All posts by z3u9t.icu

Fans of Sunderland have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which the Black Cats relayed footage of Jordan Jones back in training at the Academy of Light.

Since arriving at Sunderland on a four-month loan deal back in January, Jones has highly impressed over his nine League One appearances for Lee Johnson’s side, with the winger scoring two goals and providing three assists, as well as averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.04 – ranking him as the club’s eighth-best performer in the third tier.

However, after picking up an injury in the Black Cats’ 2-0 win over Portsmouth towards the start of March, the Rangers loanee has missed the club’s last three league fixtures.

Although, it appears as if the 26-year-old could be back in action for Sunderland in their upcoming fixture against Oxford United this Friday, as the club shared footage on Twitter of the winger in first-team training, with the account adding that Jones will be “back soon”.

And, in reaction to the footage, fans of Sunderland flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing delighted at the prospect of Jones returning to first-team football in the very near future.

So, what exactly did these Sunderland fans have to say in reaction to the club’s update on Jordan Jones?

“Fantastic news ahead of a critical period of the season.”

@eab1992

“He could be a game-changer against Peterborough.”

@markbol1972

“Get the bloke signed ASAP.”

@harryeddowes

“Like a new signing (again). He’s different class at this level.”

@LiamIDST

“Great news.”

@LeeOliv19354993

“Welcome back Mr Jones, you’ve been a miss.”

@TomNelson73

In other news: loads of Sunderland fans were ecstatic after the club confirmed this ‘absolutely magnificent’ news – find out more here!

In an exclusive interview with Transfer Tavern, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals during his career for Wolves, believes that Patrick Bamford has not yet established himself enough for a move to a top Premier League club.

Bamford has successfully led the line for Marcelo Bielsa’s side this season having scored 14 goals in the Premier League and has started every game in the league for Leeds United.

Before this season, Bamford had experienced four unsuccessful loan spells where he made just 27 appearances scoring just the one goal which was during his last loan spell in the top flight for Middlesbrough.

Speaking on what Bamford must do to be considered a top striker in the Premier League and how long he must keep this form up for, Bull told Transfer Tavern:

“I think he’s still got to establish himself a bit more first because it’s no good having just five or six good months, and thinking you need to go to a bigger club and that you’re bigger than your current club.

“He’s got to do it for a few years first and somebody might take a punt on him and he could do well, but at the moment he’s got to keep doing it for Leeds.”

Many expected Bamford to flop once again this season, however Bielsa kept his faith in the striker and he’s paid him back with goals. That said, it has been reported that Chelsea may look to bring the £35,000 per week striker back to Stamford Bridge.

Leeds have had a successful first season back in the Premier League, and with nine games left they are comfortably safe from relegation currently sitting in 11th and 13 points above the bottom three.

Newcastle United reportedly want to sign Nuno Tavares, according to O Jogo (via Sport Witness).

As per the news outlet, the Portugal youth international could be on his way out of Benfica in the summer transfer window, with the Liga Nos club currently valuing him at €30m (£25.9m).

However, Tavares is also wanted by both Burnley and Napoli, and Benfica could be persuaded into reducing their original asking price depending on the offers that they do get.

Newcastle must sign Tavares

The St. James’ Park faithful must try and sign Tavares to give some healthy competition to the likes of Jamal Lewis and Paul Dummett at left-back.

The 21-year-old may also be able to offer Steve Bruce’s team something a little different as he is a natural speedster, as football agent Cesar Boaventura, speaking to Radio Marte (via talkSPORT) back in January, described him as ‘one of the fastest players in the whole Portuguese league’ and claimed that ‘he can become one of the best in Europe.’

Tavares is also still relatively young and so has a lot of potential to develop into one of European football’s top players, and there is no better league for him to do that than the high demands of the Premier League.

Nonetheless, if the North East club avoid being relegated from the top flight down to the EFL Championship, than he is certainly a player that they should be keeping their eye on.

In other news, find out what big Mike Ashley claim Mark Douglas has shared on the potential takeover here!

West Brom are set to be without an integral member of their squad…

What’s the latest?

According to Sam Allardyce, via the Express & Star, Baggies midfielder Robert Snodgrass is expected to be out for the next seven to ten days, meaning he could well miss their crucial encounter with Leicester City next Thursday.

“Robert has had an epidural – it will probably be seven to 10 days before he is back in action,” Big Sam explained.

It’s hard to imagine him being fit enough to return in a weeks time, so this will come as a huge blow to Albion.

Bad news for Big Sam

Snodgrass may have not featured in the starting XI in recent outings, that in part surely being down to this long-term issue, but he’s a very important character in the dressing room and that will be needed if West Brom are to stand a chance at survival.

Despite notching impressive back-to-back victories, the Baggies still find themselves eight points adrift of safety, with only seven games left to play.

