Newcastle fans have been discussing their end of season awards, and it looks like a two-horse race for player of the year.
It’s been an odd season for Newcastle. Up until February the club looked doomed, both on the pitch and off it.
Since the monumental win over Manchester United though, Benitez’s Magpies have gone from strength to strength, and there is now an overwhelming sense of optimism around the club.
Fans are of course still awaiting news on a potential takeover from the infamous Mike Ashley, but nonetheless performances on the pitch have certainly distracted from the nonsense off it.
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With the club’s annual awards ceremony coming up, fans have been discussing who should be the player of the year, and the overwhelming favourite is captain Jamaal Lascelles.
The young centre-back has been a phenomenal leader for the Magpies and enjoyed the best form of his career this season.
Mo Diame is the other name being thrown in the mix, as the 30 year-old has gone from outcast to outstanding, dominating the midfield alongside Jonjo Shelvey in the second half of the season.
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There are a few other names in the mix as well, but the smart money is certainly on Lascelles.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Sunderland fans are furious with their club once again after the club announced there will be no cash turnstiles for Tuesday’s clash with Norwich.The Black Cats looked like possibly rescuing their season at Elland Road on Saturday, but an equaliser from Leeds’ Pablo Hernandez has left Chris Coleman’s side dangling by a thread.With five games to play, Sunderland are now seven points adrift of safety, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll be much of an atmosphere at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday to help them out.[ad_pod ]Sunderland’s home form has been truly torrid this season, and the club have today announced there will be no cash turnstiles in operation for the clash with Norwich, and fans must have a purchase history to get tickets.This is presumably to stop Newcastle fans turning up to cause trouble, which has happened in the past, but fans are still understandably annoyed at the decision.Effectively, fans who simply turn up to the games on a whim are now unable to get in, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Leeds have announced voting is now open for their player of the year, and let’s just say fans aren’t all that happy about it.
After a torrid run of form, Leeds’ season has gone from pushing for a playoff place to just waiting for the season to end.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side have won just twice since the ex-Barnsley man took over, and fans aren’t happy with the player of the year nominations.
Pablo Hernandez seems the obvious winner. The Spaniard is averaging the most chances created per 90 minutes in the league, and has nine goals and eight assists in all competitions.
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Samuel Saiz and Ezgjan Alioski are also up for the award, both of which can be wonderful one weekend and non-existent the next.
Kemar Roofe is the final player nominated. He enjoyed some great form before his injury, and leads the team with ten Championship goals.
Fans are also annoyed at the inclusion of Toby Nye in the nominations, as they feel the young hero should have his own award.
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Toby is a five year-old Leeds fanatic who is battling stage four neuroblastoma, and fans feel the club is using the courageous young lad as PR.
Whether it’s bashing the club or bashing the players, fans are not impressed by the player of the year nominations, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Carlton Cole may not go down in the history books as one of England’s greatest strikers, but he will always hold a special place in the heart of West Ham United fans.
The forward spent nine years at the East London outfit across two spells and made a total of 293 appearances wearing claret and blue.
During his time at the club, Cole scored 41 Premier League goals before leaving the Hammers in 2015 to sign for Celtic.
The forward had a spell at Sacramento Republic and then Persib Bandung, but has now decided to call it a day at the age of 34.
In an interview with West Ham TV, Cole revealed that he is now focusing on mentoring young children that are hoping to break into football.
The former striker also issued a rallying cry to the supporters following the unsavoury scenes that marred the club’s last Premier League match.
A number of fans made their way onto the pitch during the team’s 3-0 defeat to Burnley at the London Stadium to protest against the club’s board.
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Cole’s decision to step away from the game has got plenty of West Ham supporters talking.
Comment from discussion Carlton Cole officially retires ⚒️.Comment from discussion Carlton Cole officially retires ⚒️.Comment from discussion Carlton Cole officially retires ⚒️.Comment from discussion Carlton Cole officially retires ⚒️.
To celebrate 25 years of the Premier League each week in Football Fancast we’re going to be looking back at a memorable game that took place on the corresponding date. This time out we revisit a cinematic thrashing that for one half of North London turned into a horror flick.
By the end it was a massacre and a legend was spiritually dead, vanquished by a hated foe. Elsewhere there was a case of mistaken identity.
