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West Ham United were denied a victory by Brighton and Hove Albion late on at the London Stadium on Wednesday night, making it three games without a win in the Premier League.

The Irons took an early lead through Tomas Soucek after the towering Czech colossus headed home an inswinging corner from Pablo Fornals and they looked to be heading towards all three points until Neal Maupay bagged a sensational bicycle kick in the 89th minute.

David Moyes must now be concerned by his side’s form, having not picked up a win since their stunning 3-2 triumph of Liverpool before the international break.

Several members of his starting XI have underperformed substantially across their last three outings and it could well be time for a shake-up, and one player who has looked rather poor, particularly against the Seagulls is veteran Craig Dawson.

The 31-year-old has only been brought in due to Angelo Ogbonna’s season-ending injury blow, so it can’t be too much of a coincidence that the Hammers are winless in the Italian’s absence.

Dawson just isn’t good enough to replace him long-term and he once again proved that in front of Moyes this week.

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Per SofaScore, the former West Brom and Watford colossus was West Ham’s second lowest-rated player (6.4) and that’s hardly a surprise considering he lost a whopping 84% of his six duels. To lose four of five aerial battles is certainly shocking for a 6 foot 2 central defender.

He was at fault for the visitor’s equaliser, being too soft in allowing Maupay the time and space to pull off the spectacular, and he was lucky to have not allowed Adam Lallana to score earlier in the second half.

‘Poor on the ball,’ is how the Evening Standard’s Jack Rosser went on to describe Dawson before mentioning his two mistakes. Indeed, he made just seven passes all game, losing possession four times from his 19 touches.

The vastly-experienced defender, thought to be earning around £52k-per-week in east London, just isn’t good enough to be Moyes’ no.1 choice alongside Kurt Zouma.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that a new centre-back is said to be on the agenda this January.

AND in other news, Newman could seal bargain West Ham swoop for £12m-rated “monster” who silenced Antonio…

Flocking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans have been left talking after reliable club insider ExWHUemployee’s claim involving new shareholder Daniel Kretinsky.

The Czech billionaire recently completed his purchase of a 27% stake in West Ham, which some believe to be the first domino falling of an eventual full takeover from GSB.

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Kretinsky’s investment into the club, said to be worth over £180 million, has been tipped by reliable reports to bolster manager David Moyes’ transfer backing – even if it won’t be a lavish spending spree (Evening Standard).

As the January transfer window approaches, it will certainly be an interesting period as all eyes turn to whether Moyes will indeed see his targets come in mid-season.

ExWHUemployee, sharing news on how Kretinksy could make this happen, has now dropped a promising claim on his West Ham Way Podcast.

He claims it is said that the magnate’s investment means there will certainly be funds available for transfers – not huge amounts, but more than West Ham have dealt with in previous seasons.

West Ham fans talk…

In response, it’s safe to say many West Ham fans are overjoyed by this update whilst sharing who they’d like the club to target for Moyes.

Find all of their best verdicts down below.

“Tarkowski

COYI”

Credit: @mark9726

“Lingard is a must.”

Credit: @charlie16658058

“We are MASSIVE. We don’t even need a lot. Hlozek, Lingard and a CB would be class. Anything else is the best window ever.”

Credit: @SweeneyWestHam

“As fans this is all we’ve been asking for. Not nation-state owned amounts just reasonable investment for Moyes to take us as far as he can.”

Credit: @jjscoyi

“Lingard is happening”

Credit: @KyronWhu

“Don’t mind this cause spending loads of money isn’t always the answer imo. But spending wisely is”

Credit: @RockyWhu

“He’s loading the £300m war chest for the summer window”

Credit: @1bbyWHU

In other news: West Ham readying offer to sign 33-cap World Cup ace as Newman sets sights on brand new target, find out more here.

Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge has claimed that Jack Clarke will not make it at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Clarke failing to make an impact

The 20-year-old made the move to Spurs from Leeds United in the summer of 2019 when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge, but he has so far struggled to make an impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

He has made just four appearances for the north Londoners (Transfermarkt), with him leaving the club to move on loan to Queen’s Park Rangers and Stoke City since that 2019 transfer, and even all four of those were as a substitute (Transfermarkt).

