All posts by h716a5.icu

West Ham are a bit of an enigma when it comes to signings.

The Hammers sometimes sign players who light up the league and make big teams wonder how they didn’t spot these talents earlier, such as Felipe Anderson and Dimitri Payet, and sometimes the club bring in players who just never look ready for the English football despite looking good on paper, such as Andriy Yarmolenko and Simone Zaza.

One position Manuel Pellegrini’s side just can’t find the perfect man for is the striker role.

Over the years we have seen Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez, the aforementioned Zaza and Lucas Perez all be brought in to fill out this position on the pitch, and yet it never really looks like West Ham have a player who fits the role perfectly.

You could argue had the China and Arnautovic saga not happen we would not be having this debate, but it’s apparent that West Ham are in need of a reliable striker for next season. Luckily, they have a lot of ways to approach this.

The Hammers currently have four strikers in the first-team, and for a club that favours a one-man striker formation, Manuel Pellegrini could be well off shipping a good chunk of this group for extra funds.

Andy Carroll and Perez seem like the most sensible players to ship off as the duo have had little impact on the first-team, and there is a case to make that Chicharito could finally make his long-awaited move to MLS this summer, leaving just Arnautovic.

With West Ham having big pockets and recouping money for potential sales of these three strikers, who could the Hammers realistically sign to make up the numbers?

One popular suggestion from Hammers fans is Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, linked with a move recently by Claret and Hugh. With the Cottagers likely to go down, many clubs will be swimming around the west London club looking to snap up their talent on cheap fees, and West Ham should be one of these clubs.

Mitrovic is a proven Premier League quality striker, and at only 24-years-old the Serbian forward has room to grow into a real force of an attacking player. Alongside a player of Arnautovic’s quality, the Fulham star could make for the perfect partner and player for West Ham to sign. Indeed, he’s got the strength and aerial ability to hold up the ball and knock it into space for players like the Austrian to get in behind, and the Serbian often drags defenders away which would open up more room for the likes of Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini to operate in.

West Ham fans, what striker do you want the club to sign this summer?

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Scotland were humiliated by Kazakhstan on Thursday afternoon, and Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie is getting absolutely crucified for his performance.

Scotland travelled to the Astana Arena in Nursultan for their first Euro 2020 qualifier on Wednesday, and let’s just say things didn’t go to plan for Alex McLeish’s side.

The hosts took the lead after just six minutes when Yuriy Pertsukh capitalised on some awful defending before Yan Vorogovskiy did the exact same five minutes later to make it 2-0.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Stuart Armstrong had the only notable chance for the Scots, forcing a good save out of the Kazakh goalkeeper, but Baktiyor Zainutdinov’s header made it 3-0 and completed the rout.

Of course, mounting injuries forced McLeish to deploy a makeshift squad, meaning Dons captain Shinnie got the nod at left-back with Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney both out.

The 27 year-old was at fault for the third goal and didn’t cover himself in glory during the early onslaught either, constantly caught out of position.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, look away now Graeme…

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Millwall host Stoke at the end of next month in what promises to be a difficult clash with plenty of heavy tackles and big hits – the type of game Lions fans surely love. An update received on Tuesday, though, will somewhat dampen the mood at The Den.

Neil Harris’ side have most likely used the international break to recover from their FA Cup heartbreak – the Lions were knocked out by Brighton in the quarter-finals in gutting fashion – and, of course, gear up for a tough game against Leeds this weekend.

The trip to West Yorkshire might be just around the corner, but Millwall fans on Twitter were more concerned with another game this week after it was announced that the visit of Stoke – six matches into the future – would be subject to a big change.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

The kick-off for the clash on 27th April has been moved forward to 1:30pm, as opposed to the usual 3pm, following a ‘safety advisory group meeting’.

Here’s what the Lions fans had to say about the decision…

[ad_pod ]Tottenham Hotspur hosted their first Premier League game at the new stadium on Wednesday, as they beat Crystal Palace 2-0.The curtain-raiser featured a lavish opening ceremony prior to the match, which Spurs won courtesy of goals from Son Heung-Min and Christian Eriksen.The result leaves Spurs third, one point ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea and three ahead of Manchester United. The Gunners have a game in hand, however.Despite the victory and there being much positivity towards the stadium itself, a number of supporters have expressed their dismay at certain parts of the stadium’s infrastructure – transport links being the recurring theme.