If this sounds like a film you’d happily head to the multiplex for, then it needs noting from the get-go that these events did not take place on the big screen but rather played out in front of 42,000 at Stamford Bridge on March 22nd 2014.
The massacre was a convincing 6-0 win for Chelsea against their eternal rivals Arsenal; the legend was of course Arsene Wenger, surveying the wreckage of his 1000th managerial game, while in the opposing dug-out Jose Mourinho was mischievously aware that it rubbed salt into the wounds to simply smile benignly throughout: as if the extraordinary domination was a perfectly normal occurrence.
If all of this was Tarantino-esque the mistaken identity was taken from one of Adam Sandler’s weaker efforts at comedy with referee Andre Marriner sending off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who had dived – quite impressively it has to be said – to bat away a goal-bound effort off the line. The official’s mistake was unfortunate in every sense and was bizarrely compounded when the offender in question immediately confessed in an attempt to prevent injustice being done. He was ignored.
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By then Arsenal were already two goals down and when Eden Hazard insouciantly converted the resulting pen the Blues were threatening a cricket score as early as the 17th minute. With the wrong man down the Gunners’ only hope from this point on was to avoid outright collapse.
This bears little reflection on the opening five minutes between two sides whose pairing on this sunny spring day was rightfully viewed to be a pivotal juncture for both concerned. For the victors beckoned a plausible title challenge even if that meant hanging for dear life onto the coat tails of a rampant Liverpool and Manchester City. Lose and solely a battle for Champions League qualification waited.
Perhaps the disparity of these fates is what propelled the two London giants to go at each other from the whistle, creating chances thrice-fold before Samuel Eto’o cut inside and caressed a lovely curved shot inside of Szczesny’s far post. A single passage of play later Andre Schurrle did likewise only with more force and the Gunners’ belief deflated in front of our eyes with just seven minutes gone.
Once Gibbs had taken the hit for his team-mate’s goalkeeping antics the narrative of this momentous game was irreversibly set: for the next hour and a quarter the millions tuning into Sky would focus on Mourinho’s ruination of his arch-nemesis’ special day and his team’s ruination of ten men in despair.
“Forget a thousand matches this is death by a thousand cuts for Arsene Wenger,” the commentator wonderfully ad-libbed as the sixth went in from Mohamed Salah (a few months before he became a Chelsea ‘flop’ and four years before he transformed into an Egyptian Messi).
In between, Oscar helped himself to a brace and in between of all that was a bucket-load of misery for the Arsenal boss who watched on helplessly. Prior to the game the Frenchman had poetically insisted that every defeat left ‘a scar in your heart that you never forget’. This one was more of a burnishing.
“We killed them,” Mourinho crowed afterwards, clearly relishing every moment. On Wenger’s 500th game in charge it had been the ‘Special One’ who has presided over a defeat then too and if he revels in being a party pooper that can be multiplied many times over when it’s against a man who agitated his every nerve.
The reverse was the heaviest endured by Arsenal in the Premier League era and furthermore threw up a startling stat – this was their third Saturday lunchtime kick-off that season and the previous two had ended in defeats of 6-3 and 5-1.
Early Saturday games seemed to be anathema to Wenger as too was Mourinho. When the two collided it was murder.
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What happened next?
Arsenal comfortably saw off challenges for their top four spot and otherwise won the FA Cup that year affording their long-standing coach some breathing space.
Chelsea ceded the title race late on to Liverpool and City but Mourinho at least had the consolation of playing party pooper one more time with a 2-1 victory at Anfield.
A semi-final exit in the Champions League ultimately made it a campaign of so near and yet so far for the Portuguese scowler’s first year back in English football.
Most retired footballers want their former clubs to succeed, but ex-Newcastle United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has revealed that he would like to see the North-East outfit relegated from the Premier League.
The comment would initially come as a surprise to most fans, but the 49-year-old has claimed that dropping into the second tier would force Mike Ashley into selling the club.
The Sports Direct tycoon, who has been regularly bashed by fans on social media, put Newcastle United up for sale in October, but he is yet to strike a concrete deal with any potential buyers.
While carrying out punditry duties for ESPN, Hislop said:
“I’ve picked Newcastle, and I’ll tell you why – because that would force Mike Ashley to sell. And I think you will not see the best of Newcastle until Ashley sells. In case you haven’t gathered, I’m not much of an Ashley fan.”
