All posts by h716a5.icu

After a string of poor performances on the pitch and controversial actions off the pitch, it seems like Oli McBurnie’s time and reputation at Sheffield United is damaged beyond repair and he should look for a move away, according to Sheffield United legend Brian Deane.

£20m man McBurnie has been linked with a sensational move across the border to play for Steven Gerrard at Rangers for a cut-price fee of £15 million, and this is all despite failing to register one goal in the Premier League this season.

Rangers will know that they need to be active in the transfer market this summer if they are to maintain their advantage over Celtic for next season and someone like McBurnie, who would have a point to prove, could be a smart signing.

McBurnie has struggled to gain any kind of momentum at Bramall Lane this season as well as being caught up in an altercation with Blades fans in the street earlier this year.

Asked about the Rangers rumours, Deane believes it is best for both parties to go their separate ways as he told The Transfer Tavern:

“I think he’s got past that stage now where he could pull it back at Sheffield United because he’s been there two years now and he’s had injury problems but we’ve not really seen the best of him.

“I think that he probably wants to move on as well. So, I think it would be a good opportunity for him to move on for both him and the club to cut their losses, and perhaps the Premier League was just a little bit too much of a hurdle for him.”

The Blades will be looking to cut down some of their wage bill and offload some of their high earners after splashing the cash relatively poorly during their two seasons in the Premier League, and will be hopeful of an immediate return to the top flight under Slavisa Jokanovic.

It was a quite horrendous season for Sheffield United as they finished rock bottom and had to wait until January for their first league win as they beat Newcastle United 1-0, managing another six victories after that.

Rival captains Alec Stewart and Waqar Younis both called for improved security at cricket matches following the pitch invasion at Headingley which left a steward injured in hospital and led to England conceding defeat

CricInfo17-Jun-2001Rival captains Alec Stewart and Waqar Younis both called for improved security at cricket matches following the pitch invasion at Headingley which left a steward injured in hospital and led to England conceding defeat.The steward, Stephen Speight, was carried off the ground on a stretcher and taken to hospital. He suffered broken ribs and a damaged spleen as spectators poured on to the outfield with Pakistan still needing four runs to win.The scenes echoed those at Edgbaston ten days earlier when play eventually restarted after 30 minutes but at Headingley England skipper Stewart felt he had no option other than to concede defeat in order to protect his players.Stewart said: “It’s the first time it’s (conceding defeat) happened in mycareer. To me it was the only option we had. Players’ and umpires’ safety is paramount and when you see scenes repeated what more can you do?”The ECB made various points to try to put into place but there didn’t seemtoo much difference from Edgbaston.”The only thing I felt I could do as captain of England in this game was toprotect my players, the umpires and the two Pakistan batsmen.”I mentioned to the ECB something along the lines of a £5,000 fine – I saidthat after the Edgbaston game.”In Australia they have the biggest crowds and you can count on one hand thenumber of people who come on to their field in the times I’ve played there.”Stewart added: “With three overs and about 15 runs required people came overthe fence and nothing was done about it.”It’s a very sad day for English cricket. Unfortunately the headlines are notgoing to be about a wonderful ten overs bowled by Waqar Younis. It was amagnificent spell of bowling.”Players’ safety and umpires’ safety is the important thing. Groundauthorities have surely got to guarantee that and it hasn’t been guaranteed.”Australian captain Steve Waugh mentioned it before the tournament and beforethe World Cup.”It was pretty obvious we couldn’t go back out there (after the pitchinvasion). We’d been beaten fairly and squarely but to actually concede a gameover other issues is not what it’s all about.”Pakistan captain Waqar Younis, man of the match for his seven-wicket haul,added: “The ECB should do something about it. I don’t know what they should doabout it but they should have more security.”It’s very dangerous thing, with what happened to the steward. It’s not verypleasing.”Here in England they don’t have fences, but back in Asia they have big fences and they can’t really get in. They have to do something like that here because Asian teams are going to come here quite often.”John Read, the ECB’s director of corporate affairs, said: “We need to speakto the match referee and police to find out what the precise circumstances were.We will be speaking to them very shortly.”We need to look into what happened, not jump to any hasty conclusions andthen come up with some action.”After Edgbaston we made some announcements about positive initiatives.Clearly we need to be looking at those again and the possibility of others tosee what we can try to do prevent this happening again.”It detracts from the whole spectacle of the game but it’s too early to saywhat action we can take.”There’s no doubt we’ll be taking this issue extremely seriously. We’ve gotto sit down and have a long, hard think about the best way of ensuring player,crowd and umpire safety in the future.”The first thing that’s most important is ensuring the safety of everyoneinside the ground.”The issue will be discussed when ECB chief executive Tim Lamb and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Speed meet at Lord’s tomorrow.ACB spokesman Brian Murgatroyd said: “They were going to have a meetinganyway but obviously this will now be on the agenda.”The next game in the series is at Trent Bridge on Tuesday when Australia meet Pakistan in a day-night encounter.

