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Paul Robinson has told Football Insider that Everton manager Frank Lampard must address ‘the centre-half area’ given Michael Keane’s tendency to suffer ‘lapses in concentration’.

The lowdown

Keane made his second error leading to an opposition goal this season against Manchester City on Saturday evening. No Toffees player has made more, with team-mate Seamus Coleman joining him at the top of that undesirable ranking.

The £22.5m-rated Englishman miskicked as he tried to clear Bernardo Silva’s deflected cross, allowing Phil Foden to sneak in and score what proved to be the winning goal.

Everton, who sit just one place above the relegation zone, were close to securing a valuable point against the Premier League leaders before Keane’s costly error.

The latest

Former England goalkeeper Robinson said that the defender’s fateful mistake against City was no ‘isolated incident’, bemoaning a ‘severe lack of leadership’ in the backline which Lampard simply must remedy.

The ex-Tottenham ‘keeper told Football Insider: “Keane suffers from lapses in concentration. It happens far too often. This is not an isolated incident. This is not a one-off.

“The centre-half area needs to be addressed at Everton. Lampard must have known he would have to look at it when he came in.

“There is a severe lack of leadership back there. There is too many errors leading to goals for them. It is costing Everton dearly. These are errors that could be and need to be stopped.”

The verdict

Journalist Pete O’Rourke told GiveMeSport in December that signing another centre-back was a priority for Everton in January. However, Rafael Benitez was sacked midway through the month and Lampard’s appointment was not finalised until transfer deadline day, so perhaps that left the club somewhat hamstrung in the market.

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Alas, with Ben Godfrey sidelined for at least another fortnight and Yerry Mina not due to be back until April (Premier Injuries), Everton are looking very light in the heart of defence at the moment. As they scrap for survival, they may be ruing a missed opportunity to add reinforcements.

In the meantime, Lampard may not have all that much scope to take Keane out of the firing line, so the 29-year-old will simply need to do better in terms of cutting out costly errors from his game.

In other news, this Everton ace could face an ‘uncertain’ future amid FFP issues

An exciting claim has emerged surrounding Tottenham Hotspur’s interest in Lautaro Martinez this summer…

What’s the word?

The Inter Milan forward came close to joining the north London outfit ahead of the 2021/22 campaign after a £60m fee was agreed between the two clubs, as per The Times.

Evidently, that move failed to come to fruition, though it’s clear that those at Hotspur Way still admire the Argentinian talisman, and Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has now stoked the fire with fresh comments on the matter.

Speaking to Wettfreunde.net, he said:

“I think Tottenham will go after Lautaro because they wanted him last summer. They want another forward to play with [Harry] Kane or plan for the future without Kane. Lautaro Martinez is one of the players that Fabio Paratici loves.

“I think it could be Lautaro’s summer and Atletico Madrid or Tottenham could be the perfect destinations for him.”

Conte needs him

Just as the reliable transfer expert explains, Spurs are desperate for another forward to either help lower the burden on Harry Kane or replace him later down the line, and Martinez is a hugely exciting talent and one who fits the bill immensely.

The England skipper was part of a tumultuous transfer saga last summer involving Premier League champions Manchester City, and now it appears as if he could be involved in another one, this time with the red side of the city.

Conte knows Martinez well as he was part of his title-winning side last season and during that run, in which Inter ended an 11-year wait for the Scudetto, the 24-year-old delivered 19 goals and 11 assists alongside Romelu Lukaku.

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He has since built on that success and continued such fine form this campaign, bagging himself 16 goals from 40 appearances across all competitions, including the Champions League, where he netted against Liverpool in their round of 16 exit.

Now valued at £63m by Transfermarkt, Martinez’s ability has earned quite the praise indeed, including one glowing endorsement from international teammate and one of the game’s greatest-ever players, Lionel Messi, who told Mundo Deportivo:

“He’s spectacular. He has impressive qualities. You could tell he was going to be a great player, and he is showing that. He’s very strong, really good one on one, scores a lot of goals, and in the area he fights with anyone, holds it up, he can turn, scrap to win it all on his own. He has a lot of quality. He’s very complete.”

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Also lauded as a “special talent” by verified journalist Joshua Jones, it’s clear that the Inter marksman would be an ideal signing for Spurs during the off-season.

His partnership with Lukaku under Conte at the San Siro makes him an intriguing candidate to play alongside Kane and at worst, his proven goalscoring record makes him a viable candidate to replace the 28-year-old, whenever that may be.

