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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

West Brom defender Nathan Ferguson has come in for severe criticism this weekend after a rather shocking performance culminated in the 19-year-old being sent off.

Following the Baggies’ 2-2 draw with Charlton Athletic, Joseph Masi of the Express & Star handed the youngster a 4/10 while giving his showing a damning review.

What’s he said?

Albion remain top of the Championship despite drawing a second game in the space of just a week as Josh Cullen’s spot-kick in injury time clinched a point for the visitors.

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The referee deemed that Semi Ajayi made enough contact to bring Naby Sarr down inside the area in the 94th minute much to the anger of Slaven Bilic and the whole of the Hawthorns.

Earlier in the match, the official did himself no favours by wrongly attempting to send off Grady Diangana for Ferguson’s rash challenge.

Masi of the Express & Star gave his thoughts on the academy graduate’s performance, he said:

“The teenager has enjoyed an outstanding start to the season. But he was way off his best here.

“After Ben Purrington whipped in a cross, he fell asleep allowing Chris Solly to volley over.

“Ferguson was also turned by Gallagher in the build-up to Johnstone’s double save.

“Deservedly given his marching orders for what was a poor challenge on Solly. 4”

Must do better

Ferguson was handed a harsh lesson on Saturday afternoon, but it is one he probably needed at this stage of his career.

Everything up until this point had been rather rosy, he had won two Man of the Match awards in front of the Sky Sports cameras and displayed his versatile ability to an outstanding level by playing at both right-back and left-back.

His performances have been so good this campaign that he’s been linked with moves to some European heavyweights like Atletico Madrid and Juventus, while Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace are two other teams rumoured.

Maybe it is a case of it all coming too quickly for the England U20 international as since these rumours have surfaced, he’s put in two successive performances that have been some way off his usual level as seen by WhoScored rating him no higher than 5.80.

Miguel Almiron has come under criticism for his performances at the start of the season, leading some Newcastle supporters to back him up by praising his contribution.

The Paraguay national team arrived at St James’ Park for a then club-record fee in January, but is still yet to register a goal or assist for the Magpies.

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Ordinarily, that would likely lead to a negative view from fans, but instead several have pointed to his hard work and the contribution he offers to the team outside the final third, and for that reason argue he isn’t as bad as the stats suggest.

The reaction from Magpies comes after the president of Almiron’s former club Atlanta United, Darren Eales, suggested he also had a slow start when he first moved to the MLS.

Eales also spoke of the confidence issue that the winger is likely suffering from, leading one fan to suggest that once he gets off the mark for the club he could become a new player.

Here is some of the reaction from Toon fans showing support for their number 24.

Former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood thinks the club would be ‘crazy’ to fire Mauricio Pochettino, despite Tottenham dropping points once again in the Premier League.

Spurs drew 1-1 with bottom club Watford as their rotten run continued this weekend, with the team winning just one of their last seven in all competitions.

That has led to some questioning what Pochettino can achieve at Spurs, with just three victories since sealing a place in the Champions League final back in May.

But Sherwood believes the Argentinian is one of the best managers around – and has played down the idea of Spurs eyeing up former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho as a potential replacement, due to Pochettino’s ties to the club’s philosophy.

He told BeIN SPORTS (via HITC): “You would be crazy to sack this man. He’s one of the best managers in the world and I think he has built that reputation. If they were to change, it would be difficult to find a man who buys into the philosophy of the whole football club.

“I don’t think they will go to Mourinho because I think he has his own way of doing things. He wants to be very dominant.

“He is a winner, but to have the philosophy of the club is to bring the kids through the academy. I think that’s dried up. They need to get their eye back onto that to try and drip a few into the first team.”

Having been at the club since 2014, Pochettino may well be aware of the club’s philosophies, but that alone may not be able to absolve him of the current woes his side are experiencing.

It is clear that Spurs’ form shows few signs of improving, and although Sherwood’s defence of Pochettino suggests the core problems lie elsewhere, it seems as if only a change in some regard will bring about an upturn in fortunes.

Though having seen the likes of Manchester United fail to improve things after changing managers last season, perhaps Spurs would be better-placed in trying to find in-house solutions as they strive to turn their results around.

Spurs fans, will sacking Pochettino change the club’s fortunes? How does the team get back into form? Let us know in the comments below!

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West Ham United summer signing Pablo Fornals may have edged a step closer to his second Premier League start for the club after Manuel Pellegrini confirmed, via Football London (12:33pm), on Friday Manuel Lanzini could be a doubt for the visit of Manchester United, but if he does make the XI he needs to improve in one key area.

The 23-year-old is yet to really make his mark for the Irons following his summer move from Villarreal, with his only start in the English top flight coming in the 1-1 draw away at Brighton and Hove Albion last month.

