Gers fans rage at Scottish Cup change

Glasgow Rangers fans are far from happy after their Scottish Cup fourth round clash this weekend was moved from Saturday to Sunday.

With the Premiership already sewn up for the Gers, Steven Gerrard’s men can now concentrate on the Cup as they go in search of a domestic double. This weekend, they face Celtic in what is likely to be their most demanding test in the competition – if they progress, they will be confident of lifting the trophy at Hampden Park.

The match was set to be played on Saturday at 3 pm, but due to the funeral of His Royal Majesty Prince Phillip, the match will now be played on Sunday at the same time. While Rangers are generally staunch supporters of the monarchy (The Athletic), many are frustrated the match has been moved a whole 24 hours rather than just played at a later time on the same day.

The news was shared on Twitter by Rangers’ official account, and the fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say below

“This is farcical. Whats it gettin changed to tmr?”

Credit: @thecollectorpro

“Outrageous man”

Credit: @ZakWinning5

“Ruined my day Mr rangers”

Credit: @Lewis72_

“Missing the game as I agreed to work Sunday disgusting”

Credit: @Seanmcgowan1992

“That’s me sacked on Monday, thanks for ruining my life”

Credit: @Faz_50

“Rediculous could had us saturday at different time”

Credit: @Missyplt38

In other news, Paddy Kenny has urged Rangers to consider the sale of this man.

Aston Villa: Club keen on Szalai

Aston Villa are reportedly keen on signing Fenerbahce’s Attila Szalai in the summer.

That’s according to Hungarian outlet Blikk, relayed by Birmingham Live, who suggest that Dean Smith’s side have joined Lazio, Leicester City, Napoli and Newcastle United in the race for the 23-year-old.

Szalai, mainly a centre-back, can also turn out as a left-back. He has 11 caps for Hungary and has an asking price of £21.5m.

He only made the move to Fenerbahce back in January but it seems as if he may well be on the move again in 2021 with interest mounting.

Transfer Tavern take

The links to Szalai have come out of nowhere. An Aston Villa source recently suggested to Football Insider that the club are prioritising attacking reinforcements this summer, with two wide additions high on the club’s agenda.

There’s no sign of a defender being brought in, but it seems as if the club are keeping tabs on Szalai if reports in his homeland are to be believed.

Should a deal go through at the reported asking price, he would become the club’s third most expensive signing of all-time behind Ollie Watkins and Wesley.

Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa have been regulars at Villa Park this season, with Kortney Hause and Bjorn Engels not getting a look in.

Szalai could potentially provide a higher level of competition to Mings and Konsa, while also providing cover for Matt Targett at left-back.

In other news: Source shares major news on Jack Grealish’s Aston Villa release clause, find out more here.

Newcastle ‘make contact’ over Nuno Tavares

Newcastle United have approached Benfica to sound out the possibility of a move for 21-year-old left-back Nuno Tavares this summer, according to Portuguese outlet Record.

If the signals are positive, the report claimed that Newcastle could soon progress to the bidding stage, with Burnley and Napoli also named as interested parties.

Tavares has an €88m (£76m) release clause in his contract at the Estadio da Luz but the club are apparently open to a €30m (£25.9m) sale.

How has Nuno Tavares done at Benfica this season?

The Portuguese defender should be viewed as a star of the future. He has been eased into the Benfica first team, starting only five Liga NOS matches this season and making a further six appearances off the bench.

He was also handed a five-minute runout in the second leg of their Europa League defeat to Arsenal last month.

According to WhoScored, Tavares excels at crossing, chance creation and blocking the ball.

He has been labelled ‘one of the fastest players in the whole Portuguese league’ and is tipped to go on to become one of the best in Europe (via talkSPORT).

Intriguingly, Benfica have been linked with Wolves’ Ruben Vinagre, who is only a year older than Tavares. If they can strike that deal, then they may not stand in his way.

Transfer Tavern verdict

Tavares looks an excellent prospect, and £25.9m sounds like a more than reasonable fee. However, it’s difficult to see Newcastle shelling out that much on a left-back, particularly if Mike Ashley remains in his post.

A return for Jetro Willems, valued at a mere £2.7m by Transfermarkt, might be more realistic given the soundbytes of austerity in recent months surrounding Newcastle’s transfer budget.

In other news, a football finance expert has offered his verdict on the 1892 Pledge.