The annual Division 1 cricket championship, which usually starts inMay, will begin in August this year

Haydn Gill26-Apr-2001The annual Division 1 cricket championship, which usually starts inMay, will begin in August this year.For the first time in recent history, the season will begin with theBarbados Fire & Commercial Cup Limited-overs Competition on May 19.As a result, the new-look Division 1 competition, which features theintroduction of covers and a morning start for two-day matches, willbe delayed until August 11.Play will now start at 11 a.m. daily in the Division 1 competition, anhour later than was originally planned.Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) business manager Rollins Howardsaid the decision to start the season with the Cup competition wasmade primarily to accommodate schoolboys who have examinations in themonths of May and June.”We don’t usually play on Saturday and Sunday at the start of theseason,” Howard told NATIONSPORT.”If we start with the Cup, we will still play cricket every Saturday.The schools will be playing in the knockout competition and it wouldnot impact on Sunday cricket with them.”The Cup competition will run for nine successive Saturdays,culminating with the final on Sunday July 22.Once the Division 1 competition starts on August 11, it will run for13 successive weekends, ending in the first weekend of November.For the first time ever, there will be Reserve League for teamsparticipating in Division 1, registration of clubs and players andmatch referees in Division 1.”There are other changes but the above are those which will have animmediate and the greatest impact on clubs participating in theDivision 1 competition,” Howard said in a memo to clubs and schools.”We appreciate that many changes are being implemented for the newseason and expect that several challenges will present themselves.However, it will be a learning experience for all of us.”Covers, which are to be used in Division 1 and the entire Cupcompetition for the first time, have been ordered for each club andshould soon arrive in the island.In an effort to familiarise the groundstaff with the requirements forpreparation of two-day pitches as well as with the elements involvedin covering pitches, a seminar for groundsmen, sponsored by the BCAand the National Sports Council, was held recently at Queen’s Park.Each Division 1 club will be represented in the Reserve League, whichwill be played on two consecutive Saturdays initially.”This concession is made to allow current clubs time to recruitplayers who will be able to compete in the Reserve League under thesame conditions as the First Division and will not exceed two years,”Howard said.”Clubs are therefore urged to embark on programmes to attract youngplayers.”In these two years, the Reserve League will begin at 12:30 p.m. dailyand will be played on the basis of 35-overs-per-side in the firstinnings with many of the requirements of a regular limited-overs matchin place.The second innings will be played to a normal conclusion. There will,however, be a minimum of 75 overs in the day’s play.Match referees, who have become a regular part of the Fire Cupcompetition in recent years, are expected to be in place for Division1 matches.”There is a need for more match referees and efforts are under way torecruit suitable persons so that all of the competitions can be wellserved,” Howard said.Other changes include the promotion of teams from Intermediate andSecond Division and the introduction of new clubs to the SecondDivision.Barbados Defence Force Youth Programme, champions in the IntermediatePremier League in 1999 and 2000, have been promoted to Division 1 totake the place of one of the Combined Schools teams.Additionally, Conrad Hunte Sports Club, Dover, Wotton and Fustic havebeen promoted to the Premier League; Lords, Parish Land and theBarbados Fire Service have moved up to Intermediate from SecondDivision; and Isolation Cavaliers, Melrose and Brereton are the newcomers to the Second Division competition.There will only be minor changes to the conditions of play in thePremier, Intermediate, Second and Schools divisions.Playing times and general conditions will be the same as in previousyears, with play starting at either 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.The Second Division, however, will play under conditions similar tothe Reserve League.The Fire Shield, which starts on June 10, will be played almostsimultaneously with the Cup and ends with the final on July 15.In another new feature, all clubs will have to register their players.Registration fee per club is $100 and per player $10.Registration for schools is $50, but there is no registration fee forindividual schoolboys.

Steve Waugh today called for the Australian cricket team to visit the Gallipoli battlefields prior to every Ashes tour.

