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You will struggle to find a more detested player around the Ibrox than former midfielder Ian Black.

A name which carries so many negative connotations fans barely utter it unless they find themselves in a state of unprecedented rage.

Black crawled his way into Glasgow as a victim of controversial Lithuanian tycoon Vladimir Romanov, whose reign of terror over Tynecastle left Hearts slumped in £25 million worth of debt and heading into administration (Daily Record).

When asked about his move Black spoke positively about his prospects at the club. “I can be part of something really special here. It’s harder to play for Rangers than it is to play against them,” he said (via the Daily Record).

“But I thought about that before I came, about having to deal with the pressure of the fanbase and the club’s size. It’s something I wanted to have a shot at and I think I’m handling it well.

“I’m not surprised by the expectations here. If you’re involved in football you know what the expectations of Rangers Football Club is. I knew what I was coming into.”

But did things turn out like the gold infused fairy-tale Black had hoped for? No, no they did not.

One of the main sticking points for Rangers fans was that the midfielder was actually an incredibly unlikeable person; someone who arrived with an air of unjustified arrogance, who thought himself bigger than the club, and clearly had very little self-awareness.

Egotism is fine – some of the best players in the world have harnessed it to boost their global profiles and accelerate their careers. But this was not one of the best players in the world. It was Ian Black, a nobody outside of Scotland.

Problems off the pitch were as prevalent as those on it as well.

In 2013 Black found himself embroiled in scandal and on the end of a 10-match ban after admitting to a breach of Scottish FA regulations of betting (BBC Sport). The one time capped Scotland international was accused of gambling on 160 matches over a seven-year period, including betting against his own side on three occasions – so you can only imagine what that did to boost his popularity around the Ibrox.

He made 115 appearances for the club before being released and joining Shrewsbury Town. After just a month, he was again without an employer, before being picked up by Blackpool. And this is where it all went downhill for the disgraced former Rangers man.

He moved to Northern Premier League side Skelmersdale United (?) before joining non-league outfit Chorley and eventually settling at Tranent Juniors, a team operating in the East of Scotland Conference B.

Hardly the most illustrious end to a career.

He has since come out describing his experience as a targeted man. “I did get a picture painted that I was this villain,” he explained the BBC Sport.

“A lot of it was harsh. I was a winner.”

We are not so sure about that.

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Arsenal’s Under-18 team came from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 on Tuesday.

After falling 2-0 down, an exceptional late comeback saw the young Gunners emerge victorious.

Bukayo Saka pulled a goal back in the 85th minute before Brooklyn Lyons-Foster scored an own goal, inadvertently turning in a Saka cross. And, in injury time, Ben Cottrell scored the winner as the Gunners’ Under-18 side ended Spurs’ impressive unbeaten run this season.

Arsenal have now won 18 and lost just two of their 20 games this term, while Spurs have won 16, drawn two and lost one.

The Gunners have a four-point lead over Spurs at the top of the Under-18 Premier League South, though the young Lilywhites do have a game in hand.

And fans have revelled in the result, which came less than 24 hours after Arsenal leapfrogged Spurs in the Premier League following their 2-0 win over Newcastle United at the Emirates.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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Lots of Everton fans on Twitter think there’s only one winner when it comes to picking the club’s Goal of the Season sponsored by Money Corp.

A Tweet from the club’s official account on the social media platform containing a video of the contenders was flooded with replies calling for Gylfi Sigurdsson’s strike at Leicester City in the Premier League to pick up the accolade.

The Icelandic international found himself with the ball in midfield during the 1-2 win for the Toffees at the King Power Stadium back in October, and turned past James Maddison before burying the ball in the top corner from ridiculous range.

Other front-runners for the prize included Lucas Digne’s precision hits at home to Watford and away at Burnley, Andre Gomes’ Wolverhampton Wanderers thunderbolt and Richarlison’s neat finish against the same opponent on the opening day of the campaign.

However, the majority of supporters were only interested in one strike collecting the crown, that of Sirgudsson with one even proclaiming that it’s “not worth debating.”

Check out a selection of the best Tweets pining for the 29-year-old’s Foxes screamer, below…

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Jurgen Klopp will be hard pressed to dramatically improve a Liverpool squad which has gone toe-to-toe with Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League table this season.

However, it is the inability of their title rivals to emulate their supremacy from last season which underlines the importance of strengthening every summer.

