Phil Hay raves about "animal" Kalvin Phillips after Leeds win

So Leeds finally got their second win in the Championship of this new decade.It may not have been the most prettiest of victories – the Whites converting just one of the 21 total shots on goal they had – but it certainly means just as much.One man who was imperious for them against Bristol City on Saturday, was Kalvin Phillips.

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As per Sofascore, his 7.8 match rating was only behind that of Luke Ayling amongst his teammates, and when you look at his underlying numbers it is easy to see why,

He won six of his seven ground duels, made three interceptions and clearances apiece, provided three key passes, and completed both of his attempted dribbles too.

After seeing his performance, The Athletic journalist Phil Hay delivered his verdict on Twitter.

As Hay suggests, Phillips really has stepped his game up in these past couple of outings.

He’s completed 18 accurate long balls, made five interceptions, completed four tackles and provided four key passes over the games against Brentford and Bristol City.

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Naturally, other clubs, particularly in the Premier League, will be taking notice. And that’s exactly why Leeds absolutely have to earn promotion to the promised land this season, or else they risk kissing Phillips goodbye.

Meanwhile, Leeds fans rave about this ace after his impressive performance against Bristol City.

Leeds fans react to Hay article on Pablo Hernandez

Leeds United will be looking to make it three wins from three tomorrow night when they face a trip to Middlesbrough, but it’s not the game that has been on the minds of some supporters this week.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay tweeted out an article about Pablo Hernandez and it has got fans talking.

He claims that despite the Spaniard’s disappointing returns from a numbers perspective, he still carries an important role under Marcelo Bielsa, winning 60% of their matches with him playing.

Hernandez, who has been at the club since the summer of 2016, signed a two-year contract extension in November meaning he will remain at Elland Road until at least 2022, and if they are promoted, he’ll receive an extra 12 months taking him to his 37th birthday.

Here’s what fans have been saying about Hay’s revelation…

The 34-year-old playmaker is clearly a very popular figure at Elland Road as seen by the reaction above, fans were calling him everything from “legend” to “pivotal.”

One supporter is desperate for him to play in the Premier League for the club as he bleeds for the shirt and is a class above the rest, while another added that he hopes he can pass his wizardry onto the next generation.

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Hernandez has been restricted to 25 appearances this term, scoring five goals and assisting four more, per Transfermarkt.

There have even been comparisons made about him – “better than Bamford” was one shout; he was also likened to Gordon Strachan.

Although not everyone was signing from the same hymn sheet as plenty of others could tell that the veteran midfielder had somewhat regressed.

One supporter suggested that the form of players around him has masked his ability this season while a further member of the Whites fanbase claimed he had lost his influence, but he’s allowed to have poor matches due to his outstanding reputation at the club.

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And in other news, Leeds’ predicted XI vs Middlesbrough as WHITE moves into MIDFIELD…

West Ham fans show love for David Martin

The 3-1 win against Southampton will have had plenty of people associated with West Ham United leaving London Stadium feeling elated.

He may not have been on the pitch, but that was clearly the case for David Martin, who was filmed greeting his teammates in the tunnel after the final whistle.

This will seem small to many, but it has got plenty of Hammers fans gushing over the 34-year-old.

He has truly captured the hearts of the club’s supporters since joining in the summer of 2019, with some referring to him as “a legend”, “the perfect character” and a “geezer”.

That connection with those in the stands was earned when he came in for the Chelsea game, keeping a clean sheet to end a run of eight games without a win, before being unable to hide his emotions after the final whistle.

Is life under Gold and Sullivan really that bad? Maybe this quiz will change your minds, West Ham fans…

He isn’t making an impact on the pitch anymore, with Lukasz Fabianski and Darren Randolph ahead of him in the goalkeeper pecking order, but the childhood fan is still making his presence known, which fans appreciate.

This has got various fans saying that he needs to stay as a member of the West Ham staff moving forward, even if he isn’t playing.

