All posts by z3u9t.icu

Many Wolves fans have been slamming the performance of Rayan Ait-Nouri in their 0-0 draw at home to Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The left wing-back was pretty solid defensively, helping his team to keep a clean sheet at Molineux, but a number of supporters grew frustrated with his end product in the attacking third of the pitch.

Ait-Nouri made no key passes or accurate long balls and also misplaced eight of his crosses, as he was guilty of losing possession of the ball on 30 separate occasions on the night, by far the most out of any player on both teams (SofaScore).

Based on those numbers, he will need to improve the attacking side of his game if Bruno Lage’s team are to pose more of a threat going forward.

Wolves fans slam Ait-Nouri

These Wolves supporters slammed the 20-year-old’s performance on Twitter, with one going as far as to claim that he was ‘awful’ against the Clarets:

“Ait-Nouri incredibly poor tonight, very frustrating”

Credit: @JasonA87151323

“Terrible performance, Ait-Nouri and Semedo’s final ball is so bad. Raul didn’t move. No urgency whatsoever.”

Credit: @mitchdavis_1

“Ait-Nouri is so overrated, only knows one trick and can’t cross past the first man”

Credit: @lrandall_luke

“Ait-Nouri is awful need a replacement urgently, mind you Semedo was just as awful with his crosses tonight”

Credit: @jongriffin40

“I’ve seen more creativity in my kids’ plays at school than Ait-Nouri and Semedo offer. Had the whole game to do something and didn’t create a single chance”

Credit: @Jordski86

“Ait-Nouri can’t cross a ball. Imagine Jonny causing his brand of chaos down that flank. Miss him.”

Credit: @thesteduck

In other news, find out whose display against Burnley was also slammed by many Wolves fans

Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has thrown out the idea of two of his former teammates Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill teaming up in management to take the reins at Goodison Park, amid reports that Nuno Santo is the favourite to replace Carlo Ancelotti.

Ferguson is already part of the coaching staff, having joined in 2014, and was Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant manager before his recent departure.

Meanwhile, 41-year-old Cahill, who spent eight seasons at Goodison Park before leaving for the MLS, is yet to take his first steps into coaching, but was meant to take up a role during his time with Melbourne City. However, he continued playing with both Millwall and then in India, and never had the opportunity.

But Ferguson has already had a taste in the hot seat when he took charge of four matches as caretaker manager when Marco Silva was sacked back in December 2019.

The Toffees fans’ favourite put together an inspiring unbeaten run, which included games against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, with his reward a promotion to Ancelotti’s coaching staff.

“Tim has got to go in as assistant manager, Dunc [Duncan Ferguson] would be the manager,” Bent exclusively told Football FanCast.

“Tim is currently in Dubai getting a little more intelligence around the game and around the world. The fans adore him. But Dunc has been there a while since Moyesy left, and had that little stint, so maybe give him a chance.”

Swansea City’s automatic promotion hopes are all but over after a 1-0 defeat against QPR at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

The late concession, combined with Watford’s 1-0 win against Norwich City, means that Steve Cooper’s side have to win all three of their remaining games, and hope that the Hornets lose all three of theirs if they want to finish in second place.

The Swans were second best for much of the game, with QPR hitting the woodwork twice before finally taking the lead with 89 minutes gone, with Lyndon Dykes smashing home from Albert Adomah’s clever through ball.

One man who particularly disappointed for Swansea at the Liberty Stadium was Wayne Routledge.

As per SofaScore, the 36-year-old veteran would earn a 6.8/10 rating for his performance, with only Ryan Bennett (6.6) and Kyle Naughton (6.6) rated lower of the players who started the game.

The winger, who was featuring up front in the absence of Andre Ayew, blew a great opportunity to give Swansea the lead in the first half when he hit the post, whilst he was extremely wasteful when played through on goal by Jamal Lowe, as his heavy touch allowed the goalkeeper to snatch the ball when he was one-on-one.

During the game, the veteran attacker would have just 28 touches of the ball and would only manage to complete 7/13 of his passes, resulting in a less than impressive 54% pass accuracy rate.

Not only is this far below the 64% rate he has averaged in the Championship this season, but it was also the fewest passes played by anyone on the pitch, with both goalkeepers completing twice as many.

