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Rangers managed to reclaim their spot at the top of the Scottish Premiership table as they beat Hibernian 2-1 on Sunday.

Kevin Nisbet headed Hibs in front in the opening 10 minutes before Ryan Porteous was sent off in the 30th minute for a poor challenge on Joe Aribo.

The Gers were able to find the leveller in the 60th minute as Nathan Patterson put the ball on a plate for Kemar Roofe to nod home at the back post. Alfredo Morelos then won the match with his goal, assisted by Borna Barisic, in the 78th minute.

Roofe and Morelos may steal the headlines with their goals, but one player who was an unsung hero in the midfield was summer signing John Lundstram. He found a balance between defensive ballast and impressive play in possession to put in an all-around brilliant display.

Defensively, he was almost faultless for Rangers. Per SofaScore, he made four tackles, three interceptions and one block. He also won 62.5% of his duels on the pitch in the game, winning five of his eight 50/50 battles against Hibernian players.

This shows that he was able to snuff out Hibernian attacks with his defensive awareness and strength. He did not allow the opposition to pass by him easily, which allowed Rangers to dominate the game – contributing to the final result.

On the ball, he was composed and assured in possession to maintain the dominance. Per SofaScore, he had an eye-catching 118 touches of the ball – completing 99 of his 104 attempted passes (95%) and only giving the ball away six times from all of those touches.

Lundstram was efficient with his passing and did not give the ball away on a regular basis. Not only did this stop Hibernian from gaining the ball, but it also allowed Rangers to pile the pressure on the opposition goal and tire the midfield, which then created space for the Gers to work with.

Therefore, the midfield beast was Gerrard’s unsung hero in the match as he did the dirty work so that the forward players could shine in possession of the ball.

Hopefully, the summer arrival from Sheffield United will continue to perform to these standards and maintain his place in the starting XI to improve Gerrard’s side, which is – presumably – why he was brought to the club.

AND in other news, Gerrard masterclass: Rangers beast has seen his value soar 33.3% in less than 2 years…

Lawrie Sanchez believes that Everton will follow a recent trend and appoint another proven manager, with reports on Tuesday suggesting they are still talking to other managers despite Nuno Santo being the overwhelming leading contender to replace Carlo Ancelotti.

Aside from Roberto Martinez and Marco Silva, the two exceptions, the Toffees have always turned to an experienced face since David Moyes’ departure in 2013.

But only the Spaniard has taken charge of more than 100 games, with Everton’s next appointment their sixth in the space of just eight years since Moyes was hired by Manchester United.

Former Wolves boss  Santo appears the standout favourite to replacement Ancelotti in the Goodison Park dugout, although the Portuguese was also on the verge of becoming the new Crystal Palace manager recently before talks broke down.

The likes of Sam Allardyce and Ronald Koeman have both been hired in between Moyes and Ancelotti, with the Toffees hierarchy looking for instant success rather than investing into a longer-term project.

And Sanchez, who also took aim at Nuno, exclusively told Football FanCast that with Everton looking to close the gap on the top-six, that theme will continue:

“I think a club like Everton want someone proven at that level of what they want to achieve.

“They’ve gone for established names – Koeman, Ancelotti and Allardyce.

“From the outside, I think they will go for a solid name. Nuno, are there any other clubs in the Premier League he’s being tapped up by? They will have read their reports of Nuno at the end – he fell out with players.”

Rangers have been linked with a move for Newcastle United ace Jacob Murphy recently, and if he were to make the move to Ibrox this summer, it could prove to be bad news for Nathan Patterson’s hopes of becoming a first team regular under Steven Gerrard next season.

According to Football Insider, both Rangers and Southampton are interested in signing the 26-year-old from Newcastle United ahead of next season, with the Toon reportedly willing to sell him for as little as £3m this summer.

Whilst the former Norwich City man has spent much of his career playing as a winger, he has been deployed as a right wing-back by Steve Bruce in recent weeks and has averaged an impressive 7.09  WhoScored rating across his six appearances in that position, with two goals to his name.

After spending last season on loan in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday, the Englishman’s future at St James’ Park looked bleak, but Bruce blocked his departure and he has established himself as a regular in the Premier League since the turn of the year.

If he were to join Gerrard’s side this summer, he could continue featuring as a right-back, having struggled for goals and assists when playing further forward in the Premier League.

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Although the 26-year-old might struggle to get into the team ahead of captain James Tavernier, he would certainly be challenging to be second choice at right-back behind the club captain.

This could spell trouble for Patterson, who has earned rave reviews this season when filling in for the injured Tavernier and looks to have a very bright future at Ibrox.

However, he is just 19 and may lose out to a more experienced professional such as Murphy, so perhaps we would see him go out on loan or simply be expected to compete for a backup role.

