Chelsea may have hit the jackpot when signing the likes of Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba, but they’ve also made huge mistakes with some of their recruitment decisions.

Even with a pot full of money, it’s still possible to get it wrong every now and again and there have been many times during Chelsea’s Premier League era that they’ve simply got it wrong.

Even Jose Mourinho got it wrong at times, while Lampard now will no doubt bring in one or two questionable names in the future.

So we’ve taken a look at Chelsea’s 20 biggest flops of the Premier League era – did we miss anyone?

Tiemoue Bakayoko

We start with one of the more recent ones in Tiemoue Bakayoko, someone who technically still plies his trade at Stamford Bridge but we’re unlikely ever to see in blue again.

The fact that Antonio Conte’s Chelsea forked out a remarkable £40m-ish on the sub-standard midfielder will send shivers down the spine of anyone in west London and unless the club can sell up, they’re still lumbered with him until 2022.

Jiri Jarosik

From one pricy Pensioners flop to another and Jiri Jarosik, a name synonymous in Blues folklore as one of the worst to ever represent them.

The centre-back signed from CSKA Moscow in 2005 and lasted no more than half-a-season before a loan to Birmingham City and his subsequent sale to Celtic, enough time for the Chelsea faithful to very much make up their minds on him.

Asier Del Horno

Well, Asier Del Horno’s name meant that one way or another he was always going to be laughed at in English football but he would have hoped the sniggers wouldn’t have also been caused by his performances.

The overwhelming memory most were left with from the defender’s only campaign at the Bridge was not his shoddy showings, rather his horrendous UEFA Champions League tackle on a young Lionel Messi – simply shocking.

Juan Sebastian Veron

Juan Sebastian Veron, what a player, Manchester United, Internazionale, Lazio, Argentina, countless trophies and memorable moments – so what’s he doing on this list?

That’s a good question.

Having joined for around £20m from Old Trafford in the summer of 2003, things never really clicked for the seminal central midfielder in west London as his successful spell in English football ended in an anti-climax and Veron went down as one of Chelsea’s worst ever signings.

Mateja Kezman

Much like Veron, Mateja Kezman represented some very prestigious clubs throughout his career, somehow.

The hit-and-miss poacher only spent the one term in England, making 41 appearances for a meagre return of just seven goals, streets away from what Jose Mourinho would have hoped for when he captured him from PSV – at least Kezman’s only real Chelsea highlight was a special one though, scoring the winner against Liverpool in the 2005 League Cup final.

Winston Bogarde

When a manager has no idea a player is signing due to the whole deal being conducted by the sporting director behind his back, it doesn’t have the makings of a great transfer. And so this proved with Winston Bogarde.

No one seemed to want the former Ajax, Barcelona and Holland centre-back at Chelsea, however, he was determined to stay until the end of his contract in 2004 to pick up his lofty £40k-per-week salary and who could blame him?

Bogarde only ever made 12 competitive appearances for the Blues.

Adrian Mutu

Adrian Mutu’s Chelsea tale is a sad one. It could have been great if the Romanian hadn’t let substance abuse issues ruin it by being sacked for his addiction to cocaine.

Mutu had a great record on the pitch in west London, registering ten goals and nine assists in just over a season before the cocaine story came out and the world came crashing down on him.

The reason the talented centre-forward makes the is the £15m the Blues threw away on him.

Marko Marin

There would be no such drama in the short Stamford Bridge stay of another failed attacker, ex-Germany prodigy Marko Marin.

The Pensioners thought they were getting something special when Werder Bremen finally gave up their budding 16-time German international in 2012 though he would only ever join the long list of Blues youngsters to be prolifically sent out on loan before exiting at the end of their contracts.

Franco Di Santo

Argentine frontman Franco Di Santo was once nicknamed the “new Maradona” as well as the “little Crespo,” the fact that he’s a Wigan Athletic cult hero probably explains how far he got in living up to those tags.

After a switch from hometown club Audax Italiano, the ex-Argentina international barely made any impact at all in west London and swapped Stamford Bridge for the DW Stadium in 2010 with zero strikes to his name.

Andriy Shevchenko

In contrast to Di Santo, Chelsea supporters certainly haven’t forgotten the name Andriy Shevchenko and they’re never likely to however much they might have wanted to.

The world football icon is another who enjoyed a near-perfect career apart from the one blemish on his CV, the spell with the Blues.

Just 77 matches and 22 goals will never endear yourself at a club when they’ve broken all kinds of records to bring you in for £30m, a whopping sum back then – if only he could have been like the man he’s pictured with above.

Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch could be about to unleash Sam Greenwood into the first-team in the near future as intriguing comments emerged after their 3-0 win over Watford on Saturday…

What’s been said?

The 20-year-old forward came off the bench for an impressive 27-minute cameo, replacing the barren Daniel James, and he took his opportunity by providing two assists for the Whites’ second and third goals.

After handing Kalvin Phillips a sight on goal, only for Ben Foster to save it, the academy prospect fed through Rodrigo, who rounded the goalkeeper to double the advantage before he played a clever ball out wide to Jack Harrison on the wing.

