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Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to name who they think should have a statue outside Selhurst Park, and they have unanimously decided on one man – Julian Speroni.The Argentine glovesman joined the Eagles in 2004, and gave the south London side a dedicated 15 years of service while breaking a number of records along the way.

Speroni featured 405 times for the club, the fourth-most appearances of any Palace player and the most for any goalkeeper in the club’s history.

The 40-year-old also kept an incredible 112 clean sheets for the south Londoners, experiencing relegation, playoff success, administration and many more ups and down throughout his decade-and-a-half in SE25 – Speroni’s career at Selhurst Park was a roller-coaster, to say the least.

He is undoubtedly a club legend, and as a result of the aforementioned accolades, it is no surprise to see that some Palace fans on Twitter think he deserves a statue.

Let’s take a look at some of the tweets…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

West Brom got back to winning ways with a 4-2 victory over Cardiff City at the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.

The three points saw them regain control at the top of the Championship, having been defeated for the first time this season at the hands of Leeds United earlier in the week.

Albion went into the break with a two-goal advantage thanks to scorchers from their enigmatic loan duo Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana before Charlie Austin finally netted his first league goal in a Baggies shirt later in the second half.

The Bluebirds found their way back into the match through substitute Danny Ward, who scored an 11-minute brace to leave the game nicely poised at 3-2 going into the dying stages, but Romaine Sawyers popped up with his maiden goal to fully secure the win with practically the last kick of the match.

Snapshot

With West Brom 3-0 up in the 73rd minute, manager Slaven Bilic decided to withdraw Matty Phillips for Filip Krovinovic, which is a move he appears to do regularly if the last couple of matches are anything to go by.

Two minutes later, it was the Cardiff sub that found the net before he clawed Neil Warnock’s side back in it with four minutes to go.

Off the Bench

Krovinovic did start their five opening matches of this campaign before being dropped for Pereira, who has now made that number ten role his own since the Blackburn Rovers victory.

But it is now the fifth time in six matches that the Croatian has decided to introduce his fellow countryman as a substitute.

Looking at his performances in the handful of matches, it’s not entirely clear why he does it – the 24-year-old’s best showing was against Blackburn, where he managed a rating of 6.37 after recording two shots in just 13 minutes.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

More recently, at Leeds, his introduction put a stop to any chance of Albion salvaging a result as the man he replaced, Phillips, looked to be the most dangerous man in a Baggies shirt.

Then at the weekend, the midfielder again replaced the Scot with it coinciding with Cardiff’s comeback.

There just wasn’t any need for the playmaker to come on, especially as Pereira is far more a threat down the middle than out wide, and that’s where he is moved to accompany Krovinovic.

It’s just bizarre and unnecessary – unless he gets injured, just keep the Brazilian there.

Despite Manchester United experiencing their worst start to a league season for over 30 years, ESPN pundits Craig Burley and Steve Nicoll have refused to write off the Red Devils ahead of their Premier League clash against league leaders Liverpool.

The Merseysiders under the management of Jurgen Klopp have risen to the summit of the league table with eight wins from eight games, whilst United have won just two of their first eight league games and sit 12th in the table.

The clash at Anfield is seemingly set up for a Liverpool victory owing to the form and fitness of both squads, but in a video released by ESPN pundits Burley and Nicoll made a case for United to potentially get something out of the game at Old Trafford. 

“There’s always a chance”, said Burley, with Nicoll repeating the same sentiment.

“Look at PSG” continued Nicoll.

Although United will have an almighty task on their hands to overcome the league leaders, these pundits are clearly weighing up all options ahead of the return to top-flight football in this extended clip from ESPN.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Steve Bruce has revealed Newcastle intend to strengthen in the upcoming January transfer window.

What’s the word?

The Magpies have loosened the purse-strings over this calendar year, with the likes of Miguel Almiron and Joelinton arriving in consecutive transfer windows to club-record deals.

Now, Bruce has admitted the side still needs more additions to give it some extra quality, and pointed to both Almiron and Joelinton as examples of the kind of influences they could have.

Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said, via The Chronicle: “It’s vitally important you look to get better. In the last week it was taking stock of what has happened in the past seven weeks. In the next week in January we will look with Steve Nickson with his crew to see where we can strengthen.

“At any club you feel you can strengthen. I think we are in a position like five or six (clubs) are looking for that real bit of quality to make you better. We’ve seen Joelinton and Almiron back in January that give you that little bit of quality at the top of the pitch, they can certainly help us.”

Mid-season boost

Make no mistake about it, making a signing in the January transfer window can act as a major boost for the entire club. Newcastle’s late addition of Almiron earlier this year for a club-record fee naturally raised the excitement levels, and a similar sort of move this time around can also have the same effect for Bruce’s side.

