According to reports in the Daily Mail, West Ham United striker Andy Carroll is a January target for Chelsea, and Irons fans have been quick to have their say on the rumour.
The Daily Mail says that the Blues have enquired about taking the 28-year-old on loan for the rest of the season as Antonio Conte looks to provide more competition for Alvaro Morata in attack, and it could leave the east London outfit with a decision to make.
Carroll has once again been plagued with injury issues this season, although he did score both goals – including a last-gasp winner – in their vital 2-1 win against fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion at the London Stadium on Tuesday night.
West Ham supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the story, and while one simply said “please take him”, another said “I’ll drive Carroll there”.
After a long winter break, Scottish football finally returns for the biggest clubs in the country this weekend and to kick things off we have the fourth round of the Scottish Cup to look forward to.
This is the round that the Scottish Premiership sides enter the competition and for Celtic represents the first barrier towards the defence of the trophy they won last season.
Another treble is on the card for Brendan Rodgers’ side this term after already successfully lifting the League Cup in November and forging ahead at the top of the league table.
It’s a monumental task for Championship side Brechin City to try and compete with the Hoops, currently sitting bottom of the table having amassed just four points in 21 matches.
Celtic can perhaps afford to use the match to give some of their fringe players a run out, especially with two Tuesday midweek fixtures to follow before the end of January.
These are THREE knocking on the door for more action that Rodgers should utilise on Saturday…
Michael Johnston
With long-term injuries to the likes of Tom Rogic, Patrick Roberts and Jonny Hayes taking their toll on Celtic’s attacking midfield options, there’s never been a better time to give young Mikey Johnston more regular first team action.
The youngster has made just one start this season, against Kilmarnock back in October, but was utilised as substitute in two late December matches just before the break.
He deserves a chance to show what he can do against Brechin and playing him allows one of Celtic’s established first team stars to focus on preparing for a vital league match against Partick Thistle on Tuesday night.
Celtic fans have been excited by the potential he’s shown in his limited appearances so far and this weekend’s Scottish Cup clash could be the platform for him to truly arrive in the Hoops and grab his first goal.
Eboue Kouassi
Celtic’s central midfield area is arguably the most competitive in the entire squad with the likes of Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham excelling this season, aided by Scotland internationals such as Stuart Armstrong and Callum McGregor.
With such depth, it’s been difficult for Eboue Kouassi to get regular action in a Celtic shirt, especially since his role in the team is seen as similar to Scott Brown’s – a defensive minded enforcer.
However, Brown is arguably not needed against Brechin and it could be a great opportunity to give the Ivory Coast man vital first team action.
Brendan Rodgers admitted earlier this month that he may be heading out on loan before the end of the January transfer window, recognising he needs regular football to progress, but this is an opportunity to check on his progress in a Celtic setting.
Anthony Ralston
Soccer Football – Champions League – Celtic vs Paris St Germain – Celtic Park, Glasgow, Britain – September 12, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar clashes with Celtic’s Anthony Ralston Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Mikael Lustig is one of the most senior players in Brendan Rodgers’ squad and is seen as vital leader of the dressing room that helps drive Celtic forward and pick up consistent results.
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However, on a personal level the Swede’s form hasn’t been fantastic this season and has undoubtedly dipped from last term when he had one of his finest seasons in a Celtic shirt.
Rodgers has persisted with selecting him through bad form and poor results, only Kieran Tierney and Craig Gordon have made more appearances than him this season.
Anthony Ralston, who has made just seven appearances this season, has found it difficult to replace Lustig but surely Brechin City is an opportunity for Rodgers to give him some game time and allow Ralston to show he can be just as effective in the right-back slot?
The youngster recently signed a new long-term contract at the club so clearly they see him as a player with significant potential, but he won’t get better without games and should be utilised more often.
It has come under criticism in recent years but the 2017/18 instalment of the FA Cup’s Third Round certainly didn’t disappoint.
It was kicked off by a cracking Merseyside derby and continued with a series of high-profile upsets, not least including Nottingham Forest’s 4-2 victory over Arsenal and Leeds United’s shock loss at Newport County, ensuring doubters that the magic of the FA Cup is far from lost.
