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Presenter Conor McGilligan has claimed current Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce would be a "big fish in a small pond" if he stays with the club after relegation.

What is the latest manager news for Leeds?

Having burned through former head coaches Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia already this season, the Whites are onto their third manager of the campaign.

And in a position of real trouble, the board have turned to Big Sam to try and get them through. A loss to Manchester City in his first game in charge, followed by a draw with Newcastle United this weekend, now means they have just two Premier League games left to play but remain one point from safety.

With that being the case, there is every chance that Leeds will be relegated at the end of the month and it remains unclear who will guide them in the Championship if that happens.

While talking about it all on the One Leeds Fan Channel, McGilligan pondered the idea of Allardyce staying on.

He said (40:52): "Would he fancy it? Who knows.

"I'd be more confident with him maybe in the Championship than I would in the Premier League.

"I think he'd be one of those in the Championship where people turn around and go you know, at the end of the day – I know he only had one game – he's still an ex-England manager, isn't he?

“So it's a big fish in a small pond you could say in the Championship."

Will Allardyce stay at Leeds?

Allardyce has only signed an initial contract until the end of the season with the Daily Mail claiming he will be paid £500,000, plus £2.5m in bonus if he can keep them up.

Should they go down, though, there is a chance the 68-year-old could hang around. After all, this is his first job in management since 2021 and even admitted he was "shocked" to be offered the role.

With that in mind, he might want to stick about and perhaps Leeds will be happy to have him in charge as he does at least have experience in the Championship.

Indeed, over the course of his career, he has coached 46 games in that division – all with West Ham United – also winning all three playoff games to get promoted back into the Premier League.

All in all, it's not impossible to see a scenario where the Englishman is handed the job on a permanent basis regardless of what happens in Leeds' final two games.

Sharjeel Khan struck 152, the third highest score for Pakistan in ODI cricket, and Imad Wasim bagged 5 for 14 as they crushed Ireland by 255 runs

