Tag Futebol

Graham Roberts is hopeful that Joe Hart gets a good move if he leaves Tottenham, but has surprisingly questioned whether the 34-year-old would be Celtic’s first-choice should he joins the Glasgow giants.

Signed by Jose Mourinho 12 months ago, Hart was Hugo Lloris’ back-up last season, making 10 appearances in the Europe League and Carabao Cup.

However, the arrival of Pierluigi Gollini on loan from Atalanta looks to have marked the end of Hart’s short spell in north London, with the prospect of becoming third-choice an uninspiring one.

With that in mind, according to Fabrizio Romano, the former Manchester City stopper is already planning his next move, with talks with Celtic already underway.

The Hoops already have two senior goalkeepers in Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas, although neither seem up for the challenge to become number one, with the latter making a costly error against Midtjylland in the Champions League last week.

Hart, who’s played 340 times in the Premier League, has endured a tricky few seasons, but should have enough to cope with the level in Scotland.

Roberts exclusively told Football FanCast:

“I like Joe, I think he’s done really well at the club, but I don’t think he put enough pressure on [Hugo] Lloris.

“I hope Joe gets a good club. If he goes to Celtic, will he play? I’m not sure, but he needs to find a club where he will play.”

Many Liverpool fans have been left fuming as a transfer update emerged on Nabil Fekir.

As per a report from earlier on in the week by El Gol Digital, which has since been shared by LFC Transfer Room on their Twitter page, the Anfield faithful are ‘best positioned’ ahead of both Everton and Arsenal to sign the Real Betis ace in the summer window, and he could be sold for a fee in the region of €40m (£34.3m).

Fekir was close to signing for Jurgen Klopp’s team back in 2018 as a potential replacement for Philippe Coutinho, but after a dragged-out transfer saga a deal never materialised.

It seems as if several Reds supporters do not want a repeat of what happened then, and even so, Fekir, a central attacking midfield player by trade, would not really fit into Klopp’s preferred 4-3-3 formation.

Liverpool fans on Fekir transfer update

These Kopites fumed as the transfer update was shared on Twitter, with one LFC supporter even going as far as to claim that it was a ‘joke’:

“Are you having a laugh?”

Credit: @61Zaqir

“OK that’s it. I’m tuning out of LFC transfer Twitter until the first day of the new season. Nabil Fekir”

Credit: @Byrnish1981

“Out of all the rumours, this is by far the worst.”

Credit: @vdm1_

“Tell me this is a joke..am I in a time warp?…. YNWA”

Credit: @RedStew08

“Well and truly silly season.”

Credit: @keswickbro

“Nah he’s been trash gimme Coutinho”

Credit: @LfcBackupLa

In other news, find out what transfer update has Reds buzzing here!

The international season is in full swing now, and straight after that great win by England at Edgbaston, they are in action again at Old Trafford

Phil Tufnell12-Jun-2002The international season is in full swing now, and straight after that great win by England at Edgbaston, they are in action again at Old Trafford. No wonder there’s little time for the regulars to get involved in county cricket any more. Not that it affects us at Middlesex just now because we’re not blessed with anyone in the England team.I thought it was a top performance by the lads at Edgbaston. They did absolutely everything that was asked of them to go one-nil up in the series. Andrew Caddick and Matthew Hoggard setting it up with the ball, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher doing what was required with the bat – well played the lefties – and that was that. Simple game, cricket, when you stick a big score on the board and bowl the other side out twice cheaply!It might have been a bit of a lack-lustre performance at Lord’s, but in Birmingham it was a good comeback. They got stuck in and did the business. It’s got to boost the confidence going to Old Trafford with a draw or a win in their sights to take the series.Talking of confidence, I was interested to come across the fact that Matthew Hoggard had a long chat with the captain just before the Test – admitting that he was suffering some sort of crisis of confidence. I don’t think people realise that bowlers can suffer in that way. As always in this game, the attention is on the batsmen. If the poor dears are not in top nick, everyone rallies round to get them through it. Don’t forget that bowlers need confidence too and it’s not just a case of running up, letting go of the thing and expecting wickets to fall.Sometimes you get on flat wickets, like Lord’s was, and you’re feeling good. Then you go out there and they get a load of runs against you and you wonder how you’re ever going to get any success again. It happens, and when those days do come along all you can do is put it in good areas (even if the batsman then hits the thing out of that area – sometimes even out of the district!), it’s coming out well but it’s just one of those days. That’s when you have to believe in your own ability in the knowledge that when it is your day, you have to make the most of it and pick up your wickets.It happens with the batsmen too. You are hitting the ball well – I’m led to believe – and yet you get out. Then one day you get a scratchy fifty and off you go again. These crises of confidence do come along and it’s a question of how you deal with them. Your team-mates, the captain and the coaching staff have to say “We believe in you; you believe in yourself.”It will be interesting to see how the wicket plays over five days at Old Trafford. It’s Muralitharan’s adopted home ground, but I’m sure they won’t prepare a big turner for him. I reckon it will be fairly flat with a bit of bounce and a bit of pace. England’s job? That’s easy. Keep the same disciplines we had at Edgbaston with some good, steady cricket. Get runs on the board in the first innings and bowl one side of the wicket. If the win comes along, that’s great. We win the series two-nil. If it doesn’t because there’s a bit of rain around, well, let’s make sure we nick the draw and still win the series.One thing I would say to the bowlers. If the wicket turns out to be a really flat one and you’re hot and bothered because a few decisions haven’t gone your way and you’ve been flayed round the park, don’t snatch your cap from the umpire after you’ve bowled the last ball of the day and wander off having a bit of a chunter to yourself. If you do, you might get yourself on a dissent charge. I was given a right old telling off, I can tell you, after our game against Durham on the flattest pitch you will ever see. But now I’ve apologised and it’s all in the past. I’ll learn. One day. Probably.
Phil Tufnell appears courtesy
of Paragon Sports Management

Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said he was keen to play champion off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the second cricket Test against England beginning at Edgbaston here on Thursday, but skipper Sanath Jayasuriya was however wary of exposing his trump

Saadi Thawfeeq29-May-2002Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said he was keen to play champion off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the second cricket Test against England beginning at Edgbaston here on Thursday, but skipper Sanath Jayasuriya was however wary of exposing his trump card too early from injury.”Ideally we like to play everyone who is 100 percent fit. But there are occasions that can come up when players can do more than a decent job when they are not 100 percent fit, as long as everyone knows the boundaries and limitations,” said Whatmore today as his team was confined to indoor net sessions here because of bad weather. “In certain instances the risks are greater. In special sort of circumstances, the likes of which exists with Murali at the moment. That full 100 percent effort that he generally generates on the ball when he delivers, to me is as I see it, is not 100 percent. But the ball behaves abnormally and will still cause some problems,” he said.”There are a number of angles you have to consider before a decision is made. You’ve got to understand what he can and what he can’t do basically with the bat and in the field. You can see what he can do at the nets because he is performing the skills. But in terms of his fielding you know what he is like. He’s got no regard for his body at times. In his batting, he has to lift the bat with the left hand. There are a few things to cover before a decision is made,” Whatmore said.Whatmore said that Muralitharan has been bowling in the nets today as he has been over the past four to five days.”He is showing that he can run up and bowl and he’s still got a few tricks as you see the different varieties of deliveries that he’s got. He is not 100 percent fit, but he is building up to that and if he is selected in this Test match, it will be a calculated decision the selectors will have to take,” said Whatmore.Skipper Jayasuriya said: “It all depends on how Murali feels. We don’t know what his injury is like and what pains he is going through. We want him to play. As a captain I would love to play Murali, but if something happens to him, he will be out for another 3-4 months. We can’t take that chance”.”I would rate Murali’s chances of playing as still 50-50. He is still working hard with Alex (Kountouri). It all depends on what the doctors have told Alex and how he improves in his physical therapy. Murali hasn’t bowled for the last eight weeks and he needs a lot of practice also. Alex and Murali will have to talk with each other and decide. We can’t come to a conclusion at the moment. We will be knowing by tomorrow evening whether he will be playing or not. It is very unlikely, but you know,” said Jayasuriya.Muralitharan (30) has not bowled in a match since he injured his left shoulder while fielding in the Sharjah Cup final against Pakistan at Sharjah six weeks ago. He underwent treatment in Australia under the supervision of Dr. David Young and joined the Sri Lanka team in England a week ago. Since then he has got the sling which held his injured arm in place removed and has been working on his arm with Kountouri to try and regain full fitness.

Leicestershire have added fast bowler Devon Malcolm and batsman Ron Cunliffe to their squad for their fourth round C&G Trophy match against Sussex at Grace Road.The side will be chosen after a final practice session on Tuesday, but coach Phil Whitticase indicated it could well be unchanged despite the disappointing defeat in the Norwich Union League clash with Somerset on Sunday.Whitticase said: “It wasn’t a good performance and the way we batted was particularly disappointing. But there is no cause to panic. We have had a good chat about where we have gone wrong in the last couple of games – and there have been a few home truths.”We have not batted well as a unit,and that’s something we have to put right. But personally I am a believer in sticking to the same routine so that everyone knows their job.”Despite the blip it has still be a good start to the season and there is no cause for panic.But this is undoubtedly a big match for us and one we need to win. If we do it will put us in the quarter finals and re-ignite the season.”One player who will be looking to do well is Darren Stevens. He has had a fine start to the season, winning the Bland Bankart “Cricketer of the Month” award for April and May when he scored 445 runs at an average of 63.57.The Leicestershire squad is: Wells (capt),Ward, Sutcliffe, Maddy, Flower, Stevens, Burns, DeFreitas, Grove, Crowe, Whiley, Malcolm, Cunliffe.

