All posts by h716a5.icu

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According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Sporting Lisbon are eyeing a move which could bring back enigmatic striker Islam Slimani to the club following a torrid spell with Leicester.

What’s the word?

Slimani is still Leicester’s record signing, arriving for £29m back in August 2016, but it’s fair to say he’s not had the best of times in the Midlands.

Since joining, he’s scored just 13 goals in 46 matches which for the outlay spent on him is a pretty poor return.

As a result, the striker was loaned out to Turkish side Fenerbahce for this season but has scored just one league goal all campaign. It certainly doesn’t bode well if he were to return over pre-season.

However, the 30-year-old could soon be on the move once again, per a report from A Bola. They claim that his former employers Sporting Lisbon have been in contact with the Foxes over a possible loan move with an option to buy. At present, the Algerian is currently rated at £9m according to Transfermarkt.

Leicester must move him on permanently

If you add everything together Slimani is easily one of the biggest flops in the clubs history. As such, Leicester would do extremely well to recoup much of the fee they spent to bring him to the King Power three years ago.

However, rather than allowing Sporting to insert an option to buy into a loan deal, the Foxes must make sure he leaves permanently this summer. They’d be making a huge error if they didn’t.

The fact of the matter is that Brendan Rodgers needs as many funds as possible when the window opens. This is simply down to the fact that if they stand any chance of bringing in Youri Tielemans, it will cost a considerable amount.

The Belgian has been a wonderful addition to the Leicester side but, with other clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham contemplating a transfer, his current loan side could find things difficult.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Rodgers declared his side would be doing everything possible to sign him last month, and by selling Slimani as soon as possible it’ll significantly bolster their funds and the chances of acquiring him on a permanent basis.

Slimani is not someone who will ever cut it in the Premier League and, as such, the Leicester heirarchy need to cut their loses now.

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The vast majority of the time league tables make perfect sense because that after all is their job: to put order to chaos. This season, however, at the top of the Premier League are two examples that unnerve; they unnerve and confuse because initially at least they make no sense at all.

The first conundrum is Tottenham Hotspur who have lost almost exactly a third of their 37 games to this late juncture. It is not uncommon for teams who skirt relegation and struggle throughout a campaign to end up with a 33% loss ratio. Yet here they are, Mauricio Pochettino’s men scaling the heady heights of third. This is odd.

Then there’s Liverpool who have been defeated only the once this term. It is possible to go through the annals of Premier League winners and find teams who have lost four, five, or six times more than the Reds yet still ended up lifting the trophy. It has been a phenomenal achievement to avoid defeat 36 times out of 37. Yet there they are, lying second to a Manchester City side that have been downed by Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Newcastle.

What gives? The answer of course lies in draws.

Liverpool have shared the spoils seven times this term and barring Leicester’s success in 2015/16 (which in every way was a glitch in the matrix) no team has recently won the title by drawing that amount or more. Last year City settled on four occasions. The year before Chelsea did so three times.

Luis Suarez certainly had no qualms about celebrating against his former employers in the video below…

As for Spurs their bizarre record-breaking allergy to drawing – with just the solitary stalemate going all the way back to August – has served them exceedingly well. Yes they may well lose every third weekend but the rest of the time they have accrued maximum points and that has been sufficient in surely securing a Champions League spot.

This begs the question: are draws no longer what they used to be? Is a ‘hard-earned’ point now a dropping of two?

The evidence elsewhere suggests so. In League One Sunderland have lost only five times in 46 games yet have had to settle for a play-off place after drawing a staggering 19, the most of anyone in that division. Last season West Brom ended up rock bottom of the Premier League and that after losing the same number of games as three of their rivals. The reason? Only Southampton drew more often.

Going back further to 2016/17 Manchester United drew every 2.5 games, which incidentally is exactly double the national average. It cost them dear and led to sustained talk of crisis.

A draw of course is still worth the same as it always has. Yet in an era where teams are set up more and more to be adventurous and seek out the three points – and furthermore when away tests no longer hold the same intimidating stature as yesteryear – then we are increasingly seeing sides eke out a disciplined draw only to be over-taken by those that lean towards the all or nothing.

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Jay Rodriguez had a terrific season, there’s no doubting that. Alongside the mercurial Dwight Gayle, he scored 22 goals as West Brom came within five penalty kicks of a place at Wembley.

For Albion’s campaign to end on that note was extremely unfortunate, but when it mattered most, one of their clutch players failed to show up.

