All posts by h716a5.icu

Aston Villa right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden suffered a muscular injury for the club’s Under-23 side on Monday evening.

Reliable reporter Ashley Preece shared the news on Twitter, which led to a number of Villa supporters giving their thoughts on the update.

The 19-year-old recently returned to the club following an impressive loan spell with Swindon Town in League Two. He made 21 appearances for The Robins and has since featured on the bench under Steven Gerrard in Villa’s Premier League meetings with Manchester United and Everton.

Kesler-Hayden started in Villa’s 4-1 Premier League 2 win over Reading on Monday evening, but the full-back needed to be replaced by Jayden Barber just before the interval due to injury.

The youngster was making his first Premier League 2 appearance for the season, but he may now be facing a spell on the sidelines depending on how severe the issue is.

Villa fans react

The AVFC Faithful relayed Preece’s injury claim on Twitter. This is what these fans had to say in reply, with many venting their frustration.

“Are you joking?”

Credit: @catrinavfc

“crying rn”

Credit: @_AVFCOlly

“I mean if it’s just a knock, good thing he has 2 weeks off”

Credit: @Neaarii

“Literally hate everything. Recall Guilbert then imo if it’s bad”

Credit: @ViIlaI_

“Typical”

Credit: @SelveyLogan

“how bad is it?”

Credit: @ZM_AVFC

In other news: ‘Some breaking transfer news’ – Sky Sports drop live TV update on Aston Villa and 9-trophy beast. 

Two wickets from Northamptonshire captain Andrew Hall were not enough to secure victory against Worcestershire as yet more rain spoiled the final day of their County Championship encounter at Wantage Road

28-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Two wickets from Northamptonshire captain Andrew Hall were not enough to secure victory against Worcestershire as yet more rain spoiled the final day of their County Championship encounter at Wantage Road.In an attempt to force what would have been a much-needed result, Worcestershire declared their first innings at 45 for nought after 31 balls of buffet bowling from Northants. The hosts forfeited their second innings, giving the visitors a target of 341 and they were teetering on 182 for 6 despite Moeen Ali’s 62 before heavy downpours saved them from defeat. With Northants declaring on 385 for 9 at the close on Friday, the match looked destined to be a draw as Worcestershire were finally given a chance to bat.The first part of the day saw a phoney war with the hosts using part-time bowlers, which allowed the away side to quickly plunder 45 without loss before declaring with their captain Daryl Mitchell and David Wheeldon unbeaten on 31 and 12 respectively. Northants forfeited their second innings, which meant Worcestershire had a victory target of 341 with 88 overs remaining.Their chase started badly when Mitchell, who scored just three, was caught by Stephen Peters at third slip off the bowling of Jack Brooks in the fourth over. Wheeldon (7) then edged Lee Daggett to Northants captain Hall at first slip to leave the visitors struggling on 21 for 2.It went from bad to worse when Vikram Solanki, who on 27 was just threatening to get going, saw his off stump taken out by Zimbabwe’s Elton Chigumbura. But the fourth-wicket partnership of Ali and Holland international Alexei Kervezee revived their hopes either side of lunch, with the pair adding 117 runs.Both struck half-centuries with Ali reaching his first off 102 balls and Kervezee following suit off just 63 balls. But he added just two more before smashing James Middlebrook to Peters at short mid-wicket and Ali went in the following over when he edged Hall to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy to swing the match back the hosts’ way.Hall struck again in his next over when he trapped James Cameron lbw, the batsman going for a four-ball duck. Heavy rain then began to fall for a prolonged period leading to the two teams taking an early tea.The shower passed and the sun emerged briefly but the heavens opened again soon after, forcing the umpires to admit defeat and call it a day.

