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Celtic may have been given a big boost in their pursuit of Fraser Forster after Southampton have shown interest in a new goalkeeper.

Accrington Stanley shot-stopper Toby Savin has caught the eye of the Saints, who could be looking to bolster their options between the sticks. Alex McCarthy is currently doing a grand job as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first choice and bringing in the youngster could mean an exit for either Angus Gunn or Forster.

The Hoops will be hoping it’s the latter after enjoying having the England international back at Celtic Park on loan last season. Glasgow Live have reported that the club are keen to bring Forster back to the club.

Could Celtic sign Forster permanently?

At the moment, Neil Lennon is having a bit of a defensive nightmare. Vasilis Barkas has been dropped in favour of the elusive Scott Bain after some questionable performances. Celtic haven’t won a game since St Johnstone in the Premiership – their loss to Rangers has put the Hoops into a tough spot.

Speaking on the A Celtic State of Mind podcast, Paul John Dykes has discussed the 6’6″ powerhouse and the idea of him joining the club permanently.

“When you look at the impact that Forster had last year in particular in the League Cup final, he makes such a difference to the defence, he makes such a difference to the Celtic side under Neil Lennon,” he said.

Dykes went on to highlight the addition of Barkas, who joined the Hoops this summer for a fee of £2.9million. However, his disappointing start to life in Scotland has resulted in him being axed from the squad.

Last season, Celtic enjoyed yet another Premiership title and conceded just 19 goals with Forster in the net. They have shipped ten already this time round, despite having only played 11 games of the campaign.

With less than two years left on his current contract and valued at £4million, Nick Hammond could strike a very good deal to bring Forster back to Celtic Park for good. They will undoubtedly be keeping a close on Southampton’s business as they near the January transfer window.

In other news, Diego Laxalt stood out for Celtic against Lille with impressive defensive display…

كشف مصدر بنادي الزمالك عن موقف حسام أشرف لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم، القانوني من الانتقال لأي ناد سواء إعارة أو بيع.

وقال المصدر لـ “بطولات”: “حسام أشرف تم إيقافه 4 أشهر، ابتداء من يوم ٢٣ يونيو الماضي، وينتهي يوم ٢٣ أكتوبر الحالي”.

وأردف: “قانونيًا اللاعب يحق له الانتقال إلى أي ناد دون أي مشكلة سواء على سبيل الإعارة أو البيع”.

طالع أيضًا.. بطولات يوضح.. مصير صفقات الزمالك الجديدة بعد قرار تأييد منع القيد

جدير بالذكر أن المحكمة الرياضية قررت تأييد منع الزمالك من القيد لفترتي انتقالات بسبب أزمة توقيع حسام أشرف لأكاديمية كاميرونية.

Plenty of Everton fans have been drooling over the latest news that Hayley Raso has signed a new deal with Everton Women that will keep her with the Merseyside club until the summer of 2021, as per the Toffees’ official website.

The 25-year old joined the Blues from Brisbane Roar in last winter’s transfer window but is yet to make her first-team debut because she had been struggling with an injury problem added to the fact that the Women’s Super League was stopped due to the global pandemic outbreak that swept across the footballing world.

Raso began her career at Canberra United in her native Australia before moving to Brisbane Roar in 2013, and she has also played in the United States of America with Portland Thorns.

The winger made her senior international debut at just 17 years of age and featured heavily for her country in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, where she helped the Matildas make it into the round of 16.

These EFC supporters drooled over the news on Twitter, as they hope that Raso will play a key part next season:

Evertonians, do you follow the women’s game? Comment below!

A lot of Crystal Palace fans are loving the latest news from journalist Matthew Law, who has tweeted that the Eagles will face rivals Charlton in a friendly match to prepare for the return of the Premier League.

There is a big history between the two sides, stemming from the fact that they are local rivals, and moments like Ian Dowie leaving Palace to manage Charlton are one of many which heat up the London rivalry between the two sides.

