All posts by h716a5.icu

Since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over at Wrexham two years ago, the club has just gone from strength to strength.

Plentiful amounts of money have been pumped into the Welsh side and they are now just one game away from that elusive promotion.

It has been over a decade since they were last in the Football League, but a victory over Boreham Wood on Saturday evening will mean at long last, they are back in the EFL.

At present, the Red Dragons sit on 107 points, a National League record, with Phil Parkinson having worked wonders with one of the finest squads you are ever likely to see at non-league level.

Not only do they possess former England and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, but League Two top scorer of 2020/21, Paul Mullin, is also at the club, while they paid the best part of £300k to lure Ollie Palmer from Wimbledon too.

This only feels like the beginning of their investment, however, particularly if they do secure a place in the fourth tier.

It even looks as though another former Premier League star could be on their way to the Racecourse Ground after Foster.

Who could sign for Wrexham this summer?

It's likely that the manager will have a number of targets in mind in order to improve the squad further ahead of next term, but one such player could be someone of Welsh origin, Hal Robson-Kanu.

The 33-year-old hasn't played since leaving West Bromwich Albion behind in 2021, but could be tempted out of retirement in order to join in the fun at Wrexham.

Indeed, taking to Instagram, the attacker commented on a post from co-owner, Reynolds, by saying: "I’ll come out of retirement and come and play for Wrexham next season. I’ll also give my salary to charity of the fans choosing…"

The statement is yet to be met with a response from the movie star, although there must be some element of excitement behind a potential swoop.

After all, this is a player with experience of playing and scoring at a major international tournament for his country, while Robson-Kanu also boasts 14 Premier League goals and 31 Championship strikes.

Mullin, Palmer and indeed Foster were remarkable signings, but this one, in terms of goalscoring ability might just top the lot.

West Ham could look to bring in Brendan Rodgers as David Moyes' eventual replacement, according to an update from journalist Paul Brown.

Is Moyes getting sacked by West Ham?

There is no doubt that this has been a disappointing season for the Hammers to date, having qualified for Europe last year. This time around, they have found themselves in a Premier League relegation battle, and while safety looks likely, they are not out of the water yet.

Sunday's 2-2 draw at home to current league leaders Arsenal certainly helped, with West Ham showing strong resolve to come from 2-0 down early to earn what could be such a precious point. While the east Londoners are still in the UEFA Europa Conference League, pressure is clearly growing on Moyes, with the Scot not at his best this season, getting too many poor results and performances out of his team.

There is certainly a chance that the Hammers could be looking for a new manager at the end of the campaign, and a key update has emerged regarding the situation.

Could Rodgers be next Hammers boss?

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Brown talked up the idea of Rodgers being Moyes' successor at the London Stadium:

"I still think that the plan really for West Ham is to try and stick it out with David Moyes and see if he can turn things around next season. But I just feel like Brendan Rodgers is the one name who's now out there that might turn their heads a bit and might change things for the owners."

It does feel as though this summer could be the right time for West Ham to make a change in the dugout, with Moyes seemingly not the force he was, having guided the Hammers to back-to-back sixth and seventh-place finishes in 2020/21 and 2021/22 respectively.

Some managerial reigns simply run their course and Rodgers could be the ideal man to bring in as Moyes' replacement, having recently parted ways with Leicester City. While his time at the King Power grew stagant, too, he is a talented coach who could get West Ham playing more eye-catching attacking football than Moyes, having famously come close to winning the Premier League title with Liverpool back in 2013/14, not to mention clinching two Scottish Premiership titles with Celtic and tasting FA Cup glory at Leicester.

The Northern Irishman would surely jump at the chance to manage the Hammers, so it is one to keep an eye on, although it would be a surprise if it happened before the end of this season.

Newcastle United are the current joint frontrunners to sign Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha this summer, according to reports.

What's the latest on Zaha's future?

Eddie Howe already has Anthony Gordon, Allan Saint-Maximin and Ryan Fraser as his options on the left wing but The Telegraph have reported that the boss has his sights set on securing a new versatile wide forward during the upcoming window, with the 30-year-old identified as a potential candidate.

