Things just haven’t gone to plan for Steven Bergwijn since his £25m move to Tottenham Hotspur in January 2020.

The Dutch international got off to a dream start in North London, stunning Manchester City with an incredible volley to open the scoring on his Premier League debut.

Just after an hour, Bergwijn chested down a pass from Lucas Moura before rifling it home low into the bottom corner past a helpless Ederson. That would’ve given everyone an encouraging sign of what was to come.

However, since that moment, the 23-year-old has done very little and has quickly become a forgotten man down the pecking order. Big figures like Heung-min Son and Gareth Bale won’t have helped his cause but his form tailed off quite drastically.

In the five succeeding matches after the City win, Bergwijn found the net twice, in some massive games too, including a strike against Manchester United.

That was nearly a year ago.

Since then, he has added just the one goal in the Premier League, playing a total of 1,211 minutes.

The 5 foot 7 dynamo is one of several players who are facing uncertainty at the club right now, even more so without a manager – will the new man like him enough to start him more? or will he have other plans with his wing options?

Dele Alli is another who had faltered under Jose Mourinho.

One name linked to the Spurs vacancy is Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag and if he is successful in getting the job, then you’d imagine this would benefit Bergwijn more than most.

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According to The Athletic, the 51-year-old sits among a four-man shortlist for the role and is certainly not out of Daniel Levy’s reach despite recently signing a contract extension at the Eredivisie champions.

He fits the profile of the attack-minded coach that the Spurs chairman is dreaming of and is one that ticks another box, having developed many a young player into a first-team star.

A lot of his players have gone onto bigger and better things after being nurtured by the Dutchman, these include Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) and Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), whilst names like David Neres and Ryan Gravenberch are ones to keep an eye on.

Ten Hag’s potential arrival in North London should certainly have a player like Bergwijn excited about what could happen, especially given his success with his fellow countryman and in his home nation, where he has won 73.7% of matches.

Ajax have even been linked with a move for Bergwijn in recent weeks, which suggests that the Spurs managerial target likes what he sees with the winger.

In the past, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has dubbed the Ajax supremo “one of the most exciting coaching talents in world football,” whilst former Celtic and Forest striker Pierre van Hooijdonk said his ability to progress players was “remarkable.”

On the above evidence, ten Hag could be exactly what the £45m-rated Bergwijn needs to get his Spurs career back on track.

At 23, he still has so much to give and the Dutch manager could be the one to get the best out of him.

AND in other news, Fresh twist emerges on Harry Kane’s future at Spurs, it’ll leave Daniel Levy seething…

Birmingham City are interested in a deal to bring Kyle Lafferty to St. Andrew’s this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football League World, who claim that Lee Bowyer’s side are just one of a number of Championship clubs considering a move for the centre-forward in the upcoming transfer window.

The 33-year-old looks set to become available on a free transfer at the end of the month, following the expiry of his contract with Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock.

Big mistake

Despite the fact that Lafferty turned in a number of impressive performances for Tommy Wright’s side last season, scoring eight goals, providing two assists and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.66 over his nine Premiership appearances, there are a number of reasons why Bowyer should avoid a move for the former Rangers striker this summer.

Firstly, Lafferty has not scored 10 or more league goals since the 2017/18 campaign with Heart of Midlothian, in which he managed 12 strikes over 35 appearances.

In fact, he has only actually achieved this feat on two other occasions in his career – scoring 11 goals over 31 appearances for Gers in 2010/11 and 11 goals in 34 Serie B fixtures for Palermo in 2013/14.

As such, despite the fact that the Northern Ireland international is very much an out and out forward, his return of goals over the course of his career has been somewhat disappointing.

Secondly, with Lafferty taking home a considerable wage of £3k-per-week at Kilmarnock, following his decent run of form, the 33-year-old is likely to demand a significant increase to this figure if he were to sign for a Championship club, particularly if the number of clubs interested in his services reported by Football League World is accurate.

