All posts by h716a5.icu

Steven Gerrard finally got what he wanted all along when Bongani Zungu joined Glasgow Rangers on loan from Amiens last month, but the South Africa international is yet to make his debut for the Ibrox outfit thus far.

What’s the word?

Rangers signed Zungu from the French Ligue 2 side on an initial loan deal on transfer deadline day. He has been named in the South Africa squad for their upcoming AFCON qualifiers as his quarantine restrictions in Scotland have come to an end following his loan move from Amiens.

Speaking to the This Is Ibrox podcast, South African journalist Lorenz Köhler believes Gerrard must unleash his countryman sooner rather than later.

“In my opinion, he’s best as a box-to-box midfielder because he’s an all-action player who just wants to be involved,” he said.

“He likes to take the game by the scruff of its neck.

“It’s going to sound ludicrous…when Yaya Toure left Barcelona, he was playing as a centre-back. He came to the Premier League and the manager saw that ‘this guy isn’t a centre-back’.

“I think the same can be said to Gerrard. He’ll take one look and say ‘this guy is not a defensive midfielder’. Unleash him. Let him be free, let him go forward. He’s got a bit of height to him, he can score from headers, he can find the top corner. He can do everything.”

The summer signing has been pictured training ahead of the club’s Europa League clash with Benfica.

Impact sub!

Zungu was an unused substitute against Lech Poznan last week, but was not included in the squad for the away trip to Kilmarnock on Sunday.

Whilst we have to admit that it’s highly unlikely the South African will start, as Glen Kamara, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield have all impressed in recent weeks, the midfielder may make an appearance as an impact substitute from the bench.

The 28-year-old has a decent personal record against the Portuguese giants, as he has previously scored one goal in four games, although it’s worth pointing out the fact that he has lost every fixture so far.

Last season, he played 21 games in Ligue 1, averaging more than one tackle and one clearance per game, via WhoScored. By comparison, even Arfield is managing fewer than one tackle and one clearance per game in the Scottish Premiership this season so far, as per WhoScored.

Flavio Meireles, the sporting director from Vitoria de Guimaraes, once hailed the South African powerhouse as a “special talent”, whilst Amiens sporting director John Williams insisted “he can do everything.”

If that isn’t enough to convince Gerrard to consider his options, we don’t know what will be. The Gers have the option to buy Zungu outright if he can impress the club during his loan spell at Ibrox. He just needs to get some minutes under his belt in order to demonstrate his value – the sooner he gets the time to shine, the better. Otherwise, what was even the point of signing him in the first place?

AND in other news, Shades of Prso: Steven Gerrard must unleash Glasgow Rangers ace Cedric Itten vs Benfica…

Glasgow Rangers have suspended Jordan Jones and George Edmundson for breaching Covid regulations, reports say…

What’s the word?

According to the club’s official website, the two Rangers players attended a private gathering at the weekend with others from outside of their household.

Rangers chief Stewart Robertson said that their behaviour was totally “unacceptable”, commenting: “The Chairman Douglas Park, Ross Wilson, Steven Gerrard and I discussed this matter as soon as it was brought to our attention.

“We are completely aligned in our action and the standards that are being set at Rangers.

“We will not tolerate behaviour that does not follow those standards and it is totally unacceptable for any of our players to be involved in anything that puts at risk the excellent protocols that have been put in place at Rangers.”

Edmundson has endured a difficult start to the season so far as the defender has made just two appearances in all competitions at the time of writing. It’s fair to say that the 23-year-old will hardly have done himself any favours at all whatsoever as he arguably already faces an uncertain future at the Ibrox outfit, although this may force Gerrard’s hand when the transfer market re-opens in January.

Nail in the coffin

As a professional footballer, or any person in the public interest for that matter, some may argue that they have a certain level of accountability and responsibility as a result to set the standards on and off the pitch for the rest of the public to follow.

On this occasion, it cuts even deeper than that. Not only has Edmundson let himself down, he has also let his teammates down with his abhorrent behaviour as well.