It is the Eagles who currently boast bragging rights, as they are now an established Premier League side whilst Charlton fight for survival in the Championship. The Selhurst Park side also have a good record against their upcoming opponents as they have won 34, drawn 15 and lost only 19 against the Addicks, via 11vs11.

This could be the ideal type of friendly to get the Palace squad match fit for the Premier League, which is finally due to return in June after three months of postponement.

Here is what these Crystal Palace fans said following the tweet from Law:

Palace fans, are you excited for the friendly against Charlton? Comment below with your views!

Glasgow Rangers midfielder Jason Holt looks set to leave Ibrox permanently at the end of June once his contract runs out, although he harbours no grudges against Steven Gerrard about his impending exit from the club.

Indeed, the 27-year-old has praised the manager’s honesty in telling him straight-up that he would not be guaranteed regular action under the Liverpudlian, with Holt spending time on loan at Fleetwood Town and St Johnstone over the last couple of seasons.

He told The Scottish Sun: “You never want to leave a club like Rangers but you have conversations with managers and there comes a time when you need a move for the benefit of your career.”

Holt added: “When he (Gerrard) got the job, the first thing I did was speak to him to find out where I stood in his plans. I was aware he was going to bring in new players, he was fair with me and said he can’t guarantee me the games I’d had in the past.”

Holt had been a regular presence for the ‘Gers in the three seasons prior to Gerrard’s arrival at Ibrox in 2018, making 115 appearances for the club. However, once the new manager told the midfielder that he couldn’t guarantee him a fixed starting place, he linked up with ex-‘Gers team-mate Joey Barton at Fleetwood for the 2018/19 campaign.

The 27-year-old has managed to feature regularly during his loan spells at Fleetwood and St Johnstone, although he was unable to make a significant impact for either club. He netted just twice in 36 games for the English League One side and failed to register a single goal involvement in his 17 appearances in Perth this term. [via TransferMarkt]

Also, with the ‘Gers having an abundance of more potent midfield options in Joe Aribo, Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack, along with Ianis Hagi being signed permanently, Holt would surely have found opportunities very hard to come by had he remained at Ibrox.

Holt now faced the unenviable task of trying to find a new club, although his experience of more than 170 SPFL games could make him an enticing free transfer for prospective suitors over the summer.

Irrespective of where he ends up next, it has been clear for some time that he had no future with the ‘Gers and, to Gerrard’s credit, he did not make any false promises to a player who has been left behind by other midfield options at Ibrox.

‘Gers fans, are you disappointed that Holt was never given a chance by Gerrard at Ibrox or was the manager right to trust in other players instead? Join in the conversation in the comments section below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Before the clash against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, you would have been hard pressed to find many Arsenal fans who may have hoped, or even expected a win. But even the most ardent of Gunners supporters would have been shocked by just how easy things were for the Premier League champions.

The Citizens romped to a three-goal lead by half-time, and in the end, took the gas off the pedal as they sauntered their way to another three points. It was much an indictment of Arsenal’s own struggles, as the sheer gulf in class between the two teams right now. And speaking after the game, a beleaguered Freddie Ljungberg made it abundantly clear that the job he is doing at the moment, is essentially only a plaster job.

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He said (as quoted by Sky Sports): “I’ve said to the club, it’s a great, great honour to do this. But of course, Per (Mertesacker) is an academy manager, and is doing two jobs at once. I think it needs to be cleared up to make a decision, so everybody knows, but that’s up to the club.

“I’m very honoured, and try to do things as good as I can, but I think as well it would be good to make a decision, regardless of what it is. I’ve said to them I think they need to make a decision.”

The Swede is doing the Gunners a favour by holding the fort as the club’s dithering board look to appoint a permanent successor to Unai Emery. But leave it any longer, and the north London side are just exposing themselves to self-harm beyond belief. It’s a situation of their own making, and they are simply making it worse by showing no signs of being proactive.

