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Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie expressed his concerns over his old club’s struggle to win matches without Jack Grealish, in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.

Grealish has been a revelation at the Midlands club this season, managing to score six goals and provide 10 assists for Dean Smith’s side. The 25-year-old, however, has been absent of late due to injury, coinciding with the team’s drop in form.

Villa have won just once in their last five games, a 1-0 victory against Leeds United, and Hendrie is worried about the fall off he has seen in Grealish’s absence.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, Hendrie said:

“When he’s not in that team, it’s so evident. I speak to a lot of fans on Twitter and Instagram and they’re saying ‘oh, well Matty Cash’s not involved’ and I said ‘Matty Cash doesn’t create goals, he doesn’t score goals’.

“I totally agree Matty Cash’s a very good player, but it’s the things that Jack does that maybe some fans don’t understand. If he’s quiet in games, it might be because he’s creating space for other players to go and, you know, generate that sort of area. So he’s just such a clever player and without him at this current moment, it just stands out a million miles.”

Ollie Watkins, Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi are just a few other attacking options Smith has at his disposal, with Watkins in particular having really shown his quality this season.

The English striker has managed to reach double figures in his debut Premier League campaign following his big-money move from Brentford in the last summer transfer window. Furthermore, when looking at the overall quality that the Villans have in attack, perhaps Smith should be getting a bit more out of a Grealish-less XI.

Whatever the case, 9th in the table and in the conversation for European football, the Midlands club are still having a very good campaign.

According to recent reports, Glasgow Rangers are plotting a deal for a top-class centre-forward this summer, should Alfredo Morelos leave Ibrox.

The report by Football Insider claims that Rangers sources have revealed that the club’s recruitment team are assessing a number of potential targets in the upcoming transfer window, and are “laying the groundwork” for a “blockbuster” signing in anticipation of Morelos’ potential departure this summer.

One target mentioned is Peterborough United centre-forward, Jonson Clarke-Harris, who has scored a quite remarkable 25 goals, as well as providing three assists, over his 37 League One appearances so far this season, with the 26-year-old averaging a highly impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.29 – with Darren Ferguson dubbing the Posh hitman an “outstanding” player.

Last weekend, Football Insider reported that Rangers had sent scouts to watch the £225k-rated striker in Peterborough’s recent clash with Accrington Stanley, a game in which Clarke-Harris undoubtedly impressed, bagging a hat-trick in a 7-0 win.

Transfer Tavern Take

Considering the fact that Rangers were heavily linked with a move for the then-Peterborough striker, Ivan Toney, last summer, only for the 25-year-old to eventually join Brentford, where he has scored 28 goals and provided nine assists over 36 Championship appearances so far this season, it would appear as if there is a very clear lesson for Rangers to learn from their failed attempts to lure Toney.

Unless the club want to miss out on another diamond in the rough, it would appear highly advisable that Rangers’ transfer team should be doing all they can to convince Clarke-Harris of a move to Ibrox, which could lead the 26-year-old becoming the “blockbuster” signing Gers are looking for this summer.

In other news: this ‘superb’ £6.2k-p/w star lifted the lid on talks with the Rangers hierarchy – find out more here!

Charlton Athletic have a pretty good record when it comes to developing young talent.

Most recently, Alfie Doughty swapped The Valley for Championship outfit Stoke City, whilst the likes of Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Gomez have gone on to become Premier League regulars.

Addicks boss Nigel Adkins may not know which division his side will be competing in next season, with there still plenty of matches left to seal a League One playoff spot but it will be an important summer in the transfer window either way.

And he could well save owner Thomas Sandgaard a lot of money if he looks to continue that promising academy trend.

One player who could certainly make the full step up to the first-team next season is 18-year-old defender Charlie Barker, who has already enjoyed a little taste at senior level.

The right-back, who can also play centrally, has made nine appearances this season. He started Chalton’s opening three league games but has been restricted to appearances in the domestic cups, where Lee Bowyer looked to rotate his side.

A goal against Swindon Town and a clean sheet against Crewe Alexandra isn’t the worst way to kickstart your career in southeast London.

Speaking about his debut, Bowyer heaped praise on Barker, he told the official website:

“As a positive, I thought young Barker was outstanding, outstanding. He didn’t put a foot wrong all night, in possession and out of possession. He defended properly when crosses came in, goal kicks, competing and fighting. I would say he was the biggest positive.”

Barker has seen meteoric progress in recent years, having been without a club just four seasons ago but the Addicks took a punt on him and academy chief Steve Avory has transformed him into a potential first-team star.

“Charlie came into the club quite late. He’s a good learner, he genuinely, I feel, loves the game and loves defending,” explained Avory. “He’s such a strong-willed competitor and on the whole, I feel he did then, and does now, dominate the one-v-one battles he comes up against on the pitch.”

