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New Zealand might have only a 33% success rate in tri-series One-Day International tournaments but CLEAR Black Caps wicket-keeper Adam Parore says last year’s ICC KnockOut win in Nairobi had been an important step for the side towards improving that percentage.Just before flying out from Christchurch today for Colombo with the side for the 23rd three or four-nation tournament New Zealand has played in, Parore said that for a couple of years this New Zealand team had known they were capable of doing something, without ever having achieved it.Going to Sri Lanka was another seeming Mission Impossible. India has just completed a tour of Zimbabwe, while Sri Lanka were at home in their favourable conditions. The New Zealanders were coming out of the coldest winter in this country for nearly 30 years.But adapting to foreign conditions is becoming second nature to Black Cap sides and Parore believes the lessons of Nairobi could be an influence in the Coca-Cola Cup.”To know you can do it, and then to go out and finally do it, fills you with a lot of confidence,” he said.”Watching the professional golfers and tennis players on television in big tournaments they know that to win they have to go through unbeaten.”There are two or three moments in matches when, if you want to win, you have to put up and do it.”And there is no substitute for doing it.”Until you do it and then realise what you have done, you don’t appreciate how much it takes,” he said.That lesson was the most valuable thing to come out of the Nairobi success, Parore said.”Thinking you can do something, and actually doing something, are two completely different things,” he said.Having been one of the heaviest worked players during the last season, Parore relished the chance for a break after the series equalling victory against Pakistan.But it had been long enough and he pronounced himself impatient to get underway in Colombo.”There is only so much running, batting and training you can do each day. I don’t think I’ve ever been so keen to get back into action as I am now,” he said.Parore said that in hindsight the last season did not seem that tough and he felt the side came out of a difficult summer pretty well.It had been disappointing to lose key players at vital times. But in spite of those worries, the side had achieved some good results.Younger players had been brought in and had been exposed to top level cricket and were now more experienced as a result.He said the inclusion of players who had been through the Academy process had made it a lot easier for those introduced to adapt to their situation.There was a higher level of professionalism among the younger players but they still found the standard of cricket a bit of a shock.But New Zealand had been lucky with the players who came in last summer as they had developed well.As far as New Zealand’s record in tournaments was concerned, he said that was probably due to the fact that they all required a degree of adaptation and that invariably as the side played more games, their record improved in tournaments.”But because we are often coming out of our winter, we are having to start so far back on the grid and when you go to the sub continent you are going into the hardest conditions in which to have a cricket tour.”Personally, I enjoy the sub continent. It is a good place to tour. You have grounds that are full of roaring spectators who know their cricket. They know who you are, what your average is and all about you,” he said.Parore recalled holidaying in Dubai after the summer and finding that drinks stewards around the hotel pool he was staying in were able to talk to him about quite technical matters of the game.”They know what they are talking about and were able to give some quite technical analysis of Sachin Tendulkar’s batting,” he said.Parore said he only needed a few weeks off before he was keen to get back into action. Three months had been two months too long and he said he couldn’t wait to get on the plane and on the way.He didn’t see the tournament as the start of another tough new season. It was an interlude with a six-week break before the next tour to Pakistan when the Black Caps get down to the real business of the summer.TRI NATIONS RECORDS

Played Won Lost Tied Abandoned1980/81 Australia, India, New Zealand 14 7 6 11982/83 Australia, England, New Zealand 12 6 61985/86 Australia, India, New Zealand 10 3 6 1Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand 2 1 1India, Pakistan, New Zealand 2 0 21987/88 Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand 10 4 6India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand 4 2 21989/90 Australia, India, New Zealand 5 1 4Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh, NZ 3 1 21990/91 Australia, England, New Zealand 10 3 71993/94 Australia, South Africa, New Zealand 8 3 4 1Australia, Sri Lanka, India,UAE, Pakistan, New Zealand 3 1 21994/95 India, West Indies, New Zealand 4 0 3 1South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, NZ 6 0 6Australia, India, South Africa, NZ 4 2 21996/97 Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand 5 1 3 1Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand 3 1 21997/98 Australia, South Africa, New Zealand 8 2 6India, Australia, New Zealand 4 1 3Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand 6 0 2 42000/01 South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand 2 0 2Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand 3 1 2Total 128 40 79 1 8

It is ‘hugely important’ that Celtic centre-back Christopher Jullien enjoys more playing time after injury, says Ben Dinnery.

