All posts by h716a5.icu

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Stoke City have confirmed the signing of Sam Vokes from Burnley, the club have confirmed via their official website.

The deal sees Peter Crouch move to Burnley in part exchange, per BBC.

What’s the word?

During a seven-year spell at Turf Moor, Vokes scored 64 goals, per Transfermarkt, and now drops down the leagues to link up with Championship outfit Stoke.

The Potters are currently 15th in the second-tier, eight points behind sixth-placed Derby County in the play-off positions.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

Stoke have struggled for goals this season, scoring just 33 times in 29 matches. Only the bottom five teams in the table – Wigan Athletic, Rotherham, Reading, Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town – have netted less.

Vokes, however, has experience of scoring goals in the Championship and has netted 52 times in 198 second-tier appearances.

A major upgrade

Stoke have got the better end of this deal.

Crouch, of course, is an experienced Premier League campaigner after spells with the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, but he is ageing and it remains to be seen how often he will be used by Sean Dyche at Turf Moor.

Vokes, however, joins Stoke with genuine Championship pedigree and has twice been involved in promotion campaigns during his career, both with Burnley.

He will have a positive influence on his team-mates and it will take little effort for him to top Crouch’s tally of one goal in 23 Championship appearances thus far this season – again recorded by Transfermarkt.

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Arsenal completed the loan signing of Denis Suarez from Barcelona on transfer deadline day, per BBC.

The midfielder is the club’s only signing of the January transfer window and the Gunners are said, per the aforementioned report, to hold a purchase option in the summer.

On the chalkboard

Unai Emery has finally got his man.

The transfer saga has dragged on and on throughout the month but Suarez is now an Arsenal player and could make his debut against Manchester City at the weekend.

Indeed, the midfielder will hope to be thrown into the deep end, having played just two La Liga games for Barca this season, per Transfermarkt.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Despite a little rustiness though, he will bring some much-needed dynamism to the centre of the pitch for the Gunners and offers the ability to pass and move with the best of them.

He is highly-rated in Spain – Suarez has already been capped by his country and has also captained Barca this season, in the Copa del Rey first leg against CyD Leonesa.

Throw him in

Emery should throw caution to the wind and pick Suarez to start against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Such has been the Gunners’ form in recent weeks – they have not won away from home since November, when they beat AFC Bournemouth – that City are expected to win and keep the pressure on league leaders Liverpool this weekend.

However, deploying Suarez could be something of a masterstroke from the Gunners boss.

He played for City between 2011 and 2013 but failed to make his breakthrough into the first-team; coming face to face with the team that sold him to Barcelona is sure to light a fire under the Spaniard.

Emery should throw him in the deep end – and Arsenal fans should expect to see him swim against his former club.

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According to the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa are likely to be in the market to sign a new striker in the upcoming summer transfer window. The publication suggest Brentford goal-getter Neal Maupay as an ideal target for Dean Smith to pursue.

What’s the story?

The Villans are certain to need a new man to lead the line ahead of next season, as Tammy Abraham’s loan stay at Villa Park will come to an end at the end of this season.

Abraham’s goals must be replaced, and Smith would be wise to identify potential targets to take up this role as early as possible.

As the Birmingham Mail suggest, Maupay would be the perfect man to take over from the Chelsea loanee at Aston Villa.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

Facing a fight for his signature

Maupay has been in fine form so far this season for Brentford. 

According to Transfermarkt’s stats, the 22-year-old forward has struck 17 times and registered 6 assists in 27 Championship outings. The Frenchman’s all round play has also been very impressive and considering his age it is safe to assume that he will continue to improve in the coming years. 

An investment in Maupay in the summer would be a wise one on the part of Villa, but they may find that they have to fight off Premier League interest, especially if the Brentford striker can maintain his current form.

Smith should do all he can to bring the 22-year-old to Villa Park, especially as he knows the player so well from his own time in charge at Griffin Park. However, the striker may soon be beyond the Midlands outfit’s financial reach.

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Neal Maupay scored the only goal of the match as Brentford recorded a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the Championship on Wednesday night.

Maupay has now managed 18 Championship goals this term and there is no question that he is one of the best forwards in the second tier of English football.

Villa were linked with a move for the 22-year-old last month, but Brentford did manage to keep hold of the Frenchman.

Now their fans are absolutely desperate for their club to seal Maupay’s signature this summer, however, having watched him register on Wednesday night.

It seems unlikely that Tammy Abraham will stay at Villa Park beyond the end of this season, meaning that the Bees striker could be a replacement for the on-loan Chelsea forward.

The Villa supporters were extremely impressed with what they saw from the 5ft 7in striker and many have called on their club to complete a deal ahead of the 2019-2020 campaign.

A selection of the Titter reaction can be seen below:

Mesut Ozil’s long-term future at Arsenal remains unclear after falling out of favour in north London.

The former Germany international was once considered one of the finest playmakers in all of world football. However, Ozil has failed to replicate his world-class performances in recent years. After struggling during Arsene Wenger’s final seasons in charge, his woes have continued under Unai Emery who has constantly omitted the former Real Madrid man from his squad.

It’s surely likely that the Gunners will look to offload the midfielder during the summer window. Taking home a whopping £350,000-per-week, he simply isn’t justifying his mammoth wages. With cash likely to be limited for Emery, getting rid of Ozil could be a priority.

To replace him, the former Sevilla boss should snap up Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid – Kai Havertz. Valued at £58.5m by Transfermarkt, the German was earmarked as one of the country’s hottest prospects after making his name in the Leverkusen youth academy. Havertz’s transition to the first-team has been seamless with the youngster now enjoying a prominent role in the side.

