All posts by h716a5.icu

Aston Villa could strike gold this summer with a swoop for Burnley star Dwight McNeil.

What’s the story?

A Report from Football Insider this week has claimed that Dean Smith’s side have their eye on the Burnley winger, with the 21-year-old “one of the top targets of their recruitment team” and that the Premier League club are “lining up a huge bid for him”.

Imagine him and Grealish

With his ability to beat players one-on-one – his average of 1.8 dribbles per game in the Premier League is the highest of any Burnley player and double that of the man in second – McNeil would ease the creative burden on Jack Grealish.

The £60m-rated McNeil has arguably been one of the few standout performers going forward for the Clarets, and it’s something that has led to Jamie Redknapp waxing lyrical about him.

He said: “Dwight McNeil is such a good player, lovely left foot, doesn’t stop running. Every time I watch him he gets better and better, he’s got real quality and certainly a player that the top six to eight clubs will be looking at, and that’s no disrespect to Burnley because I don’t like saying that sometimes, but he is that good.”

McNeil’s composure on the ball, something very much akin to Grealish, is what has led to Sean Dyche raving about him and his ability.

He said: “He’s a real talent. He’s a really good player, he’s improving, his calmness at the end – I’m saying get it in the corner – but he cuts in, and his calmness to cross it into a dangerous area, and then gets his reward.

“Before then, his calmness to dribble out of trouble – he’s a really good player, really good, and he can only mature.”

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Dean Smith could give Grealish a real partner in crime and ensure opposition defences don’t just double-up on the England international and try and shut him out of the game.

McNeil’s arrival could be the key to offering Villa another string to their bow and taking some of the pressure off of their captain’s shoulders.

Meanwhile, Villa should unleash this “outstanding” starlet…

The former BCCI president IS Bindra has postponed by a week, his meeting with the three-member inquiry commission probing match-fixing allegations at Sharjah

Staff and Agencies02-May-2001Bindra to meet CBFS inquiry commissionThe former BCCI president IS Bindra has postponed by a week, his meeting with the three-member inquiry commission probing match-fixing allegations at Sharjah. Bindra said he had received a letter from the commission to appear before it in London on May 16 and 17. “However, I have some professional commitments during that period and I have written to them that I will be happy to meet them anytime after May 24. They are yet to get back to me with fresh dates” he said. Former BCCI president Bindra was called up to appear before the commission and explain his allegations that a match between India and New Zealand in Sharjah was fixed.The commission comprising former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, former director of United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Offences Unit George Staple and Director General of Criminal Security of UAE Brig Al Maulia, has also summoned former Pakistan pacer Sarfraz Nawaz who had alleged that the chief coordinator of CBFS, Asif Iqbal was also involved in match-fixing.North Zone, Central Zone academy lists announcedThe BCCI joint secretary and Central Zone convener, Jyoti Bajpai announced the list of 25 players selected for the Central Zone regional academy in Kanpur. The academy inaugurated on May 1 will commence its training sessions from May 7th.Meanwhile, the North Zone academy which was inaugurated on May 1 announced their list of 20 players which includes two wicketkeepers, eight batsmen, six fast bowlers and six spinners.The list of 20 players for North Zone academy: Nitin Agarwal, Kuldeep Rawat, Gursharan Singh, Kunal Lal, Mohinder Sharma, Abhishek Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ankur Jund, S Sewal, Vivek Khurana, Abhinav Bali, Bhupinder Singh, Himanshu Khullar, Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Arora, Gaurav Gupta, Paras Dogra, Deepak Joon, Sushil Kumar and Sumit Sharma.The 25 member Central Zone list are as follows: Sunil Upadhyay, Devendra Singh (JR), Gaurav Kumar, Shivkant Shukla, Anshul Kapoor, Tahir Abbas, Rahat Elahi, Avinash Yadav (all UP), Manish Mishra, Jatin Saxena, NV Ojha, Sachin Dholpure, N Menon, Amba lal, JP Likhar (all MP), Vivek Mohan Yadav, Afroz Khan, Dishant Yagnik, Arvind Mann, Nahesh Gahlot (all Rajasthan), C Atram, Alind Naidu (both Vidarbha), Manjit Sharma, Surinder Singh (Jr) and Nandlal Mahto (Railways).Left vs Right series cancelledThe Left vs Right three match one-day World series to be held at the Wankhede Stadium from May 3rd has been cancelled. The reason cited was Sony TV’s decision to pull out of sponsorship and telecast of the matches.A press release from event managers Percept d’Mark on Monday said “The Sony Entertainment Television’s decision last night not to sponsor and telecastthe series resulted in cancellation of the event.”

