All posts by n8rngtd.top

The focus is on winning the trophy, but the players haven’t lost sight of the bigger picture

Andrew McGlashan in Sydney06-Mar-2020Sunday at the MCG will not be an ordinary day or an ordinary cricket match. It remains to be seen if the world-record crowd for a women’s sporting event is broken, but the match-up of Australia against India means there’s a great chance of it happening – after more than two years of hype and talk, the most anticipated day in the history of women’s cricket has almost arrived.”Thank goodness it’s here,” Australia captain Meg Lanning said with a smile in the aftermath of the tense rain-affected semi-final against South Africa in Sydney.

No rain threat for World Cup final

After all the rain-related drama of the semi-finals in Sydney, there doesn’t seem to be any such concern for the final at the MCG, with Melbourne forecast to be dry and sunny on Sunday. As the southern hemisphere is now heading into autumn, the evening may get a little chilly but there is very little threat of rain. And, unlike the semi-finals, there is a reserve day for the final on Monday.

For the two teams involved, holding aloft the trophy on Sunday evening will dominate their thoughts over the next many hours, but even those involved in the cut and thrust of elite sport can see the bigger picture to what will take place in Melbourne.”It was about showing there’s a pathway, there’s female role models out there for young girls to look up to, and really creating and inspiring young people to be involved,” Lanning said. “Not just young people in Australia, but around the world, that cricket is a really powerful sport and platform.”I think it’s been a great tournament so far. There’s been amazing games. There’s really great people involved. It seems like it has sort of fallen into place a little bit, and Sunday is going to be massive. We’re really pleased we get the opportunity to be a part of it. So hopefully there is 90,000 people there. Everything’s been done that could possibly be done, and we’re just really pumped we get to be out in the middle and play in front of everyone.” The Australians have seemingly accepted that the sporting cliché of treating a big match as just another game probably needs to go out of the window. “Definitely not,” Megan Schutt said when asked if would be like a normal game. “It is just another cricket match in a way but at the same time this country needs a bit of joy and to want to set a new world record is a cool thing to be a part of. Hopefully we can play our best cricket but if that doesn’t happen so be it.””I’m excited about the opportunity to be part of a pretty life-changing experience for the global game,” Beth Mooney said. “Cricket’s been a part of the Australian public’s life for a very long time and they have a knack of getting behind us, when there is adversity thrown at us and things like that so it’s really exciting to think the MCG could be full of people, some cheering for us, some cheering for India, but also cheering for the game and wanting to be part of something pretty special.”Delissa Kimmince will be the one surviving member of Australia’s 2009 World Cup side, the last time they staged a home women’s tournament, to take the field if she plays on Sunday – after the injury that ended Ellyse Perry’s tournament – and admitted her mind was drawn to the comparisons. She played two matches in the 2009 event, where Australia did not make the final, but this time against South Africa, she bowled her three overs for just 16 runs and claimed the key wicket of Mignon du Preez.”I was only thinking that today, it’s been nearly 12 years since that World Cup. It wasn’t a great one for me, bad memories all round,” she said. “When I look back on my career, I’m very grateful for these moments and what I’ve been able to achieve, the resilience I’ve had to show – I’ve had injuries, I’ve lost contracts – to come back and play a crucial role tonight it makes it all that more worthwhile and enjoyable.Beth Mooney steers into the off side•Getty Images

