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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

It’s like we’re playing a big game of Cluedo.

Everyone is trying to work out exactly what is going wrong at Nottingham Forest as they came crashing down to earth from their ten-game unbeaten run to now losing two matches in a row.

Former Forest man Kenny Burns has had his say on the matter and he thinks that it’s down to the absence of one man.

What’s he said?

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Burns believes that it’s in fact captain Michael Dawson that the cub have been missing the most, and that his partnership with Joe Worrall was one of the bedrocks of the club’s unbeaten run:

“Michael Dawson has been a big miss for Nottingham Forest. If he does come back from injury this week, it will be a huge boost for us. Dawson and Joe Worrall had been really good together as a partnership.

“They’d developed a strong relationship in the centre of the defence. I think we’d looked more solid when those two were playing together – and keeping more clean-sheets is something we need to do. I think we’ve missed Dawson’s leadership as well. He’s a proper captain.”

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Time for someone else to step up?

There have been many factors that you can blame on Nottingham Forest’s recent slump, and the injuries that have hit the squad are certainly one of them.

But it’s the point about captaincy that raises a bit of a concern.

If they really are missing his captaincy and leadership skills on the pitch, isn’t that a little bit of an indictment on the rest of the players in the squad?

Does it suggest there is nobody there who is up to marshalling the troops? Isn’t one of the clichés in football that you want ‘eleven captains on the pitch’?

Indeed Burns himself said last month that he saw Dawson’s centre-back partner Worrall as a future captain of the club, but if he hasn’t managed to step up in the central defender’s absence, what sort of standard is he setting if he wants to get the job on a permanent basis in the future?

Check out Matchday with Max’s latest Nottingham Forest vlog in the video below…

So whilst the armband might be with 34-year-old Ben Watson when Dawson is missing, perhaps it’s time Worrall stepped forward and showed us what he’s made of because it’s not just the results that are on the line, but also his candidacy for the job next season.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Arsenal striker John Hartson says he is confused with Dele Alli’s situation at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

The England international used to regularly hit double figures for goals and assists in a season for Spurs, but it was a different story last term as he scored seven times and set up eight more – albeit injury did affect him.

That was something that also kept him out at the very beginning of the current campaign, although he has found first-team minutes – especially in the Premier League – hard to come by on his return, playing just 30 – all of which came against Arsenal – so far in 2019/20.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Speaking exclusively to FFC, Hartson believes the summer arrival of Tanguy Ndombele has had an effect too, with Mauricio Pochettino sometimes selecting the Frenchman alongside Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko in a central midfield three or a diamond.

The Welshman said: “Dele Alli’s on the bench. He’s one of Spurs’ best players. I know he’s been out injured but you look at him sitting on the bench at the weekend and he looked sick as a parrot and thinking ‘what am I doing on the bench here?'”

While it wasn’t exactly surprising to see the 23-year-old dropped to the bench at the Amex after he started in the humiliating 7-2 defeat against Bayern Munich, to not even come on to try and change the game in the 3-0 defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday must have raised a few eyebrows.

The Mirror reported this week that he has hired a nutritionist and scaled back his commercial work in order to get in the right physical condition having suffered four hamstring problems in the previous 18 months.

That is exactly what the former MK Dons man needed to do, and he will hope that it leads to him regaining his spot in the starting XI on a regular basis, and firing consistently again.

Real Madrid suffered a major upset at the weekend when they travelled to Mallorca.

The newly-promoted side managed to snatch all three points with a narrow 1-0 victory, giving Los Blancos their first defeat of the ongoing 2019/20 La Liga season.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And, of course, it didn’t take long for both the media and the fans to turn on Zinedine Zidane, seeing how Barcelona have now reclaimed the lead at the top of the table.

Indeed, El Chiringuito TV has revealed that Zidane doesn’t really work that much on tactics during his training sessions and that their issues may stem from that fact.

Upon hearing this update, many Real fans were quick to criticise the Frenchman, saying that the lack of tactical awareness is already showing in their performances, while some have even suggested that he should leave the club.

You can see some of their comments down in the tweets below:

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Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter have managed to find a senior player to give some positive thoughts on following the club’s dreadful Carabao Cup exit against Colchester United on Tuesday.

Having failed to break down a club 71 places below them in the English league standings over 90 minutes, they were then unable to overcome them on penalties either.

