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Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, former West Brom goalkeeper Chris Kirkland says that Albion had no chance of signing Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser as soon as Newcastle were interested.

Kirkland discusses Wilson and Fraser

Bournemouth pair Fraser and Wilson were linked with the Baggies during the summer transfer window, however, both ended up making the move to the Magpies. Fraser joined on a free transfer, and Wilson cost £20m.

Kirkland was asked whether there was any chance of the duo moving to The Hawthorns. His answer may not be music to the ears of Baggies supporters:

“Well nobody knows but if you’re asking me if they both agreed the same fee, would they have gone to West Brom or Newcastle? They’d have gone to Newcastle. No disrespect but when Newcastle is a full house again and you know 52,000 fans then yeah, there’s always going to be one winner there and that’s Newcastle.”

Kind of talent Bilic needs

Whilst they did not spend a huge amount of money during the summer, they still parted with £36.41m. Karlan Grant, for example, cost Slaven Bilic no less than £15m.

However, so far, the Hawthorns outfit have struggled to adapt to the Premier League, failing to win any of their first eight games in the competition.

Both Fraser and Wilson are top talents. The former once recorded 14 assists in a single Premier League season with the Cherries, whilst Wilson is the Toon’s top goalscorer in the top flight with six strikes so far this season.

That kind of talent could have had a big impact on what West Brom could have achieved this season but Kirkland, despite being an ex-WBA player, obviously doubts that they were ever serious targets once Newcastle came in.

In other news, West Brom fans praised this man against Fulham.

Steven Gerrard is looking for some reinforcements in the ongoing summer transfer window and the word on the street for the last couple of weeks has been that Rangers have set their sights on Amiens’ Bongani Zungu.

According to the latest report coming from Daily Record, the midfielder is set to leave his club and the Scottish Premier League side are still firm favourites for his signature. Of course, this is already quite well known and has even caused the player some trouble at Amiens.

The South African international has not been given a single minute on the pitch during their pre-season clashes as the boss, Luka Elsner, only wants to work with players who are 100% committed to the team. At the moment, with his head in the clouds and his future largely uncertain, Zungu doesn’t seem to fall under that category.

Here’s what the coach had to say on the matter, as quoted by Daily Record: “I have decided to restrict the squad I will work with. So only those whose head is committed to the Amiens project this season will play for me. We need only players who are 100 per cent committed to the club and the players who are trying to leave won’t be involved.”

While he doesn’t reference the 27-year-old directly, the sheer fact he is still out in the cold and being unused makes the matter quite clear. Apart from Rangers, the same outlet states, there’s some interest coming from Germany but the Scottish outfit is very much in pole position to land their man.

Verdict

Even though it’s still not exactly a done deal, it does look like Rangers will be able to get Zungu if they continue pushing for the transfer. The South African is clearly open to a change of scenery a bit and a move to Scotland is on the cards.

We’ll have to wait and see what he can offer to Gerrard’s squad.

Even though Rangers have been busy throughout the transfer window themselves, bringing in some quality reinforcement, it still feels like the biggest stories surrounding the Gers are concerning the potential departures.

Of course, we are talking about the possibility of Ryan Kent leaving Ibrox and leaving the Scottish Premie League altogether, which would undoubtedly be a big hit for Steven Gerrard in the ongoing 2020/21 season.

There were, however, recent reports stating the winger would very much be open to staying as he feels settled in Glasgow. But Leeds United are the ones pushing for the transfer to happen, even apparently planning another improved bid, and if the move does happen after all, Rangers would have to go all out to find an adequate replacement for Kent.

At least that’s what the former Ibrox man Andy Halliday thinks they should do. Here’s what he said when speaking on Keeping the Ball on the Ground podcast, as quoted by Daily Record: “I just think it’s not the year for cheap replacements. If they sell him (Kent), they need to spend all the money. I think, and if you’d asked me last year I wouldn’t have wanted to lose either, now Ryan Kent would be the bigger loss (over Morelos).