A Test series between India and Australia should be enough to whet the appetite of any cricket fan. But is that true of a contest spanning only two matches? We’re about to find out

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale30-Sep-2010Match FactsFriday, October 1, Mohali
Start time 9:30am (0400 GMT)The Big PictureA Test series between India and Australia should be enough to whet the appetite of any cricket fan. But is that true of a contest spanning only two matches? We’re about to find out. The abbreviated nature of the trip notwithstanding, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is up for grabs. India are the holders after their 2-0 win at home this time two years ago, but much has changed since then. Australia entered that tour ranked No. 1 among Test teams and India were third. MS Dhoni’s men are now at the top of the list, while the Australians have slipped to fourth. If Australia lose the series, they’ll fall to fifth and begin the Ashes ranked lower than England.There are several fascinating subplots in this series. Will Harbhajan Singh continue to mesmerise Ricky Ponting? How will Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket’s highest scorers, fare in what could be their final series against each other? Can Rahul Dravid find a way to dominate Australia, a team that has had his measure since 2004? Will Nathan Hauritz hold his own against the world’s best players of spin? Is Marcus North on his last chance? And what controversy will arise?India haven’t lost a Test series for two years and, despite drawing their last two, have so much talent in their batting line-up that it is hard to see how Australia can win. That is especially true of the first Test in Mohali, where India have lost only once, winning thrice and drawing five Tests. Can 20 wickets come from Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger and Hauritz? Australia can dream, but India are unquestionably the favourites.Form guideIndia WDLWL
Australia LWWWWWatch out for…It has been a heady couple of years for Suresh Raina. In that period, he has managed to force his way back from the wilderness through some compelling performances in the IPL, and done well in the shorter formats for India. Injury to Yuvraj Singh gave him a rare opening into Test cricket and he latched on with a fine debut century against Sri Lanka. That innings was testimony Raina’s mental fortitude but, coming as it did on a flat track against a friendly attack, it did not say much about his technical prowess. Questions remain over Raina’s ability to handle the bouncer and the next few months, including a tour to South Africa, offer him a chance to address those concerns. At some point over the next five days, Johnson and co. are going to test Raina with the short stuff, possibly with the help of the second new ball. How will he respond?Since Shane Watson stepped into the opening role during last year’s Ashes, only Simon Katich and Michael Clarke have scored more Test runs for Australia. Last time Australia played Tests in India, Watson was making his long-awaited return to the baggy green and slotted in as a useful, if not outstanding, No. 6. He will be wary of Ishant Sharma’s ability to jag the ball back in; that angle has been a weakness for Watson at the top of the order. Stuart Broad and Graham Onions repeatedly trapped him lbw using that method last year and three of his four dismissals against Pakistan in July also came against the ball moving in. But Watson has started the tour well, with a century in each innings of the warm-up game, and will look to use this trip to add to his one Test hundred.Team newsAn injury to Harbhajan has cast a cloud over India’s hopes of having their first-choice attack back in action, following endless fitness issues in Sri Lanka. Dhoni said India will take a call on the offspinner on Friday morning. If Harbhajan does not make the cut, Pragyan Ojha will assume the role of lead spinner. Mohali’s seamer-friendly reputation gives Sreesanth an opportunity to make the final XI as the third fast bowler, ahead of legspinner Amit Mishra. The batsmen pick themselves and, barring last-minute fitness issues, M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara are likely to sit out.India (possible) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh / Amit Mishra / Sreesanth, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Pragyan OjhaAustralia are waiting to see how well Doug Bollinger and Michael Hussey train after their last-minute dash to India from the Champions League in South Africa. However, it would be a surprise if either man was left out. The only change from the team that lost to Pakistan at Headingley in July is likely to be the inclusion of Nathan Hauritz, who has recovered from his foot injury, at the expense of Steven Smith.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Marcus North, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.Pitch and conditionsThe Australians spotted a tinge of green on the pitch after heavy rain in Mohali, adding to the likelihood they would play just one specialist spinner. However, there is a chance the normally quick surface might play a little slower than usual due to the weather. It was here two years ago that Peter Siddle announced himself by thumping Gautam Gambhir on the helmet with his first ball in Test cricket. Dhoni admitted the difficulty in predicting how the pitch would play. “We will have to see the wicket tomorrow. It looks a bit damp, it’s been watered a bit. It looks like a good track. There may by a bit of skid for the fast bowlers,” he said.Stats and trivia Over the last ten years, Australia have lost more Tests to India than they have won. India are the only team that can boast of this record over Australia for the decade During that period, Australia are the only team to have beaten India in a series at home No bowler has dismissed Ricky Ponting more times in Test cricket than Harbhajan Singh, who has claimed his wicket on 10 occasions With the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan is now the leading wicket-taker among active Test spinners, with 357 Michael Hussey and Simon Katich, who started their careers as opponents in Under-13s cricket in Perth, begin this series each having played 52 Tests and each having scored exactly 3981 runsQuotes”It doesn’t matter on whom the pressure is. At the end of the day, you are expected to win if you are playing at home. Your ranking doesn’t matter here much.”
“It is going to be a very big test for our bowlers and for me as a captain. India is the No. 1 team in the world and they are there for a reason.”
“Whenever I play against the Aussies and perform, I feel good. I will try to perform even better this time so that next time when the next series happens they should again take my name first.”