Gers fans react to Commons comments

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting to comments from Kris Commons following the Gers’ victory in the Old Firm derby on Sunday.

The Gers progressed to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals last weekend as they beat their Glasgow rivals 2-0 at Ibrox, with Steven Davis and a Jonjoe Kenny own goal seeing them through. The 55-time Scottish champions will now face St Johnstone in the quarter-finals as they attempt to secure a domestic double – they will feel confident of doing just that after this latest victory.

Nathan Patterson was included in the starting line-up by Steven Gerrard, despite him waiting to learn whether his six-game ban for breaking lockdown regulations will be reduced on appeal (The Scottish Sun). Commons, who formerly played for the Gers’ arch-rivals Celtic, is livid that the 19-year-old was allowed to play against the Hoops, and he believes the Gers have played the system.

The comments were shared on Twitter by the Daily Record’s official account, and they attracted plenty of attention from Gers supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the comments from Commons below

“Dry your eyes I reckon every club in the world will work the system. Just a bitter wee man”

Credit: @jon01389985

“Didn’t they do it last season with Brown knowing he would be banned either way. A lot of pain flying about.”

Credit: @Sibs2012

“Oh the hurt”

Credit: @Truetha14526549

“Played what system? Can someone explain why he should receive a ban at all? After all, what other player (outside of Rangers that is) has had to serve a ban for this? I’m genuinely stumped. There might have been but I don’t know any.”

Credit: @steviebronco1

The system is in place, Rangers have done everything within the rules, The SFA system is flawed. Someone get poor @kcommons15 a hanky.”

Credit: @Ross1Kenny

“The same Commons who told us we’d need £100m to catch Celtic and we’ve done it with a rookie 19 y/o full back … more tears please”

Credit: @1872Smurf

In other news, find out why Davie Provan slammed one Rangers player.

Johnson must unleash Hawkes

Having seen him impress for Sunderland’s U23 side so far this season, Lee Johnson should unleash Josh Hawkes over the coming weeks in a bid to help his side secure promotion from League One.

Having joined Sunderland from Hartlepool United last summer – a club where the attacking midfielder scored 13 goals and registered one assist over 63 appearances – Hawkes has so far made just one appearance for Johnson’s first team, with the 22-year-old playing the full 90 of the club’s 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood Town in the EFL Trophy back in November.

However, over his 17 Premier League 2 appearances for Elliott Dickman’s Sunderland U23 team, Hawkes has been in sensational form, bagging 11 goals and providing five assists for the development side.

And, in a recent interview with Football Insider, Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips discussed his admiration for the youngster, stating his excitement at the potential Hawkes appears to possess, as well as calling for Johnson to involve the midfielder in the first team setup going forwards.

He said: “He is at the perfect age to come into the first team. Only Lee Johnson can make that decision but I would expect him to be involved next season. They need to start blooding these young talented players.

“His numbers for the U23s speak for themselves and I am sure he has the potential to make an impact next year. I am sure he is being talked about in meetings at the training ground.”

Indeed, with Sunderland’s form having tailed off dramatically in recent weeks, there would appear to be no better time to inject a shot of youth into the team, as Hawkes clearly has the ability to influence games in terms of both scoring and creating chances, something which could prove the difference for Sunderland in the dying moments of matches where they have been struggling to break an opponent down.

This has been the case for the Black Cats in all of their last six fixtures, as, despite dominating against Peterborough United, Charlton Athletic, Wigan Athletic, Blackpool, Hull City and Accrington Stanley, Sunderland have managed to pick up just three points.

And, with Johnson’s side sitting comfortably in the play-off positions with three fixtures of the regular season to go, the 39-year-old has a very clear opportunity to afford Hawkes some minutes ahead of their play-off fixtures, as he could be a game-changer in those crucial matches.

In other news: Move over Sanderson: SAFC could save millions by unleashing “lovely” rarely-seen beast – opinion

Pundit discusses Leeds’ move for Tagliafico

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish believes that Nicolas Tagliafico is a player who could help take Leeds United up another level.

Marcelo Bielsa may be looking for reinforcements all over the pitch this summer, but left-back would appear to be a priority position. With Ezgjan Alioski expected to move on to pastures new, an experienced campaigner to replace him is of the utmost importance for Leeds.

