All posts by h716a5.icu

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John Toshack turned out for Liverpool between 1970 and 1978, finding the back of the net on 96 occasions in 247 appearances for the Reds in all competitions.

The former striker actually started his professional career with Cardiff City, turning out for the Welsh side for five years before the move to Liverpool.

Toshack’s playing career then finished at Swansea City, who he represented between 1978 and 1984.

The Welshman has since gone on to coach a number of sides at club and indeed international level, including Real Madrid and Wales.

Toshack last managed Iranian club Tractor Sazi in 2018, but is currently without a job.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

It was actually the former forward’s birthday on Friday, and Liverpool’s official Twitter account was on hand with a special message for the now 70-year-old.

A expected, that led to a number of Liverpool fans revealing their respect for the Welshman, who had an excellent scoring record at all three of his professional clubs.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Billy Sharp was one of the stars of Sheffield United’s smash and grab win away at Leeds United last weekend, and Kemar Roofe has paid tribute to the 33-year-old veteran in light of his excellent performance, per Yorkshire Evening Post.

What’s the word?

Sharp is a man renowned for his poachers instincts inside the penalty area, but he showcased another facet of his game on Saturday lunchtime by providing the assist for Chris Basham’s emphatic winner.

It was the Sheffield United hitman’s third and potentially most season-defining assist of the season, and he later went on to draw the foul from Kiko Casilla which saw the Spaniard dismissed.

In light of his well-rounded lone striker display, Roofe had some positive words to say about Sharp.

“I just love football. It doesn’t matter who it is. I respect if you’re doing the right things and you’re good at it. And you’re nice to watch, I like that.

“What he has done this season is dangerous.”

More clinical than Teemu Pukki

Teemu Pukki is currently leading the race for the Championship golden boot with 24 goals so far this term, while Sharp is close behind with 22.

There was a time in the season when Roofe would have been considered as a genuine contender for the individual accolade, but injury problems have restricted his progress and he has been cut adrift of the leading pack on 14.

The top goalscorer chart would suggest that Pukki has been the most clinical attacker in the division this season, but his goals per minutes played ratio suggests otherwise.

Norwich City’s talisman has notched at a rate of one goal for every 129 minutes played, while Sharp has scored one every 117 minutes.

Roofe’s strike rate has seen him score once every 158 minutes, so it’s clear to see why he’s expressed his admiration for the Blades’ star man.

Pukki will be glancing nervously over his shoulder with stiff competition for the golden boot breathing down his neck.

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According to El Confidencial, Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has urged Los Blancos president Florentino Perez to move for Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen.

Eriksen will see his current deal with Tottenham expire at the end of next season.

And it does appear that the Denmark international – valued at £76.5m by Transfermarkt – will look to leave his London club.

Real Madrid are expected to spend this summer due to their struggles this season, with El Confidencial claiming that Eriksen is a priority for the Spanish giants.

Eriksen has been a wonderful servant to Spurs since arriving from Ajax in 2013, scoring 63 times and providing 81 assists in 264 appearances in all competitions.

However, a number of the Premier League club’s supporters feel that it is time for the 27-year-old to move on.

Eriksen has scored seven times for Spurs this season, but has lacked consistency and it does appear that his head is already elsewhere.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Tottenham fans can be seen below:

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Since West Brom sacked Darren Moore in early March, the club have reportedly shown a degree of interest in Preston boss Alex Neil.

However, the Scot has now claimed he’s making plans for his current club ahead of next season, swatting away rumours of a potential move to the Hawthorns.

The current managerial situation at the Midlands outfit has been frustrating for fans with Albion’s hierarchy no closer to making a decision over who may take the role permanently.

But reacting to Neil’s comments, West Brom supporters have expressed their relief at the news as one fan laid into the 37-year-old claiming he was useless.

One supporter specified that he wasn’t the answer to the club’s current plight whilst another individual bluntly said that he didn’t want Neil.

Talks with Slavisa Jokanovic haven’t materialised and James Shan, who is currently the manager on a caretaker basis, looks as though he may take the reins until the end of the season.

Was Darren Moore’s sacking unfair? The Pl>ymaker FC squad name which Championship bosses should have gone instead in the video below…

West Brom had been in poor form leading up to Moore’s departure but they’re now on a run of three wins since Shan took charge.

Here’s the best of the reaction from Twitter.

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At 3-0 down after just 19 minutes against Bristol City, West Brom supporters’ attention turned to their disillusioned board.

It’s now been a month since Darren Moore was sacked as manager and the club are still searching for someone to take over permanently. It’s a situation that’s become a mess and the Baggies fans displayed their frustration vocally at Ashton Gate.

