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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who scored 11 goals as a centre-back for Manchester City, claims Jesse Lingard isn’t that good of a player to have made a difference to Newcastle United’s side.

In January, the Magpies were reportedly interested in signing Lingard on a loan deal until the summer, however, he turned down that interest in favour of a move to West Ham United.

Newcastle only brought in one player during the January transfer window as Joe Willock arrived on loan from Arsenal, registering one goal on his debut whereas Lingard has five goals and two assists for the Hammers

Speaking on how Lingard wouldn’t have made an impact at Newcastle and how he made the right choice to join the Hammers, Howey told FFC:

“Jesse Lingard is not that good, he couldn’t carry a full team and I’m not being disrespectful to him because he is a very good player, but he’s not that good.

“You can’t carry the number of players that Newcastle are at the moment and I think that’s the real problem as you could maybe get away with one, maximum two in the Premier League.

“There wasn’t one player against Brighton that I could say, ‘well to be fair, he did alright’. You could possibly say Hayden because he shuts down the play and Dummett does what Dummett always does but the others, ‘wow’.”

The Magpies are currently on a run of just two wins from 20 games and with injuries to Miguel Almiron, Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson making them a far worse side, so the £75,000 per week Man United loanee may not have been such a bad signing for Newcastle.

David Moyes’ side currently have top-four ambitions which, if achieved, may convince Lingard to sign permanently.

According to recent reports, Glasgow Rangers could pull out of the race to sign young centre-forward, Kyle Joseph, with Rangers having previously been keen to offer the teenager a pre-contract deal.

The report by Football Insider claims that Gers sources have revealed Steven Gerrard may back down from his pursuit of the Wigan Athletic forward, with both Celtic and Newcastle United remaining keen on a move for the 19-year-old.

Having made his debut for Wigan back in October, Joseph went on to score five goals and register one assist over his first 14 League One appearances, before suffering a back injury in January that has kept the striker sidelined in the time since.

It is claimed that a deal for the Scotland U19 international would have cost Rangers just £300,000 in compensation, with the forward’s deal at Wigan expiring this summer, however, with Celtic now having reportedly offered Joseph a contract, Rangers appear to be backing away from a move of their own.

Transfer Tavern Take

With Football Insider not specifying exactly why Gerrard’s side are no longer attempting to land the 19-year-old this summer, the news does come as something of a surprise.

Perhaps it was the case that Gers were informed Ibrox may not be Joseph’s preferred destination, as this would appear to be one of the only reasons why the club would be allowing their rivals a clear run at the striker.

This is purely speculation, and an answer will only be discovered as and when the Wigan starlet does make his eventual move this summer, but Gerrard does not seem like the type of boss who would want a player who doesn’t absolutely love the idea of being a nIbrox hero.

In other news: Sources lift lid on ‘strong interest’ in Gerrard; chief executive has link with the Gers boss – find out more here!

Mark Douglas has dropped a big claim on the Newcastle United takeover consortium involving Rafa Benitez.

Asked in a Q&A session for The Chronicle whether he thinks that Steve Bruce still has the chance of being the manager of the St. James’ Park faithful if the proposed deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group were to go through, the football journalist claimed that a takeover would ‘likely push Rafa Benitez back into the picture’, given his connection with the consortium.

Newcastle return for Benitez?

If the takeover bid were to eventually go through, then it is possible that the prospective new owners would be looking for a new manager to take charge, given that they did not hire Bruce.

Benitez would certainly be a popular choice to replace the former Aston Villa and Sunderland boss in the North East, as there are many fans on Tyneside who simply adore him and would love to have him back, making it an easy way for the potential new owners to get the Toon Army on side.

The Spaniard guided the Magpies to promotion back to the Premier League and then managed to keep them in the top flight for two consecutive terms, boasting 62 wins from 146 games in total over all competitions (Transfermarkt), a 42.5% win ratio.

With extra funds available to spend in the transfer market, Benitez may well be interested in a potential return to the Toon, should Bruce leave if the takeover were to go through.

In other news, find out what big NUFC transfer claim has been dropped here!

Despite Wales succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Belgium on Wednesday night, some sections of the media were very impressed by the performance of Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Rodon – with the 23-year-old earning considerable praise from the press.