Rodriguez’s work rate was exemplary against Aston Villa last Tuesday night. However, barring that, he was incredibly poor.

Tasked with leading the line with both Gayle and Hal Robson-Kanu suspended, the club have arguably never needed him more.

On this occasion, the prolific frontman was anything but assured, failing to find the net from the two shots he had.

It may seem harsh to criticise the 29-year-old but it was a display far from his best and it proved costly. West Brom knew they needed goals but devoid of creativity, they couldn’t get over the line.

Rodriguez was arguably a victim of Albion’s lack of quality and absentees elsewhere.

Matt Phillips and Jacob Murphy struggled once more and they failed to find a spark capable of providing their striker with the chances he needed.

The former Southampton man was essentially a passenger throughout the match, boasting a quite frankly awful pass percentage and only touching the ball on 17 occasions throughout the 93 minutes he was on the pitch.

His inability to win aerial duels also laid a poor platform for his team. Against Tyrone Mings and Axel Tuanzebe he never really had a chance, such was their physicality.

Without Gayle next to him, Rodriguez looked lost, appearing isolated as he cut a frustrated figure.

For someone who has been so good all season, it was a bitterly disappointing display. On Tuesday, West Brom needed someone to stand up and grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

Technically, Rodriguez was their best hope. Instead, he failed to provide and as a result, another season in the Championship looms for the Baggies.

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Sofiane Feghouli joined West Ham United from Valencia in the summer of 2016.

The midfielder penned a three-year contract with the Hammers upon his arrival, but was gone 12 months later after finding it difficult to make his mark in England.

Feghouli scored just four times in 27 games for West Ham before heading for Galatasaray, where he is on course to clinch back-to-back Super Lig titles.

The 29-year-old has scored 13 times and registered seven assists in 40 appearances for his Turkish club during the 2018-19 campaign.

Feghouli’s talent was never really in question.

And a number of West Ham fans have claimed that their club should have kept hold of the versatile midfielder for longer than one season, although not everyone agrees with those sentiments.

That ship has well and truly sailed, but it seems that Feghouli did make a positive impression on some fans despite finding it tough to show his best form.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Hammers supporters can be seen below:

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Celtic supporters have grown very used to celebrating trophy wins, but this weekend’s Scottish Cup triumph over Hearts was sweeter than most.

The 2-1 victory was the final piece of a much-hyped ‘treble treble’ for Neil Lennon’s squad, achieving a feat that will likely never be seen again in Scottish football.

The Hoops have won every domestic competition available to them for three successive years, an achievement that will be remembered for decades to come.

Hearts didn’t let them have it entirely their own way at Hampden, but the class and quality of Celtic’s performers eventually shone through in the second half.

One of the players most praised by supporters in the aftermath was Jonny Hayes, who deputised at left-back in place of the injured Kieran Tierney.

Naturally an attacking winger, the former Aberdeen man made a couple of crucial clearances throughout the 90 minutes and generally gave the side defensive stability on the left flank.

He hasn’t really had a defined role at Celtic this season but has regularly slotted in during big matches when called upon, rarely letting his team down.

His hard working display on Saturday certainly caught the imagination of fans, with this lot taking to Twitter to offer plenty of backing to the ‘underrated’ 31-year-old…

After defeat on the final day of the season, Steven Gerrard certainly has a lot of work to do in the summer in order to push his Rangers side to the next level come the start of the next campaign. Following a second-place finish, there is no doubt a strong foundation to start on. 

It’s true, second in the league is certainly something Gerrard and Rangers can build on. However, with a few key players leaving back to their parent clubs, there is still a lot of work to be done over what is a crucial summer for the Scottish giants.

So, come the start of the next season, who will perform in the famous shirt? Who will struggle? Here we take a look at a couple of players we feel will not be able to perform under Gerrard.

Jordan Rossiter 

After being out on loan with Bury, the ex-Liverpool man returns back to a Rangers side with a fairly strong midfield, and unfortunately for the 22-year-old, he doesn’t look like the man to take it to the next level.

With a midfield already consisting of Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara and Ross McCrorie, the talent of Rossiter really doesn’t fit up to the standard that has already been set. The English midfielder may just find himself back out on loan come the start of the new season, a loan spell that may just determine his future in football.

