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Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts believes Steven Gerrard should be a candidate to become the next Spurs boss, though he has told Football FanCast that he doubts he would be willing to take the job.

The ex-Liverpool captain has done brilliant work with Rangers and has guided them to the Scottish Premiership title this season.

Indeed, the Gers are currently 23 points clear of second-placed Celtic, and have yet to lose a single game in the top flight.

With two matches of the season remaining there is a very real chance of Gerrard, who has only tasted defeat twice in 2021 against Slavia Prague and on penalties to St Johnstone in the cup, and his side achieving an unbeaten season.

Spurs, of course, are on the lookout for a new manager after sacking Jose Mourinho earlier in April.

Roberts played for both clubs and he believes Gerrard should be considered as a candidate, though he holds doubts over whether he would be willing to move to north London.

Gerrard, of course, spent all but one season in his professional career at Liverpool.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: “Steven Gerrard has done an unbelievable job at Rangers but maybe this is another step higher.

“I think what he’s done there, I’m not saying a bigger club, I think Rangers are a massive club. But what I’m thinking is the Premier League, it’s another step.”

Having lost 14 matches in the Premier League, it hasn’t exactly been a very fruitful campaign for Crystal Palace.

What hasn’t helped is a lack of clarity over Roy Hodgson’s future with the club.

What’s the word?

Hodgson is out of contract at Selhurst Park in the summer but it’s not known whether he’ll actually be staying in London.

The 73-year-old may well choose to retire but he hasn’t given very many hints over his future.

Palace chairman Steve Parish has been pondering replacements just in case he does leave, with the likes of Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche both being monitored.

Though, if recent news is anything to go by, he might need to ramp up his search.

That’s because The Sun claim that even if Hodgson is offered a new contract, there is no longer a 100% guarantee that he’d sign it.

As a result, there is a chance he quits football altogether this summer.

A big dilemma

If the former England boss is intent on stepping down in a few months time, it will leave Parish with an almighty dilemma on his hands.

The question on his mind, and indeed everyone’s at Crystal Palace, will be a simple one; who is going to be the new manager?

A number of faces have been linked with the post but external factors could determine who they can lure to London.

Howe is being tracked by Celtic but recent reports indicate he’s now finalising a deal with the Glaswegian side.

Dyche is an option for the Eagles but it would take nearly £3m to prise him away from Turf Moor. That fee is without considering the backroom staff he’d want to bring with him too.

Another name that Parish may look to tempt to the club is ex Chelsea manager Frank Lampard.

He was sacked by the Blues in January and is still waiting at home to find a new job.

If Palace are hoping to establish themselves more, Dyche seems a viable option. However, it’s hard to deny that Lampard wouldn’t be a more exciting fit.

He has a proven track record of developing youngsters at Derby and Chelsea, something that could prove game-changing for players like Ebere Eze, Tyrick Mitchell and Nathan Ferguson.

Parish clearly has a lot of thinking to do between now and the summer.

AND in other news, “Palace are looking to get him” – Exclusive: Pundit drops CPFC transfer hint on £60k-p/w PL star…

Jonas Lossl has told The Athletic that he felt he had the talent to replace Jordan Pickford as Everton’s number one when he sealed a free transfer from Huddersfield Town in 2019.

The Blues moved to snap up Lossl under the leadership of Marco Silva following the Terriers relegation to the second-tier, yet the 32-year-old never played a game for the Merseyside outfit.

Silva ensured that Lossl remained a constant understudy for Pickford and that picture did not change when the Portuguese was replaced at the helm by Carlo Ancelotti, who sanctioned a loan move back to the John Smith’s Stadium just six weeks into his tenure.

Lossl hoped that his return in the summer of 2020 would see Ancelotti offer him a chance at earning minutes at Goodison Park after the departure of Maarten Stekelenburg, but the arrival of Robin Olsen on loan from AS Roma saw an end to that.

