All posts by h716a5.icu

According to former West Ham defender Glen Johnson (as shared by football.london), if Jesse Lingard wanted to join the Hammers in the January transfer window, it would already have happened.

The Lowdown: Lingard’s transfer saga with the Hammers

Ever since Lingard’s loan move at West Ham came to an end last summer, the Manchester United midfielder has regularly been linked with a permanent transfer to David Moyes’ side.

From a Hammers perspective, it is easy to see why. During his six-month stint with the club, the 29-year-old played 16 times for the Irons and stunned the footballing world by producing nine goals and five assists in an unbelievable run.

However, life has not been as simple for the midfielder since returning to Old Trafford. Lingard has played just 88 minutes of Premier League football this season, having failed to make the Red Devils’ starting XI once.

With his contract expiring in the summer, the former England international is currently set to leave Man United on a free transfer at the end of the season, with West Ham reportedly interested in securing the player’s signature.

The Latest: Johnson makes Lingard claim

According to former Hammers full-back Glen Johnson (as relayed by football.london), though, Lingard would already be a West Ham player this month if he were truly interested in leaving Man United for good.

The 37-year-old said: “I think if Jesse Lingard really wanted the move himself then it would have happened already. If he genuinely wanted it, then it would have been done.

“He’s not playing at Manchester United. Everyone loved him at West Ham. So if the player wanted to do it, it doesn’t sound like a very difficult deal to do. You can only imagine that he’s trying to stay at Manchester United for whatever reason. I would guess that it’s Jesse that didn’t want to do it and go to anybody else.

“If you were Manchester United you would sell him. And if you were West Ham you would sign him. I think he would be in the West Ham starting XI. I don’t think it would be guaranteed. If he gets there and plays like he did previously he’d nail down a place but I do think they’ve got some good players in that position. I don’t think he would be a guaranteed starter but if he hits the form that he was in before then yes he will be.”

The Verdict: Lingard must not be keen on West Ham return

As suggested by Johnson, it seems that Lingard is not keen on a return to West Ham. Moyes’ previous attempts to lure him back to east London proved unsuccessful, with the English midfielder preferring to stay and fight for his place in the team at Old Trafford.

This is a shame for the 29-year-old’s career, as without regular game-time he will surely not be able to secure a place in the England team ahead of the World Cup later this year. Lingard has made 32 appearances for his country and still has plenty of years left to add to this tally.

With Tottenham also interested in the player, it could become even harder for Moyes to secure Lingard’s signature this month.

In other news – ‘Keeping an eye on’: Journalist drops West Ham transfer news about youngster likened to Gareth Bale

A round-up of games from the Clydesdale Bank 40

25-Jul-2010A Jim Allenby half-century and 4 for 33 from Dean Cosker helped Glamorgan towards only their second Clydesdale Bank 40 victory of the season with a three wicket success over Sussex at Swansea. The defeat is a setback to Sussex’s chances of reaching the competition semi-finals and was not the best way to warm up for Monday’s Friends Provident t20 clash against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Alex Hales returned to haunt Durham by smashing an unbeaten 96 in Nottinghamshire’s five-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 triumph at Chester-le-Street. On his last visit to the ground, 21-year-old Hales held a controversial boundary catch which turned a Twenty20 match in his side’s favour. He insisted the catch was clean and Dale Benkenstein, who was on 40, took his word for it when a six had been signalled.Ravi Bopara put his England snub behind him by hitting a superb half-century as the Essex cruised to a nine-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 victory over the Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Young opening batsman Rob Newton blasted his first half-century in senior cricket, making 66 off 78 balls, but some indifferent batting from his team-mates meant the Steelbacks could only reach 198 for 9 off their 40 overs.Veteran seamer and Hampshire captain Dominic Cork held his nerve in a last-ball finish in Canterbury to clinch a tense two-run win over Group C rivals Kent. Chasing Hampshire’s par-for-the-course 40-over total of 238 for 7 on a tricky St Lawrence pitch, Kent needed 13 off Cork’s final over of the game with six wickets still intact. Home opener Joe Denly chipped a single from the first ball to reach a 107-ball century – the first by a Kent player in this year’s competition – but it was Cork who kept his cool.Mike O’Shea hit 90 to help the Unicorns pull off a shock three-wicket victory over stunned Worcestershire in a thrilling match at Kidderminster. Needing 278 to win, they reached their target with two balls to spare. O’Shea was the hero with his best one-day score which included five sixes and seven fours off 62 balls. He put on 115 in 13.3 overs for the fourth wicket with Keith Parsons who made 47 to leave embarrassed Worcestershire still searching for their first Group A win of the season after seven attempts.Ajmal Shahzad marked his selection in the England Test squad with a four-wicket haul as Yorkshire maintained their 100% winning record with an eight-wicket win over Middlesex. The 24-year-old, selected in the 12-man Test squad to face Pakistan on Thursday, took 4 for 34 as Yorkshire coasted to a comfortable victory. Shahzad’s efforts together with a fine unbeaten innings of 86 by Jacques Rudolph means Yorkshire top Group B with five wins from as many games.A Marcus Trescothick cameo helped Somerset maintain their 100% record in this season’s Clydesdale Bank 40 with a crushing 94-run victory over Surrey to stay top of Group A after six matches. Batting first on a magnificent pitch at The Oval, the Sabres posted a massive 303 for five thanks to a whirlwind 69 off 47 balls from Trescothick and a stand of 145 in 19 overs between Zander de Bruyn and James Hildreth – a Somerset record for the fourth wicket in one-day cricket against Surrey.Warwickshire strengthened their grip at the top of the Group C table with a 25-run victory over Leicestershire, despite a brilliant unbeaten century and career-best bowling figures from James Taylor. Warwickshire opener Neil Carter laid the foundations for the Bears’ win with the third limited-overs century of his career, scoring 101 out of their challenging total of 272 for 8.

