All posts by n8rngtd.top

When Brendan Rodgers shocked Celtic fans with his sudden decision to leave and become Leicester City manager, a quick replacement was needed to keep the ship steady.

They turned to their former boss, Neil Lennon, of course, which, in many ways, was an easy decision.

He is still held in high esteem by the fans, he has experience of winning trophies at the club, and he was currently out of work.

So it was a win all round when he agreed to step into the breach until the end of the season.

But will he get the job on a permanent basis for a second time?

The club are on the verge of clinching yet another league title — with Lennon having presided over four wins and a draw in his five games in charge — and they are in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

At virtually any other club in football, were they to win both domestic competitions, the manager would be given the keys to the castle.

But this is not any other football club.

When a team has won eight titles in a row and a host of domestic trophies, what is the benchmark for appointing a new manager?

The one thing that Celtic want, and need, is to be successful at European level.

It is 52 years since the Lisbon Lions won the European Cup, and is still the only European success in the club’s history.

It is 16 years since their last glimpse of continental success, with a UEFA Cup Final appearance in 2003.

So, in many respects, Celtic have nothing more to prove domestically — record-setting apart — and the club must look to Europe to further themselves.

Looking back at Lennon’s first spell in charge, he managed to get Celtic to the Champions League last 16 in 2012/13 and to the group stages a year later.

But those two seasons apart, he did not get beyond the qualifying phase.

Celtic have to weigh up their options between a manager who has achieved tremendous domestic success, and has the experience to succeed in all competitions in Scotland, or look for someone new, who may have a European pedigree, but will not be familiar with the Scottish Premiership.

The smart money will be on Lennon to get another chance, possibly on a short contract, in the hope of maintaining the status quo at the club, and having an opportunity to bring some sort of Champion’s League success — the group stages as a minimum — to Celtic Park.

The bold choice would be for Peter Lawwell to take Celtic in a new direction, and making Europe the major focus.

What do you think, Celtic Fans? Should Lennon get the job? Or would you like to see the club aim for more continental glory nights? Let us know…

Will it be automatic promotion or a spot in the play-offs? Leeds fans just cannot hack the pressure right now and just want the season to end with them back in the Premier League. Indeed, it seems the players can’t either, if yesterday was anything to go by. 

The passionate bunch of supporters have waited far too long for a top-flight return but thanks to the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa, they appear on the cusp of doing just that. But that’s the thing, it’s only the cusp. Getting over that final hurdle will be a major obstacle.

Indeed, there are sure to be some more twists and turns in the race for promotion but having fought so hard, Leeds can safely say they’re deserving of an achievement like this.

With possible promotion into the Premier League, Leeds will have to upgrade their squad in a number of areas to ensure they’re equipped for the far greater challenge that lays in wait.

A midfielder they reportedly (as per AS) had previous interest in was Spanish midfielder Ander Iturraspe and rekindling that interest would be a smart move by Leeds.

Iturraspe, (who is valued at £2.7 million on Transfermarkt) has been previously linked with Leeds and with him being out of contract in the summer, it surely makes sense for all involved. Having been at Athletic Bilbao since he was 10-years-old, a move away will be extremely hard but he would be welcomed with open arms at a club like Leeds.

A statement signing, the vastly experienced defensive midfielder could patrol the engine room for the Whites, allowing Kalvin Phillips to flourish alongside him, and bringing top-level nous to a team otherwise lacking in it.

It comes after he has made just 3 appearances in La Liga this season and despite his long-term commitment to the Spanish club, he will be moving on this summer.

At the age of 30, Iturraspe has all the experience Leeds could wish for to bolster their midfield with and on a free transfer as well, the deal makes complete sense for all involved.

Leeds fans, do you agree? If not, why not? Join the discussion and let us know down below!

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Everton are lining up a £15million bid for Birmingham City striker Che Adams, according to Football Insider.

