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Paterson must start for Sheff Weds v Cheltenham

Sheffield Wednesday’s latest League One outing saw them secure a third consecutive draw with a 1-1 result against Lincoln City at the weekend.

Owls midfielder Dennis Adeniran put the home side ahead ten minutes into the second half before the Imps grabbed an equaliser through Lewis Montsma in the 80th minute.

On the chalkboard

Looking ahead to Wednesday’s weekend clash against Cheltenham Town where Darren Moore will undoubtedly be hoping to secure a win this time out, one player that was not in the starting XI to face Lincoln that we think should be for their next encounter is 27-year-old striker Callum Paterson.

The 27-year-old replaced Lee Gregory in the second half of the match at the weekend and managed to have one shot at goal, completed seven of his nine passes and won one aerial duel, ultimately earning him an overall match rating of 6.6/10 according to SofaScore.

Wednesday signed Paterson back in September 2020 from Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee. Since then, the striker, who is currently valued at £1.62m according to Transfermarkt has made 57 appearances for the Yorkshire club, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists along the way, proving himself to be a fairly decent signing for the Owls based on his attacking output.

So far this season, Paterson, who has been described as “phenomenal” by Robbie Neilson, has managed to score two goals and provide one assist in 11 League One appearances showing he has what it takes to pop up at the right time and place for the Owls, leading us to believe he could bully Cheltenham’s defenders if given the chance to.

Looking ahead to the match at the weekend, in terms of who Paterson could replace in the team if Moore thinks his side would have a better chance of picking up all three points with him in, we feel that it could be a good time for Gregory to come out of the side for a while considering he had a poor game against Lincoln where he failed to even register one shot at goal in 62 minutes.

Whether Moore decides to stick Paterson back in the team at the weekend or not, we feel that Wednesday will need to get a win under their belts soon so they can stay in the running for a promotion place by the end of the campaign or else they could be facing another season in League One.

In other news: Get rid: SWFC liability who lost the ball every 1.6 touches badly let Moore down today – opinion

Journalist drops Leeds transfer claim

Leeds United youngster Leif Davis looks almost certain to join Bournemouth on a permanent deal this summer, according to journalist Beren Cross.

The Lowdown: Davis enjoying loan spell

The 22-year-old moved to the south coast last summer in order to enjoy regular playing time, with Marcelo Bielsa failing to promise him that at Elland Road.

Davis has admittedly been limited to just 12 Championship appearances for Bournemouth this season as they chase promotion back to the Premier League, but he has still played his part in their success, chipping in with one assist.

The left-back has been described as an ‘animal’ by Cherries manager Scott Parker, suggesting he likes the look of him.

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The Latest: Cross expects permanent move

Speaking in a Q&A for Leeds Live, Cross claims that Davis’ loan move is expected to become permanent in the summer:

“From what was said at the time, it sounds like Davis will almost certainly be staying at Bournemouth. It read as though the loan was effectively going to be the first year of a permanent deal at the back end of it.”

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The Verdict: Makes perfect sense

While Davis is a talented young player, it makes complete sense for all parties to join Bournemouth, settling there and enjoying the next chapter in his career.

He has a better chance of earning more minutes for the Cherries, even if Junior Firpo has disappointed for Leeds this season and Stuart Dallas has had to fill in there, with Jesse Marsch reportedly already eyeing a new left-back signing.

It would be heartwarming to see Bournemouth promoted this season, which looks likely, subsequently allowing Davis the chance to prove himself in the Premier League.

In other news, Leeds are confident over a new deal for one player. Find out who it is here.

Ashley Preece delivers update on Villa’s Guilbert

The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has delivered an insight into the decision to let Aston Villa star Frederic Guilbert join Strasbourg on loan on transfer deadline day.

What’s the story?

Dean Smith’s side had a fairly quiet deadline day after a more hectic summer transfer window saw the likes of Emi Buendia, Danny Ings and Leon Bailey, among others arrive, and Jack Grealish of course leave.

One piece of business the Midlands club did do however, is sending Guilbert back to Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, where he spent the second-half of last season on loan at.

And now, in a Q&A for The Birmingham Mail, Preece responded to a question about why the Smith decided to let him go, saying: “Not sure, just doesn’t fancy him at all. A shame because he seems a good guy who always put it all on the line for Villa.”

Villa fans will be frustrated

Writing for The Athletic last year, Gregg Evans said of Guilbert: “I agree, there’s potential, but it seems like Smith has seen enough and favours others.”

