All posts by z3u9t.icu

48 long years of hurt are finally over for Sunderland. It might not have been the long-awaited promotion or a competition as prestigious as the FA Cup, but their Wembley hoodoo is over.

The Mackems have regularly lost on their travels to this part of London but on Sunday, they laid their problems to rest with a 1-0 win over Tranmere.

Everything at the Stadium of Light feels a lot more positive now. The Black Cats look in a good place to be promoted and they’ve now won their first trophy since 1973.

With Lee Johnson and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus at the helm, they appear to have finally struck up a recipe for success. Under Phil Parkinson and Stewart Donald, that never looked like happening.

Key to their revival has been Aiden McGeady, a player who capped off a remarkable turnaround on Sunday afternoon.

McGeady was the scorer of two goals when they lost the 2019 final to Portsmouth and he came up trumps again this weekend. On this occasion, his influential performance inspired a memorable victory.

However, if it wasn’t for Johnson, he probably would not have been in the XI on Sunday. The Irishman was alienated from the entire senior squad when Parkinson was at the helm.

McGeady was snapped at McDonald’s with Chris Maguire after a defeat in December 2019 and as a result, was transfer-listed by the club. He moved to Charlton on loan and then after returning to the north-east in the summer, didn’t get any minutes.

The winger earned his first outing of the 2020/21 campaign during Johnson’s opening match in charge. Since then, the pair haven’t looked back.

Only George Honeyman (12) has more assists (11) than McGeady in League One this season and he was at his creative best during the EFL Trophy final win on Sunday. He supplied the game’s only goal with a mouth-watering assist.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-sunderland-news-and-gossip” title=” Latest Sunderland news and gossip!”]

The 34-year-old picked up the ball just inside Tranmere’s half before taking several defenders out of the game with a sensational pass. Gooch ran onto it and then fired home with immense composure.

McGeady was the beating heart of Sunderland’s win, as he supplied a considerable eight key passes at Wembley. For context, that’s substantially more than his season average of 2.1 key passes per match.

He was a constant thorn in the Tranmere defence as McGeady also recorded four dribbles, the joint-highest number of any player on the field.

Perhaps most impressive, though, was his desire and energy. For someone in the twilight of his career, it would have been easy for McGeady to fade as the game went on. He didn’t however, ensuring he ran himself into the ground to get Sunderland up the pitch in the dying embers.

McGeady was the outcast at the start of the season but he is now the undoubted star of this Sunderland team. His turn around, like Sunderland’s in recent months, has been superb.

AND in other news, Worse than McFadzean: SAFC liability who won just 14.2% of his duels let Johnson down…

Writing for football.london, Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold has relayed news that defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott has suffered a fresh injury blow that his Dundee boss described as ‘severe’ – with the youngster’s loan north of the border now cut short.

Fagan-Walcott suffers injury blow

Fagan-Walcott, who made his senior debut for the Lilywhites during their Champions League second leg tie against RB Leipzig in 2020, was sent out on a temporary spell to Dundee in a bid to accumulate more game time.

However, as Gold relays this news, the Lilywhites man has now suffered a fresh injury blow after recovering from knee surgery before January – with the player now returning to north London as a result.

Dundee manager James McPake provided a bleak assessment when first confirming the scan, revealing that Fagan-Walcott’s injury was ‘pretty severe’ and it is in fact a tendon problem.

Transfer Tavern take

Time will tell exactly when Fagan-Walcott returns from this latest injury setback, but it certainly comes as another blow in his bid to become a regular Tottenham first teamer in future.

Having recovered from surgery to then pick up a serious tendon problem, the 19-year-old will be hoping his latest fitness issues don’t keep him off the field for too long in a detriment to his development.

In other news: Tottenham could lose this ‘top class’ player, find out more here.

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that Dean Smith needs £150m this summer in order for the Midlands club to continue progressing.

After coming close to relegation last season, Villa are having a brilliant campaign this time round.

Under Smith, the Villans sit ninth in the Premier League and are still very much in the conversation when it comes to those European qualification spots.