He then cut inside and curled a left-footed effort past the Hornets’ shot-stopper to seal all three points at Vicarage Road.

Speaking after the game, Marsch hinted that he may have to utilise Greenwood more often, as relayed by The Athletic’s ever-reliable Phil Hay.

“Interestingly, said of the entire group, Sam Greenwood has adapted to his ideas better than anyone. Marsch says he needs to use him more,” he revealed.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-marsch-raphinha-dest-philhay” title=”Read the latest Leeds news!”]

Forget Gelhardt?

It was rather telling that the American head coach turned to the former Arsenal gem over someone like Joe Gelhardt, who has delivered a couple of goals in the Premier League this season, on the day.

Yes, there’s an argument to be made in the fact that Joffy has been injured recently, but with two goals and three assists in just 486 senior minutes, he’s surely a hard name to ignore when looking down the bench.

The fact that Marsch believes Greenwood has adapted to his methods more than any other player in the whole first-team squad surely means we see more of him going forward.

In his 23 minutes and on top of those two assists, the youngster also registered two successful dribbles and won a whopping 77.7% of his nine duels; he also put in three tackles, pressing from the front with relentless work rate – something that clearly caught the eye of the Leeds boss.

Greenwood, who has been likened to former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, has been in fine form for the U23s in the Premier League 2 this campaign, where he has scored eight goals and laid on five assists, taking his total to 21 goals in 37 appearances, via Transfermarkt.

It’s no wonder that, according to an inside source, the word “phenomenal” is regularly used to describe the promising forward around the club’s Thorp Arch training base.

Lauded for his “incredible impact” against Watford this weekend, it’s surely only a matter of time before we see Marsch trust Greenwood in the starting lineup going forward, especially with Patrick Bamford’s continued absence through injury.

Gelhardt could now be in trouble, as a result.

AND in other news, Left for £0: Leeds suffered a howler with “outrageous” 204 G/A gem who idolised Radebe…

As the cricket cliché goes, there’s never a good time to be injured. But some moments are especially unfortunate, as Victoria’s spinner Jon Holland is now discovering, having hurt his shoulder when he was working his way towards the fringes of national selection. His state team-mate John Hastings could tell him all about it.Hastings had just started to establish himself in Australia’s ODI and Twenty20 sides last year when he returned from the tour of Sri Lanka and suffered a serious injury at state training. Diving for a one-handed catch, Hastings felt a stabbing pain and his season was over, a shoulder reconstruction ruling him out of all cricket for nearly a year.Tours of South Africa, West Indies, England and the UAE were out of the question, as was any hope of him being part of Australia’s World T20 squad, and the injury to Hastings, a bowling allrounder, allowed batting allrounder Daniel Christian some breathing space to settle in to the side. Hastings also missed a full Sheffield Shield campaign, having been the competition’s second leading wicket taker two years earlier when he collected 36 victims at 26.13.But finally, Hastings is back, and he is looking on the bright side. The time away from the game gave him plenty of opportunity to work in the gym, and he believes his extra strength work has helped him gain a little bit of pace with his bowling. Whatever the case, he has certainly thrived on his return, having picked up 13 wickets in Victoria’s first two Shield games of this season – his first outings at first-class level in nearly two years.”The timing of it wasn’t great,” Hastings told ESPNcricinfo. “I pulled out of the South African series in 2011. It seems a long time ago now. It wasn’t a great time for me. I probably would have been on that tour and if I’d done well there, who knows, Tests might have been around the corner as well. But to have such a long time out of the game it’s going to take me a long time to gain the selectors’ trust again and get back in that side.”When I wasn’t bowling or batting I spent a lot of time on my fitness, working on my strength and conditioning in the gym with David Bailey, the now Australian strength and conditioning coach. We worked our butts off to try to get me back. I think a yard of pace has probably helped me get a few more wickets than I normally would have in four-day cricket, and a little more durability as well, so I can continually back up my spells.”So far this season, the results have been coming. Only James Pattinson, who demolished Queensland with 6 for 32 in the second innings in Brisbane, has more Shield wickets than Hastings after the first two rounds. In a Victoria attack featuring four fast and medium bowlers who have worn the baggy green – Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Clint McKay and Andrew McDonald – that’s no mean feat.”I come on and I’m not as fast as the other guys, I think the batsmen think they can get after me and they just nick one to the keeper or something,” Hastings said. “For me to bowl at the other end to James Pattinson is just fantastic. He creates all the pressure. That spell at the Gabba was absolutely world-class, on a pretty flat third-day Gabba wicket, he extracted bounce and a bit of movement.”Hastings, 26, can also get plenty of bounce from his 195-centimetre frame. He will enjoy the challenge of bowling to the Tasmanians at the MCG this week. Last time he played a first-class match at home it was against the touring England team during Australia’s disastrous 2010-11 Ashes. Twenty-two months is a long time to wait.”Everything is going really well at the moment,” Hastings said. “It’s probably the best my body has felt for four or five years. Looking back I think I was lucky to have that 18 months to get my body right and get it where I wanted to be. It’s great to pull up well from games and hopefully that can continue.”

