Danny Rose has had a turbulent relationship with Tottenham Hotspur fans over the past 12 months.
After publicly criticising the club’s transfer policy and direction prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, many supporters fell out of love with the left-back.
Rose suggested that he was open to a move away, but a transfer never came.
A knee injury kept him on the sidelines for a significant spell, and during that time, Ben Davies became first choice under manager Mauricio Pochettino.
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Despite starting just 15 games in all competitions last season, Rose was included in England’s World Cup squad for Russia 2018.
In the build-up to the tournament, the 27-year-old, who is valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, earned plenty of respect for opening up about his battle with depression.
For so long, it seemed that Rose would leave Tottenham for Manchester United this summer, but according to The Mirror and The Telegraph, Jose Mourinho has cooled interest and will not pursue a £50m deal.
The publications suggest that the left-back might now seek a move abroad, and while some Tottenham fans find the situation amusing, others have forgiven Rose and want to see him back in the team.
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West Ham United manager David Moyes confirmed on Tuesday night that Michail Antonio was left out of the squad to face Crystal Palace at the London Stadium on Tuesday night due to disciplinary reasons, and Irons fans have been quick to have their say on the news.
The forward was expected to return to the 18 against the Eagles following a spell on the sidelines because of injury, but he was omitted from the side for the 1-1 draw having turned up late to a team meeting – the Daily Mail reports not for the first time, either.
His absence was a big blow for the team who are already missing the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Marko Arnautovic and Andy Carroll through injury, while Diafra Sakho completed a move to Rennes earlier this month.
West Ham supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the Antonio revelation, and while one said “he wants to leave then”, another said “he’s a player who’s had his head turned”.
Aside from the record transfer sale of Gareth Bale last summer, Tottenham’s recent transfer market activity has been ambitious and forward thinking. Daniel Levy appears to have a clear vision for the club as he looks to shake off the unenviable title of great underachievers that Spurs seem to carry year on year.
Premier League form has been patchy, but if Spurs want to have a tilt at the top it will be about building upon rather than dismantling what they already have.
With this in mind, entertaining offers for the club’s most coveted stars would be in my view pretty fruitless. Naturally big money offers are always tempting, but if Spurs want to progress they need to change recent habits and hold onto their most valuable assets. Such resolve may well be tempted during the current window.
According to Le Parisien,PSG consider Spurs’ England international Kyle Walker to be the ideal replacement for the injured Christophe Jallet and will make their move later this month. Monaco’s interest has been known for some time but, with no concrete bid made, they could lose out to their title rivals.
Whether or not the 23-year-old ex-Sheffield United star would be happy to trade London for either Paris or Monaco is a separate issue, and really Spurs shouldn’t be allowing these advances to get anywhere near that consideration.
Walker is a man that divides opinion amongst the Spurs faithful, for some a total liability and for others an undoubted talent. Based on this seasons form, an ever improving and maturing Walker should be placed in the latter category. He is now miles ahead of his understudy Naughton in terms of development, and fans will be glad to see the Englishman adding defensive solidity to what is already a classy attacking game.
Given the fraught search for a left back at Spurs, fans will be well aware of the limited pool of top level wing backs in the world game. Whereas with midfielders you may be able to replace someone quite quickly, in the case of Walker you would be struggling to re-invest the money you make on the player effectively. When we talk about big money for full backs, we are talking £20m mark, and given Spurs’ recent reluctance to sell stars I cannot see this offer even registering with Levy.
Tottenham have for too long been given the tag of a selling club, and if they truly do have ambitions of being something more than thar they need to end this habit fast. The sales of Carrick, Modric and Bale may well have looked good on the balance sheets, but when it comes to footballing success you just have to keep your best players. You can’t place Walker in this bracket yet, but in the future there is a real chance that he could become a leading figure for both club and country
Selling Walker would be a loss anyway, but actually Spurs’ attitude to any advance is a lot more important that just that. It sends a real message out to other clubs.
What happens when Barcelona come swooping for Sandro or Madrid look to snare Paulinho?
They may be underperforming, but Spurs undoubtedly have a plethora of talent on their books and really this January window may just set an important precedent as to how the attitude has changed on a boardroom level.
Do Spurs really have the stomach to put football first and bank balances second?