“You’d like to think they’ve replaced Morelos with Roofe and Itten, they’ve got two other attacking options. If you lose Ryan Kent you need to spend all the money to find a replacement.”

Of course, we still don’t know whether Kent will indeed leave Ibrox but Halliday thinks that if Rangers are to challenge Celtic this year, they must not limit themselves to cheap reinforcements.

Verdict

The Premier League is clearly a very intriguing prospect for any player and for that reason, and because it is Marcelo Bielsa we are talking about here, Kent’s potential transfer should not be entirely ruled out.

He may be happy at Rangers and doesn’t think about leaving but anything can change with a good offer and a solid sporting project.

Key information about Meadow Lane

Meadow Lane was built in 1910 and is now the home of National League’s Notts County. The ground is located in Nottingham, England and is actually only 300 yards away from the City Ground, Nottingham Forest’s stadium.

Its current capacity soars up to 21,388 and the pitch measures 104m by 70m. The field is not surrounded by a running track but the surface is covered with natural grass, albeit they don’t have undersoil heating installed just yet.

The record attendance is 47,310 as people flocked in to watch Notts County yield a 1–0 victory to York City in the FA Cup Sixth Round on 12 March 1955.

A history of Meadow Lane

Before they finally moved to Meadow Lane in 1910, Notts County were actually playing their football across the River Trent at Trent Bridge as a tenant of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Needless to say, this was far from an ideal situation since the pitch was mostly used for cricket rather than football and this forced the club to play their fixtures either far too late in the evening or far too early in the morning to avoid overlaps.

This was of course deemed unacceptable by the Football League and the club was asked to either relocate or negotiate more favourable terms with their ‘landlord’. Shortly after that, they leased some land on the other side of the river and constructed a stadium there and got it ready for the beginning of the 1910/11 season.

The first game played there took place on 3 September 1910 and the grand opening was celebrated with a 1-1 draw against old rivals Nottingham Forest, watched by 27,000 supporters. Even though they would still face some problems with the lease, they settled at Meadow Lane and started with the upgrades in the early 1920s. The first of those was the expansion with earth banks and a newly built main stand. This was followed by the addition of another stand in 1923 that saw the old Sneinton Side replaced with the County Road Stand.

Further renovations were necessary after World War II since Meadow Lane was badly damaged by the bombing and there were no fixtures played during the 1942 campaign. Interestingly, in times of need, the stadium would also host their rivals, Nottingham Forest, on two occasions when their own ground was unavailable first after the war and then once again in 1968.

In 1978, the club also demolished the Meadow Lane End and subsequently replaced it with a building which housed new dressing rooms, a social club and a variety of other facilities but around that time, their capacity dwindled to only 24,000 places, a far cry from their plateau that was reached in 1955 when 47,310 supporters watched Notts County face York City.

Meadow Lane was modernised in the 1990s, which was also a reaction to the Bradford City stadium fire and Hillsborough disaster with the Meadow Lane End, County Road Stand and Spion Kop all getting replaced in 1992 by the Family Stand, the Jimmy Sirrel Stand and the Spion Kop Stand respectively and the main stand by the Derek Pavis Stand two years after that.

In 2002, the stadium was briefly called Aaron Scargill Stadium due to sponsorship reasons but that couldn’t last and after the deal fell through, the ground’s name reverted back to Meadow Lane. Over the years and in modern times, there were several changes but none too drastic.

The Derek Pavis Stand now has a number of conference and function facilities to complement their Broken Wheelbarrow bar which is located behind the Family Stand. And the Family stand also got renamed to the Haydn Green Family Stand in 2007.

Tickets to watch Notts County at Meadow Lane

All the tickets to watch Notts County at Meadow Lane can be found on the club’s official website. The price range will vary depending on the seat you choose and the time of the purchase but you can find tickets for around £22-£24 for adults.

They also offer season tickets to their fans with the price for adults and seniors previously being £276 and £184 respectively. More information can be found on their website.