The Ivory Coast international will be out of contract at Selhurst Park at the end of the season meaning that he will become a free agent on the market should he not put pen to paper on fresh terms, and being Roy Hodgson’s top-performing offensive player, has caught the eye of the boss, but not for the first time.

The Daily Mail (via SportsMole) credited the Magpies with an interest in the forward two years ago where it was claimed that they were lining up a big-money offer following the takeover, and despite a deal failing to materialise at the time, PIF have remained long-term admirers and are wanting to make a second attempt.

According to the Daily Star, Newcastle and Premier League rivals West Ham are currently “leading the race” to sign Zaha ahead of the 2023/24 term. The St. James’ Park outfit and the Irons are the “frontrunners” to land the top-flight veteran but the former might hold the advantage as a result of their target being “eager to test himself” in Europe. The Eagles talisman signing a new deal isn’t fully “out of the question”, but it’s stated that he is set to “listen to offers” and is “prepared to move” elsewhere should a good opportunity arise.

Would Zaha be a good signing for Newcastle?

Newcastle have clearly been long-term admirers of Zaha having tried and failed to sign him before but should they be successful if they take another bite of the cherry, he would be a great asset to the attacking department in the northeast.

Palace’s standout performer has clocked up 165 goal contributions in 455 appearances in the capital, including nine in 25 across all competitions this season, via Transfermarkt, where he’s currently averaging 2.4 shots and 1.9 dribbles per top-flight game, form which has seen him lauded “unplayable” by talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino (WhoScored).

Zaha would also add plenty of versatility to Howe’s squad having operated in six different positions since the start of his career, including anywhere across the frontline, making this a no-brainer of a deal to complete should the chance present itself.

Tottenham Hotspur's reported managerial target Roberto De Zerbi is believed to have a summer release clause in his contract at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Who do Spurs want as their next manager?

The north London club relieved Antonio Conte of his duties over the weekend after a string of underwhelming results culminated in a fiery press conference from the Italian after their draw against Southampton.

A number of managers are believed to have been shortlisted by the director of football Fabio Paratici, which is said to have included De Zerbi.

However, a fresh face has emerged as one of the frontrunners over the last week following the dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann from his role at Bayern Munich.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has revealed the current Brighton coach could become available in the summer for Spurs, with his contract holding a release clause:

"This is my information, and I can tell you what I know – I know there are different reports on the story. But from what I understand, there is a way out for Roberto De Zerbi from Brighton at the end of the season.

"Many can call that as a release clause. Many can call that as a compensation formula. Many can call that as a private agreement, but from what I understand, there is in the contract of Roberto De Zerbi and his staff, only for the summer – so not valid in March, in April, in May, but only in the summer period – the possibility for Roberto De Zerbi to leave Brighton, in case a club will pay that money.

"I'm told that this amount of money is more than the reported £10m. So it's something more than this."

Would De Zerbi be a good fit for Spurs?

Since joining the Seagulls, De Zerbi has done a stellar job, which sees Brighton sitting just seven points off Tottenham in the table whilst holding three games in hand over the north Londoners.

De Zerbi's side have also outshone Tottenham in the FA Cup having made it to the semi-finals where they will face Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

However, there may be some concerns as to whether De Zerbi would be able to replicate his impressive record over to a club like Spurs where there are bigger egos to contend with.

Brighton remains a selling club despite their impressive 2022/23 campaign with their recruitment showing the likes of Tottenham up over recent years.

However, managing at a club with a bigger reputation and players of a bigger stature can prove a difficult transition as has been the case with Graham Potter at Chelsea.

On the other hand, it has to be noted Mauricio Pochettino made a similar transition from Southampton back in 2014 and his tenure at the club will be looked back on as one of the best in the club's history.

But it does seem as if Spurs may have to wait until the summer to appoint their permanent manager but they would have to be sure on De Zerbi if they were to pull the trigger.

Since Pochettino's departure, there has been a managerial merry-go-round in north London and fans will not want to see another manager come and go within the space of the next two years.

De Zerbi has still not had a full season of managing in the Premier League so there is certainly some risk linked with his potential appointment.