Tagliafico has emerged as a prime candidate to move to Elland Road, having enjoyed a successful spell at Ajax which has brought with it two Eredivisie titles.

McLeish talks up Leeds’ move for Tagliafico

Speaking to Football Insider, McLeish explained why he thinks the 28-year-old would be a shrewd addition if Leeds bring him to Elland Road, saying:

“Alioski has not really done anything wrong. He’s been shifted into left back, he’s usually a forward player and did well in those areas when coming from midfield.

“You have to give him credit but for any team to look at going forward they need to look at which positions they can improve.

“With Alioski not being a natural left back, you think Leeds would be looking at somebody like Tagliafico.

“It makes sense, Leeds want to get to the next level and to do that they need to get more quality in.”

Transfer Tavern take

In truth, it is hard to find too many negatives with regards to Leeds signing Tagliafico, with the left-back possessing a perfect mix of experience and quality. He knows how to win trophies and is an established Champions League competitor, while 27 caps for Argentina also speaks volumes about his pedigree, with four of those coming at the 2018 World Cup.

At 28, he isn’t a player who would be arriving in the twilight of his career either, with several more years at the top to be expected. Plus, his defensive numbers this season are strong, averaging 2.1 successful aerial duels, two successful tackles and 1.9 interceptions per league game – each of those compares quite favourably with the figures posted by Leeds’ current squad.

Therefore, McLeish is right to talk up the Whites’ transfer links with Tagliafico.

In other news, a pundit has made a big claim about one Leeds player’s future. Find out who it is here.

Ex-Norwich man makes Buendia transfer claim

Former Norwich City star Jon Newsome has told The Transfer Tavern that it would take an astronomical fee for a club to buy Emiliano Buendia this summer.

The Canaries star has been instrumental in helping Daniel Farke’s side win the Championship title at a canter this season.

In total, the Argentine has scored 14 goals and registered 17 assists in all competitions, with every strike coming in 38 league outings this term.

A tricky, jinking right winger, Buendia has been linked with a number of clubs ahead of the transfer window.

Aston Villa are chief amongst them, with Buendia potentially identified as a replacement for Jack Grealish who has been linked with Manchester City.

Newsome, though, doubts that there will be a situation where Villa are on the lookout for a replacement for the England international, purely due to the huge fees likely to be involved.

Grealish could cost, per one report, as much as £100m.

And Newsome told TT: “They’re talking about him maybe being a replacement for Jack Grealish so what’s it going to take to get Jack Grealish out of Aston Villa? It’s going to be a monumental sum.

“So then that maybe gets passed down but if you’re the owner or Stuart Webber at Norwich, to entice you to let Buendia leave the football club, again, would have to be a monumental sum.”

Sterling blew his CL final chance vs NUFC

Manchester City edged an exciting contest as they beat Newcastle United 4-3 at St James’ Park on Friday evening, with a goal from Joao Cancelo and a hattrick from Ferran Torres sealing the win for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Despite a dominant start, Emil Krafth headed Steve Bruce’s side in front from a corner, before Cancelo’s deflected strike brought City level.

Torres put the Citizens in front with a superb flick from Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick but it would be 2-2 just before half-time, as Joelinton smashed a penalty past City debutant Scott Carson.

Another penalty in the second half put the hosts back ahead, as Joe Willock scored the rebound after Carson had saved his initial shot but a quickfire double from Torres sealed his hattrick and was enough to seal the win for Guardiola’s side.

Although City produced some superb attacking play at St James’ Park, one man who was barely involved and struggled throughout the game was Raheem Sterling.

As per SofaScore, the England international would earn a disappointing 6.3/10 rating for his performance, which was the worst of any City player to feature in the game.

Despite Guardiola’s side having nearly all of the possession on Friday evening, Sterling was seemingly doing his best to lose it, as he would concede possession on 20 occasions during the game, which was the most of any City player.

The former Liverpool man had no shots, would complete just two out of six of his dribbles and managed just one key pass during the game, which is below his Premier League average of 2.3 shots, 2.2 dribbles and 1.2 key passes per game this season.

The “special” 26-year-old was regularly pushed off the ball and didn’t look up for the game, as he won just 4/14 of his duels at St James’ Park, which is a disappointment for someone who should be pushing for a starting spot ahead of the Champions League final later this month.