Durham made a solid start to their pursuit of 171 to beat Lancashire at Old Trafford today

12-Aug-2010
ScorecardDurham dragged themselves back into the County Championship title race with an impressive win against rivals Lancashire on the final day at Old Trafford. Chasing 171 for their fourth win of the season, the reigning champions started day four on 58 for 2, needing another 113 runs.Veteran Australian left-hander Michael Di Venuto passed 50 for their seventh time this season to help his side clinch a six-wicket win, sealed just after lunch. Di Venuto fell before the break for 63 off 123 balls but Dale Benkenstein finished with a calming, unbeaten 41 off 119 balls.Durham have now gone three points clear of Lancashire in the Division One table, both teams having five matches still to play. Phil Mustard’s side are 27 points behind leaders Nottinghamshire and Lancashire 30 points adrift, having lost their first match in 21 fixtures.Durham’s next three matches are at home to Yorkshire, away to Somerset and at home to Notts, all three teams being above them in the standings. Lancashire still have Notts to play twice and also travel to Somerset.It was pretty obvious that Glen Chapple would start the day by bowling left-arm spinners Gary Keedy and Simon Kerrigan in tandem and the visitors had added 22 runs to their overnight score when the latter bowled nightwatchman Mitch Claydon for eight in the 12th over of the morning.Keedy, who took seven wickets in the first innings, was causing problems and had a couple of lbw shouts turned down against Di Venuto. But the opener prodded and poked at balls that turned sharply out of the rough outside his off-stump to bring up 50 off 103 balls.Benkenstein had got himself going just beforehand with a punched four off Kerrigan through wide mid-on. He also did similar to Keedy in the next over, the 40th, to move Durham up to 101 for 3. Benkenstein survived a run-out chance on 16 when Steven Croft missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end.Sajid Mahmood failed to take the field for Lancashire due to a back spasm but as the hosts declined to turn to seam bowling until the game was virtually done and dusted, it was not a major loss for the hosts. Keedy then claimed his 10th wicket of the match – a feat he has now achieved six times in his career – when he had Di Venuto brilliantly caught by a diving Croft at mid-wicket to leave the score at 132 for four.Ian Blackwell (20 not out) survived a dropped catch first ball by Mark Chilton at short-leg off Keedy and the visitors needed 29 more after lunch. Paul Horton also spilled a tough chance at slip off the bat of Benkenstein on 36 with the visitors needing 10. That proved to be Lancashire’s last chance. Keedy (3for 60 from 32 overs) finished with match figures of 10 for 128.

West Ham United are not interested in a deal to bring Dominic Calvert-Lewin to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by ExWHUemployee, who revealed in a recent post on The West Ham Way that, despite recent a report suggesting that David Moyes and his Hammers transfer team are lining up an offer for the Everton centre-forward this month, the 24-year-old England international is not a target of the Irons.

In his post, the club insider said: “We can confirm that there is no truth in the story linking us with Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The manager has not identified him as a target and it isn’t believed that Everton want/need to sell him, despite reports. I have been reassured that there is money available for Moyes to buy players but as yet he hasn’t managed to narrow down a target he wants that is available. Work will continue this week.”

Fans will be fuming

With it very much appearing as if Moyes must sign a new forward this month if he is to have any hope of securing a top-four finish in the league this season, the news that Calvert-Lewin is not being targeted by the club, as well as Ex’s claim that the 58-year-old Hammers boss has so far failed to identify a target in the position, is sure to have left the London Stadium faithful fuming.

