Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has told Emmenuel Adebayor that he will have to wait for first-team football.
The Togo international started Saturday’s Premier League tie against Chelsea on the bench as Jermain Defoe was chosen to lead the line.
The man signed on a permanent deal from Manchester City in the summer has been growing frustrated by his lack of playing time this term, leading to speculation that he may look for a move away from White Hart Lane.
However, AVB has insisted that the centre-forward will have to be patient and wait his turn:
“Obviously, every player wants to play, at the moment we are using the structure of one striker and Defoe has been doing extremely well,” Villas-Boas is quoted as saying by The Metro.
“I think Ade has done extremely well in the games where he has come in for the squad, certainly he is in contention for games where we play with two strikers.
“At the moment we haven’t found the comfort in that formation yet, but in the future when we use it, when we rotate the strikers, he will be back in contention.”
The 28-year-old was a key first-team player under former boss Harry Redknapp last season, which tempted the club to secure a £5m permanent deal.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
However, AVB’s system appears to favour the skills of Defoe whose mobility make the team a greater threat on the counter-attack.
Paul Heckingbottom was unable to reverse the downward trend that had set in at Leeds United under Thomas Christiansen and he paid with his job in the weeks following the conclusion of a Championship season that saw his side’s play-off hopes peter out completely.
It was a campaign of regression after Garry Monk took Leeds within touching distance of the play-offs in 2016/17 and the club is in need of genuine star quality, stability and someone to generate a feel-good factor again.
That is much, much easier said than found however, but the man who has reportedly emerged as a genuine contender to take over at Elland Road is 62-year-old former Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa.
On the face of it, the move looks like a madcap manager being linked with a madcap club, but we’ve decided to take a closer look at the genuine potential consequences if the move did go through…
Leeds would play attacking football
There is a lot of snobbery around defensive football these days but if it got Leeds back into the Premier League, you’d be hard-pushed to find a fan at Elland Road who gave a hoot.
However, it has been a while since the club’s fans were treated to an adventurous style of play but Bielsa would change all that.
His approach to strengthening sides is to embolden them with confidence to play expansively, making chances and utilising smart tactical systems to put opponents on the back foot.
This Leeds squad is currently very workmanlike, which is something of a hangover from the Monk days when results were as good as they’ve been for a while but it wasn’t pretty at times but Bielsa would try to squeeze every last ounce of attacking intent from them. It would certainly be entertaining.
Abel Hernandez would score for fun
The departure of Chris Wood was a hammer blow to Leeds’ chances of promotion last season and in the club’s attempts to keep him or wrangle a larger fee out of Burnley, they didn’t leave themselves enough time to replace him.
That means that securing a genuine goalscorer must be a priority this summer and reports linking them with Hull City striker Abel Hernandez should be music to the ears of Leeds fans.
He has had his injury problems, but when fit, he is more than capable of scoring goals for fun in the Championship.
We’ve touched on above how Hernandez would get no shortage of chances due to Bielsa’s aggressive attacking style, and over a whole season that should see him bag 20 goals, if he and Bielsa both arrive.
A play-off push is on the cards
Obviously, Bielsa and Leeds are two such combustible elements that their relationship could all end in tears and come to a very premature close but imagine that the 62-year-old manages a whole season at Elland Road.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
With his attacking style of play, managerial nous and profile to attract quality to one of England’s biggest clubs, a genuine play-off push should not be ruled out.
Leeds flirted with the top six in the opening part of last season and should have made it the season before; they are not a million miles away and Bielsa has more than enough quality to help them bridge the gap.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”214750″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five astonishing milestones since Leeds were in the Premier League”]
Despite a positive start to his time in charge at the club, recent poor results have seen Sam Allardyce’s popularity among Everton fans disappear somewhat.
Having picked up just one point from their four Premier League games so far in 2018, it seems that the Blue half of Merseyside are in for a real end-of-season slog.
