All posts by h716a5.icu

Glasgow Celtic have received an offer that could see Odsonne Edouard depart Celtic Park this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by SportItalia journalist Rudy Galetti, who revealed in a post on Twitter that Brighton & Hove Albion have submitted a bid of around €25m (£21.5m) for the centre-forward, with talks between the two clubs ongoing.

Galetti goes on to state that the figure could be enough for the Premier League side to close a deal for the 23-year-old, although the situation is thought to be evolving.

In his tweet, the journalist said: “Brighton are leading the race for Odsonne Edouard. Ongoing talks with Celtic for the French striker: the bid of around €25m could be enough to close the deal.”

Fans surely devastated

Considering just how impressive Edouard has been for Celtic since joining the club back in 2017, should the France U21 international indeed go on to leave Parkhead this summer, his departure is sure to leave fans of the club devastated.

Indeed, over his 169 appearances in all competitions for the Bhoys, the striker has scored a whopping 83 goals and has provided his teammates with 37 assists, helping his side win three Scottish Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups along the way.

Arguably his best season for the Hoops came in 2019/20, when the £15.3m-rated man scored 21 goals and registered 12 assists over just 27 Scottish Premiership games, seeing him not only finish as the league’s top goalscorer but also clinching the club’s Player of the Season award.

That season, the Frenchman also scored three goals and provided two assists over six Europa League appearances, bagged one goal over four SFA Cup fixtures, provided two assists over three League Cup matches and scored three goals and notched three assists over seven Champions League and Europa League qualifying games.

These returns saw the £19k-per-week hitman finish the campaign on 28 goals and 19 assists over 47 appearances in all competitions.

As such, should Brighton indeed go on to seal a deal for the 23-year-old this summer, Ange Postecoglou will face the near-impossible task of replacing both Edouard’s goals and assists ahead of next season, with Celtic’s bid to reclaim their Scottish Premiership crown very much appearing to hang on the 55-year-old’s success in the summer transfer window.

In other news: Celtic could sign 30-goal gem once tipped to become “world-class”, he’s a big upgrade

England continued their dominant form with a crushing 10-wicket victory against India at Taunton to take a 2-0 lead in the series

Cricinfo staff01-Sep-2008
ScorecardEngland continued their dominant form with a crushing 10-wicket victory against India at Taunton to take a 2-0 lead in the series. They were in control from start to finish as Katherine Brunt and Holly Colvin demolished India for 102 before Sarah Taylor made light work of the run chase, becoming the youngest woman to pass 1000 ODI runs in the process.England’s bowling has been impressive all season and the visiting batsmen could barely get the ball off the square as they slipped to 11 for 4 after 13 overs. Brunt did most of the damage, but Isha Guha also played her part conceding just 12 runs in eight overs plus the wicket of Jaya Sharma.Only Mithali Raj, playing her 100th ODI, stood in the way with a battling 53 off 100 balls. No one else could contribute very many as Colvin worked her way through the lower order. India didn’t help themselves, either, as two batsmen fell to run outs to compound the problems. Brunt added to her wickets with a direct hit to remove Hemlata Kala.Needing just 103 for victory Taylor did well to collect the 60 she needed to pass 1000 runs. She dominated the unbroken first-wicket stand with Caroline Atkins, hitting seven fours and a six as the victory came inside 25 overs.This was a demoralising defeat for India, who will do well to lift themselves for the remaining three matches. England’s chance to warp up the series comes on Thursday when the teams again meet at Taunton.

Virender Sehwag says India are relieved Andrew Symonds will not be involved in next month’s Test series due to his explosive batting power

Cricinfo staff13-Sep-2008
Virender Sehwag: “Andrew Symonds can change the course of a match any time” © AFP
Virender Sehwag says India are relieved Andrew Symonds will not be involved in next month’s Test series due to his explosive batting power. Symonds was not included in the squad after being sent home before the one-day series against Bangladesh, and his absence has been welcomed by Sehwag.”We are happy he is not coming because he can change the course of a match any time,” Sehwag told Reuters. “He bats at No. 5 and can bowl too, so it will be to our advantage.”He is a very good player and you need such players to lift the competition. It is a loss for cricket, but we’re happy.”Symonds was a central figure in the race row that surrounded Harbhajan Singh when the teams met in Australia in January and he was also a victim of crowd abuse during the previous one-day tour of India. Sehwag did not believe there would be lingering tensions because of the history between the sides.”Whatever happened last time ended there,” Sehwag said. “We will try to play tough cricket, not through words but with the ball.” The opening match of the four-Test series starts in Bangalore on October 9.