Indeed, the BBC recently reported that the striker wanted wages “four times higher” than he was currently taking home at Rugby Park in order to stay on at the club next season.

Finally, with the £360k-rated man – whom Phil Parkinson previously dubbed a “danger” – very much heading into the twilight of his career, there would appear to be very little resale value in signing the forward, as well as the fact his abilities as a footballer will already be on the decline.

As such, it would seem highly advisable for Bowyer to turn his attention away from Lafferty this summer in order to concentrate his efforts on bringing in talent with a considerably brighter future than the veteran striker.

In other news: BCFC dealt transfer blow over “frightening” 22 G/A dynamo that’ll leave Bowyer gutted

Barnsley’s Valerien Ismael is an “effective” manager, former Premier League boss Paul Jewell has told Football FanCast.

Ismael is one name Crystal Palace are thought to be considering as they look to replace Roy Hodgson, with Football Insider reporting last month that director of football Dougie Freedman is keen on bringing him to the club.

Since then, Palace have had a good look at Nuno Espirito Santo, even coming close to appointing the ex-Wolves manager.

However, with talks breaking down, the south London outfit will now be forced to turn elsewhere, potentially bringing Ismael back into the equation.

On Ismael, who had a brief spell at Palace during his playing days, Jewell said:

“I wouldn’t want to play against him every week – it’s difficult. I mean, the different style of playing, that’s the beauty of football.

“Everyone says he plays the game the right way, never quite understood what that means, the right way. I think what you have to do is try and play the game that suits the players that you have.

“He’s different. Not silky, classy football, but he’s effective and I’ve got no problem with that.”

Failing to bring Nuno to Selhurst Park would have come as a disappointment to chairman Steve Parish. The 47-year-old has really proven himself in the Premier League with Wolves over the last few years.

But that ship has obviously sailed now, so it is worth giving serious consideration to a manager like Ismael as this search for Hodgson’s successor drags on.

كشف الجنوب إفريقي بيتسو موسيماني المدير الفني للنادي الأهلي اليوم عن بدلاء الفريق أمام المصري في المباراة التي ستجمع بينهما ببطولة الدوري المصري.

وتقام مباراة الأهلي ضد المصري اليوم على ملعب برج العرب بالإسكندرية، في إطار منافسات الجولة 13 بالدوري.

طالع أيضًا.. مباشر بالفيديو | مباراة الأهلي والمصري في الدوري

ويتصدر الأهلي ترتيب الدوري برصيد 31 نقطة، بينما يخوض المصري المباراة باحثًا عن تحسين وضعه في الجدول حيث يحل بالمرتبة الثامنة برصيد 16 نقطة.

طالع | تشكيل الأهلي أمام المصري.. عودة محمد عبد المنعم وشريف يقود الهجوم

وكان الأهلي قد فاز مساء الأربعاء الماضي أمام الاتحاد السكندري بهدف نظيف. بدلاء الأهلي أمام المصري اليوم في الدوري

علي لطفي ومحمود متولي وحسام حسن ومحمد فخري وزياد طارق وياسر إبراهيم وحسين الشحات ومحمد أشرف وأحمد عبد القادر.

MatériaMais Notícias

Após 20 dias de pré-temporada, os jogadores do Corinthians têm demonstrado entrosamento fora de campo: em praticamente todas as entrevistas coletivas até agora, os atletas ressaltaram o clima de união do elenco e demonstraram otimismo para a temporada. Mesmo com contratações mais modestas, o grupo confia que brigará por títulos em 2017.

Além da união, outro fator que tem sido abordado é a confiança que Fabio Carille dá para os jogadores. O treinador agrada ao elenco com um perfil semelhante ao de Tite.

O grupo do WhatsApp também tem ajudado a estreitar a relação entre os jogadores. Via aplicativo de celular, os atletas brincam com montagens e fotos antigas.