"His impact in England will be massive," said Pep Guardiola and praise of that magnitude could be an encouraging sign of what he could potentially do at Spurs.

West Ham United fans will have been delighted to see Declan Rice on the scoresheet when England beat Italy last week but it was arguably Emerson who was the Hammers' star performer of the international break.

Who was West Ham's best player during the international break?

While Rice did fire Gareth Southgate's side ahead against Italy and sent them on their way to an impressive win, the midfielder wasn't actually that impressive from a defensive point of view, as he managed just one tackle and one interception in the 90 minutes, while he would win just one of his four duels.

Sofascore would award the midfielder a strong 7.2/10 rating for his performance at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium but that was clearly impacted by his early goal from an England corner, as his return of no successful dribbles and 86% pass accuracy suggests that his overall display could have been far better.

While Emerson was left on the bench by Roberto Mancini for the game against the Three Lions, the £95k-per-week full-back started in the 2-0 win against Malta and was one of the best players on the pitch.

As per Sofascore, the former Chelsea defender would earn an impressive 7.7/10 rating for his performance, with only Sandro Tonali (8.1/10) rated higher of every player to feature in the game from both sides.

The 28-year-old looked extremely impressive from both an attacking and a defensive point of view, as he registered a haul of four key passes in the 90 minutes, while he also completed three tackles and won six out of seven of his duels in the game.

It hasn't been an easy start to life at the London Stadium for Emerson but his performance against Malta emphasises what he can do when at his best, so David Moyes must now find a way of unlocking the Italian as he aims to keep the Hammers in the Premier League this season.

Across his 14 top-flight appearances so far this campaign, the left-back has averaged just 0.5 key passes, 0.3 dribbles and 1.1 tackles per game, an indication of how much he raised his game during the international break.

Once lauded as "unbelievable" by former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, the talented defender was arguably West Ham's top performer during the international break and if he can translate that form into strong Premier League displays, then he could be a big player for Moyes in the battle for survival.

West Ham United are reportedly interested in signing RB Salzburg striker Noah Okafor this summer and his potential arrival at the London Stadium could allow David Moyes to ditch Gianluca Scamacca.

Could West Ham sign Noah Okafor?

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham are all considering moves for the £25m-rated forward, who joins a long list of attacking talents to have established themselves with the Austrian side.

Sadio Mane and Erling Haaland are perhaps the prime examples of world-class players who have come through the ranks at Salzburg, and West Ham would be hoping for similar results with Okafor should he link up with the Hammers in the summer.

While the focus right now should be on retaining their Premier League status, it seems likely that Moyes, or whoever is in charge, will have a hefty transfer budget next season if and when Declan Rice potentially departs for Champions League football, and West Ham have to ensure they spend that money wisely.

Okafor has certainly caught the eye with Salzburg in recent seasons, as he boasts an impressive return of 34 goals and 23 assists in just 108 appearances for Die Bullen, which only looks set to get better as he continues to progress with the Austrian side.

His return of three Champions League goals in six games in each of the last two seasons certainly suggests that he could follow in the footsteps of Haaland in the future, although perhaps not with the same ferocity as the Manchester City goal-machine.

Back in 2021, Okafor earned a lot of praise from Swiss U21 manager Mauro Lustrinelli.

He said: “Noah is currently in the best period of his career. In the past, he had many small injuries which sometimes prevented him from performing.

"He is now in very good physical condition. We already knew that he had magnificent technical qualities, speed and power. In recent months, he has also grown mentally.

"Since he has been in Austria, Noah has also improved in the defensive phase, in pressing and counter-pressing. If he continues to work like this, he will have an extraordinary career. He already has everything and he seems to be going in the right direction."

You could argue that none of the strikers currently available to Moyes at West Ham possesses the pace and power of Okafor, as Michail Antonio looks past his best, Danny Ings is a penalty-box poacher and Scamacca has offered next to nothing in his spell with the east London club, finding the net just three times in the league.

The Italian arrived at the London Stadium with a big reputation after impressing with Sassuolo but his lack of goals and game time – featuring in only 16 Premier League games – has seen him lose his regular starting spot in Moyes' side in recent weeks.