Can you get full marks on the Ultimate Arsenal Quiz? Test your knowledge below…

Ljungberg’s pleas for a decision to be made – whether it’s a new manager coming in or him taking the job to the end of the season – has to be heard by the likes of Edu and Raul Sanllehi, the king-makers of this entire process. In trying to be so scientifically pragmatic about things by supposedly having a 12-man shortlist and preparing lengthy interviews with all of them, the Gunners are completely forgetting about matters on the pitch – the place which ultimately is the most important.

The Arsenal board have nowhere to hide. Ljungberg has thrown down the gauntlet, and a decision must be taken in immediate fashion.

Meanwhile, Freddie Ljungberg must do this one thing to leave a legacy behind as Arsenal’s interim head coach.

أكد سامي قمصان المدرب المساعد بالنادي الأهلي، أن الثنائي عمرو السولية ومحمد مجدي أفشة تعرضا للإغماء، عقب مباراة صن داونز في دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

الأهلي نجح في الفوز على صن داونز بثنائية نظيفة، في المباراة التي أقيمت أمس السبت، على استاد الأهلي وي السلام.

وقال قمصان في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر فضائية “أون تايم سبورتس”: “عمرو السولية ومحمد مجدي أفشة تعرضا للإغماء عقب مباراة صن داونز، وذلك بسبب ضغط المباريات والإجهاد البدني، نحن لا نجد وقت للتدريب أو الحديث مع اللاعبين”.

وتابع: “الأمر صعب جدًا، من المدرب الذي يتعرض لما نتعرض له في العالم؟!، ورغم كل ذلك اللاعبين يقاتلون ويتحملون ما لا يتحمله أحد، هم بشر وليسوا آلات”.

وتطرق للحديث عن محمود كهربا، قائلًا: “اللاعب جلس فترة كبيرة بسبب الإيقاف الذي تعرض له، ومستواه البدني تأثر بالتأكيد، ويحتاج لوقت من أجل العودة وسيكون له دورًا كبيرًا، ونفس الأمر مع جونيور أجاي”.

وأردف: “بيتسو موسيماني يرى أن حسين الشحات هو الأجهز خلال الوقت الحالي، رغم تراجع مستواه”.

وأكمل: “الجماهير ترى السلبيات فقط ولا تنظر إلى الإيجابيات، موسيماني يحقق نجاحات وبطولات، أعرف أن جماهير الأهلي تدعمنا بشكل كبير، والفريق يسير بشكل جيد سواء في الدوري وإفريقيا، هذه أمور إيجابية نريد أن نبني عليها”.

واختتم: “الثنائي علي معلول وحمدي فتحي سيسافران معنا إلى جنوب إفريقيا لخوض لقاء العودة أمام صن داونز، وبنسبة 80% سيشاركان في جزء من المباراة، وربما تكون عودتهما في لقاء السوبر أمام نهضة بركان”.

This article forms part of our The Ones That Got Away feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern take a look back at players linked with moves in the past, and see how they would have made an impact had they signed for the interested side.

For obvious reasons, it is hard to predict just what would be different at a club if they had made a signing the best part of 15 years ago. However, with Dominic Fifield writing in the Athletic this week about how Crystal Palace need to invest in the January transfer window, he provided a timely reminder of how the Eagles once thought they had the signing of Michael Carrick in the bag.

Rollback 15-and-a-half-years to the summer of 2004 and the Eagles had just shocked much of English football by winning promotion to the Premier League, despite then-manager Iain Dowie joining in late December of 2003 with Palace sat in 19th in the league.

Going up via the play-off method, Neil Shipperley managed to score the only goal of the game – a close-range shot after a saved Andy Johnson shot – to push Palace back into the big time for the first time since 1997. Indeed, the Eagles faced Alan Pardew’s West Ham that day, with a 23-year-old Michael Carrick playing in the opposite 11.

With Palace promoted and in the Premier League, Fifield reports that Simon Jordan and Iain Dowie were confident that a deal could be forced through for the midfielder – who went to win every domestic competition available to him in England – but it turned out he had other ideas.