Indeed, at present, West Ham only have the option of the injury-prone Michail Antonio as an out and out centre-forward.

And, while the Premier League is currently on a winter break, Antonio looks unlikely to be afforded much rest over the next two weeks, as the 31-year-old has been called up for three international fixtures with Jamacia – against Mexico on January 28, Panama on January 30 and Costa Rica on February 3.

As such, should the striker pick up an injury in these matches, or simply just return fatigued from international duty, Moyes faces the very real possibility of having no senior strikers available for the start of February – unless he manages to bring a fresh face into the position in the coming week.

However, with Ex suggesting that the Scot does not currently have a primary target for the role, in addition to the fact that deadline day is edging closer with each passing day, whether or not the club will be successful in their bid to bring a new forward to East London appears very much up in the air at present – something that will undoubtedly have fans sweating.

In other news: Moyes can land the new Cole as WHU ready £20m bid for 18-goal gem who “looks the part”

Celtic winger Liel Abada is already attracting interest ahead of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Scottish Sun, who claim that, after a sensational start to his Parkhead career, the 20-year-old is already being closely monitored by Premier League outfit Crystal Palace – with Eagles scouts believed to have visited Celtic Park in order to watch the Israel international in action for the Bhoys.

However, the report goes on to state that Ange Postecoglou views the forward as a key player within his Hoops side, both currently and in the future, while the Celtic hierarchy are not believed to be willing to cash in on the youngster so soon after his £3m signing last summer.

Edouard 2.0

While part of Celtic’s business model will undoubtedly be signing lesser-known talents for minimal prices, before selling these players on for a huge profit after their development in Scotland, losing a player with a future as bright as Abada just a year after his arrival in Glasgow would nevertheless come as a major blow to Postecoglou and his side.

Indeed, over his 23 Premiership appearances since joining the club from Maccabi Petah Tikva last summer, the £4.05m-rated winger has been in remarkable form for the Hoops, having already scored eight goals, registered four assists and created a whopping 12 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots and making 1.8 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £15k-per-week forward who Yossi Benayoun dubbed a “star” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.10, ranking him as the Bhoys’ 12th-best performer in the top flight of Scottish football – a quite astonishing feat for a player who only turned 20 years of age last October.

As such, should Michael Nicholson go on to repeat Dominic McKay’s £14m sale of Odsonne Edouard to the South London side, it is clear for all to see that, should the club wish to challenge for the Premiership title, as well as get back to playing Champions League football in the seasons to come, selling a player with the ability of Abada would be a repeat of the Edouard blunder for the league leaders.

In other news: Lifeline: Ange’s £8.2k-p/w Celtic passenger a big winner from January transfer window

Sachin Tendulkar has won his first ICC award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, by being named the Cricketer of the Year during the 2010 ICC Award ceremony in Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010Sachin Tendulkar has won his first ICC award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, by being named the Cricketer of the Year during the 2010 ICC Award ceremony in Bangalore. Tendulkar, however, lost out in the other major categories he was nominated in, with Virender Sehwag winning the Test Cricketer of the Year award and AB de Villiers claiming the ODI prize.”This last season has been really special for the entire team,” Tendulkar, who also received the People’s Choice Award, said. “I think right from the start of the season, when we won in Sri Lanka and I scored a hundred in the finals, and from there on the season took off for us. We became No. 1 in the Test rankings, something we all wanted to achieve, and we’ve been able to maintain our performances in the last ten months.”Tendulkar said Gary Kirsten, the India coach, had played an important role in the success of all the batsmen. “He has been instrumental in making all the batters play plenty of deliveries in practice sessions, he himself throws thousands of deliveries,” Tendulkar said. “Gary has been able to keep us in the right frame of mind, whatever areas we needed to work on, he is making sure we are addressing that.”Tendulkar fought off competition from Sehwag, Hashim Amla and Graeme Swann, the other nominees in the Cricketer of the Year category. Previous winners of the Cricketer of the Year award include Rahul Dravid, Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Mitchell Johnson.During the period under consideration for the award – August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010 – Tendulkar scored 1064 runs at an average of 81.84 in ten Tests. He made 914 runs in 17 ODIs at 65.28, and also scored the format’s first double-century against South Africa in Gwalior. Tendulkar is presently third on the ICC’s rankings for Test batsmen, and tenth in ODIs.MS Dhoni was named captain of the Test team of the year, which included Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Swann, Tendulkar, Amla, Simon Katich, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, James Anderson and Doug Bollinger.Ricky Ponting was captain of the ODI team of the year, leading a side comprising Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, de Villiers, Paul Collingwood, Dhoni, Daniel Vettori, Stuart Broad, Bollinger and Ryan Harris.Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand batsman, won the award for the best Twenty20 Performance of the Year for his 116 not out against Australia in Christchurch in February. McCullum edged out Hussey, Mahela Jayawardene and Ryan McLaren, the others nominated for the Twenty20 award.Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate won the Associate Player of the Year award. ten Doeschate’s performances during the English domestic season has made him a sought-after player in international Twenty20 competitions. He has been signed by Tasmania for the Big Bash and by Canterbury for New Zealand’s domestic tournament.Steven Finn, the England fast bowler, won the award for Emerging Player of the Year. Finn, 21, made his Test debut against Bangladesh in March and has since taken 32 wickets in eight matches.New Zealand won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for the second time in row and the third time overall. Aleem Dar, the Pakistani umpire, also won the Umpire of the Year Award for the second time in a row.Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, the former England women’s captain, was the first woman cricketer inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame, while Shelley Nitschke, the Australian allrounder, was the Woman Cricketer of the Year.

