Sunderland find themselves battling relegation once again, in what has been an utterly miserable season for North East football in the Premier League. The Black Cats have only slightly improved since the appointment of Sam Allardyce, though the recent win over basement side Aston Villa was critically important.

With Big Sam at helm, it’s hard to truly write the Wearside outfit off. A solid group of core players have performed well at times this season, and if you were to back anyone to keep the club afloat, it would be the vastly experienced former West Ham and Bolton boss.

The January window is vitally important to all those connected to the Stadium of Light club. Some astute additions and they could feasibly aim to pull off a great escape once again.

Perhaps those behind the scenes will go for broke and afford Allardyce the funds to carve out a squad worthy of Premier League survival.

If they do, here’s who they should sign.

ANDY CARROLL

Despite his Newcastle past, West Ham United forward Andy Carroll has been touted as a potential target this January to reunite with former mentor Allardyce. The 26-year old striker would be a truly wonderful addition to the ranks, no matter how controversial.

Though Jermaine Defoe remains a fine poacher, the frontline on Wearside has been largely ineffective on the whole this term. Fabio Borini and Steven Fletcher do not offer enough on a regular basis and goals have been hard to come by.

Should Carroll be tempted, the England international would more than likely be the focal point of the attack. With Sebastian Larsson, Duncan Watmore and Adam Johnson providing the crosses, the ex-£35m Liverpool man would expect plenty of service in the penalty area.

It’s almost a match made in heaven, if you can forgo the fact he is a Geordie through and through.

ANDROS TOWNSEND

Another England international now, in the shape of outcast Tottenham winger Andros Townsend. The jet heeled 24-year old looks set to leave North London this winter after falling out of favour at White Hart Lane, with Sunderland reportedly keen on landing him.

The England star would add a directness to the Black Cats not seen all season. His driven runs would be invaluable on the counter attack, whether it be taking the ball to the byline in order to cross, or shooting from distance.

Proven quality on the wings, making the transition from defence into attack almost seamless, is invaluable in a relegation scrap.

JAMES TOMKINS

James Collins was the man linked with a move Wearside earlier this season, though the Welshman recently extended his deal with West Ham. However, moving for teammate James Tomkins would be a wise move, should the Hammers be tempted to sell.

The 26-year old can perform admirably at either centre-back or right-back and was one of Allardyce’s most trusted players at Upton Park. A solid defender with a wealth of Premier League experience, the former England under-21 ace is a vast improvement on the current options on the Stadium of Light.

Though it’s unclear as to whether the Irons would be happy to sell, perhaps the lure of being a regular first-teamer in the North East could prove tempting for the player.

LAMINE KONE

Widely expected to join the Black Cats imminently, Sunderland fans can look forward to the arrival of Lamine Kone from Lorient. While there has been some improvement in Younes Kaboul recently, the former Spurs captain has looked clumsy and cumbersome on the whole this season.

Granted, signing defenders from the French league is a risk at times. However, the Ivory Coast international is almost the polar opposite to Kaboul in many ways. He’s an extremely physical defender, robust enough to make it on these shores while retaining a certain degree of pace.

His distribution may not be much to write home about, but paired next to a more experienced centre-back, could form a healthy understanding heading into the business season.

STEPHEN IRELAND

Quite a curveball this one, but Stoke midfielder Stephen Ireland could represent a bargain signing this winter. The Black Cats are crying out for a creative midfielder, someone who knows the Premier League inside out. While Ireland may not be the flashiest of names, his arrival could fix a long running problem in the team.

Too often, the link between midfield and the frontline has been almost non-existent this season. Ola Toivonen has been utilised as the second striker more often than not, and despite his obvious quality, has struggled to get to grips with life in the Premier League.

Ireland has been linked with a move away from the Britannia recently amid their array of attacking stars. Despite his stalling career, the former Man City ace is a fine technician and able to create chances for both himself and his teammates going forward.

He may not be Walter White’s lawyer but Saul Niguez has certainly attracted a lot of media interest in the past couple of days.

The young Spaniard is reportedly a player Manchester United are pursuing and if suggestions of a release clause are to be believed then this is a transfer with a genuine chance of happening.

