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Rangers slipped six points behind their arch-rivals at the top of the Premiership on Sunday as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men lost 2-1 at Ibrox.

The Gers failed to make the most of their early advantage as they allowed the away side to come back from 1-0 down.

Aaron Ramsey had put Rangers in front early on with a smart finish at the front post, but goals from Tom Rogic and Cameron Carter-Vickers ensured that the three points went to the Hoops.

They are now six points and a significant goal difference gap below Celtic and their chances of sealing the trophy for a second successive year appear slim at best.

One player who let van Bronckhorst down badly and is, subsequently, costing the side the title is centre-forward Kemar Roofe.

The striker put in a poor display in the Old Firm clash and cost his team for the second time in this fixture since the Dutch head coach arrived.

On the ball, he offered very little. As per SofaScore, he had fewer touches (26) than Allan McGregor (32) as the striker completed nine passes. He managed three efforts on goal and all of them were off target, with one of them being a big miss as he fired a volley over from eight yards after an excellent cross from Connor Goldson.

This shows that he struggled to impose himself on the game as Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt dominated him throughout. He was unable to showcase his quality in possession and that played a major role in the result as he did not make the most of the service he was provided with.

Against the ball, he was a lightweight. As per SofaScore, he lost a whopping 70% (7/10) of his individual duels as he was dominated by the Celtic centre-backs.

This was not a one-off for the attacker as he also had a shocker in the 3-0 defeat to the Hoops back in January. As per SofaScore, he lost 70% of his duels in that game as well, whilst failing to register any shots or key passes.

He has only started two Premiership games under van Bronckhorst and both of them have been huge games at the top of the table, with Roofe’s lack of quality at the top end of the pitch costing them both times. If you turn both of those defeats into wins then the Gers would be six points clear, themselves, and that is why the flop’s dismal showings have cost the head coach the title.

AND in other news, GvB can save Rangers millions with “brave” 48-goal teen who’s “clinical and calm”…

Pundit Paddy Kenny has been reacting to an update regarding Newcastle United forward Allan Saint-Maximin, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Summer exit?

Saint-Maximin has been a regular for the Magpies this season, making 30 appearances in all competitions.

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The 25-year-old has been deployed as a left-winger under Eddie Howe and has contributed to eight Premier League goals.

However, according to The Daily Mail, his days at St. James’ Park could be numbered. They believe that Newcastle are ready to sell the French forward over the coming months and would accept a bid in the region of £50m.

The Latest: Kenny reacts

Talking to FI following the update on Saint-Maximin, Kenny labelled £50m as ‘crazy money’ and admitted he’d be ‘surprised’ if the Magpies didn’t accept an offer in that region, should one arrive.

“£50million, that’s crazy money.

“For a man who has scored five goals this season? For an attacking player, it’s not good numbers.

“I know Newcastle don’t need to £50million but if that offer was on the table, they would take it.

“You can invest that in a player who will provide more goals and assists.

“I would be surprised if Newcastle didn’t accept an offer like that.

“There are quality players out there who you could get for £50million who will get you more goals than that.

“I know he’s good to watch but you need results in this business and that is a lot of money to turn down.”

The Verdict: Keep?

A £50m move away would make him Newcastle’s most expensive departure of all time, surpassing the £36.9m fee Liverpool paid for Andy Carroll.

However, Saint-Maximin appears to be a key player for the Magpies, with Howe admitting in the week that he has a ‘great relationship’ with the attacker, adding that he ‘has a long-term future at the club’.

The 25-year-old appears to be at the peak of his powers with a career-high Transfermarkt valuation of £28.8m, so the best of Saint-Maximin could yet be to come, possibly making him a key player to build a team around in an attacking sense.

In other news: ‘At the moment’ – Transfer insider says NUFC ace will only be a ‘rotation’ player next season. 

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Tottenham Hotspur face a tough challenge on Saturday, as they travel to Turf Moor to take on Burnley.

Sean Dyche’s side have been in fine form recently and are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League outings. Former Liverpool defender and BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson believes that the Clarets will extend their run this weekend, despite being up against Mauricio Pochettino’s third-placed outfit.

What he said

In his regular predictions column for the BBC, Lawrenson has predicted a 1-1 draw between these two sides on Saturday. Speaking of Burnley’s much improved recent form, Lawrenson says that “a big improvement in the Clarets’ defence has played a big part in that and I don’t think they will give much away on Saturday either.”

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Whilst a draw away to Burnley, where Dyche’s side can be notoriously tough to beat, isn’t a terrible result in itself, it would be disastrous for Tottenham’s title hopes.