Despite managing to secure permanent deals for on-loan striker Jean-Philippe Mateta and Luke Plange from Derby County, one deal that Crystal Palace were not able to secure during the recent January transfer window was one for Manchester United midfielder Donny Van de Beek.

After being linked with a move for the Dutchman last month, it was Everton who managed to secure his signature on deadline day on a loan move until the end of the season.

While this may have been a disappointment for some at Selhurst Park, there’s an argument to be made that a move for the United figure may not have been particularly necessary due to the presence of another midfielder that is already at Palace on loan from one of the Premier League’s top clubs – Conor Gallagher.

Having made the short journey from Chelsea to Palace back in the previous summer transfer window on a loan deal until the end of the season, the 21-year-old has become an important figure for Vieira’s side in this campaign.

With only four outfield players racking up more minutes in the Premier League than the Englishman so far this season, Gallagher has managed to score more goals (7) than any other Palace player as well as providing three assists along the way.

As well as his impressive record in front of goal this season, the £19.8m-rated ace, who has been likened to legendary Premier League midfielder Frank Lampard in the past by Vieira, has managed to rack up an overall performance rating of 7.36/10, comfortably making him Palace’s highest-rated player according to WhoScored.

This not only shows how crucial the player has been for the team this season, it also shows what a great bit of business it was from the club to get him in the first place and why they should now be thinking about trying to sign him permanently when the summer transfer window opens.

With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that well-known Palace expert HLTCO, wrote on Twitter: “Conor Gallagher has been a truly transformative force in the Palace midfield since joining the club.”

If the Eagles are able to sign the England international on a permanent basis in the summer, this would give him a great of developing and improving his game even further as well as giving Vieira the chance to continue unearthing what could become one of the best midfield players in the Premier League and put Van de Beek behind them.

In other news: Palace remain interested in 22-y/o striker, he can save their season

Ambati Rayudu, the Hyderabad batsman, has decided to play for Baroda in the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2010Ambati Rayudu, the Hyderabad batsman, has decided to play for Baroda in the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy. DS Chalapati, secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), confirmed that Rayadu had asked for an NOC from the association to allow him to play for Baroda.Hyderabad were relegated to the Plate League after a poor performance in the Super League during the Ranji season last year. Venkatapathy Raju, the Hyderabad coach, was unhappy with Rayudu’s decision to play for Baroda, who are part of the Super League.”It was done in bad taste,” Raju told . “As a senior member of the team, he should have taken the responsibility to guide Hyderabad this season. He should have been loyal to Hyderabad. This move reflects his commitment to the Hyderabad team.”Rayudu, who played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, made his first-class debut for Hyderabad in 2001-02 but, after a disappointing 2004-05 season, transferred to Andhra for the following season. He returned to play for Hyderabad in 2006 and then played for the Indian Cricket League in 2007. After serving a two-year ban Rayudu made a comeback to the Hyderabad Ranji team last season.