Routledge was caught offside on three occasions which highlighted his lack of attacking positioning, whilst the fact that he managed to lose possession on nine occasions, despite being involved so little, will surely frustrate Cooper.

[freshpress-quiz id=“532484″]

To compound a miserable display, Routledge would win just 4/11 of his duels during the game and failed to hit the target with any of his shots, so you could definitely argue that he let Cooper down when the manager was relying on his experience to help see his side through what was a must-win game for the Swans.

And, in other news… Winter could sign Swansea their ideal Ayew heir in £225k-rated beast, Cooper would love him

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Wilfried Singo to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), who claim that Spurs are one of a number of English clubs who have sent scouts to watch the Torino right wing-back in action ahead of a potential swoop at the end of the season.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-levy-conte-paratici-thfc” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

The report then goes on to specify Spurs’ interest in the 21-year-old, who is believed to consider a move to the Premier League this summer as an unmissable opportunity, while it is also stated that the Serie A side would be willing to part with the Ivory Coast international, as long as they were to receive an offer in the region of €30m (£25m).

Conte would love him

Considering how impressive Singo has been in Italy throughout the current campaign, it is easy to see why Antonio Conte would be interested in a deal to bring the right-back to north London this summer.

Indeed, over his 32 Serie A appearances this season, the £25m-rated wing-back has been in breathtaking form for Ivan Juric’s side, scoring three goals, providing four assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.2 shots, making 0.7 key passes and completing 1.1 dribbles per game.

The £5.4k-per-week defender has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 0.6 interceptions, 1.6 tackles, 1.3 clearances, and winning 5.7 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per fixture.

These returns have seen the player who Matteo Bonetti dubbed a “revelation” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.97, ranking him as Torino’s joint seventh-best performer in the Italian top flight.

As such, with Singo being a talent who is just as effective going forwards as he is sturdy in defence, it is clear to see that the 21-year-old would be something of a perfect fit for Conte’s right wing-back role.

And, with the player appearing to be extremely keen on a switch to north London, in addition to the fact that £25m is a very affordable figure for Spurs, it would seem as if Paratici is now on course to land a deal for the Ivorian starlet this summer.

AND in other news: “Not going to be at Tottenham…”: Gold drops update on £118m Spurs talent, time’s up

According to a West Ham United source, speaking to Football Insider, star striker Michail Antonio looks set to make his decision on switching international allegiances to Jamaica at the end of the season – with the 30-year-old currently wanting to focus on the Premier League campaign.

Antonio, who has debatably been one of the Hammers’ most important players this season when available, has been at the centre of reports linking him with representing the Reggae Boyz at international level.

Fans have often expressed their concern that Antonio’s injury problems could be exacerbated by regular trips across the Atlantic for international breaks, feeling his final decision could have a big impact on his availability for the Irons.

Antonio looks set for end of season decision

A claim by the Telegraph last month emerged detailing that Antonio looked certain to turn out for Jamaica in their quest to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, with the country’s Football Federation wanting him in the squad for qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico in September.

Football Insider have now provided this latest update as a Hammers source tells the outlet that Antonio is going to delay his call until the end of the campaign.

It is relayed by the outlet that Antonio is ‘passionate’ about turning out for Jamaica given he is yet to receive his first international cap for England.

Transfer Tavern take

Former Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce has called him up to the squad before, as well as Gareth Southgate, but with no appearances to date.

Described as ‘frightening’ by Harry Redknapp on Sky Sports (via the Boot Room) earlier this season, one could argue that Antonio has been unfortunate to miss out on a first cap so far.

Time will tell exactly when this decision will be at the end of the campaign, but the reports could suggest he is more likely to opt for Jamaica.

In other news: West Ham are eyeing talks to sign this starlet, find out more here.

Former Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre is the latest man to be linked with the Crystal Palace managerial vacancy.

And, as to be expected, a number of Palace supporters have been having their say on the 63-year-old on social media.

According to The Sun, Palace are planning talks with Favre after Steve Parish widened his search for Roy Hodgson’s successor.

Favre, who was sacked by the Bundesliga heavyweights in December, is thought to be keen on a move to the Premier League.

