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Peter Handcomb also leaving Australia A squad to be with his pregnant partner; Test quick Scott Boland and Queensland keeper Jimmy Pierson called into the A squad

Alex Malcolm07-Jun-2022

Bowling allrounder Sean Abbott has been ruled out of the rest of the Sri Lanka tour after fracturing his finger in the nets, while Peter Handscomb has also left the Australia A squad to be with his pregnant partner in Melbourne.Abbott was part of Australia’s T20I squad that was preparing for the first T20I of a three-match series in Colombo on Tuesday, although he was not selected in Australia’s XI for game one. But he suffered a fracture to his left index finger while batting in the nets and has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour. He was supposed to link up with the Australia A squad following the T20I series, for the four-day matches, as he is not part of Australia’s ODI squad.Related

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Peter Handscomb to leave Middlesex with immediate effect

Australia keen to expose 'scarcity' of spin stocks in Sri Lanka

Handscomb, who had also announced he was not heading back to captain Middlesex in the county championship following the Australia A series in Sri Lanka, has decided to leave Sri Lanka to head home to be with his pregnant partner as the pair are expecting their first child.Test bowler Scott Boland has been called up to travel to Sri Lanka early to cover for Abbott in the Australia A four-day matches ahead of the two-match Test series. He was originally set to arrive later with the Test-only squad members not required to travel until later in the month.Queensland wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson has been called up to the A squad as cover for Handscomb. Peirson has been called up in the likely event Australia A needs a specialist wicketkeeper in the four-day games if Josh Inglis is required to play in the ODI series as a batter. Josh Philippe is in the A squad but appears likely to only play in the 50-over games.Australia’s selectors have named an Australia A XI for the first 50-over match in Colombo on Wednesday. Alex Carey is set to captain the side with Cameron Green also named. Carey and Green weren’t originally in the A squad but have been added for the two 50-over games as preparation for the ODI series starting next Tuesday.Australia A will feature three specialist spinners in the same XI, with Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann and Tanveer Sangha all named to play as Australia hope to expose their young spinners to Sri Lankan conditions.Australia A XI for Wednesday: Henry Hunt, Josh Philippe, Matt Renshaw, Nic Maddinson, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (capt, wk), Aaron Hardie, Mark Steketee, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, Tanveer Sangha

Tottenham’s chiefs are becoming increasingly interested in a new manager as pressure builds on current Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, it has been reported.

Tottenham's season in tatters

Tottenham threw away another lead this season as they fell to a 4-3 home defeat to Chelsea in their most recent Premier League outing. The Lilywhites roared into a 2-0 lead courtesy of two errors from Marc Cucurella, but were pegged back by goals from Jadon Sancho and Cole Palmer, before Enzo Fernandez and second Palmer penalty left them 4-2 down.

They clawed one back in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late and it was their London rivals who escaped with all three points.

The result, Tottenham’s third loss in four Premier League games, leaves the Lilywhites marooned in 11th in the Premier League with more defeats than wins, though they only remain five points off fifth placed Nottingham Forest.

Postecoglou was keen to stress the positives of the game though: “We had moments to get our third and at half-time we were in a decent position. The second half is a ding dong, especially at the start, they scored but we had a big chance with Son, we didn’t take it and then they [are] 3-2 up.

“I think there were quality opportunities but I don’t think there was an abundance of them. I can’t remember the keepers making a load of top quality saves.

“We more than matched a good side in that department and when there is quality out there you are going to have moments. There were things we could have done better for sure.”

Despite this, there are concerns mounting in north London, with the Spurs boss having been booed by his own fans during their midweek defeat to Bournemouth, and should results not pick up a change could be inevitable.

Should he depart, one man is creeping his way up Tottenham’s radar.

Tottenham chiefs increasingly impressed by Fulham boss

That is according to The Independent, who report that Tottenham’s hierarchy are casting “increasingly admiring looks” in the direction of Fulham boss Marco Silva.

The Portuguese coach, who sets his team out in a much more rigid and traditional 4-2-3-1 at Craven Cottage, has helped Fulham into 10th place this season, and picked up a credible point against Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal in his most recent outing.