Either way, the Italian head coach badly needs a new striker and he could well find it in a player he knows better than anyone else, and the fact that Paratici also thinks highly of him will surely put Spurs in the driving seat when the transfer window reopens at the end of the season.

AND in other news, Paratici handed major boost on £21m Spurs-linked “monster”, he’s Conte’s dream signing…

India have the option of opening with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who has recovered from his hamstring strain © AFP

India have left themselves a mountain to climb to win this series; down 0-2 and with four games to play, they will have to raise their game significantly, knowing Australia need only a half-chance to shut out the opposition in the fourth one-day international at the Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh.India have, however, responded well to such extreme pressure in the recent past. Trailing 3-1 in the NatWest Series in England, they were out for the count but managed to stretch the series till the final game at Lord’s. At the World Twenty20, India were faced with three must-win games against Pakistan, England and South Africa and won all three to make the semi-finals – and the two knockout games as well.The trend in the series has been for Australia to bat first and score 300, putting the Indian batsmen under immense pressure against an incisive new-ball attack. India’s openers haven’t coped well – 1, 11 and 10 in three innings – and the lack of partnerships at the top has crippled their run-chases.Monday may just be different because, for the first time in this series, India have the option of opening with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who has recovered fully from his hamstring strain. Both of them went in first during the net sessions and had lengthy stints.There was confusion in Hyderabad over why Ganguly was left out: was it because he didn’t fit into the team combination, as the BCCI secretary, Niranjan Shah, said, or that he hadn’t recovered enough from his injury? The decision to play him in Chandigarh might be made easier with news that Gautam Gambhir strained his groin during a net session and hobbled back to the dressing room. He was sent for an MRI and will be assessed by John Gloster, the physio.

Kartik’s left-arm spin, in tandem with Harbhajan’s offspin, could build pressure during the middle overs where Australia have dictated the pace and built the platform for their assault in the death overs

The failures of the top order have left the rest with too much to do and Robin Uthappa said the batsmen had to “take responsibility” for they had “let the team down”. Uthappa and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played cameos at Kochi and Yuvraj Singh scored a century in Hyderabad, but to beat Australia they must fire at the same time.Another worry is Rahul Dravid’s form – 31 at Kochi and 0 at Hyderabad – given his vital steadying role at No. 5, which allows Yuvraj and Dhoni to bat aggressively. Dravid’s last substantial contributions came in England where he scored 92 at Bristol and 56 at Edgbaston. Since then he has struggled and, not coincidentally, India slipped to defeat in England and started the series against Australia poorly.Equally under the scanner will be India’s bowlers, who have conceded 307, 306 and 290 in the matches so far. India played five bowlers at Bangalore and Kochi and four at Hyderabad and Uthappa said they were likely to play five bowlers again. That means Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner who replaced Ramesh Powar in the squad, forming a two-pronged spin attack with Harbhajan Singh. His inclusion could be at the expense of Rohit Sharma in the middle order.Harbhajan bowled an economical spell in Hyderabad – 0 for 38 – but Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke were able to see him off because there wasn’t enough pressure from the other end. Kartik’s left-arm spin, in tandem with Harbhajan’s offspin, could build pressure during the middle overs where Australia have dictated the pace and built the platform for their assault in the death overs.

Nathan Bracken is set to make the XI, further bolstering Australia’s pace attack © AFP

They’ll have their task cut out though, for Australia’s batsmen have been in such form that Ponting virtually ruled out a change to their batting line-up. Brad Hodge hasn’t contributed much in the series – 0, 3, 3 – while Brad Haddin was dropped in Hyderabad after scoring consecutive half-centuries. Ponting, however, said that they would stick with Hodge.”Our batting’s pretty settled at the moment,” Ponting said. “We had a tough decision to make, leaving Haddin out in the first place and leave Hodge in the side. But Hodge has a record that has stood up well over a two-year period. He has trained really well today so if he gets an opportunity tomorrow I think he’ll get runs.”One change Australia are likely to make is in their bowling department. Nathan Bracken, the left-arm medium-pacer, didn’t play at Hyderabad but Ponting indicated he had a strong chance of making the XI.”Bracken is one of the top ranked one-day bowlers in the world. If the rest of the guys pull up okay, we’ll have to make a tough decision and leave one of the guys who have been playing out and bring Bracken back in.” Bracken’s ability to swing the ball, his precision and clever changes of pace will add an extra dimension to the Australian attack and make life harder for an Indian batting line-up that is struggling to put in a collective performance.Monday’s game is the first ODI being played at the picturesque Sector 16 Stadium in nearly 15 years and Ponting felt the pitch was dry and would get drier and slower as the day progressed. He did not hesitate in saying that he would bat first if he won the toss. If that is the case, the first half of this match could go the way of the previous three games with Australia scoring 300. Whether the Indian batsmen pull together could determine how the match and the series is decided.Teams
India (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Sreesanth.Australia (likely) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Brad Hodge, 7 Brad Hogg, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Stuart Clark.

