All posts by n8rngtd.top

Unquestionably Tottenham Hotspur would be all the poorer without Harry Kane.

The north London side would have been deprived of 131 artfully slotted Premier League goals, while on the international stage England would have missed out on a formidably prolific striker destined to become his country’s record goal-scorer.

The extent of Kane’s importance to both club and country evokes some pertinent questions: would Spurs have established themselves as a top four side in the Pochettino era without their leading light? As for the Three Lions, would a World Cup semi-final have been reached minus Kane’s Golden Boot-winning six goals?

The answer to both lies somewhere in the region of ‘probably not’.

But even when fully acknowledging the forward’s incredible impact in recent times nothing can be stated with absolute certainty, except for one thing: if Harry Kane did not exist Tammy Abraham would be England’s number nine right now and Gareth Southgate’s chief front man. And we would all be very excited about that.

How could that not be the case considering the 22-year-old’s ascendancy, one that has been accompanied every step of the way with an abundance of goals. After finding the net with alarming regularity through Chelsea’s youth ranks Abraham was sent on a season-long loan to Bristol City as a teenager and notched 23 times.

His reputation sky-high a second temporary stint duly followed, this time to Premier League Swansea only here he relatively struggled, with the jump in class coming perhaps too soon for the developing hit-man.

So it was back to the Championship to Aston Villa where the goals rained in once again, on this occasion a quarter of a century of them in the league alone.

This season a second bite at the top flight cherry with his parent club Chelsea has put Abraham in firm contention to win this year’s Golden Boot with his ten goals in 12 games consigning established internationals Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi to the margins.

It’s a ratio that equates to a goal every 90 minutes. Last week the Camberwell-born star scored his first for his country – a year before Kane did likewise – and all told Abraham’s potency and movement have greatly impressed one and all.

He is the real deal. He is the next big thing. He is – though this should maybe be whispered at this early juncture – England’s rightful successor to Lineker, Shearer and Owen.

There is a problem here though isn’t there, or from England’s perspective at least it’s a highly welcomed dilemma in need of solving. It is a problem/dilemma who is 6 ft 2, captains his nation and scores a ferocious amount of goals on a consistent basis. A player who is already those trio’s successor.

Harry Kane is undroppable. He is a ruthless talisman around whom the rest of the team orbit. So how on earth does Gareth Southgate accommodate an emerging goal-scoring sensation who is primed and ready to make his own path alongside some enormous footprints; a player who, let’s not dismiss, would be a huge threat on the pitch for England at the Euros next summer.

Having Abraham as a back-up is a waste. For one thing we have little idea how impactful he is as a substitute. For another he has outperformed Kane in the goal-scoring department so far this term.

Perhaps then the solution lies in playing them both, though that would require a dramatic tactical rethink from the England boss.

Sticking the youngster out wide to facilitate his current preferred 4-3-3 would inevitably lead to a compromised shoehorning as witnessed with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette at Arsenal. It would mean then a reversion to the three at the back as witnessed at the World Cup, with Alexander-Arnold and Chilwell pushed up as wing-backs and Kane and Abraham running amok up front.

Will Southgate go for this? It is doubtful given it’s a formation he has clearly moved on from but one thing is for sure: with Kane guaranteed to start and Abraham forcing his manager’s hand to play him, don’t be surprised if it’s not at least trailed in the months ahead.

Loads of Rangers fans have been reacting to some hilarious comments from Ally McCoist, who shared a story on TalkSPORT of his time at Ibrox with Paul Gascoigne.

You didn’t really think McCoist was running out of amazing stories about Gazza, did you?

The former Gers target man was back on TalkSPORT again on Thursday, reeling out yet another classic encounter from his days alongside one of the most talented and enigmatic players of all time.

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This time, the ex-striker revealed a bust-up between the pair that led to a victory in the 1996 League Cup final, explaining how a misunderstanding over where to pass the ball escalated: “I ran up and I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and I said: ‘You ever try to make a fool of me in front of 60,000 again, and I’ll rip your head off!’

