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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

When Mark Warburton took over at QPR back in May, things looked far from convincing at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

Steve McClaren had just been sacked following a run of just one win in 15 league games, and the R’s disappointingly went on to finish the campaign in 19th place.

To make matters worse, star man Luke Freeman – who scored seven goals and recorded six assists in 2018/19 – left the club and became Sheffield United’s club-record signing.

Warburton had a lot to do, and he has coped admirably.

The R’s currently sit 5th in the Championship having won seven of their 13 league games, scoring 23 goals along the way – they sit just three points off the top of the table.

However, their fine campaign is being tainted by one very concerning statistic, one that needs sorting as soon as possible.

QPR are the only side in the Championship yet to keep a clean sheet this season. The ONLY side.

Out of all 24 teams, everyone else has managed to keep a shutout apart from the R’s. That includes 24th-placed Barnsley, a side with just one win all season who have shipped 25 goals along the way – worryingly, they are the only side to have conceded more goals than QPR.

As things stand, the likes of Nahki Wells, Jordan Hugill and Eberechi Eze are masking Yoann Barbet and others’ errors at the back.

Wells has seven goals in eight league starts. Hugill has seven goals in 10 starts. Eze has an impressive six goals and three assists in 13 starts – the trio are certainly helping to paper over the cracks at the back.

Sooner or later, the goals will dry up over the course of a gruelling 46-game Championship season, where defensive solidity will be needed to grind out results.

It has been an impressive season so far, but if Warburton cannot figure out a way to put together some clean sheets, it’s only a matter of time before it all comes crumbling down.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Hold your horses.

That seems to be the message Danny Mills is trying to get across when discussing the Eddie Nketiah v Patrick Bamford debate.

Having come off the bench once again to spare Marcelo Bielsa’s blushes, discussions have ramped up regarding whether or not the 20-year-old should be starting on a more regular basis for the Whites.

However former Leeds defender Danny Mills believes that his performances off the bench don’t necessarily mean he should be given the job of leading the line from the outset just yet.

What’s he said?

Speaking to Football Insider, Mills said that Nketiah hasn’t done enough to warrant a start and that he’d still go with Bamford when picking the team going forward:

This came after the Arsenal loanee replaced the 26-year-old and scored against Preston.

He perhaps rather surprisingly gave the following verdict:

“There’s been a lot of pressure, Nketiah’s been in good form and there’s no doubt Nketiah’s been knocking on the door. You say: ‘Right, okay, it’s a little bit of a stalemate, we’ll change it up. You’ve been banging on my door for your chance, go and take it.’ He did okay Nketiah, I don’t think he was exciting. You don’t look at it and go: ‘Wow, that was exceptional, this kid has to start the next game.’ Bamford is still in the driving seat.”

Has he proven himself?

Whilst pressure might be building on Nketiah to get a start, the fact of the matter is that Nketiah hasn’t proven that he can lead the line from the start of the game on a regular basis.

He may have got two goals in the Carabao Cup when he started those games, but they weren’t against the best quality of opposition. Salford City have just been promoted out of the National League and Stoke City were winless in the Championship when they met.

There’s nothing wrong with being a ‘super-sub’ – Ole Gunnar Solskjær made an entire career out of it.

But as things stand Nketiah has only proven himself at Championship level to pick off teams when they are tired, and whilst things could be better for Leeds, it’s not as if things are disastrous.

Bamford had to do something similar last year, coming off the bench before becoming a regular. So if it’s good enough for him to wait, why shouldn’t Nketiah get the same treatment?

Better to keep things as they are and make a change when you have to rather than bowing to the pressure from the supporters.

Loads of Everton fans have taken to social media to slam referee Andy Madley and Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason for their decision to award Brighton & Hove Albion a penalty on Saturday.

The Toffees travelled to the south coast looking to build momentum having recorded their first win in five Premier League games against West Ham United last week, but failed to record successive top-flight victories for the first time this season.

Seagulls midfielder Pascal Gross opened the scoring for the hosts in the 15th-minute, before an Adam Webster own goal and strike from Dominic Calvert-Lewin overturned Brighton’s early lead.

Neal Maupay would score from the spot six-minutes after second-half substitute Calvert-Lewin made an instant impact, though, when Michael Keane was adjudged to have fouled Aaron Connolly on the advice of VAR Mason.

