All posts by n8rngtd.top

Southampton confirmed earlier this week that Josh Sims has rejoined League One side Doncaster Rovers on loan until the end of the season, in what was a baffling transfer decision for a number of reasons.

The 24-year-old spent time with Darren Moore’s side earlier in the season and impressed, contributing three goals and seven assists in just 14 appearances for the club, before returning to Southampton in January.

As a result of his excellent performances, QPR were reportedly interested in signing the 23-year-old on a permanent deal earlier this month, but instead he has been sent back on loan to the League One club.

Sims’ contract with Southampton is set to expire at the end of the season, which makes it surprising that he was loaned out, as you would now expect him to depart the South Coast club on a free transfer at the end of the season when they perhaps could have collected some sort of fee for the £1.44 million-rated winger this month.

It is even more surprising that Sims was allowed to depart on loan when you consider the injury problems that have beset Ralph Hasenhuttl this season, especially on the wing.

Nathan Redmond has only just returned to the first-team after spending time on the sidelines, whilst Moussa Djenepo has been out injured, meaning that the Austrian manager has been extremely short of wing options.

Youngster Will Smallbone featured there against Leicester City before picking up a long-term injury of his own, so it was confusing why Sims didn’t even feature on the bench for Southampton in recent fixtures when we have seen a plethora of much less-experienced academy talents.

Considering his strong form with Doncaster this season, he surely would’ve been a useful option for Hasenhuttl to have, at least while Djenepo and Redmond get back to full fitness.

Therefore it could definitely be considered something of a disaster by Martin Semmens to allow Sims to leave on loan, from both a footballing and financial perspective.

And, in other news, Southampton must make £9.9m-rated beast January priority after Arsenal disaster…

Sunderland fans were far from happy with the performance of Josh Scowen as they only managed a 2-2 draw with Crewe on Saturday.

In fact, the Black Cats were arguably lucky to even come away with a point. They found themselves 2-0 down going in to the last 15 minutes, but fortunately Jordan Jones pulled one back before Charlie Wyke equalised in the seventh minute of injury time. Sunderland are now fifth in the table and in the play-off spots, but they will need better results than this one if they are to remain there.

The display of Scowen was disappointing. In the middle of the park, he won just six of his 12 duels and gave away four fouls (SofaScore). As the Stadium of Light outfit chase promotion, he must do better.

The club’s supporters were far from happy with his showing, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Scowen below

“Scowen’s such a nothing player.”

Credit: @BurntTurnip

“I want Scowen out of this football club would rather bring cookie back as CM never mind kitman”

Credit: @jakeyholyoak

“Callum Macfadzean and Josh Scowen should never wear a Sunderland shirt again mind, both are embarrassing. Never thought I’d say it but we’ll take a point against Crewe Alexandra”

Credit: @AlexT7949

“Macfadzean should never play for us again after that. Get LON at LB & anyone at RB. Midfield starters is anyones guess if GL is now out for a spell, but Scowen was very poor IMO again today. Maybe a chance for Dan Neil to step up, but we’ve options there”

Credit: @Hag_SAFC

“Scowen ruins things”

Credit: @jbaldridge81

“Credit to Lee Johnson for getting us back in the game with his changes. Gutted for Grant Leadbitter hope he has a speedy recovery. One negative for me is Josh Scowen! He does nothing for the team! No assists no goals, can’t tackle, midfield looks weaker with him in the team”

Credit: @blackcathodge86

In other news, Sunderland fans love this club announcement.

Leeds United have let go of many top talents over the years but one player who will have Victor Orta kicking himself is Kemar Roofe.The striker left the club in 2019 after three years in Yorkshire to join Anderlecht before making a £20,000 per week move back to the UK for his current chapter at Rangers. Since being snapped up by the Glasgow outfit, he has seriously impressed with his clinical performances in front of goal.This season, he has scored six goals and provided one assist in ten Scottish Premiership appearances. He has suffered a small setback though as his niggling calf problems continue to cause an issue (via Transfermarkt). But despite his injury, he is still in fiery form under Steven Gerrard, who looks set to lift the league trophy at the end of the campaign.Roofe is the Gers’ second highest scorer of the season across all competitions, behind only James Tavernier (via BBC Sport).Whilst Leeds have one of the strongest strikers in the Premier League in Patrick Bamford, they lack threat in other areas of the pitch. The Englishman cannot be expected to carry the attack on his own and this is where Marcelo Bielsa will wish he still had someone like Roofe at his disposal.Kevin Phillips recently lauded the 27-year-old as being a “smart signing” for Rangers, which is already proving to be a true statement. Indeed, Roofe scored a wonder-goal in the Europa League back in October against Standard Liege, lobbing a stunning 55-yard shot into the back of the net.

