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With just four points on the board from seven Premier League games so far this season and without their first win of the campaign, Southampton and their fans have not had much to shout about in recent weeks.

Their previous league outing saw Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side fall to a 3-1 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that also saw club captain James Ward-Prowse pick up a red card resulting in a three-game ban that will commence after the current international break.

What’s the latest?

Despite their poor start to the season, one shining light that the club can take pleasure in is the fact that midfielder Will Smallbone made his return to the pitch during Saints B’s 4-1 defeat away at Charlton Athletic in the EFL Trophy. He returns after picking up a serious ACL injury away at Leicester City back in January.

Smallbone, who is a product of Southampton’s youth academy, eventually made his senior debut for the club in January 2020 in a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup after working his way through their youth teams.

Since then, the midfielder, who is currently valued at £1.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made 13 appearances for Hasenhuttl’s side across all competitions in which he has managed to score one goal and provide two assists along the way.

Replacement for Ward-Prowse?

Moving forward, with Southampton set to take on Leeds United at St. Mary’s after the international break, we feel that if Smallbone, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £17.3k-per-week according to Spotrac, is fit enough, he could definitely be the right man to come in and play while Ward-Prowse is serving his ban.

Following on from the Leeds game, Southampton then takes on fellow league strugglers Burnley before a Carabao Cup clash once again at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, after which Ward-Prowse will be back with the team.

However, given how long Smallbone was out of action for, we feel that Hasenhuttl will have to be careful with just how many minutes the midfielder plays. The last thing he wants to do is potentially cause any further damage to his injury and keep him out on the sidelines for another period of time.

Either way, with Leeds and Burnley both currently next to Southampton in the league table, we feel that the Saints will undoubtedly be targeting these fixtures as their possible first wins of the season. Having a player like Smallbone cover while Ward-Prowse sits out will definitely aid their cause.

In other news: Hasenhuttl must ruthlessly axe £75k-p/w Southampton dud, he made just 9 passes v CFC – opinion

Celtic are reportedly in advanced talks with Cameron Carter-Vickers over a permanent move to Parkhead this summer, in what would be a big piece of business.

The Lowdown: Carter-Vickers excelling on loan

The American joined the Hoops on a temporary basis last summer, coming in on loan from Tottenham in order to enjoy more regular playing time.

Carter-Vickers’ switch north of the border has been a match made in heaven, with the 24-year-old becoming a key part of Ange Postecoglou’s defence in the Scottish Premiership.

The centre-back’s future remains up in the air – a number of other clubs want to sign him this summer – but a promising update is now doing the rounds.

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The Latest: Permanent move close?

According to SBI Soccer, an American source has revealed Celtic are now in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Carter-Vickers permanently at the end of the season, with Spurs still valuing him at £6million.

The report states that Wolves, Leicester City and Watford have all shown an interest, too, but the Hoops appear to be in pole position for his signature.

The Verdict: Huge news for Celtic

Carter-Vickers may already be part of Celtic’s squad but clinching a permanent move for him this summer really would feel like a big signing, given his influence.

The USA international has been an increasingly colossal performer at the heart of the defence, averaging 3.2 aerial duel wins and an 89.8% pass completion rate in the Europa League this season, showing he is more than capable playing at a higher level.

At 24, he is primed to improve in the coming years, becoming an even more formidable player, and he could play a big part in Celtic’s future, potentially then being sold for a hefty profit after some years of sustained success.

In other news, a pundit has bemoaned something that will affect Celtic next season. Read more here.

A worrying Rangers transfer claim has been made regarding Glen Kamara amid speculation over his Ibrox future…

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge has dropped an ominous update ahead of the January transfer window by stating that Steven Gerrard is a ‘big, big fan’ of the Gers gem.

When asked about the potential of Villa swooping for a Rangers player, he told GIVEMESPORT:

“He’s a big fan of Kamara, a big, big fan of Kamara.”

Concern

Aston Villa have been linked with a deal for the Finland international in recent weeks and this claim from Bridge could leave fans feeling concerned about what could be to come next month.

His comment appears to imply that Gerrard, out of the players currently at Ibrox, would like to sign Kamara for his new team, although it remains to be seen whether or not they will come in with a firm offer for his services.