To go that one step further, though, and truly challenge for a Champions League place, Hendrie believes Smith will have to spend some serious money in the next transfer window. He told FFC:

“That’s what Dean’s going to have to do. He’s got to bring someone in, or two or three players in, whether it’s £150m he spends. If you’re going to certainly push for that Champions League spot or a European spot, you know, I think he’s got to spend around £150m.

“These days £150m is nothing, but I think Dean will be looking to bring three players maybe that certainly can push Villa forward and build them small steps because that isn’t an overnight process.”

One area Smith could look to strengthen this summer is up front, with The Telegraph reporting that there is a desire at Villa Park to bring someone in who can provide some competition for top scorer Ollie Watkins.

As for outgoings, the same outlet reports Jack Grealish could become a priority for Manchester City if they are unable to land Borussia Dortmund’s in-demand striker Erling Haaland.

Despite the result, Alex Iwobi let Carlo Ancelotti down on his return to the starting line-up as Everton beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Thursday night.

The Nigerian forward had featured for just seven minutes over the Toffees’ previous two Premier League fixtures, after falling out of the side for last month’s 2-0 Merseyside Derby win away to rivals Liverpool.

Ancelotti sought to offer the 24-year-old a recall at the Hawthorns as Everton played their second of three fixtures in the space of eight days, with James Rodriguez not risked and Gylfi Sigurdsson initially rested after featuring against Southampton on Monday.

Opening the action away to Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened Baggies marked Iwobi’s 13th start in 23 outings during the top-flight campaign to date, having been a staple of the Blues line-up over the festive period.

But his night would end in only the 58th minute as Ancelotti sought to put Everton in control of the midfield battle, with Allan introduced from the bench to instigate a shift in formation from the 3-4-1-2 with which the Toffees initially took to the field.

Iwobi was an easy choice for the Italian tactician to haul off early in the second period, having wasted a handful of promising opportunities in the first half to deliver a cross into Sam Johnstone’s penalty area.

The £22.9m-rated attacker, operating in a right-midfield role, was off the pace in most scenarios and delivered a performance akin to the displays Everton saw throughout last season which sparked Darren Bent to question where his qualities are.

“For all his endeavour – he does work really hard and he tries really hard – there’s no end product, there’s no quality there,” the former England international told Football Insider last July.

“He works really hard, you’ve got to give that to him, he puts a shift in but when it comes to that real bit of quality where it’s the final delivery, scoring a goal or the final pass, he hasn’t quite got that.”

During the 57 minutes in which Iwobi featured, Everton registered eight shots with just two on target. Three of those efforts came from Richarlison, two from Andre Gomes and one from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Bernard and Ben Godfrey, per WhoScored.

As well as not testing Johnstone, Iwobi additionally failed to create a chance for a Blues player to shoot, despite Calvert-Lewin (2), Bernard (1) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (1) – those closest on the field to the £50,000-per-week forward – registering at least one key pass each.

Part of Iwobi’s struggles stemmed from issues getting on the ball, with every outfield Everton player except Richarlison (22) and Calvert-Lewin (28) registering more touches than the ex-Arsenal playmaker (29).

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who took 28 touches, also outpassed Iwobi, with 14 accurate balls from 19 attempts to the Nigerian’s 11 from 15. Iwobi averages 19.8 passes (16.2 accurate) and with an 82% success rate per top-flight game this season, per SofaScore.

The 24-year-old further averages 0.6 key passes and 0.4 crosses (14% accurate), but failed to find a teammate with his only attempt against West Brom.

Ancelotti may not have expected Iwobi to create a haul of chances for himself or Everton as a team, but would have hoped to see the 44-cap international help set the pace far more often.

AND in other news, Everton eye a £22.5m-rated speedster who is “hungry for success”…

Liverpool have been handed a big transfer blow, as reported target David Alaba looks to have agreed to join Real Madrid in the summer.

The Reds have been heavily linked with a move for the Bayern Munich centre-back in recent weeks, as his contract with the Bundesliga side is set to expire at the end of this season, meaning he could’ve been signed on a free transfer in the summer.

However, Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed that the Austrian international will join Real Madrid ahead of next season, which will surely come as a blow to Jurgen Klopp.

Alaba has established himself as one of the best centre-backs in European football in recent years, helping Hans Dieter-Flick’s side to victory in the Champions League final last season.

Last season in the Bundesliga, the 28-year-old averaged a solid 6.99 rating, making 28 appearances as Bayern cruised to the title.

He could’ve been an excellent partner to Virgil van Dijk in the heart of Liverpool’s defence, as he would’ve complemented the Dutchman’s aerial prowess and defensive quality with his own ability to make progressive passes into the midfield and attack.

Alaba has also proven himself to be extremely versatile in his career thus far, something which surely would’ve been appreciated by Klopp, as he has featured as a left-back, a centre-back and a defensive-midfielder on a number of occasions.

Considering Fabinho has arguably become the Reds’ most important player this season due to his ability to play as a centre-back as well as a defensive midfielder, it seems clear that Alaba would’ve been a hit with the German manager.

During Pep Guardiola’s time with the German side, he was full of praise for the Austrian, saying:

“He’s an unbelievable talent. He can play anywhere. He’s quick, good in the build-up and always 100 per cent focused. Without doubt, he can be one of the best centre-backs in the world. He’s a huge gift for Bayern.”

It appears as if the Spanish manager wasn’t wrong when you consider Alaba’s superb performances for Bayern in the past few seasons, and it is undoubtedly a blow for Klopp that he won’t be following in Thiago’s footsteps by making the move to Anfield next summer.

And, in other news… Klopp can refresh Salah by axing £99m-rated ace in favour of “confident” academy talent

Glasgow Rangers can ill afford to repeat their defensive lapses again after they ended a run of three clean sheets in a row after being held to a 1-1 draw at Hamilton Academical last Sunday.

You could pick many holes in Steven Gerrard’s side as several stars were at fault for the team’s sub-par performance overall, none more so than Bongani Zungu, and after such a disappointing display, it would be a surprise to see him start against Kilmarnock.

The Bafana-Bafana midfielder has shown flashes of his ability during his time at Ibrox but he has simply been far too inconsistent for his own good, with his display against Hamilton called into question by ex-Ger full-back Alan Hutton.

He’s quite clearly struggling to form any sort of connection with his teammates Glen Kamara and Joe Aribo, whereas Aribo has had a lot more success with the likes of Steven Davis and Ryan Jack on the right-hand side of the midfield, with a goal and an assist in his past four Premiership fixtures.

Whilst Zungu obviously has a lot of ability, he has done little to justify his much-heralded arrival from French Ligue 2 side Amiens – let alone his £2.7m price-tag – having joined the Scottish giants on loan until the end of the season with the option for a permanent move.

Speaking to reporters at the time, Gerrard said: “Bongani fits the profile of player that adds further strength and depth to our midfield.

“We wanted a dominant midfielder with the right profile who can enhance the team and complement other players we have.”

But it’s fair to say that he has been nothing short of disappointing, with no goals or assists in 15 appearances across all competitions so far this season, which has resulted in a less than impressive WhoScored match rating of 6.29. For context, he is the third-lowest ranked player in the Rangers squad, above the likes of George Edmundson and Greg Stewart. Say no more.

Davis and Jack have had their fair share of injury troubles since the start of this season, which perhaps explains why Gerrard is keeping him in the starting line-up at the moment. However, it may be difficult for him to earn another starting spot off the back of his latest showing.

With just over half of the season left, there’s still time for Zungu to defy his critics, but he needs to get his act together sooner rather than later.

AND in other news, Rangers name their asking price for Jordan Jones as he angles for move away from Ibrox…

After slipping to an agonising, and rather undeserved, 1-0 defeat to Everton in midweek, West Brom are back in Premier League action on Sunday when they take on Newcastle United.

Sam Allardyce’s team were more than a match for the Toffees, having the same number of shots and shots on target as the away side, but fell to a Richarlison goal midway through the second-half.

