All posts by h716a5.icu

Former Premier League striker Dean Windass believes that Dan James moving to Leeds makes complete sense.

The 23-year-old made the switch to Elland Road from Manchester United on deadline day, in a deal worth £25m.

James had started two of Manchester United’s opening three Premier League fixtures against both Leeds and Wolves last weekend, but after the arrivals of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo, it perhaps pushed James down the pecking order at Old Trafford.

During his time with Manchester United, James made 74 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine goals and assisting a further nine and has the ability to play off either wing.

Windass thinks James’ move to Leeds makes complete sense, telling Football FanCast: “Well it makes sense now because they signed Ronaldo. I think that’s just a replacement or you know in the situation where we all know Ronaldo can play anywhere along the frontline.

“Massive respect to Dan really, I think that obviously maybe he thought ‘I’m not going to play week in, week out when Ronaldo comes’ and he’s a Hull lad anyway, so he’s moving back towards Hull, he’s moving back this way.

“He’ll be back in Yorkshire and he’ll be a great addition to Leeds – I think you know obviously with the pace and the way Bielsa likes to play in a sense of tracking back, you’ve got to do the work without the ball not just with it and he’s got that all in his locker.”

James was Leeds’ fifth signing of the summer after Jack Harrison, Junior Firpo, Lewis Bate and Kristoffer Klaesson also joined the football club during the transfer window.

The pacey winger will provide competition amongst the Leeds ranks and manager Marcelo Bielsa will be delighted to have signed James at the second time of asking, as he was due to sign for the Whites a couple of years ago when he was at Swansea City, but the deal collapsed at the last minute.

Bermuda’s Chris Douglas has broken his left thumb during a warm-up match in South Africa and has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers

Cricinfo staff24-Mar-2009Bermuda’s Chris Douglas has broken his left thumb during a warm-up match in South Africa and has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers which start next week. He will be replaced by allrounder Jacobi Robinson.Douglas underwent surgery for the injury which he sustained taking a low catch during Bermuda’s 71-run win over Northerns in Pretoria.Gus Logie, the coach, said he had been banking on Douglas being a key player as Bermuda bid to qualify for the 2011 World Cup. “Sometimes you make plans and then things go awry,” Logie told the Royal Gazette. “But that’s the way life goes and you just have to make other plans.”Chris is very disappointed because he really wanted to do well on this tour. But we can’t dwell on the past because this is now another opportunity for someone else to step up.”

Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge has sent a stern warning to Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele after a new plan emerged to reintegrate the midfielder.

The Lowdown: Staying put at Spurs

The French midfielder made his intentions of leaving Tottenham clear over the summer, requesting to end his two-year spell after not being able to solidify himself in the starting lineup.

Ndombele has struggled to adjust to the English lifestyle since his move from Lyon and it was reported that he had informed the club that he wanted to depart if any bids were made.

Ndombele hasn’t featured yet under Nuno Espirito Santo, but after not getting his move, plans have now emerged to get the Frenchman back and firing in the Spurs XI.

The Latest: Bridge sends warning

According to Football London, Nuno now plans to reintegrate Ndombele back into his first-team.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, via Football London, Bridge has discussed the situation both parties now find themselves in, and he didn’t hold back on the 24-year-old.

He said: “Tottenham really have to get him, meet with him, and just say ‘look, we know you want to leave, you’ve got a good thing here and you’re not going to get back into the French squad like this, just knuckle down’.

“We all know how good he can be, he’s a YouTube player. Imagine our showreels, it won’t take long to get Ndombele’s best bits. He needs to knuckle down because he’s not young anymore and I’m sick of excuses from him.”

Ndombele will have to battle Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for a place.

The Verdict: Plan has to work

Bridge’s quotes are strong, but he’s right. Nuno’s plan to bring Ndombele back into the squad has to work if he is going to return to the French national team ahead of the World Cup next year, while it would also help Spurs to put him in the shop window.

Ndombele showed glimpses of quality last season, including that special goal at Sheffield United, but was often inconsistent and Nuno has caught on with that quickly.

This season is a telling one for Ndomebele and Spurs. Their record signing hasn’t hit the heights expected, and whether he is to stay or go next summer, they simply must find a way to get him playing consistent and injury-free football.