Some have dubbed him as being a “future goalkeeping coach”, while another has claimed they want him to be “the training ground ‘keeper forever”.

All of this goes to show that it can be the right attitude that makes somebody a popular figure among a club’s fans, even if they aren’t a stellar talent.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Ngakia and Xande Silva commented on a goalscoring ace’s Instagram post after the Southampton win.

Liam McCarron could soon break through at Leeds

Marcelo Bielsa hasn’t been shy when it comes to introducing young talent into the first-team at Leeds United.

Indeed, the Argentine has handed no fewer than 11 teenage players their debuts during his tenure as United manager, but one man we haven’t seen don a white shirt in a senior game yet is Liam McCarron.

The young winger was one of United’s first signings of the summer arriving on the 1st of July from Carlisle United.

It seems as though the U23s ace is making huge strides in his career after making his Scotland U19s debut last week against the Czech Republic.

The next logical step for the Scot is a full debut for Leeds, so what should United fans expect from him if he’s handed a chance?

Well the best place to start may be to hear what those close to him have said, his former academy coach Darren Edmondson once praised him very highly, stating:

“At 15 he was blessed with loads of pace, which is why we took a chance on him, but he was a young boy who would get very frustrated very quickly.

“As he’s matured and come into full-time football, that’s been the biggest change in him. If he makes a mistake now, his work rate is unbelievable.”

The teenager was proactive in his pursuit of improving his work rate, and it wasn’t just something that came naturally to him.

In July 2017, McCarron was asked to answer a few questions for a profile for Carlisle’s website, and he revealed that one area he needs to improve was tracking back and helping the team defend, and within a couple of years he was in the first-team being praised for how hard he works.

That’s exactly the type of attitude you want a young player to have – he’s spotted his biggest problem and fixed it very quickly, and if he can continue to improve the weak spots in his game, he could blossom into a very talented player.

Are you a Championship expert? How much did each of these big-money signings cost?

A rapid winger who likes to work hard sounds like an absolute dream for Marcelo Bielsa, and if he continues to make strides it may not be long before the Argentine gives him a chance.

In other news, Leeds should be worried by one Bielsa trend after recent reports.

Celtic fans react to Neil Lennon’s letter

Celtic fans have taken to Twitter to react after the club tweeted out a letter written by Neil Lennon.

The message is an emotional one, in which the former Bolton manager expresses his love for the club and how he has always had Celtic in his heart as a player, captain and now as boss of the Hoops.

It is primarily a plea for supporters to renew their season tickets for next term, rather than Lennon wearing his heart on his sleeve just for the sake of it, which adds a cunning nature to the post – something that some supporters below have picked up on.

Peter Lawwell has picked a very good time to convince the Celtic Park faithful.

The Bhoys are into the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and are also 13 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership, so times are good at the club which will obviously help persuade fans to dig into their pockets and sign up for next season.

However, because of that, and the fact that Lawwell hasn’t invested much money into the playing staff recently – the Hoops supremo spent over £17m back in the summer, but had sold Kieran Tierney for £25m – a few fans below aren’t happy with this PR stunt.

Let’s see what they’ve been saying on Twitter…

To kick off the reaction, these three supporters were all saying what we had previously mentioned above.

They accuse Lawwell of tugging on the heartstrings of emotionally-invested supporters, while not investing in the squad.

While – as aforesaid – over £17m was spent in the summer, Lawwell has overseen the departures of Virgil van Dijk, Moussa Dembele and Stuart Armstrong in recent years, while Odsonne Edouard has arguably been the only signing to have significantly made a groundbreaking impact.

Elsewhere, another told the club to calm down with the “nonsense” as it’s only March.

Two other fans mocked the way in which the letter is portrayed – the club did a video of a magnifying glass-type effect enlarging the message, scrolling down the page very, very slowly while playing dramatic music in the background, for some reason.