Admirable as the work of the International Cricket Council’s anti-gambling squad may be, the reported intention to expunge transgressors names from the record books is not one of the more illuminating suggestions

Lynn McConnell16-May-2001Admirable as the work of the International Cricket Council’s anti-gambling squad may be, the reported intention to expunge transgressors names from the record books is not one of the more illuminating suggestions.It is to be hoped that other recommendations put before the ICC from Sir Paul Condon and his investigation team are more realistic than this foolhardy notion of retrospectively rewriting cricket history.There is no doubt that physically chipping the players from their place among the all-time playing records would be a suitable punishment if cricket were a game for individuals.It’s not, and therein lies the fault in the suggested disincentive to future violators of the game.Match-fixing has been a blight on cricket. It has gone against everything that cricket is supposed to represent.Those found guilty of falling prey to the lures of Mammon deserve banishment.But to remove those players’ records from the game is impractical, unsuitable and nonsensical.By all means insert an asterisk beside every reference to a player’s name in the records forever marking him as having been proven by law to have besmirched the good name of cricket by accepting money for wrongful reasons.Even that option is going to involve an awful lot of extra space taken up by asterisks.To take a player’s name out of the records is going to leave some pretty strange looking scorecards in the annals of the game’s history.What of the partnership records, or the dismissals where the offender has taken catches for a bowler?And by eliminating a player from scoresheets does that suggest every game he has played in has been affected by match-fixing? Some of these players have more than 300 matches behind them. Has every one of them been affected?Add that up by however many players have been implicated and there will be some pretty sorry looking statistics databases around the world.The closest comparable example in baseball was the famous “throwing” of the 1919 World Series by the Chicago eight. Now known as the “Black Sox” because of their deeds.When confronted with the evidence they confessed.They were banned from baseball, but their records are still part of the statistical database of baseball. They were individuals competing in a team game.What should be worth remembering by the ICC and Condon is that despite the confessions from the players concerned the Black Sox were acquitted by the courts.Where the misery was compounded for the baseballers was that their involvement in the game was cut, and their ability to be included in halls of fame was also cut.Debate still goes on in the United States about the absence of one of the eight, Shoeless Joe Jackson, from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.What was more pertinent, and is the same in cricket’s case, are the words of Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Landis.He proclaimed after the verdict acquitting the eight: “Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game, no player that entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where they ways and means of throwing games are discussed, and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever again play professional baseball.”The game is the thing. Deny the miscreants their access to it and the punishment is done.What is done cannot be undone.The records should be left as a memorial to misdeeds and as an example of what can befall those who cross the line.

Leeds United could be set for an exciting transfer window this summer as news emerges from Thorp Arch about the club’s plans.

What’s the story?

With the Premier League season now in its closing stages, all eyes will now slowly be turning towards the start of the transfer window, and Marcelo Bielsa will no doubt be very keen to get the ball rolling with new signings as soon as possible.

According to Football Insider, a Leeds source has revealed “that the club are finalising a shortlist of forward targets capable of slotting into the first team next season”.

The report added that “the profile Marcelo Bielsa is looking for is a versatile forward in the 18-23 age bracket who can play out wide and down the middle, is quick and has an eye for goal.”

Bielsa will be buzzing

Make no mistake about it, the news that Victor Orta and co are in the process of “finalising” a shortlist of striker targets should be music to the ears of Bielsa, who has had to heavily rely upon Patrick Bamford for the bulk of Leeds’ goals this season.