As Rangers legend Barry Ferguson rightly says: “Trust? They’ve just about broken every rule in the book, not just when it comes to Covid-19 protocols but also in terms of what’s expected from a proper team-mate.”

Edmundson was left out of the squad for the Europa League group stages last month, which cast doubt over his long-term future at the club, having made two appearances against Lincoln Red Imps and Motherwell FC respectively.

Forget about a loan, as far as we are concerned, this could be the final nail in the coffin for Edmundson’s Gers career.

The Manchester-born centre-back received praise from Gerrard for his “faultless” performance after he made his long-awaited league debut but it’s fair to say that his career has somewhat fallen by the wayside.

Connor Goldson has arguably cemented his place in the starting line-up this season, whilst Filip Helander and Leon Balogun have worked their way into contention to start in Nikola Katic’s absence. However, Katic has recently hinted he could make a quick-fire return, which would push Edmundson even further down the pecking order.

At this stage in his career, he needs to be playing regularly, which is something that Gerrard will not be able to provide. So, it’s about time the Light Blues cut their losses before it’s too late. Get him gone, Gers.

AND in other news, Worse than Barker: Glasgow Rangers dodged a bullet in one-time target Isaac Atanga…

The Premier League may have breached confidentiality law by confirming their legal dispute with Newcastle United with regards to the failed takeover at St. James’ Park.

The Shields Gazette have reported that, according to sources, by confirming that the top flight are in a legal dispute with the Tyneside club, that represents an alleged breach of the confidentiality of the Magpies, with both said to be bound by privacy on the matter now that the case is actually running.

The confirmation by England’s highest division is also understood to have angered many close to the proposed £300m deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium.

The confirmation from the EPL was revealed in an official statement by the Newcastle Consortium Supporters Ltd (NCSL) that in turn was confirmed to The Shields Gazette.

When contacted by the news outlet, the Premier League refused to comment on the matter.

What does this mean for the Newcastle takeover?

Indeed, this means that the legal dispute between the Toon and the English top flight is likely to be taken to a court case if it cannot be settled by the two parties involved.

Ashley may possibly already have top lawyers Nick De Marco QC and Shaheed Fatima QC on standby to represent the chief executive of Sports Direct in court and it feels fair to predict the CEO of England’s highest division, Richard Masters, will already have his own army of lawyers at the ready too.

Nonetheless, the Premier League may have dug themselves a hole already if they are found to have breached the confidentiality law.

In other news, find out which key figure is concerned about one development in the takeover saga here!

Manchester United spent huge sums of money in a massive spree in the summer as Ed Woodward sought to strengthen Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad in all areas.

Whilst Woodward signed Donny van de Beek from Ajax, and secured the services of both Alex Telles and former Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani on transfer deadline day, the Red Devils have been unable to hit the ground running so far this season.

Lying in tenth place in the Premier League table, a point adrift of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Solskjaer’s side still have a lot of work to do as they head into December.

It’s about time Solskjaer starts to sort out some of the deadwood, as he desperately needs to lower the club’s colossal wage bill, and he may not have to look much further than Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who currently earns wages worth £15,000-per-week.

According to The Manchester Evening News, Solskjaer wants Fosu-Mensah to stay at Old Trafford as he is approaching the final seven months of his contract.

However, the versatile Dutchman, who can play as a centre-back or right-back, has only played 95 minutes of football so far this season, and was dropped from the first team for their past seven fixtures in the Premier League, via Transfermarkt.

It’s fair to say that he has been replaced by Axel Tuanzebe, who has turned out to be an able deputy at the back in recent weeks, whilst it would be wise for Woodward to cash in on the £5.7m-rated outcast in January whilst he still can before his market value falls even further.

The Red Devils may be reluctant to let go of another academy graduate after Angel Gomes left the club in the summer, but United chiefs will simply have to bite the bullet, as it is surely best for all parties involved if Fosu-Mensah moves elsewhere in the end rather than wasting away as an unused substitute on the bench.

Last season, the former Dutch international played just three games in the Premier League, whilst he averaged fewer than one tackle and one clearance per game, via WhoScored. By comparison, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is Solskjaer’s undisputed first-choice right-back, managed 3.7 tackles and 1.7 clearances on average per game in the top flight last term, as per WhoScored.