Adkins has a few options at right-back but both are coming towards the end of their careers in Chris Gunter, 32, and Adam Matthews, 29. Of course, the pair could easily play for another three or four years but it’s not as if their form has been good enough to warrant such an opportunity.

Both are amongst Charlton’s poorest performers, as per WhoScored ratings, neither has managed above a 6.52.

Barker could well be a bargain solution this summer, should Adkins also see his huge potential.

AND in other news, Gallen must ruthlessly axe “outstanding” Addicks man this summer, he’s not good enough…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Dean Windass said that he doesn’t believe Paul Lambert will be the next Celtic manager.

Lambert is currently without a job following his dismissal from Ipswich last Sunday, but given his previous affiliations with the Hoops, it doesn’t come as a surprise to see him being mentioned as a potential replacement for Neil Lennon.

The former Scotland international spent eight years at Celtic Park, winning no fewer than eight major honours, including a domestic treble during a highly-successful period for the club.

Less than 24 hours after leaving Ipswich, the 51-year-old was heavily linked with a move back to the Scottish champions, but Windass doesn’t see a move materialising.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“I can’t see Lambert getting it. I played against Paul at Celtic and he’s a great footballer in himself and has obviously gone on to be a very good manager. But even after losing his job at Ipswich I can’t see that appointment. He wouldn’t have been on my list, even if he would have still been manager at Ipswich.

“Because Steven Gerrard is at Rangers, maybe a John Terry, Frank Lampard or someone like that.

“I think that they have got time because Rangers are going to win the league. It’s not about rushing to get a manager, they’re not going to catch Rangers, so they can take their time a little bit and try winning the league next year.”

Following a difficult few campaigns with Ipswich, which came soon after a miserable period as Stoke manager, the Celtic job might be a case of wrong place, wrong time for Lambert.

After a torrid start to the New Year for Leeds, all Marcelo Bielsa was looking for over the past week and a half was some positive news.

A run of three straight defeats without a goal being scored sets the scene for Leeds at the moment but fortunately, they were handed a monumental boost to their chances of beating Newcastle on Monday.

In Bielsa’s pre-match press conference ahead of the clash, he confirmed that Leeds would have goalkeeper Illan Meslier back.

The news was confirmed by Adam Pope on Twitter who revealed the Leeds head coach told reporters that Meslier “has resolved his health issues.”

The French stopper hasn’t played for Leeds since the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham in their opening game of 2021.

Though, it will be a huge relief to have him back in the side this evening. That’s because they’ve been relying on the calamitous Kiko Casilla.

The Spaniard came into the team to play Crawley in the FA Cup a fortnight ago but he was absolutely disastrous between the sticks.

Casilla let Crawley’s first goal through his arms and then had an even bigger howler for the second. The shot was straight at the ‘keeper but it somehow squirmed underneath him and rolled past him into the net.

It was an error-stricken performance that cost Leeds their place in the FA Cup but given how his career at Elland Road has played out, it was hardly a surprise to see him full of mistakes.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-leeds-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Leeds news!”]

The Whites’ defence always looks someway short of confidence when Casilla plays so having Meslier to come back will be a huge bonus.

He has been excellent for Leeds this term and had a superb game against Burnley a few weeks ago. Meslier saved four attempts at goal and made a mighty five punches – the vast majority of which came late in the game when his team were under pressure.

The 20-year-old is one of the best young goalkeepers in the country and has made the sixth most saves of anyone in the Premier League this season.

It’s pretty evident why this change in the Leeds team will be game-changing for Bielsa. Meslier is far more assured than Casilla.

AND in other news, Leeds could end four-year-long problem with swoop for £25k-p/w beast…

Leeds must turn down any approach from Juventus that would see Douglas Costa head to Elland Road, and Rodrigo move in the opposite direction.

What’s the story?

After arriving last summer from Spanish giants Valencia, it’s fair to say Rodrigo hasn’t exactly set the world alight for Marcelo Bielsa’s side – he’s managed just three goals in 18 Premier League games in his debut campaign in English football.

Now, Italian publication CalcioMercato claim that Juventus are already planning on ways to strengthen ahead of next season, and that Costa, who is currently on loan at Bayern Munich, is one player they will look to move on.

The report adds that the Bianconeri have got their sights set on one of their old transfer targets in Rodrigo, and that an exchange could be on the cards between the Spaniard and Costa.

Bielsa won’t be happy

While Rodrigo hasn’t hit the ground running at Elland Road, it would be a foolish mistake from Victor Orta to even contemplate accepting a potential swap involving their summer signing.

There have been plenty of names in recent history who have taken time to adjust to English football, and given the kind of Champions League and international experience Rodrigo has had with the likes of Valencia and Spain, there is certainly a quality player there for Leeds to really see the best from eventually.