If Levy is really serious this approach shouldn’t even be a matter of price, flatly refusing to even enter into negotiations about star names would for me represent a huge step up in the club’s transfer policy.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ruled himself out of the running for the vacant Bolton manager’s post.
The Norwegian coach has started his career on the touchline in positive fashion, winning the top flight in his homeland with Molde since he took over in 2011.
The former Manchester United attacker knows the English game well and is being touted as one of the most promising young managers in the European game.
Solskjaer has been linked with a number of positions in the United Kingdom, with Aston Villa approaching the Scandinavian in the summer after Alex McLeish was sacked.
Solskjaer refused the option to move to Villa Park, and it is believed that Blackburn also approached him over their managerial position following the axing of Steve Kean.
With Owen Coyle recently being given his marching orders by the Trotters Solskjaer is one of the favourites to step into the Reebok Stadium hotseat, but this will not be the case.
“There will always be speculation when someone in England needs a new manager,” Solskjaer told Norwegian newspaper Romsdals Budstikke, translated to English by Sky Sports.
“There are surely 20 names who have been linked with Bolton now and it’s natural that mine is among them. But it’s not for me.
“Blackburn, Bolton, rumours crop up all the time. But I’m not that bothered about them.
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“I’m absolutely certain I will see out the season here I can promise that,” he concluded.
Many Manchester Untied fans have dreams that their former striker will one day replace Sir Alex Ferguson in the Old Trafford hotseat.
Everton fans are absolutely crucifying Ashley Williams, after the Welsh defender had his say on the Toffees’ “frustrating” season.
Everton fans hated the style of football they played under Sam Allardyce, as the ex-England boss instilled his patented uninspiring, defensive, but impossible to relegate style at Goodison.
The Toffees continued to leak goals once Big Sam’s new manager bounce died down though, most notably on the road, where the 5-1 loss at Arsenal in February saw some of the worst defending fans have seen in a long time.
While Michael Keane’s debut season hasn’t been overly impressive, and the January loan signing of Eliaquim Mangala was a bit of disaster, the bulk of the fans’ criticism has been directed towards Ashley Williams, who was brought in to add leadership and experience to the defence.
The 33 year-old definitely failed in that regard, as his poor discipline and apparent lack of effort infuriated the Goodison faithful.
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“Yes, definitely,” Williams told the BBC when asked if it had been a frustrating season.
“It’s always difficult not being involved and you want to play because playing a game is that bit harder.
“But what can you do? I’ve just tried to stay in shape and on Monday I’ll just try and use my experience as best I can and play as well as I can.”
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The Welsh captain was speaking ahead of his country’s friendly match against Mexico, but Everton fans are not too impressed by the comments.
Williams played 30 times in all competitions this season, and while he clearly wants to be playing more, fans are leaning in the opposite direction, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions below…
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele has had a stuttered season so far, mainly due to injuries.
The 30-year-old has been restricted to just 10 Premier League starts, but has come off the bench in a further six fixtures.
On Saturday in the late kickoff against Everton at Wembley, the Belgium international was handed a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s first XI.
Dembele operated in the middle of the park with Eric Dier and he put on an impressive display.
The midfielder dominated the area and pulled the strings as Spurs ran out 4-0 winners at their temporary home.
Harry Kane is likely to get the headlines as he reached another milestone by breaking Teddy Sheringham’s Tottenham record of 97 goals by scoring twice against Everton.
Son Heung-min was the man to open the scoring, while Christian Eriksen topped it off with the team’s fourth goal in the 82nd minute.
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The Twitter world were understandably raving about Kane’s achievement, but many Tottenham fans also praised the performance of Dembele.
The home side could have had eight, had their finishing been sharper, it was that sort of performance.
It was Tranmere’s turn to face the second placed team in League One, their five-one win over a very good Coventry side. This maybe added a seed of doubt about the evenings result in the minds of some Wolves fans. Thankfully, that doubt was cleared by half time. We saw a Wolves side utterly dominate a frankly awful Tranmere side.
Like the introduction suggests, Wolves could have had eight, statistically we could. Twenty five shots were amassed by the home side, eight of which were on target. It was a sparkling performance, which began with a blunder by the man between the Tranmere sticks. After Wolves had carved out some half chances, shots from Griffiths, Doyle and new signing, Michael Jacobs, tested Fon-Williams early on, but the aforementioned three found it really difficult to connect properly with ball, in order to test the ‘keeper sufficiently.