Daniel Pace28-May-2001Steve Waugh today called for the Australian cricket team to visit the Gallipoli battlefields prior to every Ashes tour.The Australian captain, clearly moved by the team’s tour of the battlefields today, suggested that the Ashes squad do the sameevery four years as a stop-over to London.”I’d like to think this could be a traditional start to every tour by an Australian side to the UK,” he said from the Gallipolipeninsula.”It’s so peaceful and beautiful now the hardest part is to realise what it was like in 1915.”In that year more than 8,000 ANZACS were killed and a further 18,000 wounded during the ill-fated eight month campaign.Today the Australian cricketers visited memorial sites such as Lone Pine, The Nek, Johnston’s Jolly and Chunuk Bair, thehighest ground at Gallipoli which was briefly held by New Zealand forces.Waugh, who described the visit as a once in a lifetime experience, praised the courage and determination of the ANZACS.”It puts things into perspective for us because people call us heroes but we just play sport and we’re good at it,” the36-year-old said.”But realistically those who fought are far more deserving of the accolade of heroes than any of us.”As for the other players, everyone is taking it in and is very interested but it’s hard to comprehend the scale of what happenedhere with half a million casualties.”Waugh said he and his teammates were thinking about the young soldiers who went off looking for adventure only to findthemselves facing a determined Turkish enemy and punishing conditions.”For all those who ended up dying, it’s hard to comprehend the numbers dying and fighting and all the commotion andconfusion. It must have been terrifying,” he said.Waugh explained the idea of seeing the battlefields was formulated about 12 months ago when he had dinner with Australian ofthe Year Lieutenant-General Peter Cosgrove.They discussed the common features of the armed forces and cricket – namely that both required careful planning andcamaraderie – before putting the idea to the Australian Cricket Board.ACB executive chairman Malcolm Speed agreed and the Gallipoli visit was made part of the tour itinerary.During the five-hour bus trip from Istanbul to Gelibolu, the team watched the Four Corners documentary “The Fatal Shore” andthe 1981 Peter Weir film “Gallipoli”, starring a young Mel Gibson.The movie records an attack on the narrow ridge called The Nek on August 7, 1915, when more than 300 Australians weregunned down in a futile but courageous attack on an area no bigger than the size of two tennis courts.Four lines of men were sent to almost certain death before the attack was halted.Today, the Australians planned a game of cricket on the beach at Anzac Cove, re-enacting a match played by diggers on afamous section of the battlefield called Shell Green during the final days of the campaign.On December 8, 1915, Britain’s General Kitchener ordered the evacuation of the ANZAC forces.The Turks must have been literally stumped when they watched a group of soldiers from the NSW 4th Battalion stage a cricketmatch at Shell Green on December 17, 1915.By this stage of the campaign the Turks and the ANZACS had developed a mutual respect and often exchanged presents.The Turks held their fire to watch the cricket but after two hours they’d had enough and started shelling the Australians.According to the diary of one ANZAC, Granville Ryrie, the match continued anyway until the Turks doubled their firepowerand the Aussies reluctantly called it a draw.

Former Leeds United striker Brian Deane has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that he would be surprised if Ben White made a return to Elland Road.

White, who spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Leeds, is currently being linked with a move away from Brighton.

According to The Sun, Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma, Manchester United and Arsenal are all interested in signing the 23-year-old defender this summer in a potential £45m deal.

White is a player who is hugely admired by Marcelo Bielsa, who tried to bring him back to Elland Road in the last summer transfer window, but Deane cannot see a reunion happening anytime soon.

When asked by TT whether he could see Leeds trying to sign White again, the retired Premier League forward said:

“I’d be very surprised if they sold to a club Brighton would consider to be their rivals. Ben White has got a lot of people who admire him; I think he’d like to come back to Leeds.

“He did very well here. It’s an interesting one, but I’m not sure if I see that happening.”

Given that season White had at Leeds, where the centre-back played in all 46 Championship fixtures, he would probably be welcomed back to Elland Road.

That being said, the Whites currently have two internationals in central defence in Diego Llorente and Robin Koch, so that area of the pitch may not be a priority for Bielsa this summer.

Many Arsenal fans have been buzzing at the news from The Telegraph that the Kroenkes could be tempted to sell the club for a bid of around £2bn.

