All posts by z3u9t.icu

Plenty of Aston Villa fans were quick to react to Dean Smith’s comments following the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United on Friday.

Villa looked to have taken all three points at St James’ Park following Ciaran Clark’s own goal late on. However, the hosts stopped Villa leapfrogging Liverpool in the table after Jamaal Lascelles levelled things up with seconds remaining.

Missing Jack Grealish

Without the injured Jack Grealish in recent weeks, Villa have only managed to score three goals in 300 minutes of Premier League action.

They’ve picked up just five points from a possible 15 in that time, with Leicester City the only side above Villa in their recent run of fixtures.

Villa fans react to Smith’s comments

Birmingham Live reporter Ashley Preece posted two tweets from Smith’s post-match comments, with the boss addressing his initial feelings and Villa’s lack of cutting edge.

“You’re disappointed, naturally. We didn’t deserve to win the game. It was an ugly game. But, when we score a goal near the 90th minute, you’ve got to see it out. We could have got the goal to make it 2-0 but we didn’t make the most of those opportunities.

“It’s always a concern when you’re not creating chances. There weren’t many big chances in the game. We’ve got good enough players but some of them are short on confidence and rhythm at the minute, as are a lot of players in the league.”

This is what these Villa supporters had to say in reply to Preece’s posts, with one labelling the boyhood Villa fan’s comments as ‘boring’.

“He’s wrong and needs telling he is wrong. Neither Anwar nor Trez makes the first 11 of any team in the top half of this league.”

Credit: @Son_Lyme

“Smith’s getting boring. It’s like listening to David O’Dreary all over again.”

Credit: @Eamonosh

“Same post match speech as the previous 6 ain’t it”

Credit: @thelogan1975

“If I’m being honest. I’d like see a few of the youngsters. Our season is over, good opportunity to give a couple a few games imo. I know there’s more prize money higher you finish but the experience is invaluable”

Credit: @MTrezzy1981

“We have been ‘ugly’ for weeks.”

Credit: @wilsterdavies1

“Yeah but he talks like it’s got nothing to do with him, Villa are not going down now, so just go out there & attack teams & see what happens!”

Credit: @1966wall

“Lets be honest, without Grealish, we’d be looking at another relegation dogfight again”

Credit: @DMayLovell

Glasgow Rangers will be looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they host Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

Steven Gerrard’s side stumbled for the first time in four domestic games after being held to a 1-1 draw by Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park.

However, Rangers will be without Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe and Jermain Defoe when Gerrard’s side return to Premiership action against Kilmarnock this weekend.

Roofe became the latest Rangers forward to give the manager a headache after being banned by the Scottish FA for two games after a challenge on Murray Davidson against St Johnstone.

With Morelos also suspended and Defoe having missed the past few games due to injury, Glasgow Live claims Cedric Itten is expected to lead the line in their absence.

Defoe did not play in the 1-1 draw with Hamilton and given they are playing a similar level of opposition, this could be a chance for the 24-year-old gem to stake a claim for a starting spot in Gerrard’s first XI.

Itten started against the Accies but struggled to make much of an impression, before being replaced by Roofe in the second half, only for this to backfire tremendously as he also failed to find the back of the net.

The 3-cap Swiss international has only featured for a grand total of 853 minutes this season, including a brief cameo against Celtic as well as just three starts in the Scottish Premiership, per Transfermarkt.

However Gerrard has previously expressed his admiration for the highly-rated 6 ft 2 Rangers starlet after the 4-0 win against Ross County. He said: “I thought Cedric was magnificent for his goal and he is a big help knowing that he can help kill teams off.

“He will get enough starting games and he will get enough cameos coming on and he will be a big, important player for us moving forward.”

Both Morelos and Roofe are suspended, whilst Defoe is also a doubt for the upcoming fixture, Itten could keep his place upfront in-between Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi, as it would be wise to give him a run of games before the Europa League returns next month.

Standing well over 6 ft 2 in tall, the towering colossus should have no trouble filling in for the aforementioned trio, as he’s already given Rangers fans a glimpse of what he has to offer the first team in the past. After all, he opened the scoring against Lech Poznan in the Europa League from the centre-forward position.

In the absence of his more experienced teammates, it’s time for Itten to step up to the plate.

AND in other news, Rangers outcast Brandon Barker sends Steven Gerrard timely reminder…

Sunderland’s vibrant run of form came to an end last Saturday with a rather bizarre game against Crewe.