The Lowdown: Jullien’s injury woes

The 29-year-old has suffered a torrid time of things in the injury department over the past 18 months, seeing himself sidelined for almost that entire period.

Jullien returned from a year out with a knee injury back in January but he has continued to find first-team football hard to come by at Celtic, appearing for just 16 minutes in 2022 to date.

The Hoops are now in the final straight in their Scottish Premiership title battle with Rangers and with multiple domestic competitions still to play for it could be that Jullien is finally called upon at some point.

The Latest: Dinnery provides his thoughts

Speaking to Football Insider, Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site, stressed the importance of the defender getting minutes in his legs, as he looks to make a full recovery:

“These minutes are hugely important. You’ve got to manage your squad. You need to ensure that those players on the fringes are ready and engaged should they be needed.

“But also for Jullien, it’s an opportunity to go out there and build that confidence that he’s over that knee injury.  Hopefully, he can get a little bit of momentum going now.

“I’m sure he has one eye on getting a good pre-season behind him and pushing for first-team contention next season.”

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The Verdict: Could still play a key role

In truth, it is easier said than done when it comes to Ange Postecoglou throwing Jullien back into the team, given the significance of their remaining fixtures.

If the Frenchman is not up to speed, it could end up having a negative impact on Celtic’s title charge, at a time when Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt are performing well at centre-back.

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The best bet is to hopefully bring Jullien on in games that are already won late in the day, allowing him to slowly get match practice back in his legs. A rushed return could have an adverse effect, both on him and the Hoops, and he should be looking at next season as a more realistic aim.

In other news, a journalist has reacted to a ‘lift’ for Celtic. Read more here.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Before L Balaji wrecked Kings XI Punjab with his five-for, it was another local boy S Badrinath who helped Chennai Super Kings post a formidable 181 (file photo) © Cricinfo Ltd

A match that swung from one side to the other was decided by two exceptional overs from L Balaji, the India international: he first picked up two crucial wickets in the 13th over to seize the initiative for his side, then picked up the IPL’s first hat-trick in the final over to finish the match. Balaji’s performance, in front of an ecstatic home crowd, pushed Chennai Super Kings to second place in the points table and ended Kings XI Punjab’s streak of five successive wins.Chasing a stiff 182, Punjab lost two early wickets but Shaun Marsh stayed calm at the other end, working the Chennai bowlers into the gaps for runs while picking up the odd boundaries. As the asking-rate escalated to over ten, Marsh decided to step it up, punishing Palani Amarnath for two sixes over the straight boundary and bringing up his fifty with another clean straight hit, off Balaji.If Marsh appeared as if he’d just arrived after a stint at a driving range, Ramnaresh Sarwan, with whom he put on 66, was a touch slow with 20 off 22 balls and his inability to hit a boundary suggested why his Twenty20 strike-rate is less than a run-a-ball.Their partnership was looking threatening, though, before both fell in one match-turning over from Balaji. Ambling in from a shortened run and putting in the effort in his final stride, he varied his deliveries, mixing up slower balls with shorter ones, with some surprising the batsmen. He got Sarwan with the first ball, the batsman bowled while giving the charge. Four balls later Marsh followed, top-edging to Amarnath on the square-leg boundary.Amarnath tightened the screws in the next over, having Yuvraj Singh caught by Stephen Fleming at point, and the match was almost over as a contest. Not as a spectacle, though.The 15th over saw a mini-battle between Muttiah Muralitharan and his Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardene, who got down on his knees and dispatched him over deep midwicket. Two balls later, though, a repeat effort resulted in a top edge to S Vidyut at short third man, and Jayawardene, normally accustomed to running to congratulate his leading bowler, had to head back to the dugout.And then there was the hat-trick, in the last over of the match. There were four balls to go and 19 runs to get when Balaji bowled to Irfan Pathan, who’d already hit him for a six off the first ball. This time, he holed out to a slower ball to deep square leg. Next, Piyush Chawla lofted one towards long-off for an easy catch, and the hat-trick was completed when VRV Singh managed to back away and top-edge one straight to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.Badrinath, a local boy like Balaji, and Dhoni had earlier threatened to take the game away as Michael Hussey had done in the previous encounter between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, but Punjab’s bowlers did well to restrict the flow of runs in the final five overs of the innings.Dhoni, Chennai’s adopted hero and captain, sent the crowd into raptures soon after his arrival by clobbering Chawla for three sixes; the first two sailed into the leg-side stands, while the third was hit flat over the bowler’s head. Yuvraj soon went in for damage control, bringing on Pathan, his side’s leading wicket-taker, for his second spell as early as the 13th over. Badrinath took two sixes off Pathan and brought up his fifty off 37 deliveries. The two had added 80 off 49 deliveries, and a final flourish was on the cards.Punjab came back well to rein in the rampaging batsmen. Sreesanth had bowled a good first spell in which he removed Chennai’s openers and his final one – the 16th of the innings – went for just five, James Hopes and VRV took the cue and targeted the blockhole, and the run-scoring abated. Chennai got 181, but would be disappointed at not having been able to go past the 200-run mark, which looked likely at one stage.