West Ham United have entered talks to sign Kurt Zouma, according to reports…

What’s the word?

Sky Sports claim that the 26-year-old centre-back would favour a move to the Hammers as he is settled in London. Chelsea have been mooted with using the France international in a player-plus-cash swap deal for Sevilla star Jules Kounde.

It’s believed the Irons would be prepared to pay around £20m to seal Zouma but that is below the Blues’ valuation, whilst he still has two years to run on his current £65k-per-week contract.

It remains to be seen how much Chelsea are looking for, with CIES Football Observatory currently rating him at €40m (£34m).

Fans will be buzzing

With David Moyes reportedly keen to bolster his defence with a high-quality centre-back, the link to Zouma should come as no surprise, even more so with the Hammers in need of replacing Fabian Balbuena’s place in the squad.

The Frenchman’s vast experience in the top-flight, having featured 165 times in the Premier League, makes him seem like a perfect candidate to add to Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson.

Zouma rated out as Chelsea’s second-best player during the 2020/21 season, earning a 7.07 grade on WhoScored.

He averaged a squad-high 3.6 aerial duels won and 3.8 clearances per game, whilst also managing a seasonal passing success rate of 90.9%, which suggests he’s not just a defensive animal but a player who is equally deft with the ball at his feet, which will suit Moyes’ out-from-the-back system to a tee.

Blues legend John Terry once described the 26-year-old as a “beast of a player” and it’s easy to see why on the above evidence.

Furthermore, much of the London Stadium faithful are very eager to see Moyes make a move for the Chelsea star this summer, with one fan claiming that he’s a “fantastic defender” on his day and another lauding it as a “steal”, amongst many more reactions.

The fact that Zouma would be open to a switch to East London will leave them absolutely buzzing. GSB must look to get this done.

AND in other news, Moyes given big West Ham transfer boost over £36m-rated “machine”, fans surely buzzing…

In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has warned Manchester United replacing Paul Pogba with Saul Niguez would be a backward step.

With just one year left on his United contract, Pogba continues to be linked with a move away from Old Trafford. According to Sky Sports, Paris Saint-Germain could make a move for the Frenchman soon.

Meanwhile, the Daily Star claims the Red Devils are interested in signing Saul in a potential £50m deal and are ready to go all out for his signature if they do end up losing Pogba.

That, however, would be a massive step in the wrong direction, according to Palmer. The ex-Leeds United player told TT:

“I think that’s a backward step if you’re letting Pogba go and bringing in somebody like that.

“Listen, he’s technically very good and he’s a good football player, but he’s not on the same level as Pogba. So for me, it’s a non-starter.”

The above may very well be the case, but United have a decision to make because of Pogba’s contract situation.

If the France international does not put pen to paper on a new deal, then the club, of course, risk losing him for nothing next summer. Furthermore, perhaps selling now is something they will have to seriously consider.

Ijaz Butt, the former Test opener, has been appointed the Pakistan Cricket Board’s new chairman by President Asif Ali Zardari

Cricinfo staff07-Oct-2008Ijaz Butt, the former Test opener, has been appointed the Pakistan Cricket Board’s new chairman by President Asif Ali Zardari. Pakistan’s sports ministry is expected to make an official announcement later in the day.Butt’s appointment ended weeks of suspense since the resignation of former board chairman Nasim Ashraf in August. Ashraf stepped down on August 18 a few hours after Pervez Musharraf resigned as Pakistan’s president. Butt, 70, was said to have been one of Ashraf’s strongest critics.Butt, who played eight Tests between 1959-62, is a member of the PCB’s governing body. He earlier served as the secretary of the then Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP) between 1984 and 1988. He was also the president of the Lahore City Cricket Association for many years. He toured Australia in 1982-83 as manager of the Pakistan team and twice headed the national selection committee.Butt takes over as PCB chairman at a time when Pakistan cricket, against the backdrop of internal political violence, is in turmoil. Australia, New Zealand, England and West Indies declined to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played in September, after a spate of suicide bombings. Prior to that, Pakistan cricket’s image was tainted through doping controversies and indiscipline issues in the national side.Pakistan have not played a Test match in the whole of 2008; their last home Test series was against South Africa October 2007, following which they played a three-Test series in India in December.