Tottenham Hotspur are lining up a summer swoop for Sven Botman…

What’s the word?

That’s according to the Daily Star, who claim that Spurs are desperate to land the Lille centre-back ahead of Premier League rivals Newcastle United in a bid to appease manager Antonio Conte.

The Magpies narrowly missed out on a chance to bring the 22-year-old colossus to St James’ Park last month and remain among the favourites to seal his signature ahead of next season.

A left-sided and left-footed centre-back is one of the Italian’s absolute priorities when the transfer window reopens and Botman fits that exact profile, with Conte giving the club’s hierarchy his seal of approval.

The Dutch international could cost in the region of £30m.

Conte needs him

This would be the sort of signing that could kickstart an encouraging summer of spending as Conte will need to bolster his playing squad in multiple areas if he’s to continue to improve the club on the pitch.

The January window was a little disappointing but only because there were only two incomings for their four outgoings. Sporting director Fabio Paratici called upon his former club Juventus to sign Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Out the other way went Dele Alli permanently, and Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Bryan Gil on loan, leaving the 52-year-old awfully light on options, particularly in midfield.

But defensively, Spurs have always struggled and that much has been evident in their four defeats in their last six fixtures. Full-back Ben Davies has been playing in a back three due to him being the only left-footed option in the squad capable of playing as a central defender.

That makes Botman not only an appealing prospect but one that Conte desperately needs.

The young centre-back appears to be an ideal fit for Spurs and an ideal fit for the Premier League, at least based on ex-Southampton star Jose Fonte’s glowing endorsement.

“Fonte has played with an array of top-class centre-backs in his career including Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, Pepe in the Portuguese national team and Gabriel last season who is now at Arsenal.

“From what I understand of Fonte’s impression of Botman, he thinks he’s the best of all of them,” revealed The Times journalist Duncan Castles (via the Express).

“He describes him as a machine and a man who doesn’t make mistakes and also indicates that for a young player playing alongside an experienced professional, he’s very open to learning and taking instruction and improving his game.”

Botman played a crucial role in Lille clinching the Ligue 1 title over Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain side last season, where he featured in 37 games and averaged 3.2 aerial duels won, 3.2 clearances and 1.5 interceptions, via WhoScored.

Then-manager Christophe Galtier deemed him to be a “leader” and since, he’s continued to impress in the French top-flight. The £27m-rated defender remains among Les Dogues’ top-three performers this term, as per WhoScored.

On the above evidence, Paratici could certainly kickstart Spurs’ summer rebuild with a bang by signing the impressive left-sided centre-half, who Conte absolutely needs for next season.

AND in other news, Spurs’ “utterly thrilling” £10.8m-rated dynamo has just fired a big statement to Conte…

Pakistan’s one-day captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis have lauded the ICC’s decision to give a clean chit to last month’s ODI against England at The Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2010Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis have welcomed the ICC’s decision to give a clean chit to last month’s ODI against England at The Oval. The ICC had launched an investigation into the match after receiving information from the newspaper before the game began alleging that bookies were aware of certain scoring patterns during the game. On Wednesday, they said their investigation was complete and “there was no compelling evidence to suspect individual players or support staff” of wrongdoing.”I am very happy after hearing the news,” Afridi, who led Pakistan to victory in that match, told AFP. “I had and will always have full confidence in my team that they will not do anything like that. I have told the players to always remain focused on cricket and forget anything else, and that’s what they were doing in the one-day series in England.”Afridi’s views were echoed by Waqar, who also hoped for a quick end to the controversies surrounding the England tour. Prior to the the ODI series, a expose had alleged that three players from the Pakistan side – Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – were involved in spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test. The trio has been suspended by the ICC pending investigations.”It’s [the ruling on The Oval ODI] very good news for Pakistan cricket,” Waqar told AFP. “I sincerely hope that all spot-fixing cases are solved soon because they have tarnished Pakistan’s reputation.”Taffazul Rizvi, legal adviser to the Pakistan Cricket Board, also welcomed the ruling, and added that any decision on following legal recourse against the British newspapers would wait for the outcome of the spot-fixing inquiry.

