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Ange Postecoglou won’t be joined at Celtic by Kevin Muscat, according to the Daily Record.

The Lowdown: Muscat in Parkhead links

Sources from Australia last week claimed Postecoglou could look towards Muscat and former Yokohama F. Marinos assistant Arthur Papas as part of his Hoops coaching staff.

Muscat has served as a captain and assistant to Postecoglou, who has verbally agreed to make the move to Glasgow.

However, it now seems as if the former Rangers midfielder will not be heading back to Scotland to work alongside the 55-year-old.

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The Latest: Source shares Muscat latest

Parkhead sources have informed the Daily Record that Muscat will be nowhere near a summer rebuild in Glasgow.

Reports had suggested he was in prime position to join Postecoglou at Celtic Park, but it appears as if the Hoops boss in waiting has had a change of thought.

The Verdict: The right call from Postecoglou?

Muscat’s treble-winning connections with rivals Rangers may well have been a reason why Postecoglou appears to have overlooked his former assistant.

He could have brought some Scottish Premiership knowledge to Postecoglou’s team, however, they may well have been a backlash from fans if they appointed him, with several supporters happy at the latest news.

Perhaps Postecoglou may now look at John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan as part of his backroom staff, especially with the pair set to take the start of pre-season on June 17.

In other news: ‘Deal is still some distance away’ – Anthony Joseph’s Celtic update contradicts recent reports, find out more here. 

Former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that Conor Gallagher is better off staying at the Hawthorns than returning to Chelsea.

Gallagher has spent the season on loan at West Brom from Chelsea but looks set to return to the west London club in the summer.

According to The Sun, the 21-year-old midfielder plans to remain at Stamford Bridge for the 2021/22 campaign and compete for a place in Thomas Tuchel’s team.

Given the competition he faces at his parent club, though, Palmer believes the best choice for Gallagher would be to remain at West Brom or join another outfit on loan.

When asked by FFC would staying at the Baggies be a better option for the midfielder, the retired England international said:

“There’s no point going back to Chelsea, sitting on the bench or playing in the reserves. There’s no point; you need to play – that’s as simple as it is. I’ve always said that. My advice to any young player would be you’ve got to get out and play.

“Don’t let your career stagnate for a year or two years.”

Should Gallagher indeed return to Chelsea, he could very well find himself sitting on the bench.

The Blues are currently stacked in both the midfield and attacking midfield positions, with Tuchel already having the likes of Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech and Jorginho to call upon.

Southampton are the latest side to have been linked with a move for Ryan Gauld ahead of the summer transfer window, and he could be a superb addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Record, the Saints have joined the race to sign the former Dundee United man after his impressive spell with Portuguese side SC Farense.

The likes of Norwich City, Sheffield United, Brentford, Blackburn Rovers, Swansea City and Brighton have all been linked with the 25-year-old, who is available on a free transfer, as his deal at Estadio de São Luís is set to expire in June.

Would he be a good signing?

Gauld has had a very strange career thus far, signing for Sporting Lisbon from Dundee United when he was just 18-years-old and earning comparisons with Barcelona legend Lionel Messi for his style of play.

Whilst things wouldn’t work out for him with the current Liga NOS champions, as he made just five appearances, he has rebuilt his reputation with Farense in recent seasons.

In 71 appearances for the Portuguese side, he has contributed an impressive 20 goals and 12 assists, including nine goals and seven assists in the most recent season, which helped him average a superb 7.19 rating from WhoScored.

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Therefore, it is no surprise that he is attracting interest ahead of the summer transfer window, as he could be a bargain option for any Premier League or Championship side.

There are certainly a lot of similarities between Gauld and Southampton ace Stuart Armstrong, as both were youngsters at Dundee United, both are attack-minded players and both could arrive at St Mary’s in bargain deals, as the Saints paid just £7m for Armstrong from Celtic in 2018, which has certainly proved to be an excellent signing.