While some triumphed during the Third Round weekend, however, others inevitably toiled; here’s a look at the winners and losers…
Losers – Renato Sanches and Anthony Taylor
Swansea and Wolves’ scoreless draw lacked quality but certainly didn’t let down in terms of talking points. Renato Sanches was Europe’s Golden Boy in 2016 after signing for Bayern Munich in a deal that could eventually cost the Bavarians £72million, but was received by a chorus of jeers and boos as he limped off with a hamstring injury late in the first half.
Anthony Taylor, meanwhile, bizarrely chose the largely insignificant FA Cup clash to make a statement on cynical fouls, issuing Leroy Fer a straight red for the kind of counter-attack-stopping challenge a booking has become the customary punishment for.
Many have tipped Taylor to become the Premier League’s next flagship referee following Mark Clattenburg’s departure, but the bold decision to deviate from the laws certainly won’t sit well with PGMOL – who appoint officials for top flight games.
Winner – Frank Nouble
The great beauty of English football is that every dog eventually has their day – which is exactly how Frank Nouble must have felt as his Newport County side shocked Leeds United to claim victory from a one-goal deficit with just 15 minutes left to go.
Since graduating from the academy at Chelsea, the striker’s career has only drifted downwards throughout the Football League, managing just 40 goals in 249 appearances and now finding himself in mid-table in the fourth tier.
But those many frustrating, many goalless spells must have felt worth it when the 26-year-old’s driven cross hit Leeds’ Conor Shaughnessy and diverted into the net, and even more so when youngster Shawn McCoulsky came off the bench to head home the winner late on. Nouble may have failed at the top of the English game, but he’s etched himself into a small piece of FA Cup folklore that won’t be forgotten quickly.
Winners – Nottingham Forest’s academy
Nottingham Forest’s 4-2 win over FA Cup holders Arsenal provided the weekend’s biggest dose of Third Round magic and the lion’s share of credit must go to those working at the club’s academy.
Forest’s starting XI included five graduates from the Forest youth ranks and it was that combination of enthusiastic energy and blind bravery that allowed the former European champions to pull off such a dramatic upset despite currently having no permanent manager.
That was epitomised best by the performance of goalscorer Ben Brereton, who ran Per Mertesacker and Rob Holding ragged before converting from the penalty spot.
Loser – Mark Hughes
It had been a long time coming but a 2-1 defeat to a Coventry Side 53 rungs below Stoke City in the Football League proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Mark Hughes’ tenure at the Bet365 Stadium.
From conceding sloppy goals at set pieces to throwing on a 36-year-old Peter Crouch for desperation punts up field in search of a late equaliser, the loss at the Ricoh Arena – which qualified as one of the biggest shocks of the Third Round yet hardly caught people off guard – encapsulated everything that’s gone wrong at the Potteries over the last 18 months.
Local media described it as one of the worst results in Stoke City’s history.
Winners – West Brom
While Exeter City represented one of the lowest-ranked sides involved in the Third Round, West Brom’s 2-0 victory at St. James Park must have felt like winning the FA Cup itself for those at the Hawthorns.
The relegation-threatened Baggies hadn’t won a match in any competition since August and Alan Pardew will view the end of that four-month hoodoo as just rewards for the small but significant improvements his side have shown since replacing Tony Pulis at the end of November.
Strikers Jay Rodriguez and Salomon Rondon got on the scoresheet as well; confidence in attack will be instrumental to West Brom avoiding the drop this season.
Winner – Virgil van Dijk
There’s no better way of introducing yourself at Liverpool than scoring the winning goal in the Merseyside derby, Virgil van Dijk settling the first clash of the Third Round on Friday night by rising highest at a corner and heading beyond an onrushing Jordan Pickford.
The Netherlands international still has a long way to go before he justifies his staggering £75million price-tag, but if Jurgen Klopp’s main motivation behind spending the big bucks was signing a defender prepared to take games by the scruff of the neck – be that in the opposition box or his own – the early signs are certainly promising.
