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Everton suffered a setback in their pursuit of European qualification at the weekend, going down 2-1 to Aston Villa at Goodison Park.

Anwar El Ghazi’s 80th-minute winner meant the Blues failed to kick on from a big three points at Arsenal the previous week.

Reflecting on the defeat, The Athletic’s Toffees correspondent Patrick Boyland pointed out the impact of one absentee.

In their eight games without Abdoulaye Doucoure, Everton have picked up just one victory.

More midfield bodies needed at Goodison after 2020 transfer spree?

In mid-March, the £20million summer signing was ruled out for up to 10 weeks after sustaining a small foot fracture.

According to Boyland, the statistic demonstrates that ‘eyes should be on the midfield again over the summer’.

The Blues recruited three midfielders ahead of the 2020/21 season for a combined fee of £42.5million – Doucoure, Allan and James Rodriguez, but all three have spent at least some time on the sidelines this campaign through injury.

Boyland shared the stat and his verdict on Twitter, and here’s how Everton fans reacted.

Everton fans lament Doucoure absence and slam replacements

“8 games without Doucoure and poor results are no coincidence. He’s been vital this season. Without him we look very much like the side from last season.”

Credit: @followeverton

“Our best midfielder by a mile”

Credit: @Adam0841

“If only we’d just bought a new midfield ey”

Credit: @Stu17666455

“I said it at the time him missing was a bigger blow than any other player missing, his energy cannot be replaced, we cannot play with gomes, james, sigurdsson and davies, any of these 2 in the same team is criminal, more legs needed in the summer.”

Credit: @BrunsypPB

“Sigurdsson, Davies, Gomes, all need binning simply not good enough”

Credit: @gflan02

“Yes, legs and the ability to go past someone with the ball.”

Credit: @petduff

In other news, one of Boyland’s The Athletic colleagues tipped Everton to make this move.

Notts made it four wins out of five and earned a home quarter-final tie as they beat Lancashire by seven wickets to top the B & H Northern qualifying group

Dave Bracegirdle07-May-2001Notts made it four wins out of five and earned a home quarter-final tie as they beat Lancashire by seven wickets to top the B & H Northern qualifying group.Chasing 204 the home side sped to victory inside 44 overs with captain Darren Bicknell leading the way with a splendid 89.His opening partner Guy Welton had already collected two Gold Awards in a prolific start to this competition so Lancashire were relieved to dismiss him early on, edging Peter Martin straight into the waiting hands of Michael Atherton at first slip.Greg Blewett and Bicknell looked relatively untroubled against the seamers as they added 50 in just 11 overs but the left-handed Bicknell had a couple of scares when Muttiah Muralitharan came into the attack. An inside edge missed the leg stump by inches as it raced to the boundary and then an attacking drive was spilled high above the bowlers head.Nevertheless Bicknell continued to play his shots and raced to a splendid 50 (70 mins, 67 balls, 9×4’s) with a thump through midwicket off Ian Austin.Blewett looked to be getting fully into his stride as he smashed Murali and leg-spinner Chris Schofield back over their heads but paid the price for a mistimed sweep against Schofield and was adjudged lbw for 35.With Notts well ahead of the run rate Usman Afzaal was allowed the freedom to play his shots and he quickly raced into the 30’s with five sweetly timed boundaries, topped by an on–drive off Austin.Bicknell allowed his younger partner to dominate proceedings but still managed to nudge his way to his highest B & H score for Notts before playing down the wrong line to Joe Scuderi and losing his off stump.Paul Johnson announced his arrival at the crease with fours off Scuderi and Chapple before Afzaal reached his 50 with a pull though the leg side off the former. The next ball crashed into the boundary ropes on the opposite side of the ground to take Notts to their victory target.Earlier Lancashire had been restricted to 203–6, with Scuderi top scoring with 73 not out but the total always looked to be inadequate.

Pakistan in England: Urdu Comment

Maria Naureen24-May-2001

Ed: Maria Naureen is our correspondent from Karachi, a FM 101 radio talk-show host, cricket radio commentator and sports journalist

According to the Daily Star, Tottenham are interested in Simone Inzaghi as they continue to look for Jose Mourinho’s replacement.

The Lowdown: The search continues

Mourinho was relieved of his Spurs managerial duties three weeks ago (BBC), just a few days prior to the Carabao Cup final which Tottenham lost.

Ryan Mason has been in charge since then, but Daniel Levy has been busy in looking for a new permanent boss. So far, they have been linked with likes of Julian Nagelsmann (Archie Rhind-Tutt), Maurizio Sarri (Rai Sports via sportsmole.co.uk) and Erik Ten Hag (The Guardian).