At 21, Saul has a seen rise to prominence in the past two years having spent a season on loan at Rayo Vallecano. To sum Saul up, a fitting adjective would be versatile; during his relatively short time in the Atletico limelight he has played across the midfield, but seems to be most effective when playing centrally.

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Usually deployed in a defensive role, his ability to break up play and provide protection for the back four is undoubtedly what has attracted United’s interest.

His defensive prowess has been proven valuable at Atletico Madrid but many Red Devil fans will question whether or not this would be enough to dislodge Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick or Maroaune Fellaini?

This is where Saul’s versatility could give him the cutting edge. Not only a proficient passer of the ball, Saul has proven himself to be useful in the final third having scored a spectacular bicycle kick versus Real Madrid in a 4-0 win. Despite scoring not being a primary focus for Niguez, five goals in 35 games is nothing to be ignored.

With Fellaini’s recent links to an AC Milan move, a space in the United midfield could soon open up but obviously it does become a matter of whether or not Saul would be willing to come to Old Trafford. With Saul recently coming out stating his happiness at Atletico Madrid and the potential lack of Champions League football at United next season a case could be made that Saul is closer to staying than the exit door.

United’s lack of invention in the final third would not be solved by signing Saul but he does bring a drive that can bridge the gap between defence and attack. Of Saul’s 339 completed passes in the 2015-16 La Liga season so far, 91% have been forward passes.

This positive attitude could allow United to counterattack quicker and utilise the pace of players like Depay and Martial whilst also providing more space for players like Mata and Herrera.

If the supposed £19.5m release clause were to materialise as fact, then signing Saul Niguez could only be a positive for Manchester United.

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No Premier League title in 12 years is really starting to get under the skin amongst the Arsenal family of players, board members and most importantly, the fans.

Manager Arsene Wenger is now coming under increasing pressure, and after 20 years in charge, a growing number are beginning to feel like the marriage should be ended. His reluctance to splash the cash on a centre midfielder that can emulate the magnificent Patrick Vieira and his arrogance to say their is no top class striker on the market for him to sign is beginning to take its toll.

Despite the North Londoners lack of success in England’s top flight as well as unsuccessful attempts to get beyond the last 16 of the Champions League, Arsenal’s FA Cup form is really quite sensational. For the past two years, the Gunners players have walked those Wembley steps – looking down at their own supporters and lift the FA Cup. Now, even a win today would surely be scant consolation given how their season has fallen apart over the last few weeks.

The Gunners are the undisputed kings of the FA Cup, but the importance of the old trophy is decreasing at a frightening rate. Arsenal fans will surely feel an FA Cup scalp will not prove they have had a successful season. They’ll look to Manchester City and Liverpool, even Leicester and Tottenham who have taken to fielding weakened sides in the competition in order to look further afield for even greater glory.

The banner which said ‘thanks for the memories Arsene, but it’s time to go’, in Arsenal’s fifth round reply away at Hull City is a statement that the fans want more than just FA Cup glory, they want to be competitive in the Premier League and the Champions League, something that recent results has made very difficult if not nigh on impossible. Glory in the cup was always going to be a bad compromise anyway.

https://twitter.com/EuropcarSport/status/703937471239720960

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It was supposed to be Andy Carroll’s second chance in a week to stake his claim for a place on the plane to the EUROs. But instead, it all went a little flat for the former Liverpool man during Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

Despite grabbing an assist for James Tomkins’ goal, Carroll largely struggled to leave an impression on the match. Man United had clearly studied the events of the West Ham vs. Arsenal tie, and they set up to deal with Carroll, using Marouane Fellaini as a human shield. In the battle of the big men, the Belgian came out on top and that will be a worry for both Hammers and England fans as the season comes to a close.

West Ham looked a little flat-footed at times and a little tired in the middle of the park. Man United controlled proceedings through Michael Carrick, who was playing quietly in the background but pulling strings at the same time.

Slaven Bilic’s side waited until they were 2-0 down to start playing against United – similar to what happened against Arsenal, except this time, they didn’t leave enough time to get back in the game.

