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Charlton Athletic have plenty left to play for before the season draws to a close, but that shouldn’t stop them from planning ahead.

The Addicks lie in ninth place, just one point outside the playoff zone, as they look to make an instant return to the Championship at the first time of asking.

And they’ll need to do so under a new manager after Lee Bowyer swapped The Valley for another former jaunt in Birmingham City’s St Andrew’s Stadium.

Nigel Adkins was appointed two weeks ago, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal, so he’s clearly here for the long-term future.

Ahead of the summer, several of his current squad are out of contract, including veteran midfielder Darren Pratley. He should be let go from The Valley…

On the Chalkboard

Having joined from Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2018, the 6-foot midfielder has established himself as a regular under each manager that has come and gone in south-east London.

He played a crucial part in getting the Addicks promoted from this very division last time, bagging that all-important late goal in the playoff semi-final against Doncaster Rovers.

Whilst this campaign, the 35-year-old has played 32 times in the league, averaging 80 minutes per appearance, via Transfermarkt.

However, he did not feature in Adkins’ first starting XI, which is rather telling given his vast experience – or is it?

Pratley has been one of Charlton’s poorest performing players this season, averaging a lowly WhoScored rating of 6.49, which is comfortably the worst of any regular starter (25 or more games).

Only Albie Morgan (6.45) and Adam Matthews (6.44) have managed worse ratings this term, but they do not feature in the starting lineup as much as Pratley.

The veteran is also recording the worst disciplinary record of his career, having racked up six yellow cards and two reds, perhaps suggesting that the game is starting to get away from him somewhat.

Compared to last campaign, when featuring in a higher division, Pratley is managing fewer interceptions per game, seeing a decrease from 1.9 to 0.8 – that’s over half, meaning he’s not reading the game as well as he once was despite being in a poorer league.

He’s also managing more fouls per game, seeing an increase of 0.4, only adding to that worrying disciplinary record, as per WhoScored.

There could well be a future for him at centre-back, after Bowyer’s suggestion three years ago resulted in an “outstanding” display in defence but his vast regression and age alone should be enough to not warrant fresh terms this summer.

Addicks chief Steve Gallen must be ruthless over the £5.4k-per-week Charlton favourite, it’s time to move on.

AND in other news, Steve Gallen heading for Charlton mistake over midfielder who has an “aura in the dressing room”…

According to reports from Spain, Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a major blow to their hopes of landing Lucas Vazquez this summer, with Bayern Munich now leading the race for the winger.

Despite having impressed over his 22 La Liga appearances for Real Madrid this season – with the 29-year-old averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.24, as well as Zinedine Zidane claiming that the winger is a “reliable” part of his team – Vazquez’s contract at the Santiago Bernabeu runs out this summer, and the player has rejected a new offer from the club, so everything appears to point towards the winger’s departure at the end of the season.

As a result, Sport (via Sport Witness) claimed that Tottenham are keen on a move for the £58,000-per-week Spain international this summer, with Mourinho’s side said to be willing to offer the player an improvement on his current salary with Los Blancos, in addition to a hefty signing-on fee.

However, the report continues by suggesting that Spurs have now fallen behind Bayern Munich in the race for Vazquez, as the Bundesliga side are ready to propose the winger a four-year deal.

Transfer Tavern Take

The news of Bayern’s interest in Vazquez will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to Mourinho and his side, as the prospect of battling the reigning German and European champions for the winger – with Spurs currently being unable to even guarantee the winger Champions League football if he were to join them – would appear to be a very hard sell indeed.

In other news: the asking price of this £24k p/w Tottenham target has been revealed; Mourinho is being backed to seal a summer deal – find out more here!

In an exclusive interview with Transfer Tavern, Rob Lee, who made 280 Premier League appearances, has claimed that Declan Rice is the best holding midfielder in the league and West Ham could put a £100 million price tag on his head.