Related links

https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/ – Official website of Notts County

Name: Ivan Perisic

Club: On loan at Bayern Munich from Inter Milan

Date of Birth: 2 February 1989

Position: Winger (left, right)

IVAN PERISIC – HIS CAREER SO FAR

Born in Split, Croatia, Ivan Perisic was always a big fan of Hajduk Split, a local giant and one of the biggest clubs in the country. It doesn’t surprise then that his first steps into the world of football were done exactly in their youth setups. But it also wouldn’t take long for other European teams to take notice of the young, up and coming forward as the likes of Anderlecht, PSV, Ajax and Hamburger SV showed interest. In the end, however, the Croat would ultimately choose the French club Sochaux.

Despite his talent, Perisic would fail to tally a single appearance for the team’s first-team, spending his time in the B side before going out on loan to a Belgian team Roeselare for six months. There, he obviously picked up a number of admirers and it came down to a tussle between Anderlecht and Club Brugge for the forward’s coveted signature.

At the end of the day, the latter team emerged as victors and Perisic was officially signed on 26 August 2009. And this is where his qualities started to shine the brightest. The beginning of his career at the new club was brilliant, to say the least, and the Croat would tally goal after goal and pair them up with some big assists as well. In the end, he would go on to score 35 goals and provide 23 assists in a total of 89 games for Club Brugge, leaving a good legacy and eventually departing for Borussia Dortmund for the 2011/12 campaign.

Despite a promising start to his venture in Germany and some decisive goals that followed, Perisic found his first-team opportunities quite limited in Dortmund and that would eventually lead to his departure to Wolfsburg, having only recorded 64 appearances in front of the Yellow Wall, bagging 12 goals and seven assists along the way.

Staying in Germany, Perisic would add to his overall Bundesliga tally with his new team but he also wouldn’t stay for too long, eventually signing with Inter Milan in the summer of 2015. His spell with Wolfsburg was good, as evidenced by 21 goals and 17 assists in 88 games, but some niggling injuries and a big opportunity in Italy meant he would swap clubs once more.

The Nerazzurri treated him well and he would stay at Inter for longer than at any other club throughout his career. The Croat also has quite a resume with the Italians as well, bagging 40 goals and 35 assists across 163 games but ultimately with no silverware to show for. In fact, the first titles he claimed on club level came with Borussia Dortmund as the team managed to win Bundesliga and the German Cup in 2011/12 and then follow it up with a German Supercup triumph the next season.

That would, however, change with his loan spell at Bayern Munich that lasted throughout the 2019/20 campaign as the Bavarians claimed the Bundesliga title in the process as well. Perisic himself scored six goals and assisted ten in 31 games, proving that he’s still got a lot left in the tank.

It has to be said that he’s been an instrumental part of Croatia’s national team as well, participating in the last two Euros and the last two World Cups for his country. And he was an instrumental part of Croatia’s run to the final in Russia back in 2018, even scoring a goal in an eventual defeat to France, becoming the first-ever Croat to do so.

TRANSFER LATEST

Perisic’s loan deal at Bayern Munich is set to end in the coming month and there are already various transfer rumours and transfer news connecting the Croat with a plethora of different teams. Currently, however, Tottenham Hotspur seem to be among the most interested squads out there and a move to the Premier League could indeed be on the cards.

First, of course, Perisic will return to Italy and then we’ll see what happens next. Still, with the market on the island now officially opened, we could see all kinds of Tottenham Hotspur transfer news popping up in the coming weeks.

PLAYER PROFILE

Perisic is a winger by nature but has been played all across the park throughout his career due to his sheer versatility and adaptability. Even though his main task is always to score goals, the 31-year-old is a keen creator as well, often combining well with his teammates and both exploiting and creating space along the way.

His great dribbling skills also mean that he can wreak havoc across the final third and despite often staying wide, Perisic can also cut inside and advance through the half-space. We can also see him engage in 1v1s close to the opposition’s box and that can lead to dangerous cut-backs or low crosses towards his teammates.

