All posts by n8rngtd.top

A number of Crystal Palace supporters have hit out at Cheikhou Kouyate on social media for his performance against Aston Villa on Sunday lunchtime.

Roy Hodgson, who looks set to leave the club at the end of the season, made five changes from the side which fell to a 3-1 defeat to Southampton on Tuesday, with Jack Butland, Gary Cahill, James McCarthy, Jeffrey Schlupp and Andros Townsend all coming into the line-up.

However, it was Kouyate‘s display in the opening stages at Selhurst Park which had a number of Eagles fans talking online, and not for the right reasons.

The 31-year-old was making his 33rd Premier League start and 35th appearance in all competitions. He was partnering Gary Cahill at the back, with the pair coming up against Villa forward Ollie Watkins, but some fans clearly think he struggled in the first half. The Senegal international completed just five passes in the opening 45 minutes and had little impact on proceedings.

Palace fans react to Kouyate’s display

Here is what these Palace supporters had to say about Kouyate, with one believing that he and Cahill are ‘done’ at Selhurst Park.

“Kouyate and Ward need to sharpen up quick”

Credit: @Not2Camp

“Kouyate been awful in this game”

Credit: @PalaceFanDan

“Kouyate and Cahill pushing Watkins in the back every time the ball goes forward. Braindead.”

Credit: @lukec_1987

“Cahill and Kouyate are done. It was fun but we need to replace them”

Credit: @Sumo08112

“I like Kouyate, but caught ball watching there.”

Credit: @PaulGDJ

“Can’t make my mind up on Kouyate at Centre back”

Credit: @Adam_Palace

In other news: Many Palace fans react to shock news on Hodgson, find out more here. 

Keith Gillespie has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that he expects Manchester United winger Daniel James to remain at Old Trafford this summer.

The Welsh international burst on the scene following his move from Swansea City for £15m the summer before last, when scoring three times in his first four Premier League appearances.

However, the emergence of Mason Greenwood has seen James restricted to a bit-part role under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this term.

The 23-year-old has scored five times and added one assist in his 24 United appearances, but has started just nine times in the Premier League.

Five of those starts have come in the last nine matches, although James has been a regular in the Europa League, too, which could be valuable for his chances of starting for Wales at this summer’s European Championships.

Despite January links away from Old Trafford, Gillespie believes that James still has a part to play, and expects him to be a Manchester United player next season.

He told The Transfer Tavern:

“I don’t think he’ll leave. He’s a good squad player, he’s still young and learning the game. It has been disappointing for him because when he first came in, he did well at the start, but his performances have gone downhill.

“He’s been used this season more than I thought he would be, you see him in the starting line-up when you don’t expect it – Ole obviously likes him.”

Manchester City fans are livid after some of their players were snubbed by EA when they revealed their FIFA 21 Team of the Season.

It has been a fabulous season for the Citizens so far. They are currently ten points clear at the top of the Premier League (Sky Sports), have already lifted the League Cup and have one foot in the Champions League final after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their semi-final.

Some of Pep Guardiola’s men have had fantastic seasons, and Ederson, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne were all selected. However, there were some surprising omissions, such as John Stones and Phil Foden, who have both arguably had their best seasons to date at the Etihad Stadium.

The news of EA’s decision was shared on Twitter by @City_Xtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the City supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Man City fans had to say below

“What a joke. Ederson and Cancelo ? The best : Foden, Mahrez left out.”

Credit: @FreddyJeffr

“What a joke. No Mahrez and Stones.”

Credit: @DonLuigi_

“ONLY????”

Credit: @VelA0911

“How Mahrez or Foden didn’t make it is beyond me”

Credit: @ok_xander

“Foden, Mahrez, Stones robbed”

Credit: @city_scout

“Foden? Mahrez?”

Credit: @Happiness_Mirth

In other news, Man City fans are delighted with this Gundogan news.

One of Sheffield Wednesday’s out-of-contract stars has received two pre-contract offers from abroad, according to Football League World this week…

What’s the word?

They claim that Belgian league leaders Club Brugge and Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon have offered 20-year-old Owls gem Osaze Urhoghide terms ahead of the summer, when his contract expires at Hillsborough Stadium.

Teams across Europe can enter negotiations with players in England six months before their deal ends, whilst domestic rivals have to wait until the contract is complete, thus handing them a considerable advantage.

Leeds, Palace and Watford have been mooted with interest in Urhoghide before, so it seems unlikely that he will remain a Wednesday player much longer, especially if they are relegated to League One.

Moore will be gutted

This will not only come as a huge blow to Moore but will also be gutting towards his plans next season, as the South Yorkshire academy graduate is the sort of player he’d love to build round.

The former West Brom manager has built up a reputation as a successful youth coach and that is a trend he continued when taking the helm at nearby Doncaster Rovers, where they were contending for a playoff spot under his tenure – also possessing an average squad age of 24.6, amongst the four youngest in the division.