Since their disappointing defeat to Norwich, the Magpies have been somewhat more resilient, picking up a win against Tottenham and drawing against Watford. However, the age-old concern of where their goals will come from still remains.

Joelinton’s record last season at former side Hoffenheim was less than prolific with just 11 goals in 35 games, and Almiron’s goalless start to his Tyneside career is similarly worrying. If Bruce can convince Mike Ashley to dip his hands into his pockets, then Newcastle could be set for a late Christmas present.

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Newcastle United are a bit of a mess right now.

The Magpies have been mismanaged by Mike Ashley for years, and after being beaten 5-0 by Leicester on Sunday the club are in a bad place.

Jonathan Woodgate claims Middlesbrough are a bigger club than Newcastle. Watch a Magpie fan’s hilarious response in the video below…

It’s easy to see that the Tyneside club are in a bit of trouble, and despite some players and pundits seemingly not wanting to upset the apple cart, one man who hasn’t held back with his views is Shaka Hislop.

“It’s desperate, it really is.”

The first words out of Hislop’s mouth when asked about his former team’s current situation tell you all you need to know.

Of course, he quickly pointed the blame at Mike Ashley, but unfortunately, he says that he doesn’t see where the bad times end for the Magpies.

The former goalkeeper goes on to say that relegation is a real possibility this term, and it’s hard to disagree with that sentiment after watching Steve Bruce’s side this weekend.

Recent comments by Everton winger Bernard shows just why manager Marco Silva is the right man to steer the club to better results and ultimate success.

The Brazilian revealed to Portuguese outlet Record (via the Liverpool Echo) the squad is still fully dedicated to Silva’s structures at the club and have complete confidence in his style of coaching and managing.

The former Watford manager has been under a huge amount of scrutiny since the start of the New Year, following a bad string of results.

One win in their last six matches in all competitions has seen the manager change his team in almost every encounter and their FA Cup defeat at Millwall certainly raised question marks over Silva’s capabilities as the man in charge.

But, Bernard’s comments on how Silva prepares for every match and the detail he focuses on proves why he needs a little bit more time to get the best out of the Everton players.

According to the 26-year-old, Silva is excellent in his preparation before matches and provides a lot of insight into set-pieces, an aspect of the game where the Toffees have been really poor at this season.

Patience and maybe one or two more transfer windows could finally lead to Everton achieving new heights under the Portuguese manager.

The comments by Bernard should also be encouraging to Evertonians, who might have feared that Silva had lost the dressing but that clearly isn’t the case.

The off-weekend might also have been just what the club needed to regroup and get their campaign back on track with a Premier League clash against Cardiff City at Goodison Park coming up next week.

The encounter with Neil Warnock’s men could be the ideal opportunity for Everton to hit their stride again and get an all-important win under their belt.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Lionel Messi is usually a quiet guy. Rarely would you actually see the little Argentine engage in discussions and even give interviews, attend press conferences and similar things.

But now, the 32-year-old superstar has actually done an exclusive interview with SPORT to talk about many different topics, like Neymar Junior, winning the Champions League, his wife, his role at the club and many more.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

One of the topics that was particularly interesting, however, was Ousmane Dembele, Barcelona’s 22-year-old starlet.

And while Messi did compliment his footballing skills, he also appeared to issue a warning to the Frenchman to become more professional. And he couldn’t be more right.

Here’s what he said:

“I believe he’s an impressive talent who can do whatever he wants. He is very young and I think this year will be very important for him to make the step up that the whole of the Barcelona fan base wants to see. He needs to make that change to be more professional, to put that idea into his head, so he can be a success at Barcelona like he wants to be.”

Dembele’s professionalism is actually a topic that is already widely discussed. At times, it has seemed like the youngster isn’t really taking his career seriously.

Playing video games until late hours, arriving late and even going back to his Borussia Dortmund days when he protested to get his transfer to Barcelona. All of those acts don’t really sound like those of a true professional.

And yes, Dembele is still very young so maybe people are expecting too much from him at this early stage of his career. But when Messi calls you out and urges you to change, then that definitely means that there’s something wrong with your behaviour as a whole.

Whether he likes it or not, Dembele will have to take a hard look at himself and decide whether he actually wants to make it at Barcelona or not.

The Catalans don’t wait for anyone and there’s no telling when all of this will become too tiring for them and they eventually decide to pull the plug.

For Dembele, and especially after Messi’s words, it may be now or never.

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Rangers will look to continue their unbeaten start to life under Gio van Bronckhorst as they prepare for Premiership action on Saturday.

The Gers face off against Ross County away from home in a lunchtime kick-off this weekend as they look to maintain or extend their lead at the top of the table, depending on how their Glasgow rivals get on in their match at 3pm.

Scott Arfield scored the only goal of the game as Rangers beat Livingston 1-0 in their last outing on Wednesday night, leaving them on 55 points after 22 games and four points clear of their nearest rivals.