Rather than give him a new contract, Woodward must get rid of him for once and for all in the winter transfer window to raise surplus cash to spend on other areas Solskjaer urgently needs to address.

AND in other news, Manchester United: In-form Alex Telles spells trouble for Brandon Williams…

According to an ‘interesting’ update by reliable transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, via Man City Xtra, Juventus are ‘in love’ with striker Gabriel Jesus but they are not negotiating with Man City or his agents – with the Sky Blues’ stance on selling him made abundantly clear.

Jesus, who signed for City back in 2017, has been tipped as Sergio Aguero’s heir at the Etihad Stadium – with the latter club legend now entering the twilight phase of his career as he slowly returns to full match fitness.

The Argentine has made brief cameos recently since his latest injury lay-off, with City now having to start planning ahead for life without the club’s all time top goal scorer.

Flocking to this Romano update, despite Txiki Begiristain and co not wishing to sell Jesus, many Man City fans have buzzed over Juve’s interest whilst begging the club to offload him.

As links to Erling Haaland grow stronger and stronger, it’s clear these supporters don’t see their current attacker as a man fit to replace Aguero.

Find all of their verdicts on the young Brazilian down below.

Man City fans buzz over Jesus news

In other news: Man City fans were left fuming by this update, find out more here.

All of a sudden, the positivity is rolling back to the green and white half of Glasgow.

The Hoops have now won four games on the bounce and amongst that, they took home the Scottish Cup following a win over Hearts.

Heading into a transfer window, the Hoops are building up ahead of steam nicely.

What’s the word?

Celtic can be under no illusions that they’re still having a disastrous season. Their victory against Hearts last weekend cannot mask that and in January, they need to address a number of issues.

That starts with their horrific defence, one that conceded a mammoth 19 goals in six Europa League games.

It’s no secret that the Bhoys could do with a new goalkeeper and they may have found their answer in someone already playing in Scotland.

That’s because according to The Daily Mail, Celtic are interested in signing Dundee United stopper Benjamin Siegrist.

The Swiss has been placed on their list of targets ahead of January and it is thought that they’ve already scouted the 28-year-old on a number of occasions.

Siegrist’s agent Dr Thomas Kraft said: “There is interest in him from clubs in the Bundesliga and the Dutch Eredivisie.

“Celtic have also scouted him several times, that is true. But today, at this moment, we have no official offer from Celtic. Will Benjamin leave Dundee United in January? It depends on the financial situation at United. You would have to ask the club, it’s difficult for me to say.”

Sign the thing

This would be a brilliant piece of shrewd business from Nick Hammond and Celtic.

The Hoops landed Vasilis Barkas for a haul of £5m in the summer but it’s hard to argue that he’s been a perfect signing. His succession of individual errors against AC Milan have summed up a torrid start to his Hoops career, one where he’s been dislodged by two different ‘keepers.

First, it was the turn of Scott Bain but he was again rather error-prone, proving to be a disaster when Celtic shipped four goals in Prague. On top of that, Conor Hazard has been inconsistent.

He kept the club’s first clean sheet since early November against Kilmarnock but was at fault in normal time during the Scottish cup final. Hazard did, of course, save two penalties in the shoot out but they could do with a more reliable senior goalkeeper.

In Siegrist, they’d have that. The Dundee United stopper has had an excellent campaign, keeping five clean sheets in the process. “Benjamin has had an extraordinary season and the last match against Hibernian he produced a high-level performance,” his agent told The Daily Mail.

It’s important to look at his colossal height of 6 foot 4 too, something that comes close to matching the frame of Fraser Forster. The Englishman was a goliath between the sticks last season and it’s clear Celtic are missing someone of his presence.

Siegrist could help to finally solve this void.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Celtic tipped to replace Lennon with manager who has 29.5% win rate…

Joelinton badly betrayed Steve Bruce by producing a horror show performance as Newcastle United’s sole centre-forward in his side’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Boxing Day.

