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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Dean Windass has dubbed Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as “disgusting” following his lateness ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.

Aubameyang was dropped from the starting line-up, having been previously set to start the match against Tottenham, and ended up being an unused substitute, with Nicolas Pepe and Willian deployed as Arsenal’s two attacking changes.

It was a brave decision from Arteta, with the Gabonese striker not only the club’s captain, but is Arsenal’s top goalscorer in all competitions and best source of goals.

But it paid dividends after goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandra Lacazette cancelled out Erik Lamela’s outrageous opener to move the Gunners four points behind their arch rivals.

And Windass told Football FanCast that it was a strong move from Arteta, who he thought addressed it perfectly.

He said: “It tells you a lot about the manager. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re the captain, or you’re the biggest earner, rules are rules. As a footballer I was always early, there’s no excuse.

“Fair play to Arteta, he’s stamped his authority on it, but he’s done it in the right way. He’s not hammered him, yes he’s left him out, yes he’ll get fined, but it will hurt him for leaving him out the team. He will probably have had a meeting, even though they won the game.

“You don’t know if he’s been in a traffic jam, which isn’t an excuse, nobody knows what goes on. But it’s disgusting you can be late for a football match, when you’re earning so much money. That’s your job, that’s your profession. Can you imagine if Roy Keane was in that changing room?”

Aubameyang will be hoping to make a return to the XI for the second-leg Europa League clash against Olympiacos on Thursday.

Tottenham Hotspur’s forgotten man, Dele Alli, is in line to feature this evening as the north Londoners head to Everton for an FA Cup fifth-round encounter.

That’s according to The Sun, who claim that Jose Mourinho could recall Alli as well as the recently dropped Eric Dier tonight.

The 24-year-old hasn’t featured for Spurs since starring against non-league outfit Marine in the third round and has since held ‘clear the air’ talks with the manager after a late switch to Paris Saint-Germain fell through in the winter window.

Speaking about the situation, Mourinho said: “What’s changed? He is available and not injured. He is happy to be training and we’re happy to have him back.”

So, here’s why he should start – if fit…

On the Chalkboard

Spurs ended a run of three straight defeats with a win over relegation-threatened West Brom at the weekend but they shouldn’t be fooled into a false sense of security as they only managed to stick two past the division’s worst defence.

Harry Kane’s return helped as he and Heung-min Son combined for both goals once again but there was still a creative influence lacking from midfield.

Mourinho opted to deploy Tanguy Ndombele in a deeper role alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, giving the nod to Lucas Moura to play in behind the striker despite being a winger by trade.

His passing accuracy of 70% that afternoon, just 2.4% below his average for the campaign, suggests that it’s not the best long-term role for him and as such, we ought to see Alli feature there instead.

The 37-time England international has consistently been a creative influence throughout his Spurs career, averaging 0.2 expected assists per 90 with a career-best of 0.27 coming in 2016/17, the season in which he provided ten assists in 36 league appearances, via Understat.

By comparison, that figure would see him rank fourth for those that have started 12 or more league matches this term – behind Kane, Son and Serge Aurier.

He’d even be ahead of Sergio Reguilon, who has provided the third-highest number of assists this term.

It’s no wonder that Alli once drew comparisons to Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard by Spurs legend Darren Anderton, he said (via Goal):

“I’ve got to say that I loved Stevie G as a player and Scholesy but Dele Alli for his age is just a freak of a talent. I love his arrogance on the pitch, how clever he is in finding the positions that he does and his willingness to try everything. He is a real joy to watch.”

Now valued at just €30m (£26m) by CIES Football Observatory, Alli finds himself at a crossroad and it is opportunities like this he must grasp in order to convince Mourinho into trusting him in the long run.

After all, the Portuguese boss is still a massive fan at heart, dubbing him a “team player” and “one of the best players in the world” since taking the helm in November 2019.

Alli’s creative spark could be the gamechanger for Spurs this evening. He must start at Goodison Park.

AND in other news, Mourinho must ruthlessly axe £85k-p/w Spurs dud tonight, Dier dubbed him a “nightmare”…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Dean Windass said that he’s still confident Liverpool will finish in the top four.

Goals from Curtis Jones and Roberto Firmino saw Jurgen Klopp’s team end their four-match losing run in the Premier League with victory over Sheffield United on Sunday, although they did follow it up with a 1-0 defeat at Anfield against Chelsea on Thursday.