Captain for the night Eric Dier played his first minutes of the season, starting alongside Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez in a back three against the League Two club.

On a disappointing and frustrating night for the north London outfit, Spurs supporters did manage to find some kind of praise for the 25-year-old, as he returned to action having been firmly out of favour under Mauricio Pochettino so far this term.

One individual described him as “the only plus”, while another said “he should start the next game”.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

That subsequent fixture is at home to Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, where they will be looking to put three consecutive below-par displays behind them and get three points on the board.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Some Rangers fans demanded that Steven Gerrard take off Sheyi Ojo at half time after becoming infuriated with his performance last night.

The Light Blues slipped to a last-minute 2-1 defeat to BSC Young Boys in their second Europa League tie of the group stage, despite Alfredo Morelos putting the visitors ahead in Switzerland.

Two second-half goals from the Swiss outfit were enough to turn the tie on its head and ensure that Gerrard’s side suffered just their second defeat of the season in what was their 19th match of the campaign (Transfermarkt).

Ojo had a rather poor game against Young Boys, as he struggled to get involved and, when he did, he was largely ineffective.

According to the data collected by WhoScored, the Liverpool loanee had 33 touches of the ball, but was dispossessed once, had failed to control the ball on two separate occasions and was found offside twice.

Ojo managed just one shot (which was off target), completed one dribble and had a passing accuracy of just 75% in what turned out to be a bad day at the office (per WhoScored).

Indeed, fans had called for the winger to be substituted at half time, but Gerrard failed to take note and decided to keep the 22-year-old on the pitch for the duration of the game, annoying fans on Twitter in the process.

Here were just some of their cries for the manager to sub him…

Rangers fans, did you share the same views as these fans? Let us know your thoughts below!

Rangers managed to put in a dominant performance against Kilmarnock in their Scottish Cup fifth round replay last night as they secured a 5-0 victory. 

The Bluenoses currently find themselves trailing in the race for the Scottish Premiership title, with the Hoops holding an eight point lead having been dominant in recent times.

One player who may be of interest to Rangers is Lawrence Shankland, who has been in sublime form in Scotland in the current campaign having produced an incredible 30 goals and eight assists in 30 games.

Interestingly, the 23-year-old told the BBC’s Off the Ball radio show that he would like a second shot at succeeding at Rangers after spending time at the club as a youngster. So, it would make perfect sense for Steven Gerrard to move in for the forward as his contract is set to expire at the end of the current campaign.

Gerrard has managed to secure a number of impressive signings since taking over as Rangers boss, including the likes of Jermain Defoe, Ryan Kent, Joe Worrall and Scott Arfield. So, many supporters will be eager to see what the 38-year-old’s next move will be, with Jordan Jones already set to rock up at Ibrox at the end of the season.

Indeed, the Rangers boss can pull off another masterstroke by securing the services of Lawrence Shankland on a free transfer as he’s arguably one of the most prolific attackers in Scottish football, and he has pretty much his whole career ahead of him so there’s still plenty of time for him to develop into a star.

What do you think Rangers fans?

Understandably, Tottenham were the most well represented side in the XI after they dismantled Crystal Palace.

Son Heung-min scored twice and he gets in the team alongside Serge Aurier, who was a constant attacking threat, and Toby Aldeweireld, who put in a solid shift.

Other sides that were well represented were Norwich, Liverpool and Southampton.

Sadio Mane gets a spot after netting a brace, while Roberto Firmino starts up front after his Man of the Match performance.

Jamal Lewis and Emi Buendia get in after their heroic performances against Man City, while Angus Gunn and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg get spots after Southampton overcame Sheffield United.

Alex Crook has revealed a fresh development in West Bromwich Albion’s potential appointment of Steve Bruce.

What’s the talk?

In a recent post on Twitter, the talkSPORT journalist revealed that, alongside the 61-year-old, Alex Bruce and Stephen Clemence also look set to join the Albion coaching staff upon the appointment of the former Newcastle United manager.

In his post, Crook said: “Understand Alex Bruce could be part of dad Steve’s WBA backroom team having recently completed his coaching badges. Stephen Clemence tends to be by his side at most clubs so would anticipate him coming too.”

Fans will be fuming

With Baggies fans appearing extremely unhappy at the prospect of Bruce being appointed as Valerien Ismael’s successor at The Hawthorns, the news that the veteran coach is planning on bringing his son into a coaching role at the club is sure to have left supporters fuming.