A chance to make history

The north London club are currently outsiders for the Premier League title. If Liverpool were to be beaten by the in-form Manchester United on Sunday – which is eminently possible – then three points would take Spurs to within just two of top spot.

At that stage, Pochettino’s side would have to be considered very much in the race. A first Premier League title triumph would be a historic moment for the club, and this season offers them a great opportunity to really push for that dream.

However, failure to win at Turf Moor would likely extinguish their chances altogether, potentially leaving them eight points off the top if Liverpool beat their bitter rivals.

If they really want to do something incredible this year then they cannot afford to slip up on Saturday.

After impressing Ronny Deila on a week-long trial at Celtic back in January of 2016, the Norwegian manager’s decision to recommend that the Bhoys offer Kristoffer Ajer a long-term deal at Parkhead proved to be something of a masterstroke by the 46-year-old

Indeed, after the Hoops paid IK Start £540k for the centre-back’s services the following summer, the 17-year-old did not take long to establish himself as a first-team regular at Celtic Park, making 50 games in 2019/20.

However, it was undoubtedly over his 35 Premiership outings in 2020/21 that the £15.3m-rated defender well and truly cemented his place as one of the best centre-backs in Scotland, helping his side keep 17 clean sheets, scoring two goals and registering three assists, as well as making an average of 1.5 interceptions, 1.2 tackles, 3.3 clearances, 64.8 passes and winning 5.7 duels per game.

These returns saw the Norway international who Neil Lennon dubbed both “outstanding” and “faultless” earn a quite remarkable seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.15, ranking him as Celtic’s seventh-best player in the top flight of Scottish football last time out.

As such, it was perhaps no surprise that a number of Premier League teams were reported to be interested in the 23-year-old – who Alex McLeish once dubbed Celtic’s “Roy of the Rovers” – last summer, before the Scandinavian sensation went on to seal a £14.13m move to Brentford – being awarded a five-year deal on a reported £35k-per-week.

And, while losing a player as talented as Ajer will have undoubtedly come as a gutting blow to Ange Postecoglou, when considering the fact that the Hoops sold the defender for 2517% more than their initial outlay on the Norwegian, it is abundantly clear that Delia struck gold when advising Celtic to hand the centre-back a deal at Parkhead.

AND in other news: Celtic handed huge Old Firm boost as fresh update emerges, Postecoglou will be buzzing

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Peterborough United defender Ronnie Edwards. 

The lowdown: Rapid rise to prominence

Capped on four occasions by England at the Under-19 level, the Harlow-born starlet has quickly become a strugglers Peterborough having come through the youth ranks at Barnet.

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Still just 19, the centre-back has already amassed 41 appearances in senior football following a professional debut in 2019.

Now, it appears that the teenager could be destined for a move to the Premier League.

The latest: Spurs face transfer tussle

As per the Daily Mail report, Tottenham are set to ‘battle it out’ with London rivals Crystal Palace in the summer to land the exciting youngster.

It’s claimed that both clubs may have to fork out as much as £15m for the ace once described as a ‘Rolls Royce’ by Peterborough director of football Barry Fry.

Despite the lofty price tag, Edwards is said to have ‘caught the eye’ at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici weigh up options to bolster the ranks in the summer transfer window.

The verdict: Planning for the future

Whilst the fee may seem extortionate for a player without any top-flight experience, signing the best young talents comes at a cost, and Spurs may just have to go all out in order to win this particular race.

Albeit the current first-team squad is arguably in need of strengthening now, given their most recent 1-0 loss at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, planning for the future with shrewd signings such as this will only leave the club in safe hands for the foreseeable future.

Akin to the capture of Dele Alli in 2015, when Premier League rivals were also in the mix, signing the teenager who has produced some standout displays this season – notably when making three interceptions, completing two clearances and blocking two shots against Manchester City in the FA Cup (SofaScore) – would be a worthwhile venture.

In other news: Tottenham eyeing summer move for La Liga defender! Find out more here.

Wolverhampton Wanderers could be dealt a colossal blow as the January transfer window nears completion with captain Conor Coady subject to interest from Premier League rivals Newcastle United.

What’s the story?

According to The Daily Star, Newcastle are plotting a late bid for the Wolves defender and could offer in the region of £25m to bring the Englishman to Tyneside.

With the window set to close on Monday, United would have to move quickly to get a deal for the 28-year-old over the line.

The Magpies’ seemingly unlimited funds that have come as a result of their Saudi-backed takeover in October are well documented and are still reportedly keen to spend on reinforcements as they look to secure Premier League survival.