Despite being 31 years of age, he rarely runs out of steam.

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after they discovered news of some injury issues ahead of Monday evening’s game against Brighton.

Roy Hodgson revealed in his pre-match press conference that Jeffrey Schlupp – the match-winner in the last game at Selhurst Park – will definitely miss the meeting with Graham Potter’s men, while Joel Ward will also be absent against the Seagulls.

The former England manager went on to say that there might be more names to add to that list, although Hodgson was unwilling to reveal anymore on that particular topic.

Incidentally, the south Londoners will also be without Mamadou Sakho as he sits out the second game of a three-match ban, following his straight red card against Bournemouth.

Palace’s backline is looking particularly ravaged ahead of the match, with Patrick van Aanholt also a doubt, and the number of injuries has sparked discussion amongst some supporters on Twitter.

This particular supporter certainly didn’t sound happy with Hodgson’s update, saying that they’re thinking of just staying at home instead of travelling to the match.

These two fans also continued the displeased feeling, with one complaining that this kind of injury crisis happens “every season” and that they’re sure the squad is “made of polystyrene”, whereas another simply said “we’re finished” after hearing the news.

Furthermore, another pair of supporters didn’t sound too pleased with the 72-year-old’s injury update.

One fan kept it short and sweet by simply saying “eek”, while the other said that Monday’s game is “going to be a struggle” after discovering the amount of injuries Palace had.

Lastly, ‘John’ said that it is time for Jairo Riedewald to shine in the absence of others – the Dutchman came off the bench against Watford last time out after Schlupp was forced to withdraw from the game through injury.

In other news, take a look at the impressive numbers behind this Crystal Palace player’s impressive season so far…

Sunderland are set to lose central defender Jack Baldwin this summer after declining to offer him a new contract.

With the coronavirus pandemic causing English football to come to a standstill since March, the Black Cats were left in limbo over their prospects of gaining a play-off place in League One. However, a decision made by the English Football League resulted in them missing out as a points-per-game system was utilised, moving them down to eighth in the final table.

Failure to gain promotion for the second year running means the Wearside club will now have to prepare for a third successive season in England’s third tier and they could see a whole host players leave this summer.

A total of 11 players could now be set to leave the club with defender Baldwin one of the bigger names on that list.

The Northern Echo reported that the centre-back will not be offered a new deal and will therefore be free to discuss terms with a new club from July 1.

Chris Maguire, Tom Flanagan and Jon McLaughlin are also set for exits, with the latter being heavily linked with a move to Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

Once labelled a ‘young Alan Hansen’ by former Hartlepool manager Neale Cooper, Baldwin has hardly set the world alight during his time at the Stadium of Light, spending time out on loan this season with League Two side Salford City.

Failing to make a single appearance for the Black Cats in League One, his exit would seem logical on the face of it. However, with so much uncertainty at the club, Sunderland will need to think carefully about letting players go and ensuring that they have a sizeable squad with adequate quality next season.

Do you think Sunderland should keep hold of Jack Baldwin past this summer? Let us know in the comments section below…

Liverpool fans have been dreaming of landing the signature of Son Heung-min after he was seen speaking to Roberto Firmino and Fabinho after South Korea’s friendly clash with Brazil.AndÂthe huge news of Mauricio Pochettino’s dismissal from Tottenham Hotspur is likely to have fuelled the narrative.The Argentine was sacked from his post as manager of the club and fans from around the country have been hoping to snatch some of their players as a result.The Reds faithful have set their sights on Son and plenty of them have made that abundantly clear on social media.One fan said “please God let this happen”, as another supporter stated he has been hoping for this transfer for years. Another fan even said he would rather see the winger sign ahead of Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho.Son, who is valued at £72m by Transfermarkt, has been one of Spurs’ shining stars over the last few years.Last season, the 27-year-old scored four times on the club’s journey to the Champions League final, whilst he also bagged 12 league goals.No doubt the South Korea international would be a welcome addition to Liverpool, although he would struggle to get into the side ahead of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane right now.

