Santiago Gimenez has made history by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in an Eredivisie away game at Ajax.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Speaking to FootballFanCast, Barry Fry, Director of Football at Peterborough United, has dropped a revelation surrounding Brentford striker Ivan Toney – with the 76-year-old claiming he offered West Ham United joint-chairman David Sullivan a chance to sign him.
Toney, who enjoyed a sparkling 2020/2021 Championship campaign with the Bees, bagged a brilliant 33 goals and 10 assists in 47 starts (WhoScored).
His goalscoring form has prompted recent interest from the Hammers as they search for an alternative to striker Michail Antonio going forward, who has suffered with a plethora of injury problems.
Lifting the lid on him, Fry has claimed to FFC that he offered West Ham co-owner Sullivan the chance to snap up Toney while the forward was at Peterborough.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-news/” title=”West Ham latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]
“I spoke to David Sullivan before I sold him to Brentford, because I thought Ivan Toney would be ideal for West Ham,” the DOF explained.
“But David didn’t agree and thought I wanted too much money and didn’t think he would have the impact in the Championship.”
Flocking to this revelation, many West Ham fans have been left livid, and you can understand why given his enormous contribution to Brentford’s promotion-winning campaign.
Find a flavour of their best verdicts from social media down below.
“Embarrassing”
Credit: @JoshVernege
“further proof our owners are clowns”
Credit: @danw_1986
“Oh my lord.
Remember when we all laughed at that Sky Sports News interview when Barry Fry answered on live TV and said that it was David Sullivan after one of his players?
Well look what happened…”
Credit: @AranNicol1994
“A missed opportunity”
Credit: @bonzoRay
“Why are we ‘trying to sign’ him if we believed he wouldn’t impact the championship in the first place. The geezer is clueless”
Credit: @waller_whu
“Get him away from EVERYTHING!!”
Credit: @bird_david
“David Sullivan ace scout”
Credit: @GB_Hammer
“Know all Sullivan. #GSBOUT”
Credit: @TembyWayne
In other news: ExWHUemployee’s ‘refreshing’ claim has these Hammers fans talking, find out more here.
Sunderland have confirmed that Chris Maguire will not be offered a new contract by the club this summer.
According to a statement posted on the club website, the centre-forward will be released upon the expiry of his current deal at the Stadium of Light next month, as the Black Cats do not wish to retain the 32-year-old’s services ahead of next season.
After joining Sunderland from Bury FC back in 2018, Maguire went on to make 124 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 28 goals and providing 26 assists along the way.
This season, the Scotland international predominantly found himself starting fixtures on the bench, with only 12 of his total of 34 League One appearances coming from the first whistle.
However, despite this, Maguire nonetheless impressed when given the chance by Johnson, with the striker scoring five goals, registering five assists and creating seven big chances in the league.
The £315k-rated man also popped up with goal contributions at crucial times for the Black Cats this term, such as restoring the lead in a 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle, providing the assist for Charlie Wyke’s strike in a 1-0 victory against Swindon Town and scoring a 97th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Crewe Alexandra.
As such, Lee Johnson’s decision to allow the £4.4k-per-week forward move on to pastures new this summer could easily be argued as being one of his biggest mistakes at the club thus far – with this opinion being something that a number of Sunderland fans appear to agree with.
After the club posted their released list on Twitter, one Sunderland fan claimed that the departure of Maguire is “criminal,” while another simply stated their bafflement at Johnson letting the 32-year-old go.
Indeed, despite getting towards the twilight of his career, the versatile attacker has proven this season that he is still an extremely useful player to have around the place, and it would appear a highly likely scenario that the Scot will not be without a club for all that long – something that could well come back to haunt Johnson if Maguire were to sign for one of their League One promotion rivals.
In other news: Get it done: Johnson must sanction Sunderland swoop for £600k “nightmare” this summer – opinion
Glasgow Rangers fans are livid after a report said they are at war with the Scottish National Party after it was suggested the Gers players sang a sectarian song as they celebrated the end of the season.
