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Celtic have widened the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership as they look to secure their tenth consecutive league crown.

Steven Gerrard’s Rangers and Aberdeen remain in the title race but Celtic have overcome their early-season woes to return to their brilliant best. The focus for Brendan Rodgers will be to keep their excellent form going into the latter stages of the campaign to ensure another Scottish Premiership trophy arrives at Celtic Park. Progressing past Valencia in the Europa League will also be a main target for the Hoops.

Looking ahead at the summer transfer window, there could be massive changes at Parkhead. Many players are currently on temporary deals at the club meaning Celtic fans should expect plenty of new arrivals. A long run in the Europa League could also provide Rodgers with some extra transfer funds for some new recruits.

One man he should be keeping tabs on is Huddersfield maestro – Aaron Mooy. Valued at £12.6m by Transfermarkt, the 28-year-old joined Manchester City in 2016 but was loaned to the Terriers before joining permanently in 2017. Mooy was crucial to their successful promotion bid and has been equally as impressive in the higher division. Huddersfield need a miracle to beat the drop and a number of their star players could be set for an exit.

The Australia international is one of the most complete midfielders in the league, effortlessly combining defence and attack. Mooy loves to get stuck in, averaging an impressive 2.3 tackles per game in the Premier League this season. The former Melbourne City man has the quality to dictate the tempo of the game with his wonderful passing range and expert vision – averaging 1.7 key passes per game this season (WhoScored).

Mooy would give Rodgers another brilliant option in the engine room with Scott Brown approaching the twilight of his career.

Celtic fans, thoughts?

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Despite his natural position throughout his career being central midfield, Luke O’Nien has often been used as something of a utility player by Jack Ross following his summer move to Sunderland, but that needs to change for the visit of Accrington Stanley to the Stadium of Light on Friday night.

On the chalkboard

The Black Cats missed the chance to really put the pressure on second-placed Barnsley in League One when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Blackpool on Tuesday, and O’Nien was brought back into the starting XI at right-back for the clash against the Seasiders.

Most of the 24-year-old’s appearances for the Wearside outfit this term have come in that position, although his return to the side was slightly surprising given Adam Matthews had been preferred to him for the win against AFC Wimbledon and draw with Oxford United previously.

Given Ross has Matthews available and midfielders such as captain George Honeyman and Lynden Gooch are hardly in good form right now, Friday is the time to change things up in order to get a much-needed three points.

O’Nien back in midfield

Despite doing well enough in the position, the 24-year-old doesn’t really have the attributes needed to play the role of an attacking full-back, and he would be much better suited in the centre of the pitch.

The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…

Sunderland are in dire need of more creativity and goals right now given they are struggling to score more than once in a game and in general seem to be conceding – as they did against Blackpool and Oxford – and O’Nien could certainly help deliver seeing as he has four goals and two assists in 21 League One outings for them.

With Grant Leadbitter a sure-fire starter a place for him in midfield could depend on Ross changing formation or dropping one of skipper Honeyman or Gooch – none of which should be out of the question in the bid to win promotion.

[ad_pod ]West Ham fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was revealed on the club’s official website that there may potentially be a few changes taking place at the London Stadium.Those Hammers fans who sit in the lower tier of the Sir Trevor Brooking stand and the Bobby Moore stand could find their section squared off to resemble a more traditional football stadium, whilst their seats may also be moved four metres closer to the pitch.The space between the stands and the field of play has been one of the main talking points since the Irons’ move into the stadium back in 2016, with some fans sitting further back perhaps needing binoculars to see what’s going on most of the time.The potential of making such changes is currently being explored, but fans of the east London-based club are excited by the news, and the fact that they are finally being listened to by the owners…

Southampton find themselves in a very tricky predicament, with it now being a very real possibility for them to go down at the end of the season. 

Again, like last season, the Saints simply haven’t been good enough and that reflects in their current league standing – 18th.

For a side who were consistently battling for Europe just a few seasons ago, their decline has been rapid but that is what happens when you chop and change your team and manager every year.

Bad decisions have caught up with Southampton but they still have plenty of time to get out of the trouble they currently find themselves in.

If they do and again they manage to stay in the Premier League, that has to be the alert they need to get active in the transfer market.

Too often their signings fail to have an impact but someone who would undoubtedly be a strong capture is Toulouse centre-back Christopher Jullien.