Tim Wigmore in Dublin18-Aug-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ballSharjeel Khan pulls during his century•AFPIn the list of the fastest ODI centuries by Pakistan and you will see a familiar name: Shahid Afridi. Afridi is still the owner of the three fastest hundreds, but now there is a new man lurking behind him: Sharjeel Khan, who is now the proud owner of the fastest century by a Pakistani not named Afridi and the architect of the heaviest victory by runs in the country’s ODI history.The tempo of Sharjeel’s innings – and the utterly one-sided nature of this match – was established in the first over. Undeterred by muggy skies or the threat of seam, Sharjeel scythed his second ball, from Tim Murtagh, through the offside and then launched the over’s final delivery for a straight six.That same impudent spirit defined the rest of his innings. Sharjeel treated Ireland’s bowlers as if he was range-hitting against local net bowlers. The shot with which he brought up his century, a sweep to leg that was misfielded, actually had a subtlety out of sync with the rest of his stay; this was an innings of unrelenting brutality, defined above all by Sharjeel’s brazen, clean hitting to the leg side, pulling imperiously and launching the ball over long on with impunity.The violence was also out of sync with the bucolic setting at Malahide. This is the venue that Ireland hope to turn into their fortress, yet not only were their team humiliated on the pitch, their ignominious batting collapse made all the more unpalatable by coming in the best conditions of the day, yet here the home fans were outdone – if not in number, then certainly in noise – by Pakistan’s supporters. When Sharjeel raised his helmet and performed the in celebration at his maiden ODI century, coming off only 61 balls and four days after his 27th birthday, he did so against a backdrop of chants of “Pakistan! Zindabad”.He only became more merciless after reaching his century. Twenty-five balls later he had sailed past 150, greeting the slow emergence of the sun with a series of shots that not merely cleared the boundary at Malahide, but would have done so at any ground in the world. While Sharjeel was batting, there seemed not so much one game of cricket being played as two: the bedlam when he was at the crease, and the relative tranquillity when he was not, as Mohammad Hafeez took 59 balls over 37.Perhaps Sharjeel’s impact was overdue. He made his ODI debut three years ago but, after a sparkling 61 on debut, his form collapsed, and he was dropped after 11 ODIs brought an average of just 17.63, and, in the process ditched from T20 cricket too. The creation of the Pakistan Super League created a new platform for him to impress the selectors, and a 62-ball 117 against Shaun Tait and Wahab Riaz gave note of his talent. He was recalled to Pakistan’s T20 side and performed encouragingly in their dismal World T20 campaign.But many considered him a little on the rotund side for an international cricketer. When Pakistan went on their army boot camp, to Abbottabad, in preparation for their tour to England, Sharjeel struggled, and was given a tailor-made programme to make him fit for international cricket. During Pakistan A’s tour of England, he made plenty of runs, including 125 against the England Lions, but more important was the 5kg he lost.”That boot camp was really special, and the fitness work is really helping us on this tour,” he said after his memorable day. “I need to improve my fitness more day-by-day.”Not that Sharjeel did much running here, too busy exploiting the shoddy length of Ireland’s bowlers – too full or, more often, too short. Even in a match reduced to 47 overs a side, Sharjeel was on course to waltz past Saeed Anwar’s 194, and set a new record for Pakistan’s top individual score in an ODI before, attempting to hit his 10th six, he top edged Barry McCarthy to Niall O’Brien.By now, though, Ireland had cause to fear a chase as onerous as the 378 they were set by Sri Lanka at Malahide exactly two months ago. William Porterfield later reckoned that the game was actually lost in the first 20 overs, when Ireland’s bowlers failed to exploit the seaming conditions that had led him to insert Pakistan. For Peter Chase, heaved for 70 in seven overs, matches such as this are indeed “a tough school,” as Porterfield reflected; what he would have given to be able to summon Boyd Rankin instead.The skill of Tim Murtagh and the zest of McCarthy, whose four wickets lifted him to 18 in seven ODIs this summer, created a brief period of calm after Sharjeel’s dismissal, but it did not last long. Shoaib Malik, playing his 233rd ODI, and Mohammad Nawaz, playing his first, added 105 to leave Ireland needing to chase over seven an over.Few gave them a chance of doing so, but nor did they envisage Ireland being bundled out within 24 overs. Imad Wasim feasted on the frailties in Ireland’s batting, though he can surely never had to do so little to take a five-wicket haul in professional cricket. The match ended with three Wasim wickets in four deliveries: each came from little more than innocuous arm-balls, as Porterfield later admitted. It summed up a desolate Ireland performance.While Sharjeel had lifted Pakistan to their insurmountable total, another Pakistan returnee, Umar Gul, ran through Ireland’s top order, with a hostile spell of swing bowling in his first ODI for a year. The most mesmerising bowling, though, was reserved for Mohammad Amir, who swung the second ball of the innings to uproot Paul Stirling’s off stump, and then had Ed Joyce, defeated by a ball so quick that he could not get his bat out of the line in time, dropped at second slip.That Amir was only needed to bowl four overs was the final indignity for Ireland. The day ended not merely with their lowest ever total in a home ODI and second lowest anywhere, but the second largest defeat by runs in their history. It also ended with new urgency imbued into the fear that the opportunities that Ireland have craved for so long have come at a time when the team is in decline.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is seemingly ready to raid his former club Ajax once again, amid claims that the Dutchman is keen on a reunion with Mohammed Kudus this summer.

What's the latest on Kudus to Man United?

According to journalist David Ornstein – writing in his weekly column for The Athletic – the Red Devils are reportedly among the clubs who are keeping tabs on the Ghanaian international, with the 22-year-old seemingly intent on leaving the Eredivisie side at the end of the season.

The report claims that the 23-cap gem – who is also attracting interest from Arsenal and Newcastle United – only recently rejected a new one-year extension on his current deal, with the player's existing contract set to expire in the summer of 2025.

As such, the Amsterdam outfit could well sanction a sale for the former Nordsjaelland ace if he does not agree to a renewal, with the piece noting that a fee of around £40m could be enough for the likes of United to strike a deal.

Who could Kudus replace at Man United?

The 5 foot 9 sensation appears to be a player that Ten Hag is keen to link up with in the near future, with Manchester Evening News having reported back in February that the Dutchman believes the versatile forward has the 'attributes to excel in the Premier League'.

