All posts by h716a5.icu

Former Scotland defender Alan Hutton has revealed his concern over the return of Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi ahead of the final Old Firm clash in the 2021/22 season. 

The lowdown: In the Hoops’ hands

Ange Postecoglou’s side could take a giant step towards the Scottish Premiership title with a victory over Rangers at Celtic Park and would realistically all but be crowned champions with a superior goal difference, nine-point lead and three games remaining.

The four meetings between the Glasgow giants have been evenly matched this term and currently – both clubs boast two victories apiece from their league and Scottish Cup meetings.

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As the final showdown of the season looms large, one returning Hoops star has been tipped to have a major impact on the outcome…

The latest: Hutton ‘worried’

Speaking to Football Insider, Rangers TV and BBC pundit Hutton has suggested that fit-again Kyogo could hold the key after what he’s seen from Parkhead.

“His movement’s incredible. I was worried when he came on the pitch at Hampden thinking he could create something.

“It didn’t quite work out but against Ross County, if you put the balls into areas, he makes clever runs. The ball from Jota for him to score between two big defenders shows you what he’s all about.

“He just plays with a smile on his face. He always looks happy and wants to give his all. For him to be out that long, to come back and turn it on that quickly just shows you the type of character he is.”

The verdict: Big miss

Despite the continued surge towards the Scottish top-flight crown, there can be no doubt that the 30-game absence of the 27-year-old this season has hampered the Bhoys’ campaign.

Having made a lightning-fast start to life in Scotland, Kyogo raced to 21 direct goal contributions in just 28 appearances before being sidelined through knee and hamstring issues.

Whilst all credit should go to Postecoglou’s philosophy and indeed the January recruitment for mitigating the impact of the Japanese international’s injury, welcoming back the versatile attacker hailed as ‘magic’ by the Greek-Australian boss is a huge positive for the upcoming Old Firm encounter.

In other news, Frank McAvennie is in awe of one Celtic player’s development. Find out who it is here.

Aizaz Cheema’s fourteen wickets helped give Pakistan International Airlines an innings victory against Karachi Blues, and takes them in to the final

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2011
ScorecardFast bowler Aizaz Cheema ran through the Karachi Blues line-up for the second time in the match to give Pakistan International Airlines victory by an innings and 16 runs, and take them in to the finals of the QEA Division One Trophy against Habib Bank.Cheema had already struck twice on the second day and continued to wreak havoc amidst the Karachi batsmen, taking five of the six wickets to fall today. His first victim was Akbar-ur-Rehman, bowled for 23. He then got rid of Owais Rehmani for 4, and followed that up with the wickets of Mohammad Bilal and Babar Rehman, before wrapping up Karachi’s innings, and the match, by trapping Malik Aftab leg-before without scoring. Cheema ended up with figures of 7 for 45, giving him 14 for 110 for the match.PIA need to take all nine points from the game to overtake Rawalpindi and secure a finals berth.

Rangers haven’t had resounding success in the transfer market recently, as numerous signings just haven’t forced their way into the starting XI and only a few geninely improving the first-team at Ibrox.

Along with a sense of regret over the players in whom they invested, they may also rue the ones that got away in terms of prospective signings which didn’t materialise.

Ross Wilson disaster

One player on whom the club will be gutted to have missed out is Brentford striker Ivan Toney. The 31k-p/w marksman – who was hailed as a “lion” by his manager Thomas Frank after an excellent start to his Premier League career – could have easily ended up in Glasgow.

While Toney was plying his trade at Peterborough in 2020, Rangers were linked with a move for the striker, who admitted that he was close to agreeing a move to Ibrox. However, he instead signed for Brentford and has netted a quite ridiculous 47 goals in just 85 appearances (0.55 per game) for the west Londoners.

There seems little doubt the 26-year-old would have been a fantastic success in Glasgow. Instead of signing Toney, Steven Gerrard secured the services of Kemar Roofe, and although the Jamaican has been good in spells for the Ibrox side, in retrospect the Bees marksman would have been the better signing.

