All posts by h716a5.icu

Rangers will be looking to put their Champions League exit behind them tonight when they take on Dunfermline Athletic at Ibrox in the Scottish League Cup, although Steven Gerrard’s side will have to cope without new signing Fashion Sakala.

Gerrard confirmed in his pre-match conference that the 24-year-old had picked up a minor groin injury which will rule him out of the game against the Championship side, which is a blow to Rangers’ hopes of progressing to the next round.

The Zambian striker impressed with his performances in pre-season, scoring the equalising goal in the memorable win against Real Madrid, which led Gerrard to sing his praises as he said: “He’s come in with an incredible attitude. He’s been an absolute role model to everyone.

“He’s come here with energy, he’s been bright, wanting to learn and pick up every bit of information. He’s smiling, he’s enjoying it and he’s grateful to be here.

“He’s been an absolute pleasure to work with, but there’s loads more to come. You can see he’s exciting.”

Is losing Sakala a blow?

Sakala struggled to impress against Livingston on the opening day when starting up front, before missing the defeat against Dundee United through injury and returning briefly against Malmo in midweek.

While they are minor injuries, Rangers fans could well be concerned that he has already missed two different games through separate problems so early in the season and will be hoping that he doesn’t prove to be injury-prone throughout his debut season with the club.

Following the Champions League exit, Rangers may well be forced to cash in on the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent, which suggests that Sakala could have an important part to play as a regular starter in Gerrard’s side.

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Friday’s match against weaker opposition could have been the ideal time for Sakala to get his first competitive goal for the club and build his confidence, so it is undoubtedly a blow for both Rangers and the 24-year-old that he isn’t fit enough to feature tonight.

In other news… Wilson could sign Rangers’ next Ryan Kent with swoop for “top player”

Ricky Ponting will have his right wrist reassessed in Melbourne on Thursday after it caused him some discomfort during the Test series against New Zealand

Cricinfo staff02-Dec-2008
Ricky Ponting’s right wrist will be examined in Melbourne on Thursday © AFP
Ricky Ponting will have his right wrist reassessed in Melbourne on Thursday after it caused him some discomfort during the Test series against New Zealand. Ponting is not in doubt for the upcoming matches against South Africa, although a leading sports doctor said the injury could eventually shorten Ponting’s career.The claim has been rejected by Alex Kountouris, the Australia team physiotherapist. “He’s got a little bit of pain in his wrist, no more than what other players carry in other parts of their bodies,” Kountouris told AAP. “He’s really not having anything of significance that he has to miss any games. It would be ridiculous for him to miss any games or any training at this point in time.”Dr Peter Larkins said in an ideal world Ponting would have taken eight to ten weeks off to recover fully but it was likely he would be able to play on with cortisone injections. The latest niggle was believed to be caused by a stabilising screw that was put in the wrist this year.”In theory it could have an effect on his longevity because of performance being affected, in terms of grip strength, mainly for his batting,” Larkins told the . “If he is in pain and distracted by that, and it’s compromising his performances from a batsman’s point of view, his form might drop away.”The wrist has been a worry for Ponting since July, when he went home early from the West Indies tour to have surgery that repaired tissues that held a tendon in place. He missed Australia’s ODI series in Darwin eight weeks later and had regular treatment during his time in India.

Speaking to ‘Waiting for Calciomercato’, via Inter-News.it, journalist Alfredo Pedulla has made a Tottenham Hotspur transfer claim involving Argentina star Lautaro Martinez.

The Lowdown: Martinez saga…

The Times first broke news of Spurs’ move nearly two weeks ago, lifting the lid on a fee which could have reached more than £60 million for the Inter Milan forward.

However, after the Serie A champions sold Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea, the move was instantly called off with Martinez then looking set to stay (Fabrizio Romano).

His agent even confirmed the player is ‘ready to stay’ with contract talks about to be opened, but that hasn’t stopped some reports flooding in as Pedulla brings the latest twist to this saga.

The Latest: Pedulla drops Martinez claim…

Speaking to ‘Waiting for Calciomercato’ (via Inter-News.it), the Sport Italia reporter has made a transfer claim involving Spurs as he indicates they have not quite given up yet.

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He claims that the Lilywhites have tried again for Martinez ‘in the last few days’ and Tottenham are trying to get into a ‘hypothetical dispute’ between the player and his representatives.

“Tottenham also made concrete attempts before the transfer of Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea,” Pedulla explains.