Rice has been a standout player for both West Ham and England this season as the Hammers have made a push for the Champions League, and the holding midfielder earned two out of three Man of the Match awards in the recent international fixtures.

Having been released by Chelsea when a youngster, Rice was linked with a move back to Stamford Bridge under Frank Lampard, however, it now appears Manchester United could look to sign him as part of a deal to keep Jesse Lingard at the London Stadium.

Speaking on how much Rice is worth to West Ham and why he is so important to what the Hammers do each game, Lee told Transfer Tavern:

“You’re looking at £100 million, maybe £80 million. It sounds ridiculous for a holding midfielder, but he’s the best at it.

“I always say that Kante was the best at it from both his Leicester and Chelsea days, so for someone so young to do that is unusual, but he’s a good player. West Ham have got to command a huge fee because if they lost him it would be a major blow.”

The £62,000 per week midfielder has been West Ham’s regular on-field captain this season with Mark Noble seeing his minutes significantly limited given the partnership Rice and Tomas Soucek have struck up.

David Moyes has admitted, however, that the Hammers will have to listen to offers for their star midfield duo this summer.

Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively dropped a sensational claim to Football FanCast that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Mauricio Pochettino return to manage Tottenham again in the future.

In just more than five years in north London, the Argentine transformed the club by turning them into top four regulars, whilst memorably reaching the Champions League final in his final full season.

However, following a wretched start to last season, with Spurs sitting 14th in the Premier League table, Pochettino was sacked in November and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

A little more than 12 months after his Tottenham departure, and following months of speculation regarding his next job, Pochettino was appointed as the PSG boss, and won the first trophy of his managerial in his third match after beating Marseille in the Trophee des Champions.

Pochettino signed an 18-month deal in the French capital, but with the option for an additional year, although Fry told Football FanCast that he expects the 49-year-old to one day return to N17:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if at some time in the future he comes back to Tottenham. The fans loved him, the players loved him, he was successful up to a point, he just needed to jump that final hurdle, which he didn’t do.

“There was a lot of good and I think Daniel and him had a good relationship, but obviously felt at the time Tottenham weren’t going in the right direction, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Poch back at Tottenham in years to come.”

Reliable journalist Pete O’Rourke has confirmed that three clubs are ‘eyeing’ up a potential move to sign Jacob Murphy from Newcastle United.

As per a tweet from O’Rourke, who is oftenÂa reliable source for transfer news, those three teams are Rangers, Southampton and Watford.

Newcastle must keep Murphy

The St. James’ Park faithful must look to keep hold of Murphy at all costs in the summer window, and should especially not be considering selling him to a direct rival in the Premier League.

The 26-year-old is coming in to a nice bit of form in the North East, as he scored a fine goal against Burnley recently to put Steve Bruce’s side on track for a crucial three points at Turf Moor.

Alan Shearer thought that he was ‘excellent’ in the 2-2 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, and his performances of late have certainly warranted him a regular place in the starting eleven.

The fact that the Englishman can play as a wing-back as well as a winger is also a great asset to have for the Tyneside club, and could be very useful in the future.

Nonetheless, the Magpies have to try and do all that they can to keep Murphy and thus fend off any interest from elsewhere.

In other news, find out what emails have shown a Premier League U-turn on a takeover decision here!

Reliable reporter Alan Nixon provided his thoughts on Celtic’s pursuit of Manchester City man Fergal Harkin.

The Hoops were thought to be closing in on Harkin, a ‘massive’ Celtic fan, last week in a newly created director of football role.

Extensive talks took place between the Irishman and Celtic, with the club ready to defy Eddie Howe by appointing the 44-year-old.

However, a move is yet to be announced, which has led to questions being asked regarding the club’s off-field plans.

Nixon was quizzed by a Celtic supporter if the Hoops were any closer to appointing a new DoF or manager late on Thursday evening.

The Sun writer replied, suspecting a deal for Harkin is more advanced.