Loser – Michy Batshuayi
If there were ever any doubts over whether Chelsea would sell Michy Batshuayi this summer, they’ve surely been eradicated by a profitless showing from Antonio Conte’s second-choice striker. With Alvaro Morata rested, it was up to the Belgium international to provide the cutting edge against an inconsistent Norwich City side, but he just couldn’t break the deadlock in an eventual scoreless draw at Carrow Road.
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Tellingly, Morata was brought on after 74 minutes and you have to wonder how many more chances Batshuayi will get to prove himself before the end of the season. What little faith Conte has in the 24-year-old clearly took another big dent against the Championship side.
Losers – Arsenal’s veterans
Although full credit must be given to a fearless Nottingham Forest side, the sheer scale of Arsenal’s Third Round faux pas simply can’t be ignored. This is the first time Arsene Wenger has been eliminated in the Third Round from 21 seasons at the Arsenal helm and goes down in the history books as one of the worst FA Cup defences of all time – if not officially the worst.
While that was partly due to the number of inexperienced players turning out for the Gunners, the north Londoners were truly let down by the more seasoned members of the team. Mertesacker and Mathieu Debuchy just couldn’t keep pace with Forest’s youthful legs, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck only made contributions in fits and spurts and Mohamed Elneny failed to provide a driving force in central midfield.
Perhaps the biggest culprit though, was the biggest veteran of them all – Wenger himself; Arsenal paid the price for severely underestimating the quality and desire of their Championship opposition.
Liverpool bid Javier Mascherano a fond farewell in 2010 when he left Anfield to join Barcelona.
The midfielder, who also played as a centre-back at the Camp Nou, is ready to move on again.
The Spanish club announced earlier today that the 33-year-old will leave for pastures new at the end of the month.
Mascherano has had a stellar career at Barcelona having won 17 trophies in eight years, including two Champions League crowns and four La Liga titles.
The Daily Mail claims that the Argentine will continue his career further afield in China, with reports stating that he is likely to join Hebei China Fortune.
Liverpool fans, though, have other ideas as they have called for the club to bring back their former midfielder.
Mascherano spent three years at Anfield, making 139 appearances before moving to Spain.
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Even though it seems that the former West Ham United player is set for a transfer to the Far East, Liverpool supporters are keeping their fingers crossed that he could return to Merseyside.
A new manager is always under intense scrutiny when he takes charge of a club, and that statement certainly applies to Leeds United’s new head coach Paul Heckingbottom.
The Yorkshireman was appointed as the Championship outfit’s new leader this week, just a matter of days after Thomas Christiansen left Elland Road.
Heckingbottom has a big job on his hands as the club currently reside 10th in the table, seven points adrift of the playoff places.
The team have gone six games without a win, but they will be trying to get back on track this weekend when they face Sheffield United away on Saturday.
Following Heckingbottom’s appointment, which was controversial given that he extended his deal at Barnsley just four days prior, the new head coach gave his first official interview.
The Whites provided a snippet of the chat on Twitter, alongside a link to the full video.
The new coach seems to have gotten off on the right foot, with the fans at least.
Having cost £20 million when he arrived from Stoke in the summer, West Ham winger Marko Arnautovic didn’t exactly endear himself to the club’s supporters as he struggled mightily over the first half of the season.The Austrian appears to have turned things around though in the back-half of the season, and his seven goals since December have practically mirrored West Ham’s rise from relegation-battlers to a mid-table outfit.Arnautovic’s performance’s were met with derision from the stands earlier in the campaign, but now he is a firm fan favourite and he took the time yesterday to thank the Hammers faithful for their support.[ad_pod ]He said:“It hurt me in the beginning when I heard people whistling me in the stadium because they expected me to do better, but now I am playing for my team and playing for the fans because the fans are a big part of this Club.”Arnautovic has also added a gesture to his celebration in recent months where he crosses his fingers to make a hammer shape, as an ode to the East London of which he is now an established part.Hammers fans returned the favour with some heartfelt comments on Twitter…
Arsene Wenger may be on his way out of the Emirates in the summer, and there will be a long line of potential candidates to replace him.