Evening Standard reporter Dom Smith dubbed him an “underrated manager”, and now it appears that Tottenham have their eye on him should they be forced into making a decision over Postecoglou.

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Even having sold his best player in back to back summers, Silva’s side have gradually improved since their arrival in the Premier League, and their draw with Arsenal left them three points above Spurs in the table, with far fewer resources.

His work is likely to have caught the eye of other clubs too. Tottenham had shortlisted him over the summer of 2023, but ended up plumping for Postecoglou instead. Could they now return?

Given Celtic’s business model of buying young players at a low cost, providing them a platform on which to perform and ultimately selling them on at a profit, the Hoops experience more squad turnover than most.

Matt O’Riley is a prime example of this transfer strategy, arriving from Milton Keynes Dons for just £1.5m in January 2022, before being sold to Brighton & Hove Albion for £25m last summer, a joint-record sale for a Scottish club, alongside Kieran Tierney’s move to Arsenal in 2019 and Jota who joined Al-Ittihad in 2023.

This merry-go-round has seen plenty of top-quality strikers donning the famous Hoops during the last decade or so, including Moussa Dembele, Odsonne Edouard, Giorgos Giakoumakis and current first-choice centre-forward Kyogo Furuhashi to name but a few.

Celtic do often get their recruitment right, particularly at the top end of the park, but this certainly isn’t always the case.

Celtic's worst-ever transfer window?

Following the summer window in 2020, Celtic put out this now infamous “Just sitting there thinking… what a window” tweet, mocking former striker Charlie Nicholas, who had criticised the club’s recruitment, but it turned out he was right.

Of the players pictured, Vasilis Barkas, Shane Duffy and Albian Ajeti were massive flops, Diego Laxalt was underwhelming, David Turnbull was decent, albeit but didn’t live up to his potential, and Mohamed Elyounoussi was sporadically impressive, but without much consistency.

The Hoops’ poor recruitment in 2020 actually extended back to the pre-pandemic January window too, paying £2m for Ismaila Soro’s services from Bnei Yehuda, while Patryk Klimala arrived from Jagiellonia Białystok for £3.5m.

Given that the world shut down and football was suspended mere weeks after his arrival in Glasgow, Klimala made just four appearances, totalling 101 minutes, during his first half-season at Celtic, but there was optimism he could have an impact the following year after an impressive showing in pre-season, most-notably scoring the goal below against Nice.

He then netted on the opening day of the Premiership season as the Bhoys hammered Hamilton Accies 5-1, on target shortly after being introduced as a substitute.

This though, was very much not the start of something, with Klimala scoring just three times in 28 appearances during what proved to be a catastrophic campaign, as Neil Lennon’s team ended up trophyless, finishing a whopping 25 points behind Rangers, with 20/21 still the only campaign since 2010/11 in which Celtic have not been crowned champions.

The Polish striker unceremoniously departed in April 2021, described as “surplus to requirements” by Noel Whelan in Football Insider, sold to New York Red Bulls for $4.8m, with Celtic remarkably getting their money back, despite his unnoteworthy stint in Glasgow, with Klimala becoming something of a globe trotter subsequently.

Patryk Klimala's post-Celtic career

Similar to Celtic, the New York Red Bulls almost certainly regret paying £3.5m for Klimala’s services.

He was actually their top-scorer with eight in 2021, as the New Jersey-based franchise finished 14th in the overall Major League Soccer standings, scoring just 14 goals in 63 appearances overall, losing his starting spot as RBNY improved in 2022.

As a result, the following January, he was sold to Israeli-based club Hapoel Be’er Sheva, scoring a miserly four goals in 23 outings, before his contract was mutually terminated towards the end of 2023 following the escalation of the Israel–Hamas war.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

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Śląsk Wrocław, back in his native Poland, took a chance on Klimala, but this did not pay off, failing to score in any of his 11 Ekstraklasa appearances for the Militarians, so much so that he was disregarded to their reserve side, who ply their trade in the Polish fourth-tier, unsurprisingly scoring four in four at that level, including a hat-trick against Górnik Polkowice, but this would prove to be just the start of his scoring spree.

In September 2024, Klimala joined A-League side Sydney FC and, despite now plying his trade on the other side of the world, he appears to have found a home.