“He said to me: ‘Is that right? Let’s get this sorted out right now!’”

He continued to explain how Walter Smith demanded they stop arguing at half-time, only to grab Gascoigne by the scruff of the neck and hang him up on a coat peg.

“Eventually when it calmed down Gazza got up, went out of the dressing room and straight into the director’s room – in his gear by the way! – and had a whiskey.

“He threw it down his neck, came back into the dressing room, sat down, Walter did his team talk, he walked out for the second half and he scored two goals. He was unbelievable.”

Of course, it was McCoist himself who scored the other two goals in the epic 4-3 encounter, also playing a part in Gazza’s late winner.

Fans on Twitter have been loving the tale, praising Gazza as “the ultimate football maverick” while one supporter admitted it is “sad” that stories such as these won’t exist in football anymore. Check out some of the best responses down below…

Rangers fans fume after St Mirren’s CEO reveals his title verdict…

5th April 2009, Old Trafford, Manchester

Seventeen-year-old Italian striker Federico Macheda makes his way onto the pitch after taking the place of Portuguese attacker Nani in the middle of the second half.

His Manchester United teammates are finding it difficult to break down a stubborn Aston Villa side, who are currently 2-1 up. Finally, they manage to grab an equaliser, scored by their enigmatic Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo.

The noise in Old Trafford is deafening as the United fans will their team on and it’s about to get louder still.

Federico Macheda picks the ball up outside the Aston Villa box after a pass from Gary Neville. He turns and tries to get past his marker, but the Villa defender prods the ball away from him.

The ball only reaches Ryan Giggs who, 35 yards, out calmly controls the ball and then feeds the ball back to Macheda, who is now just inside the penalty area.

The young Italian striker has his back to goal and in an instant, turns with the ball, creating a bit of space ahead of the defender behind him.

Macheda hits a curling shot with the inside of his boot around Brad Friedel in the Villa goal and neatly inside the far post and wins the game for United.

This moment would propel the youngster into the limelight at a supersonic speed. Suddenly, everyone in football were talking about this young player and he was being hyped up to be the next big thing.

Macheda had been scoring goals for fun in both Manchester United’s Under 18 side and their Reserves but he was still a very young player. This didn’t stop the press branding him as the ‘Italian Ronaldo.’

Sir Alex Ferguson put him on the bench a few days later in the Champions League Quarter Final but he didn’t play in the match.

In the next Premier League game, away to Sunderland, Macheda was one the substitutes yet again. But this time Ferguson did call on him to go on and play.

The Italian replaced Dimitar Berbatov with 15 minutes to go and the score at 1-1. Incredibly, Macheda scored the winner within 45 seconds of coming onto the field and United ended up winning 2-1!

Sir Alex Ferguson rewarded Macheda with a four-year contract at the end of 2009 but he was used sparingly by Ferguson who wanted to send him out on loan to get first-team experience in England.

Many Premier League clubs came in for him but he insisted that he wanted to go on loan to an Italian club. Ferguson relented and Macheda joined Sampdoria, a move that he would say was the worst decision of his life.

Sampdoria used Macheda after selling one of their key strikers and at age of 19, he struggled with the responsibility and the fact that he had come from a huge club in Manchester United. He failed to scored in the 14 games that he played when on loan at the club between January and May 2011.

In the 2011/12 season, he was used in the League Cup by Manchester United and scored a goal from the penalty spot against Crystal Palace before going on loan to Championship side Queens Park Rangers. He didn’t get on the scoresheet in the six matches he played in for the London club.

Macheda didn’t feature for the United first team and went on loan to German side Stuttgart where yet again he didn’t score, this time in 17 games.

From September 2013 to January 2014, the Italian joined Doncaster Rovers on loan and scored three goals in 15 games. He then moved on to Birmingham City and in 18 games for The Blues, he scored 10 times.