With the 53-year-old having already prised both Lisandro Martinez and Antony from his former employers last summer, it would be no surprise to see him again return to the Johan Cruyff Arena in order to snap up Kudus, with the exciting talent having enjoyed a stellar campaign thus far.

The much-coveted dynamo has scored 18 goals and provided six assists in 42 games across all fronts this season, proving an invaluable asset due to his ability to feature in a playmaking role, on the flanks or as a centre-forward.

The youngster's attacking flexibility could well make him a dream replacement for Anthony Martial in the forward line, with the injury-prone asset – who has missed 27 games this season – looking set for an exit from Old Trafford ahead of next season.

The long-serving Frenchman has scored only eight goals and provided only three assists in 27 games in all competitions so far this term, notably scoring just twice in his last ten league outings as a marker of his lack of consistency.

A major benefit of snapping up Kudus in his place would be the Ajax man's superior creative prowess as he has averaged 3.38 progressive passes and 3.38 progressive carries per 90 over the last 365 days, as per FBref, while Martial by contrast, has averaged just 2.97 and 1.66 for those same two metrics, respectively.

Equally, the Ghana international – who has been hailed as "fun to watch" by Dutch icon Marco van Basten – also seemingly possesses a great work ethic having averaged 1.27 tackles per 90, while the current United man has averaged just 0.44 for the same metric.

With Martial's time seemingly up after almost eight years in Manchester, Ten Hag could put the final nail in the striker's Man United career by turning to the fleet-footed Kudus this summer.

An update has emerged on Burnley and their plans to bolster their midfield options in the upcoming summer transfer window…

What's the latest on Fabio Carvalho to Burnley?

According to Football Insider, the Clarets are interested in a deal to sign Portuguese attacking midfielder Fabio Carvalho from Premier League giants Liverpool.

The report claims that the club are keen on adding the ex-Fulham starlet to their squad for the 2023/24 campaign and are willing to bring him in on loan or on a permanent basis.

It is stated that manager Vincent Kompany wants to add a cutting edge to his midfield and would like to recruit a player who can play in a multitude of roles.

Who is Fabio Carvalho?

He is a 20-year-old midfielder who is capable of playing in multiple positions across the middle of the park and attack. The ace has been deployed as a number ten, on both flanks, up front, and as a central midfielder, in his short career to date.

Carvalho has only played 727 minutes, across 22 appearances, in the Premier League this season but caught the eye with his sensational performances for Fulham in the Championship in 2021/22 and could form an exciting partnership with current Burnley star Josh Brownhill.

The Englishman scored seven goals and provided eight assists in 41 outings in the second tier for the Clarets to help them on their way to the title. He has proven himself to be a player who can burst forward from midfield positions to make telling contributions in the final third with goals and assists, which is a skill that Carvalho could also provide.

In the 2021/22 campaign, the youngster, who Liverpool pundit Paul Machin dubbed "tremendous", scored ten goals and assisted eight in 36 appearances for Fulham in the Championship. He created a whopping 13 'big chances' for his teammates – four more than Brownhill this term – and these statistics show that the prodigy has the potential to make a huge impact at the top end of the pitch.

The £40k-per-week wizard has also shown signs of promise at the top level at Anfield this season. Carvalho has scored 0.39 non-penalty goals per 90 – two in 17 appearances in the Premier League and Champions League combined – and this places him in the top 1% of players in his position in the Men's Big Five Leagues and European competitions over the last 365 days.

This suggests that the potential is there for him to score goals in the top-flight and that is why the magician could be an excellent addition to Burnley's squad and form an exciting partnership with Brownhill.

The attacking midfield pairing could provide a huge goal threat from the middle of the park to go along with their excellent creativity in possession, which could be vital in helping the Clarets to avoid relegation back to the Championship by scoring and assisting match-winning goals next season.