He has come on from the substitutes’ bench in their other four fixtures, and he did find the net when he played the full 90 minutes against Newport County in the Carabao Cup.

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The Spaniard’s latest cameo was against Aston Villa on Monday when he replaced Andriy Yarmolenko with 28 minutes remaining on the clock, although both his and the team’s job became that little bit harder when Arthur Masuaku was sent off shortly after.

Still, the visitors and Fornals in particular found themselves in some promising positions in the latter stages of the fixture as Villa looked to make the breakthrough, but his decision-making severely let him down, and didn’t go unnoticed by Football London in their player ratings article either.

The Red Devils may not be the team they once were, but they still have plenty of quality and chances against them could easily be few and far between at the London Stadium on Sunday.

That means that if Lanzini is ruled out and Fornals does start in the No.10 position, he needs to ensure that he isn’t being wasteful when he does have the possession of the ball, and generally just makes the correct calls.

19 assists in 96 appearances for Villarreal shows what the 23-year-old is capable of, and while it may take time to get used to the pace of the Premier League compared to La Liga, this would be the perfect chance for him to properly announce himself in a claret and blue shirt.

Jack Grealish has called the Emirates Stadium his favourite ground to play at in the Premier League.

That’s right. Forget Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, the Etihad – or Emptihad if you’re that way inclined -St James’ Park, the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and so on, Villa captain Jack Grealish believes Arsenal’s home is the nicest place to ply his trade.

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The 24-year-old posted a snap of himself during last week’s game against the Gunners with the caption: ‘Pleasure to play at this place. My Favourite stadium in the Prem.’

A lovely sentiment, yes.

But with Arsenal reportedly looking at loaning out Mesut Ozil in the January transfer window, and the Gunners presumably then in the market for a new central midfielder, the more sceptical among you might see this less as harmless admiration for the Emirates ground staff and more a “come-and-get-me” plea to Unai Emery.

Grealish has been previously expressed his disappointment over failing to secure a move to Tottenham, so a transfer to the red side of north London would be very spicy indeed.

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Football Fancast is embarking on a new series, in which we take a look at some of the hottest young prospects currently playing in the Championship…

This time around, we’ll be taking a look at Queens Park Rangers hotshot Eberechi Eze, whose performances in England’s second tier have been eye-catching to say the least.

The Greenwich-born attacker is reminiscent of a young Wilfried Zaha – his ability to beat a man and deliver a cross into the box is currently second to none in the Championship.

Having said that, one thing that the 20-year-old could perhaps be criticised for is his end product, similar to the way in which Zaha used to be by Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer.

Both are mercurial talents who are worth the admission fee alone at times, but Eze would be wise to track the Ivorian’s career progression and learn how he turned his flicks, tricks and skills into goals and assists.

Anyway, back to Eze. The R’s starlet has notched four goals this season, as well as recording three assists, proving why he was handed the No.10 shirt back in the summer and showing why he has been compared to former Loftus Road entertainer Adel Taarabt.

The youngster who was released by Millwall and told he was ‘too small’ by Arsenal has been a key man for Steve McClaren this season, so much so that Premier League clubs were swarming to Loftus Road like sharks to blood in September.

That being said, Zaha had hit eight goals and recorded nine assists for Palace at the same age as Eze, on his way to earning a £15m move to Manchester United and helping them to promotion via the play-offs.

This stat is not meant to besmirch the obviously talented England Under-20 international, but Eze must realise that football is a results industry in which goals and assists are of the upmost importance, and whilst dazzling skills attract the fans, ruthless efficiency brings the top clubs to your door.

There has been a significant development in the potential takeover of Sunderland, as the buying party have registered with Companies House.

Companies House is the United Kingdom’s registrar of companies, and the FPP Sunderland page now has three officers appointed on Septemeber 16, 2019 – Glenn Fuhrman, John Phelan and Michael Platek.

These are the three names originally reported to be buying the club, backed by American multibillionaire Michael Dell.

Of course, fans are struggling to contain their excitement, as the proverbial cat is now very much out of the bag.

Stewart Donald currently owns 74% of the club, and while it’s fair to say fans are fond of the man who saved them from Ellis Short, they simply cannot wait for the new investors to arrive.

There is still no word on an official announcement, and one would presume there are some i’s to dot and t’s to cross, but that isn’t stopping fans from going absolutely wild on Twitter.

Just take a look at some of the scenes below…

Glasgow Rangers dropped what could be two vital points in the race for the Scottish Premiership title at Saturday lunchtime ahead of the Old Firm derby.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team were pegged back deep into injury time by Matthew Wright, after twice taking the lead through debutant Amad Diallo and later Connor Goldson.