Hansie Cronje’s tragic death in an air crash near George in South Africa’s southern Cape on Saturday has ended one of the saddest episodes in South African sport. With the world apparently at his feet, Cronje allowed himself to be seduced by the millions of dollars involved in illegal betting in cricket and was finally drummed out of the game in disgrace.Even those closest to Cronje could offer no explanation for his behaviour, beyond his own admission that he had “an unfortunate love for money”. From being one of the most respected figures in the game he became an outcast and his shocking death came before he and the cricket establishment were able to effect some sort of rapprochement.Before his fall from grace, Cronje had been South Africa’s longest-serving and most successful captain, leading his country at two World Cups and, immediately before the match-fixing scandal broke, to a rare Test series victory over India.He was groomed for greatness at Bloemfontein’s Grey College, the alma mater of his predecessor as South African captain, Kepler Wessels. He played provincial schools cricket for Free State from 1985-87 and for the South African Schools team, along with Jonty Rhodes, in 1986 and 1987, captaining the side in his final year.Cronje made his provincial debut for Free State in the 1987/88 season, and within three seasons had begun captaining the side. When South Africa re-emerged from isolation with a three-game one-day international tour of India in 1991, Cronje travelled with the team as a non-playing member, and just months later he was selected for South Africa’s first World Cup campaign in Australia and New Zealand.He made his Test debut against the West Indies in 1992 and scored his maiden Test century against India in Port Elizabeth later that year. His 135 was to be his highest Test score, although he was to score another five centuries in a career that encompassed 68 Test matches.Cronje took over as South African captain from Wessels after a disastrous one-day campaign in Pakistan in 1994, during which South Africa lost six games on the trot to Pakistan and Australia. His first Test as captain ended in a surprise defeat against Ken Rutherford’s New Zealanders at the Wanderers, but South Africa came from behind to win the series 2-1, and Cronje had begun to establish himself as a tough, uncompromising captain.As a batsman, he was one of the world’s finest players of spin bowling, making good use of his feet and the slog-sweep to dominate the bowlers, but he was less comfortable against fast bowling directed at his rib cage, a weakness exploited on different occasions by Darren Gough and Danny Morrison.Even so, Cronje went on to score 3,714 runs at 36.41 and his right-arm medium pace often proved particularly effective on the sub-continent. In all he took 43 Test wickets at 29.95. He was more successful as a one-day player, scoring over 5,500 runs in 188 matches at 38.64.It was as a captain, however, that Cronje stamped himself on the South African game. With Bob Woolmer as South African coach and Peter Pollock the convener of selectors, Cronje gradually exerted more and more influence over the team. It was this power that eventually led to his downfall.Shortly after South Africa had returned from India in 2000, Cronje was implicated in match-fixing on the basis of tape recordings made by the Indian police. He denied the charges initially, but after a late-night change of heart faxed a confession to the then United Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher.Cronje was immediately sacked as captain and suspended, and after further revelations had come out of the King Commission of Inquiry into Match-Fixing, he was banned from cricket for life.In essence, Cronje admitted to dealings with bookmakers over a long period, as well as offering money to several of his team-mates to underperform. Two of them, Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams, admitted their involvement and were banned from the game for six months.During 2001 Cronje attempted to have his ban overturned in the Pretoria High Court, but his application was dismissed. Earlier this year he took up employment near Johannesburg, while continuing to maintain a home on the luxurious Fancourt golf estate in the southern Cape.Despite Cronje’s admissions at the King Commission, suspicions remained that the full story had not been revealed with several questions left unanswered. His tragic death, at the age of just 32, seems to have drawn a curtain on one of South African cricket’s most unhappy tales.He is survived by his wife, Bertha.

شنت والدة أحد الأطفال هجومًا قويًا على نجم فريق مانشستر يونايتد كريستيانو رونالدو، بعدما تسبب في تحطيم هاتفه المحمول عقب مباراة اليوم ضد إيفرتون في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

واستضاف ملعب جوديسون بارك مباراة الفريقين في الجولة الثانية والثلاثين، حيث خسر مانشستر يونايتد بهدف دون رد.

وبعد المباراة، شوهد رونالدو في مقطع فيديو وهو يحطم هاتف أحد المشجعين على الأرض، قبل توجهه للنفق المؤدي إلى غرفة الملابس، وفتح النادي تحقيقًا في الواقعة.

وكتبت سيدة، تدعي إنها والدة الطفل الذي تحطم هاتفه على يد رونالدو، عبر حسابها الشخصي بموقع “فيس بوك”: “حسنًا، لقد تحولت لعبة جميلة في المباراة إلى اللجوء للشرطة، لا أصدق أنني أقول هذا ولكن رونالدو حطم هاتف نجلي جاك من يده بينما كان يسجل له وهو يخرج بعد المباراة”.

