Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting to a clip of Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela leaving a Glasgow Hotel with the rest of his teammates.
The Czechia champions progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals after beating the Gers 2-0 at Ibrox. They should have been enjoying their success after the match, but instead they have found themselves in hot water over allegations of racism. According to Steven Gerrard and Glen Kamara, Kudela racially abused the Gers star towards the end of their match on Thursday (Sky Sports).
Slavia have since released a statement vehemently denying the allegations (slavia.cz). On Friday morning, Kudela and the rest of the Slavia squad left their hotel in Glasgow to return to their homeland. STV reporter Raman Bhardwaj was on the scene as they left and attempted to ask Kudela a series of questions, but he didn’t get an answer to any of them.
A clip of the interaction was shared on STV’s official Twitter account, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Rangers supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.
Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Kudela clip below
“What a Coward, it’s a bit obvious now can’t even stand towards the press”
Credit: @JordanS14698152
“Well done Raman, look at the coward run. Disgusting.”
Credit: @simon1872
“They have already been caught lying saying the police were involved lying right through that club its shameful”
Credit: @Kylehilton1989
“His silence speaks 1000 words”
Credit: @mr_goldfish
“For a bloke who supposedly got battered in the tunnel, he looks surprisingly fresh faced. Another Slavia lie perhaps?”
Credit: @OzRNGR
“Silence is compliance”
Credit: @RFCGW
In other news, Rangers are interested in this 18-goal striker.
For all of West Brom’s failings in the transfer market under sporting and technical director Luke Dowling, the Hawthorns faithful can be rather grateful that he secured the services of Semi Ajayi for just £1.5m.
The likes of Kenneth Zohore, Karlan Grant and Kamil Grosicki are just a few examples of when it goes wrong for the former Watford chief but in the 27-year-old former Arsenal graduate, they have something quite special.
Ajayi was, of course, Slaven Bilic’s first-choice centre-back on Albion’s way to promotion last season and with the Midlands outfit looking rather likely to make an instant return to the Championship, the Nigerian international could well be key, if they keep hold of him.
The 6 foot 4 colossus is now valued at a whopping £13.5m by CIES Football Observatory – that’s a cool £12m increase on what they paid for him. And the Baggies have certainly landed a bargain, seeing as he’s gone onto feature 70 times and has scored eight goals too, via Transfermarkt.
As a nine-time international since his arrival, Ajayi has been a rare success for Dowling.
Now the key figure looks set to repeat such a masterstroke as West Brom have won the race to sign fellow countryman Kevin Joshua from local non-league outfit Solihull Moors.
The similarities are astonishing.
According to AllNigeriaSoccer earlier this month, Albion ‘pulled off a transfer coup’ by beating their top-flight rivals to the 19-year-old’s signing.
It’s claimed that Joshua impressed during a four-week trial and will remain at the Hawthorns until the end of the 2021/22 campaign. The lower league gem is eligible for both Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland at international level.
At 6 foot 6 inches in height, the young powerhouse is certainly in a similar mould to Ajayi whilst the glowing endorsement from his agent, Arfan Rehman, only reinforces this comparison.
After securing his client his first professional deal, he took to Twitter and said: “Congratulations to our client @Kevin__Joshua on signing his first professional contract with @WBA after a successful week trial, standing 6ft6 tall, the left-footed centre-back is aggressive, quick and excellent on the ball. Watch this space.”
Indeed, these are all characteristics of the current Baggies first-team star – the tough-tackling Ajayi has picked up 11 yellow cards and one red since joining West Brom, showing that aggressive side whilst he had the second-best passing accuracy (81.6%) of any central defender at the club last season.
If Joshua can start making waves in the academy set-up, then there’s a good chance he can one day succeed Ajayi. Perhaps Dowling has stumbled onto another winner here.
AND in other news, THIS appointment could save Rekeem Harper’s faltering West Brom career…
Former Sunderland loanee Adnan Januzaj is a classic case of ‘what if?’ not only for the Mackems but also for the player himself.
What if David Moyes had extracted more from the player’s game during the 2016/17 season? That campaign was a torrid one for Sunderland, a term that was marred by their relegation from the Premier League.
The Black Cats had spent ten years dining at the top table in English football but Moyes was unable to steer them to safety.