A round-up of the third day’s play in round one of Ranji Trophy Group A matches

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2016Dhawal Kulkarni’s six-for and Abhishek Nayar’s unbeaten 45 led Mumbai to a tense two-wicket win on the third day against Tamil Nadu, to start their title defense in Lahli. Once Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 185, Mumbai stuttered on their way to chase 97, being 35 for 5 at one point, before Nayar saw them through.Mumbai had a shaky start to their chase, as Aswin Christ removed the openers and K Vignesh got rid of Kaustubh Pawar, Armaan Jaffer and Suryakumar Yadav, leaving Mumbai still 62 adrift with five wickets left. Nayar, who was promoted from No. 7 to 5, held one end with a brisk innings. He got brief support from Aditya Tare’s 23-ball stay, but Crist had the captain caught behind after the team crossed 50. Kulkarni was then caught behind off Vignesh, before Balwinder Sandhu’s eighth-wicket stand of 30 with Nayar took the score to 90. Sandhu fell for 12, but Nayar, on his 33rd birthday, used five fours and two sixes to earn six points for Mumbai.Tamil Nadu started their day on 153 for 6, ahead by only 64, and could add only 32 more as Kulkarni ran through the tail. B Aparajith, who was on 15 overnight, kept resisting, but ran out of partners. He was unbeaten on 28 as Kulkarni dismissed J Kousik, Christ, M Mohammed and Rahil Shah. Kulkarni finished with his 13th five-for in first-class cricket, and maiden match haul of 10 wickets, his 6 for 47 having come on the back of 4 for 31 in the first innings.Uttar Pradesh were left with a daunting task to save the match after conceding a first-innings lead to Madhya Pradesh and being asked to follow on in Hyderabad.Bowled out for 176 in the first innings, UP ended the day at 118 for 2, still trailing Madhya Pradesh by 171 runs. Opener Tanmay Srivastava (60*) and Sarfaraz Khan (18) were at the crease, having added 38. A call on whether Suresh Raina can bat will be taken on the morning of the final day. Raina is recovering from a mild fever and didn’t bat in the first innings.Wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi was the top-scorer in UP’s first innings with 37, while Kuldeep Yadav made 36. MP’s new-ball pair of Ishwar Pandey (3 for 65) and Gaurav Yadav (4 for 44) did bulk of the damage. Gaurav had last played for Madhya Pradesh in November 2014.Gujarat made slow progress, but were still in the fight for the first-innings lead against Baroda after half-centuries from Bhargav Merai (70) and Manpreet Juneja (66 not out), in Jaipur. They went into stumps on 277 for 4, still needing 267 runs to pocket three points.Their hopes will hinge largely on Juneja and Rujul Bhatt (38 not out), who shared an unbroken 100-run stand after the Pandya brothers – Krunal and Hardik – removed Merai and Parthiv Patel, the captain, in quick succession to leave Gujarat at 177 for 4. Irfan Pathan was wicketless, while Munaf Patel had one.Railways consolidated their position against Punjab with a 116-run lead on the third day in Delhi. Shivakant Shukla, who made 128 in the first innings, built a solid opening stand with Saurabh Wakaskar, before the latter retired hurt on 56. Shukla ended the day unbeaten on 86, with Railways at 180 for 2 in their second innings.Earlier, Punjab, who resumed on 154 for 4, added only 61 to their overnight total as medium-pacer Manjeet Singh Choudhary picked up three of the six wickets to fall, including the wickets of Gurkeerat Singh Mann (66) and Uday Kaul (61). Choudhary finished with 4 for 56, while Anureet Singh and Deepak Bansal picked up two wickets apiece.

Graeme Swann fears that England are on a hiding to nothing when the Test series against India gets underway in Rajkot next week, thanks to the ECB’s outdated attitude towards slow bowling

Andrew Miller03-Nov-2016Graeme Swann fears that England are on a hiding to nothing when the Test series against India gets underway in Rajkot next week, thanks to what he perceives as the ECB’s outdated attitude towards slow bowling that has caused both an alarming dearth of Test-quality spinners, and undermined the techniques of their own batsmen when facing it.Swann, England’s most prolific spinner of the modern era, claimed 255 wickets in 60 Tests and played a starring role in his team’s remarkable victory on their last tour of India in 2012-13. However, he believes that his success – and that of his former England and Northants team-mate Monty Panesar – came in spite of the system, not because of it.”Me and Monty were freaks of nature, we grew up in Northants where the pitches used to rag square, but I moved [to Nottinghamshire] because I wanted to become a better bowler on non-turning pitches,” Swann said during the launch of BT Sport’s cricket coverage.Graeme Swann on …