‘Of course we’re looking to rebuild but the fact that we still have a strong squad shows we’ve got a lot of depth’© ICC

Trent Johnston, Ireland’s captain, has challenged his young squad to produce the goods against the might of India who they face in a one-dayer on Saturday at Stormont, Belfast.Only seven members of the squad which beat Pakistan to reach the Super Eights of the World Cup remain, but Johnston insists that – in spite of being in a phase of regeneration, not to mention beset by injuries – they can still challenge India.”At the World Cup people questioned where the next generation of Irish cricketers would come from – well here they are,” Johnston, 33, said.”These matches could be the start of a new era. We’ve got a new coach [Phil Simmons] who is bringing new things to the table and a group of young players with new ideas.”Of course we’re looking to rebuild but the fact that we still have a strong squad shows we’ve got a lot of depth.”Roger Whelan, Gary Kidd, Alex Cusack and Thinus Fourie – who have five international caps between them – are all set to play against India and Johnston has backed them to produce the goods.”Playing these sides is great as the young lads get to test themselves against legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid,” he said. “Just to say you have faced those players is incredible and every one of our lads is looking forward to it.”It’s important the younger guys make the step up but we are confident they are ready. When they are given a chance like this they need to grab it with both hands.”After India, Ireland face South Africa on Sunday before the two touring teams pair off in three further one-dayers next week.Click here to leave your thoughts.

Bruce Makovah, the Zimbabwe cricket national selectors convener, has dismissed critcism leveled at the squad picked for the A-team series against Bangladesh A which starts on Saturday.Several choices have been attacked by critics, and the presence of players with no top-flight experience has also come under the spotlight. Makovah and his co-selectors opted not to pick anyone from the breakaway leagues which contain a number of leading clubs who have ceded from those organised by Zimbabwe Cricket.”ZC is not running separately,” Makovah told Zimbabwe’s Independent. “People cannot just walk in and walk out as they wish. These players were encouraged to play the official league. So those who were prepared to rebel we did not look at them. Besides I did not see any statistics from their league. I only got to know that they were playing through hearsay.””If we look at the squad that was selected, the players came from various provinces. Also if you look at the statistics Mashonaland came last in the league. It automatically shows that the other provinces have a pool of players as well.”One critic pointed out to Cricinfo that Mashonaland had finished last because almost all their leading players had defected to the breakaway organisation.”Basically this is a first major step to give other people an opportunity and widen the player base in the country,” Makovah added. “Our cricket has been based on recycling players, and this affected us the last time when players decided to rebel. We found ourselves in a crisis because we had no broad player base.”But one former Test player said that the standard in the official leagues was dire. “Two years ago none of them were even in a first league side – they were playing third division cricket,” he said. “The cricketers averaging 60+ in the national league this year were not getting to double figures a year ago in the top league. Anyone that understands cricket is not going to believe that there has been improvement or that the game is growing.”