The Latest: Bridge sees no future for Clarke at Spurs

Although Clarke is still just 20, Bridge believes that he has no future at Spurs. The journalist told Give Me Sport:

“Even Leeds fans found it odd and then when he was loaned back Leeds fans were saying to me, they didn’t want him back.

“He didn’t get back into their team, so that was a season wasted for him. He’s had a lot of problems.

“He looks skinny to me, he hasn’t really bulked, he’s playing in the Under-23s, he’s never on the bench for the first-team.

“There becomes a time when they have to say, well have to sell him, he’s not going to make it at Spurs.”

The Verdict: Big improvement needed soon

With just those four appearances to his name, it could be argued Clarke has not been given a chance to really show his ability at Spurs. There has not been too much indication during his loan spells that he has what it takes to make it at the highest level, even if his former Stoke boss Michael O’Neill said that the 20-year-old has “great quality” (via Stoke Sentinel).

If Clarke is to make a telling contribution at Tottenham, he must do so quickly. At 20, it’s not as if his whole career is over, but you would have hoped for him to have done more than he has so far. The next 18 months could well decide whether it will ever happen for him at Spurs, with none of Pochettino, Jose Mourinho or thus far Nuno Espirito Santo putting much trust in him.

In other news, this man wants to leave Tottenham.

Flocking to social media, many Liverpool fans have erupted as reliable reporter Fabrizio Romano shares a message surrounding target Jude Bellingham (Twitter).

Jurgen Klopp’s side have started the 2021/2022 season in fine form and are well in contention to grab the Premier League title back off current champions Manchester City.

The Reds suffered their fair share of injury woes combined with poor form last year but they have begun their road to redemption in electric fashion this time round.

Scoring 37 goals in all competitions already this season, their last Premier League outing, in which they thrashed bitter rivals Man United 5-0 at Old Trafford, only sums up their current run of form.

However, as the Reds set one eye on the future, reliable reporter Romano has shared a message on Twitter from Borussia Dortmund head of first team Sebastian Kehl.

It concerns Bellingham, who has reportedly been at the centre of interest from FSG, with it looking like Kehl has now confirmed those reports.

He explained to Sport 1 (via Romano): “There’s lot of interest around Jude Bellingham, not only Liverpool. But there is no bottom line and no exit clause. He is loved, he enjoys that. There are no signs he could leave BVB soon.”

Flocking to what one fan has called ‘interesting’ news, many Reds supporters have erupted on Twitter.

Find all of their best verdicts down below.

Liverpool fans flock to Bellingham news…

“He’s ours”

Credit: @tylfc1

“Named us directly, hmm interesting.”

Credit: @AllezAllezAllez

“So we are actually interested then till they tell us the price tag no doubt”

Credit: @DylanR777

“Liverpool in January”

Credit: @BigLad1080

“Yes finally fabrizio confirmed”

Credit: @Ata95436042

“Bellingham will play for Liverpool either this year or next year”

Credit: @JordanDelurey

“If we win the title or champs league again and we want him I think he comes to Liverpool”

Credit: @1969_lfc

“Mad so we actually are interested”

Credit: @lfcrobbie

National cricketing bodies, not players, will be to blame if cricketers follow Chris Gayle’s intended path and choose Twenty20 cricket over Tests, according to West Indies Players Association boss Dinanath Ramnarine