The report goes on to add that Parish has ended the Eagles’ interest in Steve Cooper, Frank Lampard and Valerian Ismael, with Favre’s small backroom staff suiting Palace.

Favre prefers a 4-2-3-1 system and has won five major honours in his managerial career.

Palace fans react

Both @cpfc_xtra and @CPFCtransfersHQ shared The Sun’s claims on Favre on Wednesday afternoon.

It didn’t take long for a number of Palace supporters to have their say on the links, with a selection of responses available to view below.

“Meh better than Cooper”Credit: @Thomas01568186″Do you know who this guy is with the ‘meh’? On par with Nuno at least, we’re such a step down for him”Credit: @CPFCknighty”If true I’d be so gassed”Credit: @cpfctris”Surely not haha”Credit: @OliverRender”not surprised”Credit: @JacobRMN”I would take him”Credit: @cpfcbible1

In other news: Eagles eye Euro 2020 ace along with Leeds, find out more here. 

Portsmouth have potentially been handed a transfer boost, regarding their pursuit of West Brom’s Josh Griffiths.

What’s the talk?

Cheltenham Town have officially confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Owen Evans from Wigan on a two-year deal this week. This could come as a boost to Portsmouth, as Cheltenham were interested in signing West Brom goalkeeper Josh Griffiths following his excellent spell with the club in the 2020/21 campaign.

Portsmouth are thought to be looking at Griffiths as Danny Cowley attempts to bolster his squad this summer to launch a promotion push in League One. Yorkshire Live has claimed that Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Lincoln are all eyeing the starlet.

Earlier this year, Cheltenham boss Michael Duff labelled Griffiths as top drawer following a string of strong performances for the club. He told the Express and Star:

“He’s at a Premier League club and the reason why they send him out on loan is so that he makes his mistakes with teams like us rather than in the Premier League.“He’s been top drawer for us, he kept us in the game on Saturday against Bolton, and he’s got a chance of going right to the top. He’s got a good presence and good demeanour and he’ll learn from it.”Fans will be buzzingPortsmouth fans will be buzzing with this development as it could lead to the club sealing a deal for Griffiths ahead of next season. The club has a gigantic hole to fill in the coming months as they are set to lose Craig MacGillivray on a free transfer.MacGillivray is out of contract at the end of the month and is poised to depart from Fratton Park as Portsmouth are unable to match his wage demands, which means that Cowley will be losing his number one goalkeeper.Griffiths could, therefore, step in this summer and take over the number one spot. The 19-year-old could join on loan and provide a stop-gap for the next 12 months before Portsmouth are able to invest in a long term number one option if they are able to secure promotion to the Championship – rather than signing a cheaper goalkeeper who may not be able to make the step up if they achieve their goals.

The West Brom starlet was excellent for Cheltenham in League Two as they won the title last season. He kept 21 clean sheets and conceded 37 goals in 44 appearances in the league, which shows the consistency and quality he was able to provide Cheltenham in spite of his young age.

This suggests that he could be a great addition to Portsmouth’s team.

AND in other news, Major transfer news emerges on “aggressive” £4.3k-p/w dud, Pompey fans will love it…

Many Sunderland fans have been reacting to the League One Team of the Week after their 1-0 victory over Bristol Rovers in the third tier this past weekend.

The Black Cats picked up an important victory on Saturday as they push for promotion to the Championship. They are now up to third in the table, just three points behind leaders Hull City with two games in hand (BBC). There were some other big results in League One during the past matchday, such as Peterborough United’s 7-0 humbling of Accrington Stanley.

Unsurprisingly, that led to five Posh players being named in the Team of the Week, as well as manager Darren Ferguson. Sunderland were represented only by Aiden McGeady, but it seems that many Black Cats supporters were shocked by the XI which was chosen – firstly, because the 34-year-old was selected despite him seemingly not having his best game, and secondly because Aiden O’Brien, who scored the only goal of the match against the Pirates, was not included.

The line-up was shared on League One’s official Twitter page, and these Sunderland fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Sunderland fans had to say about the team below

“Aiden Mcgeady at CDM”

Credit: @LukeCostello13

“Are these just randomly picked? McGeady should be in every week if he was in yesterday average game compared to usual.”

Credit: @calvinfox96

“O’Brien?”

