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A “top” manager is now Tottenham Hotspur’s number one target to replace Thomas Frank, following the 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Spurs players called into question after City Ground defeat

Tottenham fell to 11th in the Premier League table following the heavy defeat at the City Ground, and The Athletic’s Elias Burke gave a scathing review of the performance, saying: “Utterly devoid of any inspiration or fight, even after going behind. There have been a few bad ones under Frank, and that’s right up there among the worst.”

It was a controversial decision to replace Europa League winner Ange Postecoglou, and Frank has thus far failed to make any major improvements, with the Dane’s record since taking over leaving a lot to be desired.

Thomas Frank’s Tottenham record

Games

25

Wins

10

Draws

6

Losses

9

Points per game

1.44

As a result, ENIC have now held talks about sacking the 52-year-old, and former Barcelona manager Xavi has emerged as one of the main contenders to replace him in the dugout.

However, the Spaniard is not the only option under consideration, according to a report from Caught Offside, which states USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino is the top target, having been identified as the ‘strongest potential replacement.’

At the moment, ENIC are willing to give Frank more time, but results need to improve soon, and Pochettino’s knowledge of the club and style of play means he is an ideal replacement.

Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glanser and Fulham boss Marco Silva have also been shortlisted, so there is certainly no shortage of targets, but there are signs the former Spurs manager could be the best option…

Pochettino has experience at the top level

While Silva and Glasner have now built up plenty of Premier League experience, and the latter won the FA Cup last season, the ex-Tottenham boss has more experience at the highest level, having led the north Londoners to the 2019 Champions League final.

Pep Guardiola has also waxed lyrical about the Argentinian in the past, describing him as “one of the top managers in England”, and there have been suggestions Daniel Levy made an error getting rid of him in the first place.

However, it would arguably be a backwards step to appoint a manager who has already been sacked in recent memory, and the 53-year-old may have burned some of his bridges with fans by moving to Chelsea back in 2023.

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With Pochettino, who prefers a 4-2-3-1 system, also gearing up to lead the USMNT into the World Cup, it is unclear whether he would be willing to jump ship, and Spurs may be better off targeting Glasner, with the 51-year-old winning Palace the first major trophy in their history last season.

	While Rahul Dravid is expected to be fit for the first Test, Zaheer Khan might struggle to make it © Getty Images

Zaheer Khan, India’s left-arm seamer who is currently recovering from injury, is unlikely to be fit for India’s first Test against South Africa, starting on March 26 in Chennai.India’s Test specialists are set to undergo routine fitness tests over the next few days but Zaheer isn’t part of the list, it’s learnt. Sources have indicated that it’s not clear yet if he would be available for any part of the series.”He is currently in South Africa,” board secretary Niranjan Shah told Cricinfo. “And we will know the status of the injury in a day or two.” Zaheer is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre for Sports Medicine in Johannesburg.Zaheer injured his left heel on the eve of the Sydney Test in early January. It was the same injury that sustained during the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore a month earlier.Meanwhile RP Singh, the other injured left-arm seamer, will undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on Friday and Saturday. He had injured his hamstring during the final Test in Adelaide and missed the entire CB Series. RP played a couple of Ranji one-day matches for Uttar Pradesh recently – taking two wickets in each and making good contributions with the bat too.Rahul Dravid was the other injury concern – having damaged his finger during the Adelaide Test – but is expected to be fit for selection. He skipped the South zone Ranji ODI tournament (because he was still in pain) but began training a couple of days ago. He is expected to play a couple of Deodhar Trophy matches for South Zone before the first Test against South Africa in Chennai.Meanwhile India’s Test specialists are set to undergo routine tests at the NCA over the next three days. This follows a BCCI policy to have periodic check-ups prior to all selections for players who have been out of action. VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Sourav Ganguly, Dravid, VRV Singh, Pankaj Singh and Anil Kumble haven’t been part of the side since the Adelaide Test and will need to go through the paces before their names are cleared for selection.They will undergo tests under Paul Chapman, the trainer at the NCA, Paul Close, the physiotherapist, and Dav Whatmore. The NCA will in turn forward the reports to the board on Saturday.The squad for the first Test will be picked on Sunday in Mumbai.