The arrivals of Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun have certainly strengthened the ranks at Everton but Allardyce has now conceded that the squad is “too big” and departures are likely.
One of these departures, according to latest reports is Ademola Lookman, who the club are happy to send out on loan for the remainder of the season.
The 21-year-old, who is valued at £6.3million by Transfermarkt, has impressed in cameo appearances this season but now looks set to move elsewhere until the summer.
Upon hearing the news of a potential loan-deal for Lookman, Everton fans took to Twitter, and it’s safe to say they were not impressed…
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers feels that his team are capable of battling for the Premier League title after their 3-2 win over Fulham.
The Reds trailed twice at Craven Cottage against the rock-bottom Cottagers, but managed to steal all three points courtesy of a Steven Gerrard penalty-kick in injury time.
The result came on the back of a stunning 5-1 demolition of Arsenal at Anfield over the weekend, and moved the Merseysiders to within four points of leaders Chelsea after they could only draw at home with West Brom earlier this week.
Rodgers says that his side are reliant upon their rivals slipping up between now and the end of the season, but that they have a chance of lifting the league trophy later this year:
“We knew this was important,” he told Sky Sports.
“I said to the players these are the games where you arrive in the Champions League – games like this here. You’re playing a team who are fighting, trying to stay in the division.
“We’ve come off the back of a brilliant performance at the weekend and tonight we’ve again got another three points in a different way.
“So it really shows that this team has improved in every facet of the game.
“Seeing Steven (Gerrard) take off his shirt and show off his muscles was great.
“We’re just going to keep pushing and I think we’ve shown enough times that we’re a very good side. We’re chasing, but we need some of them (the teams above) to drop points before anything else can happen.
“We know we have Chelsea and Manchester City to play at home which we’ll look forward to because we’ve been outstanding at home but we’ve just got to take it game by game.
“I’m enjoying watching the team improve and develop as a coach.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho twice pulled Liverpool back from behind after a Kolo Toure own goal and Kieran Richardson effort had put Fulham in the driving seat.
But a mistimed challenge from Sascha Riether on Sturridge gave Gerrard the chance to convert from the spot late on.
QPR manager Mark Hughes has stated that Samba Diakite’s red card was a key factor in his side’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Monday night.
The Loftus Road club fell behind to an early Matt Jarvis strike, before Ricardo Vaz Te struck a second before half time.
Despite Adel Taarabt pulling one back for the hosts, QPR are still looking for their first win of the campaign and are rooted to the bottom of the table.
African midfielder Diakite replaced Ji-Sung Park on 55 minutes, but was dismissed 20 minutes later after two bookable offences; Hughes feels that the sending off was decisive.
“We were very poor, certainly first half where we were second to every ball, didn’t really get anywhere near the level that we need to get near to get positive results in the Premier League,” he told Sky Sports.
“First half we were just off the pace for whatever reason. Second half we made a better fist of it.
“In fact when Adel scored a great goal that got us a little bit of momentum and at that point I could see us getting a second goal.
“But obviously the sending off has completely killed that momentum and that point it was very, very difficult for us.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“We’re desperately disappointing on the basis of the first half performance because we’ve been much better than that,” the Welsh trainer confessed.