Pep Guardiola made just one signing as Riyad Mahrez arrived at the Etihad Stadium in a £60 million deal, ignoring major problem areas such as defensive midfield and left-back, potentially to the detriment of their dream of winning the Champions League for the very first time.

What’s the word?

A recent report from Het Nieuwslblad has claimed that Liverpool will not fall into a similar trap as they have already set their sights on Thorgan Hazard, although they face stiff competition from Borussia Dortmund, who the player would prefer to move to.

But what is pertinent to the report is that Liverpool are apparently willing to part with a fee which exceeds the 42 million euros (£36.2 million) Dortmund have already bid.

Meanwhile, according to O Jogo (via Daily Mail), Liverpool coach Pepjin Lijnders has revealed that the Reds are interested in Wolverhampton Wanderers lynchpin Ruben Neves.

“I know him very well, his ambition, his passion for the game, his professionalism. I know what he gives to the team and this type of player always interests us. I recognised him when I saw him at Wolves. I saw technique, professionalism; I saw the 2013-14 player I knew.”

While interest in Neves is certainly well placed his reported £100 million price-tag, per The Times, seems a real stretch if Liverpool’s hierarchy are willing to splash out on Hazard, as well as other recruits during the summer.

Wilson the solution

There is, however, a solution: trust in Harry Wilson instead.

Like Hazard, the 22-year-old has enjoyed huge success this season on both the left and right wing, making defenders look foolish with his tantalising dribbling ability and finding the back of the net on a consistent basis.

The Wales international may not possess the same level of experience as Hazard but the fact he has excelled in two separate loan spells in the Championship suggests everything is in place for him to make the step up to top-flight football.

A transition period is likely to be defined by frustration and inconsistency, but that is a given for any promising flair player looking to showcase their talent at the elite level. And if Klopp is willing to pursue with Wilson it would help facilitate a stunning club-record deal for Neves.

Neves swoop

The former Porto star has the potential to blossom into one of the world’s most coveted holding midfielders, making Jordan Henderson look like a Sunday league player with his inventive passing and intelligence both with and without the ball.

At this moment in time Liverpool have plenty of quality central midfield players but Neves would be a progressive one-off transfer splurge to lay a foundation for the next decade, ensuring that Georginio Wijnaldum and Henderson are replaced with a superior orchestrator.

With a player of Wilson’s talent making a strong claim for a place in the senior squad next season and Neves likely to join a European rival if Michael Edwards fails to act in time, Liverpool ought to trust in their academy product to free up enough funds to seal a club-record £100 million swoop.

It has been quite the fall from grace for Rolando Aarons in recent years hasn’t it?

The winger was tipped for greatness at Newcastle United after making a fantastic start to his career in 2014 with his performances earning him a regular spot in the England Under-20 set-up. However, a myriad of injury problems resulted in his development stalling over the next three years with Aarons only making sporadic appearances for the Magpies.

In need of regular first-team action, he decided to join Italian side Hellas Verona on a short-term loan in January 2018 yet despite making 11 appearances for the club, he was unable to prevent them from being relegated to Serie B last season. After briefly returning to Tyneside, he was shipped out once again at the start of the campaign yet failed to impress for Czech side Slovan Liberec in the first-half of the year. Nevertheless, upon hearing of his availability, Steve Bruce decided to bring him to Hillsborough, a move which unfortunately hasn’t paid off.

Although Aarons did make a bright start to his Sheffield Wednesday career by producing stand-out performances against the likes of Swansea City and Blackburn Rovers, he has missed the last three games after picking up an ankle injury in the warm-up before last month’s 0-0 draw with Stoke City (via the Star). With Bruce not knowing whether the winger will be able to return before the end of the season, it is more than likely that he could have already played his final game for the Owls. Despite Aarons clearly being blessed with undeniable talent, it is simply not worth the risk of trying to secure a permanent deal for him as he is far too injury-prone.

Therefore, with this in mind, it could be worth Bruce going down another avenue in the summer transfer window to bolster his squad ahead of next season.

What do you think Wednesday fans? Would you want to keep Aarons at Hillsborough next season? Or does his injury problems pose too much of a risk? Let us know below.

Transfer ban or no transfer ban, one area Maurizio Sarri needs to try fine-tune at Chelsea in the summer is right-back.