As per the news outlet, the Gunners – one of the six English clubs who originally signed up to be part of the proposed European Super League (ESL) project – will face further fan protests after a large number of supporters gathered outside the Emirates Stadium before the 1-0 loss to Everton in the Premier League on Friday night to voice their anger at Stan Kroenke, with the hope that he will leave the north London club.

Daniel Ek, a Swedish billionaire entrepreneur and chief executive of Spotify, recently tweeted that he would ‘be happy to throw (his) name in the ring’ if Kroenke Sports and Entertainment (KSE) would like to sell Arsenal following the mass protests, and The Telegraph have now reported that he is ‘serious’ about tabling an offer.

Arsenal fans on Kroenke and Ek update

These Gooners buzzed upon reading the update on Twitter, with one supporter claiming that they are ‘excited’ while another branded the news as ‘massive’:

“Yessss”

Credit: @RobTheGoatAfc

“Omds I’ve never heard that they would be tempted at all. This is new and massive!!!!!!”

Credit: @AFCWilliam_

“What a dream this would be”

Credit: @ESR_Army_

“Not gonna get excited…..but as an Arsenal fan, I’m impossibly excited”

Credit: @Capt_Amber_jack

“This has made my evening”

Credit: @afcceee

“PLEASE. I’M ON MY KNEES…….”

Credit: @_AFCFRED

In other news, this Arsenal man’s performance against Everton was blasted by many supporters.

Newcastle’s Matt Ritchie has dropped an enticing transfer claim about where he thought his future was during the January window, with the summer transfer period now not too far away.

The Lowdown: Ritchie’s future was uncertain

Ritchie’s future at the St. James’ Park faithful was uncertain when the January transfer window came along.

The Scotland international was strongly linked with a Deadline Day exit back to his old club in AFC Bournemouth, but that move never came into fruition.

Of course, those rumours were joined a month later by the story of a bust-up in training between the Scot and manager Steve Bruce.

The Latest: Ritchie thought he was leaving

Ritchie has since spoken to Sky Sports about how close he was to leaving the North East just a few months ago, to which he claimed: “If I’m honest, yes, I thought my Newcastle career was over”.

The former Portsmouth man, who currently earns £45,000-per-week, still remains at the Tyneside club, and it has ended up being a good decision not to let him go.

The Verdict: Ritchie still important to Newcastle

Ritchie is still an important player for the Magpies, as shown by him starting in their last five games in the Premier League in the 2020/21 term (Transfermarkt).

The 31-year-old still has a lot to offer both off of the pitch with his experience and leadership, as well as on it, as former Cherries boss Jason Tindall saw when he described him as a ‘fantastic’ player back in January – when his side were linked with the versatile man.

Nonetheless, in case there is any revived interest in the summer to sign Ritchie, the Toon should look to keep hold of the winger at all costs.

In other news, find out what transfer boost NUFC have received here!

West Ham United dodged a bullet with their failed pursuit of Josh Maja in January as the Girondins de Bordeaux striker has proven to be a flop at Fulham.

The Irons were credited with an interest in a move for Maja before the Frenchman joined Scott Parker’s relegation-threatened Cottagers on loan, with the Sunderland product targeted as a replacement for Sebastien Haller.

David Moyes held a keen awareness in the 22-year-old as he faced an uncertain future in Ligue 1 after falling out of favour at the Matmut Atlantique, where Jean Louis Gasset had awarded Maja only 11 starts in 17 top-flight appearances this term.

Fulham eventually came to his rescue and offered Maja a move to the Premier League on Deadline Day, and would seal his signature on a half-season loan that carries a £9m option to purchase.

It remains to be seen if the south west Londoners intend to buy the one-time Nigeria international, but his form across the capital will have given West Ham confidence that they made the right decision by walking away from negotiations with Bordeaux.

Maja made his 11th outing for the Cottagers on Sunday as they held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw thanks to the London-born forward converting from the spot inside a quarter of an hour of the second half, after Gabriel Magalhaes was deemed to have fouled Mario Lemina.

It was only the third goal that Maja has scored for Parker’s side since his arrival after a brace at Everton in February, after being given the first start in the Premier League of his career at Goodison Park.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-west-ham-news%2c-views-and-gossip” title=”Latest West Ham news, views and gossip!”]

He has since started just a further seven top-flight games but failed to have any direct involvement in the scoring, and has only helped Fulham to clinch nine additional points in their quest for survival.

Parker expected Maja to boost the Cottagers’ threat in the final third when his signing was finalised, as “the boy’s a finisher” and he settled into his new club quickly.