“Once the Belgian sold, the Nerazzurri removed Lautaro Martinez from the market, to the satisfaction of the player who never put his foot down. Will have the increase to 6 plus bonuses, that’s up to you.

“Atletico Madrid and Tottenham have also tried in the last few days, trying to get into some hypothetical dispute between Inter and the player’s entourage. But the situation is serene and Lautaro Martinez is happy. The contract is now an obligatory step.”

The Verdict: Interesting news…

While this update doesn’t edge Spurs any closer to signing the star striker, with Martinez still staying as it stands, this could still indicate managing director Fabio Paratici’s determination to strengthen Nuno Espirito Santo’s options going forward.

The 23-year-old bagged 19 goals and 11 assists across all competitions for Inter last season and would be a stellar addition to Spurs’ attack.

He has also been called ‘phenomenal’ by Serie A journalist Nima Tavallaey Roodsari for his movement, explosiveness, timing and technical ability (The Arsenal Review).

It remains to be seen who Spurs turn to as an alternative to Martinez, but however unlikely they are to sign him, at least Paratici hasn’t quite given up hope judging by this update.

In other news: Offer incoming: Levy readying Spurs bid to sign ‘amazing’ player who Nuno personally wants, find out more here.

Cricinfo has learned that the reconstruction of Zimbabwe’s Academy, which was burned down in an arson attack in late 2006, has stalled since work was suspended by the board in April

Cricinfo staff11-Dec-2008
A victim of Zimbabwe’s shredded economy: the shell of the Cricket Academy where work was suspended in April, pictured this week © Cricinfo
Cricinfo has learned that the reconstruction of Zimbabwe’s Academy, which was burned down in an arson attack in late 2006, has stalled since work was suspended by the board in April.In February, reacting to a Cricinfo report that little had been done since the fire, a Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman said: “The tender for the building was awarded at the end of last year and construction work is underway now. The contractors are doing the brick work. Subject to weather and the availability of materials, we expect the construction to be through by the end of April.”Lovemore Banda, ZC’s media manager, told Cricinfo that work had been halted as a consequence of the country’s dire economy. “We started the building operations with the hope that the economic situation would improve,” he said. “We had expected, all things being equal, to have the reconstruction of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy completed by April. However, that has not been possible, because of the hyper inflationary state of our economy.”Faced with critical shortages of crucial building resources and the ever-spiralling costs of those available, ZC was left with no option but to ask the contractor to leave the site until such a time as the material supply situation is stable. We decided to put the project on hold and watch the economic trend in the country and then resume once the financial climate is conducive.”Banda scotched suggestions that work had been halted because of ZC’s own financial situation. “Of course, it cannot be denied that ZC is struggling financially. We are not immune to the harsh economic situation in the country. The most important point though is that we will not sink.”The Academy is little more than a shell, with the second story hardly started. However, the nets and pitch itself remain in use and appeared this week to be in a good condition.Local sources also paint a gloomy picture about the state of grounds around Zimbabwe, with many reported to be overgrown, as reported by Cricinfo earlier this year, and even some of those which were in use then have fallen into disrepair in recent months. The rampant inflation and shortage of basics such as fuel, machine parts and fertilisers means that ZC is increasingly powerless to intervene.Chronic and well-publicised water shortages are only likely to exacerbate the situation. A few venues, such as Harare Sports Club and Queens Sports Club, have their own boreholes and so can continue functioning for the time being, but the general situation continues to deteriorate.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar worked against his luck, his captain, and the fielders to help Uttar Pradesh end a see-saw first day of the Ranji Trophy final on even terms