At the end of his spell at Birmingham, Macheda went back to Manchester United but his contract was not renewed. He joined Cardiff City on a free transfer and stayed there until December 2016.

He made 33 appearances for the Welsh side in all competitions but only found the net eight times. He went out on loan once, to Nottingham Forest, but didn’t score in three games.

Macheda joined Serie B side Novara in 2016 and then left them two years later for Greek club Panathinaikos where he continues to play to this day.

For a player who started his career with such promise, he has faded away as quickly as he arrived on the first-team stage. It makes you think what would have happened if he listened to Fergie and went on loan in this country, instead of joining Sampdoria…..

Tottenham Hotspur have been heavily linked with a move for Norwich City right-back Max Aarons since the turn of the year, and the young English talent has dropped a subtle hint that’ll only add fuel to the fire.

Football Insider believe he is a ‘top priority’ this summer.

The 20-year-old was part of the Canaries side that dumped Spurs out of the FA Cup back in March and has been mooted with a switch to north London this summer after making his mark in the Premier League.

On Thursday, Aarons was answering fan questions on Instagram, one of which was about the best stadium he has played in during his career – his choice? Spurs’ swanky new offering.

He, via Football.London, said:

“The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is crazy.

“You can look at it and you can tell just how good it is, how good it has been built and that one is a great stadium.”

“But I can’t really chose between that one and Old Trafford.”

Max Aarons to Instagram on Thursday

Aarons has played 30 times this campaign, recording two assists in what is his debut campaign in the top-flight.

It is thought that rock-bottom Norwich value their coveted prospect at £30m as per the Daily Mail back in January. Arsenal, Everton and West Ham are also mentioned in that report.

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Will the England U21 international be playing for Jose Mourinho next season? That remains to be seen. But these comments are certainly a nice hint to the Spurs boss and chairman Daniel Levy.

AND in other news, Spurs fans react as DIVISIVE ace in line for NEW contract…

Leeds United fans have been sent into a frenzy over loan star Ben White this week after footage emerged on social media.

The centre-back can be seen talking to the young supporter that sent Brighton and Hove Albion his pocket money and a letter in order to try and secure White on a permanent basis.

Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth made it all happen as the three spoke about the 21-year-old’s time in west Yorkshire, and several members of the Elland Road faithful believe he wants to stay past his temporary spell.

White has played in all 37 league games this term, becoming an integral part of Marcelo Biesla’s league-leading backline. He has averaged three clearances, 2.7 interceptions and 1.7 tackles per game whilst his ball-playing abilities shouldn’t be understated either having managed an 85.7% passing success rate, via WhoScored.

Much has been made of his long-term future at Brighton, let alone Leeds, with Phil Hay claiming Liverpool and both Manchester clubs are sniffing around him ahead of a potential summer switch.

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Although, you’d find it hard to find someone that wasn’t desperate for him to stay at United.

Here’s how they have been reacting to his gesture…

AND in other news, Phil Hay makes claim on Leeds finishing season

Celtic are reportedly eyeing up replacements for highly-coveted star striker Odsonne Edouard should he leave the Glasgow giants this summer, and it appears one name has been circulated this week.

According to the Telegraph, the Scottish Premiership champions have made Wolfsberger AC striker Shon Weissman ‘one of their priorities’ but only if their leading talisman is sold.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed a prolific season for the Austrian outfit where he has bagged 29 goals in just 30 appearances, including a pair of strikes against AS Roma and Borussia Monchengladbach in the Europa Leauge, via Transfermarkt.

Meanwhile, Edouard has become the latest promising talent to attract admirers with his superb form at Parkhead, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Moussa Dembele playing at Celtic in recent seasons.

The Frenchman has bagged 27 goals in all competitions this term and is reportedly a target for Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Leicester City and Newcastle United amongst others.

