David Beckham, one of the world’s most iconic celebrities, worshipped in the far corners of the world, playing for Third Division side Preston North End – it defies belief.
What a truly remarkable event in time this was – a 19-year-old star-to-be David Beckham taking his talents to Lancashire’s very own Preston North End.
The paradox of the former Manchester United star playing in the grizzly depths of the Third Division is almost comical. This is a man who would later leave a club after having a boot thrown at his head – how would he survive in the melee of 90s era lower tier football?
Not very well it would seem – at least not from the perspective of the hardened fans at Raising the Coffin, Preston North End’s former monthly in-house fanzine, anyhow, who included the winger in ‘Preston’s worst ever XI’ (via the Lancashire Telegraph).
The reason for his inclusion is a little ambiguous given he had actually been playing quite well for the side scoring two goals in five appearances, one of which he scored directly from a corner.
Indeed, we can only imagine his antics off the pitch was the sole reason for the inclusion.
Anecdotes from far and wide about how the team teased their new recruit have been documented in one convenient location by FourFourTwo, including this one from former teammate Ryan Kidd: “We were travelling to Exeter and David was reading Match magazine,” reminisces Kidd.
“He was reading an article about himself: when he scored in Europe and celebrated with Eric Cantona. Raymond Sharp, the Scottish left-back, got hold of this and started reading it out loud to everybody – something along the lines of ‘I ran into Eric’s arms and it was wonderful’. He embarrassed him to the high heavens! I could see him glowing red but that was the way Sharpy welcomed him into the squad.”
Beckham went on to win a famous treble with Manchester United before making a big money move to Real Madrid, where he became the very definition of what it is to be a ‘Galactico’.
Four years later he made the surprise move to the MLS to play for LA Galaxy, where he spent five successful years boosting the profile of American “soccer,” setting the way for the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Final stints in Europe were spent between Milan and Paris – a point in his career that sounds more like a fashion grand tour than the final years of an icon’s footballing career.
Newcastle appear primed to make a huge mistake in the transfer market, as reports claim the Magpies are eyeing Yoann Barbet.
What’s the story?
According to Calciomercato, Newcastle want Barbet to solve their right-back problems.
The report claims both Newcastle and Aston Villa want to sign the Brentford defender, with Benitez leading the charge to bring him to Tyneside.
Barbet would be a free signing as his contract expires this summer, but is he really an upgrade on what the Magpies already have?
Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….
Is he good enough?
At 25, Barbet has bags of experience to offer, making 116 appearances for Brentford, racking up seven goals and four assists.
However, the right-back has never really showed he can perform at the highest level, yet to make a single appearance in any of Europe’s top five leagues.
He is averaging 1.5 tackles per game in the Championship this season. To put those numbers in perspective, DeAndre Yedlin makes 1.9 tackles per game in the top flight, while also offering up two more assists than Barbet has this season.
The last time the Magpies signed a full-back it was the loan capture of Antonio Barreca back in January, who has not played a single minute of first team action since.
The Monaco loanee is clearly not up to the task of the top flight either physically or technically, because that’s what happens when you sign inferior players who are unproven at the highest level. Barbet would just be Barreca 2.0.
Over the past few seasons, Crystal Palace have had an awful track record with signing strikers. Indeed, Christian Benteke, Conor Wickham and Jordan Ayew have all flopped and Michy Batshuayi’s loan-deal means he might even not return to Selhurst Park after May.
The Eagles are in dire need of a quality goal-scorer to supplement their hard-working attack and are obviously looking for one behind the scenes. Well, they’ve reportedly found one individual, but not exactly the big name fans were hoping for.
That’s because, according to reports from Radio Continental (via FutbolRed), they’re aiming to sign River Plate striker Rafael Santos Borre.
The 23-year-old’s garnered attention from quite a few European clubs for his work for the South American giants. He’s scored 4 goals in 17 appearances this season, but it was his work in the FIFA Club World Cup which impressed most. In fact, the Colombian scored 3 goals in two games, helping River Plate to a 3rd place finish.
That being said, there are no guarantees he’ll actually thrive at the Premier League. Borre’s earned a reputation for being a cunning goal-scorer, but replicating his heroics under harsh conditions will be extremely difficult. Considering that he currently has a €30m release clause, shelling out that kind of money in an unproven talent is a big risk from Steve Parish.
It’s one which could pay off, as Borre, who is valued at £6.75 million (by Transfermarkt), possesses the talent to be a prime goal-scorer for them with the resources supplying to him.