Januzaj was a player who could have benefited their cause. He signed on loan from Manchester United after a season where’d been in and around their first term. He also joined on a temporary basis after a short stint on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
On paper, the Belgium international should have done a lot more at the Stadium of Light.
He departed after Sunderland’s relegation with just one goal and three assists to his name in 28 appearances. Evidently, the young talent wasn’t living up to the hype.
Januzaj was sent off within a matter of weeks of being at the club and things didn’t get much better for him.
Speaking about the dynamic forward in January 2017, Moyes said: “I’m quite tough on Adnan.”
He then added: “He’s got individual ability but at the moment I’ve not seen him really hit the form which I’d love him to have done.”
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Sunderland supporters rarely saw the best from a man that was valued at £6.3m when he was in the north-east as he departed with a dismal legacy.
Things never worked out for Januzaj once he returned to Manchester United but he is now thriving in Spain and excelling in Europe for Real Sociedad.
In 2019, his transfer value had increased by £7.2m to a total of £13.5m and it was clear to see why. The 26-year-old scored eight times and picked up four assists throughout 2019/20 and he has impressed this term as well.
Januzaj has been involved in four goals in 20 La Liga outings and helped his side to a first Copa del Rey trophy in 34 years.
He has helped steer Sociedad to fifth in the Spanish top-flight and to the later stages of the Europa League. In that competition, the creative attacker has managed a mighty 4.1 dribbles per game and 1.7 key passes a match.
For context, only two players in the entire competition have managed more successful take-ons this season.
Britain Football Soccer – Sunderland v Watford – Premier League – Stadium of Light – 17/12/16 Sunderland manager David Moyes with Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe, Victor Anichebe and Adnan Januzaj Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contac
It’s hardly a surprise, therefore, that he’s earned plaudits.
After registering two key passes and three dribbles against Man United in the last 16 of the Europa League back in February, Paul Scholes commented: “I never understood why it didn’t work out for him because he had such talent, but it didn’t.
“He’s gone on to good things and tonight he’s been excellent. I knew this kid had ability and he’s showing it.”
It’s a shame, therefore, that he wasn’t able to harness similar qualities at Sunderland. On his day, he is an enthralling watch. Regrettably, that was never really seen under Moyes.
AND in other news, Forget Scowen: SAFC must swoop for “technically gifted” 19 y/o whose “touch is a joke”…
After suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat in his first game in charge of Sheffield Wednesday against Rotherham, Darren Moore saw his side swept away 3-0 by Reading in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls did themselves no favours when Julian Borner was sent off for a challenge as the last man, with Michael Olise stepping up to score the resulting spot kick.
Goals from Lucas Joao and Andy Yiadom in the second half compounded Wednesday’s misery, with the Yorkshire side now having lost six Championship games in a row.
However, while Borner will undoubtedly be the man to criticise after the game as the scores were level at 0-0 before his red card, Kadeem Harris produced a woeful display and badly let his manager down.
After being dropped to the bench for Moore’s first game in charge of the side against Rotherham, Harris was restored to the starting line-up for the clash at the Madejski Stadium.
The right-winger just couldn’t justify his manager’s faith in him, though,struggling to really pick out the right passes when in promising positions and getting muscled off it far too easily – as per Sofascore, he lost four out of his five duels on the day.
Harris attempted no shots on goal and failed to complete any of his three attempted dribbles, and that rather summed up his efforts in an attacking sense – even centre-back Tom Lees managed two efforts on goal, as per Sofascore.
Writing in his post-match player ratings, Dom Howson gave Harris a four, noting: “Moore restored the wide man to the starting XI but Harris was not at the races. Lost possession on multiple occasions and too often his decision making let him down in the final third.”
While Borner’s red card will take the headlines, Harris’ ineffective performance really cost his manager on Saturday against the Royals after being given the nod to start.
Aston Villa must make a late transfer move for Josh King, after The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that Southampton are locked in talks with Bournemouth for him.
What’s the story?
Reports over the summer suggested that Dean Smith’s side had tabled a bid of around £16m for the Cherries ace, but a deal failed to come to fruition before the end of the deadline.
Then, ahead of the January transfer window, it was once again claimed that King could be on Villa’s radar, but it now appears that Southampton are the ones to be making a late push for his signature.
Ornstein has revealed that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are locked in negotiations over signing King on a permanent basis for a low fee, and seeing Shane Long move in the opposite direction on loan but with an option to buy.