Therefore, if Okafor were to arrive in the summer, then Scamacca could be the first striker to go, as he represents the most expendable asset of the three senior options in Moyes' squad.

Tottenham Hotspur could well have identified a possible successor to Antonio Conte at N17, with the Italian looking increasingly likely to be axed in the near future.

What's the latest on Oliver Glasner to Spurs?

According to German outlet, BILD, the Lilywhites are believed to have made 'contact' with Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner regarding the possibility of replacing the former Chelsea boss in the dugout, with recent reports claiming that Conte could be sacked this week, following his recent, post-Southampton outburst.

The suggestion is that the north Londoners are 'now interested' in potentially turning to Glasner to fill the position, with the 48-year-old – who has been in charge of the Bundesliga side since 2021 – having just over a year left on his existing deal in Frankfurt.

Would Glasner be a good fit for Spurs?

The former LASK head coach has certainly caught the attention as a result of his fine work in Germany of late, having notably guided his side to Europa League glory last season, before securing progression into the last-16 of the Champions League this time around, finishing second in Group D – just a point behind Conte's men.

Despite the solid body of work that the Austrian has amassed in his managerial career thus far, there may be concerns that Tottenham would be simply appointing a carbon copy of their current manager, were chairman Daniel Levy to make a concrete approach for Glasner.

That likeness to Conte is showcased by the fact that the pair both typically utilise a back three, while the former Wolfsburg boss also appears something of a pragmatic coach, with his side's playing style having been outlined by Barcelona's Xavi last season:

"They play on the counter-attack and counter-press in a way I’ve only seen from a few teams in my career."

With Spurs supporters likely sick to death of Conte's "negative", counter-attacking methods – as described by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville – the fear will be that Glasner's arrival could merely continue that brand of football, rather than spark a transformation to a more progressive and free-flowing model.

Equally, on a weekend in which Conte simply exploded following his side's late collapse away to the Saints – hitting out at his "selfish" players – the Frankfurt man also publicly outlined his anger with his squad following the defeat to Union Berlin, having questioned the "quality" of his charges.

Although that may simply be a sign of Glasner's desire to win, such an approach has seemingly not proved fruitful for managers at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium of late, with the typically ruthless Jose Mourinho having also alienated members of the squad prior to his sacking in 2021, with The Athletic referencing the 'divide' that had emerged in the latter days of the Portuguese's time at the club.

Not that there is anything wrong with having a demanding manager who strives for perfection, yet Levy will likely be wary of repeating recent managerial errors by securing a dominant figure who could ultimately end up alienating the squad.

As such, while there is undoubtedly merit in the links to Glasner, the Austrian's apparent likeness to the under-fire Conte should well be something of a red flag.

Everton reporter for PA Media Carl Markham says that Idrissa Gueye is ‘a mistake waiting to happen’ after holding onto the ball for too long against Brentford.

The Lowdown: Vital win

Everton picked up a vital win at the bottom of the Premier League table with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against high-flying Brentford.

Dwight McNeil scored in the very first minute of the game, and that ended up being enough to give them all three points at Goodison Park.

The Latest: Gueye criticism

Despite the victory, Markham was unimpressed with Gueye, claiming that he looks like ‘a mistake waiting to happen’:

“Everton’s midfield have done a pretty good job so far but Idrissa Gana Gueye looks like a mistake waiting to happen. Just holding onto the ball far too long when there are options around him.”

The Verdict: Not the first time…

This is not the first time that Gueye has received criticism this season, and Markham’s statement was justified by the shocking mistake that he made in Arsenal’s 4-0 win over the Toffees earlier this month.

This afternoon, the £80,000-per-week central midfielder was dribbled past twice, the joint-most in the home team, and only managed to make two tackles, while he also gave possession away nine times (SofaScore).

Gueye also had more touches than any of his team-mates with 53, which suggests that he was holding onto the ball for too long, as Markham suggests.

Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see whether he keeps his starting place, with the likes of James Garner and Tom Davies as other options on the bench.

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy’s recent comments on the club’s recruitment has been slammed by former Spurs left-back Danny Rose.

Is Daniel Levy to blame at Spurs?