Whilst it was not eligible for this year’s Puskas Award, it is a piece of art that had many professionals and fans talking.

It’s moments like this that would hugely benefit Leeds this season. The Whites are in need of a fresh approach when it comes to scoring goals and having a player who makes easy work of scoring from distance would make them an even bigger threat.

In other news,ÂRaphinha could cause Alex Telles a lot of problems on Sunday…

Cenk Tosun was Carlo Ancelotti’s only saving grace as Everton muddled through to beat Rotherham United in the FA Cup third round on Saturday afternoon.

An extra-time hit from Abdoulaye Doucoure proved enough for the Toffees to edge past Paul Warne’s Championship strugglers, after seeing Matthew Olosunde strike out Tosun’s first goal of the season.

Olosunde tore Everton to shreds during his time on the field and would have delighted the hosts when his number was shown on the board at the start of second-half stoppage-time, having very much deserved his goal.

Tosun had opened the scoring in the early stages of the third round affair when found perfectly by Anthony Gordon, breaking free between the Rotherham centre-halves and chipping home over Jamal Blackman.

A moment of quality with half-time approaching saw Tosun come close to adding a second to his account, but the in-demand Turkey international could only poke wide.

He would put the ball in the back of Blackman’s net again come the second-half after meeting James Rodriguez’s free-kick for the would-be winner, yet would not be given the goal after a VAR review adjudged the £60,000-per-week hitman to have been marginally offside.

Tosun did not let the incident affect his confidence as he kept pushing for a second goal despite often being without much service, though should have done better late in extra time when he favoured an extra touch over shooting and let the chance go to waste.

Everton’s overall performance was shambolic at times, capitalised by the Liverpool Echo’s Adam Jones voicing on Twitter that goalkeeper Robin Olsen had been Ancelotti’s best player during regular time.

But it was Tosun who proved to be Ancelotti’s only saving grace, by turning in an influential performance when it mattered despite being starved of service as the sole centre-forward.

Tosun ended the day having played close to three times the number of minutes he had featured for over his previous six outings combined, to score only his 11th career Everton goal and first since November 2019.

The £6.5m-rated titan also took four shots with two on target, played one key ball from 21 accurate passes and was successful with one of two attempted dribbles, per SofaScore.

He registered 43 touches, as well, while winning half of his eight ground duels, contested six aerial contests, was fouled three times and spread play frequently with four long balls.

Ancelotti will have hoped to see Tosun fare better in some regards having been caught offside twice and being dribbled past once, but there were plenty of positives to take from his efforts in what was his first start of the season so far.

AND in other news, Marcel Brands must sign “quick” Everton target who “makes football look easy”…

Jake Vokins made his first Premier League appearance of the season against Arsenal on Tuesday night but was far from good enough defensively during his time on the pitch.

The Southampton academy ace was selected at left-back in the absence of Ryan Bertrand, who was suspended for the game against the Gunners.

Unfortunately for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, Stuart Armstrong’s early goal was as good as it got against their North London opposition as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at St Mary’s, with the Austrian criticising his team’s defending post-match.

Vokins was one of Southampton’s poorer performances on the night statistically, and was substituted just after the hour mark with Ibrahima Diallo moving to left-back to replace him.

As per SofaScore, the 20-year-old would earn a disappointing 6.1 match rating for his display, which was the joint-worst rating, with Yan Valery, of any outfield player on the pitch.

During his time on the pitch, the left-back would contribute no tackles or interceptions, and lost all three of his ground duels during the game, suggesting that the Saints really missed Bertrand against the Gunners – especially in defensive areas.

Vokins was very rarely involved, as he had just 23 touches, which was far fewer than the 43 touches goalkeeper Alex McCarthy had during the game.

Unfortunately for the academy ace, he would manage just 11 passes during the game, whereas opposition left-back and former Saints man Cedric would have 81 touches, and contributed 24 passes, showing his influence on proceedings.

The Saints defender struggled against Bukayo Saka, as he got past him for Arsenal’s second goal, with the Gunners ace picking up a 7.8 match rating, suggesting that he had the better of Vokins throughout his time on the pitch.

Fortunately for Hasenhuttl, Bertrand has now served his one-match ban, so will most likely be back for the game against Aston Villa at the weekend. However for Vokins this was perhaps evidence that he is not ready to be a starter in the Premier League just yet, as he clearly struggled against Mikel Arteta’s side on Tuesday night.