Doug Bollinger is almost certain to miss the Bangalore Test after he didn’t bowl in any of Australia’s two training sessions leading up to the match

Sidharth Monga at the Chinnaswamy Stadium08-Oct-2010Doug Bollinger is almost certain to miss the Bangalore Test after he didn’t bowl in any of Australia’s two training sessions leading up to the match. The two-metre tall South Australia fast bowler, Peter George, is likely to get a Test debut, ahead of Mitchell Starc, a New South Wales left-arm quick in the Mitchell Johnson mould.George’s richer first-class experience – he has played 19 Shield games to Starc’s 10 – is likely to tip scales in his favour. Moreover, George is seen as somebody with Glenn McGrath-like control, and Australia would want that in a crucial Test. George played in the tour game in Chandigarh too, taking a wicket first ball in McGrath fashion, with the slant away from the left-hand batsman and some bounce.India, on the other hand, are waiting on VVS Laxman’s recovery before they decide their final XI. Laxman came out for a light training session on Friday evening, where he had both batting and catching practice. “Laxman is much better right now,” MS Dhoni said. “We will take a call in the evening or tomorrow before the game. Five days of game can be difficult if you are injured at the start, and we will take a call later.”Ricky Ponting is expecting Laxman to play, but won’t offer him the generosity of a runner. “If he comes into the game, knowing what we had last week, he can’t bring in pre-existing injuries and expect to have a runner,” Ponting said. “I don’t see any concerns with him, though. He actually looked pretty good with his movements as far as I am concerned about the last game. I am a bit surprised he hasn’t batted today but he is obviously giving himself as much recovery time as possible.”India, though, had good news on another front, with Harbhajan Singh looking good to play. “As of now everybody is available for selection apart from Laxman,” Dhoni said. “None of the players have any injuries to my knowledge.”

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has had a reputation for overspending on certain players in recent seasons, but no player emphasises his transfer failings more than Alex Iwobi.

The Nigerian joined the Merseyside outfit from boyhood club Arsenal in summer 2019 for a fee believed to be worth up to £34m having scored just 15 goals in 149 games for the Gunners.

Then 23, there was still plenty of potential and excitement around the forward which has since petered out following a largely unsuccessful spell at Goodison Park thus far.

26 in May, Iwobi has made 13 appearances in the Premier League this season, starting seven games whilst scoring once and assisting once.

However, across his whole Toffees career the Nigerian has just six goals and six assists in 81 appearances, a goal contribution of one every 6.75 games which has therefore seen a decline in his market value.

To put that figure into perspective, Andros Townsend (seven), Demarai Gray (six) and Richarlison (five) have near, the same or more goals this campaign than Iwobi has managed to net in his entire Toffees tenure.

When Everton signed the forward, Iwobi’s value was at its peak, with the winger worth £28.8m according to Transfermarkt, a very similar figure to what the Blues eventually paid for his signature.

However, after December 2019, it all went downhill for the 25-year-old.

The pandemic saw his value decline to £22.95m where it stayed until October 2020 before dipping again in March 2021 to £19.8m.

At the end of 2021, Iwobi was valued at £16.2m, less than half what Everton paid to acquire his services just over two years prior.

Back in 2020, the Liverpool Echo’s head of sport David Prentice had some strong words to say about Iwobi after a 2-0 defeat to Southampton, stating: “There was one moment where he actually found some space in the penalty area and Digne made a great run to actually overlap and he just needed to be played in and then he had a cross across the six-yard box, hopefully, for somebody to knock in.