Alex Brown13-May-2009

National cricketing bodies, not players, will be to blame if cricketers follow Chris Gayle’s intended path and choose Twenty20 cricket over Tests, according to West Indies Players Association boss Dinanath Ramnarine. Gayle’s admission yesterday that his days in Test cricket were numbered did not surprise Ramnarine, who believes the relentless scheduling by money-hungry boards will force an increasing number of players to choose one form of the game.”I think something like [Gayle’s situation] is going to basically find itself happening to all other players,” Ramnarine told Cricinfo. “The shorter form of the game is far more lucrative than the longer version of the game. At the end of the day, as an international player, you have a certain timeframe in which you play cricket. People have their families that they would like to spend time with, but you’re playing cricket 12 months of the year. A decision like this is no different to making a decision in a firm, as to where you work.”A few years ago cricket was seasonal … it’s full-time now. Players’ careers are shorter. What’s going to happen is players are going to choose. I don’t think this is just a message for Chris alone. The ICC and the governing bodies must recognise that there needs to be a structure and they can’t be the ones who are just concerned with making as much money as possible. It is easy for the cricketers to get chastised by the media and everybody else … but one thing you don’t hear is what the governing bodies have earned. The West Indies Cricket Board did not draw up this series because it’s something that we want to go on. It’s a commercial deal.”Ramnarine confirmed West Indies players were “disappointed” with the decision of their board to schedule the current tour of England outside the Future Tours Programme and in direct conflict with the IPL. The series was arranged only after Sri Lanka announced its withdrawal to allow its cricketers to participate in the lucrative Twenty20 league, and greatly reduced the earning potential of players such as Gayle, who themselves hold sizeable IPL contracts.”It is very unfortunate because it was important for players to plan ahead, and part of our MOU requires us and the board to agree this annual schedule of cricket, and the England tour was not part of the annual schedule of cricket,” Ramnarine said. “Players have found themselves in a very difficult position. Once the board and players make unilateral decisions, then we’re going to find ourselves in trouble. I’m afraid this is the situation we are facing here today.”At the end of the day, we want to be able to protect the game of international cricket. What we do have an issue with is these make-up series. This is done purely on a commercial basis between the boards. So the players had made arrangements to participate in different competitions. It comes back to the point of a lack of dialogue and not honouring the agreement I mentioned that the WICB and WIPA have signed on as to how we would treat each other.”Ramnarine refused to be drawn on Gayle’s comments until he had spoken personally with the West Indian captain. The union chief did, however, comment on the curious case of Dwayne Bravo, who was stood down from the Test series on medical grounds, but cleared to play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.”To the best of my knowledge … the board accepted the advice of the medical panel not to rush [Bravo] back into Test cricket,” he said. “That is the best information I have.”

Derby County have been warned about the possibility of losing Louie Sibley in the January transfer window.

What’s been said?

In a recent interview with Football Insider, former Derby coach Kevin Phillips stated his belief that Leeds United could look to take advantage of the Rams’ perilous financial situation in the winter window, by submitting an offer for the Premier League side’s reported long-term target, Louie Sibley.

In his comments, Phillips said: “Unfortunately, when someone is having a tough time there are always predators waiting to jump and take advantage of the situation.

“There is an opportunity now for clubs to sign the good players Derby have got for next to nothing. There will probably be some daft offers going in. Derby will need the money unless they find a buyer by then.

“It’s another opportunity for Leeds to sign Louie Sibley. I know him very well and let me tell you he’d be a brilliant signing for them.”

Rooney would be gutted

While Sibley has not exactly been in the best of form for Derby so far this season, with the 20-year-old having scored no goals nor registered any assists over his nine Championship appearances, as well as averaging an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.48, the midfielder demonstrated back in the Rams’ 2019/20 campaign the sheer amount of talent he truly possesses.

Indeed, over just 11 Championship appearances that term, the £2.7m-rated man scored five goals, registered two assists and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 0.7 key passes per game.

These returns saw the £1.5k-per-week youngster earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.89, ranking him as Derby’s joint eighth-best performer in the second tier that season.

As such, should Phillips indeed be correct in his prediction that the Rams could be forced into selling the England U20 international for a nominal fee this January in order to help balance the club’s books, it would undoubtedly be a deal that would leave Wayne Rooney gutted, as losing the midfielder would only make the 35-year-old manager’s already near-impossible task of keeping Derby in the Championship more difficult.

In other news: Alan Nixon drops promising Derby County takeover claim, Rams fans will be buzzing

Many Everton fans are livid with the club’s transfer dealings after Seamus Coleman picked up an injury while away with Republic of Ireland on international duty.