The burden on the English striker has been immense, and he has started every single one of the Whites’ Premier League games – the toll that takes on a player both physically and mentally is huge and must be exhausting.

While he has handled that pressure pretty well – he’s bagged 15 goals in the league alone – there’s no questioning that he could do with someone to just lighten the load.

It’s exactly why bringing in a new, younger and quicker striker who can provide Bamford with much-needed competition and be rotated with him is necessary for the club to go forward.

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Given how the likes of the 24-year-old Raphinha has settled in at Elland Road (he was 23 when he first signed for the club last summer), news that the club are once again targeting that age range is exciting.

This latest transfer update will surely have Bielsa buzzing.

Meanwhile, Leeds could sign Bielsa’s new pet project in this star…

Aston Villa will reportedly seek to loan out Wesley in the summer transfer window following horrendous injury problems for the striker.

The Lowdown: Injury hell for Wesley

The Brazilian arrived at Villa Park in the summer of 2019, costing £22m and becoming the most expensive signing the club’s history at the time. He has since been usurped by Ollie Watkins in that respect, but it’s fair to say big things were expected of the striker.

Sadly, a cruciate ligament injury suffered at the beginning of last year halted Wesley’s progress significantly, with the 24-year-old playing just 15 minutes of Premier League football this season.

The Latest: Villa looking to sell striker

According to Football Insider, Villa don’t intend to keep Wesley in their squad for next season, moving him on to pastures new instead. The report claimed that Dean Smith had been unconvinced by the Brazilian even before his horrific injury in January 2020.

The plan is to loan him out and sign another striker, which suggests that he has no future at Villa Park moving forward.

The Verdict: Time to move on

There was so much promise when Wesley arrived, but unfortunately the severity of his injury means that he may never be the same player again.

There is a feeling that Smith’s side have moved on without him, too, with Watkins leading the line excellently in his place, scoring 13 goals in the league this season and justifying his club-record outlay.

Wesley will hopefully be a reliable player again one day, but with another striker potentially coming in, it is hard to see how he can revive his abortive Aston Villa career.

In other news, one Villa player has been linked with a shock move to a ‘big six’ club this summer. Find out who it is here.

Zimbabwe coach Carl Rackemann has blamed his side’s eight-wicketdefeat by India in the first cricket Test in Bulawayo on injuries tokey players, captain Heath Streak and Henry Olonga

12-Jun-2001Zimbabwe coach Carl Rackemann has blamed his side’s eight-wicketdefeat by India in the first cricket Test in Bulawayo on injuries tokey players, captain Heath Streak and Henry Olonga.India beat Zimbabwe on Sunday with a day to spare to record theirfirst victory outside the sub continent in 15 years.”We lost because of the injury to Henry Olonga and Heath Streak. Whenyou have an injury to any of your bowlers, it is a big setback.Otherwise there is nothing wrong with the players. The team has anucleus of very good and experienced players,” the coach said.Rackemann said with the loss of the two bowlers, who were injuredbefore the start of India’s second innings, all hopes were lost. Buthe said the performance of Brighton Watambwa, playing in only histhird Test, gave them the confidence of winning the second match andforcing a draw in the two match series.”The young man who has just started his career took over the baton andspearheaded the attack. The manner in which he did the job was good,”he said.Rackemann hoped their performance would be a lot better in the secondTest in Harare which starts on Friday. Streak is expected to recoverin time but Olonga has been ruled out of the Test.”We were in India last year and were beaten there. They (India)recently beat Australia, the world’s top cricketing team. AlthoughZimbabwe have beaten India in Harare, it shows what opposition thecountry is facing,” the coach said.

Queensland is just a day away from claiming its fifth domestic first-class title after it continued to remorselessly shut Tasmania out of the 2001-02 Pura Cup Final here at the ‘Gabba in Brisbane today.