Darren Gough and Andrew Flintoff: English dissenters© Getty Images

If the England & Wales Cricket Board thought it had put the Zimbabwe issue on the backburner for the time being, it has another thing coming. Following the alleged strong-arm tactics that were used to ensure that a reasonably full-strength squad was selected for the trip, the backlash could yet come from the players themselves.Earlier this month, the ECB confirmed that no player would be penalised if he preferred not to embark on the controversial five-match tour, and it seems that some players intend to take that promise at face value.Andrew Flintoff, one of the few players to be exempted from the trip, has confirmed that he never had any intention of touring anyway, while Darren Gough is another to have voiced serious doubts about the morality of playing in Zimbabwe.”Nothing’s changed since those meetings and problems we had in Cape Town before the start of the World Cup,” Flintoff told The Sun newspaper in London. “I didn’t want to go then – so why should I want to go now?” His doubts were echoed by Gough, who admitted to The Daily Telegraph that much could change in the next few months.”If the plane had left this morning I’d have gone,” admitted Gough, “but there’s still a long way to go and a lot of things can happen. There are a lot more conversations people have to have and they will be going on over the next couple of months.”There are one or two players who seem certain to tour, however. Ashley Giles was given the option of a break, but decided against it, possibly out of fear that his replacement would prove hard to dislodge if he excelled. And Alex Wharf, a newcomer to the side, told The Western Mail that he had to put moral considerations to one side at this formative stage of his career.”I think I’d be foolish if I said I wasn’t going to go to Zimbabwe,” said Wharf. “I have only just begun my international career and I don’t think it would be a good idea to jeopardise that by making any sort of stand. Whatever the political situation, we are going out there to play cricket and, like the rest of the boys, I just want to concentrate on the cricket.”Vaughan himself is in an invidious position as captain, and admitted as much to The Sun. “Under normal circumstances, I would have welcomed an extended break after a long international season,” he said. “But the England team and the game as a whole are faced with an extraordinary situation in undertaking this tour to Zimbabwe.”

Since he cemented his place in the Australian middle-order, Darren Lehmann has scored five centuries in nine games. After today’s unbeaten effort, he spoke to the press.On the conditions
It was hard work out there, pretty much all day, because of the field settings. The pitch spun a fair bit and it’s quite slow which made it hard to get into any rhythm.On his prolific run of form
I’m not sure that there is a secret – it’s just that I am playing well at the moment and it’s good to get some runs to make up for lost time. The pleasing thing is that I am quite relaxed at the crease these days and I suppose that comes with experience and confidence in your game. That seems to be the trick at the moment. I am playing the game for what it is – a game.On countering the threat from Sri Lanka’s spinners
You have got to have a plan [in Sri Lanka] and my plan seems to be working at the moment. I am quite confident coming down the wicket, which you have to back yourself to do over here. In the past teams have come here and let the spinners dictate, but we have certainly gone about it in a different way and had some success doing so.On the Sri Lankan defensive tactics
The wicket had enough to bowl attacking lines, but they did not back their bowlers enough. I was a little bit bored for a while but it is Test cricket and you focus pretty quickly back onto the job. It is just one of the things they do over here, they like to bowl to those kind of fields and you have to learn to cope with it. You have to come up with a plan to counteract their tactics, whether it is batting slightly outside leg or running up the wicket to work singles.

Jonty Rhodes’ future in the World Cup is uncertain after South Africa’s star fielder fractured a bone in his hand against Kenya.Rhodes sustained the injury as he dived for the ball at point during the Kenyan innings and was taken off the field in considerable pain.”He was examined by physio Shane Jabaar and sent for x-rays which showed a break,” revealed captain Shaun Pollock. “The doctors then sent him through to Johannesburg to see a specialist to find out the extent of the injury.”Rhodes, 33, who is renowned for his fielding ability, is playing in his fourth World Cup.”We will wait for the news but perhaps we can look at a similar situation toAndre Joubert in the 1995 World Cup,” Pollock added, referring to rugby player Joubert’s broken hand eight years ago. The full-back spent time in a hyperbaric chamber to quicken his recovery.Pollock was nonetheless heartened by his side’s 10-wicket victory following their defeat by the West Indies in the tournament opener.”After the loss on Sunday, there were certain points that we wanted to work on and we wanted to make sure we were clinical in our approach. We bowled prettywell and were pretty good in all areas.”The Kenyan captain, Steve Tikolo, could not hide his disappointment, but put his team’s showing down to nerves in their first World Cup game.”We lost wickets at regular intervals and we didn’t bat our full compliment of overs and that didn’t help us at all. We will have to go back and look intothe areas where we went wrong and try and rectify them for the next game. Our aim was to make the Super Sixes and we still believe we can do that.”South Africa meet New Zealand next, at the Wanderers on Sunday in what could well be a crucial game for both sides.