Spurs were dumped out of the Champions League on Wednesday night and Rose was speaking on Sky Sports about where the club is currently at both on and off the pitch.

Something which was noted is the club’s poor recruitment over recent years which has seen a lot of money spent on players who have not improved the side.

“Our spend levels show we have invested in the team – however, we walk a fine line between long-term investment and short-termism. This is why our recruitment must be first class as mistakes at this level have a financial and sporting impact for future seasons,” Levy wrote in the 2022 financial statement.

Rose has previously voiced his thoughts on some of the player’s Spurs have brought through the doors claiming he had to Google the names of some of them.

And on the back of this, Rose suggested this is something which he had previously said during his time in north London but received a fine for speaking out against the club:

“I still like to try and go into the Spurs training ground. So, I’ll have to be careful what I say there, but I think everybody’s got to be held accountable. I heard recently, Daniel Levy said something about the signings haven’t been great and it’s bizarre, that, because I’m sure I said something like that six years ago and got fined two weeks’ wages.”

How could hiring Pochettino affect Spurs’ recruitment?

The Lilywhites’ season has quickly come undone over the last few weeks with exits from both the FA Cup and Champions League leaving them with only top-four football to play for.

This, along with their poor style of play, has led to calls for Antonio Conte to be removed from his position before the end of the campaign.

Spurs have spent well since the Italian’s arrival with Fabio Paratici leading the recruitment charge as the club’s director of football.

However, the reports suggesting Mauricio Pochettino could be in line to replace the Italian in north London will bring up potential issues for the club’s current recruitment setup.

It is believed the Argentine would not be willing to work under the current model with a director of football making the decisions on the club’s transfers.

So in that sense, it could be seen as a potential step backwards by hiring Pochettino. But there is another issue at the club with Paratici’s future also left unclear as a result of his recent court case.

The final verdict is expected in the coming weeks and it could leave him unable to carry on in his role at Spurs.

This could open the door for Pochettino to potentially return, but it would be interesting to see whether Levy would be keen to continue with the current recruitment model.

Glasgow Rangers head coach Michael Beale suffered defeat for the first time in charge of the club as his side lost the final of the League Cup 2-1 on Sunday.

Their opponents took the lead just before half-time as the Light Blues fell asleep in their own penalty box and allowed Kyogo Furuhashi to arrive unmarked to tap the ball into the net from close range.

Celtic punished them again in the 55th minute. Kyogo scored his second goal of the match by sliding in ahead of Borna Barisic to meet Reo Hatate’s cross.

However, Rangers reacted brilliantly to pull one back almost immediately. Alfredo Morelos met James Tavernier’s set-piece and put his side back in the fight by converting at the back post.

Whilst it was a performance that was full of disappointing performances across the park for the Light Blues, one player let Beale down badly in the heart of the defence – Connor Goldson.

How did Connor Goldson perform against Celtic?

The manager’s veteran defender, who has played over 250 competitive matches for the club, did not showcase his leadership and experience for the Gers as his sloppy defending ultimately cost the club a trophy.

Goldson will not want to see the replays for the opening goal from Kyogo as the Englishman was caught horrendously out of position, which allowed the Japan forward to put their rivals ahead.

Ex-Gers winger Neil McCann criticised the central defender’s role in the opener, saying:

“Connor Goldson is right out the game. Kyogo just walks into the box and it’s the easiest tap-in you could have in any game, never mind a cup final.”

Journalist Jonny McFarlane added to that by Tweeting that it was a “terrible” goal to concede as the ex-Brighton man was in “no man’s land” at the back.

The £37k-per-week enforcer was then part of the defence that failed to cut out Hatate’s ball along the box for the second goal, although Barisic was the closest man to Kyogo for that particular strike.

Goldson also did little to stop Allan McGregor from being tested as the Hoops had a whopping 14 efforts on goal, including five on target, which suggests the 30-year-old did not do much to make up for his first-half error.

Therefore, the English defender was a big liability for the Gers in the match as his lapse in concentration broke the deadlock in the match and allowed Celtic to kick on and dominate the match. His error let Beale down as the manager may not expect one of his most experienced players to make such a telling mistake.