Arsenal failed to reach the Champions League for the first time in Wenger’s 21 year-long tenure at the club last season, and despite signing a contract that would keep him at the Emirates until 2019, Wenger himself has said he may not see out the remainder of his contract.
Former Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta is on the club’s list of potential replacements, but the Spaniard’s experience at senior level is limited with only assistant manager experience at Manchester City under his belt.
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Former-Invincibles legend Patrick Vieira could be another option, who has the added bonus of senior managerial experience – albeit on the other side of the pond with the MLS’ New York City FC.
Thierry Henry would be Arsenal fans’ dream replacement for the under-fire Wenger, but he too has minimal managerial experience and has spent more time in the Sky Sports studio than the training pitch in recent years.
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What do Arsenal fans think? Who would be Wenger’s best replacement? Have your say by voting below…
In our poll on Wednesday, we asked Hammers fans to tell us who they thought their most important player was this season – Manuel Lanzini or Marko Arnautovic.
Lanzini has been at the club longer than the Austrian, having joined the Hammers in 2016, but the tricky Argentinian midfielder has been dogged by injuries to his knee and hamstring this season, while Arnautovic has gone from strength to strength having scored seven league goals since December.
It was not an easy start for the £13m-rated (Transfermarkt)Arnautovic as he experienced boos from fans and a red card in only his second game for the club, but the former-Stoke man has now established himself as a fan favourite, with his ‘hammers cross’ celebration becoming something of a ritual at the London Stadium in 2018.
It’s not surprising then that Hammers fans have sided with Arnautovic in this debate, with just 38% of them thinking that Lanzini is a more important player.
Here is the full result from our poll…
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Manchester United bounced back from their shock Champions League elimination at the hands of Sevilla in midweek with a win over Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday, securing their place in the semi-finals of English football’s top cup competition.
It wasn’t the most convincing performance, the Old Trafford visitors actually finishing up with more than twice the number of efforts at goal as the home side, but Jose Mourinho will be pleased his team got the job done to ensure they could still end the season with some form of silverware.
Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring after 37 minutes to put the Red Devils in control of the tie, but it was arguably the second goalscorer, Nemanja Matic, who had the biggest influence on the match.
The Serbian international – who Transfermarkt value at £36million – provided the assist for Lukaku’s opening strike before netting himself late on with just seven minutes left on the clock. He also gave United a crucial platform in midfield, completing seven dribbles and a whopping 114 passes.
So, United fans, was Matic the Man of the Match against Brighton, or should that honour go to one of his team-mates? Let us know by taking part in the poll below and giving each Red Devils star a performance rating out of ten…
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Manchester United have turned to Celtic star Kieran Tierney as they look to sort out their left-back issues in the summer transfer window, according to the Daily Record.
What’s the story?
As Ashley Young has been filling in at left-back for much of the season and Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw all look set to leave the club in the summer, United need a new left-back as a matter of urgency.
The report suggests that Alex Sandro of Juventus was first choice but Jose Mourinho is balking at the idea of a transfer fee in excess of 70 million euros and has turned to Tierney – who is valued at £4.5m by Transfermarkt.
Mourinho is also reportedly impressed with Tierney’s greater versatility – he can play as a right-back or as a centre-half – and he would command a lower fee than Sandro.
Would it be a good move?
It feels like a traditional Manchester United move to make,; a player Sir Alex Ferguson would have signed.
Some might snear at the idea of one of the world’s biggest and richest clubs buying a player from Scottish football, but Tierney is a player of great potential.
He is still only 22, so he would have plenty of time to be moulded into a United player. Playing for Celtic is also a goldfish bowl, so he will have had a taste of the pressure players at Old Trafford are under.
I can understand why Sandro was ahead of Tierney in the initial pecking order but Manchester City blew up the full-back market last summer and, like across the board in football, fees in that position are getting out of control.
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The report suggests that a £20m would be commanded and that represents decent value in the current climate. Blind and Darmian have struggled to adjust having come from abroad but Tierney should, in theory, be better accustomed to the English style.