Ireland have earned a place on the ICC ODI championship table after beating a Test-playing nation for the second time at the World Cup. Ireland’s 74-run win over Bangladesh at Barbados means they will be on the official rankings list that will be updated after their final Super Eights game, against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.Ireland graduates from the ICC Associate rankings and joins Kenya as the only non-Test countries in the full ODI championship. An Associate can be promoted when it has played at least ten one-day internationals and has beaten two Full Members, or has defeated one Full Member and won more than 60% of its games against other Associates.Having upset Pakistan in their group match, Ireland needed only one more win to take the next step. In accordance with a previous ICC decision, Ireland has ODI status until 2009, along with the other top Associate Members – Kenya, Scotland, Netherlands, Canada and Bermuda.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA frustrating day for both teams in Durban as light allowed only 25 overs tobe bowled on the third day of the SuperSport Series Final between theDolphins and the Titans.The first interruption occurred before a ball was even bowled, when the Dolphinsopening batsmen accepted the offer of the light. Play did get under wayafter nearly fours hours but was eventually called off just before 15:00with the Dolphins progressing to 176 for 1 with the loss of Imraan Khan for71. Together with Doug Watson (88*) they had set a new Dolphins opening partnership record of 176. The irony was that the two batsmen had declined the umpires’ offer to take the light the ballbefore Khan was dismissed. With the new batsman arriving at the crease the offer was once again made, one that they couldn’t turn down. As the players left the field a slight drizzle started to fall.The Titans will not be pleased with their bowling performance after wastingthe new ball and the conditions by bowling far too wide outside of the offstump allowing the Dolphins to leave in excess of 75% of balls bowled.With much of the same weather expected tomorrow, play will hopefully start30 minutes earlier on day four with the Dolphins leading by 83.

Zander de Bruyn is set to play his first match for Worcestershire when they face Middlesex at Lord’s next week.De Bruyn, the South African allrounder, will fly to England this week after competing for Titans in the final of the South African domestic 20-over competition. Titans’ match against the Warriors is on April 27, and de Bruyn will link up with Worcestershire two days later in time for their National League match on May 1 (Sunday).He has played three Tests for South Africa after earning his call-up at the age of 28 against India last year, where he stroked 83, his highest Test score to date. de Bruyn heads to New Road with a healthy first-class batting average of 44.18, while his medium-pacers are often effective in breaking partnerships or constricting batsmen.

Future first-class matches between South Australia and Victoria will becontested for the David Hookes Memorial Trophy, in a mark of recognitionfor Hookes. Hookes, who was 48, made his name as a dashing batsman forSouth Australia, and was making a success of his stint as Victoria’s coachwhen he died after an incident in a Melbourne street last week.The trophy, which was ratified by the two state governments and therespective cricket associations, will feature a bat and gloves left at thecrease – Hookes used to do this if he was not out at the lunch or teaintervals when he was batting.