Roofe has plundered a solid tally of 34 goals in 71 matches for the club (0.48 per game), but his injury-prone nature often hinders the team, and this return could have been much better if he was fit more often.

There is no chance of Rangers signing Toney now, whose market value is a whopping £31.5m, and it is a case of opportunity missed for Ross Wilson yet again.

With the Premiership winners this season more than likely qualifying for the Champions League group stage next term, Toney’s goals could have made a massive difference if they were for the Gers, especially with Alfredo Morelos missing the last chunk of the season due to injury.

Hopefully, another mistake like this won’t happen again in the future.

AND in other news, 100% duels won: £18k-p/w Rangers “train” was outstanding against Leipzig on Thursday

Leon Dajaku has been ruled out for Sunderland as they play Sheffield Wednesday in the first leg of their League One play-off tie tonight.

The Lowdown: Delayed return

It was reported that Dajaku was expected to return to Wearside on Monday following a spell out with illness, as the Stadium of Light faithful clinched a play-off place with a 1-0 win away at Morecambe on the final day.

They now face an Owls side that finished above them in the league table, with the winner playing either MK Dons or Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off final.

The Latest: Dajaku out

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match (via The Chronicle), Alex Neil has unfortunately had to rule Dajaku out of the contest, as he continues his recovery from illness:

“Leon is making progress. He’s done a couple of days in the gym, and he’s getting there. He’ll be a little bit longer – he’s not done a lot recently.

“He’s lost quite a bit of weight recently as well, so we are just trying to get him back up to speed.”

The Verdict: Big blow

After hopes that he could return for the fixture, losing Dajaku once more is certainly a big blow for Neil and his team.

On top of his four goals and three assists in League One this season, he has picked up one man-of-the-match award, and also ranks highly among his teammates in terms of average shots, dribbles and crosses per game in the division (WhoScored).

Nonetheless, his added threat in and around the box would have been useful for the Black Cats to gain an advantage going into the second leg, but they will now have to try and find a way to win without him.

In other news, find out what big SAFC dilemma has now emerged here!

Shane Watson was almost too depressed to speak after another one-sided Ashes day left him and his team-mates searching for answers

Peter English at the SCG06-Jan-2011Shane Watson was almost too depressed to speak after another one-sided Ashes day left him and his team-mates searching for answers. He’s been one of the few Australian players to have made a serious mark on series, but his mistakes have also cost the team at crucial times.Today he ran himself out, ending his counter-attack at 38, and by stumps the best Australia could hope for was avoiding an unprecedented third innings defeat of the campaign. They were 7 for 213, still 151 from making England bat again, and even some predicted morning showers should not be able to hold off the tourists on Friday.”It’s not great being a part of something that has been so disappointing,” Watson said. “It would be nice to be in the golden era, but we’re not playing well enough to be part of that this year. Going into this series I thought there were going to be defining moments in our careers and there has been – on the wrong side, unfortunately.”Australia used to have “Tough Day” Tim Nielsen to analyse these types of performances, but in this series it has been “Bad Day Watto”. Unfortunately for Watson he’s been required during four of the Tests. “There’s no doubt we’ve let ourselves down in the way that we’ve played,” he said, covering this match and the entire series.”The English have played extremely well in the last two games, they’ve made the most of the conditions, whether it’s been swinging or seaming, or going reverse and turning. Hats off to them, they’ve played unbelievably well. We haven’t played up to our standard.”He thinks the hosts under-estimated how strong England would be in Australia this time. “With the history of the Ashes and how it’s panned out, and playing in our home conditions, it has surprised me in a way,” he said. “The way they’ve played, and how complete they are as a team, it’s very impressive. The Australian team hasn’t done that.”He now calls David Saker, the England bowling coach, his “ex-good mate”. He was joking, but was also disappointed that an Australian has been so successful in helping the old enemy. Saker and England’s attack haven’t been responsible for all the dismissals.Watson has been involved in three run-outs, causing the exits of Simon Katich in Adelaide and Phillip Hughes in Melbourne. Today he did it to himself, ending up at the same end as Hughes when he didn’t bother to look at his partner when going for an unnecessary second.”It’s not good, it’s hard to put a finger on it to be honest,” he said of the reasons why he’s so often involved in mix-ups. “It’s a horrendous situation to be involved in three run-outs now. It’s something I’ve got to work on. It’s not good enough.”The same sentiment applies to the team’s overall performance. “We don’t want to be losing the support that we’ve had for such a long time with the Australian fans,” he said. “We’ve got to play so much better to keep the faith.”