This season, Cesar Azpilicueta has been on a rapid decline, while Davide Zappacosta has just not cut it at Stamford Bridge.

Bearing that in mind, Sarri would be crazy to overlook Reece James next term after the incredible campaign he has been having in the Championship with Wigan Athletic.

And thankfully, to the relief of Chelsea supporters, it does not look like that is going to be the case.

The Sun reports the Blues have rejected a £10m bid from Brighton for James, with the 19-year-old now being tipped to challenge Azpilicueta for that right-back position, a challenge he could so easily win.

Compared to the 29-year-old, James comes across as a much better fit for the way Sarri wants to play.

Technically, the Wigan loanee is a far superior footballer to Azpilicueta. To put things into perspective, his ability on the ball is so good that Paul Cook has been playing him in midfield.

Considering that ability, James is exactly the sort of player you want at right-back during attacks. Defensively, many will argue that Azpilicueta’s experience and 1v1 defending still makes him No.1, though.

But after a season where he has actually been poor in that area, as well as in attack, now looks the perfect time for him to make way for someone like James.

Therefore, insulting £10m bids like the one Brighton have reportedly made, must continue to be rejected.

James, an incredibly gifted footballer, is Chelsea’s present and future.

Chelsea fans, would you like to see James in the first team next season? Join the discussion by commenting below.

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Henrikh Mkhitaryan signed for Arsenal in January 2018 hoping to revive a career that went stale at Old Trafford, but he’s only ever suffered serious criticism in his time in the Premier League despite arriving on the back of an incredibly promising spell at Borussia Dortmund.

The Chalkboard

Mkhitaryan was involved in a swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez leave the Gunners and head for the Red Devils, who exchanged the Armenian after poor performances under Jose Mourinho.

Under a manager with more attacking instinct in Arsene Wenger, Mkhitaryan was expected to show his class and he responded with a very promising start to life at the Emirates, starring in his home debut against Everton by registering a hat-trick of assists, though he’s failed to find consistency in his role since his stellar start.

Unai Emery has often deployed the playmaker as a right winger with the number 10 role being regularly fulfilled by Mesut Ozil or Juventus-bound Aaron Ramsey, leaving Mkhitaryan only to fill the gaps in the starting XI.

The reality is that despite the midfielder’s evident shortcomings and lack of end product, it would be unfair to judge him on his performances since he arrived in England, considering he’s been grossly mismanaged.

Are Man City better than Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’? Fans discuss in the video below…

Out of Position

Mkhitaryan was signed by Manchester United as one of the players of the season in the Bundesliga, registering 23 goals and 32 assists in his final season with Borussia Dortmund.

His statistics mirrored those of Kevin De Bruyne, who achieved 16 goals and 28 assists in his first full season at Wolfsburg before becoming a roaring success at Manchester City.

Like Mkhitaryan, De Bruyne was predominantly used as a right winger upon his arrival with Manuel Pellegrini squeezing him into a line-up that boasted a central midfield of Fernandinho, Yaya Toure and David Silva. With Pep Guardiola taking the helm in the blue side of Manchester, he’s found a way to include his most creative midfielders in the middle of the pitch and sacrifice steel for class instead.

There’s no doubt that De Bruyne’s switching of position has elevated his game to a new level – this combined with the influence and mentoring of Guardiola.

Emery has tried to solve Arsenal’s problems out wide with a number of formations, but the ex-Dortmund man has not been the answer to the right flank. Mourinho used Mkhitaryan in the same way, and his regular deployment in this position has skewed what fans immediately assume as his comfort zone. He’s no longer judged as a number 10 struggling out of position – he’s now criticised as a poor right midfielder.

Some will say that a player of his talent should be able to adapt more effortlessly to a tweaking of position, though this is far too naive. The beauty of a world class number 10 comes in their ability to excel when the shackles are off, and watching them use their sheer instinct and talent to dictate a football match. Playing on the right means Mkhitaryan has so much defensive responsibility that it saps away his freedom, especially when he’s having to protect a right-back who’s also playing out of position in Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

During the occasional game in which he’s started in the middle for Arsenal, he’s excelled. For at least another year or two, with the departure of Ramsey and Ozil’s consistent inconsistencies denying him a regular position in Emery’s XI, perhaps there is a gap to be filled by Mkhitaryan if he were afforded the opportunity to show his quality in central areas, but it’s down to the manager to realise the position in which he truly belongs.

