All posts by n8rngtd.top

A number of Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting to the news that Ryan Jack has been forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad for the international break.

Jack has not played a single minute since 21 February (Transfermarkt), so it was a surprise to see Steve Clarke call up the 29-year-old in the first place. However, it became clear quite quickly that he would be in no position to represent his country, so the former Aberdeen man has now left the Tartan Army squad to return to Glasgow (Daily Record).

Jack, who has played 10 times for Scotland, has been an important part of the Gers’ campaign, making 24 appearances in all competitions for them. However, he has suffered with calf and knee issues throughout the campaign, so hopefully, this international break will now allow him more time to recover so that he can play a part between now and the end of the season.

The news attracted plenty of attention from Gers fans, some of whom took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Jack news below

“You have ruined my evening Scotland”

Credit: @willreilly72

“Huge blow. Should be first name on team sheet. People really underestimate how vital he is defensively to Scotland.”

Credit: @David_Davy_Dave

“Brilliant. Concentrate on the teddy bears games”

Credit: @rino1872

“Good news . He’s come back twice from international duty injured and his lack of games is concerning. Shame though it is about missing the Euros he would be better suited getting properly fit as his priority is to Rangers not Scotland.”

Credit: @IBoyd1966

“Good.”

Credit: @billyni99933742

“The lad hasn’t played for his club for weeks so why on earth he was called up in the first place was pathetic. After the @Scottish Fa lack of support for @GlenKamara4 I hope no @RangersFC players play for Scotland again.”

Credit: @Blabber08756401

In other news, this Rangers man has been tipped to be the club’s Player of the Year.

Celtic were unable to keep their unbeaten winning streak going yesterday as they lost in a rather weak manner.

The Hoops fell at the hands of a plucky Ross County having arrived at Victoria Park off the back of a strong five games prior, scoring 13 goals in that time and conceding just two. However, they wouldn’t be celebrating their sixth victory.

Just the one goal was scored last night, coming in the 71st minute as Jordan White managed to find the back of the net and snatch the points away from a wounded Celtic.

The reigning league champions will be disappointed with an overall lacklustre performance. Jonjoe Kenny, in particular, was off his game, but there was one man who managed to shine, despite the poor result.

Callum McGregor vs Ross County

Callum McGregor has been an integral part of Neil Lennon’s squad this season. Talks have emerged about the idea of him taking the captain’s armband from Scott Brown, who is out of contract in the summer.

With big boots to potentially fill down the line, the midfielder has been solid in the engine room this campaign and he was one of the few positive takeaways against Ross County.

According to Sofascore, he took a mammoth 124 touches of the ball, which was more than any other player on the pitch. This just goes to show how much of a feeder player he operates as in midfield – he is always giving and receiving the ball to try and make some magic happen.

McGregor also made an impressive 101 accurate passes, completing 90% of those attempted, as well as putting in 11 accurate long balls and making one key pass.

Neil Lennon is also a huge fan of McGregor’s and recently waxed lyrical about his influence. The boss described him as a “metronome” in the middle of the park, which is a huge compliment for someone awaiting to take charge of his club as future captain.

Celtic did lose the game, but captain-in-waiting McGregor can still be proud of his performance.

In other news, Celtic must keep starting Ryan Christie this season…

Celtic have started a much-needed winning streak thanks to their victory over Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon. The Hoops played hosts at Parkhead and managed to come away with a narrow 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Stephen Welsh and Odsonne Edouard.

Whilst Celtic have been struggling this season, things are starting to look up for the quadruple treble winners. Although they look down and out in the league and will likely give up their crown to Rangers, there are a lot of positives to take from their recent performances.

One man in particular who has been impressing in the first team is reserve side captain Welsh. The centre-back popped up with a crucial goal after mere minutes against Motherwell and helped guide his side to three points. Fans erupted on social media when he netted the opening goal, with many singing his praises as Celtic’s new exciting prospect.

Stephen Welsh vs Motherwell

When Celtic were dealt the heartbreak of losing out on Ben Davies, who signed for Liverpool, things looked bleak for Neil Lennon and co across the backline. However, the manager has taken a big risk by dropping loanee Shane Duffy in replace of 21-year-old Welsh.

The Brighton man hasn’t lived up to expectations since his loan move to Glasgow and as such, he is now being usurped by a much younger and less experienced defender. However, despite Welsh only making a total of nine senior appearances for the Bhoys, he is already proving to be a strong candidate to permanently partner Kristoffer Ajer at the heart of the defence.