The Celtic marketing team has been working into overdrive amid the calls for season ticket renewals, and while they were busy making the graphics look nice with a striped-effect across some tweets, a bunch of fans took that as a subtle hint towards Adidas’ potentially imminent arrival.

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In other news, this pundit was left stunned by Neil Lennon’s decisions in a recent nightmarish moment for Celtic…

Spurs boss Mourinho criticised by Jermaine Jenas

Jermaine Jenas has criticised the management of Jose Mourinho at Tottenham Hotspur in recent weeks, per MOTDx via FourFourTwo.

What’s the word?

Spurs have struggled in recent weeks prior to the suspension of the Premier League.

They have not won any of their last six games in all competitions, losing twice to RB Leipzig in the Champions League, to Chelsea and Wolves in the Premier League and to Norwich City on penalties in the FA Cup. They also drew with Burnley at Turf Moor.

Jenas spent eight years at Spurs, but he has not enjoyed watching on as the former Real Madrid boss has taken the reigns in north London.

He said: “It’s not a rant but what I will say is I will reserve judgement on Jose until the summer, until he brings in his new players because I think the players haven’t been good enough.

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“What I don’t like about Jose at the minute is the negativity. I think he’s been far too negative in terms of the message he’s been sending out with the players.

“I know we’ve got injuries to [Harry] Kane, I know Son [Heung-min] is injured and now [Steven] Bergwijn. But I think there needs to be a more positive structure going out to the players. And overall I still can’t see what the team are and how they’re trying to play.

“Are they a passing team? Are they a pressing team? Are they a team that plays deep and tries to counter-attack? I don’t see from game to game, and I can’t tell you from game to game, what team he’s going to put out. He had the best part of six centre-halves playing against Burnley.

“He has won everything there is to win in the game, so that’s quite a good reason why you’d want to go and play for him. He is a serial winner.”

Needs help

Mourinho needs some support from the board.

He headed into the January transfer window without Harry Kane, who sustained an injury on New Year’s Day.

Thus, it was clear that the club needed a striker.

The club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, was unable to source one, though, and now Mourinho is also without Bergwijn and Son.

Yes, he has been slightly negative but he is operating with one arm tied behind his back.

He really needs support as the summer transfer window comes closer; next season is the acid test for him.

If he is adequately backed in the transfer market, that negativity could disappear.

Meanwhile, Darren Bent has hammered one Spurs man!

Leeds’ Barry Douglas posts update to Instagram

Leeds United players were sent home from training last week amidst the current crisis sweeping the globe, and of course, they’ve been told to stick to Marcelo Bielsa’s rigorous demands despite facing the next month away from the pitch.

Barry Douglas has given fans a taste of exactly what he’s been up to, posting a couple of stories to Instagram this morning as he prepares for his run.

This is even despite the club reportedly giving them gym bikes and other equipment to take back with them.

The veteran left-back can be seen with a can of Red Bull before showing his running location.

Douglas has been limited to only 13 appearances, totalling just 615 minutes, this season due to injury while his future at the club is in doubt, too.

Football Insider claim the club will try to part ways with the former Wolves man this summer,  even though he’ll still have a year to run on his current contract.

Both Gjanni Alioski and Stuart Dallas have crept ahead of him in the pecking order under Bielsa.

Idiots Abroad: Do you know where these famous Brits are playing now?

And in other news, Leeds need to get rid of Barry Douglas…

Michael Edwards needs to rethink Kai Havertz stance

Liverpool’s sporting director Michael Edwards needs to rethink his stance on Kai Havertz.

The London Evening Standard’s Reds correspondent, David Lynch, suggests that the transfer guru is unlikely to make a move for the Bayer Leverkusen ace in the coming summer transfer window, namely due to the “ridiculous” price tags that are being attached to the versatile 20-year-old.

The Daily Mirror has reported that Leverkusen will aim to receive upwards of £70m for the 20-year-old, who has been an electric presence during his time in Germany.