With Newcastle up next, and the Magpies in the midst of some difficulties too – you only have to look at the apparent bust-up between Matt Ritchie and Steve Bruce to see that – there’s a real chance for West Brom to come away with all three points from the clash at The Hawthorns.

One man who Allardyce should seriously consider bringing back into the side is Callum Robinson.

The £7.2m-rated ace has been left on the bench for the past five games in the Premier League, and the time on the sidelines might have just given him the kick up the proverbial backside to come back firing.

After Matheus Pereira’s performance in midweek – one which arguably merits him being dropped for Sunday’s game – surely it’s time for Allardyce to bring someone new into the fold like Robinson.

Speaking earlier last year, former Baggies boss Slaven Bilic raved about Robinson’s abilities, saying: “He is present, he is dangerous and he fits in with the other players. He can also go by himself either with the ball or when he is linking up with other players on the pitch. He’s exactly the type of player that we wanted.”

Robinson’s natural instincts as a striker could ease the burden on Mbaye Diagne, who has been leading the line on his own. Having someone else in the team who can make runs in behind him, and fire away on goal, could be key to exploiting a Newcastle back-line which has conceded 44 goals this season in the Premier League – the joint-second worst in the division.

As Bilic says, Robinson can link up and do things by himself, and his brace against Chelsea earlier in the season is a perfect example of that.

When West Brom take to the field on Sunday against Newcastle, Robinson should be one of the names on the team-sheet when Allardyce makes his decision about who to start.

Meanwhile, this West Brom man should be dropped against Newcastle…

Despite Celtic’s best efforts, Glasgow Rangers maintained their 16-point lead at the summit of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-0 win at St. Mirren on Wednesday night.

Rangers have now won four in a row across all competitions as they seem to have shaken off any lingering effects from the chastening 3-2 defeat to the Saints in the Scottish League Cup earlier this month.

However, Jim Goodwin’s side threatened to derail their momentum, as they came close to toppling the league leaders on several occasions, only to be denied by the combined efforts of Connor Goldson and Allan McGregor.

Goldson was colossal at the back, but Filip Helander’s latest display left a lot to be desired, which will no doubt give Steven Gerrard genuine cause for concern ahead of the Old Firm clash with Celtic at the weekend.

The Swedish centre-back was unveiled as a marquee signing when he first arrived at Ibrox after signing from Bologna on a four-year deal for a reported £3.5m fee in 2019.

But Helander has looked shaky at the back at best when in possession and flaky when defending, and his latest showing against the Saints was a typical example of the performances Rangers fans have come to expect from the Sweden international, who spent three seasons with the Serie A outfit.

The Gers may have cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Saints but the centre-back was abysmal, as he lost possession 21 times throughout the entire game. It’s hard to point the finger directly at any player in particular after such a strong team performance overall, but Helander was a bit of a liability.

He was also caught out of position at the back on a regular basis, particularly in the first half, as Jonathan Obika came close to scoring twice in quick succession, committing one foul in the process, as per SofaScore.

Helander, who reportedly earns £9,300-a-week, sprayed long balls left and right but largely failed to find the target, as he produced just three accurate long balls from a whopping 19 attempts.

It sounds crazy to say after such a comfortable scoreline, but the Swede badly betrayed Gerrard last night.

Even though Helander took 96 touches of the ball, he struggled to make all of that possession count, as he failed to record a single cross or single key pass, despite playing the full 90′ minutes.

After being left on the bench against Hibernian, this was his chance to make a real statement with Leon Balogun waiting in the wings, but it’s fair to say that he did anything but after he let his manager down massively with his display last night. He can only be grateful Goldson put in a worldie of a performance beside him at the back.

In fact, it’s worth pointing out only Steven Davis received a worse rating than the struggling defender. We must admit it would be a bit of a surprise to see him start in a few days time after such a dismal showing.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers defender Connor Goldson stole the show against St. Mirren…

In Southampton’s most recent game in the Premier League, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl opted to play centre-back, Jack Stephens, out of position as a left-back due to the recent injury suffered by Ryan Bertrand.