Até mesmo os reforços que chegaram recentemente já estão entrosados. O volante Gabriel, por exemplo, destacou a importância de um clima mais descontraído neste início de temporada.

– Está bem legal o clima, a gente dá bastante risada no momento que pode dar, mas no momento do treino a gente procura ser sério. Esse ambiente leve, com brincadeiras, tem que ter. É importante e traz coisas positivas. Essa amizade que o grupo vem tendo é importante. O ambiente é maravilhoso – afirmou o volante Gabriel, contratado em janeiro pelo Corinthians.

A partir de sábado, os jogadores começam a demonstrar em campo a razão do otimismo para 2017. O Corinthians fará seu primeiro jogo oficial na temporada, às 17h, contra o São Bento, pela estreia do Paulistão.

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Adama Traore can often look like one of Barcelona’s biggest mistakes but, other times, he looks like Wolves have found nothing more than an average player.

However, Wolves legend Steve Bull believes that he can be a world-beater on his day.

Traore’s best season in the Premier League was during the 2019/20 campaign, returning four goals and nine assists as Wolves finished 7th in the top flight. Those numbers saw him linked with a huge money move to Liverpool last summer.

But outside of that season, he has managed just three goals and five assists across four separate Premier League seasons, which highlights how frustrating a player Traore can be to watch, as he can turn a match on its head or could easily cost you multiple great opportunities.

There is no doubting that Traore has great talent and ability when he gets going at Molineux and despite those days being few and far between now, Bull still labels him as a world-beater and he made the bold statement exclusively to Football FanCast:

“He’s a talented player but he is also a frustrating player to watch because when he turns it on, he is a world-beater. He’s a world-beater more than the times he spends on the floor.” 

Traore has been linked with a move away from Molineux as the Wolves hierarchy find ways to raise funds for new manager Bruno Lage. Should he stay, though, you would expect Lage to utilise his talents.

Wolves boast an illustrious rank of wingers at the club with Traore, Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence and Morgan Gibbs-White, who can also play on one of the flanks.

Watford have been handed a boost to their chances of bringing Osaze Urhoghide to Vicarage Road this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football League World, who claim that it appears increasingly unlikely that the Sheffield Wednesday centre-back will sign a new deal with the Owls, with his current contract at Hillsborough due to expire next month.

The Hornets have been credited with an interest in the 20-year-old defender, as Xisco Munoz’s looks to build a side capable of remaining in the Premier League come next summer.

Giaretta will be buzzing

While Sheffield Wednesday endured something of a season to forget this term, Urhoghide’s breakthrough into Darren Moore’s side was undoubtedly one of the brighter aspects of the club’s campaign.

Over his 16 Championship appearances, Urhoghide turned in a number of admirable displays for the Owls, helping his side to keep three clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 1.8 tackles and 2.7 clearances per game, earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.63.

While these may not be overly groundbreaking metrics, when taking into account the fact that the 20-year-old was playing for a side fighting at the wrong end of the Championship table, as well as not having a great deal of first-team football under his belt, they would appear to indicate that the £270k-rated man has a great deal of potential in the game.

Indeed, Moore has claimed that he believes Urhoghide is an “immense” player within his team, while the general feeling around the club is that the youngster is one of their brightest and most promising players.

As such, the news that the 20-year-old looks set to become available on a free transfer in the coming weeks is sure to leave Cristiano Giaretta buzzing, as the addition of the centre-back would appear to bode very well for the future of the Watford defence, as well as providing the club with greater depth over what is likely to be a challenging Premier League campaign next season.

