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Aston Villa captain Tyrone Mings is ‘at risk’ of losing his place in the team, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.

The lowdown

Mings, a Villa mainstay, has started 29 of their 31 Premier League matches so far this season, with only injury or suspension keeping him out of the line-up.

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Villa paid just over £20million to sign him from Bournemouth in the summer of 2019, and he signed a contract extension in September 2020. His £80,000-per-week deal runs until the end of the 2023/24 season.

Mings has faced criticism in recent times, with journalist Zach Lowy insisting in February that he was ‘far too error-prone to be a starter, let alone captain’ and urging Villa ‘to move on from him and upgrade with a new CB this summer’.

Steven Gerrard has said he will pick his ‘long-term’ skipper in the summer and admitted that he could recruit someone from elsewhere to don the armband.

The latest

Jones, speaking to GMS, says Gerrard will be considering Mings’ ‘position in the side’ in light of a succession of errors in recent seasons.

He explained:

“I think his position in the side has to be at risk at this stage,” he said. “He has also made quite a few errors over the past couple of years.”

The verdict

Since Villa were promoted to the Premier League, Mings has made five errors directly leading to an opposition shot and four leading to a goal and given away two penalty kicks (via SofaScore).

And those figures don’t account for more subjective errors.

It seems that Gerrard is determined to strengthen at the heart of his defence, with Football Insider claiming he plans to approach his old club Liverpool over a deal for Joe Gomez.

Gomez, valued at £19.8million by Transfermarkt, is described as his no. 1 target.

His public comments about the captaincy might have been a veiled challenge to Mings, who could be fighting for his spot in these final weeks of the campaign. If he can respond, then perhaps it will be enough to avoid the axe.

In other news, Villa could make this move after Sean Dyche’s sacking.

Leicestershire chairman Neil Davidson has accused coach Tim Boon and captain Matthew Hoggard of setting a poor example to the younger players at the club after the pair led calls for his resignation.As Cricinfo exclusively revealed, Boon and Hoggard, backed by the playing, ground and administrative staff allege that Davidson interferes in team affairs and has made the club unattractive to new players. However, following an emergency board meeting at Grace Road on Monday, and a private meeting with Hoggard, Davidson denies the charge and believes the actions have set a bad precedent.”I think really the way the senior coach unfortunately got the captain into this and the senior players is setting a very poor example to our fine young players about how they should behave at a cricket club,” Davidson told Sky Sports News. “I like Matthew immensely it but I don’t think he’s thought this one through. I think Matthew has found himself in a very difficult position. The current situation is unsustainable so we’ll see how it all pans out.”Hoggard later released a statement of his own insisting he had taken his action in the best interests of the club. “As coach and captain, Tim Boon and I believe we have a duty to bring matters of serious concern to our employer’s attention and we did this privately and confidentially in recognition that this was and remains a matter for the board of Leicestershire county cricket club.”We conveyed the sincere and deeply held views of the players and staff of the Club to the Board and asked them to act appropriately in light of those concerns. We continue to urge them to do so.”Leicestershire finished bottom of the second division of the County Championship last year and though they have fared better in first-class cricket under new captain Hoggard this season – winning five matches – Davidson believes the poor performances in limited-overs cricket demands his attention.”I don’t interfere on a week-to-week basis, day-to-day basis, it’s when we lose matches we should win and we lost all our home games in Twenty20 this year bar one which was rained off. We’ve won two CB40 games so far this season and we’ve lost twice to Scotland.”The performances just aren’t good enough and these are revenue-generating areas of the club and for a small county we can’t afford to underperform. We’ve got one of the best set of youngsters in the country and I’m raising questions about the ability of the management to get the best out of those players.”

West Bromwich Albion are considering the immediate future of Valerien Ismael.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Joseph Masi, with the journalist revealing in a recent video for the Express & Star (via West Brom News) that the Albion board are currently in the process of deciding whether or not the 46-year-old is the man they believe can steer the club to promotion this season.

Speaking about the future of the Frenchman, Masi said: “Look, we have to talk about Ismael’s future and it’s very much up in the air. We don’t quite know what is going on. We believe his future is very much under consideration at the very least.

“What we believe is Ismael’s future is under serious, serious consideration and I think that is only natural. I think at the vast majority of clubs, he probably would have lost his job, if we’re being honest.

“That said – and these are important points – there’s a person there, he’s a genuine person. He’s had a fallout with Sam Johnstone, from what we understand, and probably Robert Snodgrass as well – but, by and large, Valerien Ismael is a good man.