Bruce was forced into facing Pep Guardiola’s Sky Blues without the Toon’s leading goalscorer Callum Wilson after the eight-goal striker sustained a knock that prevented his involvement.

Wilson was sorely missed by the visiting Magpies side throughout Joelinton’s time on the field, which ended whilst when he was replaced midway through the second half by Andy Carroll, with Bruce seeing United’s record-signing forced off after sustaining an apparent hip injury.

Joelinton often lacked any clear intelligence with his forward runs and hardly displayed any serious threat to Ederson’s net, as he rarely acted as Newcastle’s main goal threat whilst the now-£18m-rated man earned his 13th outing of the Premier League season.

The 24-year-old had struck just one goal in his prior 12 appearances this term and Bruce will be hoping for positive news on Wilson’s fitness ahead of the game against champions Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Joelinton was far worse than Matt Ritchie against Manchester City, despite Bruce feeling the need to haul the former AFC Bournemouth maestro off after 66 minutes having seen the winger lose all five of his ground duels and possession 14 times, per SofaScore.

Joelinton was by far the worst-performing Newcastle player at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day, where he lost four of his five ground duels, five of 11 aerial contests and possession 11 times while failing to direct his sole shot of the night on target.

Bruce never saw Joelinton attempt, let alone complete, a dribble, either, as he sought to palm off possession with 11 accurate passes despite taking 30 touches of which, a majority came in the middle third of the pitch.

The Brazilian attacker was additionally caught offside once, committed two fouls and offered zero key passes, and will now be fearing for his place in the starting line-up regardless of the extent of his potential hip injury.

Should Wilson not be passed fit to face Liverpool, Bruce will be able to call on Andy Carroll or Dwight Gayle after the pair entered the action as late substitutes on Saturday night.

AND in other news, a Newcastle gem with his “best years ahead” was Steve Bruce’s sole positive at Brentford.

Steven Bergwijn has been quite the enigma at Tottenham Hotspur since his arrival nearly a year ago.

The 23-year-old arrived from PSV Eindhoven last January for around €30m (£26.5m) as one of Jose Mourinho’s first signings at the club. He has since seen his value rocket to a whopping €70m (£62m) as per the CIES Football Observatory.

But why?

Supporters on social media have gotten on his back at times, and on the face of it, it appears quite reasonable as he’s not scored since a 1-1 draw with Manchester City, which was Spurs’ first game back after the temporary break in June.

The general consensus

The north Londoners romped to a 3-0 victory over Leeds United on Saturday afternoon, a victory which moved them to third place in the Premier League.

Bergwijn was one of the few disappointments as he missed a sitter at 1-0. He also successfully pulled off just one of his three dribble attempts, fired three shots without scoring, won just 25% of his duels, and was dribbled past twice, via SofaScore.

It led to the following reactions on Twitter…

Unjust?

Indeed, the Dutch international has struggled in terms of goal contributions having provided only four assists in 19 appearances this term, but many in N17 need to realise the greater impact he is having under Mourinho.

In some ways, he has become his sacrificial lamb on that right-flank.

Per FBref, only three other players are pressing more than Bergwijn in the final third of the pitch and those three are managing more minutes, so it’s not completely reflective of his true potential.

This much is backed up by his heat map for the season, via SofaScore:

Clearly, he is involved way more than what is perceived – the map above shows he is contributing defensively just as much as he is up the field.

Without his presence against Leicester, Mourinho’s side were utterly dominated as the Foxes ran away with a 2-0 victory, so it can’t be a coincidence that Spurs pick up their first win in five games with Bergwijn back in the starting XI.

There’s a reason why journalists (The Extra Inch via This is Futbol) have lauded him a “really special” talent and “more effective than [Lucas] Moura” in the past.

Get off his back, Spurs fans.

AND in other news, Pathetic Spurs star who lost possession 19 TIMES badly betrayed Mourinho…

West Brom are set to have club captain Kyle Bartley available for the Black Country derby this weekend, according to the Express & Star.

The 29-year-old lasted only an hour in last weekend’s FA Cup defeat to Blackpool but it appears as if he made it through unscathed and is now in line to start against Wolves on Saturday.

