Leeds United have been absent from the Premier League for 15 years now, and fans have seen their fair share of transfer activity in that time as their club looked to bounce back to their former greatness; some good, some bad, some terrific and some downright awful.

The likes of Kevin Nicholls, Darren Huckerby, Rachubka, Kebe, Steve Morison and El Hadji-Diouf, who are widely regarded as some of the worst signings to have arrived at Elland Road, have all failed miserably to fulfil the one purpose they were bought: top-flight promotion.

Only now are Leeds genuinely looking like they’re going to make a comeback under Marcelo Bielsa, who has finally injected some stability and sense into their recruitment process.

But how different could things have been if they had this sort of sense back in 2015 and made this one major signing?

Joey Barton – 2015

Former Leeds head coach Neil Redfearn claimed that his own departure marked the end of the pursuit for marquee signings that could have quite easily changed the fortunes of the club (source: Yorkshire Post).

Jason Shackell, Matty Phillips and Charlie Adam were amongst the names mentioned as well, but it’s rebel Joey Barton that really stuck out for us as a candidate for ‘One that got away’.

The former Manchester City, Newcastle, QPR and Marseille man was looking for his next adventure after frolicking in France for a year and West Yorkshire could well have been the place to host it had Redfearn not been shown the door (apparently).

Speaking to Radio Yorkshire (via Yorkshire Post), Redfearn claimed: “I was consulted at the end of the season by Andrew Umbers about possible signings and additions to the side. I came up with a list.

“People like Joey Barton and Jason Shackell and Matty Phillips, you know, all good players. Adam as well, who Thommo knew from Stoke City, Charlie Adam.

“These were all players that were interested. At that time, we contacted them through different sources.

“They were genuinely interested in coming to play for Leeds United, which is not difficult to sell, because it’s a top club.”

So, how different could things have been for Leeds had Barton arrived?

Well, alongside his more controversial traits Barton used to be quite the player.

He’s helped two of his previous clubs to Premier League promotion including Newcastle United (2009/10) and Burnley, where he opted to play instead of Leeds, earning a Player of the Year award in the process.

There’s no doubt he would have offered some vital experience in Leeds United’s midfield and helped provide the strong physical presence every successful club needs at that level.

You must also consider who the club were forced into signing as their only alternative…Toumani Diagouraga.

The big defensive midfielder, who now players his football for Swindon Town in League Two, managed a pathetic three appearances for the club before being frozen out and released. Which really isn’t great.

Of course, it’s always worth exploring negative impacts as well. For instance, given the string of questionable managers, fans have had to endure since Redfearn was there any guarantee that they’d survive the Premier League if Barton had been a success? Would the drop have left them in a more vulnerable position like last time?

More importantly: would Bielsa be at the club?

Joey Barton – the one that got away?

أعلن إيهاب جلال المدير الفني لمصر المقاصة تشكيل فريقه أمام الأهلي في المباراة التي ستقام بعد قليل في الدوري المصري الممتاز.

الأهلي يلتقي مع مصر المقاصة على استاد القاهرة، في إطار منافسات الجولة الـ 28 من المسابقة الأكبر محليًا. تشكيل مصر المقاصة أمام الأهلي اليوم

حراسة المرمى: محمود حمدي.

خط الدفاع: أحمد مودي ومحمد دبش وأحمد محسن وعصام صبحي.

خط الوسط: صلاح ريكو، ميدو جابر، محمد إبراهيم، خالد أوتشو.

خط الهجوم: عمرو مرعي وفوافي.

طالع أيضًا.. تشكيل الأهلي الرسمي امام مصر المقاصة

ويحتل مصر المقاصة المركز السابع في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 36 نقطة، فيما يتصدر الأهلي برصيد 72 نقطة، وتوج باللقب رسميًا.

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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Leeds were comfortably beaten by a really impressive Norwich performance on Saturday evening, and Marcelo Bielsa must now rest Mateusz Klich after his ineffectual performance.

Klich was perhaps the standout player of the season in the early stages, regularly chipping in with goals from midfield as Leeds raced out to an early Championship lead.