He has already made 139 appearances for the club, having developed within their youth system, and has scored 38 goals and registered 30 assists.

Call yourself a Liverpool expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?

Havertz has also won seven caps for Germany, and has captained Leverkusen twice this season.

His versatility is exceptional – he can play in central midfield, attacking midfield, on the right wing, and as a central striker – and he offers just about everything one would need from a genuinely creative talent.

Havertz has 10 goals to his name this season, plus eight assists, and he could well be a natural fit in Jurgen Klopp’s system.

Indeed, his compatriot’s success relies on versatility; his front three often dovetail beautifully, swapping flanks, going through the middle, and even dropping off to help the midfield.

That Havertz offers the ability to play centrally and on the flanks should be a boon to both Edwards and Klopp.

Of course, the price tag could well be eye-watering but his stats are superb too; he averages 2.6 key passes per game, plus a passing accuracy of 87.1%, per WhoScored.

Only Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool’s superb right-back, has a higher rate of key passes in the Premier League, with 2.7.

Havertz is a creative outlet, a goal scorer, and a dazzling dribbler when given the chance.

Former Germany international and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has given Havertz a glowing recommendation, too, telling Sport1 that he is “exceptional”, and a “top player” already.

Edwards ought to rethink his stance, and try to get this deal over the line this summer.

Meanwhile, this Liverpool flop could be on his way in the summer!

Rangers fans were delighted with Goldson signing in 2018

In 2018 Steven Gerrard was new to Glasgow and had a huge challenge ahead of him – to claw back some respectability in the city and attempt to overhaul Celtic.To do so the former Liverpool player made 19 signings in his first two transfer windows, one of which was Connor Goldson, who arrived from Brighton for around £3m in a bid from Gerrard to improve the defence.The centre-back has since proved a tremendous success at Ibrox and has consistently earned plaudits from fans and interest from other clubs, though at this point he has still been unable to guide the club to silverware.Nevertheless, his performances have proved many Rangers fans right, as they thought he’d be an astute addition back in 2018 and that has proved to be the case.

Goldson helped Rangers to the Scottish League Cup final this year as well as the Europa League Round of 16, and has made 50 appearances across the various competitions the Gers have played in.

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Many supporters gave credit to Steven Gerrard for the signing at the time and thought he was taking the right direction with transfer policy, and though Celtic still remain dominant there is little doubt the manager has improved the side, evidence by Rangers’ progression in Europe this year.

Others were sure that Goldson’s arrival could lead Rangers to not only compete for silverware, but bring back trophies to the Ibrox cabinet – including that elusive 55th league title.

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Elsewhere, one transfer decision Gerrard made in January may have backfired…

Spurs fans react to links with Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho

After missing out on his signing last summer, it appears Tottenham are intent on getting Philippe Coutinho at the second time of asking.

Reports suggested that the north London side were interested in taking him from Barcelona the previous year, but a deal failed to materialise, with the Brazilian play-maker instead making a season-long loan switch to the Bundesliga to join Bayern Munich.

The Greatest Bargains in Premier League history – How much did they cost?

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But now, The Daily Mirror claim Spurs are once again interested in signing Coutinho, and could hold an advantage over rivals Chelsea if they are prepared to include an obligation to buy.

After hearing about their latest links to the former Liverpool star, Spurs fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their potential summer target.

A couple of Spurs fans seemed to suggest that there are far more important positions for the club to be concerned about.

Based on his performances this season, Spurs dodged a very expensive bullet by missing out on Coutinho last summer.

Committing vast sums of money both in terms of wages and then a potential fee would be a questionable way of trying to reinforce the positions that need strengthening at Spurs.

Jose Mourinho will surely be looking at a back-up striker for Harry Kane, whilst a goalkeeper may be on the agenda too. Getting their priorities sorted out first should be the main area for focus.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans react to links with this Eredivisie ace.

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