Many Arsenal fans have been slamming the display of Ben White in the first half of their game at Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The former Brighton defender struggled at times in the air against the Clarets’ two strikers Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, a criticism of his in the 2-0 loss away at Brentford on the opening day.

He was also guilty of giving the ball away on a few occasions, which ended up giving cheap chances to Sean Dyche’s team, especially before Martin Odegaard settled nerves down with a sublime free-kick to put the Gunners 1-0 up.

Nonetheless, with a £50m price ag on his shoulders, White will want to show the Arsenal faithful in the second half why they paid so much money for him.

Arsenal fans on White display

These Gooners slammed his performance on Twitter, with one supporter even going as far as to claim that White has been ‘terrible’ in the air:

“White is out of the game. He needs to concentrate.”

Credit: @10Tolis10

“Ben White is bad in the air…that was poor.”

Credit: @smoothgfootball

“Ben White is terrible in the air, you can’t deny it”

Credit: @KYEkye45

“Ben White is weak like tissue”

Credit: @sahalxp

“Ben White is having a mare”

Credit: @King_Jah_

“Not sure what Ben White is doing so far”

Credit: @me_jadson

In other news, find out whose display against Manchester City was slammed here!

The Oman offspinner Amir Ali has been reported for a suspect bowling action

Cricinfo staff06-Apr-2009The Oman offspinner Amir Ali has been reported for a suspect bowling action. Marais Erasmus and Niels Bagh, the umpires for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers game between Oman and Scotland in Johannesburg on April 4, said they had concerns over Ali and hence requested the ICC to review his action.In a report submitted to the ICC and the Oman Cricket Board (OCB), the on-field umpires and third umpire Kumar Dharmasena said: “We are of the opinion that during this match some deliveries were bowled with a suspect action. Therefore we felt that Amir Ali should be tested.”Pending the result of the ICC’s assessment, Ali can continue to play and bowl in international cricket. The ICC has requsted the OCB to make arrangements for the assessment of Ali’s bowling action as soon as possible. As soon as the assessment has been completed, the OCB must formally report back to the ICC as to what the results of the tests were and what action has been taken.

With West Bromwich Albion currently on a run of three games without a win in the Championship, having scored just two goals over the same period, Valerien Ismael’s lack of a clinical goalscorer at The Hawthorns has been badly exposed.

While the Frenchman may shoulder some of the blame for not signing anyone other than Jordan Hugill in attack during the summer transfer window, the club’s previous recruitment must also be scrutinised.

It was only two years ago that the Baggies shelled out a rather considerable £8m on Cardiff City centre-forward Kenneth Zohore, a move which, with the benefit of hindsight, has proven to be a substantial waste of the club’s money.

Nightmare

Indeed, over his 17 Championship appearances in his debut season at West Brom, the £20k-per-week forward failed to impress, scoring just three goals, registering no assists and missing four big chances for his side, as well as hitting the target with an average of just 0.6 shots and making 0.6 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Neil Warnock once dubbed a “manager’s dream” at Cardiff earn a disappointing seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.67, ranking him as Albion’s fourth-worst performer in the second tier of English football in 2019/20.

As a result of his general level of displays that season, Zohore was subsequently loaned out to Millwall the following campaign, where once again the Denmark international failed to make any real impression.

Over his 17 Championship appearances for the Lions in 2020/21, the 27-year-old found the back of the net just twice, provided no assists and missed three big chances, in addition to hitting the target with just 0.4 shots and making 0.5 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the striker earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.65, ranking him as Millwall’s joint sixth-worst player in the league.

Furthermore, despite Ismael’s distinct lack of options up top, the 45-year-old has left Zohore out of his matchday squads since the Baggies’ second game of the Championship season, something which highlights the current opinion of the Danish marksman at The Hawthorns.

As such, it will perhaps not surprise Albion fans to learn that Transfermarkt now value the 27-year-old at a mere £1.8m, just 22.5% of the £8m fee that West Brom paid for the centre-forward just 24 months ago, which duly illustrates what a nightmare the club’s deal for Zohore has proven to be.