The 19-year-old drew comparisons to Ozil during his earlier years but his overall game has completely evolved since. Classy on the ball, Havertz is extremely well-rounded meaning he is comfortable in a variety of midfield roles. The Germany international is enjoying his finest season to date, helping his side with an incredible return of 12 goals and six assists in all competitions this season.

Havertz has the potential to develop into one of the world’s best midfielders; the Gunners should be doing everything in their power to lure him to the Emirates.

Arsenal fans, thoughts?

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Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to a rather special moment in their win over Bolton, as the Whites won their first first-half penalty kick since September 2017.

Leeds got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over struggling Bolton at Elland Road on Saturday, courtesy of goals from Patrick Bamford and Gjanni Alioski.

The Whites were on top for most of the match, racking up 69 per cent of the possession, 21 shots and eight shots on target, per BBC.

This meant lots of pressure in and around the visitors’ penalty box, and Marcelo Bielsa’s side were awarded a penalty 15 minutes in – their first penalty kick before half-time in 80, yes eighty, games in all competitions, per lufcstats. It was also just their second spot kick of the season.

Bamford stepped up to tuck the spot kick home, and Alioski’s somewhat fortunate winner earned Bielsa’s side all three points after Mark Beever had equalised.

While the focus for Bielsa and his squad is of course the next game and kicking on to try and catch league leaders Norwich, fans are all too busy reacting hilariously to the penalty.

Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay tweeted out about the spot kick, and the fans in the replies went absolutely wild.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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Alan Hutton will see his contract with Aston Villa expire this summer.

And there are question marks over whether he will turn out for the club again when considering that he could miss the rest of the campaign through injury.

Indeed, Hutton picked up a knee issue in the early stages of Saturday’s clash with Stoke City.

According to Villa boss Dean Smith, the injury is not as bad as first feared, but he will miss ‘a number of weeks’, which could mean anything really.

Smith hopes to have the Scot back before the end of the campaign, but that is far from certain at this stage.

Thogden has ranked his top 5 sets of Championship away fans for Pl>ymaker FC. Did your club make the list? Find out in the video below…

The 34-year-old has played 33 times for Villa this season and 201 times in total since arriving at the club from Tottenham Hotspur in 2011.

The Villa fans have been on social media discussing whether the defender is deserving of a testimonial.

And it would be fair to say that many have differing views on the situation.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Loads of Celtic fans have been reflecting on the weekend’s cup action, and they’re completely split on the quarter-final performance of Nir Bitton.

Celtic cruised into the last four of the Scottish Cup all too easily on Saturday, as Neil Lennon’s return to Easter Road was a very comfortable one.

His side were rarely threatened in the first half by Paul Heckingbottom’s Hibs, and second half goals from James Forrest and Scott Brown were enough to progress.

Forrest’s goal was a moment of pure individual brilliance, skipping past a couple of defenders before rifling in from the edge of the box, and Brown’s effort wasn’t much worse, thundering his strike home after some good work by Odsonne Edouard.

The game was won and lost in midfield though, where Bitton was once again very busy.

The 19-cap Israeli international has started Celtic’s last three matches since returning from a knee injury, and while his dirty work in midfield helps other players to venture forward and attack, he is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Fans are completely split on the 6 ft 5 in midfielder’s all-action showing, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

It had to happen at some point, didn’t it? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first domestic defeat as Manchester United manager has proved again that tactically he’s not up to the standard of his Premier League rivals.

Of course, it’s only early on in his managerial career and he’s only held the United job since Christmas, but if he’s being mentioned as the man to get the job permanently, he should be held to the same standards as other bosses. He had to change his system from the get-go on Sunday, and that shows he got his preparation wrong.

The players will have been preparing to face Arsenal in a certain way and will have been confident in their system, but Emery outsmarted him and his coaching staff leaving the Norwegian to scrap his plan A. Sometimes that’s acceptable, if you win, but he didn’t and so the manager must take reasonability for the loss.

Yes, Marcus Rashford missed good opportunities and there was a controversial penalty thrown in there too, but sometimes it seems like Solskjaer’s only tactic is to win the ball and attack quickly. Without the ball, when they’re defending a fast attack themselves, it still seems the defence isn’t protected enough, despite both Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera both being capable of that role.

That’s all been well and good so far against teams who would let them attack and dominate, but Paris Saint-Germain at home and this Arsenal game were clear indicators of structural inadequacies behind the attacking midfielder. It’s true United need significant investment at the back, Jose Mourinho knew that in summer, so that is probably a major factor too.

However, there’s now a top four race on and United are looking in trouble again. Arsenal are ahead and Chelsea are one point behind with a game in hand. It’s important they continue to entertain their fans, but they must also grind out results against big teams when it’s required, and they didn’t do that against Arsenal.

The Red Devils must react well next weekend against in-form Wolves in the FA Cup to regain momentum ahead of what will be a fascinating race for third and four spot.

United fans, where do you think your team needs to strengthen in the summer? Join the discussion by commenting below.

Barry Bannan put in an outstanding performance against Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough on Saturday, and Wednesday fans were quick to heap praise on the Scottish midfielder.

The 29-year-old had no less than three assists in the Owls’ 4-2 win, and his form had seen him win a call-up to the Scotland national squad.

The Sheffield Star report that Bannon has subsequently withdrawn from that squad, with a slight injury thought to be the reason, but Wednesday fans will not be too disappointed, as long as it means he will be fit for their next game at Stoke a week on Saturday.

So influential has the midfielder become to the Owls, that fans have been lining up on Twitter to laud the player.

Here are a few of the reactions:

It’s fair to say he is a definite favourite among the Owls faithful, and fans will be hoping he can carry them through to a play-off place come May.

What are your thoughts on Bannon’s performances lately? Has he benefited from the Bruce effect? Let us know your thoughts…