It’s claimed that Weissman could cost as little as £4.5m this summer but that may depend on how the transfer market is shaping up financially post-pandemic.

How’s your Celtic knowledge? Always been a loyal fan? Well can you spot Stilian Petrov from John Hartson? Give it a go if you’re brave enough …

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The Israeli international has just one more year to run on his current contract, so it could be the perfect time to swoop in and land him, especially given reported interest in him from both top-flight north London teams.

Although, it appears as if Neil Lennon will only initiate a move for him should Edouard depart Glasgow.

AND in other news, Celtic fans DIVIDED by Jordon Ibe transfer update…

Key information about Vitality Stadium

The Vitality Stadium, originally known as Dean Court, is the home of AFC Bournemouth who are currently playing in the English top-flight. The ground was built in 1910 and has since been refurbished and improved and is located east of the town centre and close to Boscombe.

Currently, the Vitality Stadium has a capacity of 11,329, both at club level and for international purposes, with a pitch size of 105m x 68m. The ground is not surrounded by a running track and has natural grass with no undersoil heat installed.

The record attendance stands at 28,799 for AFC Bournemouth’s clash with none other than Manchester United on 2 March 1957.

A history of Vitality Stadium

Even though the ground was originally named Dean Court, due to sponsorships it is now more commonly known as Vitality Stadium. In 1910, Boscombe FC, as the club was known back then, were given a piece of land by the town’s Cooper-Dean family and since it was not built in time for the upcoming season, the team had to play at the adjacent King’s Park until finally moving into Dean Court in December 1910.

Initially, it only had a single stand but further stands along with terraces were built in the 1930s following the purchase of fittings from the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. There were some other rebuilding projects in place during the 1980s but the lack of financial resources meant they were put on hold and ultimately scrapped until further notice.

In 2001 the stadium was completely demolished and then subsequently rebuilt, rotating the pitch for the full 90 degrees from its original position but it still lacked the South Stand. Over the years, they had different temporary stands designed at the empty end until in 2013 a permanent stand was finally installed.

It’s also interesting to note that the Vitality Stadium had various different names over the years, as a direct result of sponsorship deals. In 2001 it was called the Fitness First Stadium then, in 2011, Seward Stadium and in 2012 it was the Goldsands Stadium. The current name was announced in the summer of 2015 and still stands to this day.

In July 2017, the club confirmed they will be looking to build a new stadium near the current site in Kings Park.

Tickets to watch AFC Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium

All tickets to watch AFC Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium can be purchased on the club’s official website. The cost of the ticket depends on multiple factors such as age of the buyer and the position in the stands with the most expensive adult ticket price standing at £55.

There are, of course, season tickets available for the home supporters but there is a limited number and only the current season ticket holders can renew their tickets while others have to wait for them to become available first.

Related Links

https://www.afcb.co.uk/ – Official website of AFC Bournemouth

https://www.afcb.co.uk/tickets/ AFC Bournemouth Ticket Office

Arsenal are being linked with different players this summer, although one rumour might not go down well with supporters as former Tottenham player Marcus Edwards is a name being linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium.

According to GiveMeSport, Spurs are not likely to re-sign Edwards, who is currently playing in Portugal, and this has opened the door for other clubs to sign the player.

He has a €15m (£13.4m) release clause in his contract with Vitoria de Guimares and apparently Edwards would prefer a move to north London rivals Arsenal, but the Gunners have yet to properly express any real interest in the player as of yet, per GiveMeSport.

The 21-year-old has has a pretty impressive campaign in Portugal, picking up eight goals and five assists in all competitions, per WhoScored. This is a pretty impressive tally for the attacking midfielder, and the fact that he has 1.7 shots, 3.1 successful dribbles and 1.4 key passes per game emphasises the attacking potential that he possesses, which could make him a good signing for the Gunners.