A number of Villa fans have already made their feelings clear about Guilbert on several occasions, first slamming the decision to actually let him leave on loan for Strasbourg back in January and suggesting they should’ve kept him, then urging Smith to give him a chance in pre-season earlier this summer after his impressive spell away.

The fact that both Evans and Preece have declared that Smith just isn’t the biggest fan of the full-back is sure to frustrate fans who would have been hoping to see him in action for Villa, and challenging Matty Cash for a first-team spot, or just providing a back-up option for him.

This latest update from Preece is a “shame” as Preece says, and it’s one that won’t have gone down too well with Villa supporters.

Meanwhile, Ashley Preece has confirmed this Aston Villa starlet will sign a new contract…

Man City fans fume over pre-Chelsea news

Flocking to Twitter, many Manchester City fans have voiced their outrage at some official news before the Sky Blues’ highly-anticipated top of the table clash against Chelsea this weekend.

After comfortably dispatching Wycombe Wanderers 6-1 in the Carabao Cup midweek, a match where many previously unseen youngsters were handed their debuts by Pep Guardiola, Saturday will come as a very contrasting occasion.

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City’s dropped points away to Spurs and at home to Southampton already this season puts plenty of emphasis on their trip to Stamford Bridge, with the Premier League champions arguably unable to afford another loss so early in their title defence.

As such, the stage is set for their next match to be an all-important blockbuster – leaving little wonder why some supporters take issue in regards to who will officiate the clash.

It has now been announced that referee Michael Oliver will take charge of the Chelsea game in what is a battle of the English and European title-winners – with City aiming to exact revenge after their Champions League final heartbreak.

Oliver, who has branded 12 yellow cards and one red card in just four matches so far this season, also has a habit of reaching into his pocket during City matches in particular.

As per worldfootball.net, the 36-year-old has dished out 41 bookings in 33 Premier League matches overseeing the Citizens – with it looking like Guardiola’s side may have to be extra wary of their discipline in west London.

Resultingly, supporters have raged as this pre-Chelsea announcement is made – find all of their verdicts on the refereeing appointment down below.

Man City fans rage over Oliver appointment…

“Game lost, hope we beat Liverpool”

Credit: @FatherRuben3

“May aswell give chelsea the win rn… Nice pen goal penjingo …. Some city player get ready for the Red card.”

Credit: @ZHR_960

“Congrats on the win chelsea”

Credit: @ashley__04

“The game is over before it started”

Credit: @I_Feedel

“Congratulations Chelsea”

Credit: @xMcfc_oKx

“Nooooooo”

Credit: @FinallyManfred

“No point watching”

Credit: @AaronMCFC3

In other news: ‘Yessss’, ‘Finally’, ‘This is good news’…Man City fans flock to Harry Kane update, find out more here.

Newcastle manager news on ten Hag

Newcastle United could now hire Erik ten Hag as their next manager, if Marc Overmars is appointed the new Director of Football (DoF) at St. James’ Park.

The Lowdown: Manager search

The North East club have been linked with the likes of Roberto Martinez, Steven Gerrard and Matias Almeyda in recent days, as their manager search continues following the departure of Steve Bruce.

Graeme Jones will be taking temporary charge of the next couple of games until the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium find the person that they want.

The Latest: ten Hag and Overmars combo

As per De Telegraaf (via Sport Witness), Overmars, who is currently the DoF at Ajax, would be ‘comfortable’ taking the same role on Tyneside, and ‘will poll’ ten Hag if he is appointed.

It will be interesting to see which role the new owners of the Magpies fill in first, as one could well dictate who is hired for the other.

The Verdict: Get both in

There is no doubt that a lot of the recent success Ajax have had is down to Overmars and ten Hag.

Off of the pitch, the former has been responsible for selling players for big profits and then helping rebuild with quality replacements, while ten Hag has won five major trophies during his time at the club, and famously guided them to the UEFA Champions League semi-final in the 2018/19 season.

Jurgen Klopp dubbed him as an ‘exciting’ manager back in December, which is high praise indeed, and getting both in would prove to be a real coup from the Toon.

In other news, find out which ‘extraordinary’ ace NUFC are ‘preparing’ a £67.7m bid for here!

Flanagan was SAFC’s unsung hero v Wimbledon

Lee Johnson’s Sunderland continued their strong start to the season with a 1-0 win against AFC Wimbledon at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

The Black Cats have now won three of their four matches in League One and four of their five competitive games so far this campaign.