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga12-Jan-2009Mumbai 297 for 6 (Rohit 113*, Nayar 99, Bhuvneshwar 5-64) v Uttar Pradesh
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Rohit Sharma was streaky, but Mumbai will take it © Cricinfo Ltd
Bhuvneshwar Kumar worked against his luck, his captain, and the fielders to help Uttar Pradesh end a see-saw first day of the Ranji Trophy final on even terms. In the morning session he stole the thunder from much more illustrious names and in-form players. And after Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nayar had added an extremely streaky 207, he took two wickets in two balls with the second new ball. He also consigned Sachin Tendulkar to his first first-class duck in Indian domestic cricket.After Mumbai had been reduced to 55 for 4, Rohit Sharma lived a charmed life: he looked like getting out almost every over to begin with, but also hit charming boundaries in between to rub it in for Mohammad Kaif, who dropped him twice. Kaif’s field placings confounded too: he saw, from a wide slip position, two edges go to where the regulation first slip would be.Rohit and Nayar rode their luck – and they had more than a fair share of it – to stall UP’s charge. By no means will Rohit consider his fourth first-class century as the most aesthetically pleasing one, but at the end of the day the scoreboard showed he was unbeaten on 113 in a big match. Nayar was his usual combative self, and reined in his natural aggressive instinct to hang around for long enough.The final began with the question of how UP would counter Tendulkar. But in the first session, Mumbai were asking themselves how to tackle the seam movement UP bowlers were getting with the new ball. After winning the toss on a greenish pitch, Kaif went straight to his strength – the pace bowlers. Early breakthroughs were seen as the only way UP could threaten a solid Mumbai team, who have looked unbeatable all season. The Kumars, Praveen and Bhuvneshwar, gave UP just that kind of start. They got the ball to move both ways and did not give the batsmen any free deliveries to leave. It was a bold move to give Bhuvneshwar the new ball ahead of RP Singh, but it worked wonderfully.Bhuvneshwar provided UP the first breakthrough, bowling a series of outswingers before getting one to nip in to trap Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Samant fell to a similar delivery. It was a major boost for UP to bring Tendulkar out in the first session of the game, but before Tendulkar, Mumbai lost Ajinkya Rahane, who got a shocker from the umpire – the delivery from RP pitched outside leg.Losing Jaffer and Rahane was a massive blow, but the big shock was yet to come. Tendulkar had been solid in leaving balls outside off, but in the 10th over of Bhuvneshwar’s first spell, one cut back in, took the inside-edge onto the pad, and Shivakant Shukla ran in and dived from short midwicket to stun Mumbai.And then the cat-like partnership between Rohit and Nayar started – in that they had nine lives many times over. Rohit played streaky shots regularly, struggling against short-pitch bowling at around 125ks, and the two ran scratchily as well. There were two clear chances at slip and one direct-hit run-out opportunity in the first half of his innings. Rohit was 16 when he slashed hard at Praveen, and Kaif couldn’t hold on to a tough chance at first slip. The second catch, in the afternoon session, off RP was a sitter. Rohit was 39 then. Apart from these opportunities, there were many instances of edges falling short of slip, and going between the wicketkeeper and slip, including one regulation edge off Bhuvneshwar ten minutes before tea. An action replay occurred about ten minutes after the break.Nayar was troubled by Piyush Chawla. In his first over, Chawla should have had Nayar lbw, but was denied by the umpire. The ball had pitched within the stumps, straightened, and hit Nayar calf-high in front of middle stump. When Nayar tried to hit himself out of the shackles, he managed to clear mid-on by inches.Upon reaching their fifties, the two batsmen loosened their arms a bit. Rohit especially stood on the accelerator. He had reached his half-century in 120 deliveries, but his next 38 runs came off 39 deliveries. Despite all the ungainly shots, Rohit also played gorgeous drives, leaving watchers wondering why a batsman as talented as him had to go for ugly slog-sweeps, heaves and aerial cut shots. None was better than when he just met an RP delivery and the ball flew straight down and along the ground.A nervous period followed, during which Rohit scored six runs in 25 deliveries. Another onslaught upon reaching the century looked imminent, but Bhuvneshwar had a last trick left in his bag. The first ball he bowled with the new ball was a perfect outswinger: pitching around middle and leg, moving in to Nayar, and beating him. Sairaj Bahutule who spent close to two sessions with his pads on lasted only one ball, as he edged an away-going delivery. Ajit Agarkar survived the hat-trick, and added 35 with Rohit to ensure there was no further damage.On paper 297 for 6 reads like a good effort, but UP will know they could have been in a much better position. They ended the day with another missed run-out opportunity when both Rohit and Agarkar were headed towards the same end, Parvinder Singh dived in front of RP, and both missed the ball.Kaif will be wondering if he has dropped the Ranji Trophy – twice – and the memories of last year’s final would have come back. Then they had Delhi down at 36 for 4, before a big fifth-wicket partnership had undone them.

Nottingham Forest have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of their upcoming Carabao Cup clash.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Nottinghamshire Live, Chris Hughton revealed that summer signing Jordi Osei-Tutu will miss Tuesday evening’s EFL Cup fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers due to a hamstring injury, which the right-back picked up in the 2-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers last week.