Therefore, the potential arrival of Gauld, who has been described as a “top player” by one of his coaches at Farense, could well end up being a repeat of that Armstrong signing, so is one that Martin Semmens should definitely be looking to complete.

And, in other news… £6m down the drain: Southampton potentially cost new signing, Hasenhuttl surely fuming

In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, Rob Lee, who made 280 Premier League appearances, has claimed that he expects West Ham to receive bids for their star midfielder Declan Rice this summer.

Rice has been linked with a move to Manchester United and the midfielder is reportedly interested in the switch having spoken to England teammates about the club during the last round of international fixtures.

Before his injury, which was sustained while on international duty, Rice had not missed a single minute of Premier League football for the Hammers and his form was a big reason behind their push for a Champions League place.

Speaking on how he is expecting bids for Rice this summer and what could persuade more clubs to make a move for the midfielder, Lee exclusively told The Transfer Tavern:

“I think they’ll have to stave off bids for Declan Rice, especially if he does well at the Euros, which I fully expect him to do, then it’ll be a major talking point for them.

“If you said to David Moyes right now that Declan Rice will stay and they’ll sign Jesse Lingard and Tammy Abraham, I think he would take that. I think he would snap your hand off.”

Rice has long been linked with a move to Chelsea, where he was released as a youngster, but since Thomas Tuchel was appointed manager those rumours have died down.

West Ham are still in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League, and the return of Michail Antonio will have been more than welcomed by David Moyes – especially after his brace in the 2-1 win against Burnley on Monday.

After a nightmare spell at St Mary’s, Southampton appear to have been presented with an opportunity to finally get rid of Wesley Hoedt for good this summer, although he seemingly won’t be joining Lazio on a permanent deal following a less than impressive loan spell with the Serie A club.

The Dutch defender joined Southampton from Lazio in a £15m deal back in 2017 but has managed just 45 appearances for the Saints since then, with the last of those coming in the 2018/19 season.

He subsequently spent time on loan with Celta Vigo and Royal Antwerp before being loaned to Lazio this season, perhaps in the hope that he could rediscover some of the form which encouraged the Saints to shell out £15m for him four years ago.

Unfortunately, his performances in Simone Inzaghi’s side this season have been shocking at times, with his 17 appearances in Serie A earning him a lowly 6.38 average WhoScored rating, so it was no surprise to hear that Lazio won’t be exercising their option to make his deal permanent this summer. He is unlikely to be missed in Rome, with some supporters targeting him after a particularly horrendous display against Atalanta in January.

Therefore, it had seemed as if Hoedt was destined to return to Southampton, where he is unlikely to dislodge the likes of Jannik Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek at centre-back in Hasenhuttl’s line-up. Nor has he helped his cause with disparaging remarks towards the club and manager amid one of his loan spells.

According to The Athletic, however, there is some interest being shown in the 27-year-old defender from Belgian and Dutch clubs ahead of the summer transfer window, which suggests that Southampton may well have been handed a huge lifeline in their hopes of getting rid of him for good.

Although they will undoubtedly be forced to take a significant loss on the £15m they paid, as he is now valued at just £4.5m by Transfermarkt, it will surely be a relief to get him off the books rather than paying his wages for another year and seeing him depart on a free transfer when his Saints contract expires at the end of next season.

Southampton chairman Jisheng Gao will undoubtedly be delighted if Southampton can finally sell Hoedt, as his time with the south coast club has been an expensive disaster.

in other news… Saints suffer devastating transfer setback to “unbelievable” gem, Hasenhuttl must be fuming

If there was one player forw hom Aston Villa wish they could turn back time, then Fernando Torres may well be that man.

The Birmingham Mail revealed that Villa actually wanted to sign him when he was just 15 after seeing him action during a visit to Madrid. It was suggested that the club’s youth team coaches were pleading with then-chairman Sir Doug Ellis about signing him, but he “wouldn’t loosen the purse strings.”

A source revealed to Birmingham Mail: “Yes, we looked at him, but there were that many clubs vying for him at the time we were just nowhere near making it happen. You know what Doug was like, he just wasn’t interested.”