The Latest: Inzaghi in the frame

It now seems that Inzaghi is in the frame. He is currently the manager of Lazio, who are sixth in Serie A.

The Daily Star reported that he is now at the top of the list of targets to take over – Levy was said to be desperate to hire him even before giving the job to Mourinho in November 2019.

The Verdict: Exciting option

Inzaghi has done a very solid job with the Rome club. He has led them to two Supercoppa Italiana trophies, beating Juventus on both occasions, while he also lifted the 2019 Coppa Italia trophy. This season, he guided Lazio to the last 16 of the Champions League.

At the age of just 45, he is relatively young in managerial terms, and he is unlikely to be overly expensive for Levy to bring in. Also, it is impressive to see how he has rejuvenated the careers of the likes of Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto, who have scored 33 goals between them this term.

He could well be a very interesting option for the north London side if Levy gets his wish and hires him as Mourinho’s successor.

In other news, Tottenham have been urged to sign this Premier League winger.

Jesse Lingard looks increasingly unlikely to join West Ham on a permanent deal this summer, acting as a blow to the Hammers.

The Lowdown: New Hammers hero

The England international moved to the London Stadium on loan in the January transfer window, looking to get his career back on track after struggling for game-time at Manchester United. The 28-year-old has since excelled for West Ham, scoring nine goals and registering three assists in just 14 Premier League appearances.

There has been hope that the Hammers could sign Lingard on a permanent deal, but a negative update has been provided in that respect.

The Latest: Lingard unlikely to sign this summer

According to The Athletic, West Ham’s chances of snapping up the midfielder are fading, with Manchester United keen on making Lingard a ‘makeweight’ in a deal for someone they want to sign, such as Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, rather than loaning him out again.

There is a chance that Declan Rice could also be one of those individuals, but the Hammers will surely be desperate to keep hold of the Englishman.

The Athletic added that David Moyes appeared to concede defeat in terms of Lingard being at the club again next season, telling reporters prior to Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brighton: “I am not actually sure how realistic it is. Obviously, I think Jesse has enjoyed himself, I hope he has, we have enjoyed having him.

“He is Manchester United’s player, so they can decide what to do with him. If they want to let him go, let’s hope he would consider us as one of his options.”

The Verdict: Big blow for West Ham

Given Lingard’s exceptional performances for West Ham, which have seen him labelled an “intelligent footballer” by Rio Ferdinand, there is no denying that this update will come as a blow for anyone of a Hammers persuasion.

Swapping him for Rice is a deal which wouldn’t make sense, with the latter being six years younger and possessing greater long-term potential.

In an ideal world, the £75,000-a-week Lingard would come in permanently, but with every passing week that is beginning to look less likely, meaning that David Moyes will need to look elsewhere for reinforcements and hope that they can make a similar impact for the Irons as the 28-year-old has done.

In other news, some West Ham fans have blasted one player’s performance after the draw with Brighton. Find out who it is here.

England’s stand-in captain Alec Stewart made no excuses for his team’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia in the latest NatWest Series encounter at Old Trafford

CricInfo15-Jun-2001England’s stand-in captain Alec Stewart made no excuses for his team’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia in the latest NatWest Series encounter at Old Trafford.England were bundled out for their lowest-ever one-day score of 86 to lose by 125 runs. It was their ninth consecutive one-day defeat and means the remaining qualifying matches in the triangular competition are largely meaningless.Stewart said:”We have lost heavily and we were never at the races.”I am not going to use excuses. The fact is that they bowled well in helpfulconditions and we were not up to it.”He found some solace in the performance of Ben Hollioake whom the Australians struggled to get away. Stewart said: “Ben Hollioake’s bowling was very good – ten overs for 30 was very impressive and he has grown in stature in each game he has played in this series.”To keep them to 208 at the close of their innings was a good effort.”But then you get the first four wickets knocked over early in our innings and you do not recover from that.”Australian skipper Steve Waugh had some sympathy for his opposite number. “I do not think he made any tactical errors out there,” said Waugh.”I thought he captained pretty well but what can you do when your side getsbowled out for 86?”He is the captain but he cannot work miracles.”The next game in the series is between Pakistan and Australia at Chester-le-Street on Saturday while England are back in action against Pakistan at Headingley on Sunday.

Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson returned to the issue of centrally contracted England players when I spoke to him at the County Ground on Thursday morning

Richard Walsh21-Mar-2002Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson returned to the issue of centrally contracted England players when I spoke to him at the County Ground on Thursday morning.He told me,” We are watching very carefully the proposal to increase the number of centrally contracted England players, which is inevitably linked to the numbers of overseas players who can be registered with each county.”The Chief Executive continued,” Somerset County Cricket Club assume that there will be an increase in the number of England contracts. With that in mind we have put on the table for the next meeting of the First Class Forum meeting a proposal, seconded by Lancashire, that each county should be able to employ up to three overseas players for 2003, 2004 and 2005.”He continued, “Somerset will back a proposal to increase the number of centrally contracted players, provided that we are happy with the management of the players who are not playing for England at the time.”He added,” For example it would be totally nonsensical if Steffan Jones instead of playing for Somerset was used as a net bowler in a Test Match.”

West Ham United are leading the race to sign Adam Armstrong this summer, according to reports…

What’s the word?

The Sun claimed that the Irons are among the frontrunners to secure the prolific Blackburn Rovers talisman ahead of next season.

It is believed that the Championship outfit are trying to keep hold of the 24-year-old by offering him a lucrative new deal, although there is interest from several top-flight clubs, including Everton and Brighton.

Armstrong’s current contract is set to expire next year and months of negotiations haven’t convinced him to sign new terms at Ewood Park. He is likely to cost any interested suitor around £25m.

Shades of Aguero

The Hammers haven’t always had the best success when poaching strikers from the lower echelons of the English pyramid – Jordan Hugill being the major case in point – but Armstrong could well be the exception.

The 5 foot 6 pocket dynamo has scored a whopping 29 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions this term, adding to his tally of 17 from 2019/20, as per Transfermarkt.

Truth be told, he has scored goals wherever he’s been, having also bagged 20 times in 40 appearances for Coventry in League One prior to his switch to the Lancashire giants.

There will likely be plenty of question marks over whether or not he can step up to the next level but his rise from many a lower league loan spell to Rovers does provide further encouragement.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-west-ham-news-transfer-rumours-and-the-latest-gossip” title= “Read the latest West Ham news, transfer rumours, gossip and more!”]

Furthermore, Hammers legend Joe Cole is a massive fan of his, having been at the Ricoh Arena at the same time.

“Armstrong reminds me of Aguero in a way, he’s of the build and he’s hungry for goals,” the former England midfielder told Coventry’s official website (via efl.com). “In a lovely way, he’s selfish for goals and has the ingredients to be a top player and go on to score many more goals.”

But could Moyes genuinely clinch his own Aguero in Armstrong?

A further look into his game could certainly suggest so, and he’d only have to be half the player of the Manchester City monster to be a hit in the top flight.

No player has fired off more shots per game in the 2020/21 Championship than Armstrong (4.7), so it’s hardly a surprise to see him amongst the most lethal finishers in the division, whilst he has 0.27 goals for every shot on target.

Tony Mowbray, his manager at both Blackburn and Coventry, told The Athletic that his tactical flexibility to play in many systems is a very attractive prospect, saying: “His explosive pace at the top end of the pitch allows you to play both ways.”

The 57-year-old added: “To not be overly concerned if you’re pinned back around the edge of your box because one pass releases pressure to someone like (Harvey) Elliott to play the pass that he can hit, just leaving it in the space for the speed and dynamic movement of Armstrong — it’s a devastating effect for the team.”

The 24-year-old is in the same mould as Michail Antonio in terms of being a bundle of energy and power up top, so he should have no problem in fitting into Moyes’ system.

Therefore, on the above evidence, David Sullivan and the Irons hierarchy must look to take a bold gamble on the prolific marksman this summer – Armstrong could well become West Ham’s very own Aguero.

AND in other news, Irons set for huge boost as major Rush Green news emerges, fans will be buzzing…