Ricky Ponting has said he was approached by a senior member of the India touring party during the acrimonious Sydney Test and asked to drop Australia’s complaint against Harbhajan Singh

Cricinfo staff08-Nov-2008
Ricky Ponting says Sachin Tendulkar wanted to deal with Harbhajan’s alleged remarks on the field rather than through a hearing © AFP
Ricky Ponting has said he was approached by a senior member of the India touring party during the acrimonious Sydney Test and asked to drop Australia’s complaint against Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan was alleged to have racially abused Andrew Symonds during the game and Ponting said that even before Harbhajan’s three-Test ban was handed down it was clear the matter would not be straightforward.Ponting’s recollections are revealed in his , an extract of which has been published in the . “On the night after we made our on-field report about Harbhajan, I had a phone conversation with a senior member of the Indian touring party, who asked me straight to drop the complaint,” Ponting wrote.”Why do we need to keep it quiet?” I asked. His reply had nothing to do with Harbhajan’s guilt or innocence; this fellow was more concerned with how events were going to transpire and tried to convince me it might not be worth the stress of going ahead with what might well be a prolonged legal process.”The conversation happened after play on day four, the evening before Harbhajan was suspended in a late-night hearing with the match referee Mike Procter. As it turned out, the ban was overturned, but only after a bitter period during which India considered whether to go ahead with the rest of the tour. Ponting said there was no chance he was going to back down and withdraw Australia’s complaint.”I was determined to see that justice would be done but I knew from the moment I put my mobile back in my pocket that the investigation might not be as straightforward as the authorities hearing the evidence, making the right decision and then we all move on,” he wrote. “It would not look good for Indian cricket for one of their senior players to be convicted of racial abuse, and from the time their officials realised we were not going to give ground – which was probably the moment this brief conversation ended – they set out to make sure that did not happen.”Ponting also detailed how he was stopped in his tracks when he learnt from Michael Clarke of the alleged racism that occurred on the third day of the Test. Ponting said Clarke shouted: “He’s done it again. He just called Symmo a monkey again.”Ponting said as soon as the incident occurred he had flashbacks of the ODI in Mumbai last October, when Symonds had informed the team that Harbhajan had called him a monkey. He said the squad had debated in Mumbai whether to do anything about it and Symonds eventually decided to deal with Harbhajan himself.”He walked out of our dressing room, knocked on the Indian team’s door, asked to see Harbhajan, confronted him and said flatly, ‘Don’t do it again’,” Ponting wrote. “When Symmo returned to our room, he told us that after he explained how much the insult had affected him, while Harbhajan had not admitted that he said it, he did acknowledge that it was unacceptable, had apologised for any offence, and assured Symmo there’d be no repeat.”The two men shook hands. On that basis, we decided that the right thing to do was exactly what our critics told us we should have done in Sydney: we gave him another chance. We just let it go.”Ponting said that in Sydney he was keen to show Symonds that he had the support of his team-mates and captain. He said that even though Sachin Tendulkar, who was batting with Harbhajan at the time, tried to smooth over the incident, once Ponting had mentioned it to the umpire Mark Benson it was no longer up to the players.”Benson went back to his position, while I made a point, as I walked past the two batsmen on my way to the slip cordon, to say to the Indian spinner, ‘I hope you haven’t said that again’,” Ponting wrote. “To which Tendulkar promptly replied, ‘Leave it alone. I’ll fix this, I’ll sort this out.’ But it was too late for that. I’d already spoken to the umpire. It was out of my hands.”Ponting’s recollections came barely a fortnight after Adam Gilchrist reignited debate over the Sydney Test with his autobiography. Gilchrist queried the change in Tendulkar’s evidence from the initial hearing to the appeal and told of the disappointment in the Australian camp when Harbhajan’s appeal was upheld.

Danny Cowley has explained Michael Jacobs’ current situation, following a failed transfer this month.

What’s the talk?

Portsmouth manager Danny Cowley has explained why Michael Jacobs’ proposed move to Ipswich ultimately fell through. The Pompey boss has claimed that another player became available to the Tractor Boys at the last minute and that caused them to ditch Jacobs and leave him in limbo.

He told the Portsmouth News:

“We got into a good place on Thursday, which allowed us to accept the bid for Michael.

“They agreed personal terms and they did a medical. Michael passed that medical, so I am told. For whatever reason, the deal didn’t happen.

“I found out yesterday afternoon. I told Michael, he didn’t know. I was ringing Ipswich all day Sunday, trying to find out, for everyone’s benefit.

“What happened – and this does happen in football – is that Ipswich agreed the deal and then another player became available and they decided to go with the other player.

“Michael appreciated my honesty. He needed clarity himself and once I found out, I told him. He is one of my players, I care a lot for him. You think ‘How would I want to be treated in that position?’.