Now 26 years old, he’s scored seven goals in 11 outings for the Sky Blues, bagging the winner on his A-League debut, which just so happened to be a Sydney derby against Western Sydney Wanderers.

He was on target in another Sydney derby victory in late November too, before continuing his scoring spree in defeat at Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, as the Sky Blues sit sixth in the A-League standings.

Patryk Klimala’s career by numbers

Club

Goals

Minutes per goal

Jagiellonia Białystok

11

211

Celtic

3

227

New York Red Bulls

14

289

Hapoel Be’er Sheva

4

281

Śląsk Wrocław

0

N/A

Sydney FC

7

135

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt

As outlined by the table, the striker has flourished at the start of his life Down Under so, while this doesn’t suggest Celtic should have kept hold of him, it does emphasise that just because a player doesn’t work out at one club, or four in this case, it doesn’t mean they won’t thrive at the right level and in the right environment.

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Posts ByRoss Kilvington Dec 8, 2024

Liverpool stepped out to a roaring Anfield. It was a din, crashing, bouncing, shaking the pitch and speaking to the players that this was a showdown for the ages.

Manchester City were brushed aside, swept toward a chastening defeat by an unstoppable Red force. Virgil van Dijk rightly played down title talk in his post-match interview, but Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over the beleaguered champions has opened up a chasmic gulf, 11 points, that even City, usually so invincible, capable of clawing back from bruising setbacks, surely cannot bridge.

Arsenal (and Chelsea) sit nine points behind Liverpool in joint-second place, and while both outfits pose a threat, this was a performance for the ages, mere days after Real Madrid were put to the sword in the Champions League.

The Anfield crowd sang, and the squad met them with the most awe-inspiring of efforts. This is beyond the city’s wildest dreams. Jurgen Klopp is gone, Liverpool were heading into the gloomy bogland of an era ended – wasn’t that the narrative?

Only, Arne Slot is proving to be the architect of something special, something magical. He’s inherited a sparkling squad, and with Mohamed Salah at the front, all walks can be conquered before summer stretches down to Merseyside next year.

Mohamed Salah does his talking on the pitch

Salah has been vocal regarding his contractual situation of late, but that hasn’t stopped him from forging perhaps the most incredible individual campaign of his career to date – at this stage, in any case.

Man United

16

15

6

21

Man City

22

12

7

19

Tottenham

20

12

2

14

Arsenal

17

11

2

13

Chelsea

23

8

4

12

The 32-year-old has now scored 13 goals and added 11 assists across 20 matches in all competitions for Slot’s Liverpool, seemingly operating with a feverish desire to claim the biggest prizes and continue an illustrious journey.

The ultimate big-game player, Salah came up with the goods once again on Sunday, savagely pouncing on the Citizens’ weaknesses to carve through a delivery for Cody Gakpo’s opener, before dispatching the penalty to seal the deal after the interval.

Fantastic. The stuff of titles, that. However, trophies are not lifted solely by the flashiness of a club’s superstars. Adversity must be overcome and those outside the limelight must come up trumps to guide their team through tough periods.

The brilliant Ibrahima Konate picked up an injury against Real Madrid and may not feature again until the new year, but Joe Gomez made his first Premier League start of the season and proved himself (once again).

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Arne Slot's real Liverpool hero against Man City

Konate, shoved to the ground by Endrick on an otherwise exultant Wednesday evening, has been cruelly sidelined while at the height of his powers, but Gomez isn’t exactly untested in the biggest, toughest situations for Liverpool.

He thrived. The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle bestowed upon the 27-year-old an 8/10 match rating, writing: ‘Slotted into central defence with the minimum of fuss and covered the right flank when required. One good tackle on Haaland first half and so solid throughout.’

Erling Haaland was a shadow of his usual self, and this is largely down to Gomez’s almost innate partnership with Van Dijk, who he served alongside with regularity during triumphant Premier League and Champions League campaigns back in the dog days of Klopp’s tenure.

Van Dijk will take the spotlight, naturally, but we must tip our hat to this wonderfully dynamic player. He stepped in, he stood strong against the waves of City pressure. Albeit, soft, soft waves, really just lapping at Anfield’s toes. He was the most important player, in a sense, for he stood in for an irreplaceable Konate against the finest team of recent memory. He ran the show.