Former South African Test all-rounder Mike Procter has been included on the International Cricket Council’s elite panel of match referees.Procter was named a member of the five-man panel along with Chief Referee Ranjan Madugalle of Sri Lanka, Clive Lloyd of the West Indies, Wasim Raja of Pakistan and India’s Gundappa Viswanath (India).All Test playing countries were asked to nominate candidates for theReferees panel and more than 30 were screened and interviewed by ChiefReferee Madugalle during a recent worldwide recruitment tour. The finalappointments were made jointly by Malcolm Speed and Sunil Gavaskar, chairmanof the ICC Cricket Committee-Playing.Between them the new panel has the experience of having played in almost 300Test matches. Three of them – Lloyd, Madugalle and Viswanath – are formernational captains.Panel members have agreed two year, full time contracts with the ICC andwill meet together for the first time at the Referees and Umpires Workshopnear Cape Town, South Africa from 21st to 24th March. This will includeseminars covering legal and procedural matters relating to cricketdiscipline, IT training, the psychology of decision making, the latestPlaying Conditions for international cricket, a presentation from the ICCAnti-Corruption Unit, medical, fitness and media training.Procter said he was “incredibly honoured” by the appointment. “I canonly say I will do my utmost to serve cricket to the best of my ability. Itis a real privilege and I would like to thank all those who have supportedme and who have wished me well with this new challenge,” he said.United Cricket Board chief executive Gerald Majola congratulated Procter on his appointment.”Mike has been one of the real drivers of transformation in South Africancricket and he will be a very sad loss to the South African selection panelonce he takes up his position on the ICC panel,” said Majola. “However,we know what a wonderful ambassador Mike will be for South Africa and hewill certainly bring to the ICC a genuine understanding of the issues withwhich we in South African cricket are faced. I would like to wish him well -we are all very proud of this latest of Mike’s achievements.”

Durham are relegated from Division One of the County Championship after failing to score enough bonus points from their current match against Surrey.The thought of having to score over 300 runs simply to avoid a follow-on wouldhave been enough to subject Durham to considerable pressure and they also had to face Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury on a pitch that has been taking spin.Shortly after Martin Bicknell had knocked back Jon Lewis’s off-stump totake the first Durham wicket on 22, Salisbury and Saqlain were brought on tobowl 36 overs between them until stumps. During that troublesome period forDurham, Simon Katich, the left-handed Australian seemed to fight a lonebattle.The two Surrey spinners bowled with great control and Salisbury, inparticular, was difficult to handle with the turn that he was able to get forhis leg spin. Durham lost their second wicket on 66 with Saqlain nipping onein sharply to trap Michael Gough leg before wicket.After that while Katich scored steadily during his 157 minutes at the crease,he lost partners at regular intervals. They all fell to Salisbury and nonewas able to give support to Katich who was eventually stumped for 77 from 119balls.Having struggled to 165 for 6 at close of play, Durham will need a further139 to avoid the follow-on on the third day. It is by no means an encouragingprospect.Surrey had earlier in the day further strengthened their commanding positionwith the opening pair Mark Butcher and Ian Ward adding 116 to the overnight243 runs before Ward was out leg before wicket to Simon Brown for 144.The breakthrough had come, much to the relief of Durham’s beleagueredbowlers, after enduring further punishment for an hour-and-three quarters.This was the highest first wicket partnership between the two sides and thethird highest for Surrey in championship matches. Their previous triplecentury stand for the first wicket was ten years ago between Darren Bicknelland Graham Clinton.As a comparison, it is interesting to note that Surrey’s momentous stand ofthis match fell only twenty runs short of their highest for the first wicketin all county championship matches and that was set between Bobby Abel andWilliam Brockwell as far back as 1897. The legendary Sir Jack Hobbs andAndrew Sandham, in 1928, had scored 428 for the first wicket but that wasagainst Oxford University.Just how it feels to be at the receiving end of such a mammoth stand will notbe known to any of Surrey’s current players. It was four decades ago whenBilly Ibadulla and Norman Horner knocked off 377 before Warwickshire declaredwithout loss.Butcher was unlucky to miss his first double century of the season by justnine runs when he was bowled within half-an-hour after lunch by StephenHarmison who showed a much better line and length today and took two of the four wickets that Surrey eventually lost before declaring on 453 an hour afterlunch. Nadeem Shahid and Adam Hollioake had contributed 33 and 20respectively, either side of the morning session.