Newcastle spent last season in the Championship after Rafael Benitez failed to keep the Magpies in the top flight.
Having a full season ahead of him, the Spaniard was able to comfortably guide the club back into the elite, but they are in danger of falling right back into the second tier.
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As it stands, the club are just two points above the bottom three with nine games left to play.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has refused to be drawn on speculation surrounding his relationship with manager Jose Mourinho.
Numerous media outlets have suggested that the pair have clashed, with The Sun recently reporting that the Frenchman is willing to quit United if Mourinho remains in charge.
The speculation has stemmed from the manager’s decision to drop Pogba for a few important games.
Questions have been raised over the £89m star’s position in the team, with some arguing that he is better suited playing further forward than as part of a two-man midfield.
The former Juventus midfielder, who signed for the Red Devils in the summer of 2016, was left out of the first XI for last week’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Sevilla.
At the weekend, though, Pogba returned to the starting lineup to help the North-West outfit earn a 2-1 triumph over Chelsea.
This week, the France international joined teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the opening of a Padel centre in Stockholm.
According to the Manchester Evening News, an Expressen journalist asked Pogba about his ‘situation’ with Mourinho.
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The midfielder made it clear that he did not want to discuss the subject.
“I’m only here to support Zlatan and talk about Padel.”
According to Don Balon, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is determined to beat Manchester City to the signature of Real Madrid midfielder Isco this summer.
What’s the story?
Isco’s future at Real Madrid is once again being called into question, with the Spain international struggling to secure a regular spot in Zinedine Zidane’s first XI.
The midfielder has scored seven times and registered six assists in 35 appearances for Los Blancos this season, and it was not too long ago that he signed a new long-term contract with the Spanish and European champions.
There will be big changes at the Bernabeu this summer, however, and it is thought that Isco could be among those to leave the club.
According to Don Balon, both United and City are interested, and Red Devils boss Mourinho is determined to beat Pep Guardiola to the Spaniard’s signature.
The Manchester rivals are currently first and second in the Premier League table this season, and it appears that they will lock horns for the signature of Isco in a few months.
Would Isco fit in at Man United?
Isco’s ability to play in a number of different positions makes him an attractive proposition for United boss Mourinho.
The 25-year-old, who has 39 goals in total during his five seasons with Real Madrid, is capable of playing through the middle as a false nine, on either wing or indeed deeper in a midfield three.
It does appear that Mourinho will favour a 4-3-3 formation next season, and the thought of Isco operating alongside Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic is an exciting thought for the club’s supporters.
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Romelu Lukaku has lacked service during spells of this season, but Isco would bring genuine playmaking abilities to that area of the field, and there is no question that the likes of Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez would also enjoy playing with the Spain international.
It is shaping up to be a very interesting summer battle between the two Manchester clubs, but United will be confident of bringing the attacker to Old Trafford.
Everton are keeping a close eye on Atalanta midfielder Josip Ilicic ahead of the summer transfer window, according to Calciomercato.
What’s the story?
Everton have been very busy in the past two transfer windows; under former manager Ronald Koeman the club spent in excess of £100m on several new faces.
With Sam Allardyce at the helm, the buying continued in January as Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun joined the party, while Eliaquim Mangala arrived from Manchester City on loan.
According to Calciomercato, another player has been added to Everton’s transfer wishlist, in the form of Ilicic from Atalanta.
The midfielder has made 33 appearances in all competitions for the Italian club so far this season, scoring 11 goals and creating eight assists.
Do Everton need another attacking midfielder?
That is one area where the Merseyside outfit are certainly not short!
Even though the 30-year-old’s statistics are impressive, there are more pressing matters that the Toffees should be focusing on.
During the January window, supporters demanded a left-back, but the Merseyside outfit did not deliver.
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Right-footed Cuco Martina has been taking on the role in Leighton Baines’s injury absence.
With the latter turning 34 next year, the club should priorities bringing in another man to fill his boots, rather than an attacking midfielder.
The post sparked outrage from supporters, who feel that he should be able to take criticism better than that given his status and the supporters’ willingness to pay money and back their team on a cold February evening.
Windass has been one of Rangers’ leading performers this season with 10 goals and eight assists in all competitions, but perhaps he needs to sharpen up his relationship with supporters going forward to avoid more controversy.
Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…