As per Sofascore, Gomez won both of his duels on the evening, also completing 88% of his passes and succeeding with four long balls, catching the eye with the gumption and accuracy of such balls, struck high and carried aloft through to the surging Luis Diaz, the charging Gakpo.

Stand up, Liverpool. You’ve scored a pair of brilliant victories this week, and the title’s yours to lose. There is, however, a long old road still to walk, and it’s filled with peril.

Good thing the Reds have Joe Gomez, ay?

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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim is not hiding his shame at his side's poor performances under his stewardship.

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• Amorim embarrassed by disappointing form
• Suggests players need to be mentally stronger
• United take on Fulham in FA Cup

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The United boss joined the club from Sporting CP in November with a lot of hype and expectation, following success in his native Portugal and a 4-1 dismantling of Manchester City in the Champions League. But things are yet to fully turn around for the Red Devils. Amorim has overseen 23 games in charge of the club, winning under half (11) and losing nine – five of which coming at Old Trafford. While he is confident he has the backing to turn the club around, he knows there are few positives to shine a light on.

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  WHAT AMORIM SAID ABOUT FORM

  Speaking to , Amorim said: "I feel that [people believe in me]. At the same time, I'm embarrassed by that because if you look at our performance and you see our team sometimes on the pitch, it's really hard for me as a coach to take a lot of positives."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  There are few reasons to be positive about Manchester United this season. The Red Devils appear destined to finish in the lower reaches of the Premier League table, which would record their worst-ever finish in the process, and their abject performances offer little hope that they can win silverware. Amorim still has chances to win a trophy with either the FA Cup or Europa League but knows his side must improve – particularly at home.

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• WHAT AMORIM SAID ABOUT OLD TRAFFORD

  Amorim added: "I think we are so nervous sometimes in the game and you can feel it in the small things. The way that we move sometimes, the understanding of the game, especially at Old Trafford.

  "I feel that sometimes the players are in the dressing room and we go to warm-up and we go inside to start the game, I feel that the air is heavy. These kind of things I think we show a lot in the games.

  "When we suffer a goal or we have a bad moment, you feel like the connection is not there, we lose ourselves. We get lost a little bit. I understand it is more than football, more than tactics, it is something that is in the players' mind."

Leeds United haven’t always been the most frugal when it comes to additions through the door, with money rashly spent on plenty of duds over recent times.

The disastrous summer transfer window before a ball was kicked to start the 2022-23 season is proof of that, with the likes of Luis Sinisterra joining for a whopping £21m, only for the Colombian to make a paltry 26 appearances in West Yorkshire before relocating once more.

If you go further back in time to the days when sporting director Victor Orta was front and centre of all of the frantic business – with an equally eccentric Marcelo Bielsa at the managerial helm for most of his time at the club – the blunders do pile up even more.

But, the top buys that Orta managed to get over the line should also come into view.

The best Orta buys at Leeds

For every Kiko Casilla Orta managed to bring into the building, there were dozens of other success stories.

Names such as Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter immediately spring to mind, with the Spaniard overseeing a deal that saw Summerville join the West Yorkshire titans for just £1.5m from Feyenoord in 2020.

He would later leave for West Ham United for a mammoth £25m, after scoring stunners like the one above on a regular basis for Leeds in the Championship, notching up a frightening 31 goal contributions in league action last season as Farke’s men narrowly missed out on promotion.

Going back to the reign of Bielsa, however, and the likes of Mateusz Klich and Ezgjan Alioski stand out as unlikely heroes who were transformed into greats under the Argentine, with Klich having cost Leeds just £1.5m like Summerville due to Orta’s eye for a deal.

The Polish midfielder amassed 195 appearances in total at Elland Road, cementing himself as a mainstay of many XIs over his six-season stay in England.

Orta is also responsible for Wilfried Gnonto choosing Leeds as his next destination after leaving FC Zurich behind, in another stunning capture at just £3.8m

Yet, not everything went swimmingly with Orta as the main figurehead, with some players joining for way over the odds on expensive deals away from the Spaniard consistently striking gold.