Carl Winchester scored the only goal of the game in the 64th minute, securing a win to leave Sunderland fifth in the table, just one point behind league-leaders Sheffield Wednesday.

Whilst the headlines belong to Winchester after his match-winning strike, another player put in a stunning performance that may have gone under the radar. Tom Flanagan produced an excellent display at centre-back to help keep a clean sheet and help to secure the three points on the day.

The goalscorer deserves acclaim for his performance, but fans should not forget Flanagan and his contribution to the result.

Per SofaScore, Winchester (7.4) was the only outfield player with a higher rating than the central defender (7.2) against the Dons. Sunderland’s number three was pivotal to the win with his almost flawless defensive work to keep Wimbledon at bay throughout the game.

The 29-year-old won an impressive 80% of his defensive duels. He came on top in 12 of his 15 battles, winning three on the ground and nine in the air, proving that he had the beating of his opponents for the majority of the game.

Flanagan also completed two tackles and was not dribbled past a single time in the 90 minutes.

As much as scoring goals win games, conceding them loses points so Flanagan’s defending was arguably as important as Winchester’s goal, as that strike could have been for nothing if Sunderland conceded a sloppy goal or two.

The Sunderland Echo’s Phil Smith hailed Flanagan as ‘composed’ in his player rating piece after the match, handing him a score of 7/10. He wrote:

“Has had a very decent start to the season. Brings some important experience to the side and keeps it simple in possession when needed. Really composed.”

This further highlights the point that Flanagan made a huge impact against Wimbledon, with Smith explaining that his experience and composure helped Sunderland both in and out of possession.

With 71% of his passes completed and 67 touches of the ball, he was able to play out from the back well alongside the inexperienced Callum Doyle and was a massive reason why The Black Cats were able to take all three points.

Doherty may have played final Spurs game

Tottenham Hotspur’s long wait for silverware seems likely to go on after they were well-beaten in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Antonio Conte’s former club, Chelsea, on Wednesday evening.

The north Londoners were dominated from the first minute and looked a world away from truly competing against the Champions of Europe at Stamford Bridge.

Conte named a largely full-strength side with just two changes from the New Year’s Day triumph over fellow capital city rivals Watford – Japhet Tanganga replaced Eric Dier, who was not even in the matchday squad, whilst Matt Doherty made a rare appearance at left wing-back over Sergio Reguilon.

After being the goalscoring hero on Saturday, Davinson Sanchez endured a nightmare down in west London, proving to be at fault for Kai Havertz’s opener before conceding a comedy own goal after the returning Tanganga headed the ball off Ben Davies’ shoulder and it flew past a helpless Hugo Lloris.

However, it was the £10.8m-rated Ireland international that was hooked at the break after another shocking outing in the Lilywhites colours. A rather damning move from Conte as the 29-year-old has been linked with a move away from Spurs this transfer window.

Perhaps that ought to be his final game for the club.

Across his 45 minutes on the pitch, he registered the fewest touches of any starter (20), which was even fewer than goalkeeper Lloris (34) and his replacement Tanguy Ndombele (24). Meanwhile, he also made only nine accurate passes, as per SofaScore.

As a wing-back, he would be expected to contribute in the final third, too, but it seems as if he struggled to have an influence there, failing to register a single dribble or cross.

Tanganga and Sanchez received quite the criticism from reporters after the game but it was Doherty who was consistently rated as Conte’s worst performer on the night.

‘Out of position on the left and often looked out of his depth. Struggled to make any inroads down his flank, and frequently lost the ball,’ wrote the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, whilst Alasdair Gold at football.london graded him a dismal three out of ten.

On the evidence above, the defender – who earns a reported £74k-per-week in N17 – must never play for Tottenham again. Fabio Paratici and co must look to sell him as soon as possible, there is surely no way back now.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops major Hugo Lloris update at Spurs…

Spurs: Kilpatrick drops Skipp update

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt yet another injury setback concerning Oliver Skipp.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to Dan Kilpatrick, with the journalist revealing in a recent report for the Evening Standard that, despite Antonio Conte claiming last week that the midfielder was “very close” to making a return from a pelvic injury that has kept him out of action since January, the 21-year-old is now set to return to the treatment room after suffering a setback in his recovery.

Kilpatrick went on to state that, despite training individually on the grass on Monday and Tuesday, the England U21 international’s return date now appears increasingly unclear after he reported fresh soreness in his pelvis – something which all but confirms Skipp’s unavailability for Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa.