James Shan had started off brightly. He’d won his first three matches in charge but now following consecutive defeats against Millwall and Bristol City, the club are staring down the barrel of potentially dropping out of the play-off places.

If the board had been concerned with their future under Moore then their worries will now have heightened even more.

Plenty of things went wrong last Tuesday night but could they have been prevented if one key man had started?

Lack of leadership

There wasn’t much Shan could have done about the defending for the Bristol City goals. Jake Livermore played a horrendous pass for the opening strike after just a minute, whilst Conor Townsend was caught out at the back post by a stooping header from Jack Hunt for the third.

However, in all the chaos that ensued in the opening quarter of the game, Chris Brunt, the club’s captain watched on from the substitutes’ bench.

The Northern Irishman has been particularly vocal and is known, for better or for worse, to be a strong influence in the dressing room.

But even if some West Brom fans may not like that about him, Shan’s decision not to include him in midweek could prove costly, not only for any potential ambitions he had of becoming the permanent manager but in terms of their promotion hopes too.

The club needed a leader and for someone to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Brunt isn’t someone who can change the game as such with the ball at his feet, but mentally he could have been able to prevent some of the madness that happened in the opening 19 minutes.

Brunt’s form has been impressive too, claiming two assists and a goal since Shan took charge. For him to be left out, therefore, was a huge error.

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Manuel Pellegrini has revealed a big development on the fitness of Jack Wilshere, telling West Ham’s official site that the midfielder will be back to full fitness soon.

The former Arsenal midfielder has played for the club just five times this season.

What’s the word?

Wilshere played the opening four games of the club’s season as the Hammers lost to Liverpool, AFC Bournemouth, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers before sustaining an ankle injury.

A return against Newcastle United was short-lived as he played five minutes before being forced to undergo ankle surgery.

That game took place in January and he has been on the sidelines thereafter, missing 19 Premier League encounters.

And Pellegrini, speaking before the Hammers’ encounter with Manchester United, has confirmed that the 27-year-old will soon be back in the squad.

He told reporters: “Jack Wilshere is almost ready.

“He played one game for the U23s last week and hopefully he’ll play another one.

“Next week, I think that he’ll be working 100 per cent with our squad.”

Leave him out

Wilshere should be nowhere near West Ham’s starting XI.

He may well be fit but he has shown in his appearances for the club that his legs may well have gone.

Wilshere is not a player who has the ability to change games for the Hammers and Pellegrini should resist the urge to throw the ex-Arsenal star into the team.

The fact of the matter, at the end of the day, is that he cannot be trusted to stay fit.

And throwing Wilshere back into the fold is a lose-lose situation; at worst, he sustains another injury, at best, he has only a middling impact on a team that is already struggling for consistency.

Benjamin Mendy used to be quite a likeable character, but he has since degenerated into one of the most frustrating players for fans and critics alike.

The proliferation of YouTube, social media, the internet and technology means players are more connected with the outside world than ever. And that is a great thing. In the modern era, we need players like Benjamin Mendy; individuals who can bridge the gap between the dressing room and fans. Those fun, bouncy characters who are as useful off the pitch as they are on. But that is where the problem lies. The Frenchman is too focused on one thing and not the other.

Manchester fans more than anyone have a right to be frustrated with their record signing left-back. Their match-up against Brighton in the FA Cup on 6 April marked the first time Mendy appeared in anything other than social media in nine games. Before that, the club’s resident prankster had spent two separate periods on the side-line totalling a period of 24 games, and even before then he had missed 45 games last term through “injury”.

This means Benjamin Mendy, the man who cost Pep Guardiola £52million in 2017, has spent a ridiculous 366 out of the team for one reason or another. But what has he been doing in that time, you might ask? Well, his Twitter gives a pretty comprehensive account.

From forcing the “shark team” hashtag down our throats like an overzealous parent with a spoonful of carrot mush to a barrage of emojis akin to that of a WhatsApp group chat full of excitable teenagers, Mendy has crowned himself as the ultimate social media footballer. But City did not fork out multi-millions for the world’s most expensive Twitter manager. They wanted a player and is not what they have got.

Guardiola once claimed that he wanted to kill Benjamin Mendy ‘at times’, and though he probably did not mean literally, we imagine he is not far off now (as per The Times).  His most recent controversy, which involved leaving a club at 3:30am the night before training, may not be that bad under normal circumstances – footballers need a life outside the game, after all – but Mendy should have been working on his comeback (story via Telegraph).

We are at a point now where Manchester City need to make a decision: do they keep Mendy or send him packing? A new left-back is at the forefront of Pep Guardiola’s shopping list apparently, with Ben Chilwell a rumoured prospect, so that may give fans some hint towards which way the club are leaning (as per Telegraph).