Speaking about the current state of his Forest side, the 62-year-old manager said: “All of those who were not available are still not available – the two Joes, Worrall and Lolley, Loic Mbe Soh, Nuno Da Costa and Jordi Osei-Tutu.”

Hughton then touched upon the Arsenal loanee’s injury, revealing: “Jordi will be out for several weeks, that we do know. It’s a big blow for us. But our thoughts at the moment are about doing everything we can for him, getting him back in the best shape that we can.”

Big blow

While the continued absences of Worrall, Lolley, Mbe Soh and Da Costa will undoubtedly come as a blow to Hughton, the fact that Osei-Tutu now looks set for a long spell on the sidelines is sure to be the most gutting news for Hughton.

Indeed, with the £1.08m-rated defender having only joined Forest at the beginning of the month, with his signing made in order to provide Hughton with greater depth at full-back, the 22-year-old’s injury once again leaves the Reds manager extremely short of options in the position.

As such, it would seem likely that both Gaetan Bong – who was informed he was free to leave the club earlier this summer – and Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel – who has been heavily linked with a move away from the City Ground – will start against Wolves on Tuesday – with Hughton undoubtedly hoping his side can at least put in an impressive performance against the Premier League, side in a bid to kickstart the Garibaldi’s so far disastrous Championship campaign.

In other news: Forest dealt major transfer blow over “brilliant” £20k-p/w ace, Hughton will be gutted

Stuart Broad has opted out of participating in the second season of the IPL in order to concentrate on his fledgling international career

Cricinfo staff28-Jan-2009
Stuart Broad has decided to opt out of the IPL © Getty Images
Stuart Broad has opted out of participating in the second season of the IPL in order to concentrate on his fledgling international career. Although 13 England players will be entered into the February 6 auction, Broad has decided to rest up ahead of a summer which includes the Ashes and the second ICC World Twenty20.Broad is the second big-ticket player to opt out of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament after Australia’s Mitchell Johnson. Johnson had also opted for rest after taking on a gruelling workload during the home series against South Africa recently.”Fair play to him [Broad] for having the courage to stand up when everyone else is heading in the other direction,” Mick Newell, Broad’s head coach at Nottinghamshire, told the . “There is no desperate need for him to rush into it and he wants to take care of himself. Having a good summer and Ashes with England are his priority.”Broad, 22, is the highest-ranked English one-day bowler in the world, sitting at eighth in the ICC’s list. His useful batting also makes him a handy commodity in Twenty20 cricket.Managing director of England Cricket, Hugh Morris said: “Stuart has done terrifically well since he got into the England set-up. He is still gaining experience at this level, he feels as though it is important at this particular stage that he may need a rest and that is absolutely respected by us. It has been very much down to a player’s decision.”

An update has emerged on Leicester City transfer target David Neres, regarding his future at Ajax.

What’s the talk?

Ajax chief Marc Overmars has admitted that Leicester City target Neres has a strong chance of leaving the Dutch club before the end of the transfer window.

The Foxes are reportedly interested in signing the Brazilian forward and Overmars has issued an interesting statement on his future. He told ESPN, via Leicester Mercury: 

“The chance that Neres will stay here is small.”

Excitement

These comments from Overmars are sure to leave Leicester fans excited as they leave the door wide open for a deal to be done in the next 36 hours or so.

Brendan Rodgers’ squad lacks depth in the wide areas and the arrival of Neres could provide serious competition at the top end of the pitch. Marc Albrighton, Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez are the club’s natural wide players, although James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Patson Daka could be deployed there if required.

Albrighton, despite scoring against Norwich at the weekend, has not been able to consistently deliver goals and assists in recent seasons. The versatile veteran managed one goal in 31 Premier League appearances (17 starts) last season for the Foxes, having failed to score in 20 games in the previous campaign.

The arrival of Neres, if Leicester are now able to get a deal over the line, could allow Albrighton to take a backseat and be used as a dependable backup option. £24.3m-rated Neres, meanwhile, provided six goals and six assists for Ajax in all competitions last season.

This was after 10 goals and 10 assists in the 2019/20 campaign and 17 goals and 12 assists the year before that for the Dutch giants. Therefore, he has the potential to come in and provide an attacking threat from out wide with goals and assists.

At the age of 24, Neres is also a player with potential who could grow alongside Leicester as a club. Rodgers could take him in and coach him into becoming a top-class winger, which fans could enjoy seeing in the Premier League – alongside the other young players at the club like Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Wilfred Ndidi.