Speaking after his impressive performance against Arsenal earlier this season, former Leeds man Noel Whelan said: “He’s always looking for it, he’s never ever standing still, he’s always on the move and that’s what I like about him. He can’t be marked, he’s always looking for a space – very much the next Pablo Hernandez.

“He’s always brave and wants the ball in tight situations. We saw how dangerous he was when he came on. He is a player that looks like he can make things happen. He’s very intelligent, he brings other people into play and makes space for them.”

If Leeds were to almost give up on the £100k-per-week earning star, and cut their losses on him, it would surely have Bielsa fuming.

The Whites boss will be keen to work with Rodrigo for much longer than just one season, and Orta taking the decision to get rid after all the time the manager has spent in trying to get him attuned to his methods and Leeds’ style of play would not go down well.

In a recent interview with Football FanCast, former Southampton striker Kevin Phillips has claimed that he expects Danny Ings to leave the Saints this summer.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, when asked if he could see the 28-year-old departing, he said:

“Yes I can, as much as Southampton fans won’t thank me for it. I think he even came out at one point and said he wants to play Champions League football, so that suggests to me he would like to move on.”

“So I possibly could see him moving on. It’s just a case of, he is a little bit injury prone. We have seen what he can do, I’m not doubting that. I think he’s a fantastic striker, scores great goals, good movement, but he is a little bit injury prone, so I think ‘who would take him who would finish in the Champions League spots?’.

“But I do think that he’ll probably be angling for a move come the summer.”

Whilst Phillips’ claim does seem to be a fair one, with the former Liverpool man having reportedly expressed an interest in playing European football again in the near future, recent injury setbacks for the England international might just put some clubs off signing him this summer.

The striker enjoyed an injury-free campaign last season and scored a superb 22 goals in 38 Premier League appearances and looked set to repeat that feat with a superb start to the 2020/21 campaign.

However, he has struggled with minor injury problems since the New Year, which has, unsurprisingly, coincided with Southampton’s awful run of form, and he has just three goals in 12 appearances in 2021.

He suffered another setback in the 2-0 win against Sheffield United recently, which will keep him sidelined for another couple of weeks, and you feel that, given his injury history, top four clubs may well feel that it is too big a risk to bring him in for the sort of money that Southampton would likely demand this summer.

His last big move to Liverpool, unfortunately, didn’t go to plan because of significant injury problems and after his recent Issues, despite being minor in comparison to those he suffered at Anfield, might just prove to be a key factor in whether or not a club playing in Europe comes knocking during the summer transfer window, which might just work in Southampton’s favour.

However, all signs suggest that Phillips is right and that Ings will push for a move this summer, which won’t go down well with Saints fans. Whether he gets his move, or not, remains to be seen.

And, in other news… Semmens must avoid VVD repeat with £13.5m-rated “role model” Hasenhuttl loves

Liverpool were struggling to break down Aston Villa’s young defence on Friday night before Jurgen Klopp opted to introduce Xherdan Shaqiri just after the hour mark.

The Reds were drawing at half-time and had just re-taken the lead through Georginio Wijnaldum when the Swiss international was brought on and he quickly emphasised his class, registering two assists in less than five minutes.

First, he clipped a cross into the box which was met by Sadio Mane, and the former Southampton man’s looping header was enough to beat young Akos Onodi in the Villa goal.

Shaqiri was the provider once again just two minutes later as after being found by an incisive Thiago pass, he found Mohamed Salah and the Egyptian’s shot on the turn made it 4-1.

Therefore, whilst Thiago might pick up a lot of the plaudits after he helped the Reds turn the game around from the bench, Shaqiri demonstrated that he can be a really important player in Klopp’s squad this season.

As per SofaScore, the former Bayern Munich man picked up a 7.8 rating for his display, with only Mane, Salah and James Milner rated higher.

During his time on the pitch, Shaqiri, who earns £80k per week at Liverpool, would have 30 touches of the ball, completing 19/23 passes, which resulted in a solid pass accuracy rate of 83%.

Perhaps most impressively, the winger would contribute three key passes during his brief time on the pitch, which proves how effective he can be when trying to break down an opposition defence.

The Swiss international was widely expected to leave Liverpool during the summer transfer window ahead of this season and the arrival of Diogo Jota has meant that his playing time has been limited even further, as he has managed just two starts in all competitions, and just four appearances from the bench in the Premier League.

However, his performance against Villa, despite the nature of the opposition, proves that Shaqiri still has a role to play in this Liverpool side, and he can help the Reds overcome their recent woes in front of goal.

And, in other news, Imagine him and Fabinho: Edwards must seal bargain swoop for Champions League defender…

Phil Parkinson must avoid the potential of making a “radical” decision over his Sunderland attack, having grown alarmed at the Black Cats’ low ratio of shots on target in League One this term.