“He’s a likeable man and he’s respected. He’s respected amongst The Hawthorns’ hierarchy and he’s respected by the people that employ him. It’s going to be uncomfortable for them if they have to sit him down and have to relieve him of his duties.”

Fans will be buzzing

While it would appear as if Masi has no concrete update on which way Lai Guochuan and the West Brom board are currently leaning on Ismael’s future, the news that the Baggies hierarchy are in discussions about the 46-year-old’s position is nevertheless sure to have the club’s fanbase buzzing.

Indeed, it is clear for all to see that Albion’s results in recent months have simply not been good enough, with the Frenchman having guided his side to just three wins in their last 13 Championship fixtures – picking up 13 points from a possible 39 in this run of games.

Furthermore, West Brom’s form over their last six games leaves them sitting in 19th place in the second tier form table, and, considering the club have faced teams such as Derby County, Preston North End, Cardiff City and Millwall in this period – all of whom are in the bottom half of the Championship table – it is obvious that something must change if Albion are to maintain a promotion push this season.

And, with West Brom fans making their feelings abundantly clear regarding Ismael’s future in a recent poll ran by Football FanCast – with the vast majority stating that they would like to see the 46-year-old sacked if the Baggies fell to defeat against Millwall, which they did – it would very much appear as if The Hawthorn’s faithful believe that the factor which needs changing is indeed the Frenchman.

In other news: Major West Brom development finally emerges, it’s what fans have been waiting for

Corey Collymore bagged six wickets as top-of-the-table Sussex sent Leicestershire crashing to defeat by an innings and 19 runs with a day and a half to spare in their County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road

31-Jul-2010
ScorecardCorey Collymore bagged six wickets as top-of-the-table Sussex sent Leicestershire crashing to defeat by an innings and 19 runs with a day and a half to spare in their County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road.After a delayed start because of rain Leicestershire lost their last six wickets for 97 runs in 32 overs with West Indian paceman Collymore claiming four of them for 27 runs in 9.1 overs after the lunch break.It gave him figures of 6 for 48, his best return since he joined Sussex in 2008. The only Leicestershire batsman to show any defiance was Jacques du Toit who struck 81 off 83 balls with 13 boundaries. Sussex wasted no time picking up their first wicket once play got underway with Leicestershire resuming on 59 for 4, trailing by 116 runs.Lewis Hatchett had two balls left of an unfinished over to bowl and with the first of them he produced a magnificent inswinger that shattered Tom New’s stumps. But that proved to be the only success of the morning for Sussex. Hatchett lost his line and length and Du Toit and Wayne White cashed in with a succession of boundaries. Du Toit reached 50 off 52 balls and at lunch the sixth wicket pair had put on 56 to take Leicestershire to 115 for 5.But the introduction of Collymore into the attack immediately after the interval slammed the door shut on the home side’s revival. Gaining movement through the air and off the pitch Collymore produced a superb spell of bowling and Leicestershire had no answer. He snapped up the wickets of Du Toit and Claude Henderson in the same over, both batsmen edging away swinging deliveries into the hands of Michael Yardy at first slip.Collymore then had Nadeem Malik dropped twice at slip in the same over before finally trapping him lbw. In between left-arm spinner Monty Panesar nipped in with a wicket as he beat White in the flight to give Ben Brown an easy stumping.The final wicket went to Collymore with Matthew Hoggard caught by Yardy to seal a comfortable victory. The victory earned them 23 points to consolidate their position at the top of the table.

The prospect of an intriguing finish between Derbyshire and Sussex at Derby was washed out by heavy rain which prevented any play on the final day

08-Jun-2010
Scorecard
The prospect of an intriguing finish between Derbyshire and Sussex at Derby was washed out by heavy rain which prevented any play on the final day.The contest was in the balance after Sussex had collapsed to 71 for 7, a lead of 163, with South African left-arm spinner Robin Peterson taking four wickets for 10 runs, his best figures for Derbyshire. With the pitch becoming increasingly difficult to bat on, a target of around 200 would have been a testing one and England spinner Monty Panesar would have been expected to exploit the conditions.But rain during the night and throughout the morning frustrated the ambitions of both teams and although lunch was taken early, there was no sign of any break in the weather. Another heavy shower forced umpires Michael Gough and David Millns to make the inevitable decision to call the game off just before 1pm – with Sussex taking 11 points and Derbyshire nine.The draw halts a run of three consecutive County Championship defeats for Derbyshire and leaves Sussex without a victory in their last four matches. It also brought a soggy end to Sussex all-rounder Robin Martin-Jenkins’ last away game in the Championship before he retires to take up a teaching post.Martin-Jenkins had scored the fifth first-class century of his career in the first innings and Sussex would have been looking to him to take their lead past 200. But the 34-year-old was denied the chance to leave his mark on the Derbyshire attack for a second time as the weather put paid to what promised to be a pulsating finish to the Championship programme before the Twenty20 Cup takes centre stage for the next three weeks.