The Toffees brought in four new players during the summer transfer window – Demarai Gray, Andros Townsend, Asmir Begovic and Salomon Rondon were the faces to make the move to Goodison Park. However, given Coleman’s previously known injury issues (Transfemarkt), it was a surprise the Merseyside outfit did not look to bring in another right-back, where Jonjoe Kenny is the only natural backup to the Irishman.

Rafael Benitez has been left in a potentially difficult position after what occurred during the international break. Coleman was in action for Ireland against Azerbaijan in World Cup qualifying on Saturday, but the 32-year-old picked up an issue and may now be a doubt for Everton’s clash against Burnley this weekend.

Unsurprisingly, many of the club’s supporters are fuming with Marcel Brands and the Toffees’ board for failing to bring in another right-back.

The fans took to social media platform Twitter to share their anger over the state of affairs.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Coleman’s injury

“So Coleman gets injured and Everton didn’t buy the replacement. Clowns”

Credit: @beachy4579

“7 windows of incompetence by Brands”

Credit: @ste50efc

“All of a sudden I’m less confident about upcoming games…”

Credit: @shaun00012

“The club is an absolute joke – nailed on he’d get injured sooner rather than later”

Credit: @StevenRoche2

“You could write this at 22:55 on transfer deadline day. We’re Everton, make ludicrous and costly decisions & still cannot run a business no matter which multimillionaires are involved. I’ve been disgusted like never before the last few months.”

Credit: @KingMantisBand

“Well done Brands , Not signing a quality backup for Coleman is the latest in a whole string of bad judgement calls by Brands @everton. We need to give JJ his chance if our captain is out for a while. In our badly depleted squad. Anyone else wants Brands’ head.”

Credit: @chloewil82

In other news, this man spoke to Everton about a potential transfer.

Speaking to Football Insider, BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Alan Hutton has been left in disbelief at something Fabio Paratici has been doing at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Paratici cooking…

It’s safe to say the Paratici era at Spurs is well and truly underway and his first transfer window arguably went smoothly, albeit not exactly mind blowing.

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The Italian transfer chief managed to shift plenty of deadwood, freeing up some much-needed salary space, whilst making shrewd signings in promising starlets Bryan Gil and Pape Matar Sarr.

In terms of more senior first-teamers, 2020/2021 Serie A MVP award-winner Cristian Romero comes in as a hopeful solution to Tottenham’s long-time central defensive issues and Pierluigi Gollini adds some steel between the sticks.

Spurs also snapped up exciting full-back Emerson Royal from Barcelona.

Paratici has been a busy man at Spurs, with former Lilywhites defender Hutton in disbelief at something else he has been doing.

The Latest: Hutton can’t believe Paratici habit at Spurs…

Speaking to Football Insider, the BBC Radio 5 Live pundit and ex-Scotland international has been left baffled by his decision to sit in the dug-out with Tottenham players during Premier League matches so far this season.

Both the 49-year-old and fellow club chief Steve Hitchen have been present in the technical area for Spurs’ last two home matches in the English top flight, something which is said to unsettle some Lilywhites players according to The Sun.

Giving his take, Hutton is in full agreement that this practice is ‘strange’.

“That’s a strange one – I’ve never seen that before,” he explained.

“You don’t see Daniel Levy down there sitting next to the manager.

“I know the manager and the director of football have to have a good working relationship, but when it comes to game day and matters on the field – it’s all about the manager and the players.

“I don’t think the director of football has to be anywhere near that.

“He’s done his job with the recruitment; he doesn’t have to be down there.

“If I was sitting there and the director of football was sat next to me – that would feel a little bit strange.”

The Verdict: Unneccessary?

While it is fairly entertaining as a bystander getting to watch the enigmatic Paratici and co in the dugout with Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad, if it makes players uncomfortable, the former Juventus transfer guru should return upstairs.

The last thing Nuno needs as he aims to nurture Tottenham’s steady momentum is needless disruption, especially from the club’s managing director of all people.