The player that cost Orta £47m in total

Rodrigo join Leeds as a coup signing in the summer of 2020 from La Liga outfit Valencia, with Leeds forking out a club record £27m to win his services.

Whilst the aforementioned names of Summerville and Klich would grow to become stars for the Whites, an expectation was already on Rodrigo’s head to deliver as a statement purchase on his arrival, with the attacker going on to arguably underwhelm the Elland Road masses.

He would never develop into being a prolific finisher in West Yorkshire, with his best goal total in the Premier League coming in at a mediocre 13, as the Spanish forward ended his time in England with a sub-par goal tally of 28 from 97 clashes.

For a striker who cost £27m to snap up, the Whites masses must have been expecting more in terms of firepower from their ex-number 19.

This deal will feel like even more of an error when you consider his extortionate wage amidst these middle-of-the-road displays, earning a bumper salary of £100k-per-week and £5.2m-per-year as per Capology, which made him the highest earner at the club the three years he was present.

For context, that’s a far higher wage than both Gnonto and Joe Rodon find themselves on under Farke, with the Welshman earning just £40k-per-week whilst his Italian counterpart pockets a lesser £30k-per-week.

Remarkably, Rodrigo would be earning more than both their pay packets combined, with moments of magic like his thunderous strike above against West Ham United not common enough to justify his lavish salary or fee.

In total, Leeds would burn through £43m – when considering his £27m fee and his three-year wage costs – with many at Elland Road glad to see the back of the ex-Valencia man when he left for Qatar in the wake of the club’s relegation.

Farke and Co will try not to be so brash with their spending habits if they return to the Premier League at the end of this campaign, with a want for more shrewd deals to happen over expensive misfires.

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Oct 15, 2024

Al-Hilal have made their feelings known about perceived 'suspicious' refereeing, urging the Saudi Pro League to consider importing match officials.

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Al-Hilal slate refereeing standardsUpset by two penalties not awarded in drawCalling on Saudi Pro League to import officialsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

In the wake of Friday's 1-1 draw with Al-Riyadh, leaving the champions a point behind leaders Al-Ittihad having played a game more, Al -Hilal issued a strongly-worded statement criticising the officiating. Al-Hilal expressed a strong desire to see "foreign refereeing crews" that are "known in major global leagues" imported into Saudi Arabian football.

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Although the statement was prompted by two potential penalies that were not awarded, even after VAR reviews, Al-Hilal insist those are only the "latest incidents" in a "series of refereeing cases", accusing officials of a reluctance when it comes to overturning on-field decisions.

WHAT Al-HILAL SAID

Al Hilal said: "Al-Hilal Club wishes to express its astonishment at the suspicious refereering decisions witnessed in the first-team's match in the Roshn Saudi Pro League, despite the presence of the latest technologies to assist in making fair decisions. The latest incidents occurred in the team's recent match against Al-Riyadh Club, where two penalty kicks, clearly validated by VAR footage from multiple angles, were ignored. This is part of a series of refereeing cases characterized by their obstinacy, with a reluctance to revert to VAR technology or two award penalties, despite the clarity of the situation.

"The club clarifies that its stance remains firm on the importance of bringing in foreign refereeing crews to officiate its matches, provided they are top-tier referees known in major global leagues. The club hopes that it will not penalized by the recruitment of obscure referees as a result of its rejection of the demands by Manuel Navarro, Chairman of the Referees Committee of the Saudi Football Federation, who has repeatedly asked the club's officials to revert to Saudi referees."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

Al-Hilal have a midweek AFC Champions League game against Emirati club Al-Wasl coming up, before a huge top-of-the-table Saudi Pro League clash with Al-Ittihad, who could go four points clear if they beat Al-Wehda on Saturday evening. With the last two Saudi champions going head to head, it has the potential to be a major moment in the title race.