“Suspect director of football thing more advanced… but if I got a fiver for every time I’ve been told Harkin is coming I could pay for wee Eddie.”

Transfer Tavern take

It’s been over a week since sources told Football Insider Celtic were closing in on their man.

A reason for the delay could well be due to Dominic McKay. He arrived at Parkhead on Monday to help with a smooth transition as CEO, so we feel he could be getting his bearings before looking to finalise a deal for Harkin.

Perhaps the new Hoops chief has other ideas entirely about who the club should target to run things alongside a new manager however, which would of course explain the delay in getting Harkin through the door.

Nixon suspects it is more advanced, though, which, to us, can only be good news going forward.

In other news: Celtic’s feelings on British Super League shared in five words, find out more here. 

Glasgow Rangers legend Brian Laudrup has praised Joe Aribo following his performance in the Scottish Cup fourth round on Sunday.

Laudrup hails Aribo

Aribo was in fantastic form for the Gers against Celtic on Sunday as the Ibrox outfit won 2-0. The £3.15m-valued Nigeria international (Transfermarkt) was heavily involved in both goals and generally caused his opponents plenty of problems.

Writing for the Daily Mail (via Daily Record), Laudrup said:

“I said last week that I hoped Aribo could go and grab this game by the scruff of the neck. I wasn’t disappointed. I thought it was definitely his best Old Firm performance yet.

“We have to say Celtic’s left-hand side just didn’t function. What a shocker Diego Laxalt had.

“That can happen at times if you start a match badly. It just snowballs from there. But Rangers had to make sure they took advantage.

“I’ve never made any secret that I am a big Aribo fan. He is brave, with outstanding close control, and brings something different.

“You can give him the ball in the tightest of spaces and he will retain it or produce a little run that takes people out of the game. That’s so important in terms of trying to navigate through the final third.

“I don’t know Aribo personally but he seems like quite a quiet person. Maybe you could say that one or two of the previous derbies passed him by a little bit.“But he really showed his worth on Sunday and that is massive for him as an individual. I know that. So does every former Rangers player. You are judged by the highest of standards in the Old Firm matches. People remember them.“Watching Aribo, it seemed to me that he now really believes he can deliver against Celtic. That mentality will have grown through his performances in Europe and, of course, by winning the league.”

Important showingWhile Aribo didn’t get himself on the scoresheet, he played a big role in helping the Gers reach the next round of the competition. Given his ability, this is something he should be doing week-in, week-out. Instead, he has frustrated fans at times this term with some of his performances.Having managed eight goals and six assists in all competitions (Transfermarkt), it has not been a bad season for the 24-year-old, especially considering he has struggled with injuries. To have a player as accomplished as Laudrup as a fan must suggest that Aribo has plenty of quality, and there are few bigger stages on which he can display that potential than during an Old Firm derby. Now, it is about performing on a consistent basis.In other news, Noel Whelan says this Rangers player will be distraught after Steven Gerrard’s update.

Swansea City sealed their place in the Championship playoffs with a 2-2 draw against Reading on Sunday afternoon but Steve Cooper was once again left frustrated by his side conceding a late goal.

Yakou Meite’s header had put the Royals ahead before second-half goals from Jamal Lowe and Andre Ayew had looked to seal the three points for the Swans.

However, Tomas Esteves earned the hosts a point in the 93rd minute, although it wasn’t enough for Veljko Paunović’s side, who saw their own playoff hopes come to an end.

One man who impressed for Swansea City at the Madejski Stadium was left-back Jake Bidwell.

As per SofaScore, £1.8m-rated defender would earn himself an impressive 7.4/10 rating for his performance, with only Lowe (8.0) and John Swift (7.7) earning higher from both sides.

During the game, Bidwell would make an impressive seven clearances, which was the most of any player, and also far more than the 2.1 clearances per game he has averaged in the Championship this season.