Ollie Robinson and Sean Hunt share seven wickets as Sussex build healthy lead
ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2024 Sussex 442 (Simpson 183*, McAndrew 53 Holland 4-64) and 66 for 2 lead Leicestershire 275 (Handscomb 92, Mulder 53, Hunt 4-70) by 233 runsPeter Handscomb continued his fine form with 92 but Leicestershire are up against it against second division leaders Sussex at Hove.The Australian took his tally to 640 runs in this season’s Vitality County Championship, but the visitors lost their last four wickets for 18 runs after Handscomb was seventh out with the score on 257.Left-armer Sean Hunt profited handsomely after switching to bowl down the slope at the 1st Central County Ground, picking up Handscomb, Ben Mike, Scott Currie and Josh Hull in 11 deliveries as Leicestershire were bowled out for 275.It gave Sussex a lead of 167 but they elected not to enforce the follow-on and in 15 overs before stumps they lost Oli Carter – squared up by Ian Holland – and nightwatchmer Jack Carson, closing on 66 for 2 – a lead of 233.The second day had started encouragingly for the Foxes after they took Sussex’s last three first-innings wickets for 11 runs in 23 balls with skipper John Simpson finishing unbeaten on 183, although he was only able to add three runs to his overnight score in a total of 442.Holland finished with 4 for 64 after claiming last man Hunt but his day took a turn for the worse when Ollie Robinson removed him during a high-class new-ball spell of 3 for 23 from eight overs by the England pace bowler.Bowling a fullish length, Robinson found enough movement to find Holland’s edge in his second over. Lewis Hill and Rishi Patel took advantage of some wayward bowling by Hunt before 45 for 1 quickly became 51 for 4. Hill was leg before trying to work Robinson through the leg side and Robinson struck again when he found some extra bounce and Lewis Goldsworthy gave Tom Alsop the first of four catches at slip. In between, Nathan McAndrew picked up the important wicket of Patel who lost his off stump shouldering arms to an in-ducker.Handscomb and Wiaan Mulder rebuilt the innings during a hot afternoon, adding 108 in 20 overs with few alarms although Handscomb had an absorbing battle with fellow Australian McAndrew. Robinson bowled another five-over spell without reward, and it was Fynn Hudson-Prentice who made the breakthrough when Mulder edged the next ball after reaching his fifty low to second slip.Sussex belatedly introduced offspinner Carson in the 50th over and he struck with his 11th delivery, an arm ball which Louis Kimber – who dropped down the order after struggling in the opener’s role – fatally played back to.Simpson dropped a difficult chance offered by Ben Cox on 1 and he and Handscomb put on 57, including five penalty runs awarded by umpires Paul Baldwin and Neil Pratt when Handscomb was hit by an errant throw from James Coles as he turned his back, having stepped out of his crease.Handscomb looked untroubled but Hunt, whose first nine overs cost 62 and included eight no balls, was a totally different proposition when he came back on at the Cromwell Road end.Handscomb made a rare misjudgement playing too far away from his body and giving Alsop an easy catch before Hunt swept away Leicestershire’s tail. Extra bounce defeated Mike’s defensive prod and Simpson took an outstanding one-handed catch diving to his left to remove Scott Currie. In his next over Hunt had Josh Hull leg before and walked off with figures of 4 for 70.
South African batter to play county cricket for the first time
ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2023Durham have pulled off a major transfer coup, signing South African batter Tristan Stubbs for the T20 Blast.Stubbs will be available for the majority of the competition following his commitments with Mumbai Indians in the IPL.He was part of the Manchester Originals squad that reached the final of the Hundred last summer, but this will be his first experience playing county cricket.”We are extremely pleased to have secured the signing of Tristan Stubbs,” Marcus North, the club’s director of cricket, said.”At 22, he already has experience playing for South Africa and in major T20 franchise leagues around the world where he has produced some world-class performances.”Related
De Leede signs two-year contract with Durham
Sowter signs one-year Durham deal
Campbell named Durham coach on three-year deal
SA20 auction: Stubbs the biggest buy
Stubbs was the most expensive player signed at the inaugural SA20 auction last year and was part of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape squad that won the title earlier this month, despite an underwhelming season with the bat.There, he played alongside his new Durham team-mate Brydon Carse. “He’s only had good things to say about the club,” Stubbs said.”I can’t wait to get over to Durham and meet up with my new team-mates,” he added. “Having played in England last summer I know how much the fans love their cricket so it should be a really fun and successful summer.”Durham are one of five counties who have never won the Blast, and last reached Finals Day in 2016. Last season, they won only three games as they finished second-bottom of the North Group.They have also brought in Ollie Robinson, Nathan Sowter, Brandon Glover and Bas de Leede over the winter and will expect a better showing under new coach Ryan Campbell.