‘I always try to walk in their shoes and would want to know and, even if it’s not my place to tell him, I think I have a responsibility to tell him.‘He’s a really good kid and he has been mucked around, messed around. Football never ceases to amaze you, doesn’t it?” Fans will be frustrated

This update from Cowley will leave fans frustrated. It is difficult to blame Ipswich for their actions as they were acting in the best interests of their own club. If a better player, in their view, was available and a deal for Jacob was not signed, sealed and delivered then it is their prerogative to make that call, which they ultimately did.

That does not change how it impacts Portsmouth, though, and that is why this is a frustrating situation for the supporters, the club, Cowley and Jacobs. The midfielder was seemingly happy to move on and join the Blues, with Portsmouth also willing to sanction it and Cowley moved on with his plans to shape his own squad for the League One campaign.

Jacobs has now returned to Fratton Park with a huge question mark over his head for the rest of the window. Do Portsmouth now keep hold of him? Do they sell him to another side?

The £7.9k-per-week dud did not enjoy the best of debut seasons for Portsmouth. He played 20 games in League One, 12 starts, and averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.67. That placed him 14th in the Pompey squad for ratings, which suggests that he is a bench option for Cowley on the evidence of his career at the club so far.

Therefore, it could be a shrewd call to find him a new club before the end of the month as his exit may not impact the squad in terms of quality and he has already had his head set on a move.

He may not be able to fully concentrate on playing for Pompey, as he was in the mindset for a transfer to Ipswich – which could mean that he needs to seal an exit to settle down and start grinding out performances again. Pompey fans will be frustrated, as their club are now left with a player who was ready to move on.

AND in other news, 9 duels lost: Portsmouth flop endured nightmare display that’ll leave Cowley fuming…

The Stanford Superstars sent out a major warning to England ahead of Saturday’s main event as they swept aside Middlesex by 58 runs

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan30-Oct-2008
Live scorecard
Andre Fletcher gets into position to launch one of his seven sixes © AFP
The Stanford Superstars sent out a major warning to England ahead of Saturday’s main event as they swept aside Middlesex by 58 runs. Five matches into the tournament and at last there was an innings where the batsmen dominated or, more accurately, one batsman as Andre Fletcher sped to a career-best unbeaten 90 with the Superstars racking up 173 for 4, comfortably the highest total of the week. Middlesex didn’t threaten to get close.Fletcher, who has four one-day internationals under his belt, secured his place in the US$20 million match with a superb display of cleaning hitting. It was finally a taste of what Twenty20 cricket is meant to be about – boundaries. Fletcher managed seven sixes off his own bat as the Superstars collected 14 in the innings. Ahead of the match the outfield had been given a close-cropping to try and increase the number of boundaries, but the way Fletcher, Kieron Pollard and Sylvester Joseph connected the length of the grass didn’t matter.One of Fletcher’s sixes sailed out of the ground as he reached fifty off 45 balls, and the eye-catching aspect of his batting was the majority of his biggest hits were from authentic shots, not slogs. Fletcher wasn’t on his own in managing some massive blows as Joseph launched one effort which carried over 100 metres in the stands.Fletcher kept battering the Middlesex bowlers, taking 10 off two balls from Steven Finn in the penultimate over to give him an outside chance of a century. But the final-over glory went to Pollard who crashed Tyron Henderson’s first three balls onto the grass banks. The Superstars showed the value of not panicking if the early rate isn’t electric: after nine overs they were 51 for 2 and the last five overs produced 69 runs.It was a far better innings for the young stars than their more famous colleagues. Chris Gayle collected a second-ball duck, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul also failed to spend much time in the middle and Ramnaresh Sarwan lofted down to long-on against Shaun Udal.Gayle’s failure leaves him short of practice ahead of the match against England having missed the first warm-up against Trinidad and Tobago to visit ill family members. However, he can count himself unlucky after receiving a horrid grubber from Tim Murtagh, which barely rose above ankle height and would have taken middle stump.Asad Rauf, the umpire, asked for confirmation from the TV official as to whether the ball pitched on leg stump – which was swift in arriving – and again called in the services of his colleague to determine Chanderpaul’s bottom edge.However, curiously there was no evidence from Hotspot, but Simon Taufel gave the decision based on a sound from the stump microphone and Eldine Baptiste, the Superstars coach, confirmed Chanderpaul “got a thin one”. But despite the early breakthroughs Middlesex couldn’t keep control and missed Murali Kartik, who had gone back to India, in the middle overs.The county had the batting talent to make a decent fist of the chase, but needed a solid start. Daren Powell made sure it didn’t eventuate as he dislodged Ed Joyce with a short ball into the body, which was deflected down into the stumps. Another aspect of the Superstars’ performance was their impressive fielding and Rayad Emrit took a sharp caught-and-bowled chance to remove Neil Dexter.Middlesex briefly rallied with a stand of 36 between their two best Twenty20 players, Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan, but Morgan scooped Darren Sammy’s first ball straight to short fine-leg. To cap off a fine team effort Sarwan, not always the fleetest-foot of fielders, sprinted to his left to hold a full-length catch at deep midwicket to remove Ben Scott.The Superstars showed they have all the bases covered, now all they need to do is repeat this performance on Saturday for a million dollars each. No pressure, lads.

