All posts by h716a5.icu

Former Premier League striker Nigel Jemson insists that Leeds United will secure Premier League safety comfortably this season.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have endured a torrid start to the campaign and have yet to win in the league.

Leeds opened their campaign by being thumped 5-1 by Manchester United and have also lost 3-0 to Liverpool and 2-1 to West Ham United last time out; in addition to that, the Whites have drawn with Everton, Burnley, and Newcastle United.

The results mean that Bielsa’s side are currently 18th in the table, and in the relegation zone.

The start perhaps comes as a surprise because of how well they played last season, finishing ninth in the league, 31 points clear of the bottom three.

However, Jemson is confident that the club will not be anywhere near the relegation zone at the end of the season.

He said: “I’m 100 per cent sure they’ll be okay. They’ve got too good of a squad to be anywhere near there. Without being disrespectful to other teams in the Premier League, I think there’s far worse teams in the Premier League than what Leeds are so I’d be very, very surprised if they’re sucked into a relegation battle this year.”

Leeds play West Ham United this weekend and will hope to record their first three points of the campaign.

It could have been over in one ball, but instead it lasted seven. In front of a crowd of about 30 spectators, it took Durham about four minutes to pick up the final Nottinghamshire wicket

The Bulletin by John Ward at Trent Bridge18-Jul-2009
ScorecardIt could have been over in one ball, but instead it lasted seven. In front of a crowd of about 30 spectators, it took Durham about four minutes to pick up the final Nottinghamshire wicket to claim victory over the only team that had looked likely challengers for the county championship title by an innings and 102 runs.Steve Harmison bowled three balls to complete his over to the top scorer of the Nottinghamshire second innings, Mark Ealham. Ealham did not add to his 17, nor the bowler to his six wickets, for 20 runs, in the innings. This left one of county cricket’s most renowned rabbits, Charlie Shreck, to face a full over of Ian Blackwell’s left-arm spin, and the bookmakers would not have accepted bets on his chances of survival. Somehow he blocked two balls, before lashing out at the third and slicing a boundary to point. He exceeded himself again next ball, aiming a drive back over the bowler’s head, but this time the natural order of cricket reasserted itself, as Callum Thorp ran from mid-on to take a good catch.Nottinghamshire’s total of 83 was their lowest against Durham. One hopes the home supporters who had to wend their weary way home again considered the rare spectacle of a boundary hit from local folk hero Shreck had made their time worthwhile, as they did not have to pay at the gates.One of the most disappointing features of the Nottinghamshire batting was that all of their recognized batsmen made a start. They all scored a few runs, at least four, but only three reached double figures and none much more. Having made their start, most contributed softly to their own dismissals.On their form in this match, it would appear that their role as Championship pretenders has been demolished. But one bad match, even one as bad as this, should not condemn a talented team – and the problem is almost entirely a batting one. The true measure of the Nottinghamshire team’s worth will be clear in the next two or three weeks as they attempt to recover from this catastrophe and fight back. Surely they are too good a team to implode in this manner again.

An update has emerged regarding Leeds’ interest in Villarreal winger Arnaut Danjuma.

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, the Whites are tracking the 24-year-old ahead of the January transfer window.

The report claimed that scouts from the Yorkshire club watched his performance against Manchester United in the Champions League earlier this week, with Victor Orta now weighing up a swoop for the Dutchman.

Raphinha 2.0

Orta must seal a January deal for Danjuma as he could duly land another Raphinha for Leeds. Supporters would surely love having another direct, exciting winger to watch, with the 24-year-old having the quality to create moments of magic, just like the Brazilian.

This season, Raphinha has produced three goals in six Premier League matches, whilst averaging 2.2 key passes and 1.3 dribbles per game. He has the ability to mix exciting wing play with goals and chances created, rather than being a player who flatters to deceive with promising build-up and no finish.

Danjuma, meanwhile, has three goals and one assist in five starts for Villarreal across the Champions League and La Liga. In two European outings, the winger has produced three key passes and three dribbles, showing that he also has the ability to beat his man and then provide quality end product in the final third.

This shows how similar the two players are in style, with Danjuma a right-footed left winger and Raphinha a left-footed right winger. Orta bringing in the Dutchman could mean that Marcelo Bielsa would have two excellent wide options on either flank.

Clinton Morrison heaped praise on the former Bournemouth man when speaking about him on Quest, via Football League World, saying: “Danjuma is an excellent player. Whatever happens, he will be playing Premier League football next year, whether it’s with Bournemouth or without them. He’s an exceptional talent.”

Danjuma has experience playing in England. He managed 17 goals and seven assists for Bournemouth in the Championship last season before his transfer to Villarreal, which suggests that he would not need too long to settle in England, having played for the Cherries for two seasons.