At this point, though, supporters may begin to worry about whether or not the ex-Gers chief will want to swoop for one of his former players and offer them the chance to play Premier League football.

They are facing the prospect of losing one of their best players midway through the season, which could be a brutal blow to Gio van Bronckhorst’s side. Kamara has been in fine form this term and his departure could weaken the side on paper.

He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.00 in the Premiership, with Joe Aribo (7.18) the only central midfielder with a higher average rating than the ex-Arsenal man. Kamara has chipped in with one goal and three assists in the league, whilst completing an impressive 90% of his attempted passes and winning 52% of his duels.

This shows that he has been able to perform to a high standard consistently throughout the campaign, starting 15 of the 17 games. Therefore, his departure would leave a sizeable hole to be filled in the middle of the park, with Kamara a proven talent who can run games from midfield with his accurate passing and ability to dictate the tempo of matches.

Rangers fans would surely not want to see a player of his calibre depart midway through the season and that is why this claim from Bridge will leave them feeling worried. Hopefully, Ross Wilson will be able to keep any interested parties at bay and hold onto Kamara for the rest of the season, at least.

AND in other news, “Will be speaking” – Big Rangers claim made on Sky Sports that’ll leave fans delighted…

Everton have already made two signings in just four days of the transfer window being open, in a bid to strengthen the struggling side, Rafa Benitez could be poised to make his third signing very soon.

What’s the word?

Italian football news outlet, Club Doria, has reported that Everton are amongst a number of clubs who are interested in signing Sampdoria defender, Omar Colley.

Newcastle United, Leeds United and Watford have all been named alongside Everton in the report that suggests the Premier League clubs are interested in signing the £4.5m-rated beast.

Colley who has been hailed “amongst the best defenders” by Sampdoria manager Roberto D’Aversa, has reportedly changed his agent, and is ready for a new adventure, setting his sights on the Premier League, where if the rumours are true, he is in high demand for signing with one of many.

The Everton manager has already secured the signing of two defenders, Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko, claiming in his pre-match press conference last week that the club wants “two or three” signings, with the Gambia international potentially the third target.

Rafa must swoop

With clubs in a similar position in the bottom half of the table speculated to be interested in the 29-year-old, Benitez must swoop as soon as he can to ensure he doesn’t lose out on the transfer target, amid further transfer rumours that Mason Holgate could be leaving on loan this month too.

Adding depth to the Toffees squad is essential for the Spanish tactician, as defensively they have been abysmal this season with the current side conceding the first goal in 14 of their 20 games in all competitions this season, including each of their last seven games.

Colley could surely add something to the side’s defensive play, with the defender having the second most pass interceptions and the third most tackles completed in his own half in the Serie A this season, according to One Versus One.

Everton will take on Hull City at the weekend in the FA Cup third round and Benitez will be under pressure to give Everton fans something outside of the struggles of the league they currently face, as speculation grows on the sacking of the Spanish manager.

In other news: Vecino swap deal could solve Rafa’s problems at Everton

Sunderland missed their chance to go top of League One on Tuesday when they lost 3-1 to Lincoln City at the Stadium of Light, and will be hoping to seize their second opportunity to knock Rotherham off the top spot as they travel to take on 11th place Accrington Stanley this afternoon.

The Black Cats manager, Lee Johnson, took to his pre-match press conference to confirm the return of a number of players in training after injuries and virus outbreaks.

Johnson told the media;

“We’ll have more options [tomorrow], it’s fair to say,”

“Obviously it’s always touch wood in terms of the virus stuff, but at the moment it’s nice to be able to welcome two or three back into the group.”

The manager also added an update on star player, Corry Evans, saying;

“Corry is in good spirits,”

“We have got to be careful because at his previous club, he had a couple of similar scenarios in terms of going through the concussion protocols.

With that being said, this is how Football Fancast expects Sunderland to line up against Accrington Stanley this afternoon…

With three changes to the team, Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, Bailey Wright and Leon Dajaku return to the side for the clash in the North West on Saturday afternoon.

Fans will be happy to see first choice goalkeeper, Hoffmann, back in the side after conceding three goals at home on Tuesday night, the 6ft 4 machine, is returning from testing positive during a virus outbreak in the Sunderland camp.