In other news: Watford gain transfer boost over “tireless” £31k-p/w beast that’ll have fans buzzing

Chris Harris might have missed out on a place in the all-time Canterbury XI, but he proved his worth to the modern generation of players and supporters when setting up a possible match-winning advantage over Otago at Alexandra today.When Canterbury began the second day today at 31/3, it seemed unlikely that they could secure a first innings lead over Otago.The Canterbury batsmen never looked completely assured against the bowling of David Sewell.But after some resolute batting from Harris, Paul Wiseman and Peter Fulton, they eventually went on to gain a lead of 18 runs. Harris scored 51 and helped add 78 runs for the sixth wicket with Fulton (33).When Fulton was out at 174/8 there was still a lot of work for the remaining two Canterbury wickets to do to overhaul the Otago first innings total of 206. Wiseman was not fazed at all by this and hit hard to be finally dismissed last for 44 and with the Canterbury total at 224.When rain sent the players and umpires from the field at 4.37 pm Otago were badly situated at 19/2.Sewell recorded his second best career figures of seven for 64 from 24 overs and deserved this success. He bowled a good line and length throughout.Kerry Walmsley took one for 67 from 22 overs and Craig Pryor one for 51 from 17 but were a little wayward at times. Nathan Morland with one for 32 from 11 overs captured the remaining wicket.Otago began their second innings only 18 runs in arrears but were soon in trouble when they lost Robbie Lawson and Craig Cumming, who bagged a pair, when the total was 19 – soon to be followed by Brendon McCullum and Chris Gaffaney with no further addition to the score.At that stage it seemed the game could possibly end on day two.Rain interrupted play for almost an hour and after the resumption it was calculated that to complete the required number of overs for the day, light permitting, play would go to 7.45pm.Light didn’t permit and at 7.03pm play was abandoned for the day with the Otago total at 75/5 – a lead of 57 with two days play remaining.Wade Cornelius with three wickets to go with his four from the first innings was the successful Canterbury bowler while Ryan Burson and Harris captured one victim each.At this stage it would seem Canterbury would be favoured to achieve the outright win but Otago obviously will be fighting hard to somehow achieve their first and only outright win of the season.

Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson was quick to defend county cricket in response to an article by former Lancashire and England player Michael Atherton that appeared in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday

Richard Walsh15-Apr-2002Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson was quick to defend county cricket in response to an article by former Lancashire and England player Michael Atherton that appeared in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday.As we sat looking out across the County Ground at Taunton this morning he told me: "I’m saddened but not surprised to read `Grumpy’ Atherton’s first effort as a professional journalist in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday. He was obviously struggling to think of anything intelligent to say so he reverted to the easy target of bashing the county game."His article is full of generalisations but specifically he was totally wrong in stating that all the money coming into cricket derives from the activities of the England team. In fact 60% of the turnover at Somerset comes from our own activities without which there would be no professional club at all. For that we should be praised not pilloried."Like so many players `Grumpy’ has no idea of the objectives laid out in the constitution of county clubs. Of course putting a competitive professional side into the field is the main objective but all county clubs are so much more these days. They are responsible for the development of talents and for the many grass roots initiatives currently being run to popularise the game with the young, all of which have staffing requirements.”If he is to be taken seriously as a cricket journalist then he needs to get to know his subject. He should ask himself what he did for county cricket for which he was paid a handsome salary and a £350,000 benefit, money derived from members and supporters, many of whom probably couldn’t afford it and are repaid by him in degenerative terms for the game they love. Of course he had large pockets in which to place the cash but as we all know there was very often something else in them."The success and popularity of sport does not rest solely upon who turns up to watch. If `Grumpy’ had done his homework he would know that there is a tremendous passive interest in cricket, as 84,000 hits on the Somerset website for March clearly shows."

The umpiring appointments for the five Tests played between the West Indies and India in the Caribbean are as follows:First Test:Daryl HarperAsoka de SilvaSecond Test:Daryl HarperAsoka de SilvaThird Test:Daryl HarperAsoka de SilvaFourth Test:David SheperdRussell TiffinFifth Test:David SheperdRussell TiffinRanjan Madugalle will officiate as Match Referee for all five Test matches.