In other news: ‘So excited’, ‘Start him vs Palace’…Many Spurs fans wowed by another ‘generational’ talent, find out more here.

Rangers’ signing of John Lundstram could prove to be a masterclass, with the midfielder already regarded as one of the most valuable players in Steven Gerrard’s squad at Ibrox.

The former Sheffield United man joined the Gers on a free transfer during the summer transfer window, despite the interest of several Premier League clubs.

Gerrard and Ross Wilson were able to convince the Englishman that a move to Ibrox was the right thing for his career, despite Rangers likely offering less in terms of wages than any Premier League suitors could have offered.

The 27-year-old has had a mixed start to his Rangers career, scoring impressively in the 5-0 win against Dunfermline but receiving a red card in the 1-0 win against Alashkert in the Europa League playoff fixture.

However, if he can rediscover the sort of form he showed with Sheffield United in the 2019/20 season in the Premier League, when he contributed five goals and three assists in 34 appearances for the Blades, he will surely prove to be a hit at Ibrox in the near future.

Regardless of whether he does well on the pitch, signing the 27-year-old seems to have been a very smart piece of business by Wilson from a financial perspective.

According to Transfermarkt, Lundstram is currently valued at £6.3m, the fifth-highest of any player in Gerrard’s squad, with only Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, James Tavernier and Connor Goldson valued higher.

The midfielder is contracted at Ibrox until 2024 so if there is any interest in signing him in the next few years, Rangers look set to make a significant profit on him.

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Therefore, you can definitely argue that it was something of a masterclass by Wilson to bring Lundstram to Ibrox, and if his performances on the pitch can improve throughout the season, his market value is surely going to increase further.

In other news… Rangers missed out on 36 G/A gem who Gerrard would’ve loved

Sourav Ganguly has said he believes people outside the team poisoned Greg Chappell against him, leading to his removal from the captaincy and, for a while, from the team. Ganguly, who will bow out after the Nagpur Test against Australia, said he would not have been in the team for the current Test series against Australia if the “old selection committee had stayed” and that he would have “thought differently” about his retirement had he still been playing one-day cricket.”The thing that hurt me the most, in my whole career, was that public email he [Chappell] sent – what was written in it and the tone in which it was written,” he told the . “It was very upsetting, and I found it strange because I didn’t think we’d spent enough time together in the team for him to form such a strong opinion about me. I’m convinced that some people had poisoned him against me.”Asked whether they were people in the team, he said, “No, outside the team.’The email was subsequently leaked to the media and Ganguly was out of the team till he staged a comeback late in 2006.Chappell was appointed as coach with the backing of Ganguly, then India captain. “I’d discussed my batting with him a couple of times and he’d been very helpful. Most of the others wanted [Tom] Moody but I pushed for Chappell. You could say it was my biggest mistake, but I had the best for Indian cricket at heart. People joke with me that I was to blame for getting them stuck with him.”Ganguly suggested he might have continued for longer if he was still a part of India’s ODI team. “I’m sure it’s [retirement] never easy for anyone,” he said. “But there were a lot of factors. I’d been left out of the Irani team, and I’d been out of the one-day side for a while. The fact that I wasn’t playing ODIs played a big part. If I’d been playing in both forms of the game, perhaps I would’ve thought differently. I always wanted to leave on a high. There is no point being pushed around, dragging on for the last few years when nobody wants you.”Ganguly, however, said he still had “great respect” for Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the previous selection committee. “If he hadn’t been the chief selector, I would’ve never made a comeback in 2006 [in South Africa]. I may not have agreed with his dropping me from the one-day team and the Irani, but that’s okay.”Ganguly felt his fielding was the reason that cost him a place in the ODI team; he was dropped for the CB Series in Australia earlier this year. “I did think I should have played one-day cricket for longer. I was included in only some 30-odd matches in the last three years. In no other country can a player who’s scored 12,000 runs in his career be used so sparingly.”I believe it had to do with my fielding, and because they wanted to build a team for the 2011 World Cup. I didn’t think I’d be around for that long, so I knew my one-day career was over after being left out for the Australia series.”