Jullien, (who is valued at £5.4 million on Transfermarkt) is a player that Southampton have previously been linked (as per Yahoo Sport via GFFN) with over a number of transfer windows, but never committed to actually signing.

It’s unbeknown as to why because the French giant would be a fantastic, imposing option at the heart of the defence for Southampton.

The 25-year-old has 23 games under his belt this season, of which four of those games have resulted in clean-sheets.

His performances last season brought him into the limelight for sides like Southampton to take an interest. With his showings this year as well,  there is no doubt Christopher Jullien would be better than many of the current options Southampton have.

Do you agree… Let us know!

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Jack Clarke has returned to full first-team training with Leeds United, as reported by Sky Sports.

The 18-year-old winger has been out of action since being taken ill whilst on the bench in February’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough. 

Prior to his absence, Clarke had been making waves in the Whites’ first team. The young attacker made his senior debut for Marcelo Bielsa’s side against Brentford in October and hasn’t looked back since. He made his first start for the club in their 2-0 over Derby County at Elland Road, and shone in that fixture.

Who has been the Championship’s best player this season? The Pl>ymaker FC squad discuss in the video below…

To date, the academy graduate has made 17 appearances for the club in all competitions, registering two goals and two assists, as per Transfermarkt’s stats. 

His return will be a massive boost for Bielsa who will require all hands on deck at Leeds as they continue to chase the Championship title.

Leeds fans are certainly glad to have the forward on his way back, with many taking to Twitter to congratulate Clarke on his return to the fold…

West Bromwich Albion’s season seems to have come to a bizarre standstill.

After producing some scintillating attacking football all season and even looking primed for automatic qualification at one point, they’re now winless and goalless in their last two encounters.

Indeed, the embarrassing 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Leeds United proved that perhaps Darren Moore isn’t the right man for promotions dreams after-all.

Moore’s been given a luxurious amount of options for a Championship squad, with West Brom even financing moves in January by bringing in Jefferson Montero and Jacob Murphy to further boost their tantalizing attack. However, their inability to form a strong defensive shape has come back to haunt West Brom time and again this season.

The fact that they’ve conceded 47 goals, the second most among any top-half side, proves how Moore just get his defensive combination correctly. They managed to hold onto many defenders from last season, but Moore hasn’t done much in improving them.

He’s gotten the most out of his impressive attackers, yet his side’s tendency to switch off during games and error-prone nature has undone his good work. The Baggies could be through to the playoffs due to their stunning attack, led by the brilliant Jay Rodriguez, but their poor defensive and slow midfield might cost them progression beyond that.

Moore needs to understand his side’s weaknesses and work on them before it’s too late.

If The Baggies keep on leaking in goals, they might have to end up battling in the Championship for another season.

After going an entire year without spending anything in the transfer market, the Lilywhites are set for a big summer. Rumours are already starting to flood in, and one of those, from The Daily Mail, claims that Mauricio Pochettino is looking to splash £70 million on Fiorentina’s young winger, Federico Chiesa.

The last player that was signed at Tottenham was another winger, the slightly older Lucas Moura. However, in his time at the club, Lucas has failed to really make his mark. The Brazilian’s directness and ability with the ball at his feet make him a good player on paper, but in practice, he hasn’t quite clicked. However, 21-year-old Chiesa would be an entirely different story.

The young Italian has scored 11 goals and registered eight assists in his 30 games in all competitions this season, and that kind of end product at an age where he can still be moulded by a manager like Mauricio Pochettino makes him the kind of player that the Lilywhites should be after. After years of being stung in the market, though, the fans have no faith in securing a £70 million player.

You can read the Lilywhites’ thoughts on the Chiesa links here:

The Lilywhites are already writing this one off and have no faith in bringing in anyone for £17 million, let alone £70 million.

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Max Meyer was once regarded as one of the most precocious and exciting midfield talents on the continent, but he has failed to hit the heights of his role model and 98 cap Germany international, Michael Ballack.

What’s the word?

It’s often easy to forget that footballers, like everyone else, have a life away from their place of work.

Plenty of players avoid making their presence felt in the public eye and that naturally contributes to the aforementioned false perception, but Meyer spoke to Crystal Palace TV this week in a refreshing interview with Chris Grierson, as per Youtube.

The former Schalke prodigy, who joined Palace on a free in the summer, opened up about veganism, his move to England and the 2006 World Cup amongst other things.