Rodon, regardless of being part of a defence which ended up shipping three goals against Roberto Martinez’ side, managed to put in a fairly solid outing according to SofaScore.

Rodon earns media praise after Wales defeat

Indeed, the 2020 Tottenham summer signing managed a remarkable 12 clearances and two blocked shots whilst completing 30/35 passes out from the back for Wales (SofaScore).

He was also the highest-rated player of their back three, and it’s safe to say that his performance against Belgium hasn’t gone unnoticed by the media.

BBC Wales Football Correspondent Rob Phillips hailed Rodon’s ‘colossal display’ as one of the most notable signs of promise despite Ryan Giggs’ men starting their World Cup qualifying campaign with a defeat.

Meanwhile, Wales Online journalist Ian Mitchelmore claimed ‘he was flawless’ and labelled him a ‘special player’ following his exploits against the Red Devils (Twitter).

Sky Sports, dropping their player ratings, appeared to be in agreement – giving Rodon a solid 7/10 alongside goalscorer Harry Wilson as Wales’ best players from the encounter.

Transfer Tavern take

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho hasn’t utilised Rodon much in the Premier League, starting him in just five matches all season, but this latest performance may be prompting him to take note.

If, come next season, the spot is up for grabs in the heart of the Lilywhites’ defence, Rodon could seize it with both hands.

In other news: Tottenham are eyeing a move for this starlet, find out more here.

Manchester City will be looking to make it 21 wins in a row in all competitions when they take on Wolves at the Etihad on Tuesday evening.

Pep Guardiola’s side are currently 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and have the chance to extend that lead further with three points against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

The Citizens weren’t at their best for the 2-1 win against West Ham at the weekend, with Guardiola having rung the changes following the Champions League win against Monchengladbach earlier in the week, so he could go back to full strength against the Old Gold on Tuesday.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Spanish manager to line his side up against Wolves, with six changes from the side that started against West Ham…

Ederson keeps his place in between the sticks and will be looking to secure another clean sheet in the top-flight, having already kept 15 in the Premier League this season.

There are two changes in the defence, as Aymeric Laporte comes in for John Stones and Joao Cancelo replaces Kyle Walker at right-back after being rested against the Hammers.

Rodri makes his return in midfield, replacing Fernandinho who is perhaps unlikely to start two games in such quick succession.

Guardiola is perhaps likely to switch both of his wingers, with Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva coming in for Ferran Torres and Riyad Mahrez respectively.

During the 2018/19 season, the former Barcelona manager was full of praise for his Portuguese winger, saying:

“He’s a fighter. He’s one of the best players in Europe. One of the best.”

The former Monaco man, who earns £150k per week at City, has started to rediscover that form with City in recent weeks, do deserves to start against Wolves on Tuesday.

Finally, Gabriel Jesus replaces Sergio Aguero up front, with the Argentinian struggling to have much impact on his return to the side against West Ham at the weekend.

And, in other news… City signing 20 y/o “beast” could force Txiki’s hand with club legend

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 150 appearances for Newcastle United, has backed Karl Darlow to depart Tyneside after getting the taste for first-team football.

Darlow stepped in for the injured Martin Dubravka this season making 26 appearances and keeping four clean sheets. However, before the draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Darlow was dropped by Steve Bruce who opted to start the Slovakia international.

Howey recalls Steve Harper, who made 194 appearances for Newcastle over 20 years, spent most of his career on the bench but admits that may not be what Darlow wants to do.

Speaking on the situation that Darlow finds him in and what could be the next move for the shot-stopper as he searches regular first-team football, Howey told FFC exclusively:

“For me personally, I would leave because I don’t think he could have done any more.

“That’s the problem with goalkeepers you’ve got to have two very good keepers, but it’s keeping them happy.

“I think Steve Harper, apart from the last little bit of his career, was second string all the time. Which is fine, but as a professional, personally I wanted to play all the time.

“Darlow’s had a taste of first-team football and done very well. He’ll be thinking, I don’t want to sit on the bench again, I want to play.”

The 30-year old has a 66.7% save percentage in the Premier League this season and has grabbed the attention of a lot of people with pundits and fans even backing him for an England call-up last year.

Newcastle have Freddie Woodman returning from Swansea City in the summer which means Bruce and the hierarchy have a decision to make on who will be the club’s long term number one.

