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Dwight Gayle committed his future to Newcastle United despite having ‘grown frustrated with how he has been used by Steve Bruce’, The Athletic’s Chris Waugh reports.

Waugh’s colleague David Ornstein revealed on Monday that Gayle had agreed to a new three-year contract at the club on reduced terms.

Gayle considered moving abroad amid Galatasaray interest

His contract was set to expire in June, meaning he could have left the club as a free agent. Gayle was apparently ‘receptive’ to the idea of moving overseas ‘in search of a lucrative final contract’.

Galatasaray were said to be said one of the clubs interested in acquiring his services (via Chronicle Live), but Waugh has claimed that the financial consequences of the pandemic made those options less attractive for the 31-year-old, who has not at any stage decisively pushed to leave.

Gayle on the periphery at Newcastle

The Englishman, who was out injured from the start of the season until December, has made 11 Premier League appearances this term (via Transfermarkt).

However, only two of those have been starts, and both have come as a winger – he lined up on the right away at Chelsea and on the left against Aston Villa – rather than through the middle.

Newcastle not preparing for the Championship

Gayle is a prolific Championship marksman, enjoying 23-goal campaigns in the second tier in 2016/17 and 2018/19 (via Transfermarkt), but Newcastle are not thought to be planning for relegation. Waugh insists that they would have sought to agree fresh terms with Gayle even if they were safe.

As it stands, they are two points clear of the bottom three with a game in hand.

A new deal for an out-of-favour forward who has already turned 30 reflects the challenges of the present market for clubs and players alike.

In other news, Newcastle fans have ranked their preferred alternatives to Steve Bruce.

Michail Antonio delivered an impressive, gut-busting performance as West Ham beat Leeds 2-0, despite the striker not getting on the scoresheet on Monday night.

The 30-year-old opened the action at the London Stadium, striving to maintain his run of form in front of the net, having fired home in each of his last two Premier League outings.

His efforts had moved the £11m-rated forward onto seven goals for the season after he’d quickly established himself back amongst the action following a spell on the sidelines through fatigue.

Chances to add to his record where few and far between at home to Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites, but Antonio never let a lack of service prevent him from running his heart out to offer attacking support for those around him.

Antonio particularly offered a hand to Jesse Lingard in the closing stages, when the Manchester United loanee began to appear jaded before David Moyes introduced Ben Johnson from the bench.

Antonio’s endless willingness to run also kept the Leeds backline on their heels and stretched them further apart than they would have liked, while his presence in the box prevented Illan Meslier from meeting Aaron Cresswell’s cross, which was headed home by Craig Dawson.

Tomas Soucek almost had his ninth goal of the Premier League season thanks to Antonio too, but the Czech Republic titan could only head the forward’s delivery wide of the post moments before Lingard went down under a challenge from Luke Ayling in the box.

The cross was an inviting one for Soucek to burry with the game still level at 0-0 despite Leeds’ early pressure, as West Ham sought to find a foothold in proceedings after an off-the-pace opening quarter of an hour.

But missing the chance let the Whites off the hook for a moment and denied Antonio what would have been his fourth assist of the season, which he was again denied in the final stages when Pablo Fornals’ attempt was blocked.

Setting up Soucek and Fornals for shots saw Antonio end the night as the joint-most creative West Ham player with two key passes with Lingard and Cresswell, per WhoScored.

Antonio was also one of only three Irons men to feature at any stage to register a successful dribble, while taking 45 touches – only Soucek (51) and Cresswell (56) recorded more.

The London-born striker only averages 33 touches per Premier League game this season, while playing 0.8 key passes and making 1.4 successful dribbles, per SofaScore.

And yet it was Soucek and Declan Rice who iNews praised for running Leeds into the ground, as they were a tireless presence in the engine room and once again performed as the best part of West Ham’s season.

However, that goes for Antonio just as much against Leeds as it did for Soucek, while Rice was a Man of the Match contender, as the forward sacrificed his run of goals for the greater good but saw his performance slip somewhat under the radar as a result.