However, considering their recent transfer failures, Parish needs to be careful of properly analysing his targets before wasting money on mediocre talents.
Palace fans, would you be pleased with Borre’s potential arrival in the summer? Join the discussion by commenting below…
Leeds fans can’t believe what they are reading after Neil Harris suggested the club get away with things on a regular basis following the missile incident on Saturday.
Harris implied that the Leeds fans fall foul of EFL rules on a regular basis but for some reason avoid punishment, saying “Is it common at Leeds? Do they get away with it? I don’t know.
“Various players get hit by coins, bottles and lighters. It is not acceptable in football grounds. Messages are sent out asking fans not to do it. Everybody has got a duty of care to stop that happening across the nation. It’s going to take a serious incident for it to happen and that’s not what we want to see.”
Leeds have already been given two sanctions by footballing authorities this season with a £200,000 fine for spying on Derby County training sessions, and an additional £5,000 fine for a touchline altercation when the side met Bolton.
Fans were particularly peeved at the comment implying Leeds are allowed to get away with things more than other clubs, after their hefty fine surrounding ‘spygate’ which technically didn’t break any rules.
On the whole Leeds fans were bemused by Harris’ quotes after the weekend as the general consensus at Elland Road is that the club are hard done by rather than treated lightly.
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa conducted his pre-match press conference on Monday ahead of his side’s trip to Preston North End on Tuesday.
The yo-yo automatic promotion battle in the Championship continued at the weekend as the Whites were beaten by Birmingham City and saw their Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United leapfrog them again with a win at Deepdale.
The Argentine boss had plenty to say as usual at Thorp Arch, and these are the two things Leeds supporters need to see.
Pablo Hernandez is a doubt
As per the Yorkshire Evening Post, Bielsa confirmed that the talismanic Spaniard may not feature against Alex Neil’s side following an issue he picked up in the defeat at St Andrew’s at the weekend.
The 63-year-old said: “He received a kick in the last minute of the (Birmingham) game. We are not going to take any risks if playing makes his injury worse.”
While the former Swansea City man failed to make an impact at the weekend, there is no doubt that he is one of the most talented players in the Championship.
With 11 goals and 12 assists in the league this term he would be a huge, huge miss in Lancashire.
Leeds can deal with pressure
Of course, having slipped up against Birmingham at the weekend questions were always going to be asked of Bielsa and his men given they let a top-two position slip again.
Asked whether he side were suffering from nervous, he confidently replied: “We can’t talk about our team. Watching our team I have never seen us overcome by the nerves. We know how to live with it.”
While the experienced manager is never going to admit it even if his players are feeling the pressure, his demeanour certainly suggested that he has confidence in them, and that will surely have translated to his squad too.
His trust in them could prove to be vital as things really hot up in the coming weeks.
Leeds United have suffered massively with injuries this season, haven’t they Whites fans?
The likes of Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernandez and Liam Cooper have all been sidelined during the 2018/19 campaign whilst Barry Douglas has been particularly unlucky since moving to Elland Road last summer from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite battling back from two previous setbacks, the Scottish defender ruptured his medial knee ligament during a 3-2 victory over Millwall for the Whites earlier this month (via Sky Sports) and is expected to miss the remainder of his side’s fixtures. Although Douglas’ absence is far from ideal for Marcelo Bielsa, the Argentine’s revelation that every other member of his squad is fit to face Sheffield Wednesday (according to the Yorkshire Evening Post) could be a massive boost for the club’s automatic promotion hopes.
Currently second in the Championship standings, Leeds are just five games away from a return to the Premier League and will undoubtedly benefit from having a variety of options to choose from for their clash against the Owls. In what is expected to be a vital clash in the race for the top-two, a win could see the Whites move as much as four points clear of their Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United if they slip-up against Millwall.
Having secured a confidence-boosting victory at Preston North End in midweek, there are no excuses for Leeds not to replicate their performance at Deepdale against Wednesday. If they can produce yet another sparkling display at Elland Road, they could build up the momentum needed to get them over the line in May.
What do you think Whites fans? How big of a boost is it to have no injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s clash? Are you confident that your club can finish above Chris Wilder’s Blades? Get in touch below.
Crystal Palace’s attack has often been their Achilles heel this season. Understatement of the year, right?
Indeed, their work up front’s been underwhelming, as they’ve failed to score the number of goals they should’ve with a blazing attacking force they have. So it’s no surprise Steve Parish is planning changes.