Moeen Ali: Externally Moeen doesn’t look stressed, but internally, I worry. At Edgbaston last summer, he had an awful game with the ball. The fields from Cooky were too negative and his body language was abysmal. He bowled about eight overs where not a single player went up to him to pat him on the arse, and have a joke with him. I’ve never felt more for a bloke in the middle.
We still perceive him as a part-time spinner, but that needs to stop. Look at how he bowled in his first summer against India, when he was all wide-eyed and excited. He didn’t bowl bad balls. But I honestly believe he’s been led down the wrong path by everyone he speaks to. The lack of positivity is alarming.
DRS: It was only a matter of time, but it’s good. Some of the funniest times in my career came when India were on the wrong end of bad decisions. I remember Suresh Raina got a howler at The Oval [in 2011]. As he walked off, the big screen showed the biggest inside edge, the ball had a splinter when it came back.
And it’s brilliant that they have brought in new regulations concerning the Umpire’s Call margin. It doesn’t take 50 percent of the ball to knock a bail off. Deal with it, batsmen, the game is all yours anyway.
Jack Leach: People say he didn’t get picked for India because he took his wickets on turning pitches. I am flabbergasted. If he can bowl and get wickets on turning wickets then he’s a good bowler. Besides, where are we going? Bangladesh and India. What do the wickets do, they f***ing spin!
Leach is an out-and-out spinner, but we’d rather take a good honest try-hard English spinner, 30 wickets at 40, who’ll never let you down. And it will be the same until we sit down and address it. It’s about convincing people that, on days four and five, good spin will win you Test matches.”