Patterson certainly impressed in his last outing, with Gerrard labelling his performance in the 2-1 win against Hibernian as “outstanding”, so it would be a shame if the youngster struggles for game-time next season after progressing so well recently.

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Unfortunately, if the £3.15m-rated Murphy does make the move to Ibrox this summer and continues his recent strong form as a right-back, it is difficult to see where Patterson fits in.

In other news… Ross Wilson must avoid disastrous repeat over “positive” gem after transfer claim emerges

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford could be fit for the final two Premier League games of the season despite initial fears he would not return this campaign.

The Lowdown: Bamford’s torrid season

The 28-year-old was arguably the Whites’ star man last season, scoring 17 league goals, but things have panned out very differently this time around.

Bamford has been hampered by injury problems throughout the campaign, being limited to just seven league starts, which has played a part in the Whites’ struggles.

The striker is currently out with a foot injury which was initially expected to make him miss the rest of the campaign, but Jesse Marsch has revealed he could now miss just the next three weeks.

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The Latest: Hay shares good news

Providing his thoughts in a Q&A for The Athletic on Monday ahead of Leeds’ trip to Crystal Palace, Phil Hay claimed that Bamford could return for the last two league games of the season, which are at home to Brighton and away to Brentford.

The journalist shared a prospective return date from the Whites manager which essentially means missing the next three weeks, claiming:

“Still no Patrick Bamford [v Palace] but Jesse Marsch thinks he might make it back for the last two games of the season.”

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The Verdict: Could be massive for Leeds

This is a potentially huge boost for Leeds, as they find themselves in danger of getting sucked back into a relegation battle between themselves, Everton and Burnley.

Bamford’s finishing ability means that just one chance could be needed in one of those final two matches, should Marsch’s side still not be safe at that point.

In many ways, the hope is that Leeds have avoided relegation by then and Bamford doesn’t need to be risked, but having him in contention would feel significant, providing the Whites with proven Premier League firepower.

In other news, Hay has dropped a Leeds transfer claim. Read more here.

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…

Millwall have been dealt a huge blow in their bid to bring Ryan Porteous to The Den this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Scottish Sun, who claim that Galatasaray are preparing a £1m plus add ons offer for the Hibernian centre-back in the coming weeks, with the Turkish side boasting the advantage of offering the 22-year-old the potential of playing Champions League football next season.

Millwall have also been credited with an interest in the Scotland U21 international this summer, and were believed to have had an offer of £1m rejected for the defender back in the January transfer window.

Rowett will be gutted

With Gary Rowett looking to build on a highly impressive 2020/21 campaign with Millwall next time around, the news of Galatasaray’s interest in one of the 47-year-old’s likely summer targets will undoubtedly come as gutting news for the Lions boss.

Indeed, the £630k-rated Porteous would very much appear to be an excellent addition to the Millwall backline ahead of next season, as the youngster was one of Jack Ross’ stars last term.

Over his 34 Scottish Premiership appearances for Hibs, the £2.7k-per-week centre-back helped his side keep 11 clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.5 tackles, 1.6 interceptions and winning 6.9 duels per fixture.

These returns saw the 22-year-old earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.01, ranking him as the club’s seventh-best performer in the Scottish top-flight – playing a huge role in Hibs going on to seal a rather remarkable third-place finish in the league.

As such, if Galatasaray do indeed go on to sign the player whom Jack Ross dubbed a “brilliant” talent, it will be a huge blow for both Millwall and Rowett, as the club and manager will have to turn their attentions elsewhere in order to strengthen the Lions defence ahead of their upcoming campaign.

In other news: Rowett must sanction Millwall swoop for “highly-rated” £1.5k-p/w bargain this summer

Leeds United are in advanced talks to clinch their first signing of the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to Football Insider, Marcelo Bielsa’s side are in negotiations with Birmingham City over bringing 18-year-old starlet Amari Miller to Elland Road this summer.

The report claims that “a source has told Football Insider Leeds have moved quickly to offer a contract to Miller and the Championship side will not stand in the way of him leaving.

“Everton have also been closely monitoring the wonderkid’s situation and their talent spotters have been impressed. But the big-spending Merseysiders are now set to miss out on his signature to Leeds.”

Exciting signing for Leeds

The 5 foot 10 gem, who can play on both the right and left flanks, played five times in the Championship last season for Birmingham, and had boss Lee Bowyer raving about his ability and potential.

He said: “I want to look at Amari, I will look at him from the start of a game. He is a young lad who does well when he comes on for five-ten minutes when everyone’s tired.

“I want to look at him and see if he can start a game next season for us because he has got potential. I don’t know, this is something I have got two games to figure out because he is a good player who has got great potential. He came on against Derby again and did well.

