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West Bromwich Albion are bordering on desperation in their hunt for a new striker to lead Slaven Bilic’s line but perhaps there’s an easy solution…

What’s the word?

According to the Express & Star, the Baggies boss is keen to bolster his attack with another goalscorer but is having trouble securing number one target Karlan Grant.

Among the list of other alternatives is Watford veteran Troy Deeney, who the Midlands outfit are thought to have enquired about.

Previous reports from the same source suggest that it would be a temporary switch for the £5.85m-rated powerhouse rather than a permanent one.

Grant alternative?

Whilst Grant would be a phenomenal addition at the Hawthorns, he would still arrive with several risks, most notably his lack of experience in the top-flight.

And that’s avoiding his £18m price tag.

The report even states that Charlie Austin and Kenneth Zohore could yet leave before Monday’s deadline, so might Bilic need more than one addition?

He ought to look no further than Deeney as he’s racked up 163 appearances in the Premier League, many of which as captain of the Hornets.

Despite being relegated last season, the 32-year-old still hit ten goals for the season. He also averaged a whopping 7.3 aerials won, 1.7 shots and 1.1 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

This practically gives Albion a new dimension as Deeney clearly likes to put himself about and make a nuisance amongst the opposition’s backline.

His old boss Malky Mackay once described the 6 foot 4 monster as a “real handful” whilst teammate Christian Kabasele has hailed him as a “great leader”.

The only downside would be coming to an agreement over his £65k-per-week wages but given it would only be a loan deal, it could be a move that Luke Dowling could afford.

AND in other news, West Brom ought to steer clear of £10m flop amid shock interest…

Glasgow Rangers target Lyle Taylor will not make a shock return for Charlton Athletic after refusing to train and play in the remaining matches between now and the end of the season for the Championship side.

The 30-year-old has been in stunning form for the Addicks so far this campaign, scoring 11 times in 22 matches in the league despite his side struggling at the wrong end of the table, but the current pandemic has thrown the remainder of the campaign into doubt, in particular in regards to contracts.

Taylor’s deal runs out at the end of the 2019/20 campaign, which normally would have already finished, but now it has been extended beyond that deadline. As such, due to the fact that he is worried about getting an injury, £1.26m-valued Taylor – as per Transfermarkt – will not play in the next three matches before he becomes a free agent.

There had been rumours that he had changed his mind, but Lee Bowyer confirmed on talkSPORT that that was not the case.

There may be questions about his attitude, but this is good news for the Gers. Given his form this term, Taylor is clearly close to his peak, and would be a valuable bargain signing if Ross Wilson can convince him to move to Ibrox. If he were to pick up an injury – which would perhaps be more likely given the circumstances – that would end any chance of him being signed by the Glasgow outfit. In this case, though, he is still free to make a move north of the border should he choose to.

Let us know what you think below!

The Championship season ended last night and Sheffield Wednesday lost their final game 2-1 to Middlesbrough. There hasn’t been a lot for the Hillsborough faithful to cheer about in 2020 as they only picked up four victories since 22 December.

They finished in 16th, which is four positions lower than last year. Plus, with the season ending, it also means that on-loan players are returning to their parent clubs, and many fans would like to see the Owls attempt to sign Jacob Murphy permanently for next term.

The winger, who was signed on loan from Premier League side Newcastle, played 33 times in the Championship for the Owls, scoring nine goals and picking up four assists, per Transfermarkt.

This ranks him as the second highest scorer at the club in 2019/20, per WhoScored, whilst he had the joint-third most assists and it emphasises why a lot of supporters would like to see him return next season.

He will for sure be a player that they either need to bring back or try to replace as he provided a lot of attacking threat for Wednesday.

Here is what these Owls fans said following the post:

Wednesday fans, what are your thoughts on Murphy? Comment below with your views!

Newcastle United’s prospective takeover by Amanda Staveley’s Saudi Arabia-backed consortium is dragging on and on this month and it has clearly left fans eagerly awaiting any sign of official confirmation.The Athletic’s George Caulkin has delivered a fresh update on the deal, claiming that nothing has changed yet and that supporters will need to be a little more patient.In response to one member of the Magpies faithful on Twitter, he replied:

Caulkin also claims that he is still ‘as positive as ever’ which should come as huge words of encouragement considering it’s all gone a bit quiet in the past few days.