“We don’t take spin seriously in this country, and then bemoan the fact that we haven’t got world-class spinners when we go to the subcontinent.”We’ve got a bloody good team with bloody good cricketers, but we will lose in India because of what has happened 20 years before. We are hamstrung by the fact that we treat spinners as third-class citizens.”Swann’s own path to international cricket is widely documented. He was picked as a 20-year-old for the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa, only to be banished after a solitary ODI by the then-coach Duncan Fletcher. It wasn’t until Peter Moores took over after the 2007 World Cup that he was considered for a recall, and promptly picked up two wickets in the first over of his Test debut, against India at Chennai.”Duncan Fletcher did a lot of good for English cricket – he and Nasser Hussain deserve a lot of credit for helping the game become ultra-professional – but spin bowling always lagged behind,” said Swann. “The best thing Fletcher did for me was not picking me for eight years, even though he did pick guys who I thought weren’t as good as me. It actually made me a better spinner. I taught myself to bowl because I was unsullied by the system.”That system has made several strides in recent seasons, not least the change to the toss regulations in county cricket in 2016 which encouraged the preparation of wickets that offer more to spin bowlers. But, Swann says, that change alone won’t be enough to right a generation of wrongs. “You’ve still got 18 county captains who don’t trust their spinners,” he said. “It’s the English way. An over before lunch, two before tea and six before the new ball. That’s it.”For that reason, he adds, the fact that England have embarked on a nine-week tour of the subcontinent without appointing a full-time spin coach is a glaring oversight.”There is no sort of system in place to provide the backing that spinners need,” he said. “From the day they arrive in county cricket to the day they play in Tests, it’s not there. It is for batting, for bowlers, for fielding, for fitness, for nutrition … but not for spin bowling. And because of that, we are bad players of spin. It’s a whole melting pot.”To help prepare them for the tour of India, England have recruited the former Pakistan offspinner, Saqlain Mushtaq, in a mentoring capacity, but that appointment, says Swann, is little different to the piecemeal solution that Saqlain’s fellow countryman, Mushtaq Ahmed, offered during his day.”For me, Mushy was a brilliant sounding board and a mentor, but he only used to do 40 days a year. He’d be there for a couple of weeks, then he’d go home before the second Test. But there’d still be a nutritionist or a psychologist on the tour.”I know there’s only one of me, but it’s stupid. I’ve always bemoaned that, but until we take it seriously, we have to accept that when we play away from home in spin conditions we will be shown up.”That fear was made abundantly clear on England’s tour of Bangladesh last month, where they endured a near-miss in the first Test in Chittagong before succumbing to an historic 108-run defeat in the second Test at Dhaka, which featured the stunning loss of 10 wickets for 64 runs in the space of a single session.And Swann, who had to surmount some of the flattest conditions of his career when he helped England win their previous Test series in Bangladesh in 2009-10, said that the identity of England’s conqueror in Dhaka, the teenage offspinner, Mehedi Hasan, really ought to be seen as a wake-up call for the ECB.Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar helped England to victory in India in 2012-13•Getty Images”On paper, Bangladesh are one of the two worst Test teams in the world, but they saw England – a bastion of the game – coming out to play and knew exactly how to beat us, by having turning pitches, simple, and picking an 18-year-old to win it.”If that doesn’t set off alarm bells in the upper echelons of the game, then we really are pig-headed. It’s like that Blackadder quote: ‘If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through!'”In England, it will take you until you are 28 to bowl the amount of overs that an 18-year-old will have bowled in Bangladesh or India. These kids will have been bowling 30 overs a day since 11 to 12, because the conditions dictate that you can’t bowl seam all the day. It’s why they play spin better and bowl spin better. It’s like playing the piano. After you’ve done it for 15 years, you can bang out a decent bit of Chopin.”Consequently, despite confounding all expectations on their last tour of India four years ago, Swann sees few grounds for optimism in the coming weeks.”I don’t think we’ve got a cat in hell’s chance, seeing how [Ravi] Ashwin and [Ravi] Jadeja bowl,” he said. “Jadeja doesn’t spin the ball, he doesn’t try to. He just bowls straight and lets Ashwin do the work. Ashwin isn’t a massive turner of the ball, he rarely bowls his carrom ball, but he’s very, very accurate. Every Test in India he goes into, he believes he’s going to win it.”Watch the first Test of the Australia v South Africa series exclusively live on BT Sport 3 from 2am on Wednesday, November 3. BT Sport is your new home for Australia’s home international matches and Big Bash League, including the 2017-18 Ashes

Liverpool are homing in on their priority target this summer and are now believed to have agreed on a fee with Brighton & Hove Albion for Alexis Mac Allister…

What's the latest on Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool?

That's according to Football Insider, who state that the Reds have now agreed to meet the 24-year-old's release clause and will pay roughly £60m to clinch his services.

Signing a deal worth £150k-per-week, Mac Allister will enter Anfield with license to cement a central role in manager Jurgen Klopp's plans, with James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all departing this summer.

Manchester United are among the clubs expressing an interest in the World Cup winner, but it is Liverpool who are now poised to tie up a deal in the forthcoming weeks.

How would Alexis Mac Allister perform at Liverpool?

Anfield's imperious centre has been a rock steadily abraded over the past few years, with the once unrelenting, all-conquering Liverpool midfield now an inharmonious cluster of debris.

Cohesion was somewhat restored over the latter phase of the 22/23 campaign, Klopp's men constructing a seven-match winning streak in the Premier League before a twofold of draws in the final weeks.

Even this brilliant purple patch was not enough to salvage top four, and Liverpool now await football in the Europa League for the first time in seven years; with a fortified nucleus, the Reds could yet return to the top, and the importance of Mac Allister's signing cannot be understated.

The Argentine has been on Brighton's books since departing homeland outfit Argentinos Juniors in 2019, but this season he has truly burst into prominence and has posted a return of 12 goals and three assists from 40 outings for the Seagulls, also starring for Argentina in Qatar and scoring a goal and assist apiece, with the "sumptuous" assist – as described by Gary Lineker – served on a platter for Angel Di Maria in the final against France.

A tenacious and "intelligent" midfielder, as praised by compatriot Sergio Aguero, the £50k-per-week gem's energy and exuberance suits Liverpool's system to a tee.