AND in other news, West Ham eye summer swoop for £35k-p/w gem with “boundless energy”…

In a recent interview with Football FanCast, former Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood has made a claim about Ollie Watkins’ chances of featuring in the England squad for the Euros this summer, and if his claim turns out to be true, then it could well be good news for Dean Smith.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about Watkins’ chances of being called up, Harewood said:

“I wouldn’t rule it out. But with the calibre of strikers that we have now, I can’t see him being ahead of the majority of them that can play up there because you’ve [also] got the likes of Sterling and players like that can play up front now.”

Whilst Watkins will undoubtedly be hoping to receive his first England cap in the near future after an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League, keeping him away from Gareth Southgate’s squad could allow Smith to hold on to the 25-year-old for a while longer.

Since signing from Brentford in the summer transfer window for a club-record fee of £28 million, the striker, who reportedly earns £75k per week, has been a huge part of Villa’s success this season, contributing 10 goals and three assists in 27 Premier League appearances, resulting in an impressive 7.23 rating.

This includes an impressive hat-trick in Villa’s 7-2 win against Liverpool earlier in the season, with the young striker having also formed an excellent partnership with Jack Grealish this season, with the duo arguably the two most influential and valuable players in Smith’s squad.

If Watkins were to receive an England call-up, you could argue that it would attract the attention of the clubs in the Premier League who are regulars in the Champions League and Europa League, which could lead to Watkins having his head turned.

Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a move for the striker in the summer before his move to Villa and now that he has established himself in the top-flight, perhaps we could see them return for him in the future, especially if he starts performing on the international stage.

Furthermore, the youngster getting a well-earned break in the summer could be hugely beneficial to Villa, especially after such a demanding season.

Therefore, if Harewood’s claim comes true and Watkins is left out of Southgate’s squad for the upcoming friendlies and Euros, then it may well prove to be a boost to Villa.

And, in other news… Tyrone Mings let Smith down with a shocking display vs Newcastle

As Celtic continue to stutter in this dismal Scottish Premiership campaign, Neil Lennon’s side will have no better chance of getting back to winning ways than when they take on bottom side Hamilton at home.

The Hoops are winless in their last four games in the league, and slipped to a hugely disappointing 2-2 draw against Livingston last weekend, with Scott Brown piling on his side’s misery with a red card.

Lennon may consider making some changes to breathe some new life into his team, and with that in mind, below is a look at how Celtic might line up for tonight’s clash.

Vasilis Barkas should keep his place in between the sticks, with Conor Hazard remaining on the bench. In front of him, the back-four could see some major changes, with Anthony Ralston pushing for a rare start given that Jeremie Frimpong is closing in on a move to Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen.

That could see Kristoffer Ajer move into central defence to partner Stephen Welsh, with both Nir Bitton and Shane Duffy making way for him. Greg Taylor should keep his spot at left-back, however.

In midfield, Lennon may be reluctant to change things around, so that could see Ismaila Soro continue as the side’s anchor man, with Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor and David Turnbull playing further forward.

Up front, Mohamed Elyounoussi may keep his starting spot after scoring last time out against Livingston, and he could be joined with Odsonne Edouard, with the Frenchman replacing Leigh Griffiths.

Predicted XI: Barkas; Ralston, Ajer, Welsh, Taylor; Soro, Christie, McGregor, Turnbull; Elyounoussi, Edouard.

Meanwhile, Celtic could clinch a bargain deal with this forward…

According to The Daily Record, Rangers midfielder Jamie Barjonas’ proposed move to USL side Orange County is hanging by a thread.

What’s the word?

When it comes to those players who have emerged from the Rangers academy in recent years, there are a handful of names that will immediately spring to mind.

Billy Gilmour is one, Kai Kennedy is most definitely another, although his football has been somewhat limited under Steven Gerrard, but it can’t be any worse than Barjonas’.

The midfielder has made nine appearances for his boyhood club but unfortunately, he hasn’t played a single game for the Gers this season thus far as they push towards the Scottish Premiership title and that inactivity has cast doubts over his future at Ibrox.

According to The Daily Record, the 22-year-old is ready to leave his boyhood club on loan in search of regular game time, amid interest from several Scottish Championship clubs.