Unleash him

One player who must be unleashed from the start on Saturday is new signing Amad Diallo. The youngster joined on loan from Manchester United this week and Van Bronckhorst has already confirmed that he is available for selection.

He said in Friday morning’s press conference: “Diallo will also be in the squad for tomorrow.

“Diallo is a young player who wants to play games, we are bringing him to our club to add value to our team. Like any other player in the squad, he has to perform to play but I am full of confidence that he will deliver.”

Instead of using him off the bench, the Dutchman must throw him in from the start in order to axe Scott Wright from the starting XI. The ex-Aberdeen man was poor against Livingston as he regularly wasted the ball in the final third, completing 0% of his dribbles and 25% of his attempted crosses.

Diallo coming in could allow Van Bronckhorst to drop Wright for this match against Ross County, with the Ivorian having the potential to be a game-changer for the Gers – that is why he must start.

Former Manchester United winger Dan James previously lauded his then-teammate as “unbelievable”, while Papu Gomez, another who played alongside the 19-year-old, once compared him to a current PSG forward, saying: “There are defenders in the first team that sometimes cannot stop him. To stop him in training, we have to kick him! He plays like Messi.”

This highlights the technical quality of the £28k-per-week Ibrox gem, which is backed up by his exceptional record at youth level. He scored six goals and provided four assists in just five games for United’s under-23s, having managed 37 goals and 24 assists in 96 appearances for Atalanta’s youth teams.

Diallo also scored once and produced one assist in nine first-team matches for the Red Devils, showing promise at the top level. This suggests that he has the potential to come in at Rangers and be a big player for Van Bronckhorst, and that could start with him being named in the starting XI against Ross County on Saturday…

AND in other news, Rangers could find Kent 2.0 with “intelligent” maestro who has a G/A every 0.95 games…

Everton are reportedly now in ‘pole position’ to land Steve Hitchen as their new Director of Football (DoF).

The Lowdown: Hitchen leaves Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur announced the exit of Technical Performance Director Hitchen on Wednesday evening, and football.london journalist Alasdair Gold revealed that he sent a heartfelt email to staff at the North London club explaining why he left.

The move was apparently due in part to the presence of new Spurs transfer guru Fabio Paratici, whose ex-Juve fingerprints are all over their deadline day moves for Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.

With the Goodison Park faithful rapidly making changes of their own, as both Marcel Brands and Rafa Benitez have already left midway through this season, Hitchen is now being eyed for a role in Merseyside.

The Latest: Everton favourites

As per The Athletic journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen is now in ‘pole position’ to land the DoF job at the Toffees following his resignation from Spurs:

“Steve Hitchen in pole position for Everton DoF job after resigning from Spurs.

“- Signed Suarez for Liverpool in 2011

– Returned to Spurs 2017, close bond with Poch

– Convinced Poch to sign Lucas Moura. Got him Ndombele

– Tried to get Poch back in 2021.”

The Verdict: Shake-up needed

With the Blues lurking just outside of the relegation zone in the Premier League and the mood around the club at an all-time low before Benitez’s exit, a real shake-up is needed on the pitch and at boardroom level.

Described as a ‘shrewd operator’ by Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen does not seem to someone that would take anything lightly at EFC, and so could be the exact kind of character that they need to come in and shake things up from the outside.

Gold has claimed that he had little involvement in the Lilywhites’ last two transfer windows, with Paratici doing most of the work. Given the north London outfit’s failures to sign both Adama Traore and Luis Diaz in January, perhaps Hitchen is someone who should have been given more trust with regards to recruitment, something Everton in particular have been heavily criticised for in recent years.

In other news, find out which seven players will miss Brentford here!

Many Wolves fans have been left fuming over some transfer news that has been shared by Scott Sellars.

Speaking about the January transfer window, the technical director at Molineux has now claimed that there will not be a large number of new signings at the Midlands club this month, and will focus on giving Bruno Lage immediate back-up in case of injuries or positive COVID-19 cases.

They will also give opportunities to those who have come back from being on loan, like Dion Sanderson.

However, the squad is not the biggest as it is, and currently riddled with injuries (Transfermarkt), meaning that the Wanderers should really be bringing in a few players in order to fill the squad and help Lage build momentum for the second part of the season.

Wolves fans on transfer news

These WWFC supporters fumed as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘shocking’:

“I’m sick of hearing this every transfer window!”

Credit: @peggyja95517835

“Terrible”

Credit: @jackhurdley_

“Shocking”

Credit: @WWFCFrevans

“Fosun out”

Credit: @Avukat__Mustafa

“Joke of a club”

Credit: @jackuwwfc

“Pathetic Jeff Shi getting his yes man to speak, we will never progress with you lot in charge!”

Credit: @WolvesBlogger1

In other news, find out what club update has Wanderers buzzing here!