In his piece, the journalist said: “Skipp is now certain to sit out Saturday’s visit to Aston Villa.”

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Conte will be fuming

Considering the number of setbacks Skipp had already suffered in his recovery from injury – with Conte initially suggesting that the academy product would be ruled out for two weeks at most, before claiming that he hoped Tottenham’s medical team would have the youngster back in seven to ten days – the fact that the midfielder is once again unavailable this weekend is sure to have left the 52-year-old fuming.

It is not difficult to understand why the Italian is so desperate to get the £18m-rated dynamo back up to full fitness, as it is clear that the 21-year-old is a major part of his first-team plans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – with Skipp featuring in all but one of the 14 fixtures he has been available for selection following Conte’s arrival in north London last November.

However, with an extended period of rest being the only real solution to the pubis symphysis injury with which the midfielder is struggling, perhaps the manager’s pressure on both the player and the Spurs medical team is the cause of the youngster’s continuous relapses in his recovery.

Either way, Conte looks set to once again be without the services of the England youth international for the trip to Villa on Saturday, something that will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to the 52-year-old – particularly as all three points are a must if Tottenham wish to give themselves the best possible chance of finishing in the top four come the end of the season.

AND in other news: “They will get it done”: Romano drops huge transfer update Spurs supporters will love

Wolves fans on January transfer plans

Many Wolves fans have been left fuming over some news which has emerged involving their January transfer plans.

As per The Daily Mirror, the club have no plans to spend significantly in the upcoming transfer window, despite pleas from Bruno Lage to do so.

The Wolves manager wants to bring in at least three new faces, but Fosun are not likely to grant him any major funds.

That is because the owners want to make the club self-funding and are mindful of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

Wolves do not have a particularly big squad and also have plenty of injuries, so it would be strange if Fosun do not dig deep into their pockets in order to help Lage, otherwise his squad could be depleted even further.

Wolves fans on transfer news

These Wanderers fans were left fuming as the news on their January transfer plans was shared by Talking Wolves on their Twitter page:

“#FosunOut”

Credit: @Gary_Poynton

“So short-sighted. Tell the fans one thing and do another”

Credit: @Ianph61

“Long may the pain continue”

Credit: @ChriWoodward

“We will be relegated next season if the squad is not improved in the next 2 windows. Heard it here first!”

Credit: @aimstocks2021

“Spend bottom half, get bottom half”

Credit: @Ashley19345299

“Really? Surely they won’t let him down again.”

Credit: @WolvesFirst

In other news, one Wolves player’s pre-Liverpool comments went down well with many supporters

Liverpool fans erupt over Isak claim

Flocking to Twitter, many Liverpool fans have gone wild over a transfer claim involving Real Sociedad striker Alexander Isak.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, having just suffered a 3-2 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium before this international break, were perhaps reminded of their shortcomings in terms of depth.

Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, James Milner, Joe Gomez and Roberto Firmino are all currently sidelined due to injury with the latter man in particular causing big concern.

Firmino, one of Liverpool’s only natural forward options, will be a big miss and Klopp can only turn to either Divock Origi or Diogo Jota as his senior stand-ins.

The Africa Cup of Nations also presents a hurdle as both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will be unavailable to compete for a period of time from January 9.

As a result, Liverpool, and by extension owners Fenway Sports Group, have reportedly set their sights on the transfer market as news emerges on Isak.

The towering striker, who scored 17 goals in 30 La Liga starts last season, is apparently attracting major interest from the Reds as El Nacional make an exciting claim.

According to their sources, Liverpool are now weighing up a €40 million (£34.1m) offer to sign the Sweden international.

Flocking to this claim, many supporters have displayed real excitement given their desperation for a new forward option and some depth for Klopp – with one calling Isak a would-be ‘amazing signing’.

Find their best verdicts from social media down below.

Liverpool fans go wild for Isak claim…

“would be an amazing signing”

Credit: @LiverpoolAjX2

“Finally an actual striker”

Credit: @SReshal6

“omg please ISAK king”

Credit: @Aldin44543756

“Please be true”

Credit: @JoakimAckelman

“Please make this happen”

Credit: @KeanoLF

“Yessssss!!!”

Credit: @Eritrawino

“on my kneeeeeeeeeeeeees”

Credit: @KopiteZac

“I think he’s absolutely unreal I’d love to see this”

Credit: @wandellings

In other news: ‘Yes’, ‘Finally’ – Fabrizio Romano’s ‘mad’ transfer claim has many Liverpool fans talking, find out more here.

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