Get rid of him

Unfortunately for Barjonas, however, it seems his hopes have been dashed, as talks between Rangers and American club Orange County have reportedly stalled over a possible move.

The former Scotland U19 international came through the ranks at the 54-time Scottish champions but has failed to break into the first team at Ibrox and embarked upon a series of loan spells including time at Bury, Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle.

Barjonas has seen the likes of Bongani Zungu, Steven Davis and Ryan Jack picked ahead of him, while he couldn’t even earn a spot on the bench when Rangers travelled to take on Falkirk in the Betfred Cup. Instead, youngsters Ciaran Dickson and Leon King were named on the bench instead.

Considering he’s now 22, it’s hard to believe he is still on their books as his last appearance for the club came in 2019.

If Ross Wilson can’t find a solution in the meantime, maybe the next best thing would be to send him back to the reserves.

The Gers have already secured the signature of Nnamdi Ofoborh and must now start to think about clearing out the deadwood. It sounds incredibly harsh, but they may as well start with Barjonas. He just isn’t good enough for the Gers and Gerrard clearly has no intentions of using him anytime soon.

AND in other Rangers news, Ross Wilson must prioritise giving Glen Kamara a new contract…

Lee Johnson has made himself quite clear this winter. He wants to sign players capable of stretching the play in the final third.

If Sunderland are to achieve promotion, then those individuals must also be capable of scoring goals.

What’s the word?

The Black Cats’ festive and New Year period has been a rather disastrous one. Four games were postponed due to the ongoing pandemic and their 0-0 draw with Northampton last weekend hardly did enough to raise spirits.

However, the addition of new players this month could add a great deal.

Carl Winchester from Forest Green has been linked but a new target on their radar is Hibernian forward Kevin Nisbet.

According to The Scottish Sun, Sunderland have already made contact with Hibs in a bid to sign the 23-year-old.

It’s reported that the Mackems have asked for a valuation of the player ahead of a January switch. He was signed for £250,000 but considering his form, would likely cost Sunderland more.

Bye-bye Grigg

If Sunderland sign a new striker this month, then it would have two positives. Not only would it bump £4m signing Will Grigg down the pecking order, but it would also significantly boost their promotion hopes.

Grigg has failed to score at all this season and besides Charlie Wyke, they lack natural goal scorers. However, if they bring Nisbet to the Stadium of Light they’d have an exquisite finisher, one who has a habit of beating goalkeepers.

The forward has found the net on 12 occasions in all competitions for Hibs this season and it’s that kind of record that the Mackems have been crying out for.

Their top goal scorer in league football last term was Chris Maguire with ten strikes so it’s clear they need one thing in order to boost their promotion bid; more goals.

Nisbet would provide that in abundance and if a certain Jack Ross can get the best from him, surely Lee Johnson can as well?

Ross’ football wasn’t the most pleasing on the eye in the north-east but he’s extracted enormous results from the young striker in Scotland.

Speaking about Nisbet this season, the former Sunderland manager said: “Both feet, headers, tap-ins, longer range ones. Today (11/23/20) he played as a lone striker and that’s not something he’s had to do a lot this season, he’s played against Nir (Bitton) and Kristoffer Ajer who are two good players.”

Ross continued: “To show he can handle that and work tirelessly, and then get his reward, he’s been a brilliant signing for us and his goal return is excellent, at this season to have that number of goals is terrific and I don’t see that changing.”

Considering some of the defenders he’s defeated in the SPFL, he would surely be a big threat in League One. Kristjaan Speakman needs to sign him.

AND in other news, Sunderland could find their new Bailey Wright in £750-p/w gem once dubbed “faultless”…

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish believes that Celtic defender Shane Duffy is one of the main reasons why Neil Lennon’s side are way below par this season.

Duffy in the spotlight again

The 29-year-old has been heavily criticised since his loan move from Premier League side Brighton. It got so bad for Duffy that he was forced to delete his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

While events surrounding Dubai have been an obvious talking point, Celtic are also way off the pace in the Scottish Premiership and look certain to miss out in 10-in-a-row.