Bartley had missed five straight matches with a calf injury.

Although it’s a big boost to have your skipper back for one of the biggest games of the season, it does give Baggies boss Sam Allardyce a selection headache.

The last thing a struggling side like Albion needs is to constantly chop and change players, especially in a leaky defence that ranks worst in the Premier League.

“We can’t make too many rotations so it’s going to be a big ask for some of the players,” said the 66-year-old earlier this week.

It seems as if Big Sam had settled for Semi Ajayi and Dara O’Shea in recent matches, though Bartley’s return throws doubt into that continuing for much longer.

And with another game on Tuesday night against West Ham, there’s no guarantee that the former Leeds colossus even starts up at Molineux.

Allardyce also told reporters, via the E&S:

“Kyle had to come off after 60 minutes according to our sports science and medical staff. We didn’t want to fatigue him and get another injury,” before adding: “It was about getting him in and trying to win that game and saving him for the game next week against Wolves, then we have a midweek game against West Ham.”

In the absence of an out-and-out defensive midfielder, Ajayi moved into the role as they were dumped out of the cup, so there’s a chance that he sticks with the same defence that leaked two goals to League One Seasiders, which would mean Ivanovic partnering Bartley despite neither completing the full 90 minutes in preparation for this huge clash.

Bartley’s return would be seen as a major positive in a game like this as Allardyce needs a leader to step up and stop the rot of leaking so many goals.

Former caretaker boss Jimmy Shan once dubbed him a “natural -born leader” as he’s a “voice in the changing room” and a “real competitor,” which is exactly what Albion need right now.

If 100% fit, he should start against the Baggies’ arch-rivals in what is the first Black Country derby in nine years.

AND in other news, Dowling heading for an unforgivable West Brom disaster over £30k-p/w gem…

Every club has them. The ones that got away, the nearly and not-so-nearly deals.

Glasgow Rangers themselves are no exception to the rule, having signed some great players, but missed out on some even greater ones.

Rangers were by no means quiet in the extended summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe on four-year deals for undisclosed fees, although they missed out on signing former Peterborough United striker Ivan Toney.

However, if they had stuck to their guns, they could have had one of the Sky Bet Championship’s hottest young talents on their books.

Indeed, it seems Ross Wilson and co. have missed the chance to sign Bright Osayi-Samuel, with Football Insider’s Wayne Veysey saying Fenerbahce have pipped Rangers to the signing of the Queens Park Rangers winger.

The 23-year-old is set to swap the Championship for the sunny heights of the Super Lig after opting to leave the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has given the green light for Osayi-Samuel to complete the move for a fee believed to be in the region of £700,000 in a big blow for Steven Gerrard.

The Nigerian has genuinely been one of the best players in the Championship, given his decent record for the R’s – 13 goals and 13 assists in 115 appearances, albeit a substantial amount of those from the bench.

Rangers and several clubs south of the border were interested in the £3m-rated ace, but Fenerbahce have beaten them to the post for a player who was dubbed “dangerous” by Mark Warburton.

Not that he’d like to admit it, but their failure to sign Osayi-Samuel will have left Gerrard with a sour taste after their inability to strike a deal with the Championship club for little more than a compensation fee.

Ryan Kent has long been considered Gerrard’s first-choice left winger, with the Light Blues boss not adverse to starting Ianis Hagi on the left wing. However, although Rangers have three other options out wide in Brandon Barker, Jordan Jones and Glenn Middleton, his squad options are thin in that area, as both Barker and Jones are considered surplus to requirements.

It seems Gerrard has made it a winter priority to give himself plenty of alternatives after links to the likes of Francis Amuzu and Scott Wright.

In Osayi-Samuel, however, not only would he have been able to provide cover for Kent, he would also have been able to provide competition as well. After all, he is currently averaging 2.8 dribbles per game so far this season, which is more than Kent himself (1.9).

His ability to play on both wings will also be an added bonus for Fenerbahce and a bitter note for Gerrard.

AND in other news, Rangers would be signing another Ryan Kent in Francis Amuzu…