Assistant coach McDonald says 4-1 loss in Bangladesh is fresh in the mind but hopes experience will put them in good stead

Alex Malcolm02-Nov-2021Australia are expecting a trial by spin against Bangladesh despite their top-order collapse to England’s seamers on Saturday night in Dubai.Australia’s semi-final hopes hang in the balance after their net run-rate took a hammering courtesy of the England loss, and the irony of their tournament hinging on defeating Bangladesh and West Indies was not lost on assistant coach Andrew McDonald.The recent 4-1 series defeat to Bangladesh remains fresh in the mind of the Australians although they are confident some more experienced personnel will hold them in good stead on Thursday, given five of Australia’s seven specialist batters at the World Cup did not tour Bangladesh recently.Related

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“We’re going to get a little bit of a trial by spin, which has been a great challenge over the last sort of 12-18 months,” McDonald said. “But, we feel as though with Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell coming back into that [team], along with Aaron Finch, David Warner, we’ve probably got some more capable players in terms of the ability to play spin than what we had on the last tour. It’s not to say that those guys on the last tour weren’t going to develop into great players of spin, but they were early on in their journey. And that was the first time that they’ve been exposed to such conditions. And it’s not uncommon for people to fail on their first tour to the subcontinent. That’s what happened to us, but we feel as though we’ve got better capabilities within this team. But it’s literally going to be a similar trial by spin in my opinion.”Nasum Ahmed and Shakib Al Hasan took 15 wickets between them in the recent series, but Bangladesh have lost Shakib for the remainder of the tournament due to a hamstring injury. The conditions in Dubai are also not going to be anything like the sticky spinning tracks Australia faced in Bangladesh.Australia learned plenty of lessons from the England loss, not least of which was how to navigate batting first in Dubai given the success of teams that have won the toss and sent the opposition in. But McDonald believes the toss will not have as big an impact on Australia’s next two matches as both are day games.”At the moment, we are seeing some difficulties with teams batting first, and that is an ongoing discussion internally, how we would approach that given another opportunity with it with a night game at Dubai,” McDonald said. “But at the moment, our focus is clearly on Bangladesh, 2 pm start. And then once we get through that one, it’s another 2 pm start down at Abu Dhabi against the West Indies. So the relevance of that conversation at the moment is probably just parked, but it’s going on in the background.”The major debate in the Australia camp is around team selection and structure. Australia opted for seven batters and four bowlers in their first two matches against South Africa and Sri Lanka and secured two wins. They opted for six batters and five bowlers against England, citing Ashton Agar’s ability to match-up to England’s top order as the reason to drop allrounder Mitch Marsh after Glenn Maxwell was taken for 16 in his solitary powerplay over against Sri Lanka. Marcus Stoinis also bowled three overs for 35, but Australia still won the game easily with Aaron Finch able to deploy Mitchell Starc’s overs with more flexibility due to the use of the allrounders.Australia lost wickets in the powerplay against England and were exposed, with Maxwell forced to bat against the new ball. The game was all but over when Australia slumped to 4 for 21. How Australia structures their side against Bangladesh remains a work in progress, but Marsh’s recent good form against them in Bangladesh will no doubt bring him back into calculations.”We’ve got a lot to work through,” McDonald said. “We’ll be picking the best team based on conditions and the opposition.”Two spinners have served us well in the past. Clearly, seven batters were chosen in the first couple of games and Ashton was unlucky not to be a part of those teams. We went in favour of the three quicks and the one spinner with Glenn Maxwell to do the second spinning duty.”So all those things we take into consideration, whoever misses out is always going to be unlucky, and it’s always going to create discussions and debates as to what our best team is. And that’s probably a reflection on the depth that we have, and hopefully, we can navigate our way through the next couple of games, pick the right teams, and only hindsight will tell us whether they’re right or wrong.”

Verma will likely open the batting with Alyssa Healy which means a new role for Ellyse Perry

Alex Malcolm27-Sep-2021

Sydney Sixers have announced India pair Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav have signed for the upcoming WBBL season, which begins in October following India’s multi-format series with Australia.ESPNcricinfo reported back in May that Verma, 17, had signed a two-year deal with Sixers to play alongside Australia stars Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry. Yadav will join Verma for the pair’s first foray into the WBBL, with the announcement coming just a day after Sydney Thunder confirmed the signings of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma.Verma’s arrival is likely to see the end of the long-standing opening pair of Healy and Perry which has been a central plank of Sixers’ gameplan through the WBBL but the team needed revitalising after missing the finals in the last two seasons.Related