In other news: Ismael must sanction January swoop for “unbelievable” £18m beast, he could transform West Brom

Madan Lal has applied for a release from the ICL in what is the first officially known response from the unauthorised league’s players and support staff to the BCCI’s recent amnesty offer

Ajay S Shankar and Nagraj Gollapudi13-May-2009Madan Lal, the former India allrounder and coach, has applied for a release from the ICL in what is the first officially known response from the unauthorised league’s players and support staff to the BCCI’s recent amnesty offer. Lal, who was coach of ICL’s Delhi Giants, said he expected more cricketers and some support staff to follow suit and hoped the BCCI would utilise his services appropriately.”I have applied for a release from the ICL contract,” Lal told Cricinfo. “I am thankful to the BCCI for allowing an opportunity for those with the ICL to return to the official fold. I have coached various Indian teams at different levels before and I hope the BCCI will utilise my services and experience in the best manner possible.”Lal’s request followed an ICL communication to its players and support staff last week to send in their requests for a release, if needed, before May 15. The ICL will then hold a management meeting, possibly on May 18, to decide on these requests and the future course of action.Sandeep Patil, Balwinder Sandhu and Karsan Ghavri, three former India players, and Ajit Wadekar, a former India captain, had approached the ICL for a release before the BCCI’s offer because of a “lack of adequate cricket”.”Days before the BCCI decision, three of us coaches – Sandeep Patil, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Dhaka Warriors coach) and myself – had a meeting with Himanshu Mody [ICL business head] and Kiran More [ICL board member],” Ghavri told Cricinfo. “We told them about our issues including no cricket being played from November 2007 and also about the salaries not being paid after that. Keeping in the prevailing conditions, we asked them to release us. We then got a call saying we were free to leave and would get our release letter by May 20. On April 30, Ajit Wadekar and I submitted the application for a release.”Patil, who had coached ICL’s Mumbai Champs, had stood down from active duty by the end of the last season due to “personal reasons”. “At the meeting with the ICL, they gave the coaches the option to continue or step down,” Patil told Cricinfo. “In any case I had resigned even before the BCCI decision to grant amnesty to the ICL players, coaches and backroom staff. I have no complaints and no regrets.”ICL officials, however, refused to confirm whether they had received any official requests from players or support staff for a release. “We remain confident about our future plans, especially the October programme,” an official said. The ICL had cancelled its March tournament due to the deepening economic recession and the non-availability of Lahore Badshahs, the Pakistan team, due to cross-border political tensions following the Mumbai attacks.”I have had an excellent relationship with the ICL over the last two years and I have no complaints at all about that association,” Lal, a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad, said. “But now I feel it’s the right time to move on professionally. There are many other ICL players and support staff who think similarly.” Apart from his ICL commitments, Lal runs a coaching academy in Delhi and has a media contract with a television channel.The BCCI had announced on April 30 that ICL players and support staff who wished to return to the official fold should do so by May 31. These players would be immediately allowed to play domestic cricket, including the IPL, and will become eligible for international cricket after a ‘cooling period’ of one year. Significantly, the ICC’s new rules for official and unofficial cricket, which aims to plug existing loopholes, will come into force from June 1.BCCI officials were not available for comment but it’s understood that the board has written to various state associations to confirm the amnesty offer and stipulate the norms that needed to be followed while readmitting such players. “We have been told that we would either have to produce an NOC from ICL or hand over a copy of the contract termination letter that has been sent by us to ICL,” a senior ICL player told Cricinfo. “We might then have to sign an official undertaking with the BCCI, which would bar us from participating in leagues or tournaments not authorised by the Indian board.”

The Australian Cricketers’ Association has welcomed a new pay deal allowing players greater choice in the number of promotional appearances they make

Cricinfo staff01-Jun-2009The Australian Cricketers’ Association has welcomed a new pay agreement that will allow players greater choice in the number of promotional appearances they make. Cricket Australia’s 25 contracted players will soon receive financial rewards based on their promotional work for Cricket Australia and its sponsors, according to the .In addition to their national playing contracts, the cricketers will earn a share of a $2.9 million marketing fund based on their individual market worth and the nature and frequency of their promotional appearances. The board has also cut the required number of promotional appearances for each player from 20 to 15 in 2009-10 because of the squad’s hectic schedule.”[It gives] more flexibility to the players who are busiest on field but still allows Cricket Australia to deliver value to their sponsors,” the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh told the . “In a busy year such as 2009-10, it is inevitable that those playing all forms of the game will choose to do somewhere close to the minimum number.”In reality, they have no choice given how much cricket they’ll be playing. One of the strengths of this model is that in such a busy year other players will have the opportunity to step up, perform more appearances and therefore earn more money and build their profiles.”The required number of appearances will rise to 18 in 2010-11. The marketing contracts are part of a new memorandum of understanding expected to be announced this week.