Against Arsenal, West Ham were allowed the space to provide cross after cross, which is what Carroll wants. But against Man United on Wednesday night they were closed down far quicker in the middle of the park, meaning the ball wasn’t getting to the West Ham wide-men as quickly as Carroll would have liked. It was a cracking game plan, but also led many to question whether Carroll is one-dimensional in his play.

There are plenty of big men who are talented footballers as well as good marksmen. When Carroll was at Newcastle we saw skill beyond his years alongside his scale, but since his disappointing transfer to Liverpool and his demise at West Ham, we haven’t really seen the Carroll of old. He divides opinion completely. Speak to Hammers fans and they will say that their relationship with their record signing is love/hate.

When West Ham have him on the pitch they almost try and force the ball through him and into the goal. It’s predictable and teams can see that as soon as you have that target man on the pitch. However if Enner Valencia or Diafra Sakho are leading the line for West Ham, they don’t have to play that way, and if a headed goal is scored, it isn’t as surprising because it’s come as a result of open play.

So with Carroll shining so much in one game and failing quite spectacularly in another, should he be on the plane? If he does feature for England, Roy Hodgson will have to set up in a specific way – getting crosses in and providing width through the full-backs. But against Europe’s best, is this the tactic Hodgson should be implementing to get wins?

Another argument if Carroll does go is who should leave the team in exchange? Carroll doesn’t seem to be as valuable as in the past and it would be unfair to leave Jamie Vardy or Harry Kane at home to take him to France.

He impressed against a poor Arsenal side, but when up against a more competent opponent, Carroll was flat and predictable – not what England need.

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Liverpool hero John Barnes believes that Jose Mourinho will help to build bridges between Manchester United’s fans and the team if he’s named as Louis van Gaal’s successor.

‘The Special One’ is widely expected to replace the Dutchman, who was sacked yesterday in the wake of the club’s FA Cup win.

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Mourinho has been out of work since being dismissed by Chelsea back in December on the back of a disastrous start to their Premier League title defence.

The Portuguese boss, although thought of as one of the finest coaches on the planet, is known as a divisive figure, with his fierce will to win having often alienated players and given him a reputation for being a ‘quick fix’ manager.

However, TitanBet brand ambassador, and former England international, John Barnes, believes that he will have a unifying effect on the Man United crowd and team, much in the same fashion as Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, after a turbulent spell under Van Gaal:

“He’s [Mourinho] a great manager, so Manchester United will improve, not necessarily through the players, but, like Klopp at Liverpool, through the harmony he’ll bring. You need the fans to be behind you 100%, so I think the harmony will be better, which will help Manchester United.” He told FootballFanCast.

“Van Gaal is a good manager, like [Brendan] Rodgers was a good manager at Liverpool, but if the harmony is not right, you can see the effect that has on the team.

“The young players like your Marcus Rashfords and Memphis Depays will have another year’s experience, so they will improve. If Van Gaal had have stayed I would have expected to see an improvement at Man United anyway.

“But Mourinho will obviously take Manchester United back to challenging.”

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The European ChampionshipÂis just a matter of days away and we at Football FanCast are having a countdown in the form of our Euro 2016 Advent Calendar!Indeed, the tournament in France is shaping up to be one of the best yet, featuring 24 teams as oppose to 16 and a number of Euro debutants such as Wales and Iceland.Similarly, it’s almost impossible to pick a winner at the moment, with Spain, Germany, Belgium and hosts France all boasting incredibly strong sides!You’re probably as football-mad as us here in FFC towers and likely itching at the skin like a crack addict on Jeremy KyleÂin anticipation for Euro 2016’s first kick off (France vs Romania) on Friday night.So if you’re in need of something to cure the itch for the next few days, then you’re in the right place.ÂTwitter bantz, statistics, infographics and vines of great goals – FFC’s Euro Advent Calendar has it all!

PANEKA

When Antonin Paneka pulled this off in 1976, he changed the beautiful game forever. This lobbed spot-kick is to penalties what the Cruyff turn is to dribbling. But it’s not everybody’s favourite…

PIRLO’S PANEKA

No Pirlo, no party – as the Italian proved against England at Euro 2012!

TREZEGOL

A golden goal in the final made World Champions France the European Champions, too!