Five players, all between 20 and 26 of age, have given the visiting side a rare day to remember in New Zealand
Mohammad Isam02-Jan-2022Bangladesh were desperate to have their batters go about their work in a (calm) way, and find some joy in the process after a tough 2021. Appropriately, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy, with a patient 104-run second-wicket stand, did the needful in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.New Zealand are the Test world champions, especially formidable at home. Therefore, to bowl them out for 328 and then finish the second day on 175 for 2 – just 153 short – with the runs coming from two young batters means a lot for a struggling Test side like Bangladesh.”The younger guys today played phenomenally,” Neil Wagner, who has picked up both the Bangladesh wickets to fall so far, said after the day’s play. “I thought they played patiently. They didn’t really give too many opportunities. They hung in there. They were prepared to dig in. They left the ball quite a lot. It made us ask more questions, and take wickets. It gave them the opportunity to score.Related
Miracle in Mount Maunganui (or how Bangladesh pulled off the mother of all upsets)
Ebadot stings New Zealand with late-evening strikes, gives Bangladesh a whiff of something special
Mominul wants to set 'small goals' for 2022
Gibson proud Bangladesh bowlers 'kept going all day'
“I thought that they played really well. Full credit to them. I thought when the ball was there to be scored, they scored. They also left well and defended well.”But, to make it Bangladesh’s day, it needed more than just those runs. Shoriful Islam, the 20-year-old left-arm quick, added Rachin Ravindra’s wicket to the two he had on the first day to get Bangladesh going on the second morning, and offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, very experienced despite being just 24, got rid of most of the tail. This was the first time New Zealand were bowled out for less than 350 by Bangladesh on home turf.That put the onus on the batters. If they failed to build on the bowlers’ work, the pressure would be right back on the top four, who were woeful at home against Pakistan recently.Shadman Islam, older than the others at 26, 23-year-old Shanto and 21-year-old Joy were part of the top four that looked incapable of buying a run against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali, and were expected to be under fire against New Zealand’s quicks. On the day, they were not.Shadman and Joy added 43 for the first wicket to set a platform, but Shanto batted like the ideal No. 3, mixing defence and attack smartly. He was the aggressor of the two during their big stand, driving beautifully – he hit Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson for fours straight down the ground.Shoriful Islam picked up three crucial wickets•Getty Images
“Joy and Shadman gave us a nice platform. It was handy for me. When I joined Joy at the crease, we just focused ball-by-ball, over-by-over and then on to the number of hours,” Shanto said. “We didn’t want to force the issue. We didn’t set big goals, like runs or overs. Joy batted well, but I think it would have been a better day had I remained unbeaten at the end too.”Joy did survive a close lbw shout off Wagner – the New Zealanders thought he had inside-edged the ball, but a review would have sent the batter back. But otherwise, it was a chanceless 211-ball stay for Joy, who ended the day on 70. Shanto got out for 64, but he had done the job before that.Mehidy, who has come up through Bangladesh’s Under-19 system like Joy, Shanto, Shadman and Shoriful, said that the batting performance had given the team a lot of confidence.”It was a very good partnership,” he said. “Our top order wasn’t getting these partnerships recently, so this has given us a lot of confidence. We have to bat well in the first session tomorrow. I think we have a long way to go.”Mehidy was particularly effusive in his praise for Joy’s performance. “His innings is definitely a positive sign for our team,” he said. “His batting definitely helped the team. Joy batted well, took his time. He didn’t look like he was a new player. He adjusted well to the conditions and situation.”He is a member of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team [in 2020]. He did well in South Africa last year, and also made runs in domestic cricket before coming into the senior side. I think he has a lot to give to Bangladesh. The whole team has appreciated his batting.”
