Category Uncategorized

Newcastle United were active throughout the January transfer window as they made a number of signings to bolster Eddie Howe’s squad.

The Magpies made a host of fresh additions to their ranks, including Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Matt Targett, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier.

However, not every player that they wanted to bring to St James’ Park ended up making the switch, as they failed to land some of their targets.

One man that the club reportedly wanted to sign was Mainz centre-forward Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Toon were said to have made a £20m offer to snap him up ahead of Crystal Palace, but the south London outfit eventually signed him to a permanent deal, duly ending Newcastle’s chances of landing him.

PIF brought in Wood from Burnley to improve Howe’s options in the number nine position, but he has scored just one Premier League goal for the club so far across 11 starts in place of the injured Callum Wilson.

How do Mateta and the ex-Clarets marksman compare for their respective clubs?

As you can see in the graphic above, the Palace striker offers more than the New Zealand international on and off the ball for his side. He has scored more goals from fewer starts, whilst pressing more from the front and completing a higher percentage of his passes.

Journalist Alex Howell dubbed the Frenchman a “cult hero” for Palace and it is easy to see why the supporters have been able to take to him. In Europe’s top five leagues, he ranks in the 89th percentile for pressures and the 95th percentile for clearances, which shows that he works his socks off for the team. Supports love to see players who put in 100% on the pitch, and these statistics suggest that Mateta does exactly that.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

These statistics suggest that he would have been an upgrade on Wood. He has offered more of a goal threat than the Magpies colossus and his link-up play shows that his overall game has been more effective in the top flight, as he has more to his game with his ability in possession in terms of his passing and dribbling.

At 24, Mateta is also six years younger than the Newcastle marksman, which means that he would have had more long-term value to the club. Therefore, PIF had a big shocker by missing out on the Palace striker, who would have been a brilliant signing in comparison to the ex-Burnley machine, based on their respective form this season.

AND in other news, Newcastle now plotting huge £120k-p/w bid for £50m “destroyer”, he’d be Howe’s “rock”…

It’s been all smiles for Mitchell Johnson in the one-dayers recently, but will he get the Test nod at last? © Getty Images

Mitchell Johnson says he couldn’t have done more over the last year to force his way into Australia’s Test side after being named in the 13-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka.Before that match, which is at the Gabba from next Thursday, he has the chance to impress in the second warm-up match at Allan Border Field on Friday.”I think I’ve done what I can over in India and over the past 12 months or so,” he told Sportal.com. “It is out of my control but my fingers are crossed.”He faces an anxious wait to see if he made the final cut ahead of fellow fast bowler Shaun Tait but being the only left-arm pace bowler in the squad may help. He also impressed in India recently, where he was the leading wicket taker with 14 at an average of 18.57 including a five-for.But Johnson, who has yet to make his Test debut, has been here before: this time last year he was waiting to see if he would get the nod for the Ashes ahead of Stuart Clark. He lost out then and his wait for a Test continues.”I don’t want to get my hopes up and be too confident but deep down I’m hoping.”

Venkatapathy Raju: not ruling out the possibility of Ganguly and Laxman playing in the World Cup © Getty Images