James Tavernier had equalised for the visitors after Jordan White and Regan Charles-Cook answered Diallo’s opener with two quick goals before half-time, in what was a really poor defensive display in particular from the Light Blues.

The Transfer Tavern have now used statistical experts SofaScore to analyse who the three worst performers (to have played at least 45 minutes) were for the Gers on the day, and they may now be looking over their shoulder regarding their place in the XI against Celtic…

Cedric Itten

Itten ranks third to last as he was given a 6.7 overall rating by SofaScore.

The Switzerland international was hauled off just before the hour mark for Kemar Roofe with the score still level, emphasising the lack of impact he made on the game.

He lost six of his seven duels, and failed with both of his shots on goal, while he also could not manage a single dribble, and lost the ball a total of 10 times.

Itten was the only Gers starter to have recorded fewer touches than his own goalkeeper Allan McGregor, and fans were particularly critical of his display above others in the team.

Calvin Bassey

Bassey had a poor match by his standards, making a silly mistake that led to the second goal being conceded, and justifiably was only given a 5.9 rating.

The central defender lost out on two of his duels, and also failed to block any shots or make any interceptions, while he was guilty of giving the ball away on seven separate occasions.

Allan McGregor

Unsurprising, McGregor was given the lowest rating (4.6) after his two bad errors which both led to goals.

The Scotsman was simply not himself, recording just a 76% pass accuracy, one of the lowest out of his teammates, while he also lost possession six times in total, and only managed to make one save.

In other news, find out what contract update has Gers gushing here!

A big Newcastle United transfer claim has been made, regarding the club’s attempts to land Diego Carlos last month.

What’s the talk?

Sevilla sporting director Monchi has revealed that the Toon made a great effort to sign the Brazilian during the January transfer window.

Speaking to La Colina de Nervion, via Sport Witness, he said the Magpies “really went for it” and then went on to say: “But the club had an idea, a scenario, and they didn’t budge from that.

“Their offer was important, respectful, and even Diego has had his mental comings and goings, but he has ended up satisfied.”

Delight

Eddie Howe will surely be left delighted by this claim as it shows that PIF certainly mean business. The owners clearly put a lot of effort into trying to seal a deal for the defender, with Monchi’s comments highlighting how strong their offer for the central defender was.

It was not a case of Newcastle failing to put a good enough bid in or waiting too long to strike an agreement with the Spanish club, which will please the manager as it offers a glimpse of what could be to come in the summer providing they stay in the division.

PIF have now completed one transfer window at the club and could be better prepared for the next one at the end of the season. Crucially, they will also have more than one month to work with to bolster the squad ahead of the 2022/23 campaign and the ex-Cherries head coach will surely be excited about what they could do with more time to do business.

Howe will also be buzzing with the calibre of players targeted last month. Carlos is excelling in La Liga for a club competing in Europe, whilst the Magpies are 18th in the Premier League and facing a tough battle against relegation down to the Championship at the end of the season, showing the gap in standard between where they are and where they are aiming to be.

The Brazilian defender has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.13 in Spain for Sevilla, whilst also averaging a scoring of 7.03 in the Champions League. This shows that he is able to perform consistently at the highest level, putting in quality displays week-in-week-out for the Spanish side, which is why he was an ambitious target for PIF to work hard to bring in.

AND in other news, Wood axed, Howe unleashes “exciting talent”: NUFC’s sparkling new XI after Jan window…

A number of Liverpool supporters are fuming after journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed there has been ‘no negotiation’ for Porto attacker Luis Diaz.

The Reds are preparing for life without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in January, with the pair on Africa Cup of Nations duty, along with Naby Keita.

It leaves Jurgen Klopp short of attacking options this month and there is of course the potential to sign someone to help fill the void.

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One player who has been linked with a move to Anfield is Diaz, who has impressed for Porto this season, scoring 12 goals in 15 Primeira Liga appearances.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, however, Romano claimed that Liverpool have not started negotiations regarding a move for the Colombian, perhaps further suggesting no signings will be made in January.

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Liverpool fans unhappy at Diaz latest

It is an update that hasn’t gone down well with these Reds fans on Twitter, who bemoaned the club’s lack of spending.

“Stand still FC”

Credit: @garylouth

“Confirmed we are not signing anyone this window”

Credit: @taylorblueslim

“Foolish club”

Credit: @Jezscy

“Gerrard time soon”

Credit: @footnut

“We are actually finished. We go again, another 30 years trophyless”

Credit: @notyrgoku

“Every transfer rumour about Liverpool is NO”

Credit: @dondarius471

In other news, some Liverpool fans love David Ornstein’s transfer claim. Read more here.