Indeed, in two polls ran on Football FanCast in recent days, West Brom fans first proved that they do not think the 61-year-old would be a good choice as the club’s next manager, before revealing in a second poll that the reasoning behind this is due to Bruce’s style of football.

As such, when adding into the mix the likely arrival of Alex Bruce as part of the Baggies’ new first-team coaching staff, there will undoubtedly be questions raised about the former Birmingham City and Aston Villa manager’s reasoning for appointing a completely inexperienced coach to help train a squad that is chasing promotion to the Premier League this season.

Indeed, with Albion fans not best pleased with Bruce’s impending arrival in the first place, the former Manchester United centre-back’s son also making a move to The Hawthorns is not likely to make matters any better for Albion supporters.

In other news: “I’m told…”: Sky Sports journo reveals WBA want 41 y/o boss, fans will be buzzing

Leeds United have been dealt a huge injury setback concerning Stuart Dallas ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash with Southampton.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to Sky Sports commentator Gary Weaver (via MOT Leeds News), who claimed that, following the versatile defender’s withdrawal in the second half of Northern Ireland’s 3-1 win over Luxembourg on Friday evening, the 30-year-old was seen to be in discussions with medical staff regarding an apparent groin injury.

Following Dallas’ substitution, Weaver said: “Medical staff having a word with Stuart Dallas. Looks like it was his groin.”

Marsch will be devastated

Considering the fact that Dallas had already been something of an injury concern prior to leaving for international duty, as the right-back had been on the receiving end of a heavy challenge from Joao Moutinho in Leeds’ 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, the news that the right-back now looks to have picked up a fresh knock is sure to have left Jesse Marsch devastated.

Indeed, with Patrick Bamford, Diego Llorente, Mateusz Klich and Illan Meslier all sustaining injuries in the victory at Molineux, while Raphinha has also withdrawn from international duty with Brazil after falling ill, the American manager’s Leeds squad has been rather decimated over the past eight days.

As such, should Dallas join the aforementioned players in the Elland Road treatment room ahead of the visit of Southampton next Saturday, it would quite clearly come as a huge blow to the Whites’ chances of picking up all three points against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

And, while the back-to-back victories over Norwich City and Wolves have eased Leeds’ relegation fears somewhat, the club are by no means out of the woods just yet – meaning the potential loss of Dallas may not only harm the Whites in the short-term, it could also see them slip back into a fight for survival over their remaining eight games of the season.

AND in other news: Orta set for Leeds disaster on £8.4k-p/w “bag of tricks” whose “talent isn’t in doubt”

According to reliable Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold, Sevilla are keen on signing Giovani Lo Celso over the coming days.

The Lowdown: Chelsea exclusion

Hailed as ‘magnificent’ by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, the Argentine has made just 10 starts in all competitions this season.

Antonio Conte decided to leave him out of the matchday squad against Chelsea on Sunday, with the 25-year-old taking to Instagram to clarify that he was 100% fit for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

It now seems as if Lo Celso could be the latest player to seal an exit from north London before the end of the month, which could leave Conte short of midfield options if reinforcements don’t arrive.

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The Latest: Sevilla interested in Lo Celso

Gold took to Twitter on Sunday to share a link to a football.london story. He covered a range of topics, including the future of Lo Celso, who he revealed is wanted by Sevilla.

The journalist said in his tweet: “A piece on Antonio Conte’s Spurs selection calls at Chelsea and the final week of the transfer window, including the decision on Lo Celso who I understand Sevilla are keen to sign, Paratici’s love of Weston McKennie and Traore, plus Ndombele, Dele & more.”

The Verdict: Midfielders needed

Should Lo Celso move to Sevilla and Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli also depart following recent rumours, Conte would be left with just Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks as central midfield options.

The trio all started in the dramatic 3-2 win over Leicester City last week, so the club will need to bring in reinforcements before Monday’s deadline, possibly exploring swap deals as mentioned.

One midfielder who has reportedly snubbed Spurs is Franck Kessie, and if the club struggles to bring anyone else in, then perhaps it could make sense to keep at least one of the three linked with a late January exit.

In other news: Check out this morning transfer development from Fabrizio Romano with Spurs now ‘confident to complete’ key signing.