All posts by h716a5.icu

Leeds have suffered a setback ahead of their Premier League clash against Tottenham, with Marcelo Bielsa confirming that Helder Costa is set to miss the rest of the campaign.

The Portugal international picked up a back injury against Manchester United after being slammed to the ground in a tussle with Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The winger tried to play on but was later forced off the pitch in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Spurs, the Leeds manager said: “No, he won’t be able to compete again this season.”

Given that he hasn’t scored in the Premier League since the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal, some Leeds fans may be forgiven for thinking it may not be too much of a loss, with former Whites man Noel Whelan laying into him after a particularly disappointing performance against Aston Villa.

He said: “Costa was given his opportunity and once again he did not take it. We are talking about a £16m player here who did not affect the game in any way shape or form. He needs to show consistency. You need to make that position your own when your manager puts his trust in you from the start.

While the £70,000-per-week winger hasn’t been in the best of form, Bielsa has been unwavering in his trust, starting him in all three big clashes against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United.

In response to Bielsa’s update on the injury, The Athletic confirmed that it was a major setback, reporting: “It’s big, given the injuries elsewhere for Leeds. If Raphinha does not recover in time for the game against Tottenham on Saturday, it leaves Bielsa with limited options to play on the wing.

“Jack Harrison would expect to feature on the left, while Stuart Dallas started on the right at Brighton. But Dallas and Leeds struggled in that game, which means Bielsa could turn to Ian Poveda, who has made appearances from the bench in recent weeks.”

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The lack of genuine proven options to cover for Costa means that Bielsa will be  gutted at losing another one of his first team players, especially given the doubts surrounding Raphinha’s fitness. Indeed, Dallas’ delivery from the right was poor against Brighton, finding a team-mate with just one of his seven crosses, while he also lost the ball 17 times that day.

With the Leeds boss clearly not willing to throw Poveda into the deep end of starting a match – he has been restricted to substitute appearances for the majority of the season – Costa’s loss is a significant one, even if the likes of Whelan haven’t been impressed with his recent displays.

Meanwhile, Leeds are eyeing move for this history-making starlet…

Sri Lanka’s full membership status of the ICC is not threatened by theongoing cricket board crisis according to a report in the Daily Mirrortoday

CricInfo03-May-2001Sri Lanka’s full membership status of the ICC is not threatened by theongoing cricket board crisis according to a report in the Daily Mirrortoday.There had been speculation that Sri Lanka’s ICC status had been jeopardisedby the Sports Ministers decision to dissolve the Board of Control forCricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) and appoint an Interim Committee.Mark Harrison, however, stated yesterday that: “I can confirm that Sri Lankahas not been suspended by the ICC. The governance of Sri Lankan cricket is adomestic matter.”Nevertheless, Harmission admitted that the ICC is seeking legal advice, mostprobably with regard to the status of Thilanga Sumithapala, the head of thedissolved cricket board, who still remains an Executive Director of the ICC.According to the Articles and Memorandum of Association Executive Director’scan only be removed from the board if they resign or are removed by the bodythat appointed them, in this case the BCCSL, which is no longer functioning.Harrison said: “The situation is currently under legal consideration and theICC is unable to comment any further.”

Travis Friend, Zimbabwe’s new pace-bowling all-rounder, is on his way back to big cricket after suffering stress fractures on tour with the national side in India and Australia