COMPLETELY UNFORGETTABLE

The Republic of Ireland’s very first European Championships appearance saw them beat England 1-0 in Stuttgart – a nation went crazy!

Indiscriminate act of kindness

Fernando Torres squares it for Juan Mata instead of scoring himself – as selfless as it gets!

And so, yet another England inquest begins.

The same old media circus, the same old grand gestures and, no doubt, the same old empty promises.

We’ll be told that the Premier League is to blame for shrinking the talent pool, that we need a winter break and we need to invest at grassroots level.

It’s all excuses.

The grassroots excuse is just to buy time, so that the incompetent buffoons at the FA are well out of it by the time the excrement hits the fan – again.

The problems are much more immediate than that.

There’s nothing wrong with the talent available and this England team should be capable of reaching the latter stages of major tournaments. End of.

Confidence, attitude and complete mismanagement are the issues and all the way through Roy Hodgson created more problems than he solved.

Why take a host of injured, unfit or out-of-form players to France in the first place? Why move Rooney into midfield when he has never played there to a decent level? Why rest six players for the Slovakia game? That hardly paid off against Iceland, did it!

Hodgson took it upon himself to do the FA’s dirty work by quitting after England’s toothless 2-1 defeat to Iceland. And it’s true to type, because he’s been hammering nails into his own coffin since day one.

Remember 2012 when he told a train carriage of fans that Rio Ferdinand’s international career was over, without first discussing it with the defender?

Remember 2013 when he made an ill-advised team talk about a “space monkey” in reference to Andros Townsend?

Remember two weeks ago when his late defensive substitution cost us a win over Russia?

It’s a shame, because he seems to be an honest and nice guy, but he was just never cut out for the England job.

His turgid, possession-based, stats-obsessed football showed no potency, no cutting edge and often failed to break teams down.

His decision-making left us all scratching our heads as he persisted with injured, out-of-form players and never knew his best team.

In the build up to EURO 2016, Hodgson’s England camp were terrified of spies watching their training sessions. They felt that when they had played their World Cup opener in Brazil 2014, Italy already knew all their set-piece routines.

Was it not possible that there was just no creativity in England’s tactics? And that any training-ground moves were so dull, so obvious, that Italy just dealt with them?

Let’s face it, our only set-piece plan this tournament was for Harry Kane to smash them into the crowd.

But Roy is not solely to blame for the depths the England national team has plumbed.

The sooner the FA realise that they are responsible for a succession of poor decisions over managers, the better.

Steve McClaren, Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson all arrived for different reasons – ‘we need an Englishman/we need the best around/we need international experience’, but none of them had an ounce of charisma between them.

Even Sven-Goran Eriksson failed to get our ‘Golden Generation’ past the last eight – but at least his three quarter-finals were against big teams (Brazil and Portugal) and we gave them a good game.

Now we can’t even give Iceland a challenge.

Credit where it’s due, the Nordic side were terrific. Tight, organised, efficient and fully deserving of their quarter-final spot.

But this England team are much better than what we saw on Monday night. This Three Lions squad is, player for player, one of the most talented in decades.

And it should not take extra investment or more patience until Russia 2018 or Euro 2020 to see it come together because, under the right manager, it will click pretty quickly.

Under the right manager, these players can compete… and maybe even win something.

Yet the chances of the FA picking the right man for the job are almost non-existent.

And if that’s the case, then we’ll have to stomach this nonsensical merry-go-round for generations to come.

This article was submitted via our Write For Us feature. Think you can do better? Submit your own article via the link below, and give yourself the chance of winning monthly cash prizes…

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We’re only halfway through Manchester City’s Premier League clash with West Ham and it already looks set to become the most convincing win we’ve seen this season.

Indeed, it took just seven minutes for the Citizens to open the scoring as Noltio cut along the left byline before passing the ball to Raheem Sterling for a relatively easy finish.

And a matter of moments later, City doubled their lead courtesy of Fernandinho – who latched onto a lethal free kick delivery from Kevin De Bruyne.

It’s been a phenomenal start for a club who appear fully focused on claiming this season’s Premier League title to kick off the Pep Guardiola era at the Etihad.

