|
Paper Talk
Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal's superb 2015 form has made him rethink his summer transfer plans.
Arsene Wenger will hold talks with midfield veterans Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini over their Arsenal futures.
Aston Villa have joined the string of clubs eyeing Hull's Scotland international full-back Andrew Robertson.
It will be hard for Aston Villa to keep Christian Benteke this summer admits teammate, neighbour and close pal Leandro Bacuna.
QPR caretaker boss Chris Ramsey is set to be handed the job on a more permanent basis even if - as expected - they get relegated from the Premier League.
Robin van Persie has been struck off penalty-taking duties for Manchester United following his spot-kick miss against West Brom.
Swansea's Jonjo Shelvey merits an England recall, according to Swans boss Garry Monk.
Wolves' £2m-rated striker Benik Afobe could be snapped up by West Brom.
David de Gea is ready to hand Manchester United a massive boost by signing a new two-year deal worth around £20m.
Steve McClaren is reluctant to answer Newcastle's SOS and save the crisis-hit club.
Jay Rodriguez will be offered a new deal at Southampton despite not playing for a year.
Liverpool are weighing up move for Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
John Carver will not walk out on crisis club Newcastle despite slamming his players in public.
Steve Bruce has told his Hull players not to take their top-flight status for granted.
Fabricio Coloccini could be stripped of the Newcastle captaincy for the final three games of the season after being involved in a bust-up with goalkeeper Tim Krul following Saturday's defeat at Leicester.
Kris Commons reckons Ronny Deila has Celtic on course for the Champions League with a better squad than Neil Lennon's last-16 heroes.
Stuart McCall has blasted out a defiant message that Rangers can come through three play-off ties to emerge as a Premiership outfit.
BBC
Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, 24, is set to sign a new two-year contract worth about £20m. (Sun - subscription required)
United are ready to send winger Adnan Januzaj, 20, on a year-long loan in their bid to land PSV Eindhoven's 21-year-old winger Memphis Depay. (Talksport)
Newcastle will try to tempt Derby's former England manager Steve McClaren to take over as boss for the final three games of the Premier League season. (Daily Mail)
But 54-year-old McClaren is unsure about moving before the end of the season with the Magpies still not safe from relegation. (Sun - subscription required)
And Newcastle's temporary boss John Carver, 50, is expected to continue in the post despite eight straight defeats. (Independent)
Defender Fabricio Coloccini, 33, could be stripped of the Newcastle captaincy for the last three games of the season after a row with goalkeeper Tim Krul, 27, following Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Leicester. (Daily Telegraph)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will hold talks with midfielders Tomas Rosicky, 34, and Mathieu Flamini, 31, over their futures at Emirates Stadium. (Daily Mirror)
Wenger also believes player-turned-pundit Thierry Henry is wrong to criticise Gunners striker Olivier Giroud, 28. (Guardian)
Chris Ramsey, 53, who has been given the QPR manager's job until the end of the season, is set to take the role on a permanent basis even if the Hoops are relegated. (Daily Mirror)
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, 37, may have played in his last season at Stamford Bridge, with the Ivorian failing to confirm if his future lies with the champions. (Evening Standard)
Aston Villa midfielder Leandro Bacuna believes it will be hard for the club to keep striker Christian Benteke, 24, because of interest from clubs such as Liverpool. (Daily Mirror)
Villa boss Tim Sherwood has urged Benteke to follow midfielder Fabian Delph's lead and commit to the Midlands club. (Sky Sports)
Sherwood is eyeing a move for 21-year-old Hull City full-back Andrew Robertson. (Daily Mirror)
Watford's Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, 34, says the club's owners are targeting Champions League football following promotion to the Premier League. (Daily Telegraph)
Newcastle United are unable to recall defender Jamaal Lascelles, 21, from Nottingham Forest for the final three games of the season, despite their injury problems. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Manager Sean Dyche, 43, insists he still has the energy to take Burnley forward should they be relegated from the Premier League this week. (Guardian)
Dyche says if he could rerun Burnley's season he would "get the chequebook out". (Daily Mail)
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, 28, says his side's failure to retain their title is painful but a fair reflection of the season. (Manchester Evening News)
Hull manager Steve Bruce, 54, says his players need only look at the relegation suffered by Wigan and Blackpool from the Championship as their motivation for remaining in the Premier League. (Daily Express)
Liverpool will form a guard of honour for newly-crowned champions Chelsea next week - despite the reservations of Jose Mourinho. (Liverpool Echo)
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema, 27, is set to be fit for his side's Champions League semi-final first leg against Juventus on Tuesday after injury. (Marca)
Everton defender Phil Jagielka, 32, says the Toffees were given "a reality check" in Saturday's defeat at Aston Villa. (Liverpool Echo)
Best of social media
Chelsea's Premier League title was met with a broad smile from striker Diego Costa, 26. "Proud of this blue triumph!" he tweeted. "We're Premier League champions."