Sunil Gavaskar has listed 31 idols in his book of the same namepublished in 1983. Left arm spinner Rajinder Goel figures in the elitegroup. Goel who took a record 640 wickets in the Ranji Trophy, India’snational competition, never had the opportunity to play for thecountry, apart from one unofficial Test against Sri Lanka (thenCeylon) in 1964-65. Had he been born in any other era, he would almostcertainly have got a break at the highest level, but Bishen Bedi’spresence put paid to his aspirations. As he says, it was a game thatfate played on him (“yeh sab kismat ka khel hai”). Despite theheartache, Goel’s simplicity and good manners endeared him to one andall, from a dreaded dacoit imprisoned in Gwalior jail to Gavaskar.Goel was born in United Punjab’s Narwana town in 1940 and played hisfirst Ranji Trophy game for South Punjab in 1958-59. He later alsorepresented Delhi and Haryana. Goel’s bag of 640 wickets in 123 gamesat 17.15 is a record unlikely to be broken. In a recent interview toCricInfo, Goel bared his thoughts.When did you first begin playing cricket and when did you firstestablish yourself as a player to reckon with?I used to play right from my childhood. I was in Vaish High Schoolwhere one of my teachers, Lala Krishan Dayal, who was a good playerhimself, taught me the rudiments of the game. After that I wasselected for Punjab and subsequently North Zone. My performance wasgood and I was chosen for the All India camp in Chail under thesupervision of Lala Amarnath. So that’s how I came up.You took 640 wickets in the Ranji Trophy but were still confined todomestic cricket. What was the reason?Yes, I played well in domestic cricket but at that time every zone inthe country had great bowlers. Bishen Bedi established himself in theIndian team and performed very well, taking 266 Test wickets. So I hadfew chances to play at the highest level. But he was a great bowler,so I have no regrets about it.But when you look back on your career, in some corner of your heartthere must be a tinge of regret that you didn’t play for India?It was not written in my fate to play Test cricket. I used to play formy own pleasure and when I got wickets it used to feel good. Haryanawon many matches and the state grew from strength to strength. Therewere so many spinners but only one left armer could play for India andBishen Bedi was the man. So I didn’t really feel cut up about it.But being such a consistent wicket taker every season, did you everfeel any injustice?You should ask the selectors. My job is to play cricket and performwell. The rest is upto the selectors to choose me or not. Maybe theythought I was not good enough. In my opinion as long as Bishen Bedicontinued to play, other left armers like Shivalkar, Hyder Ali, DilipDoshi, Dhiraj Parsana, none of them got a chance.So do you blame it on luck, selectors or the players who came into theteam before you?I think I was born at the wrong time. In my days all the left armerswho played from different zones were good. Some of the blame can alsobe laid at fate. I was called for the Bangalore Test against CliveLloyd’s team in 1974/75 when I was in form and bowling very well. Bediwas not there for that match; he was removed from the team for somereason. I was sure that I would play but the evening before the Testwhen the team was announced, my name was missing. It’s all a game fatehas played on me.You did play a lot of games against visiting sides. Were there anymemorable moments among them?When Kim Hughes’ Auatralian team came to India (in 1979/80) I tooknine wickets including 6/103 in the first innings, bowling Hughes.Bishen Bedi had left the game, so I was hopeful that I might beselected at least this time but it was not to be and I felt a littlesad.You had a very long career. Was there any time when you felt that youwere not fit to continue?I never thought about it. I always used to tell everyone that the dayI realised the truth that my fitness wasn’t upto the mark, I wouldquit then and there. When I finally left the game in 1984/85, evenduring that season I had 39 wickets in six matches which I think wasthe highest in the country. So at no time did I feel I was unfit tocontinue.I have heard that a dacoit once wrote a letter to you. Could you tellus what it was about?It gives me great pleasure to relate this incident and I have done somany times before. There was this dacoit Bukha Singh Yadav who waslodged in Gwalior jail. I got a letter from him after playing a matchand everyone at home was a bit apprehensive. But as soon as I read it,I felt very happy and even replied to him. He had congratulated me fortaking 600 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. I’m probably the onlycricketer in India whose performance was recognised even by a dacoit.The game has changed a lot since your days. What changes do youcomprehend?Yes, there is a lot of difference in the way the game was played thosedays. Today there is more of quantity but less of quality. These daysthe facilities are very good. Where did we have such good grounds inour time? If you made one dive, there would be bruises on our handsand feet. There weren’t such good bats either.Do you fear that ODIs are becoming a threat to Test cricket,especially to cricket as an art form?These days, people are so busy, they don’t have the time, and preferto watch ODIs. In ODIs if you play a cover drive and the ball goes tofine leg for four, then it’s a good shot. It doesn’t matter how itcomes, runs are the bottomline. Having played so many one-days, theplayers are beginning to play the same way in Test cricket too. Ifit’s just a matter of making Test cricket as popular, why don’t youmake the first and second innings of limited overs duration. You musthave seen that when the Australian team visited here, the grounds werefull for all three Test matches and there was a lot of publicinterest.In your days there were a lot of great spinners, not just in India butoutside as well, like Underwood and Gibbs. What was so special aboutthese guys?That was the era of spinners and all of them used to work hard.Bowlers these days have begun to give greater emphasis to batting andfielding. But we gave bowling the most attention and in practice weused to relentlessly iron out our weaknesses. You don’t find suchdevotion in the kids these days. They take net practice as a formalityand bowl to two or three batsmen in the nets and leave. When there areso many facilities, you have Academies opening all over the place andso many senior players ready to guide them. I saw all three Testsagainst Australia. Harbhajan Singh was the only bowler who looked liketaking a wicket. All the other bowlers I saw had no nip or speed offthe wicket and they did not turn the ball significantly either. Eventhough we got turning tracks in one or two games, only Harbhajan couldmake effective use of it.As chairman of the national junior committee, how would you evaluatethe progress of the junior players?We’ve been fortunate with the 3-4 teams sent out in the last couple ofyears. In 2000, the Under-19 boys won the World Cup in Sri Lanka, thenthe Under-15 team lifted the Asia Cup in Malaysia and finally we hadthe Under-17 team winning the Asia Cup in Bangladesh earlier thisyear. The junior selection committee watches all the domestic matchesand we’ve chosen very balanced sides and earned the rewards for it.What are your future plans?I’m the head coach of the Satpriya Cricket Academy in Rohtak and Iwould just like to transfer all my knowledge to the boys here. Ask meafter 2-3 years and I can show you some of the fruits of my work.