A bid of £3.5m was reportedly accepted, however, as the report states, “Carrick had no interest in the move and merely ignored Dowie’s calls”. While perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that such a sought after player (Independent) did not fancy Selhurst Park, the biggest damage done was that the Palace had not identified any other targets, per the report.

In the end, Carrick went onto join Tottenham and kickstarted a career which would struggle to be matched by many other Englishmen as he won five Premier League titles, the FA Cup, both the Champions League and Europa League as well as 2 EFL Cups.Palace, on the other hand, got relegated on the final day of the season by a single point and then didn’t manage to reach the Premier League again until their latest promotion in 2013.

With Palace playing mainly a variation of Aki Rihilatti, Ben Watson, Tom Soares and Michael Hughes in central midfield, there’s no doubt they could have done with someone of the quality of Carrick. And while you can never successfully predict what would have happened if he was to join, the margins were so fine for relegation that season that any sort of improvement could have made the difference.

What could Carrick have brought to Palace? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

He might come across as a Swiss Army Knife, but it looks like he might be missing a couple of tools.

Given the recent injuries to Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton, there has had to be a couple of tweaks to the team setup. As a result of these, Stuart Dallas has been moved out of his right-back position that he started off the season in and been shifted into a central midfield role instead.

Dallas comes across as a great utility player, someone who can fit into a number of different positions given the amount he’s had to play throughout his career. But as a central midfielder, he’s just not cutting the mustard.

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On the chalkboard

Dallas has always been more effective out wide, whether that be as a winger or a full-back. In fact, if you look at where his goals involvements have come when he’s been playing for Leeds, all of his assists have come when he was playing out on the left-wing, and all of his goals have come from the flanks.

Whilst he may be cut out to fill in multiple positions on the pitch, he just isn’t creative enough when it comes to playing central midfield, and that is holding himself and Leeds back.

He averages a 74.3% pass completion rate through his career, when you compare that to the other midfielders like Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich, both of them are pushing north of 80%.

For him to play in the middle, the £1.8m-rated utility man needs to be far more careful in possession.

The injuries to Cooper and Shackleton should have been a chance for Marcelo Bielsa to try out some new players in their respective roles.

However, he should have gone for players who are more natural in those spots, like bringing young Mateusz Bogusz or Robbie Gotts into midfield, rather than shoe-horning someone who just isn’t effective there.

Hopefully this Dallas experiment won’t be carrying on much longer, or it could end up with Leeds dropping more than the five points they have already from Millwall and Preston.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Injury News series, which considers the impact of the latest updates on players’ fitness.

Speaking to London News Online, Lee Bowyer confirmed that he will have three key players back fit for this weekend’s game against Derby.

Ben Purrington, Tomer Hemed and Beram Kayal have all seemingly recovered from their respective issues, and Bowyer is expecting them to be back available.

The 42-year-old specifically spoke about Purrington’s return, saying: “It’s really important that Ben is back because that left-back position is where we are short.”

His return might be even more important, as Derby have a real danger-man lining up on Purrington’s side…

Who is it?

Martyn Waghorn.

The Derby forward is the Rams’ top scorer in the Championship this season with four goals to his name in ten starts, and has lined up on the right flank five times already this season – his last league start came on the right wing against Barnsley.

Waghorn is hardly the quickest player in the Championship, but what Purrington must be aware of is his knack of arriving in the box and taking up good goalscoring positions – the 23-year-old must be aware of the No.9’s whereabouts at all times.

Significance of Purrington’s return

Behind Purrington, Bowyer has just one other option at left-back in Lewis Page.

Unfortunately for Charlton and Page himself, the 23-year-old is yet to make an appearance this season as he struggles to stay fit.

When Purrington was out against Fulham, Bowyer opted for midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey at left wing-back, where he allowed Ivan Cavaleiro to cut in from the right flank and rifle home to find a second-half equaliser for the Cottagers – the ease with which the on-loan Wolves forward waltzed inside his man was concerning.

As a result, it is key for Charlton to have Purrington back fit and ready to perform, as Waghorn will certainly be a man to keep an eye on if his form so far this season is anything to go by.