Duffy, who is earning £40k-per-week at Parkhead (Spotrac), has featured in 14 league games this season, a competition in which his team have conceded 18 goals, 11 more than their arch-rivals Rangers.

Speaking before Celtic’s 2-2 draw to Livingston on Wednesday night, McLeish picked out Duffy and his inability to play in Lennon’s system as a reason why they’ve been so poor.

He told Football Insider: “I think that has been a factor, definitely, because analysing, from my own point of view, his Brighton career, he was defending a lot and he was a real stalwart defender, that was a lot of his game.

“When you’re going to Celtic, you’re going to be in a team that has a lot of the ball and you have to use the ball so it is a little bit of a different type of football for Shane to adapt to but he’s no mug, he can pass the ball.

“He would expect teams to be on top of him all the time and defending a lot more than he is doing in the games, instead of attacking and then finding himself maybe a little bit vulnerable at the halfway line when a ball over the top could harm you.”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

It has been a season to forget for Duffy – let alone Celtic. But it seems as though McLeish’s comments are just as much aimed at transfer chief Nick Hammond.

Hammond has been largely responsible for Celtic’s demise, with the likes of Vasilis Barkas and Albian Ajeti also failing to hit the ground running – costing around £10m between the pair.

As McLeish points out, Duffy is used to being the team without the ball for large periods having played on a relegation-battling side in the Premier League, so bringing him in as the major defensive signing for a team who boast an average of 66.1% possession is bizarre. By comparison, Brighton stand at just 51.6%.

Duffy has been “vulnerable” as a result, and the Hoops are paying the price.

In other news, Pundit makes surprising comments about Neil Lennon following Celtic press conference tirade.

Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has admitted that he is hopeful that Joe Aribo will be available again for the Europa League clash with Standard Liege on Thursday night.

The Nigerian attacking midfielder was forced to miss the past two games due to an undisclosed illness, but is now back in training ahead of tonight’s game.

Whilst Ryan Jack remains a “major doubt” for the clash, Aribo is set to return in some capacity against the Belgian club, which will be a huge boost for the Ibrox boss, as he has become an integral part of Gerrard’s side since he first arrived at the 54-time Scottish champions.

He was heavily involved in their Premiership title bid last season, although they ultimately came up short as they finished second, as Celtic were crowned champions for the ninth time in a row.

In the process, he was named the Young Player of the Season, having scored three goals and supplied eight assists in the top flight, via Transfermarkt.

It’s hard to believe Aribo is still only 24 as it feels as though he has been around forever and a day, even though the Gers only signed the Nigeria international from Charlton Athletic in 2019.

The versatile player, who can play on the right or in a more central role, has made 11 appearances in all competitions so far this season, scoring four goals in the Premiership, whilst he is averaging 1.8 shots, 1.4 key passes and 1.6 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

In contrast, even Scott Arfield has only mustered 1.6 shots, 1 key pass and just 0.5 dribbles on average per game, as per WhoScored.

Arfield has been in such fine form in recent weeks, with three goals and two assists in total in his last three games.

But the fact remains that the 32-year-old isn’t getting any younger, and there may soon come a point where Rangers will have to refresh their squad, which is one of the oldest in the first division.

Gerrard may not have to look very far to find the perfect replacement, that’s for sure.

Whilst tonight’s game may come too soon for Aribo, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a brief cameo off the bench.

AND in other news, Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe start, no room for Morelos: Glasgow Rangers Predicted XI vs Standard Liege…

Former England international Rob Lee, while speaking exclusively with Football FanCast editor James Beavis, has claimed that injuries to Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman are a far bigger blow for Everton and Carlo Ancelotti than losing Fabian Delph.

The Toffees are set to be without Delph for this Saturday’s Premier League clash with title-chasing Chelsea after the midfielder limped off during the first half of last weekend’s draw at Burnley clutching a hamstring injury.

Blues chiefs are resigned to losing the former Manchester City star for the early stages of the festive period, fearing that rushing him back will only worsen the issue having been plagued by injuries since moving to Goodison Park in 2019.

Ancelotti was already without his first-choice full-backs Digne and Coleman for the trip to Turf Moor, forcing the Italian to hand Delph only his second start of the league campaign to fill in at left-back.