What’s the word?

Parkinson has challenged his Sunderland offence to step up and make their shots count, with the North East giants growing prone to wasting their chances in front of the net this season.

The Black Cats boss has addressed his side’s unwanted record ahead of facing Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, looking to avoid a third defeat of the campaign following last weekend’s 2-1 humbling at home to MK Dons.

The result left Sunderland outside of the Play-Off positions on goal difference to promotion rivals Portsmouth, but would have sat inside the top-two had they not struck five of their 13 efforts off target and seen three blocked against Russell Martin’s side.

Parkinson is pleased with the way Sunderland are attacking games to create a strong volume of chances, yet is growing conscious that they cannot persist in the same manner with top-scorer Charlie Wyke (4) the only striker to have scored with Danny Graham, Aiden O’Brien and Will Grigg all yet to get off the mark.

“It’s important that we don’t make radical changes for the sake of it, but the key part of our play that hasn’t hit the heights where it needs to be is the percentage of shots on target,” said Parkinson, via quotes by the Chronicle.

“To get to where we want to be, we know that has to improve and we have put a challenge to the lads this week in terms of telling them what we need to do and what we are going to do on the training ground to improve it.

“We went through all the stats with the lads this week, and in most of the categories you need to be at the top, we were there – shots against, clean sheets, crosses in the box, quality [of the] crosses, chances created, expected goals.

“But the one category that we fall short in is the percentage of our shots that are on target, and we rank 17th in that. Expected goals is not the most important thing, but it is still important because it tells you the quality of the chances you are creating, and we are at the top of the rankings in League One by that measure.”

Must avoid “radical” decision

While Parkinson is hoping he can avoid making any radical changes to his system, the Sunderland boss should be glad to see the Black Cats are ranking highly for expected goals despite their wayward shooting as it proves that the Stadium of Light natives are creating the right sort of chances compared to their rivals.

What Parkinson needs is to see his squad take those chances, with O’Brien at fault for missing the highest number of big chances (4) in League One by a Sunderland player this term, ahead of Graham (3), Wyke (2) and a group of five players all on one, per SofaScore.

Seeing Wyke (10), Josh Scowen (10), Chris Maguire (9) and O’Brien (8) direct fewer chances off target will also come as a great deal of relief, as Wyke is the only Black Cats player to have directed double-figure efforts on target (10) ahead of Lyndon Gooch (6) and Max Power (5) thus far.

If Sunderland can keep creating the same volume of chances they are currently averaging – 14.4 per game, the second-most behind Portsmouth (14.7) – then Parkinson will be able to avoid any radical decisions, providing they better their mere 4.3 efforts on target a game – the ninth-best record and less than relegation-threatened Oxford (4.4), per WhoScored.

AND in other news, Stewart Donald can deliver Sunderland fans a parting gift by retaining a sought-after teen sensation.

West Brom picked up a hard-earned point at Manchester City on Tuesday evening, largely down to the heroics of Sam Johnstone between the sticks as he pulled off numerous point-blank saves to deny the home side at the death.

The Baggies remain second-from-bottom but it’s certainly a point gained rather than any lost.

Ilkay Gundogan finished off a fine City move with a first-time strike on the half-hour mark before Semi Ajayi’s volley on the turn deflected in off Ruben Dias just two minutes from the break.

The Nigerian colossus along with the Albion shot-stopper received most of the plaudits from commentators and press alike, but there was another visiting star that deserves to be in the equation too.

Grady Diangana was somewhat a sacrificial lamb for Slaven Bilic in Manchester – instead of being his usual dynamic bundle of energy self in attack, he was astute defensively and helped nullify the threat of City on the wings.

Per SofaScore, the 22-year-old won ten of 17 duels and also made four tackles (more than any player on the pitch), three interceptions, one clearance and one block.

Valued at £9m by CIES, Diangana still caused some trouble upfront, pulling off three of four dribbles as well as recording 38 touches, the second-most of any Albion player.

BirminghamLive graded the former West Ham enigma a seven out of ten, and claimed:

“After a slow start, during which time City exploited the wings because of the lack of cover, Diangana grew into the game.

He did lose Sterling for the goal, but after a word from Bilic, he attended to those duties more diligently.

On the ball, he was better than he has been – he took the game to City with his dribbling, quick feet and positive passing.”

After being snubbed from the starting XI against Newcastle last time out, Diangana truly bounced back with an encouraging display that should see his place cemented back in the side for the foreseeable.

Forget Johnstone and Ajayi, the tricky speed demon deserves plenty of praise too.

AND in other news, Dowling dropped West Brom clanger over 32-cap speed demon with “exceptional qualities”…