The versatile 33-year-old midfielder has featured eight times since joining on a permanent deal from West Ham United but has not started a match for the Midlands side since the 1-1 draw to Manchester United.

Upon arrival at the Hawthorns, many were quick to praise the veteran Scotsman, such as former Premier League goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who claimed Snodgrass is “a huge character in the dressing room,” whilst his former Villa coach Colin Calderwood lauded him a “team player.”

Not having him around on a matchday, especially in the upcoming derby where both teams need a big result, will come as hugely disappointing news to Allardyce.

It can be argued that his presence on the pitch has not been missed, as they have won successive matches for the first time without him in the starting XI but there is a case to be made over him starting, as he’s often an industrious presence and one that can play through the middle or out wide.

His 2.1 tackles per game are only matched – or bettered -by the Baggies’ three loan stars, for example.

Either way, not having Snodgrass available next week will come as a major blow.

AND in other news, Allardyce played a blinder over big West Brom omission vs Saints…

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts has told Football FanCast that the players at the club will have rebelled against Jose Mourinho’s methods, leading to his sacking.

Spurs confirmed on Monday that they had sacked the ex-Chelsea boss after a dramatic slide down the table.

Towards the end of 2020, Spurs were top of the Premier League, but they are currently seventh, and have won just one of their last six games in all competitions.

Mourinho appeared to fall out with a number of players, jettisoning both Harry Winks and Dele Alli from his team, and giving Gareth Bale precious few chances to prove his worth while on loan from Real Madrid.

And Roberts believes that the decisions that Mourinho made in terms of man-management will have alienated the squad.

Indeed, he has told FFC that the manager’s methods are outdated, even though he thought that Mourinho would bring success to north London when he was first appointed.

He said: “I think there was pressure. I think it’s come inside the club as well from players, leaving players out, so I’ve got to say, when he joined, I thought he was a good appointment, I thought we would win trophies but football’s gone forward now, you can’t aggravate players, because they’re all mates.

“If you upset one or two, the next one thinks, ‘well, you’re going to upset me’.”

Former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that he cannot see Steven Gerrard replacing Marcelo Bielsa in the Elland Road dugout.

This comes after The Athletic’s Phil Hay, speaking on Ask Ornstein, mentioned Gerrard’s name when discussing who could succeed Bielsa as Leeds boss.

The Argentinian’s contract is set to expire in the summer, meaning that the Whites could be on the lookout for a new manager before the start of next season.

Palmer, however, cannot imagine Gerrard ditching the new Scottish Premiership champions for the Yorkshire club.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about the above, the ex-Leeds player said:

“I think Stevie G’s had a fantastic season up at Rangers. I can’t for the life of me see Stevie G leaving Rangers at this moment in time, apart from going back to Liverpool Football Club and I don’t think [Jurgen] Klopp’s going for a couple of seasons yet.”

Gerrard will surely want to have a go at defending Rangers’ Scottish Premiership title against rivals Celtic. He will also have the opportunity to manage the Glasgow club in the Champions League, so it really is hard to imagine an Ibrox exit for the Liverpool legend right now.

Following his excellent display for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, Andre Green insisted that he will remain committed to the Owls, regardless of the club’s likely relegation to League One.

Having joined Darren Moore’s side on a free transfer back in January following his release from Aston Villa last summer, Green has so far struggled for regular game time at Wednesday, with the 22-year-old’s seven Championship appearances – prior to the Middlesbrough clash – all coming from the bench.

However, after being given the nod by his manager to feature from the off against Neil Warnock’s side on Saturday, the winger highly impressed for the Owls, creating two big chances, making four key passes and winning the penalty for Josh Windass’ goal, earning a SofaScore match rating of 7.6 for his efforts – the highest rating of any Wednesday player in the 3-1 loss.

And, speaking after the game, Green took the opportunity to commit his future to the club, suggesting that, even if Wednesday do drop down to League One at the end of the season, he is looking forward to his future at Hillsborough.

He said: “I’ve still got another year after here, I’ve come here to play football. Obviously, when I left Villa I was a free agent for a bit due to the circumstances of what’s going on. So yeah, I’ve missed so much football this season and I just want to play football and my main thought is to be here.

“I want to be here wherever we are, wherever it’s League One, if it’s here [the Championship]. If I can get a good season under my belt with the year I’ve got left, then I can only be happy with myself. So, yeah I’m not looking to get away. I’m committed to staying here.”

The comments of the 22-year-old are likely to come as a huge boost to Moore and his side, as Green’s performance on Saturday highlighted just how important he can be in helping to turn Wednesday’s fortunes around next season.