The Mackems were battered and bruised at Gresty Road, making life all too easy for their opponents. The defence was questionable but without Bailey Wright, Tom Flanagan and Jordan Willis, you can excuse that.

It was somewhat of a robbery that Lee Johnson’s men ended up leaving with any points at all. The manager threw on four players in the hope of rescuing things and fortunately, it paid dividends.

Jordan Jones and Chris Maguire both popped up with special strikes to save a point for the Black Cats. With that clash in mind, how will Johnson choose to line-up on Tuesday evening?

They face Swindon at the Stadium of Light in a game which on paper, they should comfortably win. The Robins have lost 18 of their 31 games in League One this term.

Here is the side that we think Johnson may select this evening.

From the draw with Crewe, it includes two changes, both of them being made in defensive positions.

Callum McFadzean was poor again and lapse in possession during that clash so misses out this time. That means that Jones starts at left wing-back after his goal a few days ago.

The Rangers loanee said there was “no sign of me spitting my dummy out” following a lack of starts since his arrival but he simply has to feature from the off this time around.

The second and final change comes at centre-back where Flanagan comes in to dislodge Conor McLaughlin. Lee Johnson admitted in the middle of last week that he was a week away from returning; that makes him in contention for today’s clash with Swindon.

Despite that, Luke O’Nien continues next to him and Dion Sanderson having put in some admirable displays in an unfavoured role lately.

Aiden McGeady and Charlie Wyke misfired last weekend but will surely get the chance to make amends on Tuesday.

AND in other news, Forget Vokins: Johnson must unleash “tricky” SAFC ace who’s a “joy to watch”…

According to reports, Arsenal are exploring a potential loan deal for Real Madrid star Isco in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Mikel Arteta’s side have struggled this season in the absence of a creative spark, particularly with the Gunners manager leaving out Mesut Ozil from his Premier League squad – the north London side have managed just 16 goals in 16 league games.

Now, Goal claim that Arsenal’s priority in the January transfer window will be to secure an attacking midfielder, with Spain international Isco a target.

The report adds that loan deals are likely to be the way forward for the Gunners this month, and that with the European Championships coming up, Isco is “keen to leave to get more regular minutes during the second half of the campaign”.

No better than Ozil

If this was a few years ago, when Isco was a rising star, then Arsenal should absolutely be all over it.

But the sad fact is that the Spaniard is just nowhere near those kinds of standards anymore, and his lack of game-time at Madrid is a testament to just how low his stock has fallen.

He has yet to complete the 90 minutes in any of Zinedine Zidane’s side’s games this season, and has managed no goals whatsoever and provided just one assist.

It is a far cry from a few years ago, when international football journalist Peter Staunton declared Isco a “100 times better than Ozil” in a Transfer Talk episode.

Both Isco and Ozil are outcasts at their respective clubs, and just what sense would it make for Arsenal to go after another declining, highly-paid (the former earns around £230k-a-week) star? The Gunners simply have to steer clear.

Ever since Emile Smith Rowe was thrust into the starting line-up against Chelsea towards the end of 2020, Arsenal have looked a completely different team.

They’ve rattled off five wins in six games, and the England youth international was in superb form once again in his side’s Premier League win over Newcastle on Monday night.

Mikel Arteta’s side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in the end, and whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck two goals and was awarded the Man of the Match award by Sky Sports for his performance, it was Smith Rowe who arguably stole the show.

The 20-year-old was once again deployed in the number ten role, something that held even more significance given Mesut Ozil’s imminent departure to Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

And Smith Rowe was the creative hub of the Gunners as they ground Newcastle down in the first-half, and then opened them up in the second.

Aside from a glorious run and cut-back for Bukayo Saka’s goal, the Arsenal academy product also provided four key passes on the night – the most of any Gunners ace, and as much as the entire Newcastle team combined. It was his choice and timing of passing that really stood out, never trying to force things and always making sure he moved things forward for his side.

Speaking after the game, Arteta described both Saka and Smith Rowe as “extraordinary”, whilst Jamie Carragher raved about him on punditry duty for Sky Sports.

He said: “You feel like he’s always in control. He’s trying to beat a man, he beats him, but he gets the composure right too, and the night belonged to Emile Smith Rowe – I thought he was outstanding.

“He looks like someone who actually plays the right pass for the team at that time. People might watch it and not think it’s very spectacular, but when you play with players like that, who always make the right decision, it’s not about looking good, it’s about helping your team-mate, giving him the ball.”

Smith Rowe’s impact cannot be understated, and with the Gunners still seemingly in the market for a new attacking midfielder – they’ve been linked with Norwich’s Emi Buendia in recent weeks – Edu faces a major headache about how he goes about doing that.