The takeover has been left in the hands of the Premier League for most of May, but they have also had ‘Project Restart’ to deal with also, so these things have taken a lot longer than usual, especially given the current situation across the country.

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It’s surely now only a matter of time after Paul Smith suggested last week that the PL found no wrong-doing during the owners and directors test.

AND in other news,ÂNewcastle United fans react to ‘soul-destroying’ takeover update…

According to Football Insider, Rangers face the prospect of a bidding war to land Peterborough striker Ivan Toney this summer.

What’s the word?

With reports in recent weeks indicating that Alfredo Morelos could be heading out of Ibrox come the end of the season, it’s been no surprise to see the Gers being linked with a replacement for the Colombia international.

Are you a massive Rangers fan? Know everything about the club? Well do you know your Gary Stevens from your Michael Ball? This quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…

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Now, Football Insider have revealed that with the likes of Rangers, Celtic and West Brom all interested in Toney, Peterborough are keen for a bidding war to break out, and hope that this could lead to a fee in the region of £8m being secured for him.

Perfect Morelos replacement

With Morelos’ future uncertain, Ross Wilson and co could do a lot worse than bringing Toney north of the border this summer.

The 24-year-old was in prolific form for Peterborough, notching an astonishing 26 goals in just 39 games, not to mention his seven assists too – in fact since the turn of the year, he had netted ten goals in ten games in League One.

It’s no surprise that his manager at the club, Darren Ferguson, has waxed lyrical about what Toney brings to the table. He said: “Ivan is still young. He will improve further and I am just delighted we have him here as he is undoubtedly the best all-round player in League One. He scores all sorts of goals. He scores with either foot from all sorts of distances and he scores with his head.

“But he also has a great touch and good feet. He passes the ball well and he’s good at set-pieces at both ends of the pitch. Last season I felt he needed to be riled to become aggressive, but this season he’s just gone out there and played hard from the first game. He’s too much for League One defenders to handle.”

If Rangers are looking are for someone to come in and replace Morelos both in terms of his goals and aggression, then Toney seems like the perfect man for the job.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

West Bromwich Albion return to league action this weekend as they host Sheffield Wednesday at the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.

The Championship has been off for two weeks due to the international break but now it’s back as we enter a very hectic festive period, where Slaven Bilic’s men will be looking to enter the New Year still atop the league’s summit.

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This weekend presents a very difficult test for a couple of reasons, the Owls are chasing promotion too even despite their EFL charge, and the Baggies will be without two of their most influential players – captain Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers.

Both will serve a one-match suspension after accumulating five yellow cards this season, leaving the Croatian chief with a tough decision on who will replace them.

On the Chalkboard

Sawyers, who returned to his boyhood club in the summer, has played every single minute of every single Championship game this campaign so his presence is sure to be harshly felt considering the Midlands club have lost just once to date.

This is reinforced when delving into his numbers for the season – the 28-year-old has a 91.8% passing accuracy rate while averaging a huge 69.9 passes per game, which is the most of any non-defender in the division, via WhoScored.

The midfield department at the Hawthorns is probably the weakest of all positions, but there is one man, in particular, that is an ideal like-for-like replacement, at least for this sole game.

Filip Krovinovic is usually a number ten, but having lost his place to Matheus Pereira, he may find life as a number eight in the engine room of midfield.

He certainly possesses similar qualities having joined on loan from Primeira Liga giants Benfica – across his career to date, the Croatian playmaker averages a passing success rate of 88.1%, which stands him in good stead for this role.

The Express & Star claim the 24-year-old stunned during pre-season with an impressive range of passing while his manager believes he has the ability to get supporters off their seats.

This certainly the £4.5m-rated midfielder (Transfermarkt valuation) seem like the perfect replacement for a short-term fix, and who knows, if he impresses, then he could well regain his starting spot back.

He’ll be hungry to do so.

Loads of Crystal Palace fans on Twitter have been reacting after Aston Villa fan account on Twitter, villareport, tweeted that former Eagles ace Mile Jedinak is now a youth coach at the Midlands outfit.