If the winger can stay fit, as well as maintaining his level of performance against Middlesbrough for an extended period of time, it is not difficult to imagine the former Villa player thriving within the lower standards of League One football, as well as becoming a key player in Wednesday’s fight for promotion back to the Championship.

And, with the winger’s former manager at Villa, Roberto Di Matteo, previously stating that Green has an “exciting future ahead of him” in football, perhaps Wednesday could finally be the club where the 22-year-old realises this promise.

In other news: Forget Borner: Shocking Sheff Weds star who lost possession 30x badly let Moore down – opinion

Liverpool have withdrawn their interest in Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard, with a recent report revealing the striker’s phone call with Jurgen Klopp.

According to Anfield Central, a deal for Edouard this summer depended on current Reds forward Divock Origi moving in the other direction.

However, the Belgian isn’t thought to be keen on a move to Celtic Park over the coming months.

The report also adds that Edouard feels he wouldn’t recieve enough game time at Anfield and wasn’t sold on a move to Merseyside after talking to Klopp.

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Transfer Tavern take

To us, this is a double transfer blow for the Hoops. Not only will they not be receiving Origi as part of a possible swap deal, but it’s also now one less side interested in Edouard.

That could be crucial over the coming months, especially with Edouard entering the final 12 months of his Celtic deal in the summer.

It feels quite inevitable that a player of his quality and potential will eventually depart, so Celtic could do with as many clubs as possible making a move for the Frenchman, which could result in the Hoops receiving a healthy sum thanks to a bidding war.

However, should just one or two sides launch a bid for Edouard, the forward may depart for a fee around £8-10m – a figure the player’s representative feel he could leave for. That would be a huge disappointment and a disservice to the work the Hoops have done in developing Edouard from prospect into star performer.

In other news: Alan Nixon provides Eddie Howe update, find out more here. 

Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that Crystal Palace need to find the right balance in their squad.

The Eagles have 14 players that are 30 or older in their current squad, and with 15 of their first-team setup out of contract at the end of the season, it promises to be a crucial summer at Selhurst Park in terms of the playing staff, and the manager Roy Hodgson whose deal is also due to expire.

In contrast, Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze, who are 21 and 22 respectively, are the only regulars under the age of 25.

But whilst Bent believes that Palace could freshen up their squad, he recognises the importance of experience.

Despite their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, Fulham’s loss by the same scoreline at Chelsea has all but guaranteed the Eagles a ninth consecutive season in the Premier League.

Palace will be hoping to put an end to a run of three successive defeats and get over the 40-point mark when they face already-relegated Sheffield United at Bramall Lane next weekend.

Bent told Football FanCast:

“The trouble is, you’ve got the experienced pros in there, who are keeping you in the Premier League. If you start tweaking stuff, sometimes it can go wrong, so I’m not sure you want to change the whole team.

“But with several players coming to the end of their contracts, whether they stay or go, they’re not going to get money for them.

“But you need experience, Cahill, that pro to direct you in the right way on and off the pitch. So I can’t see massive changes on the pitch.”

Xisco Munoz’s Watford could miss out on signing Ivan Toney this summer, but the club must try to do all they can to get him.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Athletic, who claimed that both Leicester City and Everton are preparing a bid for the Brentford hitman, adding that the Hornets may now be unable to compete with those clubs to secure a deal for the striker they attempted to sign last summer.

When asked whether he believes Toney will be playing the Premier League next season, with or without Brentford, Thomas Frank remarked that if the player was to leave, it would be an expensive move for whichever club purchased him.

Giaretta must move

Since joining Brentford in a £5.04m deal from Peterborough United last summer, Toney has proven to be a revelation for the west Londoners, with the 25-year-old scoring a remarkable 30 goals, as well as providing 10 assists, over his 44 Championship appearances for the club.

This goalscoring form is a stark contrast of anything Watford’s forwards have managed this season – other than Ismaila Sarr’s 13 Championship goals, no Hornets player has scored more than 10 in the league despite gaining automatic promotion, with Joao Pedro scoring nine, Troy Deeney seven and Andre Gray four.

As such, following Watford’s elevation to the Premier League, it would seem as if the centre-forward position is in need of improvement over the course of the summer; and Frank’s “special” £21,000-per-week Brentford striker would appear to be an excellent candidate to add greater firepower to Xisco’s attacking arsenal.

Despite reports suggesting that Watford could be priced out of a move, it would be highly advisable for Cristiano Giaretta to release the funds and spend a large chunk of the club’s Premier League promotion cash in a bid to bring the striker – who Frank recently likened to Harry Kane – to Vicarage Road this summer, as Toney’s goals could well prove the difference between survival and relegation from the top flight next season.

If he can fire home the goals to keep them up, he’ll be worth every penny.

In other news: Watford have a “huge chance” of signing £91k-p/w ace, Giaretta must reject it – opinion