The prospect of a close contest drew the public to the first Test © Getty Images

Record crowds have packed the Gabba for the first three days of the opening Ashes Test, beating the previous record set during the Bodyline series. reported Saturday’s crowd of 39,000 took the overall attendance to 117,603, well above the the 93,143 that flooded into the Gabba in 1932-33 for a six-day match.The Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told the paper he was not concerned that the one-sided nature of the first Test would affect the “phenomenal” tally. “There is nothing we can really do about what happens on the field,” Sutherland said. “There are lot of things to enjoy about Test cricket, even if there is not a great contest.”He said the keen interest in this year’s series was no doubt sparked by Australia losing the Ashes in England in 2005. “Two or three matches were decided during prime-time television here in the 2005 series, so the whole country was captivated,” he said.Sutherland said Cricket Australia expected all five Test venues to break attendance records this season. Each of the first three days of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG are likely to break the single-day high of 90,800 spectators at Melbourne in 1961. He said gate revenue was also expected to be at record levels, with takings set to top $28 million for the season.

North West completed a hard-earned 70-run win over Gauteng despite a fine 138 from Warren Dugmore. Early in the day it seemed as though North West would have much easier task wrapping up the match as Gauteng slipped to 86 for 5 before lunch. Dumisa Makalima took the long-handled approach and sped to 51 off 39 balls then the lower order gave Dugmore more conventional support. However, the North West attack stuck to their task and shared the wickets around. Vusumuzi Mazibuko finished off the innings and his three wickets included Dugmore for a career-best effort which was, ultimately, futile.Western Province won by 56 runs against Border but that only tells half the story. The win came with the final ball of the match when Siraaj Conrad trapped last-man Rowan Richards lbw to complete a 10-wicket haul. The result was harsh on Bevan Bennett who struck 150, carrying Border to the brink of a draw. But he fell to Conrad with nine overs remaining and Western Province snuck home at the last possible moment. Warren Wyngaard earlier reached his second century of the match to set up the declaration although the real drama was still to follow.Zimbabwe Under-23 failed offer much resistance before slumping to a 10-wicket defeat against Boland as their miserable season in the South African domestic competition continued. Wallace Albertyn took two of the remaining wickets to finish with 4 for 33 while Tinashe Hove was unable to bat. It took five balls for Boland to score the run they need courtesy of four byes.

The semi-finals of the Intercontinental Cup have been put back 24 hours following the death of His Highness Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates.Both matches were due to start in Sharjah on November 16, but that would be the last day of the official state mourning and so the ICC agreed to the postponement. As a result, the final will now begin on November 21.UAE meet Canada and Scotland face Kenya in the semi-finals.

Gavin Varejes, an associate of Shane Warne, has admitted to paying R100,000 to silence Helen Cohen Alon, a 45-year-old South African woman who recently accused Warne of sending her raunchy text messages.Varejes made the admission in a sworn affidavit to the police, who are investigating the case. Upon the admission, Julius Smith, the police officer in charge of the case, has asked Interpol to obtain a statement from Warne.According to quotes by Smith in the South African media, Varejes admitted to contacting Cohen Alon during the 2003 World Cup, when she was trying to sell her story to the press. Varejes arranged for the payment only after he checked that the number on her mobile phone was indeed Warne’s number.

Chasing a moderate total of 220, Tripura flagged in the chase,crumbling to 170 in the face of some fine Assam bowling in their Ranjione-day match at Cuttack on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Assam batted first and put up 219 in their innings.No batsman got to 50, and the top scorer was number eight batsmanSukhvinder Singh, who made 49 off 52 balls. Skipper Syed Zuffri made40 off 60 balls coming in at number three, the only other significantknock in the innings.Tripura lost its first two wickets for eight runs, but a 105-runthird-wicket partnership between Sourav Dasgupta (50 off 76) and AbdulSattar (60 off 76) put Tripura back on track. Wickets fell in a hurryafter the dismissal of Sattar, and only C Sachdev (30 off 43) couldget to double figures. Tripura were bowled out for 170 in 49.1 overs,with Arnald Konwar taking 4-42 for Assam.