Certainly, when you consider the excellent performance from Torres, as well as the impressive recent displays of Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez, it now seems extremely unlikely that Sterling will start the game against Chelsea, and he has likely blown his last chance to impress Guardiola before the final.

And, in other news… Man City set for huge boost with “fantastic” beast, Pep surely buzzing

Forest must axe quartet this summer

Chris Hughton is planning to offload four Nottingham Forest player this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Telegraph, who claim that Harry Arter, Fouad Bachirou, Carl Jenkinson and Gaetan Bong have all been informed that they have no futures at the City Ground.

Marinakis must sell

Nottingham Forest have had something of a campaign to forget in the Championship this season, with the Reds finishing in a lowly 17th place in the second-tier standings.

As such, Hughton has a big summer ahead of him if he is to steer the Garibaldi back towards the play-off positions next term, and shifting a number of the club’s deadwood is the perfect place to start.

Arter joined Forest in a £4.95 million deal from AFC Bournemouth last summer, with the 31-year-old being handed a three-year deal on a reported £20,000-per-week.

However, the £2.7 million-rated Republic of Ireland international made just 13 Championship appearances for the Reds this season, over which he averaged a rather disappointing Sofascore match rating of 6.79.

Bong also made the move to the City Ground in 2020, however, the left-back was a £450,000 signing in the January transfer window, with the 33-year-old being given a two-and-a-half-year deal on a reported £18,000-per-week.

The £450,000-rated defender went on to make just 10 league appearances for Hughton’s side this term, over which he too averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.79.

Fouad Bachirou was also a recent recruit, making a £603,000 move from Malmo FF last summer when he was handed a two-year deal on a reported £18,000-per-week, with the £540,000-rated 30-year-old going on to make just one Championship appearance for the Garibaldi this season.

Finally, Jenkinson was a £1.98 million signing from Arsenal back in the summer of 2019, when the right-back was given a three-year deal on a reported £27,000-per-week, however, the £810,000-rated 29-year-old featured in just three league games for Nottingham Forest this term.

As such, considering how sparingly all four of these players were used by Hughton this season, in addition to the whopping £83,000 a week that Forest reportedly spend on the foursome, Evangelos Marinakis is right to be doing all he can to move these players on this summer, as getting them off the payroll will allow his 62-year-old manager a more significant wage budget to work with, as well as whatever money is received from their transfers, to help rebuild his squad ahead of next season.

In other news: Forest handed devastating blow over £3.6m-rated gem dubbed “one of the most talented” – opinion

Bernardo Silva was awful in defeat vs BHAFC

Manchester City fell to a 3-2 defeat on Tuesday night, with Pep Guardiola’s side blowing a 2-0 lead against the Seagulls.

Ilkay Gundogan gave the Citizens an early lead but Joao Cancelo’s early red card made things difficult for the champions at the Amex Stadium as Brighton came from behind to seal a win in front of their fans.

It had seemed as if City would be able to see out the victory when Phil Foden scored a superb solo goal to make it 2-0 but the hosts quickly got one back through Leandro Trossard, and then went on to win the game thanks to goals from Adam Webster and Dan Burn.

Although Cancelo will have to take a lot of the blame for the defeat, his red card looked to be very harsh, and at 2-0, you would’ve hoped that the City team would have enough experience and quality to see the game out, even with ten men.

Unfortunately, there were plenty of poor performers on Tuesday night, which will give Guardiola plenty to think about ahead of the Champions League final later this month.

One man who disappointed against Graham Potter’s side was Bernardo Silva, with SofaScore rating him a 5.9/10 for his performance, which was the worst of any City player to feature other than Cancelo.

During the game, the Portugal international would have just 34 touches of the ball, completing 17 passes, which was the fewest of any Man City player to play at least 45 minutes, including Ederson.

Considering he has averaged 52.8 passes per game in the Premier League this season, it was clear that he was nowhere near involved as much as usual against Brighton and clearly struggled with the intensity of playing with 10 men.

The former AS Monaco man would fail in both of his dribble attempts during the game, whilst he failed to register a single shot at the Amex.

He would also win just three of his 11 duels and would lose possession on 11 occasions against Potter’s side, which emphasises that the Brighton players simply had the better of him throughout.

The “exceptional” 26-year-old will have to produce much better if he wants to keep his place in the side for the game against Chelsea later this month.

And, in other news… Guardiola handed huge potential boost with “unbelievable” gem, City fans will be buzzing

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