Supporters could be excited about Neres’ potential, along with the statistics he has already produced for Ajax. This is why the comments from Overmars will be music to their ears ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline, but it is now down to Rodgers and co to get a deal over the line.

Aston Villa right-back Frederic Guilbert sealed a loan move to Ligue 1 side Strasbourg on deadline day.

And a number of Villa fans were quick to hit out at the transfer on social media.

Guilbert, who spent the second half of the 2020/21 campaign with Strasbourg, has re-joined, this time on a season-long loan.

The 26-year-old scored and provided an assist in his only Villa appearance this season but has now returned to his native country.

Villa’s decision to allow Guilbert to depart late in the window leaves Dean Smith with just one natural right-back option in Matty Cash.

Summer signings Ashley Young and Axel Tuanzebe will be able to cover in that area if required, with Ezri Konsa also having experience of playing as a right-back.

Villa fans react

Villa confirmed Guilbert’s Strasbourg switch on their official Twitter page. This is what these Villa supporters had to say in reply, with one describing it as ‘stupid’.

“one right back for the rest of the season, are you mad?”

Credit: @AVFC_Jano

“pain”

Credit: @rebeccadmcnamee

“So we have one natural right back? Stupid decision seeing as we are not replacing!”

Credit: @villayamyam

“Not happy with this. Good luck freddie”

Credit: @steve_2387

“This is bad business IMO”

Credit: @TheTomNash

“Am I the only one who just don’t get it.”

Credit: @designs_HR

In other news: ‘Big mistake’ – Lots of AVFC fans react to another late exit.

Daniel Vettori was disappointed Brad Haddin did not make an effort to prevent Neil Broom from leaving the field in Perth

Cricinfo staff02-Feb-2009
Brad Haddin’s glovework is under the microscope following the opening match of the Chappell-Hadlee Series © Getty Images
Daniel Vettori was disappointed Brad Haddin did not make an effort to prevent Neil Broom from leaving the field after the wicketkeeper dislodged the bails in a bowled dismissal in Perth. New Zealand went on to win the game on the last ball, but Broom’s exit came at a critical time, ending his 42-run partnership with Ross Taylor.Haddin’s gloves were in front of the stumps and knocked off the bails, with Michael Clarke’s delivery also appearing to head over the stumps. Neither umpire noticed Haddin’s movement, which should have led to a no-ball, but it was clear on the replay.”I think you saw from Haddin’s reaction that he knew something was wrong so he probably should have made more noise about it,” Vettori told NZPA after the win. “It is [disappointing] because I thought that was the partnership that was going to win the game, so it put us under a bit more pressure. We’ve just got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”Haddin called Vettori’s response “poor” and “low”, but maintained the ball hit the stumps before his gloves. “I’m pretty disappointed in Dan that he didn’t have the decency to come and speak to me after the game if he had an issue with it rather than air his thoughts in a press conference,” Haddin told AAP. “I think the polite or the decent thing to do would be to come and ask me. He’s played a lot of cricket now and he knows too well what happens with these situations, so I thought it was a bit low. I think it’s quite poor.”He said he was unaware at the time that his hands were ahead of the wickets. “After looking at the replay, my hands were in front of the stumps,” he said. “But the ball, I’m 100% positive, hit the bails first and then came up into my gloves.” Under the Laws, a no-ball should be called if the wicketkeeper does not stay behind the stumps until the ball touches the batsman, passes the stumps, or a run is attempted.Ponting spoke before he had seen a replay but challenged Vettori to be sure of his Haddin criticism. “It’s a bit much, he’s basically claiming [Haddin’s] a cheat, isn’t he? That’s a bit strong unless they’re 100% certain.”We’ll wait and see. If [a replay] does show anything that Brad is in the clear, I’ll certainly be letting Daniel know about it. It’s probably worth Haddin having a chat to him as well. He’s basically had a bit of a crack at Haddin’s make-up.”Haddin told Ponting the ball had hit the top of off stump. “The umpire gave it out and the batsman walked off, and the next I heard of it was when I was asked about it at the end of play,” Ponting said. “[Haddin] obviously didn’t know, because if he knew then he wouldn’t have claimed it. Whatever we’re saying about Brad Haddin here, you can’t say that knowingly happened, that is for sure.”Ponting’s night grew worse when he was fined 20% of his match fee after being two overs behind the required rate. The rest of the team received 10% punishments. Australia get the chance to hit back in the second match of the Chappell-Hadlee Series in Melbourne on Friday.