Therefore, fans would surely love to see the 24-year-old at Elland Road as he excelled in the Championship and is now in the process of proving himself in both the Champions League and La Liga. His style of play also lends itself to exciting the fans, much like Raphinha’s, and the Whites faithful could enjoy his wing wizardry if Orta signs him in the January transfer window.

In other news: Leeds make major step as Thorp Arch news emerges, fans will be buzzing

Everton are fighting it out with two other Premier League clubs for the signature of Real Betis’ Rodri Sanchez, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes (via Sport Witness). 

The lowdown

Sanchez is a versatile 21-year-old who can play as an attacking midfielder and as a left or right winger.

He has made seven appearances in all competitions so far this season, averaging 1.6 shots, 1.3 dribbles and 1.3 tackles per 90 minutes (via WhoScored).

Sanchez made his first appearance for Spain’s under-21s in their 3-2 European Championship qualifying win against Slovakia last week.

The latest

Fichajes claimed that Betis are currently trying to extend Sanchez’s contract, which runs until 2024. His existing deal apparently contains a release clause of €24m, equating to £20.4m.

Everton, Brighton and Southampton are all said to be willing to part with that amount to secure the signing of the 21-year-old.

The verdict

The Athletic’s Greg O’Keeffe suggested on Monday that Rafael Benitez wanted more options out wide at Everton, and Sanchez’s versatility means he could provide cover across a number of positions.

Would he be a good fit for the Toffees? It’s notable that he hasn’t attempted a single cross so far this season, and you feel that aiming balls in towards the aerially prolific Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be an important part of his job if he were to move to Merseyside.

He could possibly try to adapt his playing style to meet Benitez’s demands.

In other news, Greg O’Keeffe has claimed that this Everton defender could be sold 

Surrey have released four players, including former England bowler Jimmy Ormond, as cricket manager Chris Adams trims his squad

Cricinfo staff12-Aug-2009Surrey have released four players, including former England bowler Jimmy Ormond, as cricket manager Chris Adams trims his squad. The contracts of Ormond, Chris Murtagh, Murtaza Hussain and James Benning will not be renewed at the end of the season.Ormond, 31, has taken 221 first-class wickets for Surrey at an average of 34.15 after starting his career at Leicestershire. He also played in two Tests for England in 2001 against Australia and India.Benning, the 26-year-old allrounder, departs after struggling to find a regular first-place. For a short while he was tipped for England one-day honours after he scored a memorable 152 off 134 balls to help Surrey to a 50-over world-record total of 496 for 4 in April 2007.Both Murtagh, whose brother Tim plays for Middlesex, and Hussain also struggled to establish themselves and will be free to speak to other clubs.”As we build for the long term future of Surrey, it has become clear that these four players will not figure in our plans for next season and we have acted now to give them the best possible chance of finding employment,” said Gus Mackay, Surrey’s managing director of cricket. “I would like to pay tribute to them all for the contribution they have made to the club and wish them well for the future.”

The Sri Lanka coach has said that his team capitalised on New Zealand’s negative bowling to finish on top on the first day at the SSC

Sa'adi Thawfeeq at the SSC26-Aug-2009Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach, has said that his team capitalised on New Zealand’s negative bowling to finish on top on the first day at the SSC. On a slow-paced day, half-centuries by Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera took Sri Lanka to a strong 262 for 3. Daniel Vettori and Iain O’Brien were the only wicket-takers on a day when the tourists toiled hard on a flat pitch after losing the toss.”It would have been a bit difficult for us if we had to play a few more balls,” Bayliss said. “They looked like they didn’t want us to get away but on this track, which looked like it had a little bit of seam on it, maybe bowling around the off stump might have had us in a bit more trouble.”In a truncated first session, Sri Lanka scored 62 and lost a wicket; in the second they lost two and scored 83. In the final session, they scored 116 runs and lost no wickets, with Samaraweera and Jayawardene going strong.”The New Zealanders came out with a plan obviously not to let us get away probably the way we did in Galle,” Bayliss said. “We spoke about being patient and not chasing the wide balls. I thought we did that pretty well, especially Mahela [Jayawardene] and [Thilan] Samaraweera. They wore the opposition down to a certain degree and later on in the day, when they started to come and bowl a bit closer to the stumps, we were able to score a little bit quicker. It was a good day for us and we are in a good position.”Bayliss described the wicket as slow, with tennis-ball type bounce. “Earlier on we were thinking if we get to 300 we will be happy with it. The wicket became a little bit easier to bat on as the day wore on. We will be very happy with 350 if we can get to 400 we would be very pleased.”Bayliss was also full of praise for Jayawardene, who he says has played some exceptional knocks over the last two years in charge as coach. Jayawardene looked on course to another century in his favourite venue, batting on 79. He was watchful during his stint and focused on playing a long innings.”His powers of concentration and his mental strength are exceptional,” Bayliss said. “Some of the innings that he’s played, and under pressure, have been sensational. He showed it again today.”On Daniel Vettori’s achievement of reaching 300 Test wickets to add to his 3000 Test runs, Bayliss said: “It’s testament to not only his skill but his long period in the game, since he started at 18. He has a lot of good cricket ahead of him.”