“The situation at Everton was not for me,” Lossl claims. “I went with the expectation and hope of challenging Jordan Pickford and getting game time. Because of different situations, that didn’t happen. I thought all along I could go and get in front of Jordan. It was my chance to get into a team like that, but I didn’t take it.”

The arrival of Olsen a year later and Ancelotti favouring the Sweden international as Pickford’s understudy caught Lossl by surprise, and paved the way for his eventual exit on Deadline Day in February when he re-joined former side FC Midtjylland.

“Of course I was [surprised] and sad because they were changing me out,” Lossl added. “I didn’t expect that. If I’d known, I’d have tried to prevent it — if not get another move, then tell them not to do it because he took my place.

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“Robin came in how many hours before closing time? It was difficult [for me] to do something. I felt from the beginning that I did not want to be third-choice. I worked my *** off in autumn to try to prove that it was the wrong decision, and they should play me.

“We had a cup game the week before I left, so I went to Carlo and said: ‘Give me the chance to prove that I can play,’ but we had an honest conversation and they told me: ‘This is not the club for you and if you want to play, then we need to find a solution.’”

Lossl holds no ill-feelings for anyone for the way that his Everton career panned out, and is now back at the side where he began his career in Midtjylland, seven years after leaving the Danish club for EA Guingamp.

Yet minutes have not been overly forthcoming for the one-time Denmark international, with Lossl only playing the Ulvene’s last three Superligaen games before the international break after six appearances as an unused substitute.

There was a place on the bench for Lossl in 21 of Everton’s Premier League games during his 19-months at the club, with the shot-stopper finding even a back-up role hard to secure under Ancelotti who omitted him from 15 matchday squads.

The Italian ultimately made the right decision by telling Lossl to find a new side in the final stages of the winter market as Everton was “not the club for you”, as Ancelotti clearly did not rate the £2.5m-rated ‘keeper but has often sung the praises of Olsen.

Lossl’s disaster of an Everton career will see that he goes down in the record books as one of Silva’s flops, having failed to play a single second yet cost the Toffees just over £3m in wages.

Reports at the time of his arrival by Ekstra Bladet claimed Lossl signed a 100 million krona (£53.5k-p/w) three-year contract at Goodison Park, while Huddersfield covered his salary – thanks to a pay cut – during his 26-weeks back at the club on loan.

The money Everton flushed away through Lossl does not stop at his wages earned over 57 weeks on Merseyside, either, as the Blues reached a settlement agreement with the goalkeeper so that he could leave the club earlier this year.

Lossl will not be a player who lives long in the memories of Everton supporters for any other reason than failing to play a game for the club, and will hope to create better memories for Midtjylland in a battle with Brondby IF for the Superligaen title.

AND in other news, Everton can potentially save £13m by turning to this Max Aarons alternative…

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West Bromwich Albion are set to travel to Stoke City this weekend after suffering back-to-back defeats against Middlesbrough and Brighton.

What’s the word?

The Baggies are firmly in the race for promotion this season under Darren Moore. They currently sit just seven points adrift of top spot with a game in hand ahead of their trip to the Bet365 Stadium.

Ahead of the fixture, EFL pundit David Prutton has delivered his pre-match prediction and tipped the Baggies to bounce back from their recent defeats with a vital victory, as per Sky Sports.

‘West Brom suffered a bit of a blow against Middlesbrough last week and again in the FA Cup on Wednesday, but Darren Moore is an upbeat boss and his side generally responds pretty well to setbacks.

‘I fancy them to go up to the Potteries and sneak all three points.’

A win away at Stoke would hand them the morale-boosting three points they need to heap pressure onto the Championship pace setters, and his assessment of Moore is telling about their promotion credentials.

Moore’s positive attitude holds key to West Brom’s promotion campaign

With so many clubs vying for just two automatic promotion places it looks like the race could go right down to the wire.