And, in other news… “What a player” – Exclusive: Pundit “surprised” that Hasenhuttl fave is still at Southampton

Leeds United have been linked to a move for Reading midfielder Michael Olise but they face fierce competition from new favourites Crystal Palace, according to the print edition Sunday Mirror (via HITC). The Eagles are now reportedly leading the race to sign the rising French talent after the Whites initially had a bid rejected in the summer.

Olise has had an impressive season in the Championship so far, notching four goals and seven assists in 20 appearances, as per Transfermarkt. These are the types of numbers that Leeds are crying out for in their engine room, after their return to the Premier League has somewhat exposed their lack of creativity.

Olise would be an ideal fit for Leeds

Even with their successful summer transfer window, Leeds are still relying mainly on Patrick Bamford to find the back of the net. Raphinha and Rodrigo have been stepping up a lot more recently, but Marcelo Bielsa still has a rather weak attacking set up.

If the club reignites their interest in Olise, he could be the ideal January recruit to support Bamford going forward. The French youth international would take the place of forgotten midfielder Adam Forshaw, who last appeared for the Whites back in 2019. He has been out of action with a hip injury and in fact, has just two assists to his name for his entire Leeds career.

Forshaw’s contract runs out in 2022 and it looks unlikely that the club will offer him a new deal given his poor match fitness. Plus, he is 29-years-old and Leeds would likely benefit from signing someone much younger. Indeed, teenage sensation Olise has shown how he could be a great asset for Bielsa after seriously impressing his Championship peers.

Earlier this year, Reading striker Sam Baldock lauded his attacking teammate as a “real talent” after he started to really make a name for himself at the Madejski.

Victor Orta must consider placing another bid for the £40m-rated midfielder before he, inevitably, is snapped up by another Premier League side.

In other news, Kemar Roofe form will have Victor Orta kicking himself…

Glasgow Rangers are doing rather well at the moment, aren’t they? Steven Gerrard’s side are unbeaten in their past sixteen games and they’ve taken 13 points from the last 15 available to them as they sit at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, with a six point lead over their arch rivals Celtic.

And Darren Bent believes the Rangers boss will be “buzzing” by the fact he has so many options to choose from ahead of the Europa League clash against Lech Poznan on Thursday.

He told Football Insider: “They’ve got Morelos that’s still there, they’ve got Defoe.

“But Kemar Roofe he looks hungry. I like Kemar Roofe I have always done since he was at Leeds.

“It’s what you want and Steven Gerrard is buzzing that he’s got all these players now that are fighting for the starting place.

“If Morelos throws his toys out of the pram, or lets the team down, which he has done in the past then it doesn’t really make a difference because you’ve got guys there who are chomping at the bit for their chance.

But that seems to be the problem, as Gerrard will have to wrestle with his decision as the once-injured star has returned to action.

Roofe’s revival

Roofe marked his return from injury with a sensational strike against Standard Liege in the Europa League last week. And he received praise from the Gerrard for his performance. He said:

“The goal was a moment of genius. It was a world class moment. I’ve been playing football professionally since 1998 and it’s the best goal I’ve ever seen live.

“He collects the ball 15 yards outside our box. He is strong for two challenges. He holds the player off for the third challenge and then he takes the player on in the worst conditions I’ve seen.

“Then to have the vision, and the power and the class to score from 55 yards. I don’t think I’ve seen a better goal and I don’t think I will see a better goal.”

The Rangers manager clearly rates Roofe very highly, so his return to form has left the Liverpool legend with a tough call to make at the top of the pitch.

Gerrard’s nightmare

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is going to be one of the biggest headaches Gerrard has faced ever since taking charge of the Ibrox outfit. For now, Alfredo Morelos seems to be the first-choice striker, as he has started four out of the past five games in all competitions, but it looks increasingly likely he could be dropped any minute, as he has failed to score since the 2-2 draw with Hibernian in September.

With that being said, the Colombia international has still scored three goals and supplied three assists in the Scottish Premiership so far, via Transfermarkt, whilst Jermain Defoe was axed from the Europa League squad altogether.

Roofe may come in to replace Morelos, although dropping him would be an incredibly harsh decision as the Colombian is arguably the club’s best striker on his day. In fact, it’s fair to say this mini goal drought isn’t exactly anything new, as he has often gone without scoring in short spells before bouncing back in style.

But the beauty of balancing both domestic and European competitions means that Gerrard arguably has more creative freedom to mess around with his starting line-up.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Barker: Glasgow Rangers must return for long-term target Jacob Murphy…

23-year-old Angelino joined Julian Nagelsmann’s RB Leipzig side on loan during the summer transfer window and worryingly for Manchester City, they have an option to buy him for as little as £16.3 million (per Sky Sports).

The former PSV Eindhoven man has three goals in seven Bundesliga appearances so far this season, which has seen him average a superb 7.50 rating (per WhoScored).