CSA has also made fresh appointments for bowling lead, academy lead and U-19 coach
Firdose Moonda10-Sep-2020Neil McKenzie has been appointed South Africa’s “high performance batting lead” and will work across the men’s, women’s, Under-19 and academy structures. McKenzie, who resigned as Bangladesh’s batting coach last month was named alongside bowling lead Vincent Barnes, national academy lead Malibongwe Maketa and Under-19 coach Shukri Conrad, as CSA added to the number of employees under director of cricket Graeme Smith’s portfolio.The new appointments mean CSA is unlikely to make use of consultants in the coaching structures, thereby avoiding controversy over its affirmative action policy. Last week, CSA confirmed that they would look to engage people of colour in consultancy roles in an attempt to redress racial discrimination. Their stance attracted a complaint from the Institute of Race Relations, who wrote to the ICC alleging government interference in the running of the board. That letter has been received but has not been acted on yet and, since then, CSA has clarified that the policy is not set in stone and announced the appointment of two white coaches and three coaches of colour.On Tuesday, Dillon du Preez was unveiled as the women’s national team’s assistant coach and two days later, McKenzie’s new role has also been revealed. This will be his second stint with South Africa, after working with them under Russell Domingo for a year from 2016.While McKenzie will not work exclusively with the men’s national team, it is likely he will have a significant presence there because the side currently does not have a permanent batting coach. Jacques Kallis was in the job as a consultant over the 2019-20 summer but has not been re-engaged. McKenzie will also be involved with developing batsmen in the pipeline and believes his experience in the subcontinent will allow him to help more batsmen.”I was with Bangladesh for two years and went to the World Cup with Bangladesh, so I have come back more rounded as a coach. I’m looking forward to doing my bit,” McKenzie said.Barnes, who was previously South Africa’s assistant coach and has since worked in the High Performance Structure, will mirror McKenzie from a bowling perspective. Because Charl Langeveldt is permanently with the national men’s team as their bowling coach, Barnes is more likely to work with players in the national academy and with Maketa in the A team.ALSO READ: South Africa players demand CSA action before ‘the game we love may be irreparably damaged’Maketa, who is the only black African appointment, is also a former national assistant coach, having worked under Ottis Gibson between 2017 and 2019. When Gibson’s contract was not renewed, Maketa found himself out of a job too and was only brought back into the system when Smith asked him to work with the Under-19 side ahead of this year’s World Cup.That brings Maketa back to senior cricket where his international experience will be called on to help players prepare to make the step up to the national side. “Malibongwe is quite an experienced coach with a Proteas background and a high level of franchise experience, and it’s important that a guy like that is working across our next-best talent. He will also be assisting the national women’s team where and when his expertise will be required,” Smith said.At the Under-19 level, Conrad, who has coached the Cobras and the Lions franchises, the National Academy and the Uganda national team, takes over from Lawrence Mahatlane, who in turn has left for Uganda. Under Mahatlane, the Under-19 team finished eighth at this year’s World Cup, a dizzying fall from winning the tournament in 2014.”I like Shukri’s style – he’s old-school, he’s to the point and gets the job done,” Smith said. “I think at that level, his coaching expertise and knowledge of the game are going to be key. The other thing is talent identification, I think that’s a real strength of Shukri’s ability as a coach and he’s got good support in the form of scouts.”The only outstanding role left to be filled is that of national convenor of selectors. Interviews were conducted in April and the incumbent Linda Zondi is among the candidates who are being considered.