The Toffees are hopeful of beating a number of Premier League clubs to the signing of the St. Andrew’s forward.

What’s the word?

Adams has been in incredible form for Birmingham thus far this season.

The 22-year-old has scored 22 goals and laid on four assists in 43 appearances in all competitions, with Birmingham in 17th in the Championship.

Football Insider claim that Southampton and Burnley are also monitoring Adams, along with Norwich City, who are attempting to win promotion to the Premier League this term.

The report claims that Everton manager Marco Silva is keen to reinforce his attack at the end of the season and that scouts have repeatedly run the rule over Adams.

The striker has a contract until 2022 and has won two caps for England’s Under-20 team in his career.

A change in strategy

This is a bit more like it from Everton.

The club spent a lot of money last summer on players who have not exactly set Goodison Park alight.

The likes of Yerry Mina, Bernard and Kurt Zouma have not helped Silva’s cause, although the latter two have improved recently.

But a move for a young, hungry player who appears poised to make a major impact in the Premier League makes sense and seems to mark a change in strategy.

Perhaps the money is not there to bring in elite talents but Everton have repeatedly made stars of players from the lower leagues in the past, and Adams is tailor-made for the top flight.

The likes of Tim Cahill, signed from Millwall, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, from Sheffield United, and Mason Holgate, from Barnsley, have all made the first-team their home at Goodison Park.

The former, of course, became a club legend. Adams, if a deal comes off, could join Calvert-Lewin and Holgate in chasing that destiny too.

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Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

And it would be fair to say that the Merseyside club’s fans were pleased with the performance of right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, valued at £45 million by Transfermarkt.

According to WhoScored, the 20-year-old made three tackles, had two shots and boasted a pass success rate of 75%.

The Englishman is far from the finished package, but the signs are that he will go on to become one of the best right-backs in the league, if he is not already.

Liverpool have talent all over the park, but the performances of full-backs Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson have been special throughout the campaign.

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

The club’s official Twitter account paid tribute to Alexander-Arnold following the win over Maurizio Sarri’s side.

And that led to a number of the supporters lavishing praise on the 5 ft 9 ace – a selection of which can be seen below:

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Arsenal take on Napoli on Thursday evening.

The Gunners take a 2-0 lead to Italy as they look to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals.

Unai Emery has been ebullient in his pre-match statements, insisting, per the Daily Telegraph, that they will attack the Serie A club in the Stadio San Paolo.

He said: “We want to play tomorrow thinking to win, thinking to score, thinking to push, thinking to stop them. Thinking also tactically to be together and thinking when we have the space, to attack the space.

“They have a lot of players with a big quality to push against us and give us a lot of problems but we also have the players to fight against them with our quality.”

There is a likelihood, then, that there will be no shortage of firepower on the pitch when the game kicks off.

Football FanCast has taken a look at the possible XI Emery could pick.

This is a bold selection, with only five players – Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – retaining their places in the XI from the Watford win.

Petr Cech, of course, has played in each knockout game for the Gunners in the Europa League, and kept a clean sheet in the first leg. He is likely to replace Bernd Leno.

Both Shkodran Mustafi and Konstantinos Mavropanos should drop out, with Sokratis drafted into a back three.

Utilising wing-backs adds an extra dimension to the club’s attack, with Mesut Ozil charged with supplying the chances to both Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

It is very much a win or bust XI, but it could well pay off for the risk-taking Emery…

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It has been reported by The Independent that Manchester United are considering making a move for Paris Saint-Germain right-back Thomas Meunier.

What’s the word, then?

The 27-year-old, who is a supporter of the Red Devils, is an option for United in the summer transfer window to solve a problem position on the right side of defence.

In the longer term, they would like Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Kieran Trippier, but Meunier would be more affordable for now and easier to prise away from his current club, per the original report.

The Belgium international joined PSG from Club Brugge in 2016 and has since made 99 appearances in all competitions in the French capital but is finding playing time harder and harder to come by at the Parc des Princes.