However, there are a couple of things which should stop the Gunners from signing Edwards. One is the fact Tottenham have a sell-on clause for the player, so Arsenal would be giving their arch-rivals some money which they could then use in the summer transfer window.

Arsenal also have their own young prospects illuminating the Emirates, including Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah, and the Gunners should focus on this attacking talent instead of spending more than £10m on Edwards.

Gunners fans, should Arsenal steer clear of signing Edwards this summer? Comment below with your views!

Brighton mathematically ensured their place in next season’s Premier League with a drab goalless draw at home to Newcastle yesterday evening.

A match which had just four shots on target is unlikely to live long in the memory and, in reality, the Seagulls were effectively safe before the Magpies rocked up in Sussex yesterday. However, Graham Potter will no doubt be relieved that they are now officially over the line and can enjoy their final day trip to Burnley with the pressure off.

Unsurprisingly given that there were no goals in the game, those in defensive positions will probably feel the most satisfied with their evening’s work, and Brighton’s Adam Webster should certainly be happy with his contribution at the Amex Stadium.

There had been some doubts as to whether the 25-year-old would feature after he suffered a hip injury in last week’s draw at Southampton but Potter declared before yesterday’s encounter that he was confident the centre-back would play (as per Brighton & Hove Independent) and so it proved.

The 1.91m-tall defender put his height to good use by winning five headers against Newcastle, more than anyone else on the pitch, along with making two interceptions, two clearances and two blocks. [via WhoScored]

Webster didn’t just stand out for his defensive work, either. He was largely composed in possession, completing 68 of his 77 passes for an 88.3% success rate, and he even had one of his team’s three shots on target, taking a 75th-minute shot from distance which forced a good save from Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

The post-match player ratings were modest all round due to the largely tepid nature of the game but the 25-year-old’s contribution still met with appreciation from some reporters. Sussex Live’s Matthew Davies wrote that “he brought the ball out of defence well and together with [Lewis] Dunk headed away everything that Newcastle threw at him”.

Derren Howard of Brighton & Hove Independent said that the ex-Bristol City man “defended well and forced a good save from Dubravka with a stinging long range effort”, giving him a match rating of seven.

The Seagulls’ ninth Premier League clean sheet of the season made sure that they will be playing in this division again next term. Considering that Webster had to win a race against time to play his part yesterday and ultimately wasn’t far away from netting a superb winning goal, he can take plenty of pride in his efforts in getting Potter’s team over the safety line.

Brighton fans, how impressed were you with Webster’s performance against Newcastle? Comment below with your views!

According to reports, Leeds are interested in signing Liverpool winger Harry Wilson this summer.

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Wilson spent the campaign on loan at fellow Premier League side Bournemouth, but with the Cherries’ relegation to the Championship, finds himself back at parent club Liverpool.

Now, The Sun claim that Leeds are eyeing up a £15m move for the Wales international, but are set to face competition for his signature from the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle.

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The report adds that “Leeds could chance their luck with an offer” half the £30m the Reds were supposedly asking for last summer.

Said Benrahma alternative

One man who has been linked with a switch to Elland Road in recent days, is Brentford winger Said Benrahma.

But with the race to sign him really hotting up, Victor Orta and co will surely be on the look-out for an alternative to the man who lit up the Championship.

Whilst Wilson may not have had the most consistent of seasons with Bournemouth in terms of performances or game-time – he played 31 times in the Premier League but only completed the full 90 minutes twice – he did show flashes of promise, scoring seven goals in the top-flight.

Former Celtic midfielder Jackson Irvine hailed his potential, saying: “This kid is incredibly talented. He’s not lightning quick but he has an ability just to glide past players. And he’s terrific in the final third.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp even lauded Wilson for his “world-class” shooting abilities, and it was no surprise to see him average 1.8 shots per game in the Premier League – compare that to Leeds winger Jack Harrison, who averaged 1.7 in the Championship.

If Leeds want a wide player who can share some of the goal-scoring burden, then Wilson is the man to go for.