“And he didn’t [cross], he ignored the pass and he checked back.

“It’s only a subtle thing, but if he just made that pass which, probably, Richarlison would have done, it would have been that much more dangerous.

“From that point, it just progressively got worse until there was that embarrassing one where he just missed the ball on the byline entirely. It was an opportunity for him and he didn’t take it.”

Based on how his two-and-a-half-year spell at Goodison Park has gone so far, there is little evidence to suggest that Iwobi will be able to still live up to the transfer fee paid for him.

With a new manager at the helm in Frank Lampard, the Nigerian forward has the opportunity to make an impression and attempt to salvage some of his career back. However, it doesn’t seem likely that the 25-year-old will be able to play his best football for Everton.

In other news: Lampard drops worrying injury update that’ll have Everton fans sweating

Shane Warne, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals team for the first three seasons of the IPL, has questioned the league’s governing council’s move to remove his side ahead of the fourth edition of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2010Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals captain for the first three seasons of the IPL, has questioned the league’s governing council’s move to scrap his side ahead of the fourth edition. The IPL governing council had ejected the Rajasthan and Punjab franchises on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms, but Warne asked whether there were other reasons behind the expulsion.”Is it [the ejection] because the franchises have done something wrong or is there something sinister behind it,” Warne wrote in his personal blog. “Is there an ulterior motive? To me the IPL must be transparent, open, honest, and, above all, fair to all teams! They need to treat them equally; no teacher’s pets!”All of the owners and investors showed a lot of faith and goodwill in the BCCI from the outset. They trusted them to deliver on the massive predictions that led to the franchises being sold at figures never heard of in cricket. With the IPL exceeding all expectations, on all fronts, I find it staggering that the IPL has decided to throw 2 teams out,” Warne wrote.Warne was also critical of the suggestion that Rajasthan did not have the best interests of the game in mind, citing examples of several of his team-mates who have gone on to represent their countries on the back of IPL success.

Leeds United have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Haydon Roberts to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

In recent comments made to Sussex Live, Brighton & Hove Albion manager Graham Potter revealed that the centre-back will likely be leaving the American Express Community Stadium ahead of the 2022/23 campaign – as the 19-year-old is in need of regular first-team football in order to continue his development in the professional game.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-marsch-raphinha-dest-philhay” title=”Read the latest Leeds news!”]

And, while Potter is likely referring to a season loan deal for the defender, the 46-year-old’s remarks will certainly have caught the attention of Victor Orta, who is reported to have a long-standing interest in the England U19 international – even seeing an offer for Roberts rejected in the summer of 2020.

Orta must move for Roberts

Considering the sheer amount of potential Roberts quite clearly possesses, should an opportunity arise to land the centre-back this summer, it is one Orta simply must do everything he can to take.

Indeed, Potter himself has previously revealed his excitement regarding the 19-year-old’s ability, stating back in September of last year: “He’s a really exciting player. He is obviously young and he has got a lot to learn but he has got some really interesting attributes.

“Very strong, very quick, very mobile. Powerful. Good with the ball, brings it out well. He’s got good courage so he’s got a lot of things that are really exciting, that fit how we want to try and do things.”

Furthermore, back in 2020, The Athletic spoke to a number of scouts about Roberts’ future in the game, with one even drawing comparisons between the Brighton starlet and the former Leeds loanee, Ben White:

“I like him. I think he’s a good defender. [The only question is] about his size to play there, but then again look at Ben White. You probably wouldn’t think he is so good in the air but he’s been outstanding for Leeds this season.

“One plus point with Haydon is he is left-footed. To have a left-footed centre-half is so much better. It offers variety. He’s got quality on the ball. He has played in midfield as well a few times.

“It’s good for young centre-backs to go in there, put themselves under a bit more pressure playing in other areas. I’ve seen him play left-back a couple of times for England. Whether he wants to play there is a question mark.”

As such, while it is true that Jesse Marsch is not exactly short of options in the heart of his Leeds defence – with the likes of Diego Llorente, Robin Koch, Pascal Struijk, Liam Cooper and Charlie Cresswell in his first-team squad – the signing of Roberts would nevertheless appear to be an astute one for Orta to make this summer.

Indeed, with the right-footed Cresswell coming on leaps and bounds this season, forming a partnership between the 19-year-old and the £4.2k-per-week Roberts – who Andy Naylor dubbed a “talent” – could well prove to become the base on which the Leeds side is built for many a year to come.

AND in other news: Orta plotting Leeds offer for “under the radar” talent, it could be bye-bye Phillips