His high-octane approach fuses with a crisp, deceptively effective ball-playing aptitude – he has completed 87% of his passes in the Premier League this term and averaged 1.3 key passes per game – and, as such, could bring the very best out of Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson, who has been somewhat out-of-sorts of late.

The Scottish left-back was branded "horrific" by writer Dave Hendrick for a dismal spell against Tottenham Hotspur in the closing weeks of the term, while the Tactical Times also tweeted to remark that Klopp's new "back 3 doesn't suit him" as he is "the definition of a full-back."

In their late-season resurgence, the Reds have implemented a new structure in possession, Trent Alexander-Arnold's inversion into the centre contributing to the central creativity; Robertson, who thrives as a bouncing marauder on the left-flank, has been left at sea and is struggling to acclimatise.

However, with Mac Allister entering the fray, he will have a midfield partner on the left side to match his pace and ease the burden of mixing increased defensive responsibility with creative flair.

It's the start of a new chapter on Merseyside after a forgettable campaign, and Roberton, who has been exemplary for his club since signing from Hull City for a scanty £10m in 2017, a centrepiece in the illustrious success, could flourish at full throttle once more with the rekindling of the Merseyside giant's dissipated verve.

Western Australia reached 3 for 186 on the second day against Queensland in Townsville

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2016
ScorecardCameron Bancroft finished the day on 88 not out (file photo)•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesWestern Australia opener Cameron Bancroft returned to form with an unbeaten 88 on the second day against Queensland in Townsville. The Warriors finished the day on 3 for 186, with Hilton Cartwright on 26 and Bancroft within sight of his first first-class century in nine months – a period during which he has played Sheffield Shield, county cricket and for Australia A.The morning began with the Bulls on 6 for 327 and they lost their last four wickets for 95 runs, with allrounder Jack Wildermuth adding only 4 to his overnight score before he was lbw to Simon Mackin for 93. Michael Neser managed 68 and there was some support from the lower order as the total was pushed along to 422.Bancroft and Jon Wells put on 85 for the first wicket before Wells was stumped by Chris Hartley off Mitch Swepson for 46, and Michael Klinger then fell to Swepson for 9. Axed Test allrounder Mitchell Marsh failed to grab his opportunity at the crease, caught behind off Neser for 14, before Cartwright joined Bancroft for the rest of the day.The Warriors will also be without fast bowler Jason Behrendorff for the rest of the match after he was diagnosed a stress fracture in his left fibula. Behrendorff bowled only 12 overs in the Queensland first innings.

With rumours abound that new Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is set to oversee a mass clearout at N17 this summer, the Lilywhites will no doubt need to find suitable, quality replacements for those departing assets in the upcoming window.

Having been lauded for his "exceptional" recruitment record at former club Celtic – as hailed by ex-Hoops skipper, Scott Brown – the 57-year-old will seemingly be hoping to enjoy similar success with regard to his incomings in north London, with the aim of improving a squad that missed out on European qualification in 2022/23.

According to 90min, the Greek-Aussie could potentially return to his previous employers in order to make a handful of key additions, with the report suggesting that there are fears at Parkhead that the treble-winning coach could return to snap up Reo Hatate from the Glasgow side, among others.

The 25-year-old midfielder has proven a truly standout figure for the Old Firm outfit over the last 18 months or so, having initially been signed by Postecoglou for a fee of just £1.4m back in January 2022.

With 27 goals and assists to his name in just 66 games for his current side to date, the Japanese maestro has simply been a "joy to watch" in Scottish football in recent times – as per journalist Sacha Pisani – hence why it could prove an astute move for the Spurs boss to reunite with the 5 foot 8 dynamo over the coming weeks.

What's Reo Hatate's style of play?

It may be of interest to Tottenham supporters to note that the former Kawasaki Frontale sensation is believed to share a statistically, similar profile to that of Manchester City's, Ilkay Gundogan – according to analyst Ben Griffis – with the pair both thriving in the centre of the park for their respective clubs.

Much like Hatate – who bagged nine goals and registered 11 assists in all competitions this season – Gundogan has also been a reliable attacking presence for Pep Guardiola's side, having contributed 11 goals and seven assists so far this term.