He also contributed two interceptions and one tackle during the 90 minutes, which again is above his average of 0.6 interceptions and 0.6 tackles per game so far this campaign.

The former QPR man was also excellent going forwards, as he completed 23/27 of his passes during the game, resulting in a solid 85% pass accuracy rate, which is far better than his 64.9% average in the second tier.

Bidwell would also contribute three key passes and superbly provided the assist for Ayew’s goal, as he burst down the left-hand side and waited until the perfect moment to cut the ball back for the Ghanaian international to score a tap in.

Whereas Lowe produced an excellent display, scoring and hitting the post whilst also being heavily involved throughout, he played fewer key passes, lost possession on several more occasions (16 vs 9) and also won fewer duels than Bidwell (6/14 vs 7/13).

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Therefore, the 28-year-old left-back deserves a lot of credit for his display and perhaps emphasised that he should be the man to start in the playoffs for Cooper’s side.

And, in other news… Swansea could sign their ideal Ayew heir in £225k-rated beast, Cooper would love him

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that Kalvin Phillips “would have been a great addition” to Dean Smith’s squad.

This comes after a recent interview where Phillips revealed he considered leaving Leeds United for Villa back in 2019 in a quest for Premier League football.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men have since gone on to win promotion to English football’s top flight to give Phillips what he craved, and the 25-year-old has managed to settle in nicely.

Phillips has thrived in his debut Premier League campaign, winning plaudits from pundits such as Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.

He is a player admired by Hendrie, though he believes his former club have missed their opportunity to sign the England international.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about Phillips, Hendrie said:

“He would have been a great addition. I think trying to get him now, I don’t think he’d be in Villa’s category if I’m being particularly honest. I think if one of the top five wouldn’t jump at him, I’d stand on my head; I really would.

“I just feel that, you know, sometimes you miss the boat on situations and I feel that if Villa really forced the issue, they possibly could have from what Kalvin Phillips is saying, possibly could have got him at that stage.”

A regular under Bielsa since his arrival at Elland Road back in 2018, Phillips is clearly a very important player for his manager, so the Argentinian will no doubt be glad he decided to remain at the Yorkshire club in the end.

After Kalvin Phillips was ruled out with a minor injury against Brighton, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa turned to Robin Koch as the man to fill the void in midfield.

A centre-back by trade, the summer signing endured a difficult game in a wholly unfamiliar position, and Leeds Live’s Beren Cross outlined one of the key problems the German faced, saying that “his passing had nothing like the expanse of Phillips’s, nor the accuracy at critical moments as attacks were threatening to build.”

With reports in recent days claiming that Leeds have made signing a new holding midfielder a priority for the upcoming summer transfer window, some much-needed cover for Phillips is set to arrive. However, for the here and now, rather than turning to Koch, Bielsa must surely now unleash academy starlet Nohan Kenneh.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay dubbed the teenager as “supremely gifted”, and he’s capable of playing in holding midfield as well as further back in central defence. Also, at a imposing 6 foot 2, he seems to have the physical attributes to hold his own at Premier League level.

The 18-year-old has already admitted to modelling himself on Phillips, while he also added that he’s a fan of Arsenal Invincible Patrick Vieira too. He said: “Currently I look up to Kalvin Phillips as (we) both play in a similar position, but I occasionally watch videos of Patrick Vieira for his qualities in midfield.”

Describing himself as someone who is “aggressive and hard-working who likes to break down play”, but also likes “getting forward and scoring long-range goals”, Kenneh seems like he could thrive in the anchor man role if given the chance by Bielsa.

This season he has spent all of his time with the club’s academy side, making 11 appearances at Premier League 2 level and helping them clinch the Division 2 title recently.

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The next step for those batch of players who tasted academy success is to make their mark on the first team, and given the injury problems faced by Phillips last weekend and this season as a whole, Kenneh should be the man to whom Bielsa turns sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, a Leeds source has revealed the club’s exciting plans for the summer…