There is very little to separate the teams who have their eyes set on the top-flight right now, but a lack of mettle and bouncebackability could see a handful of clubs falter as the pressure begins to intensify.

As Prutton has alluded to, though, West Brom are a side who seldom allow a setback to tarnish their progress, and the fact they have lost back-to-back league games on just one occasion this season speaks volumes about their consistency.

Moore should be held responsible for that impressive record, as the manager is largely responsible for boosting morale within the dressing room and finding solutions to ensure one defeat does not signal the beginning of a rot.

Barring the defeat against Boro last weekend, Moore has guided his side to four victories in the six games which followed their league defeats this season, so the form guide reads well for the supporters ahead of the Stoke clash.

Wayne Rooney could be planning a move to bring Lee Gregory back to Derby County this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Derbyshire Live, who claim that the 35-year-old Rams boss may be targeting a move to bring the Stoke City centre-forward, who spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Pride Park, back to the club for next season.

Speaking last month about the possibility of the £450,000-rated 32-year-old returning to Derby, Rooney, as cited by Derbyshire Live, stated: “Losing Lee was a blow because he was in good form. He’ll do his rehab and we will help him get back fit, and [will] obviously make a decision on Lee at the end of the season.

“I think he has been fantastic – attitude, energy, hunger. He’s very good inside the six-yard box, his anticipation to get himself in the right position to score goals is very good.”

Rooney must avoid move

While Gregory did manage to score three goals and provide one assist over his 11 appearances while on loan at Derby County, prior to picking up a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the club’s last seven Championship fixtures, there are a number of reasons why Rooney must avoid a move for the former Millwall man this summer.

Firstly, while the Derby boss may well be impressed with the striker’s hunger, energy and attitude, the fact remains that, throughout his career, Gregory has only ever scored 10 or more goals in a Championship season on two occasions – in his 2017/18 and 2018/19 Championship campaigns with the Lions, when he scored 10 and 12 goals respectively.

Secondly, with the £17,500-per-week forward still under contract for a further year with Stoke, unless Derby can somehow persuade the Potters to allow them to take Gregory off their hands for nothing, then he will cost a fee – something that, considering the state of Derby’s current finances, would appear to be a waste of money on a 32-year-old with little to no resale value.

Finally, there is an argument to make that there are much better options available for Derby in the transfer window, not only in terms of quality but also in price, with a number of impressive talents becoming available on free transfers this summer – such as Sunderland’s 29-goal hitman Charlie Wyke.

As such, it would be highly advisable for Rooney to resist the temptation to simply return to a player he knows in the upcoming transfer window, as the Rams need to make considerable improvements, rather than just treading water.

In other news: Alan Nixon delivers encouraging Derby County update, fans will surely be buzzing – opinion

The timeline of Celtic’s season is enough to drag you to depression if you’re a Hoops supporter.

It has been a wretched campaign that will end without a trophy at Parkhead for the first time in around a decade. They could also end the term without a first-team manager.

What’s the word?

Neil Lennon left the Bhoys nine weeks ago but majority shareholder Dermot Desmond is finding life difficult in terms of finding a replacement.

Roy Keane has twice emerged on the scene but it’s Eddie Howe who appears to be their number one choice.

Unfortunately, there have been a number of complications holding a deal up.

Taking to Twitter over the weekend, reliable journalist Alan Nixon made a big claim on the major reason behind the delay.

Responding to a fan who asked if Howe’s backroom staff demands were an issue, he said: “It’s a huge factor in this.”

Desmond fuming

This has been a ridiculous scenario for the club’s main shareholder and it doesn’t look like ending anytime soon.

After such an arduous season the last thing the Bhoys needed was another lengthy saga, especially when there’s so much to address this summer.

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Desmond and indeed the entire club are being left in the lurch right now and if we’re seeking a resolution, we may not have one until the end of next month.

There is good news in the sense that Richard Hughes is reportedly no longer a major factor for Howe but he still wants some of the Bournemouth coaching staff to join him at Paradise.