While discussing the 2006 World Cup, which was hosted by Germany, Meyer revealed (01:30) that Ballack, the German captain for the competition, was his favourite player at the time.

“My favourite player was Michael Ballack. He was my role model. He was a perfect player for Germany, he was the captain and he was my favourite player.”

Too late to follow in Ballack’s footsteps?

As role models go, Ballack is a phenomenal talent to aspire to.

Considering Meyer is now 23 and struggling to cement his place in Roy Hodgson’s starting XI, it’s fair to say that he has a mountain to climb if he wishes to emulate the success of the 2010 Premier League title winner.

However, he could learn a lot from his role model’s box-to-box style of play and ability to regularly find the back of the net for club and country.

Meyer’s positional transition from a number ten to a number six has been the defining narrative in his career during the past eighteen months, but perhaps he needs to strike a balance between the qualities needed in both of those positions in order to realise his huge potential, just as Ballack did during his esteemed career.

There are some big characters at Man Utd, but Paul Pogba undeniably tops the list. The Frenchman is an incredibly well-known figure, and so whenever he says something, he gets people talking.

Unfortunately for Man Utd in this case, however, his latest comments have got people talking for the wrong reasons after he described another team, Real Madrid, as a “dream club”.

As per Goal, he said: “Real Madrid is a dream for anyone. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world”.

Pogba isn’t doing himself any favours here, as these comments are only going to generate criticism, and that’s exactly what the Frenchman has earned at the hands of TalkSport pundit Dean Saunders.  

As per TalkSport, Saunders said: “I would never talk about another club if I was sat in front of the press. I would say, ‘I’m a Manchester United player and that’s all I care about’. Honestly, I think they should get rid of him. I would get rid of him.”

He continued: “Obviously he’s a really good player, there’s no doubt about that, but the problems that are being caused behind the scenes…The club should get their money back, give it to Ole and go and strengthen the team in other areas.”

Saunders isn’t holding anything back, and can you blame him?

Man Utd have finally turned a corner and are impressing in the English top flight, yet now they’ve been brought back down to earth by these comments. It’s hard to understand what the Frenchman was trying to achieve, but it’s clear that panic is the only thing that he’s going to be bringing back to Old Trafford.

Whether they should sell him or not is another question entirely, and there are likely to be fans on either side of the debate. On one hand, talk like this is just part and parcel of the game, and Pogba has proven his commitment to Man Utd already this term with his performances on the field. However, on the flip side, it’s also clear that the Frenchman has bigger dreams than Old Trafford; and that lack of commitment is telling.

Certainly, he’s a top player, and it will be down to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to assess the situation and determine whether these comments warrant further investigation. Saunders, though, clearly isn’t impressed.

Man Utd fans – should you sell Paul Pogba? Let us know below!

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It has been claimed by Spanish media outlet AS that Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has decided he wants to leave Old Trafford in the summer transfer window.

What’s the word, then?

The France international has told his agent, the controversial Mino Raiola, and he’s already started the search for a new club for his client with suggestions that Real Madrid and Juventus could be on the table, per the original report.

The news will send shockwaves throughout the footballing world after the mass speculation over the player’s future faded away following the departure of Jose Mourinho from the Red Devils.

Seemingly happy under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Pogba, in his third season at Man United, has scored 14 goals and notched 11 assists in all competitions in 2018/2019, a large portion of them coming since December, but now he is reportedly seeking a new challenge.

United must do everything in their power to stop this

There can be little doubt what United must do if these rumours are to be believed, everything in their power to stop Pogba from leaving.

The 26-year-old has been the poster boy of the Solskjaer revival as the Red Devils have defied the odds to work their way back into the Premier League top five.

The Norwegian already looks set to be installed as the permanent boss at Old Trafford and it will feel like all of his hard work has been undone if this departure occurs.

Pogba has been absolutely pivotal to the turnaround in fortunes and one can certainly question whether it would have happened to such a degree in the first place, without him.

At 26, he should be approaching the prime years of his career and losing him to a big European rival at this stage would be simply unforgivable, and Solskjaer ultimately needs to prove his worth for the second time by keeping the World Cup winner at Old Trafford.

Assuming the speculation about the caretaker manager is true the club can get back where they used to be soon, challenging for Premier League titles on a regular basis. However, it simply can’t and won’t happen if Pogba is not a red beyond the summer.