Darlow is surely unlikely to be short of suitors if he was to leave the Magpies after his performances in a struggling Newcastle side.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has suggested that Arsenal should have kept goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Martinez, who left Arsenal to join Villa in the last summer transfer window for regular playing time, has been in superb form this season.

In the current Premier League campaign, the 28-year-old has kept 14 clean sheets, a number only bettered by Manchester City’s Ederson.

Last term, following a serious injury to Bernd Leno, Martinez was given an opportunity between the sticks at the Emirates and absolutely delivered. He helped inspire Arsenal to their 14th FA Cup trophy after the Gunners managed to beat London rivals Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley, really staking a claim for a more long-term role.

In the end, however, it was not enough to convince Mikel Arteta, who allowed Martinez to leave the club, a decision Hendrie has questioned.

“I feel that Martinez should have stayed at Arsenal for how he performed,” the ex-Villa star told FFC.

“I just felt that it was in his divine right to be given a chance, and you could see why he wasn’t going to sit around and have all that high talk of how well he’s done and not push on and build on that. I’ve got total respect for him.

“But, listen, managers make their own minds up at times and, you know, sometimes it works, sometimes it goes against you.”

Arsenal’s current No.1 Leno will next be in action when the north London club take on Liverpool after the international break.

When Neil Lennon suddenly admitted this week that they’d received an offer for Jeremie Frimpong, it caught the Celtic fanbase by surprise.

Frimpong hasn’t been one of the first names on the teamsheet this term but in recent weeks had made it clear to the management that he wanted to leave.

Though, to hear he was leaving this late in the window was somewhat of a shock. The Dutchman consequently joined Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £11.5m, marking yet another Celtic player to cross over to Europe’s top five leagues.

It has become a running theme at Parkhead over recent years, and with Odsonne Edouard having suitors in the Premier League, it will probably happen again in the future.

Celtic are fortunate they have a number of promising young players in their ranks though. Karamoko Dembele and Cameron Harper have both received senior minutes this term but we want to discuss someone that’s never been seen in the Bhoys’ first-team.

That happens to be Lee O’Connor. Like Frimpong, the 20-year-old swapped Manchester for Glasgow in 2019 but this time he was coming from the red side, rather than the blue side.

Since arriving, he’s yet to work his way into Lennon’s plans but ahead of next season that could well change. After all, Celtic are now light in the right-back area and will be searching for replacements.

The Irishman is currently on loan at Tranmere in England’s fourth tier but there are certainly reasons to believe he has the potential to thrive at Parkhead.

Speaking about the defender in 2019, John O’Shea only had positive words to say: “I did a thing for MUTV, United were playing Reading U23s and I saw Lee up close and other people had been talking to me about him and I’d been trying to keep an eye on his career.”

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

O’Shea continued: “Look he was quality, top quality on the pitch. He looked very comfortable, he went right-back to left-back in a breeze, it was no problem to him.

“He has a fantastic future ahead of him,” he concluded.

But what is the youngster’s play style? Well, he doesn’t rampage forward as much as Frimpong did for the Hoops, but crucially, he’s adept defensively and comfortable with the ball at his feet.

When O’Connor signed for Tranmere, their former manager Mike Jackson commented: “He is a young lad with an excellent pedigree, and we are looking forward to him. He has a lot of ability, he is good on the ball, he will fit into the group well. He fits the way we want to play.”

To compare the two players, there are some clear differences. For starters, O’Connor is actually better in the air than Frimpong. The former Celtic man has won just 0.7 aerial battles per game this term. The Tranmere loanee, meanwhile, has prevailed in 1.3 aerial duels.

The latter also reigns supreme when it comes to reading the game, making 0.8 interceptions per outing to Frimpong’s 0.5.

Of course, there is plenty of work ahead for O’Connor to make his way into Celtic’s plans but he’d certainly be a cost-effective way of replacing the Dutch sensation.

AND in other news, Celtic could become a force again if Desmond hires “special” 42 y/o manager…

Christmas is here and Everton sit inside the top-four of the Premier League table under Carlo Ancelotti after a terrific start to the 2020/21 season.

The Toffees have claimed top-flight victories over Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal while taking a point against Stanley Park neighbours Liverpool to round off Ancelotti’s first year at the helm.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Rodriguez have been two stars of the show this term, with the England international netting 11 of Everton’s 25 league goals for the division’s second-highest contribution rate to date at 44%.