However, it seems as if most of the Reds supporters are desperate for a deal to happen…

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…

Jack Clarke’s season isn’t exactly going to plan is it?

The teenager seemed to have the world at his feet last term, and his good performances earned him a £10m move to Tottenham Hotspur last summer.

He was immediately loaned back to Leeds, but he’s not been given much of a chance this season as he’s appeared in just one league game for the Whites since rejoining the club this summer.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Understandably, there have been rumours that Tottenham are planning on cutting Clarke’s loan spell short, and Phil Hay has now revealed what the club’s plan is if the winger is recalled by the London club.

What’s been said then?

The journalist was hosting a Q&A session with The Athletic, and he was asked whether the club would sign a replacement or promote an academy player if Clarke was recalled.

Can you get full marks on the Ultimate Leeds Quiz? Test your knowledge below…

Hay was very clear with his answer as he went as far as to name which player would be given a chance.

“Promote from within. Stevens.” Hay said.

Later on in the session, another supporter stated that the club must think highly of Stevens after handing him a new contract and now looking towards him as Clarke’s replacement, to which Hay replied:

“They do. The new contract is a bonus for him so soon after his betting ban. That sort of thing can set a young player back badly and if Clarke was staying until the end of the season, it’s unlikely that Stevens would have had much of a look-in. Missing six weeks of training under Bielsa doesn’t do you any favours. But people I speak to tell me Clarke will be recalled.”

Testament to his quality

This really is a testament to how good of a player Jordan Stevens is.

The teenager missed six weeks of training earlier this season due to a ban he was handed after breaching betting regulations, and Hay is right when he says that missing that much football won’t have sat well with Bielsa.

The Argentine is renowned for his ‘murderball’ sessions and it must take a while to get up to speed with it, hence the fact missing training wouldn’t have helped Stevens’ cause.

However, it seems as if he’s still in the manager’s plans as he’s likely to appear on the bench quite often is Clarke is recalled, and this could be the youngster’s route into the first-team.

The fact that Stevens is seen as Clarke’s replacement despite all of his off the field issues in recent weeks just shows how highly he is rated at Elland Road.

In other news, a former Leeds star has revealed why he chose to leave Elland Road.

This article is part ofÂFootball FanCast’sÂPundit ViewÂseries, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Former England international Paul Robinson says Marco Silva’s reveal on defender Yerry Mina’s injury was “strange” after he left the pitch against Watford.

What did he say?

Mina has been a mainstay in Silva’s Premier League side for the entire season, starting 9 out of 10 games. His injury against West Ham United forced him to miss the Brighton & Hove Albion fixture, but this was the first game he was absent in the top-flight so far.

The defender came back into the side in midweek but was once again replaced during the game through injury.

Robinson believes it was odd for Silva to suggest Mina was “fine” after the game, as he would not have known the extent of his injury.

He told Football Insider: “It was a strange one for the manager to say that he was fine at the full-time whistle. You don’t know the ins and outs, different players have different pain thresholds.

“I played with players who had to be 100 per cent – if you imagine a car or a machine, it has to be 100 per cent to go out, like an F1 car, to function. Me and other old-school players, 60, 70 per cent fit, have an injection in your foot if it’s sore and get out there and get on with it.

“A lot of players will not play unless they are spot on to play.”

Sign of naivety

It was a surprise to see Mina play against Watford. It was an EFL Cup fixture, meaning it was surely the perfect chance to rest him to ensure he was fit for the weekend.

Silva could have fielded Michael Keane alongside Mason Holgate, and it would not have been much of an issue. Now, Mina could be out for a prolonged period, when a rest midweek could have easily prevented this.

The Portuguese manager has since confirmed that there is a chance he will feature this weekend, but the fact his fitness is even in doubt underlines the naivety behind the decision to start him in midweek.

Another sign of naive management from an under-pressure leader.