“At the end of the day, I’m just grateful to be here. Sunday will be a great opportunity, I have no doubt they’ll be a lot of nerves, but you just have to go out and enjoy those moments – they only come once in a lifetime.”As captain, part of Lanning’s job would be balancing the need to embrace the occasion while also keeping a focus on what happens in the middle. “It will be different, no doubt about that,” she said. “I’ve been to the MCG when there’s 100,000 fans there, and I’ve been in the stands, and the atmosphere is absolutely incredible, and I’ve sort of had goosebumps watching. To think that we’ll be out in the middle experiencing that, that’s going to be really exciting and such a great thing to be a part of.”Even the captains who had their hopes shattered on Thursday – one by rain and another by defeat – were able to acknowledge the larger impact of the tournament.”For girls, it’s an equal billing to the boys which has been outstanding,” Heather Knight said after England were eliminated following a washout against India. “Obviously today is disappointing but it won’t take too much shine off where the sport has gone. And you see if the money’s put into publicising it and putting it out there, that people do want to come watch it.”South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk said, “I know it’s going to be a cracking final. I wish I could be there in front of 90,000 people. I really hope you get the 90,000 people. Women’s cricket deserves it. It’s been there for a long time. It’s now the time for us, and obviously women’s sport, to rise.”

South Africa Under-19s looked on course to take a 2-1 lead against England Under-19s in the seven-match youth ODI series, before rain forced a no-result at Arundel

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011
ScorecardSouth Africa Under-19s looked on course to take a 2-1 lead against England Under-19s in the seven-match youth ODI series, before rain forced a no-result at the Arundel Castle Cricket Club Ground.Choosing to bowl, South Africa restricted the hosts to 198. While several of the England line-up got starts, none were able to build a big innings, the top-score being wicket-keeper Ben Foakes 48. The South Africa bowlers shared the wickets around, left-arm spinner Lesiba Ngoepe producing the best figures – 2 for 34 in a tight spell. South Africa’s openers got the chase off to a spirited start, adding 81 in 71 balls before Sam Wood struck with his first over. The rain came down soon after, with South Africa needing 113 off 37 overs with nine wickets in hand.The fourth game is scheduled for Saturday at the same venue.

A round-up of the action from the last two quarter-finals of the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2011Vidarbha dumped defending champions Tamil Nadu out of the tournament with a four-wicket win in Indore. Shrikant Wagh and Himanshu Joshi restricted TN to 230, taking five wickets between them, after M Vijay (38) and S Anirudha (28) had given TN a solid start, putting on 67. After both fell to Wagh, Joshi dismissed Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik cheaply. S Badrinath too didn’t hang around for long, and it was left to the lower order to take TN past 200, after they had slumped to 164 for 7.C Ganapathy brought TN back in to the game, sending back the Vidarbha openers with 38 on the board. But Ravi Jangid and Joshi steadied the chase in a 53-run stand, and captain Ranjit Paradkar anchored the innings with a patient half-century. But Ganapathy returned to remove Paradkar with Vidarbha still needing 34 from 25 deliveries. Amol Ubarhande, though, was there to take Vidarbha to the target with nine balls to spare, and remained unbeaten on 40.Gujarat stormed into the semi-finals with a 114-run demolition of Bengal at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. Half-centuries from Parthiv Patel, Manprit Juneja and Sunny Patel set up Gujarat’s 263. The Bengal seamers took six wickets between them but none of them went for less than six runs an over. It was left to the spinners to exert some amount of control, and Gujarat did not help themselves with four run-outs.Bengal lost Anustup Majumdar to the second delivery of the chase, and Saurasish Lahiri soon after. Manoj Tiwary also could not capitalise on his start, and was caught behind for 27. Shreevats Goswami (39) and Wriddhiman Saha (30) took Bengal past 100, but the asking rate soon climbed above six. After the duo was dismissed, the lower order crumbled under the pressure, and Bengal lost seven wickets for 35 runs to be bowled out for 149. All the Gujarat bowlers were among the wickets, with Amit Singh finishing with 3 for 25.