Marcelo Bielsa has admitted that Leeds United pair Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips are unlikely to return from injury in early March, as had initially been hoped.

The Lowdown: Leeds missing Phillips and Cooper

The Whites have had a season to forget in the Premier League, getting dragged further into the relegation mire by the week.

However, injuries to key players have been a problem throughout the campaign, with the likes of Cooper, Phillips and Patrick Bamford all missing big chunks of action.

The hope was that the first two would be returning in the coming weeks, but a fresh update has now emerged which suggests that the Elland Road faithful shouldn’t hold their breath.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Bielsa delivers negative update on Leeds duo

Speaking in his pre-Tottenham press conference on Friday [via Yorkshire Evening Post], Bielsa admitted that Cooper and Phillips will not be back in action in early March, despite that being mooted as a possible return date.

The 66-year-old stated: “There’s no fixed date [for their return]. The prediction that they will be available early March, how they are right now, doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the case.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-35/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Huge blow for Whites

This is a massive setback for Leeds, who have such an important run of fixtures coming up, having not won in the league since mid-January and now sitting just three points clear of 18th-placed Burnley with two more games played than the Clarets.

Cooper and Phillips have been such integral figures for the Whites down the years and were among their best players upon their impressive Premier League return last season (as was Bamford), so to be missing that entire spine of the team for so long is dreadfully bad luck.

It means that Bielsa’s men will need to keep plugging away without three of their most important players – Bamford’s return is even further away than the other two – in what is now becoming a real scrap for survival.

In other news, three Leeds players struggled in the defeat to Liverpool. Find out who they are here.

Everton are back in action this evening with another home clash in the Premier League, this time against Leicester City.

Heading in off the back of their 1-0 victory over Manchester United earlier in the month, Frank Lampard and the Everton fans will undoubtedly be looking to see their team secure another win this time out to move further away from the relegation zone.

Looking ahead to tonight’s showdown and their remaining league games of the campaign, it seems as though the Merseyside club have been handed a major boost over one of their key players.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from journalist Patrick Boyland relaying news from Lampard’s latest press conference, Toffees defender Yerry Mina will be in the squad to take on the Foxes.

The centre-back has been out of action since February with a hamstring injury and has only made ten league appearances for his side due to previous issues.

Great news for Lampard

With the Toffees only losing four of the ten league games that the Colombian has played in and only two of the games he completed a full 90 minutes in, having him back in the squad as another option will be a great thing for Lampard going forward.

To highlight what a useful option he will be, the 27-year-old has won nine tackles and made 14 blocks and 36 clearances in the league this season.

If he can make a return to action and continue being a tough figure at the back for his side, he could end up being the difference between Everton staying up or going down.

In terms of tonight’s showdown, it seems unlikely that the Toffees boss will immediately throw Mina back into the team considering how long he’s been out of action for.

With that in mind, if Lampard wants to have the defender available for the rest of the season, the 43-year-old will have to manage Mina’s minutes, for the time being, so he doesn’t risk getting injured again.

Also, with the centre-back pairing of Ben Godfrey and Michael Keane managing to keep a clean sheet last time out against the Red Devils, it would make sense for Lampard to stick with those two on this occasion to see if they can do the same again against Leicester.