But Liverpool have endured a difficult campaign, with a number of long-term injuries ending their chances of retaining the Premier League – with Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and captain Jordan Henderson all currently unavailable.

Despite their struggles, Windass told FFC that he still believes Klopp’s men will get over the line and ensure another year of Champions League football at Anfield. He said:

“I think they will. Everybody goes through a dip, but they’ve had a poor season because of what they did last year.

“Nobody said that about Leicester, because nobody expected Leicester to win the league. Nobody expected Liverpool to win the league, but because there’s such a massive history of the cups that they’ve won. Liverpool win the league, can they go and do it again next year? Leicester win the league, if they survive in the Premier League, they’ve done well.

“I think Liverpool will finish the job.”

Whilst Liverpool are still in contention to finish in the top four, with their injury list showing few signs of letting up Klopp still has a tough task on his hands.

The Reds still have to face Manchester United and Arsenal after their trip to Stamford Bridge, plus tricky looking fixtures against Aston Villa and Leeds United, so they’ll need to improve dramatically in order to fight off some of their rivals.

Everton fans have been reacting to a post on Twitter, which relayed footage of Robbie Savage and Chris Sutton, who labelled Dominic Calvert-Lewin a diver.

Speaking on BBC Five Live Sport, Sutton stated the Everton forward was the winner of the ‘simulation game’, going on to say that Calvert-Lewin was ‘better than that’ and to ‘just stop it’ when it came to simulation, before Savage also repeated the call that the £40.5 million-rated 23-year-old was ‘better than that’.

So far this season, Calvert-Lewin has been in incredibly fine form over his 16 league appearances for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, scoring 11 goals and averaging a WhoScored match rating of 7.40 – ranking him as the club’s second-best performer in the top flight.

And, after BBC Five Live Sport shared the footage of Savage and Sutton on Twitter, fans of Everton flocked to have their say on the matter, with many left furious by the pundits’ remarks.

So, what exactly did these Everton fans have to say in reaction to Robbie Savage and Chris Sutton’s comments regarding Dominic Calvert-Lewin?

“Staggered by this. DCL wouldn’t even be in the top 100 divers in the Prem! Look at Man U diving to get pens every week! Liverpool get them every other week! Leicester are trying it, Jose has got Kane doing it at Spurs…and you choose to highlight DCL. Absolutely bonkers!”

@DannyBrodders

“Really weird take this. Calvert-Lewin isn’t even renowned for going down and he didn’t even claim for a penalty. So many more obvious examples than any of the players mentioned there.”

@matt8284

“Utter embarrassments, the state on this pair. One player who oozes integrity..and you rate him as a cheater or and a diver. You lack class… But hardly surprised. You spout bile to try and stay relevant… But you are utterly irrelevant. Not surprised that BBC is going downhill”

@Rexellis75

“So funny. This is pathetic you have started with someone who would struggle to make the top 100 premier league divers #pathetic #boring what are the chances the actual cheaters such as Harry Kane, Mo Salah, Bruno Fernandez don’t make this list”

@jonty1878

“This is utterly absurd.”

@EmmaHanko

“sack them now absolute joke. Never been booked for simulation.”

@LHenney06

In other Everton news, find out which Everton man has been linked with a move to West Brom here!

When Wolves take on Chorley tonight, they will do so with the hope of evading memories of 1986/87.

On that day, the Old Gold lost 3-0 to tonight’s opposition in what was one of the most embarrassing evenings in their history.

Judging by Wolves’ form, however, it wouldn’t be a great surprise if they struggled again.

On the chalkboard

Wolves have been diabolical of late and since Raul Jimenez sustained a horrific fractured skull against Arsenal, they have won only two of their last ten outings.

Nuno Santo has swapped between a four-man and three-man defence, but clearly that level of tinkering has not benefitted the side.

The Molineux outfit have kept just one clean sheet since the end of October and it’s evident that change is needed. In their last ten outings, Nuno’s side have shipped an almighty haul of 18 goals.

A large reason behind that has been the form of club captain Conor Coady, someone who has looked particularly out of sorts of late, giving away a penalty against West Brom.

The solution

When Wolves travel to Chorley this evening they must take the ruthless decision to axe their skipper. Conor Coady was ever-present in the Premier League last season and has been so far this term too.