Majority of tickets priced under £30 amid concerns over sales at certain venues

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-2020The ECB have announced that the majority of adult tickets for the Hundred will be priced at £30 or less in an attempt to boost attendances, with under-16s tickets available at £5 each and children under five admitted for free.While there is some level of discrepancy depending on venue and timing, the competition’s managing director Sanjay Patel stressed that the ECB had “put families at the heart of our ticket pricing for the Hundred”, with some tickets cheaper for the new tournament than for Vitality Blast games at the same venues.ALSO READ: ECB deny downplaying Blast amid fears for Hundred’s ticket salesDespite many of them voicing concerns about the competition and its perceived implications for their clubs, county members will have first access to tickets in a pre-sale window from January 15-31. That is followed by a priority window for fans who have registered interest in the competition on its website from February 12-28, while general sale begins on April 8.The ECB’s chairman Colin Graves suggested last month that an occupancy rate of 60-65 percent was the minimum standard, and that “if we get above that it will be a success”.And while there are unlikely to be many problems selling out Lord’s or The Oval, games at the Ageas Bowl and Cardiff could prove to be a harder sell.To use Cardiff as an example, Glamorgan’s total attendance in the Vitality Blast last summer was 31,266 across seven home games, giving an average crowd of 4,467 at a 16,000-seater venue. The county stressed that poor weather and clashes with other sporting fixtures in the city had affected their crowds, but with two of Welsh Fire’s home games scheduled for Sunday evenings and another on a Tuesday, it could be equally tough to shift tickets for those games.ESPNcricinfo revealed in October that some grounds fear the decision to stage games on every day of the week will create challenges for ticket sales, with games on Monday and Tuesday evenings expected to be a hard sell. Next year’s T20 Blast, by contrast, sees a majority of fixtures scheduled on Thursday and Friday nights or on weekend afternoons.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tickets for the women’s competition start at £8, with a top early-bird price of £18, while tickets for the men’s tournament range from £10-35 at their initial price. For men’s and women’s finals day, which will be held at Lord’s and Hove, tickets will be available from £30 and £12 respectively.”We can’t wait to welcome cricket fans and those new to the sport to the opening season of the Hundred to see England’s World Cup heroes Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan and Heather Knight play,” Patel said.”We have put families at the heart of our ticket pricing for the Hundred. When compared with summer holiday favourites and other major sporting events, the Hundred offers brilliant entertainment and tremendous value. Buying early will guarantee the best value tickets with compelling prices available across all men’s and women’s matches.”

A number of big-name sponsors are leaving their CA deals but the board sees it as a time to try a new approach