It is perhaps to be expected, with the opening of a new 62,000 seater stadium in an area that is used to hosting just 36,000 fans.

But that did not stop a number of supporters from venting on Twitter after the encounter. Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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Loads of Celtic fans have been chucking possible manager candidates around on social media, and Twitter seems to have landed firmly on Andre Villas-Boas.

Celtic brought back Neil Lennon to keep things ticking over when Brendan Rodgers left in February, and while “Lenny” will always be a fan favourite at Parkhead, his second stint in charge has been far from perfect.

Yes, the Bhoys are still on track for an eighth consecutive league title and a historic “treble treble”, but the performances have been mostly underwhelming, leading to two 0-0 draws within the last five games.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Most fans agree Lennon is the right man to steady the ship but not the one to take the club forward from next season, as they want someone younger and fresher with new ideas.

Andre Villas-Boas fits that mould perfectly, and the ex-Chelsea and Spurs boss is out of work at the moment.

He most recently took charge of Shanghai SIPG, and while there are no concrete links between him and the Hoops, SkyBet have slashed their odds on him becoming permanent boss to 16/1.

Time will tell whether that’s what has got fans signing his name on Twitter or if they know something we don’t, but either way you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Oh wow, Mohamed Salah!

While this is something we’ve gotten used to recently, but the Egyptian produced something entirely special on Sunday. Playing with a point to prove, he scored an absolute thunderbolt to seal the deal against a persistent Chelsea side.

Indeed, it was the Egyptian’s incredible contribution which helped Liverpool outclass their London rivals to keep the party going at Anfield. After a barren goal-scoring run, he’s yet again hit his best form. The Tottenham Hotspur result gave him his confidence back, as the Egyptian netted a beautiful goal against Southampton before terrorizing Chelsea.

He was all over the place on Sunday, threatening with his clever moves inside through the right, dribbling past players at will and being an absolute menace. Not only did Salah score that incredible effort, but his contribution was much wider than that.

He also created four chances, had three shots on target and completed four dribbles (stats via Fotmob).

It almost felt as if that terrible racist jibe had given him more urgency to prove his point. Unfortunately for those fans, they might’ve woken up the goal-scoring beast inside him. He seems hungry as ever to contribute and is holding no prisoners in his mission.

Salah’s lethality has peaked once again. He’s moving quickly, going past opposition at will and isn’t afraid of taking his chances anymore. With Liverpool in dire need of a hero to sail them into achieving history, their Egyptian King has his weapons ready to thwart whoever stands in their way.

Liverpool fans, do you think Salah will win the golden boot again this season? Join the discussion by commenting below…

Normally after a loss, a player will post an image and message to their social media asking for the fans to get behind the team and to apologise for the defeat, not for Javier Hernandez.

After West Ham’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United in a game where the Hammers yet again should have walked away with nothing, the Mexican international took to Instagram to give his thoughts on the game, or as he put it, praise the Red Devils for the reception he received.

Hernandez posted: “Coming back to Old Trafford and to having a standing ovation is not easy to digest… thank you to all the Manchester United fans today for doing that. A day I will never forget.”

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the Mexican striker making such a post. Man United are the club that gave Hernandez the chance to play in Europe and gave him the platform to become the player he is today, but making a post after losing to them for your new club whilst not acknowledging the result is poor.

The club you play for should always come first no matter how much love you have for a previous team, and this affection for the Manchester club will stop Hernandez from becoming much of a fan favourite at West Ham.

The east London side pride themselves on having players who want to play for the badge, but if Hernandez is out here making almost romantic messages to his former team after just losing to them, it won’t do him any favours with the fans who have already been displeased with his time at West Ham.

Hernandez’s time in the English capital has not been successful, and his comments to his former side aren’t winning him any favours too.

West Ham fans, has Hernandez been a success at the club? Let us know!

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Looking back at it, the decision to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a permanent basis back in March seems strange.

It’s not as if the Norwegian was in high demand, nor was there the chance that he would leave the club if the decision had been delayed until the end of the season. This is a man who has spoken of his admiration for the club on a number of occasions, even calling the role his ‘dream job’ in the past.