A recent report from Football Transfers has claimed that Newcastle United have been offered the chance to sign Watford winger Ismaila Sarr, with the player’s representatives having met with the Magpies last month as the 24-year-old seeks an escape route out of Vicarage Road.

The former Rennes man appears to be eyeing a new home as the Hornets ebb towards an inevitable drop back into the second tier, with the report suggesting that a fee of roughly £40m could be enough to snap him up this summer.

Although it remains to be seen if Eddie Howe’s side are actually interested in pursuing the signing of the £71k-per-week speedster, the thought of him lining up at St James’ Park next season truly is a mouthwatering prospect.

The Senegalese sensation has endured a tricky stint back in the top-flight – with just five goals and two assists to his name in the Premier League this season – although he caught the eye during an explosive debut campaign in English football two seasons ago.

Having made the club-record switch to his current side in the summer of 2019, the 39-cap international went on to provide 11 goal contributions in that first season, albeit with that not proving enough to keep the club away from the drop zone.

The subsequent season saw Sarr remain with Watford despite interest from the likes of Manchester United, with the “rapid” ace, as he has been described by Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, bagging 13 goals and registering ten assists as Xisco Munoz’s side secured an instant return back to the top tier.

Dubbed a “freak” by current teammate Ben Foster for his ridiculous talent, the one-time Metz man would offer guaranteed thrills to those in the northeast, with Howe and co already having his perfect partner in crime in Allan Saint-Maximin.

Should the Frenchman stay put – despite reports he is up for sale – he would seemingly be able to dovetail beautifully with Sarr, the duo offering electric speed and undoubted skill down the flank.

While Saint-Maximin often does his damage cutting in off the left, the aforementioned target is at his most potent down the right-wing, offering the Newcastle boss the chance to terrify teams on the counter and remain a threat on both wings.

Although it is not yet known if there is concrete interest in the £24.3m-rated gem, PIF should do the club’s supporters – and the Premier League – a favour by putting the two dynamic stars together.

They would surely be buzzing at the thought of watching the pair play at St James’ Park next term.

IN other news, Newcastle plot bid to sign player with 191 PL apps, he’d be a big upgrade on Lascelles…

A round-up of the action from the third day of the semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2011Ravindra Jadeja’s valiant unbeaten 170 was not enough to get West Zone past North Zone’s first-innings score at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara, and it is North that are favourites to go through to the final after the third day. West ended up 68 runs short, and North added another 191 to that before stumps, ending the day 259 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand.West began the day at 176 for 5, and Jadeja, initially, couldn’t find a partner who was willing to stick around long enough at the other end. West were soon 261 for 8, still way off North’s 460. Jadeja finally found able company in No. 10 Murtuja Vahora, and the two put together 131 for the ninth wicket. Sumit Narwal, who had scored a half-century and taken three wickets on the third day, was the man to dismiss Vahora for 43, with West still 68 behind. No. 11 Samad Fallah was out for a first-ball duck, giving Narwal his fifth wicket and leaving Jadeja stranded. Jadeja’s 170 came off 242 balls, and included 21 fours and five sixes.Any chance West had of pushing for an outright win was blunted by North’s openers – Sarul Kanwar and Shikhar Dhawan – who both reached 53. Mithun Manhas was unbeaten on 48 at the end of the day, and with North under no pressure to push for a win, they could use the last day for some batting practice.