Eddie Howe’s side are the Premier League’s second-worst defenders behind Norwich City, having shipped a whopping 43 goals in 21 top-flight matches so far this campaign.

Coady has enjoyed an excellent campaign for Bruno Lage’s side thus far and a departure mid-season could have seriously dire consequences for the West Midland’s outfit.

Wolves must keep Coady

Not only is Coady a hugely popular and influential figure at Molineux, but he’s arguably Wolves’ best defender, something that means the club’s fanbase would be fuming to see him depart.

The Old Gold are the Premier League’s second-best defenders behind league leaders Manchester City, having conceded just 16 goals in 21 matches with Coady proving highly influential in securing that feat.

The 28-year-old hasn’t missed a Premier League match all season, keeping eight clean sheets in 21 appearances as well as scoring twice.

Moreover, the centre-back is now firmly in the picture of England manager Gareth Southgate’s plans, having made his debut for the national team in September 2020 and has eight caps to date.

Wolves are targeting a top-six finish but, by parting ways with Coady, Lage would be losing a major presence and influence as well as a kingpin and catalyst for his excellent start to life as a Premier League manager.

As a result, his side’s ambitions of European qualification could suffer a disastrous blow should they lose him.

In other news: Wolves could land perfect Traore replacement in “exceptional” £27m-rated “phenomenon”

It’s fair to say that Rangers have had a disappointing second half of the season, despite the Europa League triumphs, the side’s Scottish Premiership form has been poor.

Coming into January with a six-point lead was the ideal scenario for Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his men, then the winter break happened, and Rangers lost arguably their best player of the season, Joe Aribo, to the Africa Cup of Nations and the wheels fell off slightly.

The onus was on van Bronckhorst to strengthen, especially in the midfield areas following Aribo’s brief departure and the sale of Juninho Bacuna, however, the club missed out on an excellent opportunity.

During the summer and January windows, the Gers were constantly linked with Dutch midfielder Joey Veerman, who was playing at Heerenveen. A deal couldn’t be struck and as van Bronckhorst moved into his first transfer window with the team during January, there were hopes of a chance to secure him.

Yet again, Rangers were slack, and PSV Eindhoven eventually signed the midfielder for £5m as he joined his boyhood club.

Former Rangers striker Michael Mols lavished “perfect” praise on his fellow Dutchman and it’s not hard to see why.

Since his arrival at PSV, Veerman has scored six and notched six assists in only 21 matches, a fabulous return.

If we compare this to Aribo in the same period, two goals and five assists, it proves that the Ibrox side should have splashed the cash in January and the club may have been heading into the last four matches in the league with their six-point advantage still intact.

As the summer transfer window looms on the horizon, Ross Wilson can’t afford to let similar players of that class escape their grasp again. After all, with Aribo touted with an exit, 23-year-old Veerman would very much have been the perfect heir.

AND in other news, Van Bronckhorst can brutally axe “shaky” Rangers dud in deal for “annoyingly brilliant” £0 machine

A fresh twist has emerged on the deadline day departure of Celtic defender Osaze Urhoghide.

What’s the talk?

According to a report by Football Scotland, the 21-year-old’s temporary contract with Belgian side KV Oostende contains an option to buy clause, something which the Jupiler Pro League club’s president, Gauthier Ganaye, confirmed in comments made regarding the centre-back’s January switch.

Ganaye said: “We absolutely wanted to negotiate a purchase option because we firmly believe in his talent. We try to avoid renting without a purchase option in our philosophy and I am therefore happy with the deal we have obtained. Of course, comparisons will now be made with Jack Hendry, but Osaze is a lot younger than Jack and still has a lot of progress margin.

However, Football Scotland finish their report by suggesting that Ange Postecoglou is believed to be keen to keep Urhoghide at Parkhead for the long-term, something that would now appear to be problematic following the latest update on the defender’s move to Belgium.

Grave mistake

While it is true that, since his £207k move to Glasgow from Sheffield Wednesday last summer, Urhoghide has failed to stake a claim as a regular within Postecoglou’s matchday squads, the 21-year-old nevertheless proved during his single appearance for the Bhoys that he is more than capable of doing a job in the Greek-Australian manager’s side.

Indeed, the £270k-rated centre-back – who is also comfortable operating on the right or left of a back four – could not have done much more on his Celtic debut to impress Postecoglou, making five tackles, three clearances, one interception and winning nine duels in the Hoops’ impressive 3-2 Europa League win against Real Betis.