This past weekend was a special one for the Ibrox outfit. Their 4-0 victory over Aberdeen at Ibrox meant they completed an unbeaten Premiership season (BBC), and they also received the trophy after the match. As such, thousands of fans took to the streets to celebrate, while the players enjoyed themselves at the stadium.
There have been reports that a sectarian song was sung at the party, and it has now been said the SNP are at war with the Gers. Rangers themselves have already questioned whether the video is genuine.
The news was shared on Twitter by @PoliticsForAll, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Gers supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.
“And?”
Credit: @NotForMeMate
“Only one winner.”
Credit: @owenmt_1
“It’s not just selik we’ve rattled, we’ve rattled the full country, quality hahahaha”
Credit: @leewill90899218
“Let’s hope Rangers sue tinpot government and Yousaf in particular. Trumpian garbage from the SNP”
Credit: @scotgardener
“SNP regime hate Rangers as it’s a British football club, and the SNP despise everything British and have spent the past decade trying to purge anything British from Scotland.”
Credit: @BritishAlba
“That’s the best bit, Nats are utterly clueless”
Credit: @Odiepops
In other news, many Rangers fans loved this Burj Khalifa tribute.
Leeds United are eyeing a summer move for Slavia Prague sensation Abdallah Sima in the transfer window.
With the Premier League season inching closer towards its finale, it appears Marcelo Bielsa is already turning his eye to how best to strengthen this Leeds squad.
And, according to Football Insider, the club are keeping close tabs on the 19-year-old Sima, and that the forward “fits the profile” Bielsa is after.
The report adds that Leeds could face competition from rival Premier League clubs, with the likes of Everton and Manchester United also credited with having an interest.
Primarily a right-winger, the teenager can also play up top, and has drawn impressive comparisons with Arsenal Invincible Thierry Henry, who, of course, started his career out wide before being transformed into one of the Premier League’s leading marksmen by Arsene Wenger.
Brian Laudrup meanwhile said (via GlasgowLive): “Sima, in particular, is a wonderful player. He is only 19 years of age, but is very good in the air and can take players on. He’s quick and is scoring for fun in the Czech league.”
And, former Chelsea goalkeeper and Czech Republic legend Petr Cech even went so far as to suggest “there aren’t many players like this in Europe.”
Dubbed as “always a threat” by former Liverpool star Vladimir Smicer, Sima could build a strong relationship with Patrick Bamford, and offer the Leeds man some vital support in terms of sharing the goal-scoring burden.
This season for Slavia, the attacker has bagged 19 goals in 36 games in all competitions, including showing his pedigree at European level with four goals in the Europa League – one of them coming in a 2-0 win away at Leicester.
Sima’s ability to come inside and be a threat in the penalty box would give Leeds that security of always having a presence in the area whenever Bamford makes those darting runs into the channel to draw the centre-backs out of position.
And, standing at 6 foot 2, Sima has got the height and physicality to be a real danger from crosses being whipped in from out wide, and offer the Whites another player to hit other than Bamford.
[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]
Sima’s versatility in being able to play on both flanks and through the middle gives Bielsa the perfect option to either partner him with Bamford as a front two, or use him as an inside forward who can link up with Leeds’ number nine by coming in off the flank.
Either way, it’s a partnership that could bear rich fruit for Leeds next season.
Meanwhile, Bielsa could find a perfect Alioski successor in this star…
Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been wishing former manager Dick Advocaat well as he oversaw his last game as a manager before retiring on Sunday.
The 73-year-old spent three years in charge at Ibrox between 1998 and 2001 and had plenty of success with the 55-time Scottish champions. Under his stewardship, Rangers won the league twice, the Scottish Cup twice and the Scottish League Cup once. The Gers had some wonderful players during his time there, such as Ronald de Boer and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and they were generally a joy to watch.
