rumours-and-more” title=”Read this week’s latest Sheffield Wednesday news, transfer rumours and more…”]

There were plenty of others far more culpable than the 30-year-old.

Indeed, Penney was one of those as he started only his third game of the campaign and first in a flat back-four. And in his poor display, he betrayed the faith given to him by his 57-year-old temporary boss.

The 22-year-old academy product was hugely wasteful, making only 59% of his 27 passes – the worst of any outfield starter from the visiting team, via SofaScore.

He was also careless with the ball, losing possession a whopping 22 times, which was second to central midfielder Barry Bannan but as the set-piece taker, his numbers are hugely unfavourable.

On top of that, Penney – who was shipped out on loan last season – also won only six of 14 duels (42.8%) both on the ground and in the air, and as a result, the opposition capitalised.

The left-back even recorded three fouls and picked up a booking before the 50th minute, just to cap off his nightmare display at St Andrew’s Stadium.

Penney was far worse than Lees and plenty of his other Owls teammates on the night, so Thompson may want to think twice before selecting him again anytime soon.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Palmer drops Sheffield Wednesday manager claim

There is no getting away from the fact that Liverpool are in dire straits.

The Reds slipped to their fourth successive home defeat in the league for the first time since pre-second world war times, having lost to local rivals Everton 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday evening.

Goals from Richarlison early in the first half and a controversial penalty from Gylfi Sigurdsson ensured that the visitors took the three points and extended Jurgen Klopp’s miserable run.

Despite this, well-respected journalist for The Times Henry Winter had his say on Liverpool’s current predicament.

Winter reacts

Klopp has led the Reds to the pinnacle of club football, winning both the Champions League and the Premier League in the space of 13 months and during a global pandemic.

Winter was quick to remind supporters who had their doubts about the German tactician to remember what he has achieved at Anfield. Here is what he said on Twitter after the full-time whistle:

Transfer Tavern Verdict

There have been far too many knee-jerk reactions to this tricky spell for Liverpool. It was well documented that their impeccable run over the past two seasons was going to come to an end at some point.

Winter has hit the nail on the head. Klopp has turned the red half of Merseyside into a European powerhouse and a team that is feared across the globe.

We believe too much finger-pointing is taking place at this time. In reality, the supporters need to come together and back the manager to the very end, regardless of where they end up finishing this season.

In other news, Liverpool fans respond to links with “Argentinian Jack Grealish.”

Former Premier League striker Dean Windass has told Football FanCast that there is only one thing standing in Manchester City’s way in the Champions League: Bayern Munich.

Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side remain in with a real chance of doing the quadruple this season, currently lying 14 points clear at the summit of the Premier League, in the final of the Carabao Cup, the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and in a good position in Europe’s prestigious club cup competition.

In the latter, they are well set to progress to the quarter-finals, having beaten Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in the first leg in Germany ahead of the second leg on Tuesday.

And Windass, who enjoyed a storied playing career with the likes of Hull City, Bradford City, and Aberdeen, insists that Bayern are the only possible team who can stop their old manager from tasting European glory again with City.

Bayern, of course, are the reigning champions in the competition, and beat Lazio 4-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, Windass said: “The only way they won’t win the Champions League, the only way they won’t get to the final of the Champions League, is if they play Bayern.

“If Bayern Munich and Man City get to the final and avoid each other, that is the only way that City won’t win it. Or if they draw them in the next round!”

Windass believes that City are nailed on to win the Premier League and has been in disbelief at the fact they have been on this run whilst not always playing an out-and-out number nine.

He added: “Will they win the Premier League? Obviously.

“They can win at any time. They can step up at any time. We’ve been talking about number nines, they haven’t even got one!  Just embarrassing, isn’t it?

“You know, you watch them and I was listening to Tim Sherwood, he was watching the game against Gladbach and it’s like, when do we want to win the game? We’ll decide when we want to win the game.

“That is how good they are.”

With the squad fighting on four fronts, Windass is in no doubt that Guardiola will prioritise the Champions League, which remains the only competition City are yet to win under his management.

He said: “It’s just about getting the right squad and the right team to play in the Champions League.”

According to Football Insider, Turkish Super Lig side Istanbul Basaksehir have opened talks with Aston Villa over signing Frederic Guilbert on loan this month.

What’s the story?

The Frenchman has made just two first-team appearances this season for Dean Smith’s side, and both of those came in the Carabao Cup.

Now, it seems his time at the club – at least for this season – could come to an end, with Football Insider claiming that Istanbul are working on a deal to take the right-back on loan in this January transfer window.

The report adds that Smith has given the green light for the 26-year-old to make the move.