Digne is facing up to three months on the sidelines after surgery on an ankle injury, while Coleman has been plagued by hamstring problems this season that have ruled the Republic of Ireland international out of action for five of Everton’s last six top-flight fixtures.

Lee, who earned 21-caps for England during his playing career, feels the loss of Digne and Coleman has thrown Everton’s season off course and into the rough, as the pair brought energy and balance that Ancelotti cannot find elsewhere in his squad.

“I think the bigger blow is his full-backs. I think that’s why they started like a house on fire, Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman. But they’ve got so much energy, they can get up and down and give so much balance and I think they miss them more than they miss anybody else,” Lee told Football FanCast. “It helps that Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been on fire, he’s scoring all their goals.

“But I thought at the start of the season, they look good, they look like they have a really, really good balance to their team and it just goes to show you that if you lose a couple of your wider players and lesser players come in, or maybe they don’t know how to do the job, that they just seemed to be set up so well under Carlo Ancelotti. And they now, they look a bit not quite as fluent as they were. And I think it’s down to both their full-backs.”

Everton have won just once in the five Premier League fixtures they have been without Coleman for, coming at newly-promoted Fulham, while losing to Southampton, Newcastle and Leeds United.

Ancelotti fielded central defender Ben Godfrey at right-back against Southampton after stating he has “no doubt” in the summer arrival’s ability to play on the side, before favouring Jonjoe Kenny at Newcastle, Tom Davies against Leeds and Alex Iwobi at Burnley.

Godfrey is now expected to move to left-back in place of Digne and Delph when the Toffees host Chelsea on Saturday night, with Ancelotti seemingly opposed to utilising former Olympique de Marseille prospect Niels Nkounkou.

The young Frenchman has featured for just 69-minutes in the Premier League since moving to Merseyside in the summer and been omitted from Ancelotti’s last four matchday squads, despite playing all three Carabao Cup ties through to the end and providing one assist.

It remains to be seen who Ancelotti favours on the right of his defensive line, with Coleman’s absence denying the Italian his joint-most productive defender for successful tackles (14) and ground duels won (27), per SofaScore, while Digne accounts for the second-most key balls (16) and big chances created (5) by any Everton player in the league this term.

AND in other news, Everton already have their answer to a 48-goal target “every coach wants”.

Wolverhampton Wanderers recorded their first draw of the season but it’ll feel like two points dropped given their dominance at Molineux.

Nuno Santo’s side took the lead through a Raul Jimenez scorcher after the Mexican latched onto a rebound following a weak Pedro Neto free-kick and it looked to be their game until Jacob Murphy produced a piece of magic of his own.

The Magpies wing-back curled home set-piece past Rui Patricio, though the home goalkeeper probably should’ve done better with the wall as well as his save attempt.

However, there were other players to blame on the pitch, such as Leander Dendoncker, who was an absolute passenger throughout the 90 minutes.

He did make all of his 47 passing attempts, recording a 100% success rate, but that’s pretty much all he was – sideward and backward passes galore.

Per SofaScore, the 25-year-old lost 86% of seven duels contested, was dribbled past twice and failed to record a single shot, key pass or interception. The Belgian pretty much watched the game go by.

It’s a bold call from Nuno to pair both Ruben Neves and Dendoncker together in a two-man midfield given they offer quite a few similarities. The influence of Joao Moutinho as not just a creative outlet but also for his tough-tackling nature was sorely missed.

Dendoncker failed to repay the faith put in him and should be a candidate to be dropped next week when Wolves host Crystal Palace, another side that doesn’t create many chances like Newcastle.

Steve Bruce’s side enjoyed just two shots on target from five attempts, compared to a total of 16 shots by the home side. Throw in their 37% possession, and then it’s hard to argue that the Magpies deserved much from the game at all.

Valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, Dendoncker has failed to contribute to a goal in five starts in all competitions. In two of Wolves’ three Premier League victories this season, he was deployed an anchorman in a three, this is the only time he should be utilised.

AND in other news, Blow to £30k-p/w starlet could damage his Wolves hopes…