Otago should be awarded 10 out of 10 tonight for avoiding 10 out of 10

Steve McMorran26-Mar-2002Otago should be awarded 10 out of 10 tonight for avoiding 10 out of 10.Entering the 10th and final match of their State Championship season and with nine outright losses already listed against them, Otago faced with horror the possibility of losing all 10 matches in a single year.But at McLean Park in Napier today, clasping fervently to themselves their last chance for redemption, Otago beat Central Districts by eight wickets and so finished the season with a record saved by one gold star among all its black marks.Otago dismissed Central Districts for 152 in its second innings and, after having led by 90 runs on the first innings, needed only 63 to reverse the trend of the season to date. They took only 16.5 overs to score those runs and to complete their win almost an hour before stumps on the third day.Central, resuming at 27/0 in its its second innings, went on to 112/2 then lost eight wickets for 40 runs to leave Otago a chase for victory which must have appeared to them almost glorious in its simplicity.They made only two misteps on the road to victory when they lost the wickets of Brendon McCullum and Craig Cumming within three balls when they were 53. Perhaps to a team so used to losing, it might have seemed at that moment that their worst nightmare would come about – that a defeat, more ignominious than any other, would seek them out.But they regrouped again and they took only five more overs to hit their victory target. Chris Gaffaney stayed at the wicket throughout the innings and went to 35 with the single from Andrew Schwass that brought up Otago’s winning total.Jordan Sheed, who had been with Gaffaney through the last five overs, was only one not out. In the final hurry towards victory McCullum made 20 and Cumming failed to score.Otago entered the third day of this match, in which they had held the upper hand from the outset, needing to play positively and with concentration to complete their win. They knew that if they let their guard slip now Central might still deny them, might make the match unwinnable or, even worse, might win it themselves.They had early success when Kerry Walmsley dismissed Campbell Furlong two runs after the resumption and in the fourth over of the morning. But there must have been concern among the Otago players as Central recovered to 59/1 and then to 112/2, when Mathew Sinclair was at the wicket and apparently in commanding form.Walmsley gave Otago another wicket, another increment in their victory drive, when he removed Peter Ingram for 13 and left Central 59/2.The next wicket, which restored Otago’s momentum, and which signified the point that the match really turned in their favour, came almost 20 overs later. Those were long and nervous overs for Otago and their coach Glenn Turner.But when their wicket drought finally broke and as is often the case, it was followed by a torrent of wickets. Simon Beare, who bowled only 27.2 overs in the entire season and took only seven wickets, claimed the wickets of Sinclair and Jacob Oram within seven deliveries.Central went to 112/3 when Sinclair was out for 42, caught by Nathan Morland, then to 112/4 when Oram was caught by Duncan Drew for 0. Craig Pryor removed Glen Sulzberger for 26 four overs later, Morland dismissed Peter McGlashan, then Morland worked out Schwass. Drew had four catches and Central was 145/7. They had erased Otago’s lead with only two wickets down but they had lost five further wickets and were yet only 55 ahead.Bevan Griggs signfified their last hope but he was out only five balls after Schwass for 24 and Central’s collapse was in full swing. Walmsley, who had started the process, returned to finish it. He took the last remaining wickets – those of Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton – and Central was all out for 152 in the 69th over.Victory loomed over Otago as a prize and a challenge.Walmsley finished with four for 37 from 18.3 overs but all five Otago bowlers contributed to Central’s downfall. Beare took two for five from seven overs, his best bowling return. Morland took two for 21, Neil Rushton one for 29 and Pryor one for 50.It was now up to the batters to complete the business of victory, to avoid at all costs the possibility of another failure. They did the job, as they had in the first innings when they scored 268 to Central’s 178, with their hearts in their mouths at time but with steady and commendable resolution.The season ended for Otago on its solitary high note.

Many Wolves fans will be wondering how will be their next manager but Steven Gerrard is someone that Wolves legend Steve Bull does not see fitting in at Molineux, at least not at the minute.

Gerrard is likely to be linked with several jobs over the summer and coming months as his work north of the border has not gone unnoticed, with Rangers overthrowing Celtic as champions for the first time in nine seasons.

Rangers managed to go the entire league season unbeaten, losing just two matches in 2021 against Slavia Prague in the Europa League and St Johnstone on penalties in the Scottish Cup, which led to them accumulating an impressive 102 points. Former Newcastle defender, Steve Howey, exclusively told Transfer Tavern that Wolves would be an attractive job for Gerrard.

Wolves will have to ensure they get this managerial appointment spot on given how they slipped closer to the relegation zone this season. and Bull does not believe that Gerrard would be the man for the job, exclusively telling Football FanCast:

“I don’t think it will be Gerrard because it’s probably something that would come two years down the line. I think he’s just learning his trade at the minute so I think it would be too early for him.

“Whether he could blend in with the Wolves culture and all the Portuguese players, I don’t think so and I think he will stop where he is.”

Following the shock news of Nuno Espirito Santo leaving Wolves, Bull also told Transfer Tavern that Zinedine Zidane would do a good job if handed the reigns at Molineux and he could be a candidate given that he looks set for the exit door at Real Madrid.

One of the reasons cited why Nuno and Wolves decided it was best for the two parties to part ways was that not enough funding was going to be provided ahead of a huge summer for Wolves.