Sawiris must intervene

With just two appearances to his name this campaign, it’s fair to say Guilbert has been on the fringes of things at Villa Park.

In fact, The Athletic journalist Gregg Evans, even said: “I expect the thinking behind trying to move on Guilbert is that, (Ahmed) Elmohamady can cover any injuries at full-back, and also can’t really be moved on for any money, so Villa could get something back on Guilbert at least. I agree, there’s potential, but it seems like Smith has seen enough and favours others.”

No categories

If the Villa boss has indeed “seen enough” of Guilbert, then it begs the question of why the club aren’t just looking to offload him on a permanent basis.

Sending him out on loan just kicks the problem further down the line, and a poor spell at Istanbul would see his stock fall even further and make getting his wages off the books even harder.

It’s exactly why Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens should seriously consider intervening themselves and ensure that Villa recoup an actual transfer fee this month with a more permanent exit, then giving Guilbert a temporary home.

For the first time since he took charge at Old Trafford, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has something that closely resembles a bloated squad.

Having lots of options isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can cause a few selection headaches when trying to select the best starting line-up, and it looks like there’s one problem in particular that could soon be keeping Solskjaer up at night.

Namely, an abundance of talent in the midfield, as the Red Devils are absolutely full to the rafters with midfielders after the additions of Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek over the past year or so, whilst Paul Pogba has arguably been the one of the first names on the team sheet since he returned to Old Trafford from Juventus.

And therein lies the problem, as with three players vying for two places, one of them is almost always guaranteed to miss out, unless Solskjaer drastically decides to change his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.

Fernandes has been brilliant lately, with three goals in his past four games, whilst Pogba may be pushing for a recall, but it’s hard to justify spending £35m plus £5m in add-ons on Van de Beek in the summer if he’s just going to sit on the bench. It’s not the first time we’ve said this, either.

The 23-year-old, who earns wages worth £108,000-per-week, has found his chances hard to come by so far this season, but came off the bench in the 1-0 win at home to West Brom, before he played the full 90′ minutes in the following fixture as the Red Devils enacted their revenge on Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League.

Per SofaScore, he took 73 touches of the ball, and he made this possession count as he looked both comfortable in the middle of the pitch and confident on the ball, spraying passes left and right as part of the supply chain for Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

Whilst much of his hard work may have gone unnoticed, it’s worth pointing out he made two key passes, which was the third highest amount out of any United player on the pitch behind his teammates Alex Telles and Fernandes, whilst he also contributed defensively as well with one tackle and one clearance to ensure United avoided a repeat of their trip to Turkey.

This kind of commanding performance is exactly what United fans will have been expecting to see since he first arrived at Old Trafford, whilst it will have sent Solskjaer a timely reminder of both his attacking and defensive attributes, which should not be ignored.

The club legend has previously insisted that the Dutchman will be given the time to shine, saying: “He’ll get his game time. He’s been fantastic in the group.”

It looks like Sunday’s game may come too soon for Pogba, so Van de Beek will be expected to keep his place in the starting line-up after impressing against Istanbul as United travel to St Mary’s to take on Ralph Hassenhuttl’s high-flying Southampton.

AND in other news, Manchester United must cash in on Timothy Fosu-Mensah in January…

Manchester United will look to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool when they travel to take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side set up a Carabao Cup semi-final with Manchester City after a late win at Everton, but it’s back to the top flight today as they chase their first league title since the 2012-13 season.

Solskjaer made several changes for the trip to the Toffees, meaning some of the first-team regular starters should be fresh for today.

Scott McTominay remains a doubt for the clash with Leicester and it’s unlikely he will be risked before the Red Devils travel to Wolves a few days later.

Here is FFC’s predicted starting XI, which sees Solskjaer make seven changes to the side that won away at Everton in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

Dean Henderson started against Everton, but David de Gea should be back in goal today, while Victor Lindelof will most likely replace Eric Bailly alongside Harry Maguire at the heart of the defence.

Similarly, Luke Shaw will slot into place next to the club captain, which means Alex Telles drops to the bench, whilst the same goes for Aaron Wan-Bissaka coming in for Axel Tuanzebe.

Fred is set for a start in the midfield, with support from Paul Pogba alongside him. Nemanja Matic therefore will be forced to make room.

Donny van de Beek offered next to nothing against Everton, so bringing in the red-hot Marcus Rashford – who has scored five goals in the Premier League this season so far – and keeping Mason Greenwood on the right wing makes most sense, with Bruno Fernandes deployed just behind the striker in the advanced playmaker position.

On the other hand, Edinson Cavani terrorised the Toffees for the most part, but Anthony Martial is Solskjaer’s trusted man for the occasion and is likely to start instead.

AND in other news, Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani stole the show vs Everton…