Despite not being in the dugout recently, Moore has still continued to select the 20-year-old this season. Indeed, he’s made 16 appearances in all competitions, with the bulk coming since the turn of the year.

Following a particularly impressive display against local rivals Barnsley last month, the Owls boss heaped praise on his young defender. He said to The Star:

“I don’t like to pick out individuals because I thought they were all excellent, but he was immense today in terms of his performance. In terms of his contacts, in terms of getting in the radar of the opponents and spoiling it – he was absolutely rock solid.”

Urhoghide has also been lauded by club captain Barry Bannan, who gave an insight into his potential too.

“He’s always willing to learn and ask questions,” explained the Scottish midfielder. “He’s a good lad and I’m really happy for him. I think we’ve got a player there.”

These are all characteristics that have already delighted Moore, as evident above, so to lose him for nothing – in the same vein as Liam Shaw to Celtic and many more before him – will be a truly crushing blow.

When teams that have the potential of playing in Europe next season come calling, you’d imagine that Wednesday stand no chance in keeping him. A disappointing but understandable likely end to his Owls career.

AND in other news, this Owls monster was Moore’s unsung hero against Rovers…

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts does not expect Danny Rose to have any way back into the first-team even with Jose Mourinho’s sacking, telling Football FanCast that the developments have “gone too far”.

Rose was not included in the Premier League squad at the start of the season and was not given a squad number.

This season, he has made a total of two appearances in the Premier League 2 for the U23s.

Reports claimed that he actually appeared at Spurs’ training ground on the day of Mourinho’s sacking, jumping out the back of a van and asking journalists why they had shown up to the Enfield complex.

Ryan Mason has been placed in charge of the team on an interim basis until the end of the season and it remains to be seen if an olive branch will be extended to the former England left-back.

Roberts, though, believes that such a development is unlikely after the way that he has conducted himself in recent years.

Indeed, he believes that the argument arose from the player’s desire to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires, despite being offered a number of routes out of the club, as laid bare in the Amazon Spurs documentary.

He told FFC: “I’m not sure about Danny Rose, I think that one’s gone too far. That wasn’t Mourinho, that was to do with the club, his contract’s up, he’s said he wants to leave when his contract’s up, on a free.

“I think that one’s gone too far.”

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Carlton Palmer has suggested that Owls midfielder Liam Shaw will need a loan move in the future.

Shaw, whose time at Hillsborough is coming to an end, has agreed to join Scottish giants Celtic in the summer on a free transfer.

With Celtic expected to compete for the league title next season and set to feature in Europe, moving to Glasgow is a huge opportunity for Shaw.

Palmer, though, believes it may have come too soon for the 20-year-old, feeling that he could struggle to get game time at Celtic Park.

Discussing Shaw’s transfer to Celtic, Palmer told FFC:

“Liam is going to struggle going to Celtic that age to play. He’ll probably end up going there and going out on loan, I’m assuming, I don’t know.”

Speaking on the midfielder’s move further, the former Wednesday player added:

“If I was Liam, I’d be wanting to get out on loan somewhere where it’s guaranteed that he’s going to play because you can do that. I’ve done it before where I’ve taken a player when I was manager at Stockport and the manager’s come to me and said, ‘right, listen, I’ll let the player come, but he’s got to play.’ Bit like David Beckham when he went to Preston, that’s how they develop. They’ve got to play.”

Whoever is in the Celtic Park dugout next season will be demanding a lot from Shaw and his future team-mates. The Bhoys have been extremely underwhelming this term, surrendering their title to rivals Rangers while crashing out of the Europa League in disappointing fashion.

Many England fans were left to slam the display of West Ham United man Jesse Lingard despite their 5-0 home win over San Marino on Thursday night.

It was a very comfortable night as expected for the Three Lions with goals from James Ward-Prowse, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (two), Raheem Sterling and a debut strike for Ollie Watkins that sealed all three points and got Gareth Southgate’s men off to a perfect start in their group.

However, Lingard never managed to get himself on the scoresheet and was guilty of missing a lot of good chances in the game, with no fewer than ten shots taken in total, the most out of any player to have set foot on the pitch (Sofascore).

The attacking midfield player currently on loan from Manchester United also lost possession of the ball on nine separate occasions in the match, the fifth-most out of any of his teammates (Sofascore), although his general attacking play was easy to the eye at times.

Nonetheless, it did not stop several England supporters venting their frustrations with the 28-year-old.

England fan reaction to Lingard display

These Three Lions fans slammed his performance on Twitter, with one claiming that he was ‘very poor’ while another even went as far as to say that it was a ‘disasterclass’:

“Yeah Lingard just looked out of his depth tbh, wasn’t on it at all”

Credit: @1874adam

“Eminem could play football better than Lingard”

Credit: @bilsnm

“I thought Lingard was rubbish last night, should have scored at least 3”

Credit: @Mike50873271

“Lingard wasn’t good tonight but you won’t hear about it because his name’s not Kalvin Phillips”

Credit: @VidukaEra

“Lingard disasterclass”

Credit: @cpfcames

“Lingard was very poor”

Credit: @AndrewHornet77

In other news, find out what official club post Hammers have flocked to here!