Daniel Brettig26-Feb-2020Domain, the naming-rights partner for Test cricket, is not the only brand to be exiting Cricket Australia’s suite of sponsors. Mastercard and Specsavers are also on their way out, with Bupa to scale down its commitment and so lose its naming rights sponsorship of the national cricket centre in Brisbane and place on the shirts of Australian team support staff.If this sounds like a worrying exodus for the game, it is nothing next to the climate in which CA’s last broadcast rights deal was signed, a matter of weeks after the Newlands scandal. Having been front and centre of that negotiation, CA executive Stephanie Beltrame is now concocting a plan to recast the governing body’s portfolio of partners in order to grow it.Cricket is hardly doing badly: in terms of revenue raised from corporate backers it sits third in Australia behind tennis and the AFL. However, the dwarfing of all other sports revenue by the cash derived from broadcast rights means that the wider commercial realm is due a rethink, and cricket is getting its own from the very person who played a large part in growing that broadcast revenue.As CA’s head of broadcast rights, Beltrame worked assiduously towards the creation of competition in the market for a 2013 deal that included the Big Bash League for the first time and was worth some A$500 million. The next step was bigger, bolder and more lucrative still, the 2018 agreement with Fox and Seven reaping A$1.18 billion for CA. Having returned from maternity leave, Beltrame is now the executive in charge of all commercial concerns, and wants the wider picture to follow the broadcast trend.”I prefer the term partnership than sponsorship because there’s so much more to it than a one way investment,” Beltrame told ESPNcricinfo. “I also want us to be able to form partnerships in other commercial areas, diversify our revenue and seek new opportunities so that we will be able to grow in the same way that we’ve seen growth across our media rights revenue. I have high expectations.”From time to time we’ll have a partner advise us that they’re exiting despite having what they regard as quite a successful result, but we just have to respect that decision. Every partner you want to be treated in the same way when you arrive as when you leave, and exactly the same way an employee should have that – so we don’t have any issues when partners go. We’d prefer they stay obviously, but you’ve got to respect the decision.”Among CA’s other current sponsors, KFC, Toyota and Sanitarium have deals that run until 2021, and its commercial betting partner Bet365’s much-debated contract expires the following year. Of Bet365, Beltrame said: “Ultimately because we still have a number of years left in the agreement, no decision has been taken about our association, whether that’s to status quo, to change, so I think they’re all considerations, but at this point in time we’re still in a current agreement.”Chief among Beltrame’s questions is to investigate, alongside the state associations, whether there is more to be wrung from the BBL, a far bigger proposition than it was at its inception in 2011. The league’s current list of four partners may yet grow.”If we believe a different model is required for BBL then we might look at changing the number of partners that can be associated with it,” Beltrame said. “And then some consideration of how do you grow the pie but still provide meaningful protection and exclusivity to brands. How the BBL fits in with international cricket, how brands can opt to be involved across Australian cricket or be involved in international only or BBL only.”Where the AFL has been able to successfully build sponsorships over a long period of time through its breadth of clubs, matches, length of season and connection to the passions stirred in club members and followers, tennis’ fulcrum is the Australian Open, a truly international event that sets the eyes of the world on Melbourne Park for two highly lucrative weeks. With its strong hold on the summer months, and the extra overseas eyeballs presented by its standing as a far more global game than AFL but somewhat less so than tennis, cricket should sit somewhere in between.”The mix of how [our revenue] made up is very different, we don’t have many partners, we’ve been quite exclusive for a long period of time,” Beltrame said. “I think there’s opportunities where we can create different partnerships at different levels. We can really take advantage of our national and international footprint. India’s touring here, what else can we do, how can we sell directly to India? There’s things we can do because of our remit as a national and international sport.”Some things, of course, are beyond anyone’s control, like the extreme weather that blighted this summer’s BBL almost as much as all previous events combined, or a slackening Australian economy after more than 25 years of growth. Whatever lies ahead, Beltrame wants CA to be able to adapt: “It just really starts from my perspective from reviewing what we’re currently doing – looking under the hood.”

Australia rounded off their international summer in style with a commanding 57-run victory at Perth

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at the WACA06-Feb-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAdam Voges was the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 80•Getty Images

