All posts by h716a5.icu

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Rangers’ season has withered away in the last few weeks, and club legend Kris Boyd has absolutely crucified the performances of Borna Barisic.

Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox last week, and the chances of silverware this campaign are looking very thin indeed.

A major meltdown would now be needed from Celtic for the Gers to overtake their arch-rivals.

While plenty of players have let themselves down since the turn of the year, Boyd has picked on Barisic in particular, who joined the club on a four-year deal last summer.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

What has he said?

In his column for The Scottish Sun, Boyd said: “I also look at the left-back, Borna Barisic, and see a player who doesn’t want to be at Rangers.

“Every time I see him he just goes through the motions and I don’t get it. Whenever the going gets tough he seems to be injured.

“The best left-back in the building is Lee Wallace and yet he can’t even get into any of the squads with midfielder Halliday the second choice.

“That whole episode just stinks.”

What’s the verdict?

With all due respect to Boyd, he couldn’t be farther from the truth on this one.

Barisic has not had a great first season in Glasgow, but he is an experienced Croatian international with a wonderful left-foot.

While he may not be perfect, he is not worse than Lee Wallace or Andy Halliday, who are quite simply not the standard required to challenge for titles and European campaigns.

Boyd’s criticism of director of football Mark Allen was completely fair, but to lash out at one player when 90 per cent of the squad is in poor form is absolutely ridiculous.

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Coventry supporters war with owners SISU has been ongoing for a while now with the latest takeover bid rejected prompting more frustration from some fans.

A statement issued which was shared on Twitter has been the centre of supporter response with many angered at what was said in it.

Lots took issue with a segment claiming the club’s owners didn’t want things to distract on-pitch performances, something they feel SISU has been doing themselves throughout their time with the Sky Blues.

This comes days after they unveiled plans to find a new home if they were forced out of the Ricoh. Lots of supporters seem to be incensed that this is a distraction in itself, calling their owners slimy and that the statement was rich.

Other individuals were frustrated with the statement calling the bid for the club low, expressing that for a team who could be left homeless it was good value.

However, one Sky Blue urged people to get a grip claiming that SISU were in things for the long haul.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

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Manchester City 3-2 QPR. Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal. Crystal Palace 3-3 Liverpool. All incredible games, all involving teams that looked dead and buried before they pulled off stunning comebacks.

So what is the greatest Premier League turnaround of all time? According to Paul Merson, it’s Everton’s 2-0 win over Chelsea before the international break.

Making his predictions for this week’s clash at the London Stadium, Merson told Sky Sports when reflecting on the last outing at Goodison Park…

“I’ve never seen a turnaround like it in the Premier League. You see them on a Sunday morning when then wind is gale force and a team plays downhill, but not in the top-flight.”

Compelling stuff from Sky Sports’ resident butcher of any name with a hint of exoticism, as if he’s been secretly running Brexit’s native advertising campaign for the last decade.

In fairness, Everton were a completely different side in the second half against Chelsea, the statistics tell us as much. 3 shots in the first half compared to 12 in the second, 0 corners compared to four, and of course no goals compared to two.

What’s more, the shift in momentum after an incredibly dire opening 45 minutes was pretty much instant; Richarlison reacted quickest after Dominic Calvert-Lewin connected with a corner to put Everton ahead four minutes on from the interval. Whatever Marco Silva said at half-time clearly worked.

But just consider the strength of that claim – “I’ve never seen a turnaround like it in the Premier League.”

This is a man who has been paid to watch the Premier League every week for years, whose own club were on the receiving end of arguably the Premier League’s greatest ever comeback at the hands of Newcastle, when the Magpies scored four goals in the final 22 minutes to pull off a draw back in 2011.

Does Merson actually think Everton’s turnaround against Chelsea was more impressive, more unprecedented, more special? It’s either hyperbole for the sake of a predictions column, or genuine stupidity.

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Through his website FiveThirtyEight, leading sports data analyst Nate Silver has backed Dean Smith’s Aston Villa to clinch a place in the Sky Bet Championship play-off places.

What’s he predicted, then?

On a page predicting the outcome of the whole Championship table, Silver’s website has placed Villa in fifth with 71 points, 10 adrift of West Bromwich Albion above but safely in the play-offs.

They are above Bristol City in sixth and Middlesbrough in seventh on goal difference, while Sheffield United miss out on automatic promotion by finishing third below Leeds United, with Norwich City holding on for the title.

After a few teething problems, Smith has hauled the Midlanders back into the promotion running since taking over from Steve Bruce and the club are currently in that fifth place after 11 victories in 27 to begin the reign of the boyhood Villan.