But neither Calvert-Lewin or Rodriguez feature in Everton’s top-15 most expensive transfers of all-time, with the former joining from Sheffield United for what now looks a bargain £1.5m in 2016 and the Colombian arriving from Real Madrid in the summer for nothing.

Only one Ancelotti signing features in Everton’s top-15 most expensive arrivals, in fact, so can you name all 15, based on total fees reported at the time of their arrivals?

You’re a true expert if you can get them all…

Reports by TEAMtalk earlier in the week claimed that Everton are considering a half-season loan deal for Felipe Anderson in the January transfer window, but Carlo Ancelotti must place his trust in Everton product Anthony Gordon over the West Ham United forward.

Anderson is understood to be on the verge of returning to the London Stadium after a troubled spell in Portugal, having made just five appearances across all competitions for FC Porto after joining Sergio Conceicao’s side on loan at the end of the last transfer window.

The one-time Brazil international had hoped to get his career back on track with a move to the Liga NOS giants after falling out of favour at West Ham, but that clearly has not been the case and he now awaits an unnerving January and he is facing an uncertain future in east London.

David Moyes is thought to have little interest in offering Anderson a second chance with the Irons this season and instead, he will look to send the 27-year-old out on loan once again, which could appeal to Everton as the Blues eye a potential replacement for Bernard.

Ancelotti likely remembers Anderson well from the attacker’s time in Italy with SS Lazio, where he offered 34 goals and 39 assists in 177 games, and he will need additional width should Bernard leave, but a move to Everton has been questioned by former Blues goalkeeper Nigel Martyn.

“I think we definitely missed Richarlison when he was injured. That was the one that really worried me,” Martyn told HITC. “So, if there’s somebody of his ilk around, that would be good – but they don’t come cheap.

“Anderson – at West Ham – the worry is he hasn’t been playing much at Porto. If he’s not played at West Ham, they’ve obviously gone: ‘Oh god, he’s not what we were expecting’. Then he’s not been played at the club he’s going to, so he’s possibly not at the level Everton want.”

Anderson has seriously struggled to force his way into Conceicao’s plans at Porto this season, yet during his efforts at the London Stadium last term, he did offer brief glimpses of why West Ham spent a then-club record £36m to sign him in 2018.

The 27-year-old provided 0.6 shots and 1.0 key balls a game in the Premier League over 2019/20, while making 2.5 successful dribbles and offering 0.4 accurate crosses, per SofaScore.

Those numbers would have seen the Brazilian rank 10th for shots and third for key passes at Goodison Park last season, or ninth and fourth among Ancelotti’s current players. Those stats are comparable with Bernard, who has taken 0.7 shots and created 1 chance to score a game over his mere 273 minutes of top-flight action thus far this season.

So, instead of taking on another Premier League side’s deadweight for the remainder of the campaign, Ancelotti ought to look in his squad and place his trust in Gordon to play in wide positions at a far more regular rate than he has to date.

Ancelotti was full of praise for Gordon when the 19-year-old broke into his senior fold last term, lauding the Toffees product for the way he went about his business.

“How he is playing gives me a lot of confidence and trust in him,” Ancelotti told Everton’s official website last July. “He is a player with personality. You can find a lot of players with quality, but you have to show strong personality.

“In football, you need players with personality and character. Players who are not afraid to make decisions. Anthony is one of these. He is ready to be with us and part of what we are doing.”

However, Ancelotti has only fielded the Liverpool-born prospect for 87 minutes in the Premier League this season, with Gordon starting just one of his meagre three outings.

Now, moving for Anderson would place yet another hurdle in Gordon’s path, but the Italian tactician should be seeing the potential exit of one of his lesser-favoured options in Bernard as his chance to truly promote the teenager, and he should back him to make the step-up to become an established top-flight player.

Anderson would likely struggle to be a game-changing option at Goodison Park anyway, given how his numbers at West Ham were comparable with his compatriot Bernard, a player who may be deemed surplus to requirement, plus the total lack of confidence shown in him by Porto is hardly a ringing endorsement.

So, more than ever before, now should be the time Gordon is backed, or he should be banging on Ancelotti’s door demanding answers once more.

AND in other news, Everton must refrain from making a knee-jerk decision to sign a £9m-rated target.