Since then, Torres developed into one of European football’s most feared marksmen, really breaking onto the scene with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.

His time in the Spanish capital saw him make a high-profile move to the Premier League, where he joined forces with Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and netted an incredible 81 goals in just 142 games for the Merseyside club.

Torres’ on-pitch chemistry with the former Liverpool skipper has been much discussed, including by Gerrard himself, who said: “If you asked me who was the best player on a daily basis consistently, Suarez was an animal but my best years were alongside Torres in terms of how I felt.

“My relationship with Torres, I was getting a lot of goals at that time. I was at my peak and felt fantastic.”

Torres then made the move to Chelsea, and while things didn’t perhaps work out on a more personal level – he managed just 45 goals in 172 games – they did for the Blues as a whole. The London side won the Champions League and then the Europa League in back-to-back years.

The striker’s biggest success, however, came at international level with Spain, winning successive European Championships in 2008 and 2012 as well as lifting the World Cup in 2010.

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While Villa could not have envisaged how Torres would grow after seeing him at 15, given the career the Spaniard would enjoy elsewhere, there’s surely a sense of regret at Ellis’ shocking decision not to “loosen the purse strings”.

Meanwhile, Villa must sell this first team ace in the summer…

Former Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has admitted that he felt like a ‘rabbit in the headlights’ during his cameo in the 2018 Champions League final.

The Reds lost to Real Madrid in the showpiece in Kyiv three years ago on what a heartbreaking night for Jurgen Klopp and his players. Liverpool were actually the better team for much of the first half, but Mohamed Salah’s injury put paid to their chances and they were eventually beaten 3-1.

It was Lallana who replaced Salah – scorer of a seismic 44 goals that seasson – with just 30 minutes on the clock in the final, having suffered an injury-plagued campaign for the Reds.

Lallana admits he was ‘petrified’ in Kyiv

Speaking to the Super 6 Podcast [via This Is Anfield], Lallana gave an honest take of that cameo in the Ukrainian capital, admitting that it wasn’t a pleasant experience:

“Looking back now, I was petrified. Maybe petrified is a bit of a strong word, but looking back I feel like I’m in a position now where I can maybe say that.

“I had a terrible year, it was my first year when it was kind of one injury after another, and I just couldn’t find any sort of rhythm in terms of being on the pitch.

“So I’d just come back from a big, big hamstring injury, I think I’d played 15 minutes of the last game of the [Premier League] season, and I just had no rhythm, no form.

“We’d lost the Champions League final, and I remember kind of after it finished just being relieved I got through the game.

“I couldn’t get near anyone. I couldn’t get near Modric, I couldn’t get near anyone. I was just running around. I felt like a rabbit in the headlights.”

Transfer Tavern take

It is both refreshing and sad to hear the 32-year-old speak with such honesty, highlighting just how crucial confidence is to a player’s form and effectiveness.

Injuries proved to be Lallana’s downfall so many times at Liverpool – he was limited to 178 appearances across six years, at an average of less than 30 per campaign, in all competitions – and in the end, he arguably never reached his full potential at Anfield, where he was regarded as a fans’ favourite.

Asking him to thrive in that final after playing so little football in 2017/18, up against world-class players, was always asking too much.

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been reacting to a Real Madrid injury update ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Anfield. Read more here.

Sunderland fans are delighted after the club’s official Twitter account appeared to insinuate Jordan Jones will be available again very soon.

Jones made the move to the Black Cats on loan in January from Glasgow Rangers and has impressed so far at the Stadium of Light, scoring two goals and providing three assists in 10 matches (Transfermarkt). He has brought plenty of pace and threat to the Sunderland attack, and he appears to have given them a fresh impetus.

Unfortunately, he picked up a muscle injury earlier this month (Football Insider), which kept him out of the action for a short while. However, there appears to be good news both for the 26-year-old and the Wearside outfit. On Friday, the club’s official Twitter account shared a photo of him with an emoji saying “Back Soon”, ahead of their clash against Bristol Rovers.