We expect that Dajaku will also re-join the starting line-up after also testing positive during the virus outbreak at the club, Jack Diamond, who was hailed “powerful” by the Sunderland manager, is predicted to be axed from the team to accommodate the 20 year old’s return, with Dajaku bagging four goals and four assists for the side this season so far.

Wright is predicted to make his return from his minor injury after missing the last two games for the Black Cats, and we expect that the manager will be forced to start the defender whether he wanted to or not, due to Carl Winchester picking up a red card against Lincoln City at the beginning of this week.

Johnson will be hoping that his side can secure their first win of 2022 and their sixth win of the season away from home, putting them top of League One.

In other news: Sunderland eyeing swoop for Cardiff’s Aden Flint

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Aston Villa are willing to let Scott Hogan leave the club on loan before the end of the January transfer window with Championship rivals Bristol City and Sheffield United both interested, according to Sky Sports.

Hogan moved to Villa from Brentford in January 2017 and scored nine times in 41 first-team appearances for the club during the 2017-18 campaign, as per Transfermarkt.

The 26-year-old has only made six Championship appearances for the club this term, however, and his future has been called into question.

Hogan’s only start of the season came against Swansea in the FA Cup earlier this month, whilst he is yet to register a first-team goal this term.

The Villa fans have been on social media offering their views on the transfer report.

It would be fair to say that a number are not too keen on the idea of a loan, whilst the fact that promotion candidates Sheffield United are in the hunt, according to Sky Sports, could well come back to haunt Villa this term.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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

Paulo Fonseca is reportedly Amanda Staveley’s preferred choice of manager at Newcastle United.

The Lowdown: ‘Ongoing’ talks

As per Craig Hope, talks are ‘ongoing’ between Fonseca and the St. James’ Park faithful over the possibility of him becoming their next manager, and sources have said that he is ‘interested’ in taking the job.

It has even been reported that he already has three players in mind that he would like to sign should he be the next coach.

The Latest: Staveley’s choice

According to Tuttosport (via Sport Witness), Fonseca is Staveley’s ‘preference’ for the manager role in the North East, which gives him an ‘advantage’ over all of the other candidates in contention.

Close sources to the Tyneside club have also revealed that there is an ‘optimism’ that a ‘quick’ deal can be done, despite Graeme Jones now taking charge for the next few games on an interim basis.

The Verdict: Hire

Fonseca has been showered with praise for his coaching methods by some of his former players and other managers, while former AS Roma striker and Italian football legend Antonio Cassano claimed that he did an ‘exceptional’ job at his former club (Football.London).

Nonetheless, he has won no fewer than nine major trophies during his managerial career so far, and boasts a very impressive tally of 1.95 points won per game in 453 matches of management (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, Fonseca is currently out of work, and so should be attainable.

In other news, find out what big manager update Keith Downie has dropped here!

Daizen Maeda, Matt O’Riley and Josip Juranovic were the three standout players as Celtic put seven past St Johnstone. 

The Hoops ran riot at Parkhead as Ange Postecoglou’s side seized an opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership standings to nine points ahead of Rangers’ meeting with St. Mirren.

There was also a welcome boost to the goal difference column as the rampant Bhoys put seven past their visitors to improve their margin to plus 59, a huge 33 goals ahead of their Old Firm rivals.

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Reo Hatate opened the scoring early on before Georgios Giakoumakis doubled the lead shortly after. Celtic’s lead was 3-0 ahead of half-time when Maeda netted to put Postecoglou’s men in command. After the break came a Juranovic penalty followed by an O’Riley brace as Liel Abada completed the seven-goal rout on 78 minutes.

According to Sofascore, there were three Hoops who stood out on the day, and we’ve taken a deeper look through their numbers to get the lowdown on the star men.

Maeda 8/10

Even aside from the goal and assist, this was the 26-year-old’s best display in a Celtic shirt to date as Maeda added two key passes, 41 touches, one interception and one tackle to a sublime all-round performance.

The Japanese ace’s endeavour, energy and quality when in possession all contributed towards what was a statement victory from the table-toppers.

Juranovic 8.3/10

Juranovic was at his influential best from right-back as the Croatian provided one assist, 92/102 (90%) accurate passes and 119 touches in a stellar display from the 26-year-old.