Newcastle United are on course to avoid relegation to the Championship as Eddie Howe has galvanised the club in recent months.

The Magpies are nine points clear of the bottom three as it stands and have only lost two of their last 11 matches in the Premier League.

Howe has led them out of the relegation zone and may look to restructure his squad with incomings and outgoings in the summer. Who could be facing the axe?

Sell him

One player who the 44-year-old must brutally axe from the club at the end of the season is midfielder Jeff Hendrick, who is currently on loan at QPR in the Championship.

The 30-year-old’s current contract with the Magpies does not expire until 2024, having signed for the Tynesiders two years ago. This means that the club must cut ties with him in the summer, or else he will continue to pick up a wage for another two years without contributing much on the field.

Toon reporter Scott Wilson previously dubbed him a “liability”, while club legend Steve Howey once ripped into the midfielder for a sending off which he deemed “embarrassingly bad”.

That quote from Howey can also be used to describe how Hendrick has played for the club in the Premier League since 2020. He has not been good enough for a top-flight team for a number of years, and it is now time to finally axe him on a permanent basis.

Since the start of the 2018/19 campaign, his SofaScore rating of 6.63 across just three outings this term is the best he has managed. He registered scores of 6.51, 6.55 and 6.58 respectively across the three seasons leading up to the current one, which shows that he has consistently underperformed and failed to impress for both Burnley and Newcastle. Indeed, he ranked a pitiful 25th out of 26 in the Toon squad for SofaScore ratings last season.

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Therefore, the £50k-per-week dud must not be at St James’ Park by the end of the summer transfer window. Howe must push the club to sell him before the end of August or, at the very least, loan him out for the entire 2022/23 campaign with an option for the other club to sign him at the end of that agreement.

His statistics in the top flight are horrific and do not suggest that he will be a player of use to the head coach heading into next season. At the age of 30, Hendrick is entering the twilight of his career, and the Magpies may not have a better chance to cash in on him before he regresses further and his value dwindles with age.

AND in other news, Left for £0, now the next Sancho: NUFC will have nightmares over 18 y/o “huge talent”…