Mushfiqur Rahim picks up a forearm injury in the nets courtesy a Mustafizur Rahman short delivery
Mohammad Isam in Taunton15-Jun-2019The Bangladesh batsmen had a major homework to get through in the lead-up to their next game, against West Indies in Taunton: deal with the short ball. Looking at the way the West Indian pacers have gone so far at the World Cup, Bangladesh are expecting a barrage of short balls, particularly with the newish ball.West Indies took seven wickets with short or short-of-good-length deliveries against Pakistan and five against Australia. In the abandoned match against South Africa, both their wickets came courtesy short balls.ALSO READ: Does Mashrafe Mortaza deserve the criticism?It’s not something Bangladesh are unaware of. Back in the Caribbean in July last year, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder mixed the short and length ball brilliantly in the Test series to blow them away. Only five wickets came from the shorter deliveries, but it forced the Bangladesh batsmen on to the back foot, leaving them expecting bouncers, and 15 wickets fell to full and length deliveries.While Bangladesh handled the short ball better in the ODI series that followed as well as last month in Ireland, the pitches were far slower than what is expected in Taunton.So, two days off from the contest, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan first, and then Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar, were given a roughing up by the net bowlers as well as batting coach Neil McKenzie, who had the side-arm thrower.Mostly it was ducking and weaving, and getting behind the line of the ball. Soumya was aggressive, hitting a few out of the ground as well as top-edging some. Shakib, Tamim and Mushfiqur, the most experienced men in the line-up, handled it with a mix of aggression and solid defensive play. Mahmudullah tried to get behind the line, before choosing to either duck or drop it near his feet.They paid a price too, thankfully not too big – Mustafizur Rahman struck Mushfiqur on the right forearm with a shorter one, forcing the batsman to walk off and not return.Tamim also felt the full brunt of McKenzie’s hurls, as he got little time to react. But the South African also sent in a few full tosses and half-volleys, which Tamim laid into with relish. After all, as Tamim pointed out, while the West Indians would go for their throats in the first 15 overs or so, there are likely to be some loose deliveries too.Mushfiqur Rahim walks off after being hit by a Mustafizur Rahman delivery•Raton Gomes/BCB
“We normally try to simulate in the nets what our opponents are likely to do,” Tamim said. “They usually target us with the short ball but they do the same against all sides in the first ten to 15 overs. They also give run-scoring opportunities. We have to prepare for both, that’s why we are working hard in practice. We want to make sure it is not a surprise for us.”We have an idea about their batsmen and bowlers, but I have noticed their different planning in the World Cup. It is not the same thing that we faced in Ireland or West Indies. They are focusing heavily on the short ball, but if you handle it well, there’ll be opportunities to score runs. They have been bowling this way against all sides.”Tamim said that the familiarity with the West Indies fast bowlers would give Bangladesh a bit of an edge, although conditions might have a say in the way things pan out.”The first three bowling attacks I played against in this World Cup [South Africa, New Zealand and England], all were more or less equal,” he said. “West Indies have pace, three bowlers who bowl above 140. The good thing is we have played all three in the last year-and-a-half.”So there won’t be anything new for us. Yes, if the conditions are different then that might be something. But if we can bring our A game day after tomorrow, then we have a good opportunity to win.”Tamim was also prepared to call Bangladesh “favourites”, particularly due to their recent record in ODIs. Bangladesh have won seven out of their last nine games against West Indies, having won two bilateral series as well as the tri-series in Ireland where they beat West Indies on all three occasions.”Of course, why not? We have won more than them in the recent past. We can be favourites, of course,” Tamim said in response to a question. “In Ireland, we won all three matches against them. It does not matter to me who are favourites and who are not. Cricket is such a game that whoever brings the A game has a chance on that particular day. That is the case for any team in this World Cup.”It is not important who has that tag, it’s about whoever plays well. If you see West Indies’ first two matches, they looked a different side than what they were six months back. Then again, if you look at how we played our first two matches, we also looked a different side. We were challenging the top teams in these conditions. One went in our favour, one didn’t. It will be a good match I think; we just need to see who brings the A game on the given day.”For that A game to really take shape for Bangladesh, they will need to have their best anti-bouncer plan in place and execute it right.