The account posted a photo of the former Australia international, presumably at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training base, with some of the younger players – it is unclear when the picture was taken however, given what is currently happening.

The 35-year-old retired from professional football at the end of last season having made 80 appearances in all competitions for Villa, but he made 99 more for Palace previously, scoring 10 goals and providing a further 10 assists.

It is no surprise then he is valued highly by the Selhurst Park faithful, having appeared both in the Championship and the Premier League for the south London outfit.

Roy Hodgson’s side may be sitting comfortably in mid-table in the Premier League as things stand, but it hasn’t stopped them being jealous of a team in the relegation zone, because they have Jedinak.

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More than one supporter tagged chairman Steve Parish directly in their tweets about bringing the Australian back to SE25, with one saying “get this man back to the club immediately”.

Another said they were “fuming” by the update, clearly believing that the 35-year-old should be employed by them instead.

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Given his leadership skills and experience, perhaps he wouldn’t be a bad appointment as a coach at some point in the future for Crystal Palace.

Here is the full reaction below…

In other Crystal Palace news, FFC’s writers have delivered their verdict on whether the Eagles should offer Scott Dann a new contract…

You wonder if perhaps this is going to be the final straw?

Admittedly he should have had plenty of final straws before this, but clearly Pep Clotet has more straws to give out than McDonald’s.

Birmingham fell to Fulham 1-0 over the weekend, with the visitor’s goal coming once again via an error from goalkeeper Lee Camp, as he dropped a high ball despite not being under a whole lot of pressure from Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Following high profile errors against the likes of Leeds United, Wigan Athletic and Derby County so far this season, Camp has been living on borrowed time, and now even Clotet is saying that he might have to consider dropping him.

That’s why despite Clotet’s message about how wasteful the Blues were upfront in the game, Blues fans were convinced that one man, and one man alone should take the blame for the defeat.

Check out the most insane fan meltdowns in the video below…

With the international break now upon us, would this be the perfect time to make a change in goal?

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Stan Collymore has criticised Tottenham Hotspur’s appointment of Jose Mourinho as their new manager on Twitter.

What’s he said?

Spurs sacked Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday night and subsequently appointed the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss on Wednesday morning.

Collymore, though, took to Twitter following the announcement to denounce Spurs’ appointment, insisting that he would leave them in worse shape than when he arrived.

The club are currently 14th in the Premier League, 11 points behind the top four.

He said: “Amazing how some have bought into ‘Mourinho the winner’ without any regard for how he leaves clubs.

“Unbalanced, fractured, overspending, soulless. Everything Spurs tried to avoid.

“Good luck, I like Spurs a lot, but it’s not how this man comes in, it’s how he’ll leave you.”

Probably right

Nobody has a crystal ball. Who could have foreseen that Pochettino would be sacked and Mourinho appointed at the beginning of this season?

But Collymore absolutely has a point.

Mourinho has left his previous clubs under a cloud, having notably fallen out with Paul Pogba at Manchester United and accused his players of betrayal at Chelsea.

Both clubs sacked him and immediately underwent major revamps – Chelsea became a three-at-the-back team while United offloaded Mourinho signings Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez in the summer.

His appointment could well guarantee Spurs a trophy – he has won one at every club he has managed since Porto – but it remains to be seen what aftershocks he will eventually leave behind.

History suggests that he will stay at the club for at most three years – he has never lasted longer – and that he could well alienate a few stars along the way.

Having become a force under Pochettino, who forged a team on unity and desire, it remains to be seen whether Mourinho will build on his work or merely tear it all down.

Pablo Fornals has found it difficult to make his mark for West Ham United this season.

The summer signing from Villarreal has made nine Premier League appearances for the Hammers but is yet to contribute a goal or an assist.

Statistics provided by WhoScored show that the Spaniard has a pass success rate of just over 84% in the Premier League this season.

His overall contribution has been limited at best, though.

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has insisted that the summer arrival will come good for the club once he has fully settled into his new surroundings.

And whilst a number of the club’s fans agreed with Pellegrini’s comments on the 23-year-old, others appeared slightly less patient.

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After a strong run of form, West Ham have lost their last two Premier League games to Crystal Palace and Everton, which has led to a lot of frustration among the fans.

A selection of the Twitter reaction to Pellegrini’s comments can be seen below: