All posts by h716a5.icu

Nottingham Forest’s decision to let Anel Ahmedhodzic leave the City Ground back in 2019 could well go down as one of the biggest howlers the club has made in recent times.

Ahmedhodzic was a product of Swedish outfit Malmo FF and left the side to join Nottingham Forest’s U18s. The Bosnian with Swedish citizenship worked his way up to the Forest senior side, where he made one first-team appearance as a substitute against Newcastle United, before rejoining Malmo FF – this time as a first-team player.

After a six-month loan spell to Danish outfit Hobro IK, Ahmedhodzic was recalled and became a big part of the squad after signing a new three-year deal, with the side becoming league champions just seven months after he returned from his loan spell.

The following year was the antithesis of his spell at Forest and saw the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Atalanta very much interested in signing the then 22-year-old. The latter, Atalanta, were on the verge of signing Ahmedhodzic in March of 2021, though he stayed with Malmo and made his Champions League debut just five months later against Juventus.

Fast forward to the present day and Ahmedhodzic finds himself on loan at Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux, having established himself as a starter since joining in January.

Bordeaux have an option to buy the 6 foot 4 centre-back for just €4m (£3.3m) which is a bargain, considering his market value has elevated to £6.3m, according to Transfermarkt.

At 23-years-old his potential is limitless, though if you were to take a look at his stats, they would suggest he is a box-to-box midfielder.

They are peculiar to say the least, but nevertheless impressive. As a centre-back, it is very rare to achieve a shot-creating actions average of one SCA per 90 minutes. Though that suggests everything you need to know about Ahmedhodzic and the system that he operates in.

The Bosnia international plays in a back three and functions as an overlapping centre-back, with his ability in possession a key enabler in his desire to progress up the pitch.

He’s been described by Fabrizio Romano as a “top talent” and it is easy to see why.

If Ahmedhodzic keeps up this trajectory, he will have Nottingham Forest deeply regretting their decision to sell him after he was afforded just one appearance.

In other news: Forget Grabban: Cooper must now unleash Forest’s “clinical” £12.7k-p/w machine…

James Foster has replaced Mark Pettini as Essex captain for the Friends Provident t20 after Pettini struggled in Essex’s first three games of the campaign

Cricinfo staff12-Jun-2010James Foster has replaced Mark Pettini as Essex captain for the Friends Provident t20 after Pettini struggled in Essex’s first three games of the campaign.Pettini took over from Ronnie Irani as Essex captain in the middle of the 2007 season and will continue as club captain in the other formats of the game but Essex have lost two of their three matches so far in the FP t20, with Pettini contributing just four runs.Foster’s form has been more productive, averaging 37.00 after an unbeaten 54 against Glamorgan. His first game in charge will be against local-rivals Middlesex on June 13 at Lord’s.

Wolverhampton Wanderers look set to retain the services of Francisco Trincao for the remainder of the season.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent claim made by Bruno Lage, with the Wolves manager suggesting in comments made to Birmingham Live that he expects the Barcelona loanee to remain at Molineux until at least the end of the current campaign.

Earlier reports had claimed that, following Xavi’s appointment as Ronald Koeman’s successor at Barcelona, the Spaniard wanted the 22-year-old to return to the Camp Nou ahead of the second half of the Spanish season.

However, with a matter of days now remaining in the January transfer window, and, at present, the LaLiga side having not acted upon Xavi’s apparent desire for the return of the Portugal international, it would seem as if Trincao will remain with Lage’s side beyond the end of the month.

Speaking about the future of the winger, the 45-year-old manager said: “I’m thinking about him until the end of the season.”

Fans will be buzzing

While Trincao has not exactly been in the most prolific form in front of goal this season, having so far failed to find the back of the net or provide a single assist over his 17 Premier League appearances, the fact that Barcelona look as if they will not be recalling the winger in January is nevertheless sure to leave Wolves fans buzzing.

Indeed, with Adama Traore being heavily linked with a move away from Molineux this month, the £19.8m-rated Trincao will undoubtedly be handed a much more prominent role in Lage’s first-team squad – should the Spaniard go on to seal his switch to Tottenham Hotspur.

While it is true that the £131k-per-week winger has featured regularly for Wolves since his move to the club last summer, only 12 of his total league outings have come as starts, while the 22-year-old has also completed 90 minutes of a Premier League match just once.

As such, with Traore out of the picture, Trincao will likely be handed a greater share of minutes in the Wolves side, something which should, in theory, see the forward begin to make his mark with both goals and assists for the club – something that will undoubtedly be an outcome both Lage and fans would love.

In other news: Wolves now eyeing late swoop for “special” £23.4m-rated beast, Lage would love him

Zimbabwe’s coach Alan Butcher thinks this World Cup had probably come four years too early for this group of players

Osman Samiuddin in Pallekele14-Mar-2011Alan Butcher gave an assessment of his side the day before the game against Pakistan. The English coach of Zimbabwe – a nice symmetry to that, with England’s coach being from Zimbabwe – appears to have an intensely straight-talking side to him. He thought this World Cup had probably come four years too early for this group of players.He was asked today, after a seven-wicket loss to Pakistan, his side’s fourth in five group games, whether his side had given a good account of themselves in this tournament. Slowly, deliberately, he came to the stark conclusion that they hadn’t. The honesty should do Zimbabwe more good than harm. The humour will be needed as well. Asked how embarrassing his side’s collapse of ten for 72 against Sri Lanka was, he replied, “Embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as 9-29.”There is something to Butcher’s assessment that this is one World Cup too soon. Clearly there is workable material within the Zimbabwe side. They may not, as he also acknowledged, become world-beaters on the level of Australia or South Africa. But they can become a side that will come to be taken with some seriousness by the opposition.The batting is a problem currently. In four out of five matches, their top has toppled to such an extent that the game has been all but over in the first 15 overs. Against Pakistan they were down to 43 for 4 within 13 overs. Batting long does not come naturally yet. “We fielded well and bowled superbly, but that can’t be said about our batting,” Elton Chigumbura, the captain whose birthday it was, said. “We have to work on it because that has been the big problem through the tournament. Besides the batting part, we’ve put up a big fight. My biggest concern is on the batting in the first 15 overs, especially against stronger teams. We have to really work on that when we get home.”The decision to bat first itself seemed a strange one. Zimbabwe have talked up their bowling through the tournament though its lack of wicket-taking incisiveness would suggest otherwise. They went nearly 80 overs against New Zealand and Sri Lanka without taking a wicket.Here, under heavy cloud with showers around, and a nervy Pakistan batting line-up susceptible to precisely such circumstances, here was a sliver of a chance. Chigumbura chose instead to make first use of the surface because, he said, it seemed a good pitch and other sides had batted first on it and flourished.Stoppages for rain didn’t help Zimbabwe, especially the one that ultimately curtailed their innings just when the last Powerplay had begun. “We lost momentum with the rain stopping and playing again,” Chigumbura said. “The way we approached the innings was to go out in our last four overs but we didn’t get that. That’s cricket.”But ultimately, the batting just wasn’t good enough. “Unfortunately [the story is] pretty much the same as the game before and the game before that,” Butcher conceded. “Everybody in the dressing room, particularly the batters, are very unhappy about the way things are. None of our players are trying to give their wickets away, they are all working hard and trying to improve but things are not going their way going well for 80% of our batting unit.”That happens sometimes in any team, the only thing we can do is to keep practicing, try identifying areas players need to improve and devise ways for that to happen. There’s no magic formula. We have to keep going. You can tell by the way we fielded and the way spinners battled against the conditions, gripping the ball, there is no lack of spirit in the side. We just have to keep working.”The focus may now switch to Chigumbura’s captaincy. He doesn’t believe it has particularly affected his form, but he’s only made 58 runs in five games in the tournament. “I haven’t performed the way I wanted, but maybe it’s one of those times when you just go out of form. Unfortunately it came when I was the captain but obviously I am working hard to get into form but at the end of the day it is not my decision, it’ the board’s.”

Luke Woodcock starred in Wellington’s first win of the competition, while Auckland and Otago both picked up their second victories

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2011A flurry of wickets in the middle overs and then again towards the end saw Northern Districts fall six runs short of Wellington’s total at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei. Chasing 244, ND reached 111 for 2 with BJ Watling and Scott Styris both having completed half-centuries, but their runs had come slowly with Watling striking at just 57.54. They paid for their poor run-rate as left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock took three quick wickets, removing Watling, Brad Wilson and wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan, and Jeetan Patel dismissed Stryis, leaving ND in trouble at 139 for 6 with less than 13 overs remaining.Captain James Marshall almost rescued them with his 68 off 48 balls, but he was out to Grant Elliott, leaving ND with 17 to win off two overs with two wickets remaining. Seamer Mark Gillespie and Elliott held their nerve in the last two and took a wicket each to complete Wellington’s first win in the competition. Wellington had reached a competitive total thanks to half-centuries from Woodcock, Stewart Rhodes and Neal Parlane. Woodcock’s 50 came off 49 balls and gave Wellington the momentum they needed towards the end of their innings.

Lou Vincent led Auckland to victory against Canterbury at the Village Green in Christchurch, with his unbeaten 159 off 157 balls. Vincent and Jeet Raval, who smashed 42 off just 28 balls, got Auckland off to a flier in their chase of 296. Vincent kept the momentum going even as four quick wickets fell at the other end, and then found an able partner in Colin Munro, who got 62 off 71. Auckland won by six wickets with 14 balls still remaining in the end. Canterbury had scored slowly in the first half of their innings with opener Rob Nicol taking 127 balls to score 81, but they got 75 runs off the last five overs thanks to Andrew Ellis’ 61 off 30 balls and Tom Latham’s 28 off 14 balls. Auckland are now top of the table with eight points.

Five wickets from Nathan McCullum helped Otago defend 232 against Central Districts at Fitzherbert Park in Palmerston North and go joint-top of the table with Auckland and Northern Districts. Several of Otago’s batsmen got starts, but only Darren Broom carried on to make a half-century, scoring 63 off 79 balls. McCullum also made an important contribution with the bat, scoring 33 and Neil Wagner hit two sixes in the nine balls he faced at the end. CD got off to a solid start in their chase, reaching 87 for 2. But McCullum, who had already dismissed both openers, took three quick wickets, and Jamie How was run out to leave CD reeling at 104 for 6. A 40-run partnership between Kruger van Wyk and Tarun Nethula put CD back in contention, but seamer Craig Smith came back to take the last three wickets and give Otago a 43-run victory. Smith finished with figures of 3 for 36, while McCullum took 5 for 39.

Aston Villa have emerged as a potential suitor for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly according to reports from Italy.

What’s the Word?

Italian outlet TMW has claimed that Premier League sides Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur are all interested in the Senegal international, labelling him a “real tressure” in what would undoubtedly be a sensational signing for Villa.

The centre back is in high demand, with European heavyweights Barcelona also interested, this is despite Napoli placing a €70m (£58m) price tag on his head.

Koulibaly will turn 31 in June and a fee of this size might put a lot of teams off, especially when they may only get a couple of years out of him at his peak.

Imagine him & Konsa

Villa have been leaking goals as of late and surely a centre back is high on the list of Steven Gerrard’s priorities as he looks ahead to his first full season in charge at Villa Park.

There aren’t many defenders better than Koulibaly at the moment, with the Premier League surely being an attractive move having spent the last eight years in Serie A.

Forza Italian football editor Connor Clancy previously stated his belief that the Napoli titan “improves any team” he plays for, as well as dubbing the defender “phenomenal.” High praise for the 30-year-old.

The most important aspect that Gerrard will be looking at is to create a solid centre back pairing of both Ezri Konsa and Koulibaly.

With Konsa having a rating of 6.74 on SofaScore this season, the onus would be on the Senegal international to come in and form a solid backline with the 24-year-old English talent.

Regardless of if Gerrard actually manages to secure his services or not, it shows just how far Villa have come since promotion three years ago that they are linked with one of the finest centre backs in the world.

What a summer Villa supporters have in store.

AND in other news, Gerrard now plotting AVFC bid for £46k-p/w “phenomenon”, he’s better than Phillips

Leeds United midfielder Adam Forshaw has made a return to training following another injury layoff, according to reliable journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Forshaw out again

The 30-year-old has suffered a nightmare with injuries in recent years, missing almost two years of action after battling a serious hip issue. Thankfully, he has made a triumphant return to the team this season, although he has been absent with a hamstring problem in recent weeks.

With Leeds returning to action away to Aston Villa on 9 February, a positive update has emerged regarding the midfielder.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Forshaw back in training

According to Hay in an article for The Athletic, Forshaw is back in training at Leeds, having worked alongside his colleagues over the weekend.

The journalist revealed: “The last Sunday of the transfer window was a typical day at Leeds United: a late-morning session of murderball featuring the usual suspects. Adam Forshaw took part, testing his injured hamstring, but a search for new faces out on the grass drew a blank.”

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The Verdict: Hugely important figure

Forshaw is a valuable player as it is, but with Kalvin Phillips sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury, the 30-year-old is going to be crucial to Leeds in the coming weeks.

He has averaged an impressive 2.3 tackles per game in the Premier League this season, with only Stuart Dallas (2.9) enjoying a healthier tally among the Whites’ squad, and he has also played 0.9 key passes per match. This suggests that the ex-Middlesbrough man is a well-rounded midfielder who is adept at winning the ball and then using it to good effect.

It is vital for Leeds that Forshaw stays fit prior to Phillips’ potential return, or else the club’s failure to bring in a midfielder in January could look foolish.

In other news, an important update regarding Raphinha’s Leeds future has emerged. Read more here.

A clinical bowling performance from Mid West Rhinos, dismissing Mashonaland Eagles under 200 in both innings, set up their nine-wicket victory

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2013A clinical bowling performance from Mid West Rhinos, dismissing Mashonaland Eagles under 200 in both innings, set up their nine-wicket victory on the third day at the Kwekwe Sports Club.Graeme Cremer’s five-wicket haul in the second innings sealed Mid West Rhinos’ victory•Freeman ChigoveraVusi Sibanda put Eagles in and the Rhinos bowlers made best use of the first-day conditions, dismissing them for 166 in 62.4 overs. Chamu Chibhabha’s 32 was the top score as wickets fell regularly. All five Rhinos bowlers took wickets with medium-pacer Neville Madziva taking 3 for 24.Rhinos were solid in their reply, with three of their top four batsman making half-centuries. Sibanda made 56, Mark Vermeulen 67 and Malcolm Waller scored 73 to lead their team to 207 for 3. They collapsed after that though, and Waller stayed firm at one end as wickets tumbled at the other. Rhinos lost seven wickets for 72 runs and were dismissed for 279.Facing a deficit of 113, Eagles lost half their side before they drew level with Rhinos, with legspinner Graeme Cremer cutting through the top order. The slide continued and they were eventually dismissed for 170 in 57.1 overs. Cremer finished with 5 for 64. Rhinos had to chase a target of 58 and they achieved it with nine wickets in hand.

Paul Stirling, the 20-year-old Ireland opener, played the innings of his life, smashing 177 from 134 deliveries to set up an easy win over Canada and tie the two-match ODI series

Cricinfo staff08-Sep-2010
Scorecard
Paul Stirling smashed a career-best 177 off 134 deliveries•Getty ImagesPaul Stirling, the 20-year-old Ireland opener, played the innings of his life, smashing 177 from 134 deliveries to set up an easy win over Canada and tie the two-match ODI series in Toronto.Put in to bat, Ireland were given a strong start by Stirling and Andre Botha who added 91 in 12.4 overs. Stirling began hitting out in the third over, lofting and driving Harvir Baidwan for fours. He took medium-pacer Khurram Chohan’s fourth over for 14 runs, smashing him over long-on for six and then pulling and steering him for consecutive fours. He reached his fifty off 38 balls in the 12th over, guiding Balaji Rao behind point for four. Botha was dismissed in the next over for 28 and Canada managed to briefly rein in the scoring.Andrew Poynter and Stirling added 73 in 18.2 overs and by the time Poynter was dismissed, Stirling had moved to 96 off 90. A single off Chohan in the 34th over brought up his maiden List A hundred off 97 balls.Stirling warmed up for the Batting Powerplay by taking 14 runs in an over off left-arm spinner Parth Desai. Fifty-three runs came in the Powerplay, 38 of those from Stirling. Desai, who had bowled well in taking 1 for 31 in seven overs, went for 46 runs in his next three. With Stirling on 174 at the end of the 44th over, Sachin Tendulkar’s record ODI score was in some danger. However, Stirling hit a Baidwan full toss straight to point in the 45th over, after having struck 21 fours and five sixes. John Mooney’s late hitting took Ireland to an imposing 325.Canada rarely looked like keeping up with the asking rate, especially after being reduced to 34 for 2 in the eighth over. Despite a 79-run third-wicket stand between Ruvindu Gunasekera and captain Ashish Bagai, the run-rate hovered around five throughout the innings. Gunasekera top-scored again with 59 off 60 but he fell in the 24th over. Bagai followed in the 30th to make it 142 for 5, after which Canada needed a miracle.It wasn’t happening though, as offspinner Albert van der Merwe came up with a career-best performance of 5 for 49 and Canada were bowled out in the 47th over. Stirling was the deserving Player of the Match.

Loads of Everton fans have been left fuming over an official post that has emerged from the Goodison Park faithful on Lucas Digne.

The Toffees have now released a statement confirming his sale to Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee, but it did seem very underwhelming, with only three lines of a goodbye message and with no comments from Digne himself or those inside the Merseyside club.

The left-back made a total of 127 appearances for the Blues over the course of the last four seasons, scoring six goals and making a further 20 assists (Transfermarkt), and was a loyal servant over the years.

Thus, the statement does seem strange considering his time with them, and it is no surprise to see so many EFC supporters fuming over it.

Everton fans on Digne statement

These Evertonians were left fuming as the statement on Digne’s exit was shared on Twitter, with one Toffee even going as far as to claim that it is ‘pathetic’:

“Embarrassing to be an Evertonian these days”

Credit: @Cam_Green73

“Disgusting statement to make on the departure of a player who has captained the club on multiple occasions.”

Credit: @JamieMellor81

“Pathetic, I’ll do it for you then, thanks @LucasDigne and good luck.”

Credit: @NikolasHeyes

“No word of thanks, @Everton? Very disappointing.”

Credit: @dtaylor334

“That’s IT???!!!!…….No acknowledgment of his service??!!! You under orders, Admin?…….Poor form that, Everton. #WereBetterThanThat”

Credit: @CathyMcAlle

“Shocking statement that, The People’s Club showing it’s true colours.”

Credit: @TheEvertonEnd

In other news, find out what injury update before Norwich City has Toffees buzzing here!