John Ward29-May-2001Travis Friend, Zimbabwe’s new pace-bowling all-rounder, is on his way back to big cricket after suffering stress fractures on tour with the national side in India and Australia. He spoke to CricInfo during the match between Zimbabwe A and the Indian tourists at Mutare Sports Club.”When I was in India I had a problem with my leg. I kept playing on it and suffered quite a lot of pain, only to find out after a while that I had a stress fracture on one of the bones. That recovered quite quickly and I continued with the tour.”Then, midway through the Australian leg, I felt niggles in my back. It went in the middle of one game, and I found I had a stress fracture and a few other defects in my back. This has kept me out for about 13 weeks.”I did very little for about eight weeks, resting and doing a bit of rehab, and then slowly I started doing basic training exercises to get the back muscles strong again. During the past few weeks I’ve been going to the gym and doing a lot of cardio-vascular work, trying to get match-fit and back into the game so this injury won’t recur. You have to get the muscles around the torso very strong for the back, to support the impact.”I played in the Logan Cup games, mainly as a batsman; I didn’t bowl again until near the end of the programme. I attended the Academy for a few weeks to help me get fit again and get some bowling practice in. This is my second three-day game; I’ve played a few odd games here and there. At the Academy I played a two-day game, to get back into it, and it’s feeling quite good at the moment. I think with more training and maintaining my fitness it will stay firm.”Apart from the injury, the tour was a great experience for me. I think I learned a great deal from other countries and watching how people played there. The standard in Australia was exceptional, and I learned how to cope in India with the different conditions.”To give one example: as you know, I tend to bowl a slightly short of a length ball, but sometimes stray to bowling quite short. I soon picked up in Australia that these guys like to pull, and this was something I had to adjust to very drastically. I worked it out quite quickly, but it was something new to me and I realized that when bowling you have to think about every ball and how to bowl to these guys. Also the margins of error at this level are very slim, so you really have to think about what you’re doing, instead of just running up and bowling.”I got a lot of help from the other players on tour; we helped each other out all the time. I was always asking the experienced players about certain situations and stuff like that. I also spoke to a few of the opposing players. I spoke to Brett Lee for a while, to talk about injuries, and blokes from India. We always help each other out and get each other’s points of view.”The highlight of my Logan Cup season was the century I scored against Mashonaland; it was my first century out of school and I’m really happy that it’s come. I’ve always believed that I could do it, and it just came at the right time. I had a chance when someone dropped me and I just took that opportunity and went on to make a hundred. It’s something I need because I still believe I can make the national side as a good all-rounder and be quite a reliable batsman.”We were trying to save the game when I went in, and overnight we had three wickets in hand with a day to play. Unfortunately on the final day I went out in about the eighth over, and we just fell apart from there. But I hope I can learn from that and hopefully score a lot more in future.”The Mashonaland attack had Eddo Brandes, Gus Mackay, and Paul and Bryan Strang – there were a few experienced players in that side. Bryan Strang was really moving the ball a lot; at one stage they had us about seven for five wickets. It was a nice pitch to bat on, but there was a lot of swing, especially with the new ball. Eddo Brandes was hitting good areas as well, and they were bowling quite well. I suppose I was quite lucky to get away with a few loose deliveries that I took my chances with.”I still get a general stiffness from my injury and I still have to get very much fitter. There’s nothing better than actually bowling in a game; you can’t get better practice than that. So I’m a bit stiff here and there, but I had quite a long spell yesterday. I’m feeling quite good after such a long session and things can only get better.”The pitch here [at Mutare] is not too bad for my bowling and with the new ball it does a bit. I think it’s reasonably good all round and you can get a bit of lift if you put some effort into it. The ball carries through nicely.”In our first session we started very well to have India 71 for five. But after lunch I think we came out very casually and expected it to carry on. Obviously it didn’t, and they scored 105 runs in an hour. We had a big talk at drinks and we slowly pulled it back. Dravid was in very good form and he was hitting the ball quite well. We did well to pull it back and get them 330 for nine in the end.”It was a good team performance, and I personally was happy with the way I bowled. In my first spell I didn’t quite have a rhythm from the top end, but when I moved down to the lower end I had much better rhythm. I was reasonably happy, but obviously there were a few loose balls that were put away, and I’ve got to work on that.”My first wicket was that of Ramesh. It was a fairly short ball at his body and he just played it on to his stumps. My next wicket was that of Harbhajan, with the second new ball. I bowled a short ball – an attempted bouncer – at him and he gloved it to the keeper. I was just trying to rattle him up and it actually worked.”My immediate goal is to play this game and try to get back into the national side, for the Test matches and hopefully the one-day triangular series. That’s my goal for now and we’ll have to see how it goes from there. I don’t intend to look much further than that right now.”

Rangers have reportedly enquired about signing Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy ahead of the summer, although Steven Gerrard’s hopes of bringing him to Ibrox are slim as he is also reportedly set to sign a new contract with the Magpies.

According to Chronicle Live, the 26-year-old has attracted interest ahead of the summer as a result of his impressive recent performances for Steve Bruce’s side, but he is set to stay at St James’ Park as Newcastle have the option to trigger a one-year extension, which they will take up.

The former Norwich City winger, who is currently valued at £3.15m by Transfermarkt, has put in a string of excellent performances as a right-back in recent weeks, which have helped steer the Toon well clear of relegation from the Premier League.

Having struggled for regular starts in Bruce’s side earlier in the season, it seems as if Murphy was able to win over his manager with a starring performance from the bench in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa back in March, as he has since gone on to appear in each of Newcastle’s last seven games, starting six of them.

He has produced impressive displays against Tottenham, Burnley and Liverpool recently, emphasising that he has the quality to play in the Premier League, and therefore he could have been an excellent addition to Gerrard’s side at Ibrox.

Although his best performances this season have come as a right-back, he could have been utilised in a number of positions by Gerrard, which certainly would have been appreciated by the Gers boss as he begins planning for the 2021/22 campaign, which will see Rangers compete in the Champions League.

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The 26-year-old earned high praise from Noel Whelan earlier in the season, with the former Leeds man telling Football Insider: “Murphy is a player with so much ability. He was brought to that club to run, be direct, use that pace and skill that he has with the ball at his feet and now he seems to be doing it.

“Murphy seems to be enjoying football again at Newcastle. The surroundings, the manager and the squad all seem to have made a nice connection. Newcastle seems a happier camp right now and Murphy is showing what a fantastic player he is.”

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Therefore, it is a huge blow to Gerrard’s chances of signing Murphy this summer that he is close to agreeing a one-year extension with the Toon, for unless the Gers are willing to stump up a significant fee, it seems unlikely that he will complete a switch to Ibrox.

In other news… Forgotten Rangers outcast sent Gerrard a huge message with “sensational” weekend display

A Mumbai-based company has filed an appeal against a High Court orderrefusing to stay the decision of the Board to award a three-yearcontract for clothing sponsorship of Indian team in internationalmatches to International Management Group and

10-Jun-2001A Mumbai-based company has filed an appeal against a High Court orderrefusing to stay the decision of the Board to award a three-yearcontract for clothing sponsorship of Indian team in internationalmatches to International Management Group and Transworld Internationalcombine (IMG-TWI).The appeal was filed by proprietor of Gayatri Arts Sham Dhumatkaryesterday in the Mumbai High Court and is likely to be heard within aweek. Gayatri Arts had challenged BCCI’s decision to award contract toIMG-TWI by way of a petition in the High Court. The company claimedthat it had made the highest bid of Rs 90 crore through a legal tenderadvertised by BCCI in a newspaper. Yet, the contract was awarded toIMG-TWI combine.Justice D K Deshmukh, hearing the petition, had, in an ad-interimorder, refused to stay BCCI’s decision. Gayatri Arts filed an appealcontending that the Judge had failed to take cognizance of the bidmade by it which was higher than the one put up by IMG-TWI. Hence theaward of contract to IMG-TWI was bad in law, improper and unjustified.Gayatri Arts submitted that BCCI had confirmed the contract in aletter on May 3 and gave 48 hours notice to accept the offer.Accordingly, Gayatri Arts accepted the contract offer in a letter toBCCI, the court was told.On May 22, however, BCCI’s marketing committee held a second meetingin New Delhi where the contract awarded to Gayatri Arts was resiledand instead awarded to IMG-TWI after an open bidding and revelation ofprices.Gayatri Arts claimed that the contract was complete after BCCI wrote aletter to them making the offer of contract and the company acceptingit in writing. BCCI, on the other hand, claimed that its communicationto Gayatri Arts was not a confirmation letter of contract but a mere’query’.