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, 22, posted a picture of the celebrations on his Instagram page: "Champions of the Premier League! Great season from everybody! What a day for all the club and supporters! Such a great feeling of being champion again!".
His fellow keeper Petr Cech, 32, also recorded a memorable moment from the celebrations, simply saying: "It doesn't need any comment".
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, 29, took time out to congratulate the champions via Twitter. "Next season we'll be coming for that crown," he said. "But for now, congrats to @hazardeden10 and @thibautcourtois. Guys were brilliant. Well deserved."
And finally
Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong, who now plays for Russian side FC Ufa, claims he bet £50,000 that American boxer Floyd Mayweather would beat Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. The 23-year-old won £78,600. (Metro)
Leicester manager Nigel Pearson revealed his players ate ostrich burgers before beating Newcastle on Saturday after the furore which followed him likening a journalist to the bird last week. (Daily Mirror)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Ian McCourt
Is there a God? Is war ever justified? What are the things in Gremlins called? These are the sort of big questions that life throws at you which the Mill just cannot answer. Blame the pea-sized brain, blame the fact that it is obscenely early in the morning or blame the fact that when everyone else in class was sitting straight and paying attention, the Mill was carving graffiti into the old wooden desks. However, there are questions that the Mill can answer. Did Jason London and his identical twin brother Jeremy ever make guest appearances on The Outer Limits? Yes! Before marrying his wife Ali in a pair of jeans and a white shirt while carrying a pocket knife, did Madison Bumgarner once go on a date with a girl called Madison Bumgarner? Yes! And where is Christian Benteke going to be playing his trade next season? Liverpool!
Yeah, sorry about this Aston Villa fans. You had a great weekend didn’t you? There was the extra sunshine, the extra day off, the extra hours in bed, the extra time in the pub, the extra time out of that house away from all that nagging and noise and the extra three points from the win over Everton. Everything was going cola-flavoured lollipops wasn’t it? Until along comes Johnny Mill with a fat wet, fish tucked under its bingo wings and ... BLAOOW! ... smacked you with it right across the laughing gear, bringing you back to Monday morning reality. Oh yes. How we all hate reality. Realityschmality. But the reality of Villa’s situation means that they are going to find it hard to hold on to a striker who is banging in goals like his life depended on it. He won’t come cheap though. Liverpool will have to smash open their piggy bank, look under the couch and check the thumb pockets in their jeans if they are to have the £30m Villa will ask them for in exchange for Mr Benteke. Here are some filler quotes from Leandro Bacuna to make it look like the Mill has done more work than it really has. “I live about one minute from him and go around his place,” boasted Bacuna. “We talk about his future a little bit but we don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s going to be hard to hang onto him.” He is not un-wrong.
Whatever happened to Corey Haim, mused the Thrills a few years ago and Manchester United fans might be wondering the same of Adnan Januzaj. Wasn’t he the greatest thing since a see-through toaster? Wasn’t he going to be the antidote to every single problem at the club? Wasn’t he going to pick the club up on his shoulders and carry them to glory? Eh, no, not according to Louis van Gaal anyway. The Dutchman has been so impressed with Januzaj’s 10 minutes he has allowed the young man this season that he has decided to make Januzaj a season-long loan makeweight in a deal that will see a truck-load of cash and PSV Eindhoven’s Memphis Depay go the other way. Incidentally – and yes this is more filler – history will smile on the Thrills. That first album had some really great, really pure pop tunes on it that captured the west coast at its best and the second one showed a real progression in their song writing. Saying that it was a bit cheesy when they brought all the kids out on stage for the encore at the Point that Christmas.
Elsewhere. There is nothing else happening. Niente. Nada. Nowt. Niets. No wait. There is. Tomas Rosicky is done with London. He misses his Prague. He misses the beautiful Baroque architecture and that weird baby that crawls up the Zizkov TV Tower. He misses the pork, the beef, the dumplings, the beer, the fried cheese, the garlic soup, the fish soup and the red and white and cabbage. He misses how his great city has been turned into one giant stag party crammed with boneheaded drunks who fill the streets with their vomit and vile behaviour. He misses it so much he is thinking about doing one back to Sparta Prague but only if Arsène Wenger says he has about as much chance of playing next season as Arsenal do of winning the league. Mathieu Flamini could also be joining him in doing one from the Gunners but no club will publicly admit to being interested in him. Wonder why.