Fabrizio Romano has backed up previous reports that Newcastle United are now ‘keen’ on signing Benoit Badiashile in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Botman off?

Romano has confirmed that the deal to try and bring Sven Botman to St. James’ Park has ‘collapsed’, meaning that they will now have to look at other targets in the centre-back area.

They have conceded no fewer than 42 goals the Premier League so far this season, the second-worst in the division, and so bringing in a new central defender should help improve that number.

Nick Hammond has already secured the signings of Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood, and the North East club can now target the centre-half position over the next few days.

The Latest: Badiashile interest

As per Romano, the Tyneside outfit are now ‘keen’ on doing a deal for Badiashile, although West Ham United are also ‘interested’ in his signature, and the AS Monaco ace has recently picked up an injury:

“Newcastle are keen on Benoit Badiashile after Botman deal collapsed. West Ham are also interested. Nothing agreed yet.

“From today’s medical tests, AS Monaco expect Badiashile to be back with the team in 2-3 weeks. Timing will be key to understand next steps.”

The Italian’s update comes after previous reports from The Sun believed the clubs to be ‘in talks’ over a deal.

The Verdict: Sign

If the Botman deal cannot be done, then the Magpies need to bring in another centre-back fast, as crucial games like the one at home to Watford on Saturday afternoon are coming thick and fast.

Although Badiashile has no experience in England, he has been playing at a high level in Ligue 1 and in the UEFA Europa League, despite being just 20 years of age.

Described as a ‘tenacious’, ‘strong’ and ‘fast’ player by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, the Frenchman has a bit of everything, and could certainly thrive in the Premier League.

Nonetheless, if Eddie Howe’s team can scoop him up in this window ahead of David Moyes’ high-flying Hammers, then it would represent a real sign of intent.

In other news, find out which other centre-back NUFC are ‘eyeing’ here!

A report has now revealed the big offer that Newcastle United have already made to try and sign Lucas Paqueta.

The Lowdown: Offer now known

Foot Mercato reported earlier this week that the St. James’ Park faithful had had an offer rejected for Paqueta, of whom they are targeting in the January transfer window, because the player’s camp did not think that they would be a step-up in terms of quality from Lyon.

However, it was not disclosed how much they offered in terms of a transfer fee, but an amount has now been revealed.

The Latest: Big offer

As per le10sport, the North East club have made a ‘first offer’ worth €40m (£34m) to sign Paqueta, and are ‘clearly able to climb higher’.

It is not quite the club record £40m that they paid for Joelinton back in 2019, but as a first offer, it suggests that it could take a transfer fee which would then eventually surpass that mark.

However, the £34m offer has now been rejected by Lyon, as Paqueta himself does not want to leave.

That said, money talks, and if the Tyneside outfit were to come in with a huge bid, it may be hard for the Ligue 1 team and Paqueta to say no again.

The Verdict: Do what it takes

With seven goals and four assists in 21 games in total over all competitions so far this season mainly from midfield (Transfermarkt), Paqueta could be the missing piece in an attacking set-up that would be very difficult to stop in the Premier League.

Lauded as ‘exemplary’ by his teammate Karl Toko-Ekambi earlier on in the campaign, he is also a player that Arsenal and top-flight legend Thierry Henry loves, and at 24 years of age, the world is still at his feet.

Of course, it would be extremely difficult to persuade him to join a relegation battle, but if the right offer comes in, the Brazilian maestro could well be persuaded.

In other news, find out which ‘exceptional’ title winner NUFC are now targeting here!

MatériaMais Notícias

No Atlético-GO por empréstimo do Internacional, Andrigo voltou à Porto Alegre para enfrentar o Grêmio neste domingo e, mais uma vez, deixou os gramados com um resultado positivo. Foi dele o gol que abriu o placar na Arena do Grêmio aos 24 minutos do segundo tempo.

No lance um pouco desajeitado, o meia-atacante tabelou com Diego Rosa na entrada da área e bateu no canto para deixar o Atlético-GO na frente. Entretanto, dois minutos depois Lucas Poletto garantiu o empate para os donos da casa.

Na saída de campo, o atleta comemorou o resultado e o tento, mas lamentou o gol de empate do rival.

– Sempre é bom marcar. Fico feliz se sempre poder ajudar o Atlético-GO. Jogamos bem, acho que fomos superiores. Tivemos uma falha só no lance do gol, na bola parada. Sabíamos que os zagueiros deles são altos. Depois conseguimos retomar o ritmo de jogo e terminamos bem – disse em entrevista ao SporTV.