A number of Aston Villa fans have been left excited after reports claimed Villa have initiated contact with Bordeaux winger Mehdi Zerkane.

According to reliable outlet L’Equipe, relayed by Sports Witness, Villa have been in touch with the player’s entourage after having the 21-year-old on their radar for several months.

An official bid could be lodged at the end of the season, however, the report is unsure as to how much Zerkane would cost.

Zerkane, an Algeria international, has made 26 Ligue 1 appearances this season. He’s only scored once and registered a single assist, but it seems as if Villa like what they see in the versatile winger.

He can play on either wing and as an attacking midfielder, although his main position is on the right-hand side.

Villa are thought to be after two wide forwards this summer, and it seems as if Zerkane is a strong target for sporting director Johan Lange.

Villa fans react

@villareport shared the news on Twitter on Monday evening. Their post received plenty of interaction, with these fans seemingly excited at the links, with one labelling him as the ‘next Riyad Mahrez’.

“absolute baller”

Credit: @AVFCNoah_

“I swear we have the scout that found Mahrez and Kante for Leicester if so I’m looking forward to this”

Credit: @BenSpittle

“Next Mahrez”

Credit: @lVathan_

“Next Zidane I heard”

Credit: @ColinioPowell

“Am I the only one that gets excited by players I’ve never heard of, shows proper scouting by the club”

Credit: @ajbyrne_avfc

“This is the reason we have bolstered our recruitment department and hired the likes of Mackenzie to scout and unearth hidden gems I have full faith that they’re looking at Mehdi then he has a lot of talent and potential. It’s gonna be an exciting summer, in NSWE we trust UTV AVFC”

Credit: @TheKyzer007

In other news: Villa man linked with surprise Liverpool switch, find out more here. 

Leeds United would be making a major transfer mistake by signing Newcastle United star Jacob Murphy this summer.

What’s the story?

With the Premier League season reaching its climax on Sunday, Marcelo Bielsa will be keen to kick-start the summer transfer window with a few early signings at Elland Road.

According to Football Insider, the Whites are set to join Scottish giants Rangers in the race to sign Murphy.

The report added that the winger has just over a year left on his contract at St James’ Park, with a number of other Premier League clubs also interested in signing him.

Underwhelming from Bielsa

While Murphy has lately been deployed by Bruce as a right wing-back, his record when used as a winger is rather underwhelming, and one which won’t have Leeds fans excited at all.

In the 19 games this season where he has played further forward out wide, the £25,000-a-week earner has managed just two goals and three assists in all competitions. By contrast, Raphinha has four goals and five assists in 22 games from the right flank for Leeds this term.

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Murphy has effectively been a passenger for the Magpies going forward, and that’s not the kind of player the Whites need if they are to reach another level next season in the Premier League.

Bielsa needs to be targeting more proven options in the top flight, and Murphy’s below-par goalscoring record raises some major questions marks over Leeds’ reported interest in signing him this summer.

In other news, Leeds could reach a new level if they pull off a deal for this “extraordinary talent”.

Quick fire cricket that has seen teams chasing higher and higher totals in the fourth innings of Tests, more result matches and more phenomenal cricket was just a natural progression of the sport, England captain Nasser Hussain said today