The Sunderland fans reacted to the photo in their droves and were absolutely delighted. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Jones news below

“Oh yesss”

Credit: @bamjboyeolu

“This is great news and timing is perfect . Stating the obvious I know, but the Lads are a far better attacking threat when JJ is in the starting 11. 11 to go! Let’s get the job done. Ha’way the Lads”

Credit: @anicecold143

“We’ve missed his pace/movement for sure. Defences can’t cope when he gets on the run.”

Credit: @dunn_outdoors

“Positivity in moving the ball forward.. a welcoming come back.”

Credit: @DaveyW90612711

“YESSSS”

Credit: @SAFCLJ2

“YESSSS”

Credit: @KINGMAGUIRE1

In other news, Sunderland fans react to these Lee Johnson comments.

Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively told Football FanCast that Sam Allardyce is the “perfect” man to take West Brom back into the Premier League, should the Baggies get relegated.

The former England manager replaced Slaven Bilic before Christmas following just one victory from the Baggies’ opening 13 Premier League matches.

But Allardyce himself has been unable to work his magic, and looks on course to lose his proud record of never being relegated as a manager, with West Brom currently 10 points from safety with just nine league games remaining.

Providing the Baggies do expectedly finish inside the bottom-three and suffer an immediate relegation, Fry has urged the Hawthorns outfit to stick by Allardyce, whose got two promotions from the Championship on his CV with both Bolton and more recently, West Ham – both through the play-offs.

Fry told Football FanCast:

“Even if Sam performs a miracle, West Brom will go down. But you will not have a better bloke, if you back him, than Sam Allardyce to bounce straight back up and get back into the Premier League.

“Sam did it with West Ham, he’s done it at that level. He knows what he’s doing. He joined midway through the season which is no good to anyone. He’s only had one window. Once he has the summer window to wheel and deal, and lose some of the players that he inherited that he doesn’t want.

“I would keep Sam Allardyce because I know he will go close getting them back to the Premier League from the Championship.”

Whilst West Brom haven’t performed as some might have expected following Allardyce’s arrival, surely the West Brom hierarchy knew there was every chance of them being relegated, especially having failed to properly back Bilic the previous summer.

And with Big Sam’s history of getting teams out of the Championship in mind, sticking by him is their best bet.

Former Celtic hero Frank McAvennie believes that the Parkhead club should look to avoid giving the permanent managerial role to John Kennedy.

McAvennie not impressed

The Scottish tactician and ex-Hoops centre-back has taken charge of the first-team until the end of what has been a forgetful 2020/21 campaign for the reigning champions.

Neil Lennon resigned in February after dropping further behind arch-rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premiership table, with their pursuit of an unprecedented 10-in-a-row going up in smoke.

Chris Sutton accused Kennedy of “running for the hills” before the Christmas period with his side having picked up just two wins from 10, leaving Lennon to face the music alone (via Daily Record).

Celtic beat Aberdeen 1-0 in what was the first game of the post-Lennon era in Glasgow, but McAvennie told Football Insider that the football was no different to what was being played before the Northern Irishman’s departure, leaving him baffled by the Hoops’ interest in giving Kennedy the permanent gig.

“Same old, same old,” he said. “Nothing changed and in the second half, they were awful.

“These games are just like training games. There is no urgency and there is no commitment.

“This is why I don’t think the club should appoint John Kennedy permanently. You cannot cut your teeth at a club like Celtic. There is too much pressure and the burden is too high.”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

It may be a bit unfair to pass judgement on Kennedy after just 90 minutes of football. However, the first impressions do not look promising for him.

It’s a simple formula at Celtic. There will be a colossal demand for the team to bounce back and reclaiming the title next season at the first time of asking will be paramount.

Whether it is with Kennedy, remains to be seen. But the likes of Steve Clarke, Rafael Benitez and Roberto Martinez remain in the picture to possibly inherit the role.

In other news, Celtic contact ‘fantastic’ manager as news from Hoops source emerges.