Lange must act
Given that Villa’s transfer interest in the Norway international has spanned for two windows now, it’s clear that King features highly on Dean Smith’s wish-list.
And when you look at some of the issues that have plagued his side this season, then it becomes all the more needed for Johan Lange to make a late charge on deadline day.
Ollie Watkins has been a revelation for Villa since joining from Brentford – he’s already bagged ten goals in his debut campaign for the club – but he has been the sole man to lead the line for them.
Wesley is only just returning back to full fitness following an ACL injury, and Keinan Davis hasn’t shown anywhere near the kind of form that would see Smith trust in him week-in and week-out – the 22-year-old forward has managed just five goals in a whopping 75 games for the first-team.
Relying on Watkins to do the bulk of the scoring, and not having anyone to cover for him, is a dangerous game, and one that’s already been shown to be a flawed strategy in recent weeks – he went a stretch of nine league games without scoring (over two months), with Villa just winning three of those fixtures.
In the £45k-a-week earning King however, Smith could get someone who knows the Premier League inside out, and has the versatility to play instead of Watkins whenever needed, or even with him, much like he did with Callum Wilson in the pair’s time with the Cherries.
The Norwegian struck 48 times in the competition, and even provided a healthy amount of 15 assists, and would be more of a guaranteed option in terms of what he could produce on the pitch, especially given the Midlands club may even have European hopes this season.
With Southampton seemingly in pole position at the moment as per Ornstein, it would be something of a transfer heist from Lange if he can pull it off. But given Villa’s lack of real depth up front, it’s something that he really needs to do on transfer deadline day.
Meanwhile, Villa must make a deadline day move to land this long-term transfer target…
Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard wasn’t at his best as West Ham lost 2-1 away to Manchester City on Saturday.
The Irons fell to only their second defeat in 12 Premier League fixtures after strikes from Ruben Dias and John Stones either side of Michail Antonio’s seventh goal of the season.
West Ham now have to hope Chelsea fail to beat title-hopefuls Manchester United on Sunday to remain inside the Champions League positions, with two points all that separates the east and south west London outfits in the Premier League standings.
Lingard has been a pivotal part of West Ham’s push for European football since arriving at the London Stadium in a £1.5m loan deal last month, with the £100,000-per-week maestro scoring three times and providing one assist in his prior four appearances.
The £9m-rated maestro doubled his tally for assists on Saturday when Antonio turned home Lingard’s mishit shot past Ederson late in the first half, having squandered a big chance to pull West Ham level but fortunate to have his teammate lurking at the back post for a tap in.
Being credited with an assist failed to prevent Lingard from marking a middle of the road performance in claret and blue, with the 28-year-old’s SofaScore match rating of 7.2 out of 10 achieved at the Etihad the third-best of his five games with the Irons.
This month’s goalless draw with Fulham had been Lingard’s worst performance with a 6.5 attained at Craven Cottage, while earning a 7.1 in last week’s London derby win over rivals Tottenham Hotspur. He also earned an 8.4 on debut thanks to a double against Aston Villa before later warranting a 7.7 against Sheffield United.
The England international’s display further ensured he performed worse than Ben Johnson, who Moyes had recalled to the starting line-up to allow for a return to five-at-the-back.
Johnson had dropped to the bench for the Spurs affair last Sunday after playing the full 90 at home to the Blades, marking only the second time this season that the academy product has seen out a full Premier League fixture.
But Moyes’ decision to recall the full-back did not prove a masterstroke, with Johnson caught out a couple of times and playing Ilkay Gundogan onside in the build-up to Stones’ goal having not pushed out in line with his teammates.
The 21-year-old also produced a string of sloppy passes and was fortunate to end his day with an 80% completion rate thanks to four misplaced efforts from 20 attempts, per SofaScore.
Lingard had plenty of opportunities to find the back of Ederson’s net to seal West Ham a result away to early champions-elect Manchester City, but could only direct one of his four strikes toward the Brazilian’s goal with two efforts blocked.
He also boasted a worse pass success rate (78%) than Johnson, with eight of the 24-cap star’s 37 attempts failing to find an Irons shirt helping toward losing possession 16 times – no West Ham player turned the ball over more often.
Lingard additionally failed to come out on top in three of his four attempted dribbles, scoring just a 25% success rate compared to his average 42% (1.6) in Premier League games this season.