According to a report by Italian outlet Corriere Granata, GSB and West Ham United are eyeing Torino star Andrea Belotti as the striker search brings up a new name – coming as the Serie A side wish to make a new contract offer to keep their captain.

GSB eyeing Belotti

The 27-year-old, who has amassed 32 caps at international level, is attracting interest from a plethora of Premier League sides with West Ham mentioned as one of the teams who are monitoring his situation in Turin.

Belotti has bagged 27 goals and 8 assists over the last two league seasons (WhoScored), with manager David Moyes said to be prioritising a permanent deal for Jesse Lingard alongside a new striker this summer.

The Irons have been most recently linked with the likes of Ivan Toney, Adam Armstrong, Tammy Abraham and Youssef En-Nesyri (ExWHUemployee), but according to Corriere Granta, Belotti has now entered the fray as the striker hunt takes another twist.

Transfer Tavern take

A proficient goal scorer and threat in the final third, averaging more shots per 90 (3.4) than any West Ham player in the league this season (WhoScored), it is understandable why GSB and co are monitoring his situation.

Moreno Longo, who briefly took charge of Torino last season, lauded Belotti as an ‘extraordinary striker’ (via Football Italia), but only time will tell whether West Ham can realistically land him in the summer as his club prepare a new deal offer.

In other news: West Ham are also keeping tabs on this ‘relentless’ 6 ft 2 man, find out more here.

Swansea earned a hard-fought three points in their push for promotion on Saturday, as they defeated Luton Town 1-0 in the early kick-off in the Championship.

Connor Hourihane’s early goal was enough to see off the Hatters, who had a number of chances to equalise but couldn’t find a way past Freddie Woodman in the Swans goal.

The result briefly put Steve Cooper’s side in the top-two of the Championship, before Watford’s 2-1 win at Cardiff saw them jump back above the Swans into the automatic spots.

Although it was an important result, some of the performances from Swansea players were below par on Saturday, with Andre Ayew, in particular, disappointing.

As per SofaScore, the experienced striker would earn a 6.4 rating for his display, which was the joint-lowest rating, with Korey Smith, of any Swansea player who started the game.

During his 90 minutes on the pitch, the former Marseille man would have 41 touches of the ball and would complete just 18 passes, which suggests that he was rarely involved, as he has averaged 27.3 passes per game in the Championship so far this season.

Perhaps most disappointingly, the Ghana international struggled to hold the ball up for Swansea in his role as a lone striker, with the Luton defenders, particularly Kai Naismith, having the better of him during the game.

Ayew would win just 4/14 ground duels and just 3/11 of his aerial duels during the game, resulting in an overall tally of 7/25 – which saw him register a disappointing success rate of just 28%.

Naismith meanwhile, would win 15/17 of his duels during the game and earned an impressive 8.3 rating for his display, which definitely suggests that he won the battle between himself and Ayew.

Despite being rarely involved, the 31-year-old striker would also lose possession on 16 occasions, suggesting that his link-up play was nowhere near his usual standards at Kenilworth Road.

The £3.6 million-rated forward was also successful with just 2/7 of his dribbles against Nathan Jones’ side, whilst he failed to register a single shot on target, so he is perhaps fortunate that Swansea were able to come away with a win, as it is clear that he was nowhere near his best against the Hatters as he let Cooper down with an anonymous display.

Fans of Glasgow Rangers have been reacting to a post on Twitter, which highlighted footage of an Allan McGregor save in the club’s recent Europa League fixture.

In the footage, which was originally posted by the UEFA Europa League Twitter account, a Slavia Prague corner is whipped in during their clash against Rangers, with one of the attacking players subsequently getting a powerful header on target only for McGregor to somehow claw the ball out from the bottom corner, helping his side leave the Czech Republic with a 1-1 draw.

The Rangers Twitter account then quote-tweeted the footage, adding the comment: “Perfect from every angle.”

And, in response, fans of Rangers flocked to have their say on McGregor’s remarkable save, with many claiming that the 39-year-old’s acrobatics are up there with any save a goalkeeper has ever made, while others simply heaped praise on the ‘keeper for his general level of performance so far this season.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one supporter even requested the club announce an extended contract for the Ibrox hero.

So, what exactly did these Rangers fans have to say in reaction to the footage of Allan McGregor’s save?

“Announce new contract for McGregor.”

@55ilverFox_55

“Incredible.”

@CraigCrgrob83

“Legend.”

@Theo93473341

“Insane goalkeeping Allan McGregor.”

@Blabber08756401

“Superglue gloves!”

@iain_renton

“Save of the century.”

@karentay3x

“Show me a better save…. I’ll wait.”

@Allan111Allan

“It gets better every time you see it.”

@legendsofibrox

In other news: many Rangers fans have slammed this Union Bears statement – find out more here!