Australia rounded off their international summer in style with a commanding 57-run victory in Perth. It wasn’t a high-quality match, with the exception of the batting from Adam Voges and David Hussey, as a long season drew to a close with two patched-up sides on show. However, Australia’s depth came to the fore again as Voges hit a career-best 80 before England’s mentally-finished top order was blown away to end hopes of a face-saving win.Nothing will compensate for the crushing loss in the Ashes series, but Australia’s resurgent one-day form has suggested a fourth consecutive World Cup title isn’t out of reach, especially if key players return from injury. Even taking into account England’s own injury problems and declining form, the home side’s performances have boded well in the absence of Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Nathan Hauritz – all key figures in the one-day side.During the Test matches, Australia’s reserves did not appear up to international standard, but the team has not retained its No.1 one-day ranking by luck. Their pace attack is rapid, if wayward at times – they matched England’s wide tally of 19 – while the lack of a matchwinning spinner isn’t so harshly felt. Meanwhile, the batting is packed with stroke-makers.Two were on show here after the top order wobbled to 4 for 102 before Hussey and Voges added 95 in 13 overs. This could be a one-off opportunity for Voges but if an injury replacement is needed for the World Cup, and Shaun Marsh doesn’t recover, he might have put his name ahead of Callum Ferguson, who edged James Anderson to slip for 15.Once Australia had posted a competitive total it was always unlikely that the visitors would be able to dig deep enough to make it a contest with the prospect of their flight home tomorrow evening. Mentally, a number of the players have long since been in those aircraft seats.Andrew Strauss has plenty of reasons to be feeling weary after arriving in Australia on October 29 and it was a tired shot that ended his series when he was very late against Shaun Tait. The bat had barely come down when the ball knocked back the off stump. Steve Davies, back opening after the reshuffle caused by Eoin Morgan’s injury, was unconvincing in his short stay until flapping at Doug Bollinger to complete an unhappy few weeks.Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen briefly consolidated but there was never any great sense of permanency even from the in-form Trott. He was drawn into a flat-footed drive against Johnson which sent a thick edge to first slip, then Pietersen’s uncertain stay ended with a drive to backward point. Even taking into account the looseness of England’s batting this was the good Mitchell Johnson and he added a third when Ian Bell carved down to third man.At 5 for 64 the game was over. Matt Prior played some handsome drives before giving Jason Krejza his maiden one-day wicket to end another unfulfilled innings and Michael Yardy battled hard to reduce the margin of defeat with his highest ODI score. But it had ceased to matter in the wider context.England’s makeshift bowling attack had done a decent job through the first half of the innings as the quicks started well and Yardy picked up two, but in a familiar pattern the work of the front line bowlers was squandered. Hussey and Voges took advantage with some positive strokeplay as they dispatched the loose deliveries on offer. Hussey had been given a life on 4 when Luke Wright dropped a return chance that should have been held and reached his fifty from 44 balls, which included a pulled six off Yardy.With his boundary-clearing ability and a Powerplay to come he could have cut loose during the final 10 overs, but was squared up by Liam Plunkett and got a leading edge to backward point. Plunkett ended with 2 for 49, which was an impressive effort considering that he only arrived in the country three days ago following a 40-hour journey from the Caribbean.Voges, though, remained to reach fifty off 45 deliveries, regularly showing his strength square of the wicket and rapid running. Although the boundaries dried up he placed the ball well to ensure 34 came off the last three overs, but Australia were helped by England’s waywardness. That was symptomatic of a team not fully focussed and the batting effort was further evidence that minds were elsewhere. If they want to perform at the World Cup there isn’t much time to refocus, but Australia can leave for the subcontinent this week in good spirits.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been banned for 10, 7 and 5 years respectively after an ICC tribunal found them guilty of spot-fixing

