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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to continue their run at the top of the Championship this afternoon as they finally return to league action after a two-week hiatus.

The Baggies host Sheffield Wednesday at the Hawthorns knowing it will be no easy test with the south Yorkshire side sitting just three points outside of a playoff position, and quite possibly with a point to prove after their recent EFL charge.

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If Slaven Bilic is to give his side some more breathing room from the chasing pack, they’ll need to do so in the absence of midfield duo Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers.

Both players will be serving a one-match suspension.

On the Chalkboard

Yesterday, Football FanCast made the case for Filip Krovinovic to replace the summer arrival due to their similarities in the passing game, so it only seems right to offer up his midfield partner this time around.

Losing your industrious skipper is no easy feat, but it can be made easier by introducing a player in the same mould.

Chris Brunt has been at the club for just over 12 years now, and in recent times, mainly due to his advancing years, he has transitioned from a winger into a central midfielder.

He seems like the ideal man to temporarily replace Livermore against his former club too.

Throughout his career at the Hawthorns, the 34-year-old has proven to be a physical bulldog – he’s averaged 1.6 tackles per game over a ten season span, some of which was also in the Premier League.

Brunt has been capped 65 times at international level for Northern Ireland, so is there really a better option?

He also has averaged 1.1 aerial duels won per match in the same time frame, which is pretty good going for a midfielder.

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No midfielder in the current squad manages more tackles per game than Livermore at 2.1 while he also fouls the opposition the most too at an average of 1.5 times a game, via WhoScored.

Brunt may not have played much this season, but his 45 minutes in midweek were surely in preparation for this tie. He seems the most likely option to fill in.

Sheffield Wednesday are looking to get back on track this afternoon as they face a trip south to face Charlton Athletic at The Valley.

The Owls have suffered a run of five straight matches without a victory having needed to salvage a point in midweek against Birmingham City.

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Meanwhile, the Addicks are having a patchy spell themselves due to the injuries manager Lee Bowyer faces at the club. He has over 12 first-team players missing for this one.

Garry Monk needs to make some changes in order to bring more success back to his side, here’s what we are predicting…

A change back to a 4-4-2 system could bear serious fruit for Wednesday.

Not too long ago, the 40-year-old opted for such a formation and they scored four goals inside half an hour against Middlesbrough. This should be enough inspiration to revert back to it this afternoon.

Such a decision would mean a striker spot is up for grabs and given Fernando Forestieri’s impact on Wednesday night, he should be handed an opportunity over Atdhe Nuhiu.

The only other change is an enforced one as Julian Borner faces suspension so skipper Tom Lees should come back into the starting line up – he came on at half-time against Birmingham so he should be good to go.

It means Moses Odubajo will continue at right-back while it is Kieran Lee that makes way for the system change in midfield.

Cameron Dawson is expected to remain between the sticks after veteran goalkeeper Keiren Westwood picked up an injury last weekend.

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After joining from Blackburn Rovers all those years ago, Phil Jones has really struggled to live up to the hype that surrounded his early rise at Ewood Park.

This was a player who enjoyed a superb debut coming up against then Chelsea striker Didier Drogba back in 2010, and Manchester United no doubt thought they were getting someone to really build their team around.

Instead, form and fitness have completely deserted him, and he’s made just 224 appearances in total, in almost a decade worth of time at Old Trafford.

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And now, his teammates are ribbing him too. In a Q&A session wih SPORTbible (via The Metro), Paul Pogba trolled Jones by claiming that the centre-back is the most likely player to score a bizarre own-goal.

After hearing the Frenchman’s dig, United fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on what the midfielder had to say.

A couple of fans however seemed rather unimpressed with what Pogba had to say, with one supporter calling him “very unprofessional” and another raising his eyebrows at why the Frenchman felt the need to answer the question in the first place.

Pogba and United fans may not have the most strongest of relationships, but this is clearly one of those times where they’re in agreement.

The Frenchman’s hilarious dig at Jones was no doubt all in jest, and at a time like this, being able to laugh and smile is something we should all treasure.

Jones may be the only one not seeing the funny side of it.

Meanwhile, Man Utd would be making a foolish mistake by snubbing this star.

Graeme Souness is something of a Rangers legend.

The Scot joined in 1986, taking up a player-manager role, and would end up spending five years at the club. It is mainly in the dug-out where he is most remembered though – he won the league cup five times and the league four times overall (one of each as a player/manager), helping the Ibrox outfit to dominate football during that time north of the border.

Still, there remained some fantastic moments on the pitch itself for the former Liverpool boss, one of which came against Aberdeen in 1986. He scored his first goal for the club with a fantastic effort from outside the box that gave the opposition goalkeeper no chance – Sir Alex Ferguson was still manager of the Dons at the time.

The clip of his strike has been shared by Rangers’ official Twitter account as it happened 34 years ago on Tuesday. The fans of the Glasgow club have clearly enjoyed the video – one fan even called him a “hero” – as you can see by some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Let us know what you think!

He may not have spent too many years with Rangers, but Nikica Jelavic certainly left a major mark at Ibrox.

The Croatian played 56 times for the Gers, scoring an impressive 36 times and providing a further 15 assists. His form with the Scottish side eventually earned him a move to the Premier League with Everton, where he went on to enjoy another few successful years.

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But after Rangers’ official Twitter account posted a clip of Jelavic’s strike against Hearts as part of their ‘Goal of the Day’, fans flooded to Twitter to share their thoughts about their former star.

One Rangers fans even suggested that Jelavic was under-rated, and that the club haven’t had anyone as good as him since.

It certainly says a lot about the kind of impression that Jelavic made, that he is compared favourably with strikers both past and present in the club’s history.

He may not be the most high-profile name, or a man with a marquee reputation, but Jelavic banged in the goals for fun at Rangers, and his contributions won’t be forgotten.

Lots of Newcastle United fans are loving the news about the prospective takeover in the North East which has been provided by Keith Downie.

As per Sky Sports, the journalist was speaking on a podcast with Steve Howey, as the two men discussed what exactly is going on at St. James’ Park.

However, it was one comment made by Downie in particular that certainly caught the eye of several members of the Toon faithful as it was relayed by NUFC 360 on their Twitter page.

The reporter claimed that the proposed deal is ‘at the final knockings’ in terms of whether it will go through or not. He also added that ‘a lot of spade work has been done’ in terms of making sure that everything can be finalised before the bid can be fully accepted.

Downie hinted that this has been a long process, and whilst some Magpies are becoming increasingly frustrated that it has not gone through, it seems as if these NUFC supporters at least loved the update:

Geordies, what do you make of the news? Comment below!

Glasgow Rangers and the other 41 clubs in Scotland’s top four tiers now have the opportunity to vote on whether they want to see the footballing pyramid north of the border reconstructed.

Ann Budge, the Hearts owner, has come to the table with a plan to switch up the system in Scotland, and it now looks that, after talks with the SPFL, a 14-10-10-10 structure is on the table. The governing body has now given the clubs the chance to say whether they back this potential new set-up or not.

SPFL chief Neil Doncaster appears to believe that is could well go through, but according to journalist Tom English, that is not the case. On Friday, he took to Twitter to say that there is genuine incredulity amongst several chairmen and chief executives that Doncaster actually believes this proposal could get voted through.

This has led to plenty of Gers fans reacting – Doncaster, after all, is not a popular figure amongst that particular fanbase. They have taken to the social media platform to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments below.

Let us know what you think!

Plenty of Everton fans have been reacting to some comments made by Carlo Ancelotti as he revealed the three players at the Merseyside club that he feels have what it takes to become managers and therefore could possibly succeed him at Goodison Park one day.

Speaking via the Liverpool Echo, the Italian boss named Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman and Gylfi Sigurdsson to have the same traits as what he identified in current Chelsea coach Frank Lampard before he became manager of at Stamford Bridge and implied that they could possibly succeed him at the Toffees when he eventually leaves his post.

“Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman have all the qualities to be good managers, Sigurdsson could also be a good manager,” Ancelotti said. “They all have strong football knowledge and good tactical understanding.”

Coleman is the current captain of the football club and so a leader on the pitch, so it is perhaps not a surprise that Ancelotti has named the 31-year old to be a future boss one day.

Baines has a wealth of experience to his name being 35 years of age and has shown great loyalty to the Blues, having made a rather impressive 418 appearances in 13 consecutive seasons in his EFC career so far, according to Transfermarkt.

Sigurdsson is arguably the most left-field option of Ancelotti’s, but the attacking midfield player has at times led by example on the pitch with his 22 goals and 14 assists in 105 games in all competitions over the past three campaigns for Everton, as the Icelandic international has also played in 74 senior matches for his country, as per the website.

These supporters reacted to Ancelotti’s comments:

Evertonians, how long will Ancelotti stay at the club? Comment below!

Tottenham Hotspur are ‘confident’ of completing a deal for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, even though Southampton have accepted a bid from Everton for the midfielder.  

Hojbjerg has made it clear he wants to move to Spurs, where Jose Mourinho is willing to play him in front of the back four. Mourinho has identified the Dane as the signing he needs to rebuild Spurs’ midfield.

According to The Guardian, as per @Daily_Hotspur, Tottenham are confident that they can sign Hojbjerg from Southampton. Dave Hytner, the newspaper’s chief football correspondent, claims that Spurs will look to conclude negotiations with the Saints, despite falling short of their asking price so far.

Southampton plan to use Everton’s £25m bid as a benchmark, while Daniel Levy will look to lower their valuation.

Hojbjerg has told the Saints that he will not be signing a new deal at St Mary’s and he was removed from the captaincy by Ralph Hasenhuttl as a result.

The ex-Bayern Munich ace has lost his place in the starting line-up since the Premier League restart, although he played the full 90 minutes against Brighton at right-back.

Hojbjerg has played 33 games in the Premier League this season, supplying one assist, taking 1.4 shots, winning 2.4 tackles and completing 1.5 clearances per game on average (via WhoScored).

Although it looks like the Lilywhites are the favourites to sign him at the moment, a deal seems far from done.

While he will not be available for a cut-price fee as the club had initially hoped, in reality he should be more than affordable, as Levy spent £53.8m on Tanguy Ndombele last year.

Spurs could be set for a reshuffle if Hojbjerg arrives in the summer, as former Pochettino favourite Harry Winks may be forced to make way, while questions remain over Ndombele’s future in north London.

Tottenham fans, do you think Daniel Levy should sign Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the summer? Let us know in the comments below!

Borussia Dortmund are ready to sell Jadon Sancho to Manchester United “for the right price.” 

The Red Devils have received a huge boost in the race to sign Sancho this summer, as Dortmund are willing to let him leave on one condition.

According to The Independent’s Miguel Delaney, the Germans will sell for the right price and Man United are expected to start negotiations with a basic fee of £55m, including a series of clauses and conditions that could take it to somewhere in the region of £80m.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has identified Sancho as the signing he needs to rebuild the Red Devils and take them to the next level.

Recent reports revealed Dortmund are stepping up contingency plans to prepare for his exit in the summer, which Delaney has now confirmed.

The Bundesliga challengers are sizing up a move for Werder Bremen’s Milot Rashica as a suitable replacement.

As it stands, everything seems to point towards Sancho ending up at Old Trafford sooner rather than later, but as is often the case with United, there is an added catch.

Although all parties involved are confident a deal can be completed, the decision ultimately hinges on whether or not the Red Devils will qualify for the Champions League.

While that may be a bit extreme, Sancho’s camp have insisted that Champions League qualification could make-or-break the deal, which is one reason why it hasn’t happened yet.

Suddenly, the stakes seem even higher when Solskjaer’s side travel to Leicester City on Sunday. United now need a point not only to reach Europe’s premier competition, but also to bring Sancho back to England in the summer.

United fans, do you think Ed Woodward will sign Sancho this summer? Let us know down below!