Therefore, removing him from the starting XI would be a particularly surprising judgement. However, Nuno is clearly losing patience with the defender, substituting him for the first time in his Wolves career during their Black Country derby defeat.

The fact of the matter is that the £55k-per-week earner is becoming a bit of a liability, and after his awful display at Molineux last time out, is proving that he cannot play in a back four – a formation Nuno has used seven times since Jimenez’s injury.

It doesn’t offer the same protection as a back three and thus, Coady was caught out for a penalty by Calum Robinson.

Former referee Mark Halsey told This is Futbol: “He’s caught him twice. So as I’ve said before, you cannot go and make challenges, rash challenges like Conor Coady did in the penalty area if there’s any contact.”

Unfortunately, that’s not the first time Coady has been caught out lately. He has made just four successful tackles in his last ten outings, a tally that defies belief when you consider the position he’s playing in. It’s equally bad when you recall the aforementioned sum of goals Wolves have conceded.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-wolves-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Wolves news”]

Coady’s substitution last weekend felt like a watershed moment. It would be wrong to suggest that Nuno has completely lost faith in the 27-year-old, but it showed his frustration.

Against non-league opposition in Chorley, it’s the perfect time for the manager to experiment with his backline and remove Coady from the firing line.

He needs a momentary spell out of the Wolves side.

AND in other news, Wolves must unleash “outstanding” rarely-seen 18y/o with “a bit of everything” tonight…

Glasgow Rangers fans were not happy with one man during the game against Ross County, with Alfredo Morelos looking far from at his best once again.

Whilst Gers fans have seen their side play exceptionally well in recent weeks, watching them build a significant lead at the top of the table and progressing into the Europa Leauge knockout stages, there have still been the odd whispers about one or two players.

Morelos has been one man who, despite Rangers’ excellent campaign so far, has not hit the heights that he did in previous seasons and that looks to have been noted by some members of the Gers’ fan base.

The Rangers fans were far from happy with the Colombia international, and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter, and as we all know, members of the Gers fanbase aren’t shy in making their feelings known about any topic, and they didn’t hold back here.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Morelos below

In other news, Rangers fans rage at this SPFL decision.

Glasgow Rangers seem to have weathered the storm, for the time being at least, after Steven Gerrard’s side came from behind to beat Motherwell to move 16 points clear of Celtic at the summit of the Scottish Premiership.

Rangers have won 16 of their past 18 games in the Premiership this season, having dropped points against Livingston and Hibernian so far, via Transfermarkt.

But for all of their recent success, it has failed to cover up some of the cracks, as their unbeaten start to the season was abruptly cut short after they were dumped out of the Scottish League Cup by St Mirren, despite the board splashing the cash in the summer.

Gerrard finally got what he wanted all along when Ross Wilson brought in Bongani Zungu from French Ligue 2 side Amiens on an initial loan deal with the option to buy, but the South African midfielder has arguably struggled to hit the ground running.

This means that the Ibrox boss only really has two viable options for the central midfielder role – until June at the very latest, with Steven Davis and Zungu vying for a place behind any combination consisting of Scott Arfield, Joe Aribo, Glen Kamara and Ryan Jack.

Barring a coronavirus outbreak, an injury crisis could cause some awkward problems, which is why Gerrard should consider recalling Rangers loanee Stephen Kelly in January, and he really ought to do so after Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell was sacked after the defeat to Hamilton.

The Staggies slumped to a 2-0 defeat to the Accies in Dingwall on Saturday afternoon as their dreadful run of form continued, leaving them four points adrift at the bottom of the table.

But Kelly has been one of the few bright sparks in a dismal campaign for the Highlands club, having contributed to two goals in four starts so far this season.

The 20-year-old central midfielder starred as the Staggies battled to a hard-fought draw with Livingston, setting up Oli Shaw to open the scoring in the first half before Livi hit back after the break.

His former loan manager Ian McCall hailed the young talent after he scored his first league goal for Ayr United, saying: “It was a touch of absolute class to win the game for us. Total technique, he’s a wonderful footballer. I love him to death. I think he’s magic to watch.”

With Davis entering the final few months of his current deal, this is where Kelly can come into the foray. Just like he did with Davis, Gerrard can transform the Scotland U21 international into a deep-lying playmaker, capable of playing further forward and unlocking defences with long balls over the top.

He’s certainly shown he has the ability, as he has managed more assists than Zungu across all competitions this season so far.