He is keen on seeing Stephen Purches and Stephen Weatherstone come with him but the Cherries are right in the middle of a promotion hunt.

The Championship play-off finals aren’t until May 29th so it might not be before then that we hear news of a new manager. If the south-coast side successfully negotiates their way back to the top-flight then it will cost Celtic more financially to prise Purches and Weatherstone away.

That’s because they will be due pay rises. On top of that, they will also have the lure of Premier League football to keep them in England.

This is a situation that must be leaving Desmond tearing his hair out. Whatever way you look at it, there is no swift remedy.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Ajer: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen “weapon” next term, he’s clear of Duffy…

Rangers take on League One side Cove Rangers at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup on Sunday evening and Steven Gerrard should consider dropping Steven Davis from his side.

The 36-year-old has been a regular for the Light Blues so far this season and has been one of their most consistent performers in the league, averaging a very solid 6.99/10 rating across his 30 league appearances this season.

However, he has failed to contribute a goal or an assist in any of those appearances and against a side such as Cove Rangers, where Gerrard will undoubtedly want his side to have a comfortable margin of victory, he may be best served by opting for a more creative midfield.

Although Davis’ performances this season have rightfully earned him a new contract at the club for next season, his performances in the last month for both club and country haven’t been at his usually high level.

Aside from the 3-0 win against St Mirren in early March, all of Davis’ performances with Rangers last month saw him rated below a 6.5 match rating from WhoScored for his performances.

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He particularly disappointed in the Europa League games against Slavia Prague and was one of several Rangers players guilty of producing one of their worst displays of the season in the 2-0 defeat at Ibrox.

Although the 36-year-old was able to set a record recently for the most caps earned by any UK player in history, Gerrard may not be too pleased that his veteran midfielder played for 90 minutes against both Italy and Bulgaria during the international break.

Before he broke the record, former Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez was full of praise for Davis, saying:

“He’s always been what managers call a nine out of ten. You just know what you are getting as he is so consistent. Even now he is the same. He doesn’t carry any baggage and is the ultimate professional. One of the best around.”

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Therefore, you could definitely argue that his performances recently have not been great and the midfielder is perhaps in need of a rest, so even though Gerrard might be keen to select some experience in his midfield against Cove Rangers to ensure his side gets the job done, he should drop Davis for this particular fixture.

And, in other news… Rangers should unleash “clever” £540k-rated beast on Sunday, he could be Gerrard’s game-changer

It has been a strange old Premier League season for Leeds starlet Ian Poveda.

The 21-year-old has flitted in between the first team squad and the under-23s and has played just 243 minutes of top-flight football spread out over ten appearances.

The likes of Raphinha, Jack Harrison and Helder Costa have all been regulars for Marcelo Bielsa’s side this season, but with Harrison ineligible for the Premier League clash against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, the Leeds boss must surely consider unleashing Poveda.

The winger joined the Whites on loan from City, with Pep Guardiola making it clear just how highly he rates the youngster, saying: “He’s young, he has to play, he’s not able (to play here) and Leeds is an incredible challenge to be training with one of the best managers in the world in terms of how he helps players to be better players.

“For the way Leeds play it should suit his qualities perfectly. I didn’t speak with Ian but either way it’s a really good decision for him.”

Since his arrival, however, Poveda has only played 16 times for the first team at Elland Road, with his last competitive appearance coming against Brighton in early January. However, in the brief opportunities he has been given, the £10,000-a-week earning ace has shown flashes of great promise.

Talking about Poveda earlier this campaign, former Leeds striker Noel Whelan said: “You can see now when you talk about people changing games and bringing a different dimension, he’s very, very quick, got great feet, very tricky, likes to run at players. Very much like Raphinha as well.

“He just looks a lot stronger this season, body-wise, mentality wise. He looks like he’s there to push people rather than just take up a bench place.”