Richarlison is ahead of Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the injury comeback trail, Everton manager Rafael Benitez has said. 

The England striker hasn’t featured for the Toffees since the 2-0 win at Brighton in August, having sustained a fractured toe (via Transfermarkt). He had scored in all three Premier League matches prior to that injury and bagged eight more than any of his team-mates last season.

Richarlison, meanwhile, has been missing since the 3-1 victory over Burnley on 13 September, when he was on the end of a brutal lunge from James Tarkowski.

How have Everton coped?

Salomon Rondon, a summer signing from Chinese Super League outfit Dalian Professional, has deputised in their absence but is yet to find the net for his new club.

Everton have won only one of their four matches without the duo, and that was against bottom side Norwich City at home. They have suffered defeats against Aston Villa and West Ham United and picked up a point against Manchester United.

As per Liverpool Echo, Benitez said: “I think Richarlison is closer, Dominic will take longer but Richarlison is getting closer.”

Everton fans fret over injury update

Twitter fan feed Toffee TV relayed the manager’s update on the injury-afflicted duo, and here’s what some Everton supporters made of it.

“Can’t take anymore of Rondon up front”

Credit: @lebatman1

“Not getting much proper info on Dom..! Hope it’s not worse than first feared. I reckon we will miss Richy for the Watford game as well but don’t like the vibes about Dom at all..”

Credit: @Kieranbuckley5

“It’s scary how much we are missing him. Rondon looks so out of his depth it untrue. We need to try someone else upfront until DCL is fit”

Credit: @kevertonH

“What is @CalvertLewin14 injury? Thought it was just minor?”

Credit: @garath_t

“Cannot understate how much I miss these 2”

Credit: @lil_platinum

“Richarlison has to replace Rondon and Gordon has to replace Iwobi and then pray for no more injuries”

Credit: @JamesBrownEFC

In other news, some Everton fans slammed this man’s display against West Ham

The board’s suggestion is likely to protect the ODI structure amidst the rise of Twenty20 cricket, with a 40-over format topping the list of suggested alternatives

Ajay S Shankar27-Aug-2009The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is likely to propose that the ICC conduct a formal review of the future of the 50-over format after the 2011 World Cup to protect the ODI structure amid the rise of Twenty20 cricket, with a 40-over format topping the list of suggested alternatives.The review was discussed informally at a strategy session in London during the ICC conference in June and has come into focus once again after the ECB announced on Thursday that it was switching to a 40-over domestic format from 2010. No formal decision on a format change has been taken at the ICC level but members expect England, which has long been looking at ways to reinvigorate the shorter form, to take the lead in proposing an official review soon. South Africa is the other major nation that does not have a 50-over competition in domestic cricket.However, any review or proposed change will have to take into consideration the ICC’s current commercial and broadcast deals – primarily with ESPN – which run until 2015 and include the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. But if the ICC board agrees on a revamped ODI structure and gets its partners and sponsors on board, the format change is expected to happen sooner.”The ICC has event, commercial and broadcast contracts in place up to and including the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015,” an ICC spokesperson said. “Those contracts, including host agreements with New Zealand and Australia, are all based on the 2015 ICC World Cup taking place as per ODI regulations. If the ECB wishes to table suggested changes to those contracts then that would have to go through due process with the ICC board and also, if there were to be a change of format, with the ICC’s commercial and broadcast partners. There is nothing to stop members experimenting with other formats but the ICC is committed to three viable formats of the game – Tests, ODIs and T20Is.”England and England Lions will continue to play 50-over cricket internationally until the ICC review is complete, the ECB said. In fact, a sense of where ODI cricket is headed has been given by the ECB’s new domestic competition that will be held mainly on Sunday afternoons. “The Powerplays and fielding restrictions will be the same as per international cricket but the match will be played over 40 overs,” the ECB said.Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, also pointed to the fact that “the leading one-day team in world cricket – South Africa – does not mirror 50 overs at domestic level and, provided Powerplays and fielding restrictions were the same as the international format, the skills required were very similar.”A 40-over plan had also figured prominently in a speech delivered by James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, before the ICC Members’ Forum last year. “The introduction of batting team Powerplays is a good move, but more questions need to be asked,” Sutherland said. “The one-day game may actually be improved as a 40-over game; perhaps two innings per team; perhaps a different number of players – 12-14; perhaps the 30-metre circle size could be different – how would this change the game?”Sutherland said that ICC members need to adopt a more proactive stance in experimenting and trialling possible innovations for the one-day game.”The financial success of the modern game has been built on ODI cricket,” he said. “Within this current bundle of commercial rights, our short-term future includes pinnacle World Cup events in 2011 and 2015; we owe it to ourselves to ensure that ODI cricket continues to be a popular force in the game. At both ICC, and at member level, we must vigorously protect one-day cricket and generously promote it. It has given us too much to deserve less.”The ICC has already launched efforts to boost the existing ODI format by unveiling a shorter and leaner version of the Champions Trophy that will start on September 22 in South Africa. The two-venue event will host the top eight ODI teams across 14 days.

Interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-back Conor Coady is growing ahead of the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Alan Nixon’s recent report for The Sun, with the journalist claiming that insiders close to Newcastle United have revealed that the England international is an active part of the newly-rich Magpies’ discussions regarding January transfers.

Nixon continues to state that Coady is a favourite of leading advisor to Newcastle and trusted friend of Amanda Staveley, Frank McParland, who is set to be instated in a senior position at St. James’ Park ahead of the winter window.

Finally, it is claimed that Wolves have no intention of parting with the 28-year-old in the January transfer window, and would command a fee of £20m or more in order to consider his sale.

Fans would be gutted

Considering just how important a part of the Wolves team Coady has become in recent years, should Newcastle lodge an offer that the club simply cannot refuse in the winter window, it would undoubtedly leave the Molineux faithful gutted.

Indeed, over his nine Premier League appearances this term, the £22.5m-rated man has helped his side keep two clean sheets and has scored one goal, as well as making an average of one interception, one tackle, 2.7 clearances and winning 2.2 duels per game.

These returns have seen the player Tim Spiers dubbed an “authoritative” figure average a SofaScore match rating of 6.93, ranking him as Bruno Lage’s seventh-best performer in the top flight.

Furthermore, the £62k-per-week defender also ranked as Wolves’ 10th-best player in the club’s 2020/21 campaign, the club’s ninth-best performer in 2019/20 and the 12th-best in 2018/19 – demonstrating the 28-year-old’s impressive consistency for the Premier League side.

As such, should Wolves indeed lose the former Liverpool centre-back in the January transfer window, it would undoubtedly be something of a disaster for Lage – not only because of Coady’s impressive level of performance for the club but also as the 45-year-old is already extremely short of options in the heart of his Wolves backline.

In other news: Forget Dendoncker: “Frustrating” £84k-p/w liability who made 8 passes let Wolves down

Cricinfo staff24-Sep-2009The contract dispute between the BCCI and IMG has been formally laid to rest at the Indian board’s annual general meeting in Mumbai on Thursday. IMG will now be paid Rs 27 crore ($5.5 million) for managing the IPL for the remaining eight years of its ten-year deal, and Rs 33 crore ($6.7 million) for its work in 2009.The old contract between the BCCI and IMG had effectively fallen through last month because of IMG’s bill for services concerning the IPL 2009 in South Africa. N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, sent a termination letter to the company, which resulted in letters of protest from the franchises and, eventually, the intervention of former BCCI president Sharad Pawar. The board’s working committee subsequently authorised its president Shashank Manohar to act as a mediator and report back to the board at the AGM.Announcing the new deal at the AGM, Manohar also had a word for the IPL franchises. “There were reports about franchises having written letters to the board,” he said. “They have no right to interfere in the internal matters of the board. Such a thing will not be tolerated.”Among other decisions taken at the AGM, the BCCI shifted the first match of the seven-ODI series between Australia and India from the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur to the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara. The move was prompted by the current power struggle within the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA).BCCI treasurer MP Pandove said the Mumbai terror attack and its fallout affected the board’s revenues by Rs 110 crore ($23 million approximately). This was largely due to the loss of media rights and sponsorship money on account of cancellation of two one-day internationals during England’s tour of India, the cancellation of the ICC Champions Trophy 2008, the Champions League 2008 and India’s tour of Pakistan.The board also announced that the players who took part in IPL 2009 will have their earnings taxed at 15% by the South African Revenue Service, though income earned by BCCI-IPL will not be taxed.The board also retained Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, as a member of the technical committee, which is headed by Sunil Gavaskar. The panel also includes former Test umpire VK Ramaswamy and Kris Srikkanth, who was retained as the head of the senior selection committee for the 2009-10 season.