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Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav set for maiden WBBL deals

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo last month, Perry indicated there would be some changes to the set-up. “I think there’s a number of areas in our line-up that we’ll probably just tweak,” she said. “It might depend on game-to-game match-ups with different teams. I’d like to think that it’s not exactly the same Sixers outfit or style of game that that we’ve played the last couple years, but I hope it’s still recognisable as the Sixers as well.”Verma, coming off her maiden ODI half-century in third match against Australia on Sunday, was excited about the opportunity to play in the WBBL.”This is a very good opportunity for me and my goal is to just enjoy myself, to make some new friends and have fun,” Verma said. “I want to play WBBL and back myself and just believe in myself.”Verma will once again play under Sixers coach Ben Sawyer, who coached her at Birmingham Pheonix in the Hundred.”Shafali is very impressive. She’s such a talent and she’s fearless,” Sawyer said. “She hits to different areas of the field and plays shots that are different to the other three girls in that top four. The experience I had with her in Birmingham was that she wants to learn, she wants to get better and she wants to grow as a player and a person.”Yadav was not part of India’s ODI or Test squad for Australia but is still a key pillar in the T20 and looks set to feature in the T20I portion of the series against Australia.Sawyer was delighted to add a left-arm orthodox to the Sixers mix given they already have three right-arm off-spinners in Ash Gardner, Nicole Bolton, and Erin Burns.”Radha brings a skill set that we have never had at the Sixers and that’s very exciting,” Sawyer said. “I think a left-arm orthodox bowler is so important in the WBBL and having one who is world-class is such a great opportunity for this team. She has also batted in the middle of the order for India so she is handy with the bat too.”

An "unbelievable" Newcastle United player has a "willingness" to come to an agreement over a new contract at St James' Park, in a deal that would be worth more than £3.1m per year.

Newcastle eyeing future signings

The Magpies continue to be linked with new signings in the future, following a summer transfer window that many supporters weren't overly enamoured with. There is a feeling that Eddie Howe's squad wasn't strengthened sufficiently enough, with the manager himself even hinting at his own frustration surrounding the situation.

One report has claimed that Adam Wharton is being looked at as a potential target for Newcastle ahead of next summer, with the Crystal Palace midfielder impressing so much last season that he received a call-up to England's squad for Euro 2024. Liverpool and Manchester City are also keen on snapping him up, though.

Rumours linking the Magpies with a move for Barcelona winger Raphinha are also refusing to go away, with a fresh update stating that the Premier League side are happy to match the La Liga giants' £52m valuation of him. The Brazilian could be an ideal improvement on Miguel Almiron and his impressive spell at Leeds United showed that he is capable of thriving in English football.

While new faces are vital for Newcastle moving forward, retaining the services of the most important players at St James' Park is just as key. Now, a fresh update has emerged regarding the future of one such figure.

Newcastle plan contract talks with "unbelievable" ace

According to a fresh update from Football Insider, Newcastle are planning talks with Antony Gordon over a contract extension at St James' Park, which would earn him more than his current £3.1m-a-year wages.

The report states that "despite links with a move to Liverpool in the summer, Gordon remains focused" on playing for the Magpies currently, adding that "there is a willingness to reach an agreement over a new contract".

Tieing Gordon down to an extension would feel significant for Newcastle, following strong reported interest from his boyhood club Liverpool during the summer window. Even if he does decide he wants to leave soon, it would also put the Magpies in a strong bargaining position, in terms of demanding huge money for him.

The hope is that the 23-year-old now sees his long-term future at St James', however, having become a popular player in a short space of time, not least with Bruno Guimaraes: "He has been unbelievable, always scoring and giving some assists.

"He is a lovely guy as well, I am very happy for him and hope he can get some minutes for England. For me to play against him will be massive for both of us and the club as well."

Newcastle make first approach to sign "magical" new £15m star for Howe

The Magpies could already have their first signing of 2025 lined up.

By
Tom Cunningham

Sep 6, 2024

Gordon hasn't yet found his top form this season – he is still waiting for his first assist of the campaign – but he is a massive player for Newcastle and should only get better as his prime approaches.