Venkatapathy Raju, the former Indian left-arm spinner who’s currently the south zone representative in the national selection committee, has said that the eight matches to be played early in 2007 will hold the key to selecting the World Cup squad. He also confirmed that VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly were in the scheme of things as far as one-dayers were concerned.India are scheduled to play two home series in early 2007, against West Indies in January and Sri Lanka the next month. “Those eight games will be a blessing in disguise for them [players] and also for us [selectors],” Raju said in Mysore during the Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Haryana. “We can see actual form before selecting the team for the World Cup. We would play the core for the World Cup team there.”Raju didn’t rule out the possibility of Laxman and Ganguly being part of the World Cup squad, adding that performance remained the only criterion. “They have three Test matches, let’s see how they go about that,” he said. “We have still not picked any probables for the World Cup. So if they perform well, they will be in the scheme of things.”India’s line-up, he agreed, was far from settled, and the selectors and team management needed to sort out the issue. “Expectations are high but judging them on the performance in South Africa won’t be right,” he continued. “Players like Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif have been playing more one-day games. There was not much time to work on their technique of for them to run in to form as we have so many non-stop ODI games. We can’t be harsh on them. Now they have a chance to play in domestic cricket and to prove their form in those eight games early next year.”The case of Subramaniam Badrinath, the Tamil Nadu batsman who’d managed to score consistently yet missed out on the Test side to South Africa, was one of inexperience, Raju said. “It won’t be fair to put someone like Badri straightaway into a tough tour like South Africa,” he said. “There is only one side game; the main players will play them. If one of them gets injured then Badrinath will have to straightaway play in a Test and I don’t think we would be doing justice to him. There is so much cricket coming up after World Cup. We will monitor the performances of the domestic players closely.”Raju believed a bowling coach could assist in the development of India’s young fast bowlers. “It might be helpful as there are a few young fast bowlers in the team. Someone like Sreesanth can benefit a lot. The talent is there and it can be guided and moulded well. The team benefited by a bowling coach when they toured Australia [Bruce Reid was the coach then].”

‘It won’t be fair to put some one like Badri straightaway into a tough tour like South Africa,’ said Raju © Cricinfo Ltd

Raju also said he believed that the Indian board was very keen on improving domestic cricket, including revamping the Duleep Trophy. “We had a very good meeting with Sharad Pawar. He was asking about domestic pitches. The focus was on producing sporting wickets and teams playing on neutral venues which would stop the tampering of the pitches. So we plan to revamp the pitches right from the Under-19 level.””It was suggested [in the meeting] that the Duleep Trophy can be advanced and played in South India, where the season starts early. We can play them on good wickets prepared by good curators. We are looking at forming a pitch committee with the likes of Daljit Singh. They can go around the country and help improve the quality of the pitches. The problem with the pitches in India is that we either prepare really spinning tracks or those that are too seamer-friendly. Neither is good. We need a wicket with bounce which will aid both spin and seam. Like the one in Mohali in the Australia v India in Champions Trophy.”

The Pakistan team are to give hands-on help to areas devastated by last Saturday’s earthquake, by taking part in relief work.Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, told a private television channel of his side’s commitment in helping the area recover from the tragedy: “The entire cricket team will travel to quake-stricken areas and will take part in relief operations. Although we might not stay there during the entire operation, we’ll definitely make our presence felt in the areas that have been devastated by the earthquake,” he said.Inzamam, who is playing for the World XI in the ICC Super Test in Sydney, added: “My heart goes out for the people of Muzaffarabad and adjoining areas who lost everything in seconds. There are people in need and it’s our national and moral duty to help them and make them realise that at this time of difficulty, we are with them.”

Sandeep Patil will coach Oman© Getty Images

Sandeep Patil, who has been coaching various India sides after quitting as Kenya coach in April 2003, has accepted an offer with Oman. The Indian board had not given assurances about his future.Patil, 48, spoke to reporters after the appointment. “I’m taking up this job to coach the Oman national team only because India A don’t have any schedule to look forward to,” he said. “It’s an unfortunate situation. But I have got no assurance from the board despite official reminders. I cannot continue in a scenario where my future is insecure.”Oman’s main target next year will be a good finish in the ICC Trophy, which will rank its participants. They qualified ahead of Hong Kong and Nepal after strong performances in the Asian Cricket Council Trophy – when Patil had coached them in a one-off assignment.