After opening the season with five goals and five assists in 16 Championship games though, he has just two goals and one assist since the beginning of November, with both of those goals coming last week at Rotherham.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

Any hopes that the brace at the New York Stadium would kick-start his form have surely now faded, after the 28 year-old really struggled to make an impact on Saturday.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side had 63 per cent of the ball in the 3-1 defeat, but managed just six shots on target, and when your best attacking midfielder is struggling this much it’s hardly a surprise.

The Polish international completed just one key pass and one dribble in the game, worryingly low numbers for an attack-minded player in a side that dominated the ball.

He completed just 73 per cent of his overall passes and was responsible for four of the Whites’ 21 shots, only one of which he managed to get on target.

Perhaps what will concern Bielsa most is simply how sloppy his side were, and Klich was the biggest culprit of this, losing the ball six times, more than any other player on the pitch.

The Polish midfielder has quickly become a fan favourite this season, but having already racked up over 2,500 minutes played in his first proper campaign of English football, it may just be time to give him a few weeks on the bench.

West Ham’s main man Marko Arnautovic has been linked with a move away from the club for months, but he now needs to knuckle down and prove he’s worth being snapped up.

The Austrian striker’s brother pleaded with the club to let him leave in a statement in January, but his ‘dream move’ to an unnamed Chinese club fell through when a £35m bid was rejected. Why he wanted to go to China is beyond us all but since that deal didn’t materialise, the talented frontman should perform like everyone knows he can to earn a move to a club which is a step up from West Ham.

Why he’d even want to leave The London Stadium in January is another question that’s hard to answer. They’re playing some great football at the moment and are looking capable of mounting a challenge for a European spot over the next year or so. However, if he really does want to leave, then he needs to get his head back into playing for the Hammers until the end of the season.

There’s no questioning his quality, it’s there, but his attitude is something that sometimes lets him down, and that’s the difference between a good player and a world-class player – mentality. This is a test of character for the 29-year-old and could mean him signing for a Chinese club to rot away into obscurity or being picked up by a club already playing European football.

The opportunity to build up his goal tally is there. He’s now playing alongside players like Samir Nasri, Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson who will be able to set him up for fun against most opposition. West Ham are creating chances against the best sides in the league too and he could be finishing those as their main man up top.

If Arnautovic would lift his head up and realise what an opportunity he has in front of him, he could be playing European football next season, whether that be with West Ham or not. Surely that would be more of a ‘dream move’ than China?

Where do you think Marko Arnautovic will be playing his football next season?

Burnley were hardly the most active team in the January transfer window, but one big transfer story did take place at Turf Moor on deadline day.

That was the signing of England legend Peter Crouch, who moved the other way in a deal which saw Sam Vokes sign for Stoke City in what was seen as one of the most bizarre transfers in the whole window.

However, we here in the Tavern feel like Sean Dyche might well have pulled off something of a masterstroke, and the addition of Crouch might well be something which is a massive benefit to the Clarets in the long-term.

Crouch, now 38, is hardly going to set the world alight during his time in Lancashire, but over a number of years, the former England man could well be a massive bonus for the club in terms of his coaching and experience, not to mention the overall feel-good factor which seems to follow Crouch around wherever he goes.

The big striker will get minutes under Dyche as Burnley scrap to avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight, and his height, experience, and nouse in and around the 18 yard box might well prove crucial.

Something had to change for Burnley, and while many won’t have seen Crouch as the change what was necessarily needed, it might well turn out to be a genius move by Dyche.

Burnley fans, would you agree, or is Crouch a pointless addition? Let us know your thoughts!

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Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to Tuesday night’s setback at Loftus Road, and they’re absolutely furious with the performance of Jack Harrison.

It was the same old story for Marcelo Bielsa’s side on Tuesday night, as they dominated possession but failed to create enough clear-cut chances to win the match.

Patrick Bamford looked a step off the pace in every department, Tyler Roberts was hugely disappointing and Izzy Brown touched the ball just once in his ten-minute cameo.

Perhaps worst of all though was Harrison, who completed just 62 per cent of his passes in the 1-0 defeat, the lowest such number of any Leeds player on the evening.