The decision has not sat well with the Goodison Park faithful, with many feeling the call was an ‘absolute joke’, while some have suggested the review would have ended differently had it been in the opposing area, after incidents involving Richarlison and Theo Walcott were not deemed fouls.

Keane was judged to have fouled Connolly by forcing the Brighton forward to the ground, although Madley pointing to the spot soon received widespread astonishment from those at the Amex Stadium (Guardian).

Former Everton striker Gary Lineker was also left astonished by the call, with the Match of the Day host taking to Twitter like many Toffees fans to share his thoughts.

“VAR hasn’t given a penalty this season, finally gives one to Brighton for next to nothing. The bar that has been at pole vault heights has descended to limbo dancing levels,” he said.

The Goodison Park faithful echoed that sentiment, with many sharing their disagreement…

Leeds United fans on Twitter have been reacting to Liam Cooper’s comments on Patrick Bamford.

The Leeds captain was full of praise for the striker despite the fact that he hasn’t scored in any of his last nine games for the club.

The Scotland international stated that Bamford’s pressing high up the pitch are key to everything Leeds United do, and while that’s a fair thing to say, fans are finding it hard to get on board with that sentiment.

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The striker’s lack of goals is clearly a point of concern for the fanbase, and why wouldn’t it be? Leeds missed out on promotion by the narrowest of margins last term, and the fact that their striker is misfiring this term could cost them again.

Cooper believes that Bamford’s fortunes will change in the near future, but it remains to be seen whether or not the former Boro striker can rekindle the type of form that saw him net four in five at the start of 2019/20.

Here’s what the Elland Road faithful have been saying on Twitter…

One of Manchester United’s most consistent performers this season, Scott McTominay has well and truly established himself as a cornerstone of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side’s midfield.

The Scotland international has featured in every single Premier League game this year, and as per Whoscored, has an impressive average match rating in the top-flight of 7.07 – a tally that puts him in fourth in the Red Devils’ entire squad, only behind the likes of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

However, after picking up a knock in the clash against Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday, Solskjaer confirmed the 22-year-old is a doubt to face Brighton Sunday afternoon.

After hearing the injury update on the midfielder, United fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation, and demanded the Red Devils boss hand a chance to James Garner.

The academy product has only made fleeting appearances for the first-team this season, playing just eight minutes of Premier League football.

But with McTominay potentially ruled out, supporters of the Manchester side clamoured for the 18-year-old to be given a rare start in the middle of the park.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

Manchester City have displayed their promising youth talents plenty of times this season. Phil Foden has continued to impress, whilst Pep Guardiola has given opportunities to Tommy Doyle, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Eric Garcia as well.

Doyle, in particular, has established himself as a potential star for the future with an impressive display on his debut against Southampton. Now, after seeing what City have to offer, there is one man who has not been given his chance to shine just yet – Ian Carlo Poveda.

The English winger was born to Colombian parents and is already vastly experienced at youth level. He has so far stepped out for Brentford, Arsenal and Barcelona’s youth systems all before he even turned 19. Now, as he is just a few months out from his 20th birthday, Poveda will surely be looking to crack the first team or seek a loan move to develop his career.

The youngster has been a great addition to the Citizens’ academy, as he now boasts 18 goals and 14 assists for a variety of age groups at City. Most notably, Poveda scored eight goals in 18 appearances for the U18s as they won the 2016/17 North Division.

The former Barcelona man is also experienced on the international front as well, having played 28 times for England’s Young Lions.

Indeed, Poveda does have one first-team appearance to his name, which came last season in the EFL Cup against Burton Albion. The London-born man played 90 minutes that day and managed to complete an impressive eight out of 11 dribble attempts and win nine ground duels.

After this, Guardiola told MSN Deportes (via Latin American Post): “It was a good debut, he showed a lot of his talent and I know he will continue to progress, he is a brave player.”

There is a chance that the winger will most likely need a loan move, however. The competition in his position is competitive for him right now, with Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez all on City’s books.

Mahrez, a £60m signing in 2018, has only started five times in the league so far, so how much hope can Poveda have when star academy graduate Foden is having to make do with a bit-part role in the side?