That stellar haul for the German international notably includes a brace in last weekend's FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester United, with the 32-year-old having previously been lauded as a "special player" by Red Devils legend, Roy Keane.

To be able to land their own version of the former Borussia Dortmund ace would then be a real coup for the north Londoners, as the club are arguably in need of a more reliable goalscoring presence in the centre of the park, with Rodrigo Bentancur having been the top scorer among his fellow midfielders with just six goals in 2022/23.

Hatate is also similar to the City star due to his creative quality having averaged 1.3 key passes and recorded ten big chances in 32 Scottish Premiership games, while Gundogan also averaged 1.3 key passes and created six big chances in his 31 Premier League outings.

Lauded as a "machine" and a "different animal" by pundit Kenny Miller, the Celtic man can also put in the hard yards defensively having averaged 1.2 tackles per game in the league, while the Etihad gem shares that willing work ethic having averaged one tackle per game in the top flight.

With Gundogan a player that can seemingly "do everything" – according to Guardiola – Hatate is also a jack of all trades, with pundit Alan Hutton previously stating of his talents: "He is all action, all energy, he is everywhere, tackling, scoring, creating".

As such, amid the chance to potentially acquire the latter man on the cheap – with the diminutive ace valued at just £6m, according to Football Transfers – Postecoglou must do all he can to push for a reunion.

Liverpool are reportedly "firm favourites" to complete the signing of Celta Vigo prodigy Gabri Veiga this summer despite heavy interest from several other top European outfits.

That's following a recent report from the Northern Echo, which claims that while Newcastle United remain interested in the Spaniard, Liverpool have the edge and could look to complete a swoop this summer following a lacklustre campaign that has underscored the need for fresh faces.

James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all depart the club this month upon the expiry of their contracts, and while Alexis Mac Allister has been landed from Brighton & Hove Albion for £35m, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is scouring the market for two further additions.

The aforementioned report states that while Veiga is contracted to his LaLiga outfit until 2026, he holds a €40m (£34m) release clause, and with Chelsea and Real Madrid among the lucrative pool of suitors, Liverpool could secure one of the most coveted prospects in European football by procuring his signature.

How would Gabri Veiga perform at Liverpool?

Anfield would only benefit from signing a precocious talent in Veiga who plundered 11 goals and four assists from just 28 starts across his first full season in top-flight football, described as "dangerous" by journalist Euan McTear for his exploits.

The Sky Blues talent already ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for rate of non-penalty goals, the top 20% for rate of assists, the top 12% for progressive carries and the top 12% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref, and has been hailed as a "gem" by Romano.

He has been heralded for his aptitude at driving the ball up the field in order to wreak havoc from just behind the frontline, which is evidenced through his previously stated metrics, and he could blossom into a world-class star under Klopp's tutelage on Merseyside, boosted by a burgeoning strike-force that could play to his strengths.

Namely, he could meld seamlessly with Cody Gakpo's skill set, with the dynamic Dutch forward demonstrating his prowess since signing from PSV for an initial £35m in January despite entering the outfit at a time of much strife, plundering ten direct goal contributions from 26 matches and earning acclaim for his "stunning" feats by Alan Shearer.

With the £120k-per-week ace tipped to flourish "in the [Roberto] Firmino role" by Richard Jolly, forward-thinking midfielders such as Veiga would see their game enhanced by such a vibrant and all-encompassing talisman.

Indeed, Gakpo ranks among the top 10% of forwards for rate of assists, the top 17% for shot-creating actions, the top 8% for progressive passes and the top 15% for successful take-ons per 90, which illustrates the selfless work that allows teammates to receive and increase of opportunity in attacking transition.

And with Veiga proclaimed to be "baby Kaka" by football content creator Rimedi, it's clear that the fleet-footed and adroit pair could weave between each other in intricate, sinuous patterns, with the balance and elegance of ballroom dancers and the nimble-limbed precision of a renowned sculptor.

It may well be a match made in heaven, and one that Liverpool's technical director, Jorg Schmadtke, must work tirelessly to achieve; it could be the inception of an illustrious new era on Merseyside.