Meunier is the ideal gift for the talented Diogo Dalot

Signing Meunier would be a smart move by Ed Woodward as he would be the ideal gift for talented 20-year-old right-back Diogo Dalot.

The Portuguese starlet has impressed in his first season at Old Trafford, however, he’s crying out for some proper competition to motivate him along his journey to becoming the first-choice option.

Currently only Matteo Darmian, who is firmly on the fringes, injury-hit veteran Antonio Valencia, and another old-timer, Ashley Young are providing competition for a starting berth.

Who would win out of Man Utd’s treble winners and Man City today? Fans discuss in the video below…

As a player of high quality and relative youth, Meunier would both give Dalot some worthy competition and also a figure to look up to, someone who’s won league titles playing for one of the biggest sides in Europe.

In time, this would improve the former Porto man and aid hugely with his development as they both possess very similar playing styles, you only need to look at the Belgian’s three goals and four assists in Ligue 1 in 2018/2019 to discover that.

The arrival of Meunier would also allow the Man United hierarchy to get rid of some of the deadwood such as the right-back trio mentioned earlier.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that this deal is a must-secure for the 20-time top-flight champions.

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After Leeds’ Under 23s made it into the final of the Professional Development League fans of the Yorkshire club have been getting excited about several young prospects. Perhaps the most promising of the bunch is the 19-year-old who scored the winner on Monday, Kun Temenuzhkov.

Standing at just 5 ft 4 the striker doesn’t have a huge physical presence, meaning that the technical side of his game has to be top notch – and it most certainly is.

Nabbed from Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy aged just 17 the Bulgarian has shown signs of possessing the pedigree required to one day turn out for La Blaugrana.

The striker netted 30 goals in 30 games for one of Barcelona’s youth sides before making the switch to Yorkshire where he has continued his development.

Temenuzhkov has already made his Leeds debut, playing 11 minutes against QPR in an FA Cup tie earlier this season.

As well as being an astute finisher the diminutive forward also has excellent feet and a knack for scoring from range, as shown by his incredible goal on Monday evening.

The Bulgarian’s wonder-strike showed exactly what he is capable of in the future. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box, dropped a shoulder to leave two defenders in the dirt before smashing the ball into the top corner.

The striker had previously been likened to Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez, and you can’t argue that his thunderbolt against Coventry wasn’t Suarez-esque.

The Guardian placed him alongside the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Vinicius Junior in their 2017 list of the 60 best young players in the world. If the Bulgarian comes anywhere close to fulfilling his touted potential then Elland Road may be set to see the most talented player to come through Leeds’ ranks in years.

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Tottenham Hotspur are in the Champions League final.

Spurs came from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Ajax on away goals in the second leg of their semi-final, with Lucas Moura scoring a brilliant second-half hat-trick. His third, of course, came in the 96th minute.

The final whistle brought an outpouring of emotion from both the club’s players and their staff.

Indeed, the comeback came about after a number of genuinely heroic performances; Lucas, obviously, was sensational, while Moussa Sissoko expertly marshalled the midfield and both Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld were dominant in defence.

The performance of Sissoko was yet another to add to a catalogue of exceptional displays.

And, after the game, Harry Kane, watching on from the stands due to his ankle injury, made a beeline for the Frenchman.

It is quite a sight to behold, Kane, so often the hero for Spurs, in the arms of their latest midfield great.

Sissoko endured a hellish start to his Spurs career but he has turned it all around under Mauricio Pochettino.

He will be one of the first names on the team-sheet ahead of the final in Madrid and could be key to beating Liverpool’s incessant press.

No Spurs fan in the world would have expected to say that 18 months ago.

What a resurrection.

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A misnomer has grown around the play-offs of any division in recent years that insists form is everything leading into them.

The thinking goes that the team who falls away from an automatic promotion place and ends up finishing third invariably misses out, while the team who puts together a fine late run to nail a top six spot is the main threat.