The north London side have a real talent on their hands, and the last thing he needs for his development is someone who’s just going to come in and take minutes away from him and stunt his progress. The Gunners’ technical director has a tough decision to make in this January transfer window.

Meanwhile, Arsenal heading for another Balogun disaster…

Arsenal are in real trouble.

When last season finished, there was an enormous belief within the Gunners camp that they could grab a top-four spot.

Mikel Arteta had taken this team on and made them a more defensively sound outfit and they were picking up results regularly against some of the top sides in the Premier League.

However, fast forward to the present day and things are starting to go drastically wrong. Arteta’s men haven’t won in their last four league outings dating back to the start of November and they can’t seem to buy a goal from open play.

As of last weekend, the Gunners had managed fewer shots per game than each side at the bottom of Europe’s top five leagues.

A 2-0 defeat to Spurs, therefore, only made things worse for an under-pressure Arteta. Arsenal are now 15th in the league and nine points off the top four.

Their players look like they lack confidence and one of the most disappointing performers on Sunday evening was Hector Bellerin.

The Spaniard’s performance was typified by an abysmal foul throw in the first half, and it didn’t get much better. His poor pass when Arsenal were on the attack led to Spurs countering and Harry Kane scoring.

That summed up a day where Bellerin completed just 75% of his passes and produced only one accurate cross from six attempted.

When he got in a promising area, he wasted possession, losing the ball on 20 occasions. This was a night to forget for Bellerin, someone who proved successful with just one dribble. Granit Xhaka was also poor, committing four fouls, but it was the Spain international who was caught out even more.

There have been cries for Ainsley Maitland-Niles to start in this Arsenal side and this performance from Bellerin justified those shouts.

Since being linked with a move to Wolves in the summer, he has started just two Premier League matches, being shoved to the substitutes bench on a regular basis.

This game showed he should be starting more. It’s time to drop Bellerin and bring in Maitland-Niles.

He deserves to be on Arteta’s team sheet.

In other news, check out FFC’s exclusive quotes on Mesut Ozil and Arsenal… 

According to an injury update by Evening Standard journalist Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham and Jose Mourinho will be without ‘phenomenal’ star Giovani Lo Celso for Brentford and he is now ‘expected’ to miss the rest of January in a big blow for Spurs. 

Lo Celso had been shining in the number 10 role alongside Tanguy Ndombele this season, becoming a creative spark for Mourinho behind a typical front three of Steven Bergwijn, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min – but Tottenham are expecting to be without his influence for the rest of the month.

Lo Celso blow emerges in injury update

Despite already being injured, the previous time frame wasn’t this severe, but Kilpatrick has explained in an update that Lo Celso is likely to be out of action for longer than was first reported.

Originally, the Argentine was set to miss the festive period after Spurs confirmed a muscle problem, but this news means Mourinho will be without Lo Celso for Brentford as well as for the entirety of January.

Transfer Tavern take

In a fresh setback for the 24-year-old, Tottenham will have to heavily rely on Ndombele as the sole number 10 option – with Mourinho possessing a severe lack of attacking midfield depth bar the Frenchman.

Lo Celso’s untimely absence potentially highlights the club’s need to land a capable attacking midfielder in January, with Daniel Levy linked to a potential swoop for RB Leipzig star Marcel Sabitzer.

Time will tell whether Spurs dip into the transfer market, but if more injury problems arise, Levy may be forced to invest yet again despite a fruitful summer for the club.

In other news: Jose Mourinho dropped a two-word January update, find out more here.

Leeds United had a great transfer window in terms of incomings, but there are a few players on their books that they would have liked to have gotten rid of.

Indeed, it has been reported that Jay-Roy Grot will not play another game for the club, while Ouasim Bouy has seemingly had that fate thrust onto him ever since Marcelo Bielsa’s arrival at the club.

Fortunately, the Whites are reportedly preparing for talks to terminate Bouy’s contract, and that is probably for the best for everyone involved.

It’s easy to forget that Bouy is even a Leeds player, he’s not played a single game for the club and he’s been seen more often in the Netherlands than in West Yorkshire these days.

Bielsa seemingly has no use for him, and for that reason, Leeds should give him the same treatment they gave another player who Bielsa didn’t want, Jean-Kevin Augustin.

Both Leeds and RB Leipzig washed their hands with Augustin this summer, sanctioning a free transfer move to Nantes as the legal battle wages on over United’s supposed obligation to buy the forward.