In other news: Insider drops behind-scenes Finch Farm update that’ll leave Everton supporters furious

Despite the loss of Zaheer Khan to injury and another fruitless outing for the bowling, MS Dhoni appeared reluctant to meddle with the four-bowler strategy that has worked for the team in recent times

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2010Despite the loss of Zaheer Khan to injury and another fruitless outing for the bowling, MS Dhoni appeared reluctant to meddle with the four-bowler strategy that has worked for the team in recent times. Harbhajan Singh’s recent heroics with the bat do give Dhoni the luxury of dropping a specialist batsman, but India are unlikely to go down that route in Nagpur.”It’s a tough call to make,” said Dhoni. “We’re happy to play with four bowlers. That’s what we’ve done more often than not. To put pressure on Bhajji by saying he’s an allrounder might be harsh on him. But it is an option.”When the day began with New Zealand just 115 ahead, an Indian win was still very much a possibility. But once Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson started with wonderfully positive intent and saw off the new ball, there was only going to be one result. “We thought the first one or one-and-a-half hours would be crucial,” said Dhoni. “At the time, Zaheer was also fit to bowl, in the sense that he felt he could give it a go.”But after a couple of overs with the new ball, he decided he’s not really fit enough to continue. So we just had Sreesanth left as a medium-pacer. And we had two spinners who had already bowled a good number of overs.”Though Harbhajan’s strike-rate with the ball this year is an unflattering 97.4, his batting form has meant that it’s Pragyan Ojha who’s under scrutiny after two draws against a side ranked No. 8 in the world. “I think Ojha’s done a really good job in the games he’s played,” said Dhoni when it was suggested that Ishant Sharma or Amit Mishra might have been a better choice. “He’s taken wickets and is one bowler who can contain and bowl long spells. Even on the flattest of tracks on the first day, he has managed to keep the opposition quiet.”Most of Dhoni’s comments dealt with the pitch, which he reckoned wasn’t conducive to a result. “I think both teams did well,” he said. “I think the wicket supported the batsmen throughout. We’ve seen less grass on the wicket on the first day of both Test matches. But on the fifth day, you’ve seen a track with much more grass. It looked much greener compared to the first day. There wasn’t much for the bowlers.”Before the start of the Test, we all knew that Hyderabad was known for being batsmen-friendly. To change the nature of the wicket in a short period of time is difficult.”While frustrated at another stalemate, Dhoni also gave credit to New Zealand, whose top-order batsmen have played with a composure and skill that eluded most of Australia’s batsmen on their recent tour of India. “They batted really well,” he said. “They waited for the loose deliveries.”When you’re not getting assistance from the pitch, you sometimes try too much to get wickets. And if you look at the last 20-22 games we’ve played, the bowlers have bowled more than 4000 overs. That’s a concern because it’s mostly the same bowlers who have featured in those games.”

He’s taken wickets and is one bowler who can contain and bowl long spells. Even on the flattest of tracks on the first day, he has managed to keep the opposition quietMS Dhoni on Prgayan Ojha

That fatigue will definitely be a factor in Nagpur, and all eyes will once again be on the curator with the series up for grabs. There are anecdotes, true or not, from the old days of Indian captains slipping the groundsman a symbolic razor to suggest that not a blade of grass should remain come the first morning. But times have changed and Dhoni admitted that his job is tougher as a result.”As a foreign team coming to India, you think of how you’re going to play the fourth and fifth days,” he said. “But when there’s no assistance for the bowlers, things change. I don’t think they’re under the same pressure when handling spinners that they were in the past. You used to see them practise throw-downs on scuffed surfaces with rough areas. I don’t think it’s like that any more.”Of the Test matches we’ve played lately, very few have been on turners. I can remember Ahmedabad against Sri Lanka (2005). After that, Kanpur (2008, against South Africa) to some extent. The CCI wicket in Mumbai (Sri Lanka, 2009) also gave a bit of assistance in the morning.”With his best bowler out of the series and the spinners outbowled by Daniel Vettori, a lot of things will need to fall into place for Dhoni and India to avoid embarrassment in a series that they were expected to win comfortably. A livelier pitch aside, it’s time for the other bowlers to prove that this isn’t a one-Zaheer team.