It’s about time the Ibrox boss started to put his faith in the youth system, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Pundit drops big claim about Alfredo Morelos’ future at Glasgow Rangers…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Premier League goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has revealed his shock at Aston Villa’s decision to sack Steve Bruce back in 2018.

The now Newcastle manager was removed from his duties at Villa Park by Christian Purslow, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens after going on a run of just one win in his previous nine league games, leaving them in 12th in the Championship table, and still smarting from a dramatic 3-3 draw with bottom club Preston North End.

Despite Villa’s struggles towards the end and subsequent rise under Dean Smith, Kirkland has admitted that he was left incredibly surprised that the Midlands club took the decision to sack someone with Bruce’s “record”.

Hilariously obscure Premier League players – Can you name them all?

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Speaking to FFC’s James Beavis, he said: “When he got sacked at Villa they were two points off the playoffs. They sacked him, and yes they’ve got up since then, but it was just absurd.

“Why would you sack somebody who’s got a record like he has in the Championship? He gets teams promoted and then when they go up to the Premier League, with Wigan he took them to a 10th-placed finish which was the best they’ve ever had.”

Whilst Kirkland may be right to point out Bruce’s tonne of experience managing at Premier League and Championship level, Villa’s wretched run of form at the time surely warranted a change in direction.

With football requiring immediate results and little time for patience, even someone like Bruce with his wealth of knowledge isn’t going to be afforded the time to try and ride out the wave.

Many Villa fans had lost their patience in the veteran boss, with that Preston game of course seeing one particularly angry supporter throw a cabbage in Bruce’s direction. That’s not to mention the kind of volatile atmosphere that was developing within the crowd at games, and supporters calling for him to be gone.

And when you look at how Villa have soared since they got rid of their former manager, then it’s absolutely clear that they made the right call.

Smith has led them to promotion from the Championship, made sure they didn’t get relegated in their first season back in the Premier League, and has been the architect of an impressive start to the new campaign that has even seen them thrash current champions Liverpool, 7-2.

Everything has turned out well for Villa, so fans may not be totally on board with Kirkland’s verdict.

Plenty of Everton fans have been hailing former Blues star Wayne Rooney as the Daily Mail have reported that he will take interim charge at Derby County.

As per the news outlet, the Rams decided to sack Phillip Cocu as they fell to the bottom of the EFL Championship and the former Everton star will be given the interim manager’s role.

Indeed, members of the Goodison Park faithful have rather fond memories of Rooney as he had two separate spells at the Merseyside club.

The now 35-year-old scored 28 goals and made a further four assists in 117 games in total overall competitions across his separate terms (Transfermarkt), establishing himself in the hearts of several Toffees.

He is probably best known for the many accolades that he won under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but the Blues have not forgotten the teenage boy who started at EFC and who is now taking his chance at management.

Everton fan reaction to Rooney appointment

These supporters hailed Rooney upon learning about his appointment as interim manager on Twitter, with one fan branding the former England international as a ‘winner’:

In other news, find out which Everton target starred on international duty here!

It has come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Aston Villa have spent big again this summer, and it seems as though the spending isn’t finished yet.

The Villans have been linked with a move for Watford’s Ismaila Sarr this week, and with reports stating that the Hornets want £35m for the winger, that would break the club’s current transfer record.

Sarr would certainly be an exciting acquisition for the Villans, after all, he was heavily linked with a move to Liverpool earlier this summer, but there should be an air of caution surrounding this move.

The 22-year-old scored just five goals and assisted a further four last season, which is far from an impressive return, and while it could be argued that he was in a poor team, other players have been able to put up better numbers in arguably worse sides.

Harry Wilson scored more goals last season for Bournemouth, while Gerard Deulofeu had an identical goal contribution record in the same team, and you don’t see him being linked to any £35m moves.

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There’s no guarantee that Sarr would come in and immediately improve Villa’s attack, he’s had one season in the Premier League, and for a lot of that campaign, he looked bang average.

Signing another winger isn’t a bad idea for the Midlands outfit, but with so much money already wasted last summer, every signing they make is going to come under increased scrutiny, so spending £35m on a 22-year-old who has rarely shown anything that indicates he’s worth that much money is just too big of a risk.

Dean Smith has overseen some shocking signings during his time at Villa Park, but spending a club-record fee on Sarr could easily rank amongst the worst.