“(He adds) Goals, assists, pace, something that we probably lack a bit is pace. He’s at that age where he is fearless. When he came on against Stoke, he got himself into an area and wasn’t afraid to go at the defender.”

That fearlessness and potential is something that will surely have Bielsa excited at the prospect of managing him, and taking him under his wing, much like he has done with some of the club’s other rising stars such as Kalvin Phillips.

The Argentine helped to turn Phillips from a promising prospect into a bonafide England international, one who is starring on the biggest stage at EURO 2020 this summer.

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While Miller has a long way to go to match those heights, Bowyer’s comments on him, and the fact he remains only 18 but is seemingly versatile enough to play on either side, makes him a very intriguing pet project for Bielsa.

The Leeds boss would surely love him at Elland Road.

Meanwhile, Leeds could land a bargain in this Premier League star…

As per Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers will demand at least £6m to part ways with Filip Helander this summer.

Gers set Helander price-tag

In recent days, Champions League chasers Leicester City, as well as Aston Villa, have been linked with a move for Gers defender Helander (Sportbladet).

As per this latest report, it has been suggested the Gers will demand at least £6m to let the Sweden international leave. That would represent a minimum 42% profit on the £3.5m they paid for him in 2019 (The Scottish Sun).

Potential bargain

This is a potential bargain for any club looking to sign the 27-year-old. Incredibly, despite this now being his second season at Ibrox, he is yet to lose a single Premiership match (Transfermarkt). Injuries have reduced him to just 29 appearances in the Scottish top flight, but that is still an impressive record.

The former Bologna centre-back has two years left on his contract at Rangers and regularly appears for his country – he has started both of Sweden’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers this month. Although he plays in Scotland, the Gers could demand considerably more than £6m for him.

As such, Ross Wilson and co should perhaps revisit this demand. If they do not, it may send the wrong message to clubs who are interested in other talents at Ibrox.

In other news, some Rangers fans react to this bizarre news on an Ibrox hero.

Celtic are thought to be weighing up summer moves for Hibernian striker Kevin Nisbet and Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Howe closing in on Celtic switch

It seems as if Eddie Howe is set to become the next permanent Celtic manager.

Reports have claimed that the 43-year-old has agreed to replace Neil Lennon at Parkhead and will be the man in charge for the 2021/22 season.

He is thought to be putting together his Celtic Park backroom staff, with some members of his team expected to come from Bournemouth, his previous employers.

It now looks as if the Hoops are already throwing possible signings in Howe’s direction ahead of a potential summer rebuild.

The Latest: Howe presented with idea of pursuing Nisbet and Hickey

The Scottish Sun understand that Howe has been presented with the idea of Celtic going after Nisbet and Hickey.

The report claims that Nisbet is rated at £3m, whereas a deal for Hickey could cost over £4m.

Both possible additions could see them become two of the club’s 30 most expensive signings of all time, with Odsonne Edouard’s £9.27m move from Paris Saint-Germain leading the way in that department.

The Verdict: Possible Edouard and Laxalt replacements?

In our opinion, the two reported targets could come in as replacements for Edouard and Diego Laxalt.

The French forward has his heart set on a Parkhead exit, regardless of who comes in as manager, with reports suggesting Leicester City are confident the King Power will be his next destination.

Nisbet has scored 18 goals in all competitions this season, two of which came against Celtic. He has plenty of experience in Scottish football so could be a wise addition to come in for Edouard.

Meanwhile, left-back Laxalt will return to AC Milan over the coming weeks following his loan spell at Parkhead.

The South American hasn’t exactly been a revelation at the Hoops, failing to cement his place in the side at the expense of Greg Taylor.

Bringing in Hickey, 18, who already has Scottish Premiership experience, could also be a smart move, but it seems as if he’ll be the more expensive of the two potential additions.

In other news: Celtic keen on versatile English ace, find out who it is here.  

Former Nottingham Forest star Nigel Jemson insists that the club need new signings before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

The Championship club have struggled immensely at the start of the season.

Under the management of Chris Hughton, they are rooted to the bottom of the Championship table and did not win any of their opening four games of the season.

They have been active in the transfer window but have yet to actually invest in a player.

Loan deals for Watford’s Philip Zinckernagel, Arsenal’s Jordi Osei-Tutu, and Manchester United’s James Garner have been struck, as has a free transfer to sign goalkeeper Ethan Horvath.

Jemson insists that Forest will need to splash the cash before Tuesday if they are to ensure that they do not spend the season struggling at the base of the table, especially given the age profile of the current squad.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “For sure, there has to be new players coming in.

“I’ll be perfectly honest, I’ll be worried if we don’t get any more signings in, about how the season will pan out. It is imperative that we get new signings in, it relieves a little bit of pressure on other people, certainly the younger players because you get new signings and it gives everyone a lift.”

Jemson played for the club between 1988 and 1991.