Lynn McConnell19-Mar-2002
Hussain- game is changing
Photo Reuters
Quick fire cricket that has seen teams chasing higher and higher totals in the fourth innings of Tests, more result matches and more phenomenal cricket was just a natural progression of the sport, England captain Nasser Hussain said today.He was commenting on the nature of New Zealander Nathan Astle’s innings on the last day of the first Test when New Zealand notched 451 runs, the highest losing Test chase in history, and another record chase by South Africa to beat Australia in Durban yesterday.It was a natural progression from one-day cricket where people had realised what they could do.”Maybe a few years ago people didn’t realise how much they could run down the wicket and nick the ball out of the ground,” he said.”Now they realise they can so they are putting it into practise in the longer form of cricket.”I’m not saying it’s changed for better or worse. When I started there were people like Vivian Richards who could play like that.”People still played amazing innings but possibly now it had carried over into the Test match arena because the game was moving so quickly.”There are not that many boring five-day draws any more,” he said.Players were less inclined to play the Geoff Boycott stodgy game of defence and if the game was getting bogged down there were players like Adam Gilchrist who decided that they should do something about it.”It could have something to do with wickets. That wicket on the last day [in Christchurch], with a small outfield and quick ground was an absolute belter.”In the old days wickets used to deteriorate and spin used to come into it more, now it seems with these relaid wickets and drop-in wickets they could be getting better and better and not deteriorating as much as they used to.”There will be times, this may be one, when it turns on the last day, 450 might not be accomplished we will have to wait and see,” he said.It didn’t take too much work as a captain on more responsive pitches, but it was harder work on the subcontinent where it was much more necessary to make things happen through captaincy because batsmen were capable of batting all day.”In England, the wickets are doing more than when I first started. You would have boring 500 plays 600 at Trent Bridge or somewhere whereas they are definitely doing more now on England wickets,” Hussain said.He didn’t see why there needed to be four-day Tests. There was something about having to adapt to the different circumstances in a Test when you turned up not knowing what the pitch was going to do, whether the ball was going to swing or seam.And if there were four-day Tests other changes would come into games such as groundsmen preparing wickets to suit getting a result in four days.”I think the game has survived quite nicely the way it has and people are adapting to it, I don’t think we need to many rule or law changes, it’s survived quite happily so far, it’s doing pretty well.”However, in regard to the laws he was pleased the ICC was going to have a look at working with new technology for umpires at the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka in September.”Umpiring has become an issue, there has been a lot of talk about it, replays, there’s been a lot of talk. Television has changed the game.”In the old days you wouldn’t have so many replays and umpires weren’t under so much pressure so therefore I’m pleased they’re having a look at it to see if it will work but it mustn’t be rushed in,” he said.Players also understood errors were made by umpires.He said he was pleased to turn up and see Asoka de Silva and Brent Bowden were the two umpires for the first Test because he felt they were two very good umpires.”All right, they may have made the odd mistake which they will hold their hands up to, but I wouldn’t be afraid of turning up to the next game and seeing exactly the same two umpires.”Cricket was faced with increasing improvement in replay quality and an issue of where the game moved.”Television is not going to go away so do we help the umpires or not? Possibly they do need some help,” he said.

One of Tottenham Hotspur’s mooted managerial targets could be about to become a free man this summer…

What’s the word?

According to Italian news outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, it is almost inevitable that Antonio Conte leaves Inter Milan despite clinching their first Serie A title in 11 years.

It’s thought that the 51-year-old is not happy about the direction the club is going in as president Steven Zhang and their Chinese owners Suning have asked the club’s hierarchy to cut the wage bill by 20% and raise €100m (£85m) in player sales to help their precarious financial situation.

Conte has remained firm in his belief that the squad needs backing financially, rather than the opposite.

La Stampa have also claimed that Spurs would be able to offer the former Chelsea man around €20m-per-year (£18m) amid interest from Real Madrid, and as a result, they represent the most attractive destination for him, should he leave the San Siro.

Get it done, Levy

A lot of targets have already come and gone in the month since Jose Mourinho’s surprise sacking and we’re still no closer to finding out who the next manager of Spurs will be.

If Conte does become available, then chairman Daniel Levy would be crazy to not consider him. After all, he’s a nine-time major trophy winner and has cleaned up the Special One’s mess before.

When Mourinho departed Chelsea for a second time, the Blues recorded their worst finish since 1996 (tenth) and in their very next season under the Italian, they won the Premier League title and finished runners-up in the FA Cup, before going onto win it a year later.

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In fact, the two have even clashed at times, with the 51-year-old lambasting Mourinho as ” a fake” and a “little man” back in 2018, when Chelsea met the Portuguese’s Manchester United side.