And if the opening stages are anything to go by, we could see a five or six-goal win by the end of play today.

Accordingly, City fans on Twitter are pretty chuffed:

West Ham fans, on the other hand, aren’t quite so amused:

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Borussia Dortmund have shown how to bounce back from a slumber on numerous occasions, and they have done it yet again. From the darkest days around 10 years ago to their terrible start to the 2014/15 season, recovery is an inevitability for the club.

Losing their best players, having to deal with the loss of a club legend and sitting, deprived of the limelight, in the shadow of Bayern Munich, Dortmund’s resilience is admirable. Now, Die Schwarzgelben are one of Europe’s best sides again. Playing irresistible football and possessing some of the world’s best young talents, Dortmund have never panicked, nor have they recklessly invested the revenue generated.

Painfully watching Mats Hummels, Mario Gotze – who has now returned to Westfalenstadion – and Robert Lewandowski leave for Bayern could, in each case, have provoked foolish spending, but Dortmund resisted. Rather, investment has been markedly more sensible summer on summer. This year, too, has seen the loss of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan.

Instead of buying names, Dortmund have signed players based on their suitability and potential. The return of Gotze was a no-brainer, signing Andre Schurrle was shrewd, but it has been other acquisitions that really turn heads.

Along with exceptional talents that were already at the club, especially Julian Weigl and Matthias Ginter, they have added some of Europe’s most sought after young players. Emre Mor, Ousmane Dembele, Raphael Guerreiro and Christian Pulisic – a youth product – are on track to become some of the game’s best players. Signing players who will be definite starters this season is a natural temptation, but too often club’s fail to plan ahead any number of years. In a financial sense, adding players of this calibre and talent will inevitability produce a profit.

Too often losing, through injury or departure, a key player is seen as an excuse for a dip, or a ‘transition’. Dortmund do not approach it in such manner and are a better, more successful club for it. Selling a player generates enormous revenue that should be reinvested to, at the very least, give the squad greater depth, if not talent. Even missing a player with an injury should not be the knockout blow to a season, squads should have cover in both personnel and tactics.

Premier League clubs up and down the league readily spend their world leading revenues poorly by signing players either not suited, not balancing the squad or investing in players who have already peaked.

Lessons should be learnt from Dortmund. The eight-time Bundesliga winners are building a dynasty, while the Premier League enables some of the world’s most reckless club management.

Manchester United get their Europa League campaign underway tonight as they travel to Rotterdam to face Dutch side Feyenoord.

Coming off of the back of a sobering defeat to Manchester City is not the kind of preparation Jose Mourinho would have wanted so he’ll be looking for his team to bounce back quickly in his first European game in charge of the Red Devils.

After that game, a number of players came in for criticism for poor performances. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard came off at half-time after seemingly freezing during the first half whilst Paul Pogba and Wayne Rooney didn’t escape the scrutiny of some.

This in mind, Mourinho is expected to ring the changes for their opening Europa League game and may be hoping that some that play tonight perform at a level to get themselves into contention to start in the Premier League this Sunday.

This game could prove a real marking point in Mourinho’s squad management and we think these three need to step up tonight and stake their claim…

Marcus Rashford

Rashford is once again catching everyone’s attention. He scored the winner against Hull and bagged a hat-trick on his England U21 debut causing the clamour for him to be more and more involved in the United to increase significantly. A good performance here may just secure him a start on Sunday too and with the way he plays, you really can’t rule him out from putting in such a shift. He’s absolutely fearless and United need that.

Chris Smalling

Smalling has the chance to oust Daley Blind from the side. He was United’s best defender last season but has so far found playing time hard to come by in this campaign. The Dutchman Blind had a bit of a shocker against City last time out, being at fault for City’s first goal especially, so now could be Smalling’s moment to reclaim his place and forge a partnership with Eric Bailly at the back that many are excited to see develop.

Ander Herrera

Mourinho brought Herrera on for the second half of the derby as he tried to get United back into the game and it worked fairly well, albeit with the Red Devils not being able to find the net. The Spaniard allowed Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini to operate further up the pitch and this gave the team a more advanced base to play from. He should start tonight against the Dutch side and with an assured showing expect him to be in contention for the weekend.