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Graeme Souness, a former Rangers player, has urged Celtic to appoint Neil Lennon on a permanent basis, per Sky Sports.

What’s he said?

Celtic were confirmed as SPFL champions on Saturday, as they thumped Aberdeen 3-0.

Lennon, of course, took over as manager following the departure of now-Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers mid-season.

The Bhoys have not lost with Lennon in charge but a number of fans have been underwhelmed by the club’s performances under his management and believe that a new appointment is necessary this summer.

Souness, though, thinks Celtic, who have also won the League Cup and can still win the Scottish Cup, simply have no other choice.

He said: “I worked with Neil Lennon for two years in television and he’s as good as anyone I’ve worked with.

“He gets his thinking from Martin O’Neill who got his from Brian Clough.

“Neil Lennon knows his stuff. I hope they don’t employ him as a Rangers supporter. But I want him to keep the job as he’s a good guy. They’d be crazy to get rid of him.

“If Neil wins the treble how much better can it get? He has fulfilled what he could do.”

Think outside the box

Lennon has done what was expected of him at Celtic.

The fact of the matter, however, is that pretty much any semi-decent manager could take Celtic to the league title in Scotland, particularly with Rangers as their only competition.

It would be good, then, to see the club take a leap of faith.

There is the potential this summer to bring in a fresh face with new ideas who can potentially take the club further in the one competition that really matters: the Champions League.

Lennon has shown previously that he is not the man to do that, despite that famous 2-1 win over Barcelona in 2012.

It is no surprise, though, that Souness is trying to look out for his friend by placing words like these in the public sphere. Even so, he’s wrong.

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West Ham United have been scared off a move for Blackburn Rovers midfielder Bradley Dack, per the Daily Mail.

What’s the word?

Dack has emerged as one of the finest players outside of the Premier League this season.

In 45 appearances in all competitions this term, the 25-year-old has scored 18 goals and laid on 10 assists from an attacking midfield position.

The Mail claim that a number of clubs have made enquiries for the former Gillingham star, with Rovers holding out for around £18million.

Both West Ham and Crystal Palace are said to have run the rule over Dack but each believe that the price is too high for a player who has yet to have his mettle tested in the top-flight.

Nevertheless, Rovers are said to be scouting replacements to prepare for the eventuality of his departure.

Finally, a strategy!

For too long, West Ham have blundered in the transfer market, lurching from one disaster to the next.

Now, though, it seems they are finally learning from their past mistakes.

Dack is an excellent footballer but he may have found his level in the Championship and to pay £18m for him would smack of a punt, something co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan used to be known for.

Now, though, they are shying away from paying up and they are absolutely within their rights to do so.

They are driving a hard bargain at last as they look to secure their targets this summer.

That alone should encourage Hammers fans.

With Leeds United suffering from yet another injury crisis at Elland Road heading into their most important game of the season, Marcelo Bielsa must be wondering just what on earth he has done to deserve such luck.

After beating Derby County 1-0 in their play-off semi-final first leg on Saturday, the Whites would have been extremely confident of securing a trip to Wembley Stadium later this month.

However, despite still being overwhelming favourites to overcome the Rams on Wednesday, Leeds will have to do so without their talisman and top-scorer Kemar Roofe who has been ruled out of the fixture with a calf injury (via BBC Sport).

Although Patrick Bamford would be the obvious choice to replace the former Oxford United forward, Bielsa may benefit more from taking a risk on Ryan Edmondson tomorrow.

A deadly finisher, the 17-year-old has been nothing short of sensational for the club’s under-23 side this year as his 19 goals in all competitions has allowed them to reach the Professional Development League final whilst also triumphing in the regular season in the North division.

Despite having only made two senior appearances for Leeds since joining the club in 2017 from York City, it is clear that he has all the ingredients needed to make a positive impression on Wednesday.

Whereas picking Bamford could end up being disastrous giving his recent lack of discipline in the Championship, handing Edmondson a start could prove to be a masterstroke of a decision by Bielsa as Derby may not know a great deal about the dangers that he possesses.

With Leeds needing a hero to step up in the absence of Roofe, there is no reason why one of their most exciting Thorp Arch prospects can deliver the goals needed to fire them to the Premier League.

What do you think Whites fans? Should Bielsa start Edmondson against Derby? Or is too big of a game to start the youngster in? Let us know below.