According to Sofascore, Welsh contributed a lot more than his early goal for Celtic. He made four tackles and three interceptions whilst manning the defence, which is more than Greg Taylor, Jonjoe Kenny and Ajer. The £180,000-rated Scot also maintained a 91% passing accuracy and lost possession just six times, the same amount previously against Kilmarnock.

Lennon’s faith in the up-and-coming defender is already paying off in dividends and Welsh could even be buying the Irishman some more time at the hilt of the club. The 49-year-old has been tipped for the boot recently, with Rafael Benitez heavily linked to being his replacement.

But if Lennon can keep bagging wins due to his brave team decisions, he may escape the chop and live to see another season at Celtic.

In other news, David Turnbull is rapidly becoming a Celtic talisman…

Recent reports have suggested that Sepp van den Berg could be allowed to leave on loan this month, which reflects that Jurgen Klopp simply does not rate the Dutch defender at this moment in time.

What’s the word?

According to Goal, Liverpool are willing to let the 19-year-old leave on loan this month, despite their current injury crisis.

The report suggests that the Merseyside club have held discussions from three different clubs, from Belgium, Germany and Switzerland respectively, as they look to get the 6 ft 2 youngster some first-team football experience under his belt.

Does he have a future with Liverpool?

The fact that Klopp has trusted Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams, both of whom had never appeared in the Premier League before, ahead of Van den Berg this season, is perhaps a damning reflection of where the 19-year-old currently stands at Liverpool.

The centre-back joined the Reds from PEC Zwolle in the summer of 2019 and he has four first-team appearances to his name, having established himself as a regular in the first-team with the Eredivisie side.

He has also made seven appearances in the U’23 side so far this season, in which he has contributed one goal but he has clearly not done enough to prove to Klopp and the Liverpool coaches that he was capable of stepping up in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip this season.

Liverpool journalist was full of praise for the young defender after his performance in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury Town last season, saying:

“I thought against Shrewsbury he was absolutely brilliant. I mean that was by far and away the best I’ve seen him play, for him to take on that responsibility and he seemed to be far more aggressive than he normally has been.”

Hopefully, if he does leave on loan, he can do get some regular first-team experience but there is definitely a worry that Klopp doesn’t rate him, as he has not been given an opportunity to impress at all this season, despite Liverpool’s injury crisis in defence.

And, in other news… Klopp must ruthlessly axe LFC ace TAA dubbed “world-class”; he was abysmal vs AVFC

Morale will be high over in the Leicester City camp after they managed to claw their way to victory against Sheffield United at the weekend. The Blades were wounded by a last-gasp strike from Jamie Vardy, which cancelled out Oliver McBurnie’s equaliser in the first half.

The victory sees the Foxes keep up with the pack pushing for the top spot this season. They are currently fourth in the Premier League table, just three points behind leaders Spurs.

Leicester have some good squad depth this campaign and Brendan Rodgers has had the fortune of being able to chop and chance his starting lineup. One man he opted to field against Sheffield was Ayoze Perez, who hadn’t started for Leicester since their defeat to Aston Villa in October.

Perez must start vs Brighton

Rodgers has been starting James Maddison and Harvey Barnes together recently, which has proven to be a winning combination. However, having Perez also at his disposal to assist Vardy is a huge threat for any opposition.

The Spaniard’s eye for a goal and his lightning pace makes it very difficult for defenders to deal with him. Therefore, he could hold the keys to another Foxes victory this weekend when they take on Brighton.

The Seagulls have conceded 18 goals so far this season, proving that their defence can be exploited if Leicester are able to find the weak points. Using Perez alongside Vardy will cause a huge problem for Brighton, who will struggle to defend against the duo’s speed and impeccable footwork.

The £45,000 per week winger will also be looking for another chance to impress Rodgers and re-establish himself as a regular in the team, given he has played just 352 Premier League minutes across five appearances so far this term.

A solid performance at the King Power on Sunday will definitely put Perez’s name back in the hat for landing more game time this season.

In other news, Ricardo Pereira’s U23 appearance is exactly what Rodgers needed…

Many Crystal Palace fans were not pleased with the performance of Christian Benteke during the match against Leicester City on Monday afternoon.

The South London side managed to pick up a 1-1 draw and this point will have pleased Roy Hodgson massively as his side had lost their last two games, having conceded ten goals in the two matches.

Benteke looked to have been turning things around at the Eagles, as he scored two against West Bromwich Albion and one against West Ham (Transfermarkt). However, his performance against the Foxes was not one that many fans were happy with. One even called him ‘anonymous’.