Manchester City fans, is it time to wave goodbye to Mendy? Let us know in the comments below…

Have Rangers fans forgotten about Jordan Jones? He’ll arrive at Ibrox next season, but for some reason, fans are still worried about finding a replacement for Ryan Kent.

The club announced Jones has signed a pre-contract agreement on January 5, so it’s hard to see why there’s still so much fuss about the Rangers left side ahead of next season. Jones will be the man to step into Kent’s boots, no problem.

Perhaps it’s because the signing was made on a free transfer that the Gers’ faithful are overlooking the 24-year-old. They shouldn’t do though because he’s been impressive for Kilmarnock this season and has the potential to step up at a bigger club.

His four goals and four assists in 28 games, aren’t that exciting and perhaps that’s a factor too, but his all-round wide play is right up there with Kent’s, if not better. The fans have to realise they can’t go spending tens of millions, but Jones is by far good enough.

The speedster will get Ibrox on its feet, no problem, and that’s exactly what Steven Gerrard needs to challenge for the title next season. This campaign has fizzled out disappointingly, so next season there’s huge pressure to win their first major trophy since their liquidation.

Who better to deal with that pressure than a young, confident winger looking to prove himself at a massive club and prove to disappointed Rangers fans why he’s much more than just a bargain buy? No one.

Rangers fans, how do you think Jordan Jones will fare at Ibrox? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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For months Leeds fans may have laughed off talk of the famed ‘Bielsa burnout’ as they were flying at the top of the Championship.

The premise is that Marcelo Bielsa’s style of play proves too physically demanding for a team to continue high levels of performance throughout an entire season.

Seemingly avoiding the burnout

Leeds had seemed to escape the dreaded fatigue that comes with playing under Bielsa this term, as they seemed to constantly dig in to score late goals and secure themselves points late in games.

Many mistook these late surges as evidence to disprove the fact that Bielsa’s teams wilt with tiredness. However, this phenomenon isn’t to be studied throughout 90 minutes of a game, it is about the team’s capability to continue playing up to standard throughout a full season.

Fans of the Yorkshire club were quick to tell everybody that they knew better, the Bielsa burnout is a myth and the club will storm through and be promoted to the Premier League with no problem at all.

Perhaps the club should have heeded the warnings of Ander Herrera who played under Bielsa at Athletic Bilbao, when he said (via iNews): “I can’t lie to you, in the last months we couldn’t even move. We had five games to play in the league and were in two cup finals and I think we lost all of them.

“Our legs said ‘stop’. We used to play always with the same players and were not at our best in the finals. We were a completely different team than we had been before.”

Happening before our eyes

It’s happening to Leeds right in front of us. Since the halfway point of the season, they have lost nine of their 20 Championship games but their storming start to the campaign left them in a strong position to be promoted, their league position blinding fans to what was really happening.

The Yorkshire outfit haven’t been the same team since Christmas but it has taken many fans until their automatic promotion hopes were dashed to admit it.

Losing their last two games against 10-man Wigan after leading early on and being comfortably dispatched by Brentford shows the regression Leeds have gone through in recent weeks.

On top of that the players can’t hold themselves together whilst playing this rigorous style, Gjanni Alioski had to come off against Brentford whilst Liam Cooper struggled throughout the match.

The numbers don’t lie, Leeds’ form has deserted them at the worst possible time and it is no coincidence that their players look dead on their feet late on in the season after running their socks off under Bielsa for over 40 games.

Wednesday’s defeat to Peterborough was a damming one for Portsmouth in more ways than one.

The 3-2 loss not only handed Luton Town and Barnsley the two automatic promotion spots in the League One table but also severally reduced Portsmouth’s chances of making it to the Championship entirely.

Kenny Jackett will be hoping his side can finish third in the table and face off against Doncaster Rovers in the League One play-offs, and Pompey fans know that failure to gain promotion would have a ripple effect on the club that will damage them for next season, mainly star players wanting to jump ship to better clubs, with one of those names likely to be Jamal Lowe.

The 24-year-old winger has been one of Pompey’s best players this season and one of the most dangerous attackers in League One, scoring 15 goals and assisting eight as Lowe has been one of the driving forces behind Portsmouth’s incredible push for promotion, but another season in the division won’t stand.

Lowe is a player who is ready for the step up to the Championship and has even been praised by his teammates as a player who could become a Premier League star one day, and Portsmouth will have no power to stop him from leaving should they fail to make promotion this season.

Reaching the Championship will surely be enough for Lowe to stay at the club, and for the long-term future of Portsmouth, the winger staying and helping the team to success can be achieved if they are promoted.

Portsmouth fans, can Lowe lead Pompey to promotion to the Championship? Let us know!