Although his decision seemed to pay off, as the Saints recorded a 2-0 win against Newcastle United that briefly took them to the top of the Premier League table, we feel that the Austrian cannot keep playing the former Swindon Town loanee out of position until Bertrand returns from injury.

The left-back picked up a knock in the recent win against Aston Villa, with Hasenhuttl confirming that the former Chelsea man had a hamstring problem following the game.

With fellow left-back Sam McQueen still recovering from his cruciate ligament injury, the Saints now have just Jake Vokins available as a natural in that position in their squad.

The 20-year-old is somewhat inexperienced, having made just three senior appearances for the South Coast club in his career thus far, although he was able to score in one of those appearances (per Transfermarkt).

However, he has made a lot of appearances for the academy sides at Southampton and the Saints must trust him to feature in the Premier League at some point, so why not now when they are overachieving and low on left-back options? As it could be argued that due to these circumstances, there is slightly less pressure on the 20-year-old’s shoulders.

The youngster signed a new four-year contract at the club in August, suggesting that they certainly have high hopes for his future, with Hasenhuttl suggesting at the time that:

“This is more good news for the future of this team, as these young players are important for our philosophy.

“Jake has developed well this season and made some big steps forward. He has good qualities, which he has shown in matches and also in his training with us. He is calm on the ball but also brave, and I like this attribute in my players.

“He must keep working hard on his game, and we will be sure to do this with him. There are many areas that he can improve in further, so this is a good opportunity for him to make the most of his potential.” (per Southampton FC).

Therefore, the Austrian manager clearly rates Vokins and with the busy Christmas schedule quickly approaching, it is time that the Austrian trusts the left-back to be a starter in his Premier League side, rather than playing Stephens out of position whilst he waits for Bertrand to recover from his hamstring injury.

Money, money, money. That has been the mantra at Sunderland AFC in the last few years.

Despite years of continued relegations and failed promotion campaigns, the club have never been afraid to wave their wallets around.

Of course, this is a huge club, one playing well below what their facilities, stadium and history dictate.

They are a Premier League club in terms of their ground and training academy but they find themselves in England’s third tier, picking up the pieces of Ellis Short’s troubled reign and the shambolic state of affairs in the finance department.

The likes of Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven have tried to replicate things but having stayed in League One, they have found themselves needing to think about the sustainability of Sunderland in the long run.

That, you would think, would mean spending fewer sums of money. Of course, they have managed to make cuts but they have also spent where they haven’t needed to.

In 2019, Donald was priced out of a move for Will Grigg but ended up paying £4m for his services. He has scored just eight goals since and has played no part in improving the club. It’s a shame the way it’s worked out but it’s just a number of financial blunders the Black Cats have made over the last decade.

The biggest one that springs to mind is paying £70,000-a-week to Jack Rodwell. Of course, he walked through the door when Sunderland were still a Premier League outfit but he every quickly became a waste of money.

Rodwell stayed on those wages even when the club fell into the Championship but after taking a wage cut to around the £40,000 mark, he was still bleeding Short and Margaret Byrne dry.

Once he finally departed in 2018, the total transfer – one that initially cost £10m – was worth £22.7m accounting for his wages.

Not only was Rodwell a problem for Byrne but his contract saga was a big issue for Martin Bain, the ex-CEO of the football club.

Unfortunately, though, Sunderland now find themselves in a similar situation with Aiden McGeady. It’s thought that the Irishman is on £31k-a-week at the Stadium of Light which for a number of reasons defies belief.

First of all, this is now a League One club, and secondly, he’s not even playing – just like Rodwell.

With an EFL salary cap now introduced and Sunderland clearly needing new faces in January to take their promotion bid to the next level, McGeady is holding them back.

Sunderland couldn’t spend much in the final year of Rodwell’s contract because he was on such a meteoric sum of money. Donald and whoever their new owners are will ultimately face the same problem.

For the good of the player and Sunderland as an organisation and a football club, he needs to go.

Meanwhile, here’s how Sunderland can KICKSTART their promotion party…