Wolves looked very tidy in possession, Tranmere were applying zero pressure to the ball, letting their opponents do what they wanted, basically. The owness was on Wolves now to finish them off, Tranmere were there for the taking. The goal game on seventeen minutes, Leigh Griffiths found himself with in acres of space through the middle, he looked up and hit what was, in reality, a rather weak shot, that most ‘keepers would have dealt with comfortably. Not Mr Fon Williams! He watched Griffiths’ shot all the way and then preceded to let the ball roll underneath his body and trickle into the back of his own net.
Nerves were settled and the home side could go and enjoy putting their mark on the game. They duly obliged, minutes after the goal, Sako’s first cross was in was cleared away, only for the mercurial Parisian to be given the time and space to hit another low cross which Kevin Doyle squandered, Wolves were turning up the heat, despite the wintery conditions. The captain, Sam Ricketts, then went on a Danni Alvesesque run down his right hand side, beating players seven or eight years his junior, with ease. His run brought him to the Tranmere penalty area, where his shot blazed a few feet over the crossbar, the fourteen thousand people inside the Molineux sat there agog at what they just saw, a thirty two year old making runs that any South American wing back would be proud of.
Wolves really were piling on the pressure now, Tranmere were struggling to deal with the almost tidal attack on their defence. Kenny Jackett decided to go with two attacking midfielders, Edwards and Macdonald, with Jacobs and Sako occupying the wings. The only change made since the frustrating nil-nil draw against Brentford, was the introduction of the attacking full back, Scott Golbourne, for Matt Doherty. Tranmere made just the one change in the defensive department, Taylor was replaced by Goodison at centre half, surprising Rovers made any changes considering their emphatic and rather unbelievable result away at Coventry, beating the Sky Blues five-one. Hatrick hero Ryan Lowe started up front, with former Albion player, Jason Koumas sitting just behind. Akpa-Akpro, the only Rovers player to register a shot on target, played on the right, with Kirby operating the left hand wing.
The lively Michael Jacobs saw an opening in the Rovers defence and drove forward with the ball, his low ball was cleared to an oncoming Sako, ‘shoot!’ was the cry from the crowd, Sako instead took a touch and hit a low drive that brushed inches past Fon Williams’ goal. Minutes later, the home side executed a training ground move from an indirect free kick, culminating in an out swinging cross which was cleared away.
Minutes before half time, Wolves took all three points.
After yet another Wolves attack, Sako took the resulting corner which Dave Edwards effortlessly glanced his header in from outside the six yard box. Even with forty-five minutes to go, the crowd knew that three points would be theirs. Two goals up, game over. Rickets then went on another lung busting run down the right, almost identical to the previous one, sadly, the finish was identical. Rickets’ shot blazed over the bar and the referee called time on a dominant first half.
The second half began with the replacement of the mercurial goal scorer Leigh Griffiths for the less mercurial Jake Cassidy. Soon after his introduction, Cassidy was slipped through one on one with Fon Williams, ten yards out, Cassidy put it wide. There is a lot of talk about Cassidy, some argued, myself included, thought it was him that should have gone out on loan rather than his fellow striker Liam McAlinden. Jackett obviously rates him and has persisted with him, but if Cassidy wants to break up the fruitful partnership of Doyle and Griffiths, he has to put chances like this away. Fon Williams spread himself, he narrowed the angles and all that jazz, but Cassidy should have made a better decision, lofting over the keeper maybe.
Rovers then registered their first attack, Akpa-Akpro flashed a low shot wide, to the left of Ikeme’s post, the first time in the game that the Wolves ‘keeper had been properly stretched. Ikeme then rolled the ball out to Batth, who maruaded forward into the Tranmere half, Batth gave the ball to Golbourne, he knocked it back into Jacobs who dazzled his way through the Tranmere defence, his last touch was that bit too heavy and it went out of play, to the frustration of the Derby man and the Wolves fans.
Wolves were doing all sorts of driving, this time it was Kevin Doyle in the proverbial driving seat. The Tranmere defence were left back peddling again, Doyle ran a good thirty yards before squandering a great chance to really put the game to bed, and Fon Williams did well to tip the ball out after Doyle used a sledge hammer (his right foot) to thump the ball at the net. The resulting corner saw Bakary Sako hit the ball into row-z, not able to get his head over the ball and thus squandering another chance.