The 2016/17 Europa League winner also performed below his usual standards for accurate passes (81%), for losing possession (14.6) and shooting accuracy – WhoScored data shows 1.8 on target efforts a game to just 0.4 off target and 1.0 blocked.
Moyes can forgive Lingard for having a somewhat off day given his importance since joining on loan and for his hand in Antonio’s goal, but will expect to see the Manchester United-owned playmaker bounce back against Leeds next time out.
AND in other news, West Ham have been given a potential boost in hopes to sign a 19-goal striker this summer…
Tottenham Hotspur defender Matt Doherty is fast-becoming a major issue following yet another shocking performance on Sunday evening.
Jose Mourinho’s side were beaten 2-1 by arch-rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to put their hopes of breaching the top four in tatters, and it was a massive surprise to see the 29-year-old play the entire duration of the game.
Only two other starters from the visiting side received worse than his 6.4 rating as per SofaScore, and this was the worst of Spurs’ backline – even despite Davinson Sanchez reverting back to his old calamitous self in conceding the match-winning penalty.
Doherty was absolutely dominated from minute one, struggling to combat the threat of Emile Smith Rowe and Kieran Tierney, whose 7.4 ratings utterly eclipsed the Irishman.
The £26m-rated defender was a busy man on the right-flank as he notched a whopping 78 touches, third to Sanchez (86) and Toby Aldweiereld (79) but he struggled to do much despite being so frequently involved.
He lost possession 15 times, the second-most of any Spurs star, which meant that he handed the ball back to his bullies once every five touches, and once every six minutes, as per SofaScore.
It was that bad, Mourinho had to sacrifice Gareth Bale in the second half so that he could get Moussa Sissoko on to help Doherty defend, though the damage was already done by that point.
The Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick dubbed the right-back a ‘weak link’ after grading his abysmal showing a 3/10. He wrote:
‘Easily beaten by Tierney for Arsenal’s opening goal in a dismal performance. The hosts had the run of his flank and he looked nervy and was positionally poor throughout.’
Whilst fans were quick to lambast his performance, as seen in this reaction piece where the overriding consensus is that Doherty was a liability throughout.
His form throughout this season has been consistently poor. Indeed, the £15m summer arrival’s 6.71 average WhoScored rating sees him sit tenth in the squad overall.
Last month, worrying reports emerged that put Doherty’s long-term future in north London in serious doubt – according to ESPN, Mourinho is unconvinced by the former Wolves man and could be willing to offload him in the summer.
Well, going by that display alone, it’s easy to see why such claims could be true.
Everyone at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will now be worried after Heung-min Son came off with a hamstring injury early in the first half, but solving this problem at right-back is now the biggest issue for Mourinho.
If Doherty isn’t the answer, then it puts major question marks over his arrival and it would leave the Portuguese back at square one in looking for that long-term option at right-back.
The fact that he lasted the full 90 with Serge Aurier on the bench speaks a lot. This is an issue that Mourinho now has to solve before it’s too late.
AND in other news, Fewer touches than Lloris: Spurs star who made only 9 passes badly let Mourinho down…
The future of Kieran Gibbs at West Brom seems rather unlikely with Sam Allardyce at the helm, according to emerging reports…
What’s the word?
Reliable Baggies reporter, Steve Madeley of The Athletic, claimed earlier this week that the 31-year-old’s recent pre-game withdrawal had angered the new Albion boss to the extent of potentially offloading him this month.
He wrote in a recent column:
“An absence of leadership has been evident and Albion may also be in the market for a left-back if they can secure an exit for Kieran Gibbs. The player’s withdrawal with a thigh strain during the warm-up for the 5-0 defeat by Leeds, exposing the untested Lee Peltier at short notice, is understood to have angered Allardyce.”
Tony Pulis flop
Gibbs has been at the club since 2017 when Tony Pulis secured the former Gunners full-back from Arsenal for £7m. He’s thought to be on around £55k-per-week, which makes him their second-highest earner.
Despite looking rather unfair on the face of it, perhaps Allardyce is actually onto something here.
The Premier League veteran was usurped by Conor Towsend before he picked up a lengthy injury and that’s rather damning as it was only three years ago that he was competing in League One.
It also speaks volumes that Gibbs ranks out as the worst player on WhoScored, being graded a 6.11. No player who has started three or more matches has managed a worse rating.