A few years later, he masterminded Zenit St Peterburg’s 2-0 triumph over the Gers in the UEFA Cup final in Manchester.
The Dutchman’s career has seen him manage all over the globe and his 41-year career in the dugout finally came to an end on Sunday – he went out on a high as Feyenoord beat Utrecht 2-0. A video has emerged of him getting emotional during the match, and that played on the heartstrings of many Gers supporters.
The clip was shared on Twitter by @FootballOranje_, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Gers fans. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts, with some dubbing Advocaat an Ibrox “legend”.
“What a man”
Credit: @GaryFer20897483
“A great manager for sure. Enjoy your well earned retirement Mr Advocaat.”
Credit: @AmiableAlec
“Sad Day!”
Credit: @bill_fyfe
“Thank you Dick Advocaat. What a man”
Credit: @Battlefeverpod
“Broke my heart in Manchester in 2008 but the little general was some manager”
Credit: @stuartmcmullan
“What a legend, a true icon in football”
Credit: @SpeckyRSC
In other news, many Rangers fans are fuming over this politician’s comments.
In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who scored 46 goals for Newcastle United, believes that fans are expecting too much from Sean Longstaff after the midfielder set his own bar too high during the 2018/19 season.
Longstaff was rarely part of the matchday from January onwards until the Magpies suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against relegation rivals Brighton just before the international break.
Longstaff has started the previous four games, in which Newcastle have taken eight points, and as a result, they are now nine points ahead of Fulham, who had a chance to put the Magpies into the bottom three just two weeks ago.
Speaking on how Longstaff set his own bar too high at Newcastle and why he could have been experiencing a natural low in his career, Lee told FFC:
“He was outstanding when he first came into the team. Personally, I think he set his own bar so high when he got into the first team and everyone looked at him and thought ‘wow’, because he came in and was Man of the Match most games.
“I think most youngsters have that bit of a low period after their debut and I think he was in that, but he’s come back in and he’s been excellent.”
The £1,000-per-week midfielder was given his chance under Rafa Benitez and was thought to be a bright prospect coming out of Newcastle’s academy, something which has been severely lacking.
Steve Bruce will be hoping the partnership of Longstaff and Jonjo Shelvey can continue to perform during the run-in period which could prove to be tricky for Newcastle.
Pundit and former Parkhead star Andy Walker has dropped a huge claim on Celtic in relation to the proposed European Super League, saying the Hoops would gladly jump at the chance to join if they could.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has recently talked about the need for a club like Celtic to be involved in UEFA competitions, but Scottish football pundit Walker has slammed the Hoops’ ‘hypocrisy’ over the proposed European Super League, saying that as much as fans have made their displeasure clear, those at board level for both Glasgow clubs would love to be involved.
Walker was recently talking live on air for Sky Sports Scotland and he gave his views about Celtic’s perception of the Super League and their wishes to potentially support it or join it. He made it clear that while Celtic supporters would also react in the same, negative way as the Manchester United and Liverpool fans, senior people at Parkhead would want a slice of it.
The pundit claimed: “I think you’ll hear supports say ‘We don’t want to be a part of this‘, we’ve heard from Gary Neville with regards to Man United supporters, we’ve heard that from Jamie Carragher with regards to Liverpool supporters.
“I think it would be absolute hypocrisy if you were to speak to any senior person at Celtic or at Rangers, and they did not want a slice of this.
“How often have they tried to get involved into English football? How often have they discussed the idea of an Atlantic League? All of that was to generate more money. This European Super League as far as Celtic and Rangers are concerned is just another way to generate more money.”
Jean-Pierre Papin has also spoken about Celtic’s value to European football, saying that the clubs like the Hoops could disappear from the European stage because of the Super League.
Breaking away from the Scottish Premiership isn’t a completely alien concept to Celtic (and the Gers). There have been rumblings of them moving to the Premier League or creating a new Atlantic League as well. Having said that, it is believed that Peter Lawwell is well against the ESL breakaway, despite the financial gap between Celtic and the other Premiership clubs.