However, no matter whether or not Leeds have to fork out the money to purchase Augustin, they were more than happy to let him go and ply his trade elsewhere, and that’s what needs to happen with Bouy.

The Dutchman may well be comfortable picking up thousands of pounds a week for absolutely nothing, but he was once touted as the next big thing and if he’s to get back on track in any sort of capacity, Leeds need to cut all ties with him.

His former youth coach gave his footballing ability a glowing review, saying:

“If we’re talking only about football, the simple fact about Ouasim is that he was a very talented attacking midfielder. He was a creative player with a golden left foot.

“He scored tremendous goals but he had this great feeling for when to play the through pass and how to put attackers in good positions to score. That was his great asset.”

There’s clearly a talented player in there somewhere, but Leeds don’t want him, and he doesn’t want to be at Leeds, so the best thing for everyone is to just let him go in the same way Augustin was allowed to leave.

It is no secret that West Bromwich Albion have one hell of an academy set-up, it’s arguably among the best in English football outside of your usual suspects.

The Baggies spent £1.3m on new facilities back in 2013 to breed through the next generation of young hopefuls and even pledged £3m-per-year after they were awarded category one status – the highest ranking – in the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance plan, as per the Express & Star.

Although only a couple of promising starlets have made their way into the first-team set-up in recent seasons, namely Nathan Ferguson, who left for Crystal Palace this summer, Rekeem Harper and Dara O’Shea, who is now a regular under Slaven Bilic.

The next talent to breakthrough could well be Rayhaan Tulloch, a 19-year-old who was quite sought-after in recent transfer windows and in the past, has drawn comparisons to both Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

“He’s quick and the type of player that’s broken through a lot recently — like Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi. I’m not saying he’s at that level but he’s that type of player that could quickly change a game through an explosive movement, a quick dribble or a run in behind and that can have quite an impact on a game.”

ex-England U17 coach Steve Cooper

He signed a new four-year deal in the summer and trained with the first-team prior to the new Premier League, showing just how much faith the Croatian has in his ability.

In fact, Bilic has described the versatile frontman as an “exceptional talent” with “very quick feet, very good skill, a very good sense of the game” – no wonder he’s been compared to some mighty impressive wingers already.

Following in the footsteps of both Saido Berahino and Ferguson, Tulloch has gone from junior club Phoenix United to making a debut for his hometown club, West Brom.

The teenager was a key part of the England U17 squad that made the semi-finals back in 2018 – “Rayhaan was, on his day, a really big threat — very direct and able to turn a game through his skill and athleticism,” said Cooper, now in charge of Swansea City.

Tulloch now finds himself on loan to Doncaster Rovers, under the stewardship of former boss Darren Moore, though injuries have curtailed his progress having started both their opening matches in League One.

He has been out ever since.

Within the next season or two, Albion will be in need of options upfront – both Kenneth Zohore and Charlie Austin will surely leave permanently whilst Hal Robson-Kanu is the wrong side of 30.

Rangers, Aston Villa, Southampton and Newcastle United all wanted a piece of him, as per the Express & Star, so Luke Dowling best hope he can now go onto big things at the Hawthorns.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Chris Kirkland tips 66 y/o to replace Slaven Bilic…

After arriving from Reims last summer in a £7m deal, it’s safe to say Bjorn Engels didn’t enjoy the greatest of debut campaigns at Aston Villa.

The Belgian was a permanent fixture in the starting line-up at Villa Park for the opening weeks of the Premier League last season, making 11 consecutive appearances.

Back-to-back defeats to both Manchester City and Liverpool then saw Engels finally drop out of the team, and since then, it’s been a case of ‘Where’s Bjorn?’.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

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The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece suggested back in January that Dean Smith’s preference for a traditional right-footer and left-footer as a centre-back pairing, and lack of trust in Engels in a back-three, saw the defender fall out of favour.

And then, at the start of the Premier League’s restart, Smith himself revealed that Engels was suffering from an Achilles issue. Now, it looks like he could be heading out of the exit door.

According to Belgian publication Walfoot, Anderlecht are interested in signing him in this transfer window, although they would want him on loan – something Villa are against as they are keen on a more permanent departure.

Reports last summer suggested that the £55k-a-week earning centre-back arrived on the back of being strongly recommended by the club’s former sporting director, Suso, and it speaks volumes of how his star has fallen at Villa that he is now facing a quick exit.

Despite Tyrone Mings revealing Engels is a “very cool” player to play alongside last year, Villa seem to have had enough with the Belgian.