Já rebaixado, o Atlético-GO volta aos gramados no próximo domingo para enfrentar o Fluminense, às 17h, no Estádio Olímpico. Sem pretensões na reta final do Campeonato Brasileiro, a equipe joga pela honra de conseguir os melhores resultados possíveis no encerramento da temporada.

RelacionadasBrasileirãoNúmeros da Bola: Estatísticas de Grêmio 1×1 Atlético-GOBrasileirão26/11/2017GrêmioSem muitas aspirações, Grêmio e Atlético-GO ficam no empate em 1 a 1Grêmio26/11/2017

After finishing their first season back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence in ninth place, Leeds United were active in the previous summer transfer window by signing the likes of Dan James, Junior Firpo and Kristoffer Klaesson to help boost their squad.

One other business deal the Yorkshire club managed to secure was the permanent signing of winger Jack Harrison from Manchester City after originally joining Leeds on a loan deal back in 2018.

With a total of 143 appearances, 20 goals and 22 assists under his belt for Leeds across all competitions, Harrison has not shown this season why Leeds were right to sign him on a permanent basis with no goals and just one assist provided in 13 league appearances.

Given how Harrison managed to end last season with eight goals and eight assists in the Premier League, these are the numbers that he will undoubtedly be aiming to reach or even improve on this time around.

Harrison has also only managed to successfully complete 43% of his dribbles in the league this season as well as winning just 33% of his duels, showing how ineffective he has been on and off the ball.

As well as this and his lack of goal contributions in the Premier League this season, the 25-year-old’s overall performances have also been underwhelming with Harrison racking up a season rating of 6.48/10 from SofaScore, lower than Leeds’ other summer signings James (6.73/10) and Firpo (6.61/10).

With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that Leeds journalist Phil Hay said he’s “wildly out of form” when speaking last month.

Taking this into account, it seems as though that Victor Orta and the Yorkshire club may have dropped a clanger in signing Harrison, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £60k-per-week according to Salary Sport, based on his performances so far this season.

However, the Englishman still has enough time in the campaign to turn his form around and prove to everyone connected to the club that they made the right decision to offer him a permanent deal in the summer.

With Leeds’ next game in the league putting them up against Harrison’s former side on Tuesday evening, this could be a perfect opportunity for the winger to really kickstart his season with Leeds, especially if he can grab his first league goal of the season and potentially secure a much-needed positive result for Bielsa’s side.

In other news: “Screams class”: £16.5k-p/w Leeds beast who won 100% duels proved Bielsa wrong v Chelsea

Former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton has been reacting to Steven Gerrard’s decision to offload two senior attackers in the January transfer window, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Gerrard’s plan

According to a Villa source, the club will look to move on two of Bertrand Traore, Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet, with Gerrard feeling that he has an unbalanced squad at Bodymoor Heath.

The new manager believes he has too many attacking players, with Villa set to listen to loan or permanent offers regarding the trio in the New Year.

A centre-back and a central midfielder are thought to be on Gerrard’s wish list, so it seems as if it could be a busy start to 2022 for NSWE.

The Latest: Hutton reacts

Hutton, who regularly contributes on BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider about Gerrard’s plans. The former Villa defender labelled them ‘interesting’ but agreed with the manager’s reported stance, saying:

“I don’t think that a massive rush (to sell) but I think Steven Gerrard’s right.

“They are heavily loaded in those forward areas. We can sit here and say these guys have had enough opportunities to be in the team and absolutely shine.

“We have seen it in flashes but I’ve always said I need more. I need to see more of it. We know how talented they are.

“He probably wants to balance that squad up a little bit. They’re very light at left-back but you’ve got all these wingers. I understand what he’s doing there.

“It will be interesting to see who he actually lets go because I think the owners will back the manager in January with a new signing or two. There is a big squad there so he will have to offset that.”

The Verdict: Who stays?

Should the rumours prove accurate, then perhaps it would be best to keep hold of Traore out of the three names mentioned. He only made the move to Villa Park last year and enjoyed a solid first season, contributing to 14 Premier League goals in 29 starts.

While he has struggled with injuries during the current campaign and is yet to start a league game in 2021/22, he has proven thathe can cope in the Premier League, something Trezeguet is yet to do with just 11 goal involvements in 55 games and El Ghazi’s 20 in 70 games – six of which have been penalties.

In other news: ‘Gerrard out’ – Many Villa fans erupt over club’s plans for ‘brilliant’ beast