Imran Khan has strongly criticised the way in which Pakistan’s domestic cricket is structured. Speaking to the Pakistan newspaper, Dawn, he said that departmental cricket, played between corporates, was ineffective in spotting and nurturing talent.”Departmental cricket is a joke,” he said. “I have never seen this type of cricket anywhere in the world.” The PCB did not have the will to change the system, he said. “I have contacted the PCB authorities on retaining the departmental teams, [and] they assured me that it will be removed from next year. Who can say [whether] they will stay in the PCB till next year? This is Pakistan where things change overnight.”Imran was also acerbic about the fact that trial camps had to be held for selection purposes. “I [don’t know of] a single example of trials held for the selection of a team anywhere in the world,” he said. He added that had he stayed in Pakistan instead of honing his talents in England, he too could have been lost on the wayside.He said that regional cricket was essential to generate interest in domestic cricket. No one felt any loyalty for the departmental teams, he said, while regional teams would whip up passions among people from resepctive regions, and would inspire young cricketers.He also commented on the frequency with which the PCB changed the names of their first-class tournaments, and said that often, one did not even know which trophy was being played for. He said that Pakistan was full of talent, much as West Indies had once been, but it was getting lost because of lack of planning.

New Zealand claimed two early wickets before rain forced umpires to call an early lunch break on the opening day of the three-day tour match against the Queensland Academy of Sport at Allan Border Field.After winning the toss and batting, the QAS were 2-20 after just 50 minutes of play were possible after rain periods throughout the morning.Chris Cairns (1-5) and Daryl Tuffey (1-13) took the wickets, with Cairns removing Duncan Betts with the first ball of the match when the rookie was trapped LBW without offering a shot.Matthew Lunn made six before he popped a catch to Mark Richardson at short leg during slow going for the home team.New Zealand named a strong team, resting batsman Mathew Sinclair while naming spinners Glen Sulzberger and Paul Wiseman.

Fast bowler Pat Cummins has again succumbed to a serious back injury and will be replaced by allrounder James Faulkner on Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh next month.The injury is a major setback for Cummins, whose career has been plagued by back and foot problems since he made his Test debut in South Africa in 2011 at the age of 18. Cummins was Man of the Match in that game but at 22 he is yet to add to that one Test cap – in fact he has played only eight first-class matches in his career – and now faces another long period on the sidelines.”Pat Cummins experienced lower back pain during the last ODI match in the UK and this pain continued upon his return to Australia,” Cricket Australia physiotherapist David Beakley said. “He subsequently underwent an MRI scan yesterday which unfortunately has revealed a new early stage lumbar bone stress fracture. Consequently Pat will be unable to participate in the Bangladesh Test series and will now enter into a lengthy rehabilitation program.”Australia will still hope Cummins has a big international career ahead of him, but with each new injury the concerns for his future have grown. He suffered a back stress fracture in the Sheffield Shield final in March 2011 and later that year succumbed to a stress fracture of the foot, soon after his remarkable Test debut in Johannesburg.A further back stress fracture in November 2012 and a recurrence in August 2013 on Australia A’s tour of South Africa meant he missed a third consecutive home season. Although Cummins was able to play last summer and was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad early this year, he has mostly only been used in the shorter formats.Cummins has not played a Sheffield Shield match since the final in March 2011 and if the latest injury rules him out of the summer the gap between his Shield appearances may stretch towards six years. National selection panel chairman Rod Marsh said Cummins had been impressive in the recent ODIs in England.”This is really unfortunate for Pat and I know how disappointed he will be,” Marsh said. “He is a young bowler with a bright future for Australia and we were really pleased with how he bowled in the UK. We have opted to replace him with James Faulkner. James comes back into the Australia Test side having only played the one Test, but he is an exciting young bowler who could be very handy in the conditions we are likely to see in Bangladesh.”Like Cummins, Faulkner has played only one Test, having debuted in the dead rubber at The Oval in 2013. Faulkner will join Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and the uncapped Andrew Fekete as Australia’s frontline pace options for the two-Test tour of Bangladesh.Australia were already without the injured David Warner for the tour of Bangladesh, while Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood have been rested. Also missing from the squad that set out on the Ashes tour this year are Michael Clarke, Ryan Harris, Shane Watson, Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin, all of whom have announced their Test retirements.