Walker’s claim is massive as it goes against everything that fans of both Glasgow clubs stand for – in fact it may be the one thing that could unite both sets of supporters.
For all the fan desire to be on a level playing field with England’s big guns, this is certainly not how they’d like to do it, and if Celtic do follow Walker’s suspicion and jump in, the fan backlash could be enormous.
In other news, Pundit delivers new info on Hoops manager hunt, shares what ‘Celtic want’ – read more here.
In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull who moved from West Bromwich Albion to Wolves in 1986, admits he can’t see Chris Wilder taking the job at the Hawthorns if they decide to not stick with Sam Allardyce next season.
Wilder parted ways with Sheffield United through mutual consent last week after guiding them to a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, before The Daily Star reported that the Baggies could look to bring him to The Hawthorns as a replacement for Allardyce.
The former Blades player took over when they were in League One and in three seasons they had made it to the top flight despite operating on a relatively small budget. However, both parties saw it fit for Wilder to leave his boyhood club.
Speaking on whether Chris Wilder could make an immediate return back into management at West Brom and what might be holding him back from doing so, Bull told FFC:
“Chris Wilder probably could but I think it would be the same situation as at Sheffield United because they’ve got no resources and no money. Would the chairman back him? I don’t think so.
“I think Chris Wilder has been in management now so he probably wants to have a six-month rest and charge his batteries up.
“He’ll want to get the zest back in him and then Chris Wilder will be out there again soon.”
Sheffield United were pushing for a place in Europe last season before the season was paused for Covid-19 and they haven’t been able to cope playing without any fans.
The Blades have won just seven league games since football returned last June, with three of them coming at the end of last season.
Fabinho returned to Liverpool’s midfield when he came on as a substitute in the loss to Fulham on Sunday.
Even though the Reds could not find an equaliser to stave off a sixth consecutive home defeat, the 27-year-old was able to offer them a glimpse of what they had been missing in the middle of the park.
The Brazilian came up with three ball recoveries in the space of 15 minutes and helped sustain his team’s pressure on the Fulham goal (via WhoScored).
Jurgen Klopp must now decide whether to keep him there for the Champions League round of 16 second leg against RB Leipzig on Wednesday or move him back into defence.
Using Fabinho as a holding midfielder would mean placing trust in the inexperienced duo of Nat Phillips and Ozan Kabak to clean up at centre-back if Leipzig bypass the midfield. It would be Phillips’ European debut after he was left out of the Reds’ initial Champions League squad.
Kabak, incidentally, was missing through injury at the weekend but the expectation is that he will return for the trip to Budapest (via The Athletic).
The hope is that playing central defenders in central defence and defensive midfielders in defensive midfield restores structure and balance to this pale imitation of a Liverpool team.
Here are the verdicts from some Kopites on the dilemma in response to a tweet from news feed LFC Transfer Room, with one wanting the Brazilian back in midfield “ASAP”.
“This is probably the CB pairing we should try to have fit for the rest of the season. Fabinho in midfield asap.”
Credit: @DHardayal
“Yes please but it won’t happen. If Fab is fit, he’ll be back there. The fact that he dominated playing the 6 when he subbed in on Sunday won’t change the mind of the gaffer.”
Credit: @DaBigDaddyRen
“Watch Klopp play Fab at CB. Time to take some risks now.”
Credit: @SMiTLA
“It’s Phillips +1 now, he’s earned it”
Credit: @martyn1200
“It’s all about extra protections around the centre halves. And no high line plz”
Credit: @GusandSaM
“ABSOLUTELY YES, BRING BACK THAT INTENSITY”
Credit: @Mang_Tebal
“Perfect. Not sure why anyone would want Fabinho in CB”
Credit: @BaileyYNWA
“Fab must be back to mid, if not same result”
Credit: @mav8381
In other news, Kabak is not the only likely returnee for the Leipzig clash.