For most teams in England, reaching the Premier League is something to strive for. Even players starting out in their professional football career will tell you that being involved in the Premier League is something that they want to happen throughout their sporting career. However, as much as you might assume talent and determination is enough to get you there, it isn’t always enough.

Ask any football team what their spend was in order to reach the Premier League, or indeed throughout their attempt to get there and they’ll more than likely tell you that they spent a pretty penny – but is it worth it?

How Much Is The Premier League Actual Worth?

If you speak to people involved in the football industry you’ll get different estimates as to how much joining the Premier League is actually worth. It is worth different things to each team and of course, the longer a team can stay in the Premier League without being relegated makes a huge difference too. However, as an informed estimate, Deloitte recently suggested that winning the play-off final and bagging a place in the Premier League would increase the revenue for a team by between £135million and £265million. There are also other ways to make money – sharing the broadcast revenue and even international TV revenue and ticket sales help to bolster the pay packet slightly too.

The Spend Needed To Get There

Although it may be worth it when a team does get a place in the Premier League, the cost of getting there is something that teams should most definitely take into account. After all, just because you are putting time, effort and money into getting a team to the Premier League, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be successful – and there is going to be no refund offered on the money you have spent trying to get there.

When a player has had great success in the past it is tempting for a team to want to spend big money to get this player on their team. All well and good if that player continues their success story but that isn’t always the case – for example, they could get injured which is going to halt how successful they may be in any future games. For any team to make an investment in a player is a big decision and as such, one that should be given much consideration.

There is no exact amount of money needed in order for a team to be promoted to the Premier League because there are many factors that can affect the journey a team takes to get there. The number of games they need to play, what players they invest in and even whether they have failed in previous years will have an effect on how much it costs in order to be promoted.

However, with so much at stake and such prize money on offer by being in the Premier League, it is still something that pretty much every English team strives for.

What Teams Have Done It Well?

You can look at any number of football teams and see that they have probably spent frivolously on players that perhaps weren’t the right decision or just didn’t work out for the team for one reason or another. After all, you can’t assume that one player that works well with 10 other players in a team is going to be just as successful with a brand new team in different playing conditions.

They will no doubt be wanting to follow in the footsteps of teams like Leeds, who were promoted to the Premier League and have well and truly cemented their place there.

What Can A Team Do To Give Themselves The Best Possible Chance?

Although spending out on big-name players might seem tempting it definitely isn’t something that every team has the budget for. Not only that, there are plenty of teams that want a place in the Premier League and only a limited number of players to join them.

One of the things that teams like Leeds are likely to tell you is that taking a risk often pays off. You’ll get riskier players at a much lower cost and after all, even big-name players had to start someone. Look at the gameplay of footballers that may not be hitting the headlines but are playing well consistently. Maybe they just need the right leadership to turn them into championship players – and therefore well worth the risk.

One team that is testament to making more frugal player purchases and investments in a club and maximising profit is Norwich. According to odds found on this list of best-betting sites in the UK, the Canaries are still likely to be relegated, but their more restricted spending has seen them stay out of financial trouble and able to bounce back to the Premier League when they have been relegated.

When they have spent, Norwich have done it well, bringing back players such as Ben Gibson and bringing on board other names such as Christos Tzolis. Both are solid players that most definitely have a lot to bring to the table  – great news for Norwich fans who will be looking for big things from the team this season.

No one can really predict the Premier League, although plenty of bookmakers will have their odds on favourites and predictions. There are generally teams that do well every year; however, there are also underdogs that look to surprise everyone and do well even though they weren’t predicted to do so. With lots of football matches cancelled in 2020 fans will look at it that players have had an extra 12 months to improve their football skills and therefore will be looking for big things. Let’s see whether the teams that have spent the most money are the ones that come out on top!