ScorecardJames Taylor’s return to form might have come too late to interest England•Getty Images

James Taylor scored his first LV County Championship hundred of the season as Nottinghamshire eventually dominated an absorbing first day against Sussex at Horsham.The 25-year-old has had a modest season by his standards but he clearly enjoys facing the Sussex attack. His unbeaten 163 was his third score of over 150 against them, following 163 in 2012 and 204 in 2013, and helped his side reach 358 for 5 at stumps.There were two periods in the game when Sussex had control. Ollie Robinson, who finished the day with four wickets, helped reduce Notts to 30 for 3 before returning in the afternoon to claim Rikki Wessels (94) and Samit Patel in successive overs.That left Notts 186 for 5 but Taylor and his captain, Chris Read, wrested the initiative for their side after tea by extending their sixth wicket stand to 174.While Wessels deserved credit for his aggressive counter-attack it was the understated but effective way with which Taylor went about his business which most impressed.His first 50 runs took 119 balls but he went to his hundred from 71 more before accelerating once he had reached the milestone with some eye-catching shots, particularly through the off side.By stumps he had faced 247 balls and hit 23 fours, having batted for five hours 40 minutes so far. It was his tenth score of over 150.It is three years since Taylor played the last of his two Tests and he lost his England one-day place for the recent series against New Zealand. But as the inquest into England’s hammering in the second Test begins, the 25-year-old will be hoping that this innings can be the start of a productive end to the season.Nottinghamshire certainly needed him to be at his phlegmatic best after their top order had been wrecked by Robinson and Matt Hobden.Robinson made the breakthrough in the sixth over, removing Alex Hales courtesy of a juggling catch at second slip by Chris Nash. Hobden had Brendan Taylor lbw working to leg with his fourth ball before Robinson picked up Steven Mullaney with a ball which seamed just enough to take the edge.On a quick-scoring ground Wessels was soon into his stride, taking just 48 balls over his 50 which included a six over mid-wicket off Peter Burgoyne.After lunch Wessels and Taylor extended their fourth-wicket stand to 144 from 38 overs before Robinson made his double strike.Wessels chipped a catch to Luke Wells at mid on, having hit 13 fours and a six from 199 balls faced, before Patel was held in his follow through by Robinson.Steve Magoffin bowled without luck and Luke Wells was unfortunate to have Read dropped at slip on 35 by Ed Joyce, but otherwise Taylor and Read made unflustered progress in the evening session, even after Sussex took the new ball. Read reached his 50 with a boundary past the diving Luke Wright at third slip just before stumps.A dry pitch is expected to turn by the fourth day and Notts have recalled 40-year-old slow left-armer Gary Keedy for his first Championship appearance of the season.

Liverpool are in ‘advanced talks’ with Mohamed Salah regarding him signing a new deal at the club, according to journalist Pedro Almeida.

The Lowdown: Salah’s future unknown

The Egyptian has been the Reds’ star man this season, scoring 20 goals and registering 10 assists in the Premier League.

While his form has dipped in recent weeks, he is a priceless figure at Anfield, so speculation regarding him not extending his stay has been worrying.

However, a recent update suggested that the 29-year-old was close to agreeing a new contract, and a fresh claim has now echoed that sentiment.

The Latest: Salah deal close

Taking to Twitter on Sunday evening, Almeida claimed that a new deal was close to being done, one which would be historic in terms of the wages being paid to a Liverpool player.

He posted: “Advanced talks between Liverpool and Mo Salah for the contract extension. The last meeting between the English club and the player’s agent it was positive, the player could become the Reds’ highest paid player ever.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-26/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Promising signs

If true, this is a huge breakthrough for Liverpool, with Salah arguably one of the club’s greatest players of all time and someone who has been a monster ever since joining the Reds in 2017, scoring 153 goals in 240 games.

He is possibly the world’s best player at the moment, particularly when you consider the season as a whole, and he should remain at the very top for several more years at least.

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Losing Salah doesn’t bear thinking about, even though teams can move on from such exits (as Liverpool did after selling Philippe Coutinho in 2018), and if the Egyptian signs a new deal it would perhaps feel bigger than any new signing who comes in this summer.

In other news, Liverpool have been linked with a move for an exciting player. Find out who it is here.