Conte has since gone on to transform Inter into a club to be feared for the first time in over a decade – a similar timeframe in which Spurs have suffered without a trophy.

His record at the Italian giants reads 64 wins from 102 matches (62.7%), whilst averaging 2.11 points and 2.10 goals per game, via Transfermarkt.

By comparison, Mourinho was sacked having won 52% of his games in charge of Spurs, where he picked up only 1.77 points and 2.00 goals per match.

During his time in England, Conte received a particularly glowing endorsement from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who waxed lyrical about his impact on the English top-flight.

He said, via the Daily Mail:

“Tactically he is a master, he did it amazingly with Italy and when he went to Turin [with Juventus]. I think Conte is going to leave, going to give something to English football. I’m sure of that.”

With Levy thought to be seeking an attack-minded head coach, there are not many better candidates out there than Conte, who not only has a proven record in the Premier League but also has transformed a similar club in Inter Milan.

The Spurs chairman would be a fool to not throw everything he’s got at the 51-year-old “winner.”

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold drops exciting claim in Spurs’ manager search that’ll have fans BUZZING…

Chris Harris has made no secret of the desire that he wants to play more Test cricket but even he could not have imagined that when he regained the opportunity it would be to play for New Zealand as a No 4 batsman

Lynn McConnell29-Mar-2002Chris Harris has made no secret of the desire that he wants to play more Test cricket but even he could not have imagined that when he regained the opportunity it would be to play for New Zealand as a No 4 batsman.But that is what he will be doing when playing his 20th Test in 10 years, his first in three seasons, when New Zealand attempt to tie up the National Bank series against England in Auckland tomorrow.Harris was already shaping as the one-day specialist that has been the unwanted label he has had in his career when making his Test debut on the bomb-blasted tour of Sri Lanka in 1992/93.His Test career, however, has had more ups and downs than the sharemarket and has been as inconsistent as it has been intermittent.He has had no time to settle into the Test side and he has scored 582 runs at 19.40 and taking 15 wickets at 66.93.It is as a batsman that he has been selected this time, and that follows several seasons as one of the most consistently higher scoring batsmen on the New Zealand first-class scene.While that may not be the most challenging environments, there can be no doubting the record he has carved for himself. He goes into the Test having scored 5333 first-class runs at an average of 46.78. Only Martin Crowe (56.02), Glenn Turner (49.70), Verdun Scott (49.73), Martin Donnelly (47.43) and Bert Sutcliffe (47.41) among those who have scored more first-class runs had a higher average than Harris.By anyone’s standards that is pretty esteemed company.”It is pretty exciting and it doesn’t feel like three years.”Obviously, I’ve been playing a lot of one-day cricket in between that time so it doesn’t feel that long ago,” he said of his time off the Test scene.He at least goes into the Test match having batted against most members of the Test attack for his Canterbury side, although he is getting over some food poisoning suffered during Canterbury’s last game in Christchurch.A bowl of soup and two pieces of toast was all he had eaten during the last two days. He was looking to eat something a little more substantial in the run down to the Test tomorrow.”No-one likes to be termed a one-day specialist. I’ve been called that a few times before and when I’ve got back people have said the same thing, so I’m just going to go out and enjoy myself just the best I can.””I’m a little surprised batting at No 4 but I can see the way they are going with Nathan [Astle] at No 5 and Macca [Craig McMillan] at No 6. I’m happy to fit in anywhere really.”Batting at four or six is reasonably similar. Obviously if things don’t go well you could be in with the new ball and could have a job to get through there and hopefully the way the top order has been going we can get a good start.”He is aiming to approach the match the same way he has been looking at playing for Canterbury, getting in and then being as positive as possible and taking what runs are there.”I’ve just been a bit more aggressive, and positive. Once you get on the paddock, they are giving you every chance and I’ve got to try and make the most of every opportunity,” he said.Harris may never have a finer opportunity to state his case for Test match consideration.