So, in that respect, it seems strange that Manchester United didn’t at least wait until the season had ended to make a decision on whether or not to appoint a man who, let’s face it, is woefully under-qualified for a job of this magnitude.

Watch the video below to find out what Jesse Lingard is like off the pitch in the latest Match Of The Bae with Emma Conybeare…

Yes, his unbelievable run after succeeding Jose Mourinho, in which the Red Devils lost just once in 17 games, winning 14 of them, was very impressive.

But those higher up at Old Trafford should be experienced enough to know the effects of a ‘new manager bounce’, a short-term impact reinforced concretely by the fact that United have just two unconvincing wins from their six games since his permanent appointment – they have lost the other four.

There is clearly more to United’s problems than Solskjaer. The players are back to their ways of old under Mourinho, looking lost, disinterested and lethargic whilst the opposition better them in every department – again, there are a lot of problems at the club beside the manager.

However, that is all the reason more not to have appointed Solskjaer in March. So many bad decisions have been made since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, but to give the former Cardiff and Molde boss a three-year deal is up there with the worst.

If his impact is to merely be a short-term boost, they are now stuck with him for three years unless they give him a hefty pay-off to remove him from his contract.

What made United chiefs think that he was the answer for that amount of time? Chelsea have appointed Guus Hiddink and Rafa Benitez in the past to get them out of a rut, even watching the latter win a trophy, and still realised that there were people better suited for the job in the long-term.

The players’ performances in the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Everton on Sunday looked far worse than anything they managed to muster up under Mourinho, and in a time of crisis such as this, it appears that only a manager of real pedigree with a good understanding of the market can even begin to patch it up.

Solskjaer, with a few Norwegian titles and a relegation with Cardiff under his belt, doesn’t appear capable of being anything other than a short-term cheerleader – as hasty decisions go, this one tops the lot.

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Tottenham Hotspur secured a huge three points on Tuesday night – scoring late on in proceedings to record a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.

The goal came from Christian Eriksen, who found the back of the net with a powerful strike from outside the penalty box.

It was just what Tottenham needed in their battle to secure a top-four spot in the Premier League table.

There remains uncertainty surrounding the future of Eriksen, who will see his contract expire at the end of next season.

That said, a recent report claimed that Spurs were becoming increasingly confident that the Denmark international would pen a fresh deal.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he would have snubbed Tottenham for Arsenal if they’d come knocking in 2005…

And a number of Tottenham fans took to social media in the aftermath of the Brighton fixture to call for the playmaker to sign new terms.

It will certainly be very interesting to see how this one plays out over the next couple of months or so.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

There are very sporting events that can compete with the drama and expectation that the play-offs bring year-in, year-out.

Since the format was introduced to English football in 1987, it has produced some of the greatest moments in modern history. However, Leeds United’s relationship with the knock-out competition has been utterly miserable as they have lost in all four of their previous appearances with three of their defeats occurring in the final.

In order to secure promotion to the Premier League in May, the Whites must bring a halt to this particular record yet their fate could be decided before they start their play-off campaign.

Having picked up just one point from an available nine, Marcelo Bielsa’s side are in danger of entering the most important stage of their season without any momentum whatsoever.

Although this poor run of form may see the Argentine decide to make a number of alterations to his starting eleven for Sunday’s clash against Ipswich Town, it could be more beneficial if he instead selects his best possible team.

With the Tractor Boys consigned to finishing bottom of the Championship this year, a convincing victory for Leeds may see them enter the play-offs with the confidence needed to overcome the challenges that the likes of Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion will pose.

However, if Bielsa goes against expectations and decides to experiment at Portman Road, he may risk a costly defeat that could culminate in yet even more heartbreak for Whites supporters after witnessing their side falter in the race for automatic promotion in recent weeks.

After what has been an immensely positive year for the West Yorkshire outfit, now is the time for the players to prove that they have what it takes to prevail as by squandering this golden opportunity, they could be throwing away their best chance in a generation of securing a return to the Premier League.

What do you think Whites fans? Should Bielsa field a strong side against Ipswich on Sunday? Or is it important that he rests some of the first team players ahead of the play-offs? Get in touch below.