The Belgian picked up a 6.6 rating and it is easy to see why it was so low (SofaScore). He only managed one shot, which was off target, and he failed both of his dribble attempts. He also lost nine aerial duels, five ground duels and lost possession 23 times.

Hopefully, Benteke will soon be back to his goalscoring ways and in the December period, it is easy to get back on form as the fixtures come around thick and fast.

Here is what Palace fans said about the performance of Benteke:

“Been so poor since their goal. Benteke practically anonymous today and often out-muscled #cpfc”

Credit:@Olimite

“Further confirmation, if ever it was needed, that Zaha isn’t a centre forward, Townsend isn’t a premier league player, and Benteke shouldn’t even own a pair of boots! #cpfc”

Credit: @jonnysell

“Has Benteke actually won a header today?”

Credit: @Wheddsta

“Why did we bring Batshuayi in when he’s become 3rd choice? Not Benteke’s best game so should be bringing Michy on!”

Credit: @tgh316

“Benteke would be second to the ball in a one man race. Not only a terrible player technically but a lazy one too #cpfc #CRYLEI”

Credit: @PJeevesie

“We do look more defensively solid today. But it is at the expense of any attacking threat at all. Wilf and Benteke may as well not be on the pitch. Vardy comes on and it’s 0-1. #cpfc”

Credit:@MarkyP7

In other news, CPFC fans were fuming at one-star following the loss on Boxing Day. Have a read who it was here!

West Ham United must flip their decision not to recall Felipe Anderson from his failing loan spell with FC Porto, amid reports that David Moyes has already decided the Brazilian’s future.

What’s the word?

According to reliable insider ExWHUemployee, the Irons have no interest in recalling Anderson from his season-long loan during the January window, despite Porto being far from impressed with the winger’s early efforts.

Anderson joined Sergio Conceicao’s side in October after the market for English clubs to sign players from abroad closed, having failed to start a single league game for the Hammers this season.

Moyes had favoured the £22.5m-rated Brazilian in each of the London Stadium’s EFL Cup ties, returning one goal and two assists, and did not expect to lose Anderson once the international market closed to English sides.

West Ham would have hoped to see Anderson revive his career with the Portuguese champions having been signed for a then-club-record £36m in 2018 but, instead, they have seen the 27-year-old feature for just 110 minutes across all competitions.

Anderson has started only once for Porto, coming in last week’s Tace de Portugal trip to third-tier G.D. Fabril, while Conceicao has also omitted the one-time Brazil international from three of his matchday squads – including his last two in Liga NOS.

Yet, despite Anderson being an outcast at the Estadio do Dragao, West Ham have no interest in recalling the forward this winter and as such, they will allow him to see out the season in Portugal.

U-turn needed

With Porto not overly impressed by Anderson’s performances and Conceicao showing a recent preference to omit the 27-year-old from his matchday plans, West Ham must make a U-turn on their decision not to recall the winger Moyes once lauded as a “technically gifted” player.

While the Irons’ deal with Porto saw the Liga NOS outfit pick up Anderson’s £85,000-per-week contract and pay a sizable loan fee to obtain his services for the season, West Ham will be in a far worse position next summer than they were this year with his current terms due to expire in 2022.

The east London club will be left in an awkward state of limbo were Anderson to stay away until the end of the campaign, as a torrid year in Portugal will see his market value continue its drastic decline that has seen TransferMarkt devalue the Brazilian by £18m since last December.

However, Anderson returning to the London Stadium this winter will afford Moyes and the Hammers hierarchy an opportunity to find a new home for the former Lazio star, one where he will be given the chances to find his best form again and hopefully help him maintain some of his value.

AND in other news, a pundit has exclusively claimed a 26-year-old ace would have been a “very good” West Ham signing.

Not that he’d be one to admit it, but Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard will surely be regretting his failure to sign former Dunfermline striker Kevin Nisbet back in 2019.

Rangers will still be smarting after shipping two late goals to draw with 10-man Benfica, but they battered Hamilton Academical at home to go some way towards restoring their injured pride.

Without Alfredo Morelos leading the line in the attack, Gerrard’s side have, at times, looked static and short of any ideas. Whilst that has somewhat changed with Kemar Roofe stepping up to the plate in recent weeks, things aren’t exactly perfect for the Gers as Cedric Itten has failed to find the back of the net since he opened his account with a late brace against Motherwell in September.

According to a report from The Glasgow Times at the time, Rangers were keeping tabs on Nisbet after his strong start to the 2019/20 season in the Championship, having scored 11 goals in 19 games for the Pars at the time of the report. It seems the Gers had other ideas, though, as they ended up signing Itten and Roofe in the summer instead.