A merciless South Zone piled on the misery against Central Zone on a dull third day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Central ended the day 697 runs behind with eight wickets remaining. South had already secured the first-innings lead and showed little initiative to go for an outright win, batting on well beyond the point where Central had given up all hope and were just going through the motions, making for a boring day of cricket.The day’s play was possibly best defined by a moment where Devendra Bundela was heard through the stump mike begging his captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar to take him out of the attack. It wasn’t surprising considering he was bowling 80 kph lollipops against batsmen who were under no pressure and with a spread-out field. Bundela ended up bowling 18 overs in the day, as Central made no effort to bowl South out and just waited for them to declare. Abhinav Mukund and Amit Verma capitalised, helping themselves to centuries. Mukund’s 164 was his second century of the match – he scored 105 in the first innings. South reached 504 for 7 in their second innings before finally declaring, 769 runs ahead.Central’s seamers – Umesh Yadav, Pankaj Singh and RP Singh – bowled only 38 of the 100 overs bowled in South Zone’s second innings; a clear indication that the team had lost interest in the match. South captain Subramaniam Badrinath and first-innings double-centurion Manish Pandey didn’t even bother going out to bat, sending in the middle-order players and tail instead.South gave themselves a chance to win by taking two wickets at the end of the day, leaving Central 73 for 2.

A round-up of the first day of the fifth round of the Regional Four-Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2011An allround bowling performance from Trinidad and Tobago led to Leeward Islands being shot out for 211 on the first day of their Regional 4-day clash at the Queen’s Park Oval, before T&T struggled to 47 for 3 in reply. Leeward, who are bottom of the points table, opted to bat first, and began steadily before Iegsinner Imran Khan took three quick wickets to start the slide, and it was only thanks to Gavin Tonge’s 44 down the order that Leewards went past 200. T&T, who are three points behind table-toppers Jamaica, lost two early wickets to Tonito Willet, with Tonge picking up the other, to give Leewards a foothold in the game.Rain reduced the opening day of the contest between Combined Campuses and Colleges and Jamaica to just 36.4 overs, with the CC&C openers managing 90 for no loss at Chedwin Park. Omar Phillips was unbeaten on 53 and Romel Currency on 27 when rain stopped play.Anchored by Kraigg Brathwaite’s dogged half-century, Barbados crawled to 201 for 4 against Winward Islands at the Kensington Oval. Brathwaite laboured for over four hours and faced 197 deliveries for his 57, an innings that included a solitary four. He departed with the score on 144, and Kevin Stoute, who had made his way to 45, and Sharmarh Brooks, with 21, saw out the rest of the day with an unbeaten 57-run stand. Liam Sebastien was the most successful Winward bowler, picking up 3 for 50 from 28 overs.There was no play in the game between Guyana and England Lions at the Providence Stadium thanks to heavy rain

For the most part of this tournament, England have not been able to play to a plan, what with injuries, upsets and an illness forcing them to look think on their feet