These returns saw the £3.8k-per-week Englishman earn a very respectable SofaScore match rating of 6.9 against an opponent who currently sit third in the LaLiga standings – while Football Scotland awarded the youngster an eight in their own player ratings for the match, as well as dubbing his display a “fantastic” performance.

As such, considering Urhoghide’s undoubted potential, exactly why Celtic agreed to include an option to buy in the 21-year-old’s loan contract with Oostende is something only the club will know the answer to – but it certainly appears as if the Bhoys have not learnt their lesson from the previous loan and subsequent sale of Jack Hendry to the same club.

In other news: Forget Bitton: £8.2k-p/w Celtic flop who made 3 passes will be giving Ange nightmares

While Wolves’ 2022 January transfer window may not have blown many fans away at the Midlands club, the Old Gold were pretty busy behind the scenes with new players coming in as well as seeing others move out for loan spells.

One move that took place at Molineux rather early on in the month saw defender Toti Gomes return from his loan spell with Grasshopper Club Zurich, who has since been given a massive lifeline by Bruno Lage to kickstart his Wolves career.

With Romain Saiss away on international duty, as well as Willy Boly and Yerson Mosquera out injured, Gomes has been given the chance to show Lage and everyone else at Wolves what he can do, with two appearances in the Premier League now under his belt against Southampton and Brentford.

With Lage making clear at the start of the window that he would’ve liked to have signed a new centre-back, it seems as though he put his faith in the 23-year-old to come in and do a job for the team.

In those two appearances for the Old Gold, the centre-back certainly showed why Lage made a good decision in giving him the chance to play, with WhoScored now listing him as Wolves’ second-highest rated player with an overall rating of 7.07/10, highlighting how capable he is of playing in the Premier League to a high standard.

A stunning review from two of his former teammates and those to have donned the Old Gold in the past supplement his good performances with Conor Ronan saying he’s “everything you want” and “rarely gets beaten.”

Leo Bonatini added: “Pffft, he’s a great defender. So fast — I think the fastest in our team. He has a lot of things to improve but this is good. He’s young, he’s a strong guy and I hope he has an opportunity in Wolves.”

That chance duly came but with Saiss set to return to Molineux soon, as well as Boly and Mosquera likely to come back to full fitness before the end of the season, it’ll be interesting to see if Lage continues to pick Gomes when he more centre-back options to choose from.

With Wolves set to take on fellow Premier League side Norwich City at the weekend for their latest FA Cup fixture, this would be another good opportunity for the Portuguese defender to show what he can do alongside the other, more experienced players in Lage’s squad.

If he can keep his place in the team from now until the end of the season, after being no more than an exiled passenger at the club since he arrived back in September 2020, this would surely make him one of the biggest winners at Wolves during the recent transfer window.

In other news: “I’d certainly expect” – Tim Spiers drops exciting Wolves claim, fans surely gushing – opinion

Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa side drew 0-0 with Leicester City in the Saturday afternoon Premier League clash at the King Power Stadium.

A lack of quality in the final third saw the match remain goalless as Villa ended their four-match winless streak, while Leicester themselves made it back-to-back league matches without a victory.

Villa started the better of the two, with Leon Bailey failing to take a glorious opportunity to give Steven Gerrard’s side the lead.

The first half saw both teams flatter to deceive, with just one shot on target each. Ollie Watkins continued to be the scourge of the Leicester defence but couldn’t find a way through.

Both James Maddison and Emiliano Buendia had great chances to win the fixture, but the match finished 0-0, with the performance of Villa’s Jacob Ramsey, in particular, letting his manager down.

Ramsey was a liability

During his 89 minutes on the pitch, Ramsey lost all seven of his duels – a failure rate of 100% – lost possession of the ball seven times and offered little going forwards, failing to hit the target with a shot, being unable to complete his one attempted dribble and not finding his man with his one attempted cross.

The midfielder also enjoyed a mere 35 touches of the ball, just six more than goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips previously stated his belief Ramsey is a “big talent” after an excellent run of form, but he certainly didn’t show that against Leicester today.

In fact, following this match, his last four appearances in the league have seen him yield a shoddy 6.5 average SofaScore rating.

With Villa struggling near the bottom of the table, without relegation ever looking like a possibility, Gerrard will surely find himself with money to spend in the summer as he attempts to lead the side to the European places next term.

And, while it is true that the likes of Leon Bailey and John McGinn were also poor on Saturday, it is Ramsey who needs to up his game over the final four Premier League matches in order to prove to Gerrard that he deserves a starting spot next season – as the youngster was a liability against the Foxes.

AND in other news: Gerrard now plotting AVFC bid for £46k-p/w “phenomenon”, he’s better than Phillips