وأضافت حسبما ذكرت شبكة “givemesport” الإنجليزية: “لقد صدمت من أن لاعب كرة قدم محترف يمكنه الاعتداء على طفل مثل هذا، إذا كان بإمكان أي شخص الحصول على أي مقاطع فيديو من هذا بالنسبة لي، فهي متواجدة على إنستجرام، أنا لست هناك! شارك من فضلك!”.

وواصلت: “لاعبو كرة القدم هؤلاء هم بلطجية! إنه أب في الوقت نفسه، فكيف سيشعر إذا حدث هذا لطفله؟؟!!”.

وأرفقت السيدة صورتين لما يبدو ليد الطفل وعليها جروح، وهاتف محمول محطم.

In a recent interview, former Rangers defender Michael Ball has tipped Steven Gerrard to allow Ibrox star Alfredo Morelos to leave this summer, which would be a huge blow ahead of next season.

Speaking to Football Transfer Tavern, the 41-year-old pundit said:

“It’s a difficult one, you don’t like seeing your good players or your key players leave a football club, no matter what level, but unfortunately when they start getting in the limelight and doing the business worldwide, clubs do want to come in for these players.

“It’s down to Rangers to accept the figure that they demand and if a club wants to come in and stump up that fee, I think Steven will be happy for him to move on and wish him well. But then give Steven the treasure chest to go and bring in the new players to keep the club moving forward for the next couple of years.”

Morelos has been a key fixture at Rangers since joining the club from HJK Helsinki in 2017, making 182 appearances and contributing an impressive 94 goals and 43 assists.

‘El Bufalo’ also wrote himself into Ibrox history when he broke Ally McCoist’s record of goals for the club in Europe with a goal against Benfica last November, and therefore he is exactly the type of player that Gerrard will be desperate to keep in his squad as they prepare for a return to the Champions League next term.

After he previously equalled the Gers’ European record with a goal against Lech Poznan, Gerrard was full of praise for the forward, saying: “It’s fantastic for him from a personal point of view. Alfredo’s a top-class player, a top-class goalscorer, and it’s fantastic that he’s still here.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Rangers transfer rumours and news!”]

The 24-year-old was also a key player for Rangers as they secured the league title this season, with his 11 goals and three assists in the Premiership helping him to average an impressive 7.20/10 rating from WhoScored for his performances, which was the sixth-best score of any player in Gerrard’s squad.

Although selling the £10.8m-rated forward would raise cash which Rangers could reinvest, as Ball suggests, it would be something of a nightmare to sell their top European goalscorer of all time ahead of the Gers’ return to Champions League football.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776″]

Therefore, Gerrard must avoid selling the Colombia international this summer if he can, as the 24-year-old has proven himself to be a hugely important player at Ibrox in recent years.

In other news… Gerrard dealt major Rangers transfer blow over “fantastic” star

The fixtures haven’t even been released, but Dean Windass has already ruled his former side Sheffield United out of getting promoted straight back to the Premier League next year.

Having failed to build off their outstanding first campaign back in the top-flight in 2019-2020, the Blades were relegated last term having sat at the foot of the table from November onwards.

Sheffield United will no doubt be amongst the favourites to make an instant return to the top division next time, helped by the appointment of Slavisa Jokanovic.

The Serbian, who recently left his position as manager of Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa, has twice been promoted to the Premier League – in 2014 with Watford, and most recently, 2018 with Fulham.

However, after a wretched start to the following season with Fulham, Jokanovic was sacked before Christmas and hasn’t managed in England since.

Despite having two promotions on his CV, Windass’ early prediction is that the Bramall Lane outfit won’t be returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He told Football FanCast:

“It pains me to say it, but I can’t see them going back up next year, depending how many players you do lose.

“He did fantastically well at Fulham and were probably the best team in the Championship, but I can’t see Sheffield United bouncing back straight away.”

MatériaMais Notícias

A busca do Atlético-MG por volantes no mercado teve uma mudança de planos. Horas após o empresário André Cury revelar ao “Estado de Minas” que enviaria uma proposta do Galo por Marcelo, do Vitória, o diretor do futebol, Eduardo Maluf, rechaçou a possibilidade de negociações.

Via assessoria de imprensa, Maluf negou interesse do Galo pelo volante e negou que pediu para Cury intermediar conversas:

– Sobre o assunto Marcelo, do Vitória. Segundo Eduardo Maluf, embora seja um bom jogador, que está despontando no mercado, no momento não interessa ao Atlético. O empresário André Cury não tem autorização para falar em nome do clube.

O jogador de 22 anos foi um dos destaques do Vitória no Brasileirão.