Overall, the versatile defender completed two key passes and was accurate with 2/3 (66%) of crosses and 4/7 (57%) long balls on what was a perfect afternoon for the Celtic Park faithful.

O’Riley 9/10

The standout performer for the Hoops, despite only coming on as a second-half substitute.

O’Riley enjoyed the freedom of Paraside as the Danish youth international scored twice to seal a stunning 45-minute cameo that included a pass accuracy of 31/35 (89%), 46 touches, one key pass and one interception.

It could’ve been even better for the 21-year-old as O’Riley squandered a big chance to complete a first hat-trick for the club.

In other news, Ange Postecoglou hails club chief. Find out who it is here.

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Newcastle United are “still pushing” to sign Sevilla defender Diego Carlos in this January transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Magpies have been linked with a number of defenders in recent weeks, including Lille’s Sven Botman, but it appears Eddie Howe’s side have got their sights set on Carlos.

After initial reports from The Telegraph’s Jason Burt that the club had indeed submitted a bid for the Brazilian, Romano has now delivered an update where things currently stand.

He said: “Newcastle are still pushing with Sevilla for Diego Carlos but fee not agreed as things stand.”

Fans will be buzzing

With the second-worst defensive record in the entire division this season, it’s no surprise that Eddie Howe has quickly turned his attentions towards pushing for a new central defender following the signing of Chris Wood earlier this week.

The 28-year-old Carlos would give the Magpies a monstrous defensive presence were he to join, boasting an impressive 4.2 duels won per game at a success rate of 64% – to put that into context, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk has won 4.6 duels per match at a success rate of 71% in the Premier League.

And, in a player profile done by La Liga Analysis, they said: “He’s very strong in duels and knows how to use his body to destabilise his opponents. But even if he’s big and heavy, Diego Carlos is still a great athlete. He’s very powerful, his pace in long distances is great, and he’s surprisingly agile and flexible. These characteristics are the base of his game as he knows how to take advantage of his physical superiority.”

Carlos has played all but one of his side’s La Liga games this season, helping the Spanish outfit to the best defensive record in the league – a far cry from what Newcastle have got.

It’s exactly why Magpies fans will be buzzing with this latest development.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are eyeing another Brazilian defender too…

As per TUTTOmercatoWEB, it appears that Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has his eyes on yet another Serie A name in Juventus winger Dejan Kulusevski.

The Lowdown: Conte plots Italian raid…

There are reportedly a host of stars from Italy’s top division currently being eyed by Conte as Spurs become linked with many big players from the continent.

Indeed, according to Calciomercato, the likes of Federico Chiesa, Matthijs de Ligt, Stefan de Vrij, Marcelo Brozovic, Alessio Romagnoli and Dusan Vlahovic are all on his radar. Meanwhile, the likes of Franck Kessie have also been heavily linked, with a report by La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Get Italian Football News) recently claiming that talks were at a very advanced stage.

Another name has emerged in recent days as Spurs eye one of Serie A’s brightest young talents.

The Latest: Conte in awe…

As per TUTTOmercatoWEB, Tottenham could now sign the 21-year-old and are considered a ‘credible candidate’ for his signature alongside north London rivals Arsenal.

Additionally, both Conte and Spurs managing director Fabio Paratici ‘share the esteem’ for Kulusevski and consider the player to be a ‘gem’ with huge potential.

Funnily enough, the former Inter boss had wanted him at the San Siro, only to miss out to Paratici’s Juve at the time.

The Verdict: Big talent…

It appears that Spurs are still weighing future seasons as links also emerge to some of Europe’s brightest emerging prospects, as evident by their interest in Club Brugge starlet Charles De Ketelaere (Calciomercato).

Going by Kulusevski’s credentials, he certainly comes as a hugely exciting prospect, with the Champions League attacker even lavished by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, who called him a “great talent”.

Another Portuguese footballing icon in Bruno Alves was also left amazed by the 19-cap Sweden international, hailing Kulusevski and his ‘incredible’ intensity as a player (via Forza Italian Football).

Valued at around €35m (£29.8m) in the summer (TUTTOmercatoWEB), his value will only increase if he keeps turning this many heads.

In other news: Spurs now close to signing ‘monster’ player as Conte seeks to solve severe problem, find out more here.