Kyle Lafferty 

The 31-year-old striker joined from fellow Scottish side Hearts at the start of last season and has since struggled to really settle into Gerrard’s set up. As the campaign has rumbled on we have seen the Northern Irishman come in and out of the side before ending his season early due to injury.

With injury in mind and a breath of fresh air with the likes of Ryan Hardie returning back from loan, it seems that Kyle Lafferty’s time at Rangers could be coming to an end.

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Pundit Charlie Nicholas thinks Celtic should not have chosen Neil Lennon to lead the club forward next season, speaking to Sky Sports on Thursday.

What’s he said?

Lennon’s appointment at the Hoops has yet to be confirmed, but the club announced he had been offered the job in the wake of last Saturday’s Scottish Cup win and the passionate Celtic man is unlikely to say no.

The debate surrounding the decision to try and appoint Lennon has rumbled on all week, with most media voices feeling that the treble winner is the right man to take charge of the Hoops.

Nicholas though feels that the club should have went in a different direction, even though Lennon did a fantastic job of filling in for Brendan Rodgers.

As quoted by Sky Sports, the former Celtic striker said:

I didn’t think it was the right decision. I would’ve went for something a little bit different. I was looking at somebody like [Slaven] Bilic or someone that might have a different creative [approach] but Neil did a fabulous sit-in for Brendan Rodgers.

He’s earned the right to take the position. He’s not agreed it yet, I know that, but I think Neil will be looking forward to it.

C’mon the Hoops throwback to one of the greatest Celtic goalkeepers of all time in the video below…

Should Lennon have been given the job?

Celtic fans may have preferred a big name to take charge. Brendan Rodgers’ arrival undoubtedly raised standards at the club and there are serious question marks about whether Lennon can maintain that.

The evidence is there though that Lennon can and will be a successful Hoops manager.

With a 70% winning record in over 200 matches and multiple trophy wins, his credentials are strong and he’s far less of a risk than appointing someone like Slaven Bilic, as Nicholas suggests.

Winning over the doubters

There’s only one way Lennon is going to get his doubters on board and that’s confidently winning matches during this summer’s European qualifiers.

If he can get Celtic motoring early and perhaps add a few first-team quality players to the squad in the transfer window, Celtic fans will soon forget their concerns and be much more comfortable heading into the domestic season.

Lennon has a lot to prove despite his enormous past success at Celtic, but anyone hoping for a Hoops meltdown should probably look elsewhere.

Celtic fans, we know, this won’t go down too well with a lot of you but before you turn to the comments section with torrents of abuse, hear us out. Tom Rogic, on his day, is a sublime player who can unlock a defence with a single pass and turn even the tightest of games in the Bhoys favour. However, injuries have hit him hard this season.

For that reason, we’re suggesting that should Neil Lennon get the chance to do so in the next couple of months, he should allow the Australian maestro to make his Parkhead bow and leave the club to help boost their transfer kitty. The 26-year-old has loads of years left in his career so will have plenty of value for the Bhoys to cash in on, especially with his Transfermarkt valuation standing at £2.48 million.

One of the main reasons that Rogic (who was touted for a move to Southampton and Leicester by the Sydney Morning Herald back in May) has been spending plenty of time on the sidelines this season has been his woeful injury luck. However, alongside that, and the obvious international tournament that fell slap-bang in the middle of the season, one of the reasons he’s become accustomed to being on the bench has been the emergence and form of Ryan Christie, the 24-year-old impressing for Celtic this season.

With nine goals and six assists to his name in the Scottish Premiership this season, you simply cannot begrudge Christie for starting ahead of Rogic, and considering he’s two years younger than the Australian too, he certainly has a long career in Glasgow ahead of him. It won’t be what many of you want to hear, but surely it should be Christie and not Rogic who makes the #10 role at Parkhead his own.

Celtic fans, do you want to see Rogic sold? Comment below!

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Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a number of potential signings this summer.

Lyon’s elite central midfielder Tanguy Ndombele has been touted as a potential midfield acquisition, along with playmaker Giovani Lo Celso of Real Betis.

Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon is also seen as a target and it is likely that, if Spurs are to sign any of those players, they will have to table offers higher than the £42m they paid to acquire Davinson Sanchez from Ajax.

Bringing in a new record signing is always fraught with risk but how have the last club’s last five record signings fared?

Football FanCast takes a look…

Davinson Sanchez – £42m

Signed from Ajax, Sanchez was secured as reinforcement to the club’s central defensive ranks.