Credit: @jacobcunliffe10

“I mean I’ll take it but how did McGeady get in this team”

Credit: @SAFCTC

“How has McGeady got in, but not O’Brien? Or O’Nien? Or Burge? Not saying all 3 of those should be in it, but they deserved it more than McGeady , Geads had an above average game, but wasn’t TOTW quality this week.”

Credit: @army_hub

“No O’Brien, absolutely laughable”

Credit: @DavidHindmarsh7

In other news, Kevin Phillips has urged Sunderland to sign this ace.

Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action as they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to North London this afternoon.

Ryan Mason’s side know a victory would see them rise into sixth place to bolster their slim hopes of making the top four, though they will need to keep picking up results to ensure qualification to the Europa League at the very least.

The visitors have very little to play for, languishing down in 12th place but this encounter has often produced goals and after last weekend’s shocking performance at Leeds, the 29-year-old caretaker may want to tinker his side.

It will be interesting to see what sort of line-up he opts for today, so here’s the XI we reckon he could go with, as well as the latest team and injury news from N17…

We’re predicting there to be as many as three changes right across the pitch as Mason looks to spark a reaction in pursuit of a crucial three points.

Joe Rodon could be in contention to start.

The 23-year-old has been “unfortunate” not to feature under the interim boss and he revealed in the build-up to this encounter that the Welshman has “trained well, done well.”

He could be gifted a start, taking the place of axed Eric Dier, who was at fault for all three goals at Elland Road. And he will partner Toby Alderweireld in the middle, with Sergio Reguilon and Serge Aurier on the wings, in front of skipper Hugo Lloris.

A second change could come in midfield, with Tanguy Ndombele due a start, having been snubbed from the line-up in their last two outings.

The £45m-rated box-to-box maestro would likely replace the underwhelming Giovani Lo Celso to take up a place alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the base of the engine room.

There is a tricky decision to make over Dele Alli in an advanced role. The 25-year-old has started back-to-back league games for the first time this season but his lack of game time (377 PL minutes) could raise fitness doubts.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-latest-spurs-manager-update-gossip-transfer-rumours-daniel-levy-enic-mason-mourinho-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, managerial gossip, transfer rumours and more!”]

Despite assisting Spurs’ only goal against Leeds, Mason could look to freshen things up by deploying Lucas Moura in the role instead.

Described as a “nightmare” to train and defend against by his teammate Dier, the £26m-rated Brazilian winger has thrived through the middle, providing two goals and three assists in seven appearances.

The front three should write itself, with Gareth Bale, Heung-min Son and Harry Kane all likely to keep their places.

AND in other news, Gold drops fresh Spurs manager claim over “unbelievable” 48 y/o, fans will be buzzing…

Crystal Palace are still working to bring further additions to Selhurst Park prior to the closure of the summer transfer window.

What’s been said?

In recent comments cited by Football.London, Patrick Vieira revealed that he and his transfer team have identified that the Eagles are lacking a prolific centre-forward, and are working on completing a deal for a player in the position prior to Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

When asked whether he was planning on bringing a new striker in this summer, the Frenchman said: “Yeah, this is something that we identified a couple of weeks ago, we knew that it would be important for us to reinforce that department, to have more options. The window is still open, and we’re trying to improve that department, and anything can happen.”

Music to the ears of fans

While Palace did manage to score their first two Premier League goals of the season in the 2-2 draw with West Ham United on Saturday, rather than Christian Benteke, Jordan Ayew or Wilfried Zaha finding the back of the net in the fixture, it was on loan Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher who finished the match with a brace.

Indeed, considering the fact that none of the Eagles forwards have mustered a single goal between them over the club’s three league fixtures thus far, it would indeed appear as if Vieira is in need of a fresh face in the position prior to the closure of the summer transfer window.

As such, the Frenchman’s latest comments are sure to come as music to the ears of Palace fans, as, following an impressive result at the London Stadium, the addition of a proven goalscorer before Tuesday could well prove to kickstart their club’s season, having been disappointing over their opening two fixtures of the campaign against Chelsea and Brentford.

However, should Vieira fail in his task to bring in a new striker over the coming days, it could well turn into a long season for both the 45-year-old manager and fans alike.

In other news: Parish must sanction £7m CPFC deal for beast who is “like having two players”