The youngster could be a few years off breaking into the first-team, unlike other academy players such as Doyle. A loan move in Championship or perhaps back in Spain could give him a much better chance at showing Guardiola what he can do.

It remains to be seen whether he can crack the first-team, but he may need to ply his trade away from Manchester before he can force his way through.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to GQ, former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has pinpointed exactly what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side could do with right now.

What did he say?

The ex-France international spent several years at Old Trafford after joining from Fulham, and scored 42 goals and provided a further 19 assists in 124 games across all competitions.

After looking at the current composition of the United squad, the 41-year-old insisted the Red Devils desperately need a centre-forward like Ruud van Nistelrooy who is “obsessed” with scoring goals.

He said: “United’s strikers are still very young. Maybe they need some kind of mentoring from an experienced strikers. At the moment the team looks like they need an experienced striker who is obsessed with scoring, someone who can get ten extra goals, someone like Van Nistelrooy who was obsessed about the goal. They need that now and that has to come from Rashford and Martial.

“I have big hopes for them and I watched Martial with big eyes because he’s a finisher. Rashford has great technique and can strike the ball amazingly from distance. He goes in behind defenders to create not just space for other players, but chances for himself. When you have these qualities you can over-think. You can’t think too much, you have to play on instinct.”

Poacher

Whilst Saha’s sentiments are understandable, it is difficult to imagine a player of the ilk of Van Nistelrooy finding himself in the current United team. After all, the Red Devils arguably had a proven goal-scorer who thrived on penalty box finishes in Romelu Lukaku, but sent him packing because he may not have fitted into what Solskjaer now wants from his side. As per Understat, just one of the Belgian’s goals last season came from outside the area.

What United need is for the likes of Martial and Rashford themselves to develop that ruthless instinct from goal, and become “obsessed” with scoring. They already have the pace and movement to cause opposition teams problems, but if they can add that predatory-style finishing to their game then they can solve a major issue. Take the latter’s close-range miss against Brighton last weekend for example. They’re the sort of chances Van Nistelrooy used to gobble up for breakfast.

It’s imperative for United that their current striking options slowly begin to improve this key facet of the game.

He may not generate the same amount of excitement as Jadon Sancho or James Maddison – what with him being a left-back – but Ben Chilwell certainly produced a performance that has gotten Manchester United fans purring.

The England international has been linked with a big-money move to the Red Devils in the future, and on Thursday night against Montenegro, he showed exactly why Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are interested in signing him.

As per Sofascore, he recorded a 9.2 match rating (the highest of any player on the pitch), no doubt thanks to his hat-trick of assists and incredible five key passes in total.

After seeing Chilwell’s display, United fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their reported transfer target.

Many supporters of the Manchester side insisted he showed exactly why he is far better than current Red Devils left-back, Luke Shaw, and urged the club to sign him as soon as possible.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson has now overseen nine matches in charge and it is fair to say that things haven’t worked out in the way he would have wished so far.

With just 11 goals scored and two wins to his name, Sunderland have exited all three cup competitions and have dropped in the League One table.

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Mathematically there is still a very good likelihood of making the play-offs or possibly even the automatic promotion places, but the team seems to be on a steady decline, and fans blame Parkinson for that.

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Some think he should never have been given the job while one even believes that keeping Jack Ross would have been a better option, which shows how unimpressive Parkinson has been so far.

It is worth considering that the new boss has had to make do with the players who were already at the club, and he will have to wait until January to bring in any of his own, and therefore it may be a little harsh to judge him so early on.

Regardless, several supporters have made their feelings known, and Parkinson has a lot to do if he is to sway their opinion, as the following reactions show.

Leeds United fans on Twitter have vented their frustrations on social media after Tyler Roberts came off injured in the first half against Reading.

The Wales international went down just after the half-hour mark, and he was unable to continue as he was replaced by Helder Costa.

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Sadly, it was widely reported by reputable journalists that Roberts looked upset when coming off the pitch.

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Rather than showing him sympathy in what seemed to be a tough moment, fans on social media lambasted him for his injury proneness.

To be fair to them, Roberts has missed a lot of action as he’s only been able to start four games this term after missing the first few months of the campaign with a knee problem.

Here is just a selection of the reaction from the Elland Road faithful…

Others were even less sympathetic as they took his injury as a chance to jump on his back about his poor performance up until that point in the evening.