Debutant left-arm spinner Bert Chikomba’s 5 for 36 set up Mashonaland Eagles‘ five-wicket win over Mountaineers in the second round of the Pro50 Championship in Harare. Chikomba’s five-for skittled Mountaineers out for 167 before a 71 from opener Cephas Zhuwao and an unbeaten 35 from Gary Chirimuuta took the side to a win with more than 16 overs to spare.Mountaineers got off to a slow start after opting to bat, and struggled to lift their overall scoring rate as the innings progressed. Innocent Kaia scored 52 but the rest of the batsmen were all dismissed for less than 25 as Chikomba ran through the middle order in his second spell. The spinner took four wickets in three successive overs between the 38th and 41st – including the wickets of Shingi Masakadza and Kudzai Sauramba off successive deliveries.Zhuwao and Kudzai Maunze shared an 111-run opening stand to give Eagles a strong start but the side soon slipped to 141 for 4 following wickets from Roy Kaia and Tatenda Mupunga. Chirimuuta, who had scored an unbeaten fifty in the last game, saw the Eagles through to their second win.Fifties from Mbekezeli Mabuza and Taffy Mupariwa guided Matabeleland Tuskers to a six-wicket win against Mid West Rhinos, their first of this tournament. The pair also shared a 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket, helping the side overcome a shaky start that had them struggling at 19 for 2 in the eighth over.The early breakthroughs for Rhinos came from fast bowler Carl Mumba but Mabuza anchored the side – first with a 72-run partnership for the second wicket with Nkosana Mpofu and then his stand with Mupariwa. Mabuza was finally dismissed for 87 off 121 deliveries but by that time the score had moved to 190 for 4. Mupariwa, who finished unbeaten on 67 off 64 deliveries, struck a flurry of boundaries to guide the side home.Mabuza made an equally important contribution with the ball and, along with left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa, finished with a three-wicket haul. Their strikes ensured that Rhinos were limited to 230 for 7 despite fifties from their openers Tarisai Musakanda (82 off 118 deliveries) and Tendai Maruma (55 off 92 balls). The batsmen were involved in a 135-run opening stand but a mid-innings slide saw Rhinos squander the advantage as they dropped from 167 for 1 to 199 for 6.

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Derek Johnstone reckons Rangers won’t be fazed by the short turnaround from the end of last season to pre-season training for 2019/20, as reported by The Evening Times.

What’s he said?

It’s been less than a month since Rangers last played in the Scottish Premiership and the club are due back for training as early as this coming Monday, meaning the concept of an off-season has been more of an extended holiday.

With some players also taking part in recent international matches, the chance to rest up has been exceedingly short and it could be factor when considering upcoming European qualifiers.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Derek Johnstone reckons it won’t be an issue though, telling The Evening Times:

“People might think they are tired after only having two or three weeks off, but most of the players have had a decent break.

A few of the players, like Steven Davis and Borna Barisic, have had international commitments and Scott Arfield and Nikola Katic still have games to play with Canada and the Croatian Under-21s respectively.

Both of them will need to rest once those fixtures are played and that will have an impact on their participation in the early Europa League qualifiers.

You do need a rest at some stage. You can’t just finish one season and then go straight into the next one. If you have had three or four weeks off, that is enough time for you to relax, recover and then get ready to get back into it again.

Rangers will return to pre-season training next week and Steven Gerrard will expect his players to be raring to go for what could be a really exciting season for us.”

Rangers’ summer challenge

Rangers enter the UEFA Europa League qualifying process at the first round, with the matches due to take place as early as July 9th or 10th. That leaves the squad less than a month to prepare for that initial action, with the opponents to be determined during this coming Monday’s draw.

So soon after last season it’s a massive challenge, even if Johnstone is trying to downplay it. This yearly cycle of football until late May then July qualifiers is gruelling, especially with international matches in between.

Nonetheless, the Rangers squad must rise to the expectations of the pundit and manager Steven Gerrard, who will be expecting his side to comfortably progress through the first couple of qualifying rounds, with the ambition being reaching the group stages for a second successive season.

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The money generated is huge for the club and subsequently from the squad, so there can be no tired legs when the action kicks off next month.