A number of Manchester United fans have been criticising the performance of Diogo Dalot in their 2-1 Champions League win at home to Villarreal on Wednesday night.

Cristiano Ronaldo spared Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s blushes with a last-minute goal after Alex Telles had cancelled out Paco Alcacer’s opener with a well-taken volley from outside the penalty box.

In spite of the win, Dalot endured a torrid time up against Arnaut Danjuma at right-back in place of the suspended Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Villarreal’s goal came down his flank.

The Portugal international lost out on four of his duels and also failed to block any shots or make any key passes or accurate crosses in the game, losing possession of the ball on 11 different occasions (Sofascore).

Man Utd fans on Dalot’s performance

These United supporters on Twitter blasted the 22-year-old’s performance, with one Red Devils supporter even going as far as to claim that Dalot was a ‘liability’ last night:

“Dalot was never good enough but Trippier was too expensive for what #MUFC wanted to pay.”

Credit: @JohnMozMolloy

“Telles passed the test. Dalot needs to improve massively.”

Credit: @ant4177

“A superb win to overshadowed many errors. Dalot was extremely poor throughout. Midfield lacking ball providers. A simple crossing might lead to a goal but we didn’t do that till end of the game. Sancho not at his best. Greenwood should do better. Again late substitution.”

Credit: @RRajen81

“Dalot is one of the worst defenders I’ve ever seen. Don’t know why we kept him this summer. Rather give Laird a chance.”

Credit: @BallRaffles

“Dalot was so poor today. Watching his defending the goal. If he went down he would have blocked that cross”

Credit: @StanChurchill

“Great excitement, drama and a win in the end but why did it take 60 minutes for United to start playing with any urgency and attacking verve? I’ve got nothing personal against Dalot but he is an absolute defensive liability”

Credit: @philgoldsmith

In other news, Dalot wasn’t the only player to come in for criticism from some Man Utd fans last night

The Athletic’s Chris Waugh has delivered a promising update on Newcastle United’s potential takeover following the recent hearing.

What’s the story?

The journalist shed some light on some of the news coming out from the Competition Appeal Tribunal hearing, including the fact that a takeover could be approved by the top-flight based one one major condition.

He said: “The potential takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium could be sanctioned by the Premier League if it is decided at arbitration that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will not be a director of the club.

“Primary amongst them is whether the government of KSA itself, or representatives of the Saudi state, must undergo the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test (OADT). This is the point which initially led to the takeover being stalled, before the consortium’s official withdrawal in July 2020. Mr Lewis QC claimed that the Saudis’ reluctance to undertake the test was the “single impediment” to completion of the takeover by the consortium, which also includes 10 per cent stakes for Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and the billionaire Reuben Brothers.

“If the arbitration decides that KSA is not a director,” he said, “then the transaction can and will go ahead, with no question of the OADT being applied to the KSA.”

Bit of hope for fans

Make no mistake about it, the sooner this gets resolved one way or another, the better for the future of Newcastle.

The Magpies have been in a state of uncertainty for far too long now, and the lack of genuine communication from the Premier League and Richard Masters, and open dialogue has caused some serious mistrust issues.

But, this latest update from Waugh following the hearing does give Newcastle fans a bit of hope that a positive conclusion whereby the takeover goes ahead could come to fruition sometime in the near future.

If it’s established that KSA will not become a director of the club upon the change in ownership, then it seems it could be relatively smooth sailing so to speak, and usher in a new, and much-needed era at St James’ Park.

Magpies fans will surely be buzzing with this latest news.

Meanwhile, Newcastle could sign this former Premier League star for free…