A Colombia international with an excellent turn of pace and brilliant positional awareness, the centre-back can be prone to mistakes and has yet to truly dislodge both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

His time will come, though, and an initial investment of £42m could yet pay off.

Moussa Sissoko – £30m

A flop to start with, the Frenchman is now, amazingly, Spurs’ best midfielder.

A genuinely exceptional ball carrier who carries both the physicality and the tactical awareness to wear down his opposition, he is now the poster boy of Pochettino’s coaching work.

He has improved no end and £30m now looks like a snip. Everton will be kicking themselves that Spurs pipped them to the post.

Roberto Soldado – £26m

Perhaps the worst Spurs signing of the modern era, Soldado was a genuinely phenomenal goalscorer at Valencia.

Having scored 82 goals in 141 outings in Spain, he was touted as the answer to Spurs’ striker woes.

But in north London, he netted just 16 times in 76 games and was a player bereft of confidence.

He was still taken into the hearts of fans – one goal against Everton saw him cry in celebration, such was the vociferous reception his strike received – but this was a titanic misfire.

Erik Lamela – £25.7m

The Argentine has not managed to live up to his clear potential.

Signed in the aftermath of Gareth Bale’s departure to Real Madrid, Lamela was meant to bring skill, guile and explosiveness to the right flank.

Instead, he’s been almost permanently injured and is too lightweight to really make any sort of impact in the Premier League.

Chalk this one up as a flop.

Lucas Moura – £23m

His hat-trick against Ajax makes this move worth every penny.

Had Lucas not managed to net that treble in Amsterdam, with the last goal coming in injury time, Spurs would not have had the chance to win the Champions League.

They didn’t, of course, as they lost 2-0 to Liverpool with Lucas on the bench.

If he’d been on the pitch, perhaps it would’ve been different. We’ll never know.

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After 12 years, Aaron Ramsey’s time at Arsenal is finally coming to an end and for many fans, it’s still quite incredible the talisman midfielder is actually leaving. Allowing the Welsh midfielder to leave for Italian side Juventus on a free could be a decision that comes back to bite the club in the future, but we’re not here to talk about that.

Over the years Ramsey has not only been one of Arsenal’s most important players but also one of the most productive midfielders in the Premier League since finding his feet in the 2013/14 season, but out of his current Gunners teammates who did the former Cardiff City player enjoy the most success with in front of goal, and who will accordingly miss him the most?

Football FanCast takes a look at the five players Ramsey produced the most joint goal participations with, either setting them up or scoring them himself…

Mesut Ozil – 12 goal contributions

Out of any midfielder still at the club, Ramsey has played alongside Mesut Ozil for the most amount of minutes, and of course, that means goal contributions between the two are largely inevitable.

The majority of their link-ups came in Ramsey’s best season for the Gunners in the 2013/14 season that saw the pair combine six times in that campaign alone. Although the Welshman’s departure will be a cause of concern for Arsenal fans, Ozil is unlikely to lose much sleep due to the fact their last link-up came in the 2017/18 campaign.

Alexandre Lacazette – 8 goal contributions

Alexandre Lacazette might have only been at Arsenal for two seasons, but the French striker has already asserted himself as a fan favourite at the club and a player that has benefited well with playing alongside the likes of Ramsey.

As well as striking a healthy partnership, the duo have knack of linking up against big teams in the Premier League, with Lacazette scoring against Manchester City and Manchester United as well as Tottenham from Ramsey assists, while the Welshman also scored against Arsenal’s north London rivals in March thanks to a pass from the former Lyon man.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 6 goal contributions

It seems only fitting that one of Arsene Wenger’s lengthiest investments in Ramsey and his most expensive ever signing in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would combine on the iconic Arsenal manager’s final game in charge of the club.

A 1-0 win against Huddersfield was an ideal send-off for Wenger from two players that have made a big impact on the club, with Ramsey being the man to end the Gunners’ trophy drought and Aubameyang looking set to become an Arsenal icon in the future.

Hector Bellerin – 5 goal contributions

The number easily could have been higher had Hector Bellerin not ruptured his ACL this season, but five contributions from the right-back and Ramsey is still a healthy return considering their positions.

The Spanish defender scored against Liverpool in a 4-1 win for the Gunners with the help of a Ramsey assist and Bellerin returned the favour a year later, setting up the Juventus bound midfielder in the north London derby in a 2-2 draw.