John Polack25-Mar-2002Queensland is just a day away from claiming its fifth domestic first-class title after it continued to remorselessly shut Tasmania out of the 2001-02 Pura Cup Final here at the ‘Gabba in Brisbane today.By stumps on the fourth day of the season’s ultimate match, the Tasmanians had been reduced to a score of 4/190 as they pursued a near-impossible target of 530 for victory.Not even paceman Shane Jurgensen’s production of the first ten wicket haul in the 20-year history of Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup finals matches could reverse the trend as Queensland set about accumulating a mountainous lead and then bowling its way to a potentially early finish.Simply, it would now take a miracle for Tasmania to win the match.The Bulls started the day comparatively poorly, losing Stuart Law (15), Michael Kasprowicz (2) and Scott Brant (0) in quickorder. In removing that trio, the redoubtable Jurgensen (6/104) captured at least five wickets in an innings for the fourth time insuccession and cast the figures of 9/84 achieved by both Adam Dale and Wayne Holdsworth into the shade as the previous bestreturns in a match played at this point of the season.But the Bulls still looked like a team at ease with themselves, the world, and their commanding position in the match.In a freewheeling association that aligned sensible shot selection with the odd heave, two dropped catches, and several playsand misses, Ashley Noffke (47*) and Joe Dawes (26) proceeded to chip in with a 52-run last wicket stand that quickly swelledthe Bulls’ second innings total to 368.Though their opponents generated a bright start to the season’s final innings and few difficulties remained in the pitch, any last,lingering hopes of a Tasmanian victory were little beyond a pretence thereafter.Positive strokeplay illuminated the games of Scott Mason (39), Michael Dighton (38) and Jamie Cox (19) in the two hoursbetween lunch and tea as the Tigers clattered impressively to 1/110 by the interval.After the break, though, there was little to arouse excitement among the visitors.Dighton swung the very first delivery of the evening session to fine leg, perfectly picking out one of only two fieldsmen stationedon the leg side at the time. There should have been another wicket later in the same Andrew Symonds (2/30) over as thebatsmen dithered over the prospect of an overthrow: the run out of Michael Di Venuto (42*), on 2 at the time, being stymiedonly by the availability of nothing better than blurry television replays.It mattered not, though.The plucky Mason soon top edged with an attempted hook at Kasprowicz (2/56) and the innings of a still-restrictedDaniel Marsh (2) became as hobbled as his movements when a back foot drive at Symonds sent the ball arrowing into the glovesof Wade Seccombe standing up at the stumps.Gully fieldsman Daniel Payne’s stunning interception of an edged Cox drive at a Kasprowicz outswinger earlier in the afternoon hadalso been symbolic of the fact that the right things have continued to happen at all the right times in this match for Queensland.Di Venuto proceeded to join with Scott Kremerskothen (26*) in a diligent unbroken partnership that ultimately restored health toTasmania’s innings and also marked time in carrying the visitors to stumps without further breaches of their defences.But, in a more general context, it appeared that they were merely delaying the inevitable.

Glasgow Rangers transfer target Lewis Ferguson is set to be the subject of a third bid from Watford, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Ferguson wants Aberdeen exit

Ferguson recently handed in a transfer request at Aberdeen (BBC), and the Gers are duly said to be interested in capturing the 21-year-old’s services.

According to a report from Football Insider, the £2.7m-valued Scotland under-21 international is desperate to make the move to Ibrox.

The Latest: Watford prepare third bid

It is now being reported that the Hornets are preparing a third bid for Ferguson after having their first two offers rejected.

Aberdeen have already confirmed that they have received an “insulting” bid from an unnamed English club for the young midfielder (STV).

The Verdict: Gers under pressure

This latest report puts the Gers under a little bit of pressure to get a deal done. While one report claimed that Ferguson is eager to join the 55-time Scottish champions, his agent has revealed that the midfielder’s dream is to play in the Premier League, a division to which Watford recently sealed promotion.

Aberdeen have stood firm so far, but there is only so long they can hold on to a player who has expressed his desire to leave. If Ross Wilson and co really want to sign Ferguson this summer, they must move quickly or else risk losing him to a persistent Watford.