Paul Robinson added to the winger’s list of admirers, telling MOT Leeds News last March: “I think we’re going to see Poveda come through next season. Leeds have signed him for a reason, Bielsa knows he’s a top, top player.”

With Harrison unable to play against his parent club, and Costa hardly setting the world alight – he has scored just twice all season – the 21-year-old is surely deserving of an opportunity to partner Raphinha out wide.

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Poveda’s previous history with City may give him that extra motivation to play a bit harder and impress his former employers and let them know that they made a mistake in letting him go.

Meanwhile, Leeds could finally wave goodbye to this liability by signing this Premier League titan…

As confirmed by the club, Norwich City loanee Ben Gibson will miss the rest of the 2020/21 Championship season following an ankle ligament injury, prompting many supporters to voice their despair as this ‘awful news’ emerges.

Gibson – who has been a mainstay under Daniel Farke this season, starting 26 matches in England’s second tier (WhoScored) – will now be absent for the remainder of the promotion-chasing campaign.

The 28-year-old has helped guide Farke’s table-topping Canaries to within touching distance of promotion back to the Premier League, but news of him being ruled out for their remaining matches has resulted in some concern.

Gibson and centre-back partner Grant Hanley are regarded by some sections of the press as potentially Farke’s best-ever defensive pairing in his time at Norwich, leaving little wonder as to why one of the duo’s absence has prompted discussion on social media.

Find some of the supporters’ verdicts on this news below.

Norwich City fans erupt over Gibson injury

“Awful news but he will be back stronger”

Credit: @Airheadange

“oh my God, Ben please take my ankle, you need it more than me”

Credit: @nikosrobinson

“This is a massive blow”

Credit: @mattterry08

“such sad news 🙁 he’s been immense for us! hope you come back stronger”

Credit: @aimeencfc18

“Ahhhh gutted. This will be a big loss.

Get well soon Gibson”

Credit: @RoryHaczewski

“He’s been superb for us this season. Gutted”

Credit: @lewisjarrett4

“That’s a big blow.”

Credit: @sji1616

In other news: Norwich City transfers that shook the club, read more about it here.

Flocking to an ExWHUemployee tweet on Felipe Anderson, many West Ham United supporters have discussed the winger’s future as he continues to endure a less than successful spell on loan at FC Porto.

Anderson, who has started just one Liga NOS match all season for the Portuguese giants (WhoScored), has apparently been accused of not working hard enough by their manager as his future remains a point of debate.

ExWHUemployee, relaying that stance on Twitter, also provided an update – with the club insider believing he is still currently still their player in response to a supporter enquiring over Anderson’s situation.

Flocking to his tweet, many Irons dropped their wide array of verdicts on the 27-year-old – with some believing his time as a West Ham player could be coming to an end soon.

Others branded the attacker as ‘lazy’ and ‘lightweight’ – find all of their comments on the Irons man down below.

West Ham fans flock to ExWHUemployee claim on Anderson

“The lad’s an embarrassment, so much technical ability and speed..seems he just can’t be bothered, needs his head checked. I think he might be the most frustrating player ever”

Credit: @IronDragon87

“He is technically gifted and there is a good player in there as said on here but he’s not suited to the PL or Moyes, time to cut our losses (again) and move on.”

Credit: @theongarboy

“Lightweight to be honest, turns up when he feels like it”

Credit: @PeterBr36101171

“He’s right, he is lazy! Cannot see him playing another game in the premier league.”

Credit: @tonymonkwhu

“He doesn’t work hard enough? What a shock for the Porto scouts who suggested they move for him”

Credit: @BernardJakob

“Guess this confirms his not in moyes plans.”

Credit: @MoyesEffect

“What’s happened to our star boy it’s sad”

Credit: @Thehammerone1

“Maybe Ajax will take another talented waster off our hands.”

Credit: @tw25rw

In other news: West Ham are eyeing a move for this defensive colossus, find out more here.