All that data now makes sense

With the form Villa are currently in, it’s hard to argue with Silver on the prediction he’s made – all the data available has been used to create it, after all.

Villa have won five of their last six in the league, pulling themselves up into the play-off places and not just sixth either – into fifth, so it’s in their hands.

Unlike Bruce, Smith is showing all the signs that he’s got what it takes to deliver a second play-off finish in a row and who would back against him at this stage?

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he often received racist abuse after North London Derbies – Check out the video below…

Fans will only be hoping that their team can advance further than last year and finally return to the Premier League.

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With Leicester City chasing a seventh-place finish and Newcastle United still not safe from the drop, Friday’s clash under the floodlights at the King Power Stadium is a relatively big one.

Brendan Rodgers’ men will be in confident mood following four successive Premier League wins, but the same can’t be said for the visitors who have lost two on the bounce and lie just seven points from Cardiff City in the final remaining relegation spot.

A miserable 2-0 defeat in their previous match on the road against Arsenal was hardly a good sign for them when it comes to picking up points on the road, and they need to perform much better against their in-form opponents.

The appointment of Chris Kavanagh as referee isn’t good news for them considering their record when the 34-year-old has been in charge of their matches this season, although Leicester find themselves in a similar boat.

The official has been the man in the middle for three Foxes fixtures, as per WhoScored, with them losing two and drawing one.

Those two defeats came away against Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers on miserable days for former boss Claude Puel, and obviously fans of the east Midlands outfit will hope that their fortunes have changed under Rodgers.

Newcastle actually have exactly the same record under Kavanagh as Leicester, although all of those have come when Rafa Benitez’s men have been on their travels.

Reverses against Chelsea and West Ham United were accompanied by a goalless draw at Southampton.

That means in six attempts the 34-year-old official is yet to oversee a win for either side, and if history is to repeat itself a draw may well be the most likely result on Friday.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

Of course it could also mean that something finally gives with both teams in need of the points at this stage of the season.

One thing is for sure, neither club will have been happy when they saw Kavanagh’s name next to the fixture on Tuesday.

Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final proved, once again, that Kyle Walker can’t be trusted in big games. Indeed, Manchester City need to find a replacement for him if they’re to claim as many trophies as they’re capable of in the next few years.

It’s simple, the 28-year-old is a liability in City’s back four. In possession, the one weakness is always him. He gives the ball away far too much under pressure for a Pep Guardiola player, but it’s even worse how he has moments of madness that nobody quite understands.

Whether that be leaving the ball for Claudio Bravo, then watching Will Grigg kick City out of the FA Cup last year, or the poor excuse of a headbutt against Brighton, he has these moments that only he’s capable of in this otherwise calm Blues side.

It’s not good enough.

Yes, he’s probably as fast an Olympic sprinter, sprays the ball to the opposite fullback quite well, and wins most of his defensive duels, but there’s just something about him that’s not right in the head. He seems like the stereotypical footballer – all brawn, no brains.

On most occasions, he’s a solid full-back with the energy to cover the distance Guardiola demands, but considering he’s City’s best right-back, losing his head in big games isn’t acceptable. The club, once again, find themselves needing new full-backs on both sides.

Walker shouldn’t be written off, of course. He’s still a top player, but in the summer, they need another full-back to take over when brains are required and nerves have to be held.

City fans, what did you think of the headbutt incident at the weekend? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has given his latest round of Premier League predictions and failed to recognise a key trend in a wide-of-the-mark statement on the Crystal Palace vs Manchester City match.

What’s he said, then?

Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens make the tricky trip to Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon in dodgy form, coming off of Champions League disappointment at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday evening.

Before that, they could only just edge past Brighton & Hove Albion in the Emirates FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley last weekend.

Whereas, Roy Hodgson’s Eagles are high on confidence following an impressive away three points at Newcastle United the last time they took to the field.

Predicting a 2-1 triumph for Blue Moon, Merson commented the following on the intriguing encounter:

“I think Man City win because Palace haven’t been great – especially at home. But it’s down to pressure, now. They could be 1-0 up and cruising, with five minutes to play. And then from a set play it could be 1-1 and that could be it.

“It’s getting to that stage. They lacked a bit of cutting edge against Brighton and again in midweek in the Champions League. I don’t know if that’s them hitting a brick wall.

“I think they’ll have just about enough here but it’ll be a tense game.”