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Sako made amends soon after, Wolves hit Tranmere on the break and the French men’s low shot was spilled by a busy Fon Williams, Cassidy went to pounce but his former Tranmere team mate claimed the ball.
Tranmere, wanting to make amends, made two changes, Kirby and Koumas were replaced by Bell-Baggie and Sodje, Ronnie Moore wanting to gain some pride back for his side who had been outclassed by their opponents. Cassidy had another two headed efforts which went wide, it was good to see him working hard and not letting his head drop, but he really needs to start being more clinical in front of goal.
Wallace then chalked one up for Tranmere, his low drive was screwed miles wide, almost going out for a corner, summing up the away teams night really, hapless. Doyle then had two good chances, one saved by Fon Williams, then next shot was blazed high and wide. Jackett then went defensive with a few minutes left, Jack Price replacing the excellent Michael Jacobs, who rightly went off for to a standing ovation, his contribution as good as James Henry, made sure that the Milwall man was not missed. In the dying minutes of the game, Sako was slipped in but yet again Fon Williams prevented Wolves adding a third. Not that it mattered as Wolves eased to all three points.
Wolves will surely face sterner tests this season, starting with a game away at crestfallen Peterborough who will surely want to arrest their recent slump, what better way to do it? In front of your home crowd against the top of the league. The tough draw against Brentford is but a distant memory, Wolves go into the Christmas period with the best form in the league, timing could not have been better, both Orient and Peterborough are suffering ‘wobbles’, its Wolves’ time to assert their dominance on this league, and show them whose boss.
UEFA bosses intend to boost the profile of the Europa League by sending out a memo to top club managers imploring them to talk up the competition.
In recent times it has become an afterthought when compared to the Champions League and domestic campaigns, and UEFA want the importance of participating in Europe to be recognised.
Liverpool and Newcastle have not named full strength sides in the competition this season, which has led to some perceiving the Europa League as something that it is no longer valued.
The ‘rich heritage’ and the prestige of the competition providing some of the finest names definitely appear to be lost, but The Sun reports that UEFA insist the competition is still “dramatic”.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas appears to be the only one who has heeded this instruction so far, insisting on fielding full strength teams with the intention to win.
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The next round of Europa League games commence on Thursday 25th October.
Tottenham have announced that 22-year-old Harry Winks has signed a new deal with the club via their official Twitter channel.
Winks, a life-long Spurs fan, joined the club’s youth set up at the age of 8. The central midfielder made his Premier League debut under current manager, Mauricio Pochetinno, at the start of the 2016/17 season.
The academy product is from Hemel Hempstead, a small town 24 miles northwest of London, and is well liked by Spurs fans who amicably refer to the player as “one of our own”.
The player’s progression from U18s captain to first team squad member is testament to the good work Pochetinno has done in North London.
Pochetinno has developed his reputation as a coach who is skilled at bringing players through the academy and integrating these talented prospects within the first team.
The Spurs manager has an unorthodox, Ferguson-esque policy when it comes to bringing through youth players, a policy which he has used to incredible success with Harry Kane.
If the Argentine rates a young player, he does not want that youngster to be coached by anyone else. He will call them up into the first team picture so that he can monitor their progress firsthand and see their attitude on the training field.
Winks, it would seem, is the next youth product to make the step into the first team picture and Tottenham fans are delighted – taking to Twitter to post their support for the young lad.
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Arsenal supporters have taken to Twitter to emphasise their frustration following Petr Cech’s below-par performance against the Reds in their crucial clash for the top four places.
A collection of individual mistakes were responsible for the fact that six goals were scored at the Emirates Stadium, shared evenly between Liverpool and Arsenal.
The experienced Czech goalkeeper was deceived on the first goal, as Coutinho looped a header over his reach to give Jurgen Klopp’s side a 1-0 lead.
To his credit, the former Chelsea goalie was mightily unlucky on Liverpool’s second goal of the game, as a deflection from Mustafi took the ball beyond his reach to double the Reds’ advantage.
Nonetheless, the third goal that Liverpool scored was solely applicable to the actions of Petr Cech. The 35-year-old failed to divert Roberto Firmino’s shot away from goal, and the ball landed in the back of the Arsenal net.
Here’s how the Arsenal fans reacted to his display on Twitter…