Parker said, via quotes by the Independent: “I’m very pleased we’ve got him with us and have got him on board, and I’m looking forward to seeing his qualities and working with him.”

But Maja has proven to be an underwhelming signing for Fulham that West Ham did well to avoid, having directed just 0.5 shots on target per Premier League game and offered little offensive creativity for his Cottagers teammates with 0.5 key passes, per WhoScored.

Haller may not have set the world alight in claret and blue with three goals in 16 Premier League games this term, but had offered West Ham a marginally superior option with 0.7 on-target efforts and 0.6 key passes on average a game.

Antonio, meanwhile, has seven goals in 21 appearances this term thanks to striking one of his average 2.4 shots on target per game, and has offered the second-most assists (5) at the London Stadium from an average of one key pass an outing.

If West Ham had been the ones to unveil Maja as a Deadline Day signing, he would likely have spent the following months sitting on the bench waiting for his chance, having proven to be a flop at Fulham where minutes have been more regularly forthcoming.

AND in other news, a £4.5m-rated West Ham enforcer is being lined up for a summer move out of east London…

Crystal Palace have finally started committing their players to new contracts, with promising fullback Tyrick Mitchell being the first to be tied down to an extended deal.

The left-back’s original deal at Selhurst Park was set to expire this summer, with Steve Parish risking losing the starlet on a free transfer.

However, confirmation of an extended stay at the club was announced on Tuesday, Mitchell penning a new deal that is set to run until the summer of 2025.

His show of commitment is a huge boost to the Eagles heading into the 2021/22 campaign.

At the age of just 21, the Palace youngster has already shown immense promise on the Premier League stage.

Afforded opportunities at the back end of last term, it is throughout the current season where Mitchell has forged a place in the first-team having made 14 appearances in all competitions for the club.

He will now continue that progression at Selhurst Park, hopefully furthering his immense development.

After all, his improvement in just a short period of time is clear to see with Mitchell already contributing more tackles, interceptions and clearances per game this season compared to last according to WhoScored.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-crystal-palace-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more-townsend-bayindir-butland-van-aanholt-parish” title=”Latest Crystal Palace news, transfer rumours and more…”]

So whilst his decision to remain at Selhurst allows Palace to retain an extremely promising member of their squad, it also allays considerable fears concerning the state of the position going forwards.

Whilst Mitchell’s previous contract was ticking down, fellow left-back Patrick van Aanholt is also edging closer to leaving the club upon the expiry of his own deal.

Should both have departed, that would have seen the Eagles go into the new campaign without a recognised left-back, potentially leading the club into the transfer market in the summer for a new defender.

However, with Mitchell signing an extended deal, any pressing need to buy is considerably reduced, allowing funds to be spent on areas of the squad that are more necessary.

Parish will be delighted to have agreed a new long-term contract with his promising left-back.

AND in more news, take a look at how Jack Butland’s career has gone so wrong…

It has only been just over a year since Liverpool swooped for Takumi Minamino but the Japanese wideman is already being linked with a permanent departure from Anfield.

The 26-year-old, currently on-loan at Premier League rivals Southampton, is interesting Sevilla, with the Spanish giants reportedly willing to pay up to €10m for the player according to reports in Spain..

Despite Minamino not having had the best of times with the Reds since his arrival from Red Bull Salzburg, it would certainly be a mistake to let him go this early.

In his first season with the Reds, he struggled for form, failing to get off the mark for goals. However, he has certainly improved during the 2020/21 campaign, scoring six goals and notching two assists for Liverpool and Southampton combined in all competitions. They are numbers that are certainly not too bad.

They are certainly better statistics than the likes of current Reds’ wide options, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who have just one goal and five assists between them this season.

For a player who appears to be finally getting to grips with life in the Premier League, it seems quite premature for Liverpool to cut Minamino adrift so soon.

It is not like the Anfield outfit would be receiving any considerable financial benefit should he leave having forked out a reported £7.25m to bring the Japanese international to the club. Meanwhile, his wages are not the biggest burden on the club, with Minamino earning £72k per week – less than Shaqiri, Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner, amongst others.

With Jurgen Klopp proclaiming the Japanese as a “wonderful” signing upon his arrival at Anfield, it would seem unlikely that opinion will have changed in the 14 months since.

Minamino has certainly shown enough potential to be kept around so Liverpool should definitely not let him leave so soon.

AND in more news, have a look at which Championship star Liverpool must sign this summer…