Sorry Paul – this one’s off target

Talking about the match, the Arsenal legend hasn’t picked up on an important pattern that’s developed in meetings of these teams recently.

Merson didn’t mention the fact that the Cityzens have really struggled in these sides’ last two meetings, in a way they haven’t against any other lower opposition.

There’s good news for fans of City, Liverpool, Spurs and United in the video below…

Last season, Guardiola’s men’s 100 per cent record came to an end at Selhurst and just before Christmas, they were stunned by the South Londoners 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.

Combine these facts with City’s lackadaisical form and we get the recipe for Palace getting a result, in contrary to Merson’s prediction.

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Tommy Elphick was back on the Aston Villa bench for the team’s 1-0 win over Millwall in the Championship on Monday afternoon.

The centre-back has not actually turned out for Dean Smith’s side since picking up an ankle injury against Derby County at the start of March.

However, he was back on the bench against Millwall.

Ivory Coast forward Jonathan Kodjia scored the only goal of the match against the London side as Villa made it 10 straight wins in the second tier of English football.

If Villa are promoted to the Premier League this season then Elphick will not go down as one of the team’s key players throughout the campaign.

However, it seems that the club’s supporters recognise the contribution of the 31-year-old, who has made 29 Championship appearances this season and was absolutely vital whilst others around him were injured.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Villa supporters can be seen below:

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Croatian central defender Domagoj Vida is attracting the interest of Wolves according to Turkish media outlet Sporx. His potential arrival, however, could upset a member of Nuno Santo’s backline.

What’s the word?

Vida was one of the stars of the World Cup in Russia last summer as Croatia reached the final, eventually being defeated by France.

The centre half was a rock alongside Dejan Lovren and although on paper it didn’t look like the best pairing, they were surprisingly impressive. Vida has now gone on to amass 71 caps for his country so his experience at the top level is significant.

This isn’t the first time Wolves have shown an interest, though. Back in August 2018, Sabah claimed he was an €18m (£15.56m) target for the club.

He’s now been attracting the eyes of Nuno Santo’s team again with Sporx reporting the news that the Midlands club could be about to swoop for the player almost a year on from when their interest first originated.

Bennett in danger?

Wolves have been a breath of fresh air to the Premier League this season and Nuno’s three-man defence, contributing predominantly of Willy Boly, Conor Coady and Ryan Bennett have worked to fantastic effect.

However, in recent months, Bennett, in particular, has been slightly inconsistent and has been rotated with Romain Saiss on a regular basis.

It’s clear that Wolves could do with greater depth in defence and with the experience Vida possesses, he has the potential to add an extra layer of solidity to their defensive setup.

However, at the age of 29 and with a €15m(£12.95m) price tag being quoted by Sporx, it would be somewhat of a risk.

The player is currently playing for Besiktas in Turkey but has only ever made one appearance in one of Europe’s top five leagues before. That came during a spell with Bayer Leverkusen.

If the club were to splash the cash on the centre-back then Bennett would be the most likely to lose his place.

Considering Coady is club captain and Boly has been in stellar form over the course of the 2018/19 campaign, it would make it very difficult for Nuno to drop either of them.

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Southampton striker Sam Gallagher has barely had a sniff of first-team action since Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived at the club in December, but with Premier League safety now assured he should hand the 23-year-old one final chance to save his Saints career against West Ham United this weekend.

On the chalkboard

Despite the 23-year-old still having two years remaining on his contract at St Mary’s, his future with the south coast outfit is surely in doubt.

The centre-forward would have been hoping to make a big impression for the top flight outfit this term following successful loan spells with Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, but it hasn’t happened for him.

While he has suffered injury niggles here and there he has still only featured for 30 minutes in the Premier League this season, and hasn’t even been in the squad for their previous four fixtures.

Give him an opportunity

It has hardly helped that the majority of Gallagher’s game time this term has been short cameos from the substitutes’ bench, and he deserves a start and a fair amount of time on the pitch to make an impression.

From last minute penalties to being taken apart by local rivals, fans pick the moments that defined their clubs’ seasons in the video below…

The 23-year-old has found himself behind the likes of Danny Ings, Shane Long and Charlie Austin in the pecking order in recent weeks, and it is difficult to see that changing next season – especially if Hasenhuttl signs another striker.

The 51-year-old should place his faith in the Devon-born player from the start for the dead rubber fixture against the Irons at the London Stadium on Saturday, to see if he has a future at St Mary’s beyond the current campaign.

If he impresses it shows he is worth working with during pre-season, but if he doesn’t it will signal to the club that he needs to be moved on.