The 22 year-old has scored three times and added one assist since joining on loan from Manchester City last summer, and his lack of end product is surely now a huge concern for Bielsa.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans want the youngster axed from the starting XI for Friday’s clash against West Brom…

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Vakoun Issouf Bayo has been left out of Celtic’s Europa League squad, as reported by BBC Sport.

The Ivorian striker joined Celtic last month from Dunajska Streda but UEFA regulations only allow for three players to be added to the squad that competed in the group phase.

Timo Weah, Oliver Burke and Jeremy Toljan have already made their debuts and have been included for the matches with Valencia on February 14 and 21.

On the surface it would seem the sensible choice but it does leave Celtic short on striking options for the matches against the Spanish giants.

Odsonne Edouard picked up an injury on Sunday against St Johnstone that puts a question mark over his availability while Leigh Griffiths hasn’t played for two months with no indication of when he will return to the fold.

Oliver Burke becomes the only realistic striking option with the on loan West Brom man adapting to that position after arriving as an attacking midfielder.

Celtic currently have 14 players on the injured list with Filip Benkovic and Tom Rogic both ruled out of action for the remainder of February.

Not many Everton fans will be pleased with their side’s recent form and Marco Silva’s team selection has been an issue too, with Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun still receiving minutes. 

Of course, it’s obvious that the Toffees need to bring in reinforcements in attacking areas as they’ve struggled to get the best out of a number of attackers in recent times, so the summer transfer window could prove key.

Interestingly, it appears as if the Merseyside club have their eye on an attacker, as according to Calciomercato, Everton are interested in PSV Eindhoven’s Joel Piroe.

Worryingly, Juventus are already in talks with the youngster who is available on a free transfer in the summer, but Marcel Brands could hold the key to a potential deal for Everton as he took up the role of sporting director at the Dutch club prior to his move to the Premier League.

Many fans won’t be aware of Joel Piroe’s qualities but he’s quickly established himself as one of the most promising attackers at the Dutch club, having produced an impressive 12 goals in 25 appearances with the Under-21 side.

Indeed, the 19-year-old could quite easily become a Goodison Park hero if Brands manages to bring him to the Premier League as he has one quality that not many of the Toffees’ current batch of attackers are showing, which is the ability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis. He’s a well-rounded striker who could excite Everton fans as he has the ability to operate on either wing, with the pace and skill to pose a constant threat.

One slight worry is that Marco Silva hasn’t exactly turned to youth in the current campaign, so his chances may be limited for now.

Everton fans, would you like to see Piroe rock up at Goodison Park? 

كشف ظهير أيمن الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ولفرهامبتون الجديد، نيسلون سيميدو، سبب اختياره الانتقال إلى “مولنيكس” من برشلونة خلال الساعات القليلة الماضية.

وانضم سيميدو إلى كتيبة المدرب نونو إسبريتو سانتو، مقابل 30 مليون يورو بالإضافة إلى 10 ملايين أخرى كمتغيرات بعقد لمدة 3 سنوات. (طالع التفاصيل)

وتحدث البرتغالي عن السبب في تصريحات لموقع ولفرهامبتون الرسمي، وقال: “اخترت الذئاب لأنه فريق جيد يقدم كرة قدم ممتعة”.

وتابع: “في الموسم الماضي، قدموا موسمًا جيدًا جدًا وأصبح فريقًا مهمًا للغاية في إنجلترا وكذلك في أوروبا، وأتمنى أن نحقق المزيد من الأشياء الإيجابية هذا العام”.

وأضاف: “السبب الثاني الذي جعلني أختار ولفرهامبتون هو المدرب، نونو، مدرب جيد جدًا وفعل الكثير من الأشياء مع الفريق على مدار السنوات الماضية ونجح مع فرق أخرى”.

وعن دور اللاعبين البرتغاليين في انتقاله إلى ولفرهامبتون: “لقد تحدثت معهم عن الفريق وأخبروني العديد من الأشياء الإيجابية، ونتمنى مساعدة النادي في تحقيق نجاحات جديدة في السنوات القادمة”.