If there is any truth in this then Leeds United are royally screwed as they prepare to head to Pride Park this weekend because Marcelo Bielsa’s men gained only a solitary point from their last four games as an otherwise tremendous campaign stuttered to an anti-climax.

As for Derby County, they have lost just once since early March while their last-gasp securement of sixth is all the more impressive given that for much of the year the Rams remained on the periphery of proceedings.

Thankfully for the Yorkshire giants this accepted truism is actually an exaggeration. Since the play-offs were first formed a total of thirty clubs have made it to the promised land via the back door and from those over a third ended the season as the ‘best of the rest’. Only five, meanwhile, were eventually promoted to the Premier League after coming sixth.

Furthermore, suggestions that Leed’s highly intensive ‘Bielsa-ball’ is running out of puff seems too neat and easy especially as they have suffered glitches before and always come back fighting. This is something Derby boss Frank Lampard acknowledged this week, saying: “I won’t plan to think they are in bad form. I will plan for the Leeds that beat us well (twice) and that were looking at Christmas like they were going to win the league. I will plan for that team.”

One of those losses of course came in the week of ‘spy-gate’ but it’s another controversy involving Leeds that is more pertinent here as Patrick Bamford’s recent histrionics leave him suspended for the first leg of this semi-final. Kemar Roofe is certainly an able replacement up front – especially as the 26-year-old is the club’s leading goal-scorer this term in the league – but it requires change nonetheless while injuries to Ezgjan Elioski and Barry Douglas will mean Stuart Dallas is converted at left-back from his usual midfield slot.

Who is your club’s Lionel Messi? Fans of Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle and more answer in the video below…

The latter rejig is interesting as it will directly pit an out-of-position player against Rams’ winger Harry Wilson, who has repeatedly shown throughout 2018/19 that he has the beating of his man. Elsewhere, Mason Mount will be key too as Derby turn to their young loanees to provide creativity in the final third.

Overview

For all the talk of Bielsa’s exhilarating and demanding blueprint it is via their defensive solidity that they have reached such heights, a solidity founded on a highly effective centre-back pairing of Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper.

The latter was recently voted into the SkyBet Championship Team of the Year and with a draw representing a very good result ahead of taking their opponents back to Elland Road don’t be surprised if this is a low-scoring encounter that ends in stalemate.

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Discussion over Ryan Kent’s future has been a key topic for Rangers fans to stew over in recent weeks and his brilliant display against Celtic on Sunday has brought his future under the microscope.

What’s the word?

The loanee from Liverpool has been a devastating outlet for the Gers this season in fleeting bursts. Consistency has eluded him but there have been enough displays of genuine quality to suggest that he’s a player Steven Gerrard should look to sign this summer.

And that’s an argument which has been peddled by BBC Scotland’s chief sports writer, Tom English, who has hinted that the Gers should aim to sign him on another loan deal this summer, per BBC.

‘There will be changes this summer, but on that performance, you wouldn’t be changing much about that Rangers team.

‘If they can get Ryan Kent on another season-long loan from Liverpool, what a difference that can make.’

Unlikely to happen

Everybody associated with Rangers would be delighted if Kent signed on another season-long loan but it seems unlikely that the Reds would be willing to accept a deal on those terms.

After all, Kent has been uninspiring on previous loan spells away from Anfield and they will be acutely aware that this is the perfect time to sell.

His stock is high at the end of a promising season at Ibrox, and suitors are likely to be willing to sign him on a permanent basis with his recent development in mind.

There is an obvious risk attached to sending him on loan for another season: a major injury or loss of form will see his market value tumble downwards once more, leaving Liverpool in a situation where they would struggle to attract an enticing fee for his signature.

At this stage Rangers will almost certainly need to stump up a figure to bring the 22-year-old to the club and the prospect of another loan deal seems unlikely to say the least, despite English’s verdict on the matter.