The ten-time England international even let Slaven Bilic down badly earlier this season when he was sent off against Everton for what the Croatian described as a “stupid” reaction.
He is simply not justifying that massive wage whatsoever.
That £7m signing has turned out to cost Albion a total just over £16.5m and overall, it’s hard to say that it has turned out to be a great move.
Gibbs has absolutely ransacked Guochuan Lai’s pockets, though the only thing on his side this month is the fact that Allardyce is short on options in the role and additions of a centre-back and a striker are more pressing needs.
AND in other news, West Brom target could become their next Youssouf Mulumbu…
After all the contract uncertainty that surrounded Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s future last season, Arsenal’s talisman eventually ‘signed the ting’.
The Gabon international had come off his most influential campaign in a Gunners shirt since arriving from Borussia Dortmund a couple of years ago, scoring braces in both the FA Cup semi-final and final, and lifting the trophy as captain. Not to mention that he would also notch in the north London side’s Community Shield triumph too.
So when he put pen to paper on a new three-year deal at the club, things were beginning to look up for Arsenal. But fast forward a couple of months, and Aubameyang is in the midst of his most ineffective spell for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s continued use of him out on the left wing hasn’t worked out as it did last season, whilst on the rare occasion he has been deployed through the middle, like against Leeds United on Sunday, he failed miserably too.
All in all, he has managed just four goals in 11 games, and only two in nine in the Premier League. In fact, with him netting from the spot in the win over Manchester United, Aubameyang hasn’t scored from open play in the top-flight since he bagged against Fulham on the opening day.
Whilst Arteta’s structured tactics and focus on shape and patterns may have curbed the Gabonese star’s natural attacking instincts, Aubameyang himself must shoulder some of the responsibility for his poor form.
He has been guilty of either disappearing in games, or missing chances that he normally would have gobbled up. And even though it’s such a simple thing to throw at a player, he just hasn’t been himself since signing his new contract. Former Premier League striker Darren Bent admitted that the Gunners talisman has seen a “massive drop-off” in his performances.
Arsenal of course have already experienced something similar with Mesut Ozil. The gifted play-maker was outstanding in the months building up to signing his bumper new deal in 2018, and has since fallen so far out of the reckoning, that he didn’t even make the Premier League squad for the Gunners.
Whether it’s potentially giving Aubameyang a complete rest to allow him to recharge his batteries, or maybe dropping him to the bench and seeing if he can take advantage of a tiring defence and getting his confidence back with a goal in that way, Arsenal must make a decisive call on the £45m-rated star.
Leeds United are currently in the middle of a huge defensive crisis after Liam Cooper picked up an injury against Manchester United. He joins Robin Koch on the sidelines ahead of their clash with Burnley at the weekend.
Speaking to Lancashire Live, Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that Diego Llorente will return to training ahead of the Elland Road clash, but there is no guarantee that he will start.
Pascal Struijk, Leif Davies and 20-year-old Oliver Casey are currently the only central options the boss has to choose from unless he dips into the youth team.
The former came on in place of Kalvin Phillips in midfield last time out, but Bielsa now has no other choice but to deploy him in his natural position in defence.
Bielsa must start Struijk vs Burnley
Despite being an excellent option to select, Struijk has made just three Premier League starts so far, tallying five appearances in total this season.
However, his absence is not something that’s new. Since joining the club’s youth ranks in 2018, the Dutchman has made a total of 11 appearances for the Whites, as per Transfermarkt.
In the absence of key players like Koch and Cooper, now could be the perfect opportunity for Struijk to show his worth at the Yorkshire outfit. It would be a huge confidence boost for the £25k-per-week workhorse, but it will also resurrect team morale following their lofty 6-2 defeat to Man United.
According to MOT Leeds News, Paul Robinson has expressed his concern over Leeds’ injury worries. He described the loss of captain Cooper as a “massive blow” that would “cripple any team”.
Indeed, the Whites will be fearful of Burnley’s star striker Chris Wood, who could seriously trouble their backline on Sunday. They should know all too well about his abilities.
Bielsa has been deploying Luke Ayling in the middle of the defence recently, but to maximise his chances of coming away with a result, the Argentinian needs to put faith in Struijk.
The 21-year-old could be vital against Burnley, allowing Ayling to perform more comfortably in his natural role at right-back.
In other news, Orta must move for “real talent” Michael Olise to replace Forshaw…