Finally. Some say David de Gea is off to Real Madrid, some say he is sticking around Old Trafford. Does the Mill know the answer? What do you think?
OS
Manager on Monday
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce said his side are on course for their best ever finish since returning to the top flight.
Saturday’s 1-0 win over Burnley took the Hammers to 47 points with three games remaining, seven more than last season’s total.
Reflecting on the win, Allardyce said: “Our performances this season, on the whole, have been the best we’ve ever had.
“The points return in recent games may have been disappointing but mainly, I can’t fault the performances.
"If we can win two or even all three of our last games then we’ll really finish on a high. That for me would be a very good season because that would take us past the 50 point mark. Reaching 50 points in year three is no mean feat at this level of football.
“We’ve got one more points than our best finish which was 46. Now we’re on 47 which is a positive. Tenth was our best finish and now we’re ninth. We’ve scored more goals than we’ve ever scored, even with three more games to go.”
Another positive from Saturday’s victory, the Irons’ ninth home win of the campaign, was the performance of 18-year-old Reece Burke.
The Newham-born Academy product again put in an assured display, the Hammers have now kept two clean sheets in both league games he’s played in.
“Reece Burke has done very well for us. He’s still a very young man and he’ll only get better. The harder he works, the better he’ll get. It’s great for him and his family, they’re all West Ham fans so they’ll be delighted.
“We’re all hoping he can maintain this level of performance, and even improve because if he does he will have a very successful career here at West Ham.”
Allardyce had further reason to be happy with the clean sheet, after the Hammers had conceded a number of last minute goals.
“It proved to be very important because that was the only goal we scored. The win was the most important thing because we haven’t scored that many goals despite playing well and the performances warranting three more points than we’ve got.
“We had 27 attempts on Saturday which shows we’re a bit lacklustre in front of goal. Getting clean sheets has been the key factor in the last two games.”
Metro
What’s the problem with West Ham fans and why are they still moaning?
Julian Shea
A win’s a win and you can’t sniff at three points, so on the basis of recent form, West Ham’s 1-0 victory over Burnley is a move in the right direction – but take a look at the post-match reaction amongst most fans, and the mood was hardly one of Bournemouth-style celebrations.
Honestly, what is the problem with these people?
Saturday’s result was just the Irons’ second in 13 Premier League games, and only once in all that time have they managed to score more than one goal. Needing a penalty to get past one of the most downwardly mobile teams in the division who had to play the majority of the game, very harshly, with 10 men does not exactly smack of a team dominating matches.
But it took West Ham to ninth in the Premier League – still in line with manager Sam Allardyce’s pre-season pledge for a top 10 finish – so outsiders (particularly those at Allardyce’s former club Newcastle) might wonder what the moaning is all about. At the start of the season, surely most fans would have settled for ninth spot with three games remaining, all against teams lower in the league, wouldn’t they? Up to a point.
Look at the season back to front, and imagine those recent results having come in the first half of the season, and things are decidedly less rosy. If, after three games, West Ham embarked on a run of just two wins in the next 13 games, that would have left them in a perilous predicament in the run-up to Christmas. In fact, the much-criticised Allardyce would probably not still be in the job had the Irons’ pre-Christmas form been as dismal as it has been lately. It is only December’s good run of results that have kept him in his position this long, because they built up a substantial points cushion which has acted as a cushion for the team’s recent slump.
As is well known, Allardyce’s contract is up at the end of the season, and with the points to survive in the bag, club co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan are sufficiently clued-up businessmen to know that sacking someone at this point, when in a matter of weeks they can potentially offload him for free, is nonsensical.
However, had that slump come earlier in the season, and created such a pre-Christmas environment of relegation fears, surely they would have acted, so there is then the parallel universe of who might have taken over and what signings they may have made in the January transfer window, to create a different second half of the campaign.
A late winner against Sunderland. Defeat at Leicester. Scraping a point at QPR. Limping past Burnley. This is the reality of West Ham’s end of season form, against the teams at the bottom. That is why fans are still unhappy and grumbling.
Life could be worse – they could be Newcastle. But life could and should also be so much better. That’s what their problem is. And rightly so.
|