In other news, Danny Mills has slammed Rangers’ treatment of this 22-year-old.

Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson was so incensed this morning by comments that were made on Breakfast News by the Editor of Wisden that he has sent a strongly worded response the content of which is printed in full in the following paragraphs

Richard Walsh04-Apr-2002Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson was so incensed this morning by comments that were made on Breakfast News by the Editor of Wisden that he has sent a strongly worded response the content of which is printed in full in the following paragraphs.In his letter to the Editor of Wisden Mr Anderson says: “It is difficult for the specialist annual WISDEN to publicise itself with a kiss and tell story, so on the eve of publication its bully boy Editor seeks to kick the county game in an arranged but uncontested high profile interview on BBC’s Breakfast News.”There was no acknowledgement in the interview of the tremendous changes made by cricket in the recent past to raise competitiveness and attract what some may say is the mythical younger audience who should watch cricket. The wishes of committed, traditional cricket watchers who are quite willing to pay to watch on a regular basis the very game from which both WISDEN and its Editor earn their living, are ridden over rough shod.”The truly depressing thing is that WISDEN seems totally unaware of the changes first class counties are making to the way in which they prepare their players, play their matches, identify and coach emerging young talent and publicise and popularise the game with the young in their areas.”It seems fashionable in this country to ignore rural communities as politically and economically unimportant. However, reducing the number of first-class counties and basing those left on city-based clubs will leave huge swathes of the country and its population without a cricket team to watch within reasonable travel distance. Their cricketing hopes, aspirations and traditions will be ignored.”Somerset is a rural area, proud of its cricket team, the amateur club system and the vibrant youth system based on the first class club. So Mr Editor, leave our Club and cricket alone. We don’t care what you think and before you unashamedly arrange national TV interviews for commercial gain, question your own integrity in biting the hand of the game, which feeds you.”Most of all, though, question your own professionalism in making critical unbalanced generalisations about cricket, which have no relevance to that which occurs in Somerset. You do not know enough about the game you earn a living from.”To make sure that everybody is aware of exactly how incensed he feels about what was said this morning, a copy of Mr Anderson’s letter has been sent to the First Class Forum, John Read who is the Director of Corporate Affairs at the ECB, the SCCC Management Committee, the Editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly and the Editor of Cricketer Magazine.Recently Mr Anderson issued a new season’s greeting to all readers of the Somerset Website, in part of which he asks that if supporters hear criticism of the game that they should respond accordingly.The Chief Executive has therefore contacted me to ask readers of the site to react in the way that they see fit to the comments that were made on television this morning, and support him in his response.

According to The Telegraph, Daniel Levy could soon make a move for Zinedine Zidane as he continues the search for Tottenham’s new permanent manager.

The Lowdown: The search goes on

Jose Mourinho was sacked as Spurs boss over a month ago, but the north London outfit still remain without a permanent first-team manager.

In recent days, Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with a return to the club (The Guardian), while Antonio Conte has also popped up on Spurs’ radar after leaving Internazionale. Now, though, Levy may have another name up his sleeve.

The Latest: Spurs could move for Zidane

Zidane also recently left his post, departing Real Madrid following the end of the 2020/21 La Liga campaign.

As such, he could now emerge as a target for Spurs as they look to fill their vacancy as soon as possible, report The Telegraph.

The Verdict: Reaching for the stars

There are few, if any managers in European football who can match Zidane’s record. He has won the Champions League three times as a manager, adding to the one he picked up as a player, while he also led Madrid to the La Liga title on two separate occasions. Already a legendary footballer, he can also be classed the same as a boss.

Zidane’s salary was said to be €12m a year (£10.3m) at Real Madrid (wionews.com), which works at around £198,000 a week. It is unclear what sort of wages the Frenchman would be looking for, but anything in line with his previous pay packet would be a considerable sum for Tottenham. Still, to get quality, you must be prepared to pay top-level prices.

In other news, Tottenham plan to sell this man this summer.