Sidharth Monga in Colombo25-Mar-2011For the most part of this tournament, England have not been able to play to a plan, what with injuries, upsets and an illness forcing them to look think on their feet. They have failed twice, but have succeeded just enough number of times to have earned the right of to play Sri Lanka in the final quarter-final. On the eve of that match, Andrew Strauss spoke of the importance of not going in with too many set plans and the inspiration his side can draw from having survived despite potential disasters.”We have shown a lot of resolve,” Strauss said. “We have shown that we are able to stick together in close encounters, but you never know what this game is going to throw at you, and you have to be quick enough to adapt to whatever comes your way. Now is the time to play good, smart, intelligent cricket and ask questions of the opposition.”Strauss said that the way the rest of the squad has managed without the injured players has been heartening. “We have had to deal with that right from the end of the Ashes,” he said. “We have had a lot of injuries, lot of people coming and going, and I think that tests out your resolve as a group, also the core of the side to be able to welcome other people in and make them feel part of the side and just as important member as the guy that has departed.”That’s something we are good at. But no one wants injuries. Not what you are looking for, it makes life harder for you, but you have got to manage the situation as the cards unfold. So far we have managed to deal with it reasonably well, hopefully we can do that in the rest of the World Cup.”England could be with their third opening combination of the tournament if Ian Bell partners Andrew Strauss•Getty ImagesEngland are waiting on Tim Bresnan’s fitness, have decided on an opener but are not going to reveal him until toss, and have an important choice to make around James Anderson, who has lost form in the subcontinent. “He [Anderson] has freshened up to a certain extent,” Strauss said. “He didn’t play in the last game. He has had nine or 10 days away from cricket, and he certainly bowled very well to me in the nets the other day. Wasn’t my best batting display of all time. He is definitely an option for this game. He has got a lot of experience, we know what a quality bowler he is, and to a certain extent it is more likely to swing here with the humidity than some of the other places in India.”Among other things, that they managed to win in the absence of their first-choice quick motivates Strauss. “We haven’t always been able to rely on Plan A, so we have had to chop and change things a little bit,” he said. “Ravi [Bopara] bowled quite a few overs in the last game when he hadn’t really bowled much in the World Cup beforehand. James Tredwell came in. It gives me a lot of belief that you don’t just have to look at the same two-three players to deliver for you.”Strauss was not a member of the side that won the ODI series 3-2 in Sri Lanka in 2007. He said that should not be a big handicap. “I have asked the guys who were involved how they went about with things,” he said. “It’s quite an interesting stuff they have come back with. The wickets here have been relaid since 2007, so it’s hard to glean too much information about what happened there. Different lights too. I think in this circumstance you don’t want to go into the game with too many predetermined plans. You have got to adapt well to whatever you encounter.”Staying true to their form in their first six games of the tournament, Strauss promised a close game. “It’s been great that our games have been close, for the spectators. Hasn’t been quite so great for us. We would have liked to win a lot easier than we have done.”We take a lot of confidence from the fact that we have beaten the major sides and that holds us in good stead for this game. We don’t know what drama is about to unfold. The likelihood is, as we saw the India-Australia game yesterday, it’s going to be a tight game, and it’s going to fluctuate on a couple of key performances. We have got to make sure that we are the guys who put up those performances.”

Rajasthan Royals have decided to take disciplinary action against Shane Warne for the comments he made to Sanjay Dixit, the Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2011Rajasthan Royals have decided to take disciplinary action against Shane Warne for the comments he made to Sanjay Dixit, the Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary, on Wednesday night after the team’s loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rajasthan’s chief executive, Sean Morris, sent Dixit an email saying Warne had apologised for the incident, which Dixit posted on Twitter.”An internal disciplinary panel was convened at the earliest opportunity and met with Shane Warne to review his comments made to yourself post the prize giving,” Morris wrote. “Following submissions from the player and other management staff who were present at the incident we have decided to take disciplinary action against the player. The player has accepted the action that we have taken and apologised for any distress caused.”Morris went on to thank Dixit and the state association for all the help and support they have given the franchise during the course of the IPL.Rajasthan Royals media manager, Arpit Garg, declined to say what the punishment was for Warne, telling ESPNcricinfo that is an internal matter and was not meant to leak into the public domain.The RCA had complained to the BCCI and IPL that Warne had reportedly abused Dixit and the incident is believed to be a continuation of a sharp difference in opinion over the Jaipur pitch that has become public recently.The reported that RCA venue director Narendra Joshi had written to IPL’s chief operating officer Sundar Raman, alleging that Warne had publicly abused Dixit by calling him “a liar and egoistic” and demanded action against Warne.