The Eagles are ready to offload both their striker’s, with Michy Batshuayi set to return to Chelsea and Christian Benteke being sold off, according to Belgian outlet Het Laatste Nieuws (via Sports Witness). The Belgian connection rarely worked as intended and Palace seem to be tired of the mediocrity haunting their progress.
While Batshuayi’s destined to return to West London, Benteke’s sale is absolutely the right decision. He’s been extremely disappointing in front of goal this season, being unable to score a single goal all season. In 13 games, he hasn’t scored or assisted a single goal, ending up missing 6 big chances in the meantime!
Yes, the former Aston Villa ace has struggled with injuries during his time in South London but the big money outlay invested in him over two years ago now looks to be a monumental error.
He’s rarely participated in Palace’s attack, averaging 13.23 passes per game and has a shooting accuracy of 27% (stats via Premier League) and the Big Belgian’s failed to live up to his reputation, consistently failing to finish off chances, ruining moves and demoralizing his team-mates with his lacklustre work up front.
In reality, Benteke’s actually held back the Eagles from becoming more prolific in the final third. They cannot rely upon Andros Townsend or Wilfried Zaha to deliver the goods every time and would be far better off accepting the Benteke embarrassment to free up space on the wage bill.
It’s time Benteke is sold for whatever price available (a lucrative offer from China was reportedly expected but never came) and a quality goal-scorer is brought in to get the Eagles playing thrilling attacking football as they’re intended to.
Cut your losses and run, Steve Parish.
Palace fans, would you be affected by Benteke’s potential departure? Join the discussion by commenting below…
[ad_pod ]Football writer Daniel Storey posted a study on Twitter on Tuesday that revealed Southampton have the eighth-most valuable team in the Premier League this season when you look at the transfer fees paid for their 10 most regular starters.
While Saints have received their fair share of money for the likes of Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk in recent years, they have also been splashing out on new signings themselves.
Jannik Vestergaard, Mario Lemina, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Guido Carrillo, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Sofiane Boufal are just a selection of the big-money additions that have arrived at St Mary’s in the previous few seasons, and the latter trio won’t even have been included in this study.
There is no doubt that the south coast outfit were underachieving under both Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes, and they only had nine points to their name this season when Ralph Hasenhuttl took the reins at the beginning of December.
The Austrian’s arrival has sparked a huge upturn in form for Southampton, who have taken 27 points from 18 top flight matches since.
Now five points above the drop zone the former RB Leipzig coach has probably been labelled as a miracle worker by some, but these latest findings suggest that isn’t actually the case.
Considering the value of some of their regular starters compared to other clubs in the Premier League, Saints’ form in recent months is exactly what it should have been throughout the entire campaign.
In short, the improvement shown should have been the minimum requirement considering the players the 51-year-old has had available to him.
Of course he still deserves plenty of plaudits though, because what a study like this doesn’t take into consideration is the fact that Hasenhuttl took charge of a squad shot of confidence who had forgotten how to play effective, attacking football.
Why should Southampton be more like Dortmund? Find out in the video below…
He has transformed them in that respect, but he has also good resources to work with when you see the transfer fees paid for some of the individuals he is working closely with.
The aim next season, should they preserve their Premier League status, will surely be to aim for a seventh-place finish.
So, the official PFA Team of the Year has been announced, and it has caused a bit of a stir from some fans.
Supporters have questioned Paul Pogba’s inclusion, asked why Alisson hasn’t been picked over Ederson, called for Aaron Wan-Bissaka over Trent Alexander-Arnold. Oh, and also, where’s Eden Hazard?
Anyway, it is what it is. But who are the worst performing players this season, based on general awfulness as well as those who have been well below the standard expected of them?
Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…
Let’s take a look…
Asmir Begovic
The Bosnian stopper used to be one of the most impressive keepers in the Premier League, and when Bournemouth managed to sign him, it looked like a real steal.
However, this season, the former Stoke man has been awful. Begovic has let in goal after goal, and was even dropped by Eddie Howe for Artur Boruc for a few games, such was his dreadful form.
Kieran Trippier
Soccer Football – FA Cup Fourth Round – Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur – Selhurst Park, London, Britain – January 27, 2019 Tottenham’s Kieran Trippier reacts REUTERS/David Klein
After such a phenomenal World Cup campaign with England, many would’ve expected Kieran Trippier to have waltzed into this season full of confidence and be one of the leading right-backs.