Few would have expected Arsenal to have something to smile about this transfer window, what with the very public battle surrounding RVP, yet the disastrous situation at Malaga – which could fill a book in itself – has enabled Wenger to lure one of the best players outside of Spain’s big two, Santi Cazorla, to the Emirates.

The little winger has spent most of his career at Villarreal before his move to Malaga, and has attracted mass praise in La Liga, and make no mistake will be a joy to watch this season, if not for the struggle to pronounce a name that actually sounds like Cathorla, yet it is another who Arsenal look set to sign on loan from the very same league that should have Arsenal fans on the edge of their seat with excitement.

Nuri Sahin, as most people will know is a midfielder in the Xabi Alsonso mould, and has struggled to break into the first team at Real Madrid, with Mourinho saying he would be happy for Sahin to go on loan to Arsenal for the season.

However, Sahin’s failure to break into the first team has been through not only devastatingly untimely and lengthy injury problems, but also due to the fact Xabi Alonso is about as untouchable as you get in a Mourinho side.

When Sahin has been given a chance the boy has impressed no end, with vision and a range of passing far beyond his years. The midfielder also has an eye for goal given the chance, and if there was ever a player who you would say should flourish under Wenger and is in the ‘Arsenal mould’ it is this young boy.

During the USA tour with Real Madrid, it has been pretty clear Sahin will not be featuring next season, not even getting a look in the midfield two where you would expect to see him play, but has spent a fair amount of time at left back, and has even done this with class and a quality you might not expect.

Whilst he is one for the future at Real, Sahin will certainly benefit from some first team experience and simply has to get his fitness and confidence levels back, something that looks nigh on impossible at Real Madrid, and with the player, agent and club feeling that a loan move would be hugely beneficial, as you would expect from a man who knows best, Wenger has pounced and looks set to land the player.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Yes, a Cazorla type player is always welcome at a club, and he will certainly make an impact, and frankly for Mourinho to say he turned down the chance to sign Santi for the tug of love with Modric you have to wonder just what he was thinking, but it could well be Sahin that ends up making a huge impact for Arsenal this season, who are missing a player like the Turk, and knowing exactly what he can do when given the chance, it will be a privilege to watch the young man in the Premier League.

[ad_pod id=’dfp-mpu’ align=’right’]

Manchester United are scoring goals for fun and Rooney is certainly living up to his promise of trying to emulate Lionel Messi’s goal record this season. Wazza is on fire at the moment and shows what a real difference 12months make in football.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Manchester United blogs that includes Ashley Young provides a slice of humble pie; detrimental to Smalling’s development, Fergie snubs £15m move.

We also look at the best Manchester United articles around the web this week

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Eagles talks to Football FanCast ahead of United clash

Detrimental to Chris Smalling’s development?

The football formation of the future?

Ashley Young provides a huge slice of humble pie

Everything City do Manchester United always seemingly do better

Have the abilities of South Korean footballers been overlooked for far too long?

Fergie set to offer £1.5m to fend off Arsenal making their move

‘Six of the Best’ – Sir Alex Ferguson moments

Signing of the summer at Old Trafford? I’m not hedging any bets just now!

Has Fergie finally solved one of United’s biggest problems?

Cleverley’s progress ensures Fergie’s £15m snub

Best of WEB

[divider]

An Apology To Ashley Young – Red Flag Flying High

Cook: the gift that keeps on giving – United Rant

VIDEO: Rio Ferdinand’s #5 mag interviews Ashley Young – The Busby Way

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Players Being Dropped Could Help Club’s Ultimate Goal – The United Religion

What we do for United – 7Cantonas

[divider]

Fancy a Premier League Box Experience? Click on banner below to find out more

[divider]