Osman Samiuddin in Doha05-Feb-2011Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been banned for 10, 7 and 5 years respectively after an ICC tribunal found them guilty of spot-fixing stemming from the Lord’s Test against England last year. The sanctions against Butt and Asif have five and two years suspended, which means that the trio cannot play any official, sanctioned cricket, international or domestic, for a minimum of five years, until September 2015.The suspended sentences on Butt and Asif have been made conditional on their making no further breaches of the code and participating in an anti-corruption education programme, under the auspices of the PCB.Butt, who was captain during the series in England, received the maximum sentence but one charge against him – of batting out a maiden over during the Oval Test – was dismissed. However, he was found to have not disclosed an approach by Majeed that he should bat the maiden over. The other charges that were upheld relate to the subsequent Lord’s Test, where Amir and Asif were found to have bowled deliberate no-balls and Butt was penalized for being party to that. Amir will appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration Sports, but the other two players have not yet said whether they will.The announcement on Saturday evening followed a day of deliberations in Doha between the three-man tribunal – comprising the head Michael Beloff QC, Sharad Rao and Justice Albie Sachs – the players and their legal teams and the ICC’s lawyers. The three players began the day requesting the tribunal for a deferral of any verdict, in light of the statement on Friday by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that the players might also face criminal charges relating to the Lord’s Test as the result of a separate investigation carried out by British police. The players, who continued to maintain their innocence, argued that a judgment today by the tribunal could be prejudicial to any criminal trial in the UK, but the request was rejected.The length of the sentences may be considered surprising to the extent that at least one life ban had been predicted beforehand. Now, in theory, the 26-year-old Butt could return after five years if he complies with the conditions of the verdict. Amir, who will only turn 19 in April, could also conceivably harbour hopes of a return, though in practical terms a five-year gap from any competitive cricket makes the prospect of a return that much more difficult. The situation is most bleak for Asif, who will be 33 by the time the minimum five years are up.It must also be noted that not until the full judgment is released will the picture become fully clear, especially with regards to the nature of the rehabilitation programme they must undertake and the role the PCB will have in that. The tribunal asked the ICC to publish the full judgment as soon as possible and it is expected to happen tomorrow. The question, however, of whether or not the full judgment may be deemed prejudicial to any criminal proceedings in the UK still looms.A member of the ICC legal team told ESPNcricinfo that it is “very happy with the fact that the players were convicted.” But given that the governing body was pushing for maximum sanctions, there will be at least a tinge of disappointment within the governing body.The tribunal also recommended that the ICC make “certain changes to the code with a view to providing flexibility in relation to minimum sentences in exceptional circumstances.” The lawyers of Butt and Amir later said that the tribunal would’ve given lower punishments had their hands not “been tied” to the code’s range of sanctions., the tabloid that broke the spot-fixing story this summer, released a statement of its own, saying that “it is now clear to everyone in the game that corruption will not be tolerated,” and added that it will continue to assist the police in any way it can.A number of Pakistani fans waited outside the Qatar Financial Centre, some for the entire nine-hour duration of the proceedings, and gave vociferous support to the players when they eventually came out. Amir, in fact, was mobbed and had to return inside the building briefly.

Erik ten Hag is one of several names to attract the interest of Tottenham Hotspur since the sacking of Jose Mourinho earlier this week…

What’s the word?

That’s according to reliable football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold, who claimed that Spurs are targeting a ‘progressive, attack-minded’ coach who favours ‘possession-based football’ and ‘fits into the club’s culture.’

Ten Hag has interested the north Londoners after his success of progressing a number of young stars, whilst also seeing Ajax mount a solid challenge in Europe. The 51-year-old is on the verge of winning back the Eredivisie title after no team was awarded the trophy last season.

Shades of Guardiola

If Levy and the Tottenham hierarchy want to go back to their roots, then finding someone in a similar vein to Mauricio Pochettino makes a ton of sense, especially given the drab and negative football on offer under Mourinho.

It has been claimed that the squad were becoming bored and untested by his training sessions, whilst one source told The Athletic that he had “sucked the culture out of the club.”

Back in January, several of the Hotspur faithful brandished him a “dinosaur” and “washed-up,” so it’s hardly a surprise that attacking football is a key attribute to have in their hunt for a new manager.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-manager-transfer-news-and-rumours” title=”Read this week’s latest Spurs manager news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Ten Hag, who favours an expansive but flexible 4-3-3, has racked up an impressive 72.8% win rate in Amsterdam since taking charge in December 2017. This includes their famous run into the Champions League semi-finals, when Lucas Moura’s come-from-behind hat-trick sealed a historic win for Spurs over them just two years ago.

The Dutch manager is hugely reminiscent of Pep Guardiola and his philosophy, which should be expected given the impact Johan Cruyff has had on football.

Frankie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek, Hakim Ziyech are just four names to have emerged from Ajax’s academy system to make the club several millions in profit (over £225m, to be a little more precise), all because of how they developed under Ten Hag.

He learned a lot under the current Manchester City boss when the pair were at Barcelona, too, only further reinforcing that he could well be the ‘next Guardiola’.

Spurs themselves have witnessed the high-tempo, fast-paced brand of football offered by both City and Ajax, so there can’t be too many better candidates out there to meet Levy’s desires than ten Hag.