Instead, the former Burnley man has been a laughing stock, letting numerous wingers have their way with him whilst making some woeful individual errors – his own goal away to Chelsea summed up his season.
Maxime Le Marchand
Soccer Football – Premier League – Crystal Palace v Fulham – Selhurst Park, London, Britain – February 2, 2019 Fulham’s Maxime Le Marchand reacts after a decision by referee Michael Oliver REUTERS/Hannah McKay EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representa
The Frenchman, quite frankly, has been abysmal in his first season at Craven Cottage.
Signed in the summer, for whatever reason, Le Marchand has been part of the top flight’s worst defence, with Fulham conceding a league-high 76 goals before this weekend.
Shkodran Mustafi
Soccer Football – FA Cup Fourth Round – Arsenal v Manchester United – Emirates Stadium, London, Britain – January 25, 2019 Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi reacts REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Do I even need to write anything?
The German international is practically hated by Arsenal fans for his powder-puff displays at the back, and his numerous individual errors may still cost the Gunners a place in the top four.
Gaetan Bong
The 31-year-old had somehow made 21 Premier League appearances this season heading into the weekend, despite being challenged by the impressive summer signing Bernardo.
Bong, as always, has offered very little going forward, and is not a standout player from a defensive aspect – just how Chris Hughton keeps deeming him suitable for selection is beyond rationality.
Jorginho
Heralded as the key cog in Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli team, big things were expected of Jorginho after his £57m arrival at Chelsea.
However, the so-called pass master was yet to record an assist with just three league games to play, and has even been booed by his own supporters for his flimsy performances.
Fred
Wow. What an awful signing.
£52m man Fred had made just 17 league appearances since signing from Shakhtar Donetsk prior to Sunday’s clash, and at this late stage in the season, United fans will struggle to tell you one thing that he is particularly good at.
The Brazilian was a shoe-in for the worst team of the season.
Alexis Sanchez
Another Manchester United misfit, flop, whatever you want to call it.
Still picking up his reported £500,000-a-week wages, Sanchez had scored just one goal in 18 league appearances this term before this weekend’s action, and just two goals across all competitions.
What a waste of money.
Theo Walcott
The former Arsenal man, signed for a huge £20m back in January 2018, has been one of the flops of the season and one of Everton’s worst players without a doubt.
Walcott had managed to muster up just four goals across his first 34 league appearances this season, and has found himself out of the side recently as a result of his ineffective displays.
Marko Arnautovic
West Ham should’ve bitten unnamed Chinese club’s hand off when they tabled £35m for the Austrian back in January.
Arnautovic had produced seven goals in 25 appearances before this weekend, but for a player of his class he has been largely disappointing and has definitely checked out mentally since the winter transfer window.
Steve Mounie
Arguably one of the worst strikers in the division, Steve Mounie has been incredibly ineffective for the Terriers this season – they look set to finish the season as the league’s lowest scorers.
The Benin forward had just three goals in 29 league appearances going into the weekend, and it is no surprise that Huddersfield have already been relegated with Mounie leading the line.
West Ham United centre-back Winston Reid has been back on the training pitch over the course of the last month or so following a dreadful run of injuries previously.
The New Zealand international hasn’t played for the club since March 2018 when he suffered an issue against Swansea City, and has already been ruled out for the rest of this season.
Given manager Manuel Pellegrini has barely had a chance to cast his eye over the 30-year-old it will be interesting to see whether he gets a chance to impress during pre-season, or whether the Chilean decides to move the defender on.
Irons supporters on the Knees Up Mother Brown forum have been having their say on Reid’s future, and one fan in particular has made a ground-breaking prediction.
What’s he said? Has he got a point?
To be fair to him, he may well do.
West Ham ruined Arsenal’s unbeaten record at the Emirates in 2007 and history repeated itself at the weekend. Spurs fans don’t take it well in the video below…
Given the length he still has left on his contract and the fact that he hasn’t yet had a fair crack of the whip under Pellegrini, it seems unlikely that he will be sold this summer.
In any case, who would want to buy a player that hasn’t proved his fitness having been out of action for more than a year?
It’s certainly interesting that he feels the New Zealand international won’t play again for the club even if he expects him to stay however, but it does make sense.
Issa Diop, Fabian Balbuena and Angelo Ogbonna are all likely to be ahead of him in the pecking order next term, while the former Manchester City boss could also choose to bring in a new player in that position during the close season.