He also has another two goals, plus an assist, in just three Champions League appearances for Die Roten Bullen, resulting in a strong 7.11 rating in that competition (per WhoScored).

This is significantly better than the average ratings offered by Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko for City so far this season, with the Frenchman having earned a terrible 5.89 rating across his three top-flight appearances, whilst the Ukrainian has averaged a 6.86 rating in his two Champions League performances and is yet to start a game in the Premier League.

This begs the question, why was Angelino sent out on loan, when his performances this season suggest that he would have been a much better option in Guardiola’s side?

The 23-year-old has featured for City’s first-team on just 15 occasions in his career, in which he contributed three assists, so you could definitely argue that he was never given much of a chance with the Citizens.

Nagelsmann was full of praise for the defender after his performance in the Champions League win against Istanbul Basaksehir recently, saying:

“Angelino is only unpleasant when he doesn’t play, which only happened twice this year. That pretty much describes his character.” (per Goal)

He also described one of the goals the Spaniard scored as “world-class”, suggesting that he rates Angelino highly and it is perhaps likely that Leipzig will make his loan move permanent.

Therefore, it looks as if City will lose out on Angelino to the German club in the near future, which is perhaps a shame, as he was never given a run of games to prove himself in Guardiola’s side and he could have been the solution to their left-back problem this season.

There is however a catch, which could see City rectify their error and offer him an Etihad future. Indeed, as per Sky Sports, Leipzig can only activate their option-to-buy after 12 matches across the season, with five of those matches coming in the second half of the campaign.

So if City can recall him before his move is made permanent in the January window, they should do so given his excellent form.

What a start to the new Scottish Premiership season it has been for Rangers.

Steven Gerrard’s side have yet to taste defeat in the league, and enjoyed yet another comprehensive victory as they dispatched Dundee United 4-0 at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon.

The Gers looked in cruise control for the entire game, with the visitors managing to register just one shot on target during the contest. And one man who certainly impressed, was James Tavernier.

Are you a massive Rangers fan? Know everything about the club? Well do you know your Gary Stevens from your Michael Ball? This quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

The full-back got himself on the score-sheet in the first-half, and it was the icing on the cake for what was a well-rounded performance from the 28-year-old.

As per Sofascore,

And after seeing his performance, Rangers fans took to Twitter to share their reactions.

A couple of Gers fans hailed Tavernier’s display, but admitted that some supporters wouldn’t have their minds changed about him.

With two goals and three assists to start the league campaign off, Tavernier has been a very useful attacking weapon for Gerrard down the right flank – in total, Tavernier has delivered 77 assists in just 249 games for the club, truly world-class numbers for an attacking player, never mind a full-back.

Earlier this year, the Rangers boss looked to defend him from fans’ criticism, and insisted it was part and parcel of being one of the leaders of the team.

He said: “When you are the captain and leader of this club, when results don’t go as well as they should go, you are always going to be in the firing line. James accepts that. That’s the way it is.”

More performances like the one on Saturday, and Tavernier will be more than fine.

According to The Evening Standard, Tottenham remain interested in Benfica defender Ruben Dias.

What’s the word?

After a disappointing start to the new season on the pitch last weekend against Everton, things are looking far more rosier in north London. Jose Mourinho’s side bounced back with a Europa League victory in mid-week, which was then followed up with the news Real Madrid duo Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilon are set to join.

Is it Mido or Pedro Mendes? This Spurs quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

Now, The Evening Standard claim that Spurs’ transfer business in this summer window isn’t done just yet, with the Lilywhites in the market for another centre-back.

It’s suggested Dias is among Mourinho’s preferred options, and that whilst Benfica refused to sell him in January, Spurs’ chances of signing him have been boosted with the financial impact of the shutdown, and the Portuguese side’s failure to qualify for the Champions League potentially forcing a rethink.

Daniel Levy’s Spurs revolution

Well, well, well. It’s safe to say that Spurs fans haven’t exactly got the greatest of relationships with Daniel Levy, with there being numerous times of the club’s chairman being called out for his seeming unwillingness to spend big money.

But with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty already through the door, and Bale and Reguilon set to follow, you can’t question Levy’s desire to strengthen this time around.

Adding Dias would arguably be the icing on the cake for what has been a terrific window for Spurs. Delivering a player who Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold revealed “Mourinho likes” would be the latest evidence that Levy is prepared to back Mourinho to the hilt.

The 6 foot 2 defender won the Man of the Match award in the 2019 Nations League final for Portugal, and already boasts plenty of top-level experience at Benfica by playing regularly in European competition. Dias could be another Levy masterclass.