Appointing the 51-year-old could be exactly what’s needed to revive the club, both on the pitch and in the stands.

AND in other news, Levy could fix major Spurs problem in move for talent-spotting “professor”…

Glasgow Rangers fans are delighted after the club confirmed they will play Arsenal in a pre-season friendly before the start of next term.

The Gers are already planning ahead for the next campaign, and they have chosen to face the Gunners in a match that will help commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Ibrox outfit. The game will be played at the home of the 55-time Scottish champions on July 17th.

In the past few days, it seems the two clubs have built up somewhat of a rapport. Arsenal faced Slavia Prague in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday – the Gers were defeated by the Czechia champions in the previous stage. Following Ondrej Kudela’s 10-game ban for racially abusing Glen Kamara, Slavia refused to take a knee for the Black Lives Matter movement before the game – that lead to Alexandre Lacazette doing so right in front of them (The Guardian).

The Gunners eventually won 4-0, with the France international on the scoresheet.

As such, the Gers supporters were delighted to be facing the Premier League side. The news was shared on the Gers’ official Twitter account, and the fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Rangers had to say about the news below

“Marvellous. Wish I could be there, what a party that’ll be”

Credit: @newtowngooner

“Tremendous a club who has played a part in our history and a proper football club with great fans”

Credit: @Stephen54840229

“That’s insane. I was just thinking today how great it would be to play Arsenal in a friendly after last night. Wow.”

Credit: @Ricky9Forbes

“Excellent choice given the history between both Clubs.”

Credit: @airman614

“Things you love to see Friendship as strong as ever, especially after Prague where spanked last night”

Credit: @matthewlee67

“Lovely stuff”

Credit: @TremendoHendo72

In other news, Kevin Phillips believes this man will have to take a pay-cut to stay at Rangers beyond this season.

Swansea City have been linked with Rochdale striker Stephen Humphrys recently and if he were to make the move to the Liberty Stadium this summer, he could prove to be the ideal long-term replacement for Andre Ayew.

According to The 72, the Swans have joined the race to sign the 23-year-old striker, who has impressed for the Dale this season despite their woes in League One.

However, the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Nottingham Forest and Preston North End have also been linked with a move for the former Southend United man, so he will certainly be in demand this summer.

Rochdale signed the powerful striker from Southend in the summer in the hope that his goals could help them stave off relegation to League Two following a summer that saw a number of first-team regulars depart due to the financial impact of the current viral outbreak.

Unfortunately, the young striker has endured long spells out injured which has contributed to the Dale needing a huge turnaround in their final few league fixtures if they want to stay up, although when Humphrys has been fit, he has produced some superb displays.

In 25 league appearances this season, the English striker has contributed 10 goals and three assists, averaging an excellent 7.09 rating, which ranks him as Dale’s second-best performer so far this season.

WhoScored suggests that Humphrys’ best attributes include his ability to dribble with the ball as well as holding it up, which suggests that he could play in a similar role to Ayew at Swansea, with the Ghanaian international often featuring as a target man who is also expected to link up with the midfield.

The 31-year-old has been Swansea’s best performer of the current squad in the league so far this season with 15 goals in 41 appearances, averaging a solid 7.16 rating.

However, his current contract is set to expire at the end of the season, so Swansea may have to look for a replacement if he doesn’t commit to a new deal.

Given that Humphrys is currently valued at just £225k by Transfermarkt and will most likely be available if Rochdale go down this season, he could be an affordable replacement for the former West Ham man in Cooper’s side.

[freshpress-quiz id=“532484″]

Certainly, the former Fulham youngster works hard and offers an all-round option up front and Cooper would surely love to have a player of his ilk in his Swansea side next season, so Julian Winter should do all he can to bring Humphrys to the Liberty ahead of next season.

And, in other news… Swansea’s season-defining injury to £3.6m-rated “leader” will leave Cooper worried