Hibernian went on to sign the 23-year-old for an undisclosed fee, which is believed to be in the region of £252k, on a four-year deal. Since then, he has turned out to be a bargain buy, scoring eight goals and supplying two assists in 14 appearances for Jack Ross’ side so far this season.

By comparison, Rangers duo Roofe and Itten have only managed to score seven goals between them in all competitions.

When you consider the fact that Ross Wilson spent more than ten times that amount on the 3-cap Switzerland international, it seems the Light Blues missed the boat with this one.

It’s no wonder the Hibs striker has been labelled a “fantastic” beast by his strike partner Christian Doidge – 74 goals and 17 assists in 159 games in all competitions in his club career so far is an impressive return, via Transfermarkt.

Despite Itten’s poor run of form in recent weeks, Rangers are still nine points clear of their arch-rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership, so fans probably won’t be too bothered about this anyway.

However, Morelos isn’t going to be around forever, and Nisbet could have been the perfect replacement for the Colombia international in the long run, so Rangers may live to regret this missed opportunity in the not too distant future. An initial £250k fee would’ve been an absolute steal, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Rangers handed huge boost after Steven Davis returns to Northern Ireland training…

Diogo Jota had an unbelievable game for his country last night after enjoying a 3-0 win over Sweden. The newest Jurgen Klopp signing was unstoppable in Portugal’s attack, contributing two goals and an assist to see them victorious in the UEFA Nations League.

After earning an impressive 9.5 rating for being involved in 100% of his side’s goals, the attacker could become a complete game-changer for Liverpool.

Diogo Jota stats for Portugal

Jota was unstoppable in the Portuguese attack, operating on the left side of target man Joao Felix who struggled to get involved in any of the action. The 23-year-old teamed up with Premier League rival Bernardo Silva, who ran the show from the wings.

According to SofaScore, Jota created another goalscoring opportunity on top of his goals and assist, whilst also completing four out of an attempted five dribbles. FotMob report that this was the highest dribbling success in the game, highlighting how much Sweden struggled to contain the fiery winger.

Although it’s not exactly a surprise that Jota has pulled off an international masterclass. After he left Wolves for new club Liverpool, Nuno Espirito Santo lauded the player’s contribution to the Midlands side and described him as an “amazing” player (via The Mirror).

A new era of attack for Liverpool

With Jota now off the mark for his new side, there’s no limit to just how much he could flourish on Merseyside. His one-goal return from two Premier League matches is a very promising statistic and one that could start to be utilised more by Klopp and his staff.

“I said last week he is at the same level technically as our front three and the one thing I found really difficult to coach is the intuition in the box, being in the right position to score like the pure instinct of a striker,” assistant manager Pep Lijnders recently told the club’s website.

Indeed, Jota needed just ten minutes in action with the Reds before finding the back of the net against Arsenal. The attacker came off the bench and immediately posed a threat, getting into dangerous positions inside the opposition box. Surely enough, his sharp position paid off and it could be something the club decide to play around with moving forwards.

Roberto Firmino has become less of a goalscorer and more of a playmaker recently, which could make for an interesting switch up in the Liverpool focal point. If Jota is confident operating as a No.9, the Brazilian could play just behind him and unearth a new era of blistering attack for the Reds.

In other news, Marcelo Pitaluga impresses Liverpool staff in training and could give huge boost moving forwards…

Brandon Barker has been included in Glasgow Rangers’ UEFA A List for their clash against Galatasaray on Thursday in the Europa League play-off, with Andy Firth dropping out.

The 23-year-old was one of a number of players to pick up an injury against Dundee United along with Ryan Jack, Leon Balogun and Alfredo Morelos, and he has confirmed that he is back in full training.

He explained:

“Brandon Barker is the same, he trained yesterday for the first as well with no reaction.”

Now, Barker has been named on the UEFA A List for the clash, at the expense of 24-year-old third-choice keeper Firth.

This is positive news for Gerrard as he looks to keep his side in the competition. Whilst the Gers have enjoyed wins against both Lincoln Red Imps and Willem II, Galatasaray will present a whole different challenge – they were in the Champions League just last season, after all.

Barker has been somewhat of a scapegoat for supporters during his time at Ibrox – he made the move from Manchester City last season – but he appears to have worked his way back into the boss’ plans. After making just six league appearances last term, he has already started three matches this campaign. His injury came at an unfortunate time, and his lack of football recently may mean he is not included in the starting XI, but he could still prove to be an important player from the bench.

Let us know what you think below!