أثار مدرب نابولي جينارو جاتوزو، التكهنات حول مستقبل النجم خاليدو كوليبالي في النادي الإيطالي بعد رغبة مانشستر سيتي في الحصول على خدماته، في موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي.

ويسعى مانشستر سيتي إلى التعاقد مع المدافع السنغالي، في فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الجارية.

ولم ينجح النادي الإنجليزي في التوصل إلى اتفاق مع نظيره الإيطالي حول الرسوم المالية لهذه الصفقة.

وقال جاتوزو، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “سكاي سبورتس” العالمية: “لاعب مهم وإذا رحل سأكون حزينًا، لأن كوليبالي نجم كبير”.

وأضاف: “إنها لحظة صعبة في كرة القدم، وعليك التفكير في العطاءات المهمة”.

وواصل: “لكن إذا ظل كوليبالي معنا سأكون سعيدًا”.

[ad_pod ]

Eight years ago an incident at Ibrox went into Celtic folklore.

When Scott Brown guided a brilliant 20 yard drive around Allan McGregor and inside the post he did more than just equalise in a pulsating Scottish Cup tie – ‘The Broony’ was born.

El Hadji Diouf had been as irritating on the park as he had been in the media beforehand, so when Brown’s shot hit the back of the net there was one person that he wanted to share the moment with – the on-loan Blackburn Rovers midfielder.

Thus, a legend was born.

The Broony has been a stable part of the Celtic supporter experience since that day with it’s originator more than happy to join in, especially on the rare occasions that he finds the back of the net.

That Scottish Cup tie was won in a dramatic replay at Celtic Park, the Hoops going on to claim the trophy with a win over Motherwell at Hampden Park. It was the first trophy for Neil Lennon as manager, and it certainly wasn’t the last.

The title was lost on the final day of the season but since 2012 the SPL/SPFL trophy has been a fixture in the Celtic board room.

Last week Brown signed a two-year contract extension. If title number eight is clinched there’s no doubt that ‘The Broony’ will be at the centre of the celebrations.

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?

Norwich City made it well and truly clear to Leeds United on Saturday evening that they will push them to the very end of the season to claim the Championship title and secure automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men were put to the sword by the Canaries at Elland Road, suffering a 3-1 defeat that saw Norwich move top of the league table with a better goal-difference than Leeds.

But, while the big defeat was probably a big wake-up call to the Whites that they still have a long way to go if they were to play top-flight football next season, the loss presents a good opportunity for the manager to push his players even further.

Leeds travel to Teesside this coming Saturday to tackle Middlesbrough in what could be another tough encounter.

Middlesbrough are currently fifth in the league and are more than capable of delivering a good performance against Bielsa’s team.

But, the manager should use the pressure to his team’s advantage and get Leeds to raise their game for the match and the rest of the campaign.

Leeds have shown the tremendous talent and desire they have in their squad and Bielsa has done a brilliant job at getting his players to deliver at just the right times this season.

The loss on Saturday was only their third one at home this campaign and would’ve been somewhat of a shock to the club, given how easily and poorly the conceded the three goals.

This should also motivate this current set of Leeds players to make sure such a result doesn’t occur again this season, while the defeat should also not see the club revert into a state of panic, because they now sit second on the table.

Leeds have proven on more than a few occasions this season that they know how to bounce back from a setback and this trip to Middlesbrough presents them with the perfect opportunity to show once again how committed and determined they are to play in the Premier League next season.

According to a recent report from The Daily Record, Lewis Morgan looks like opting for a January move to Sunderland. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Scottish giants Celtic and has done so since leaving St Mirren back in January 2018, although struggles for regular game time under Bhoys manager Brendan Rodgers has plunged his future at Parkhead into doubt.

And a recent report from The Daily Record suggests that the attacker, who has attracted interest from Jack Ross’ Sunderland and indeed Aberdeen, is set to choose the former over the latter this month in his bid for the regular first team football he simply isn’t going to get at Celtic Park.

And with Ross having worked with the highly-rated £675,000-rated sensation (as per Transfermarkt) at St Mirren, a reunion with the 42-year-old at Sunderland would go some way to enhancing the Black Cats’ League One promotion hopes.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, former St Mirren boss Ross swapped Scotland for the North East during the summer to take charge of a faltering Sunderland side who had just lost their Championship status – this all after only one season in the second tier.

As such, the 42-year-old was faced with a tricky task in arresting the slide and providing much-needed stability at the Stadium of the Light, and he has done that admirably given his team are currently sat fifth in the League One table, just four points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

And while his side have only suffered defeat on two occasions in the league this time round, their tally of 11 draws has very much hindered their progress in pursuit of the top two – in fact, four of their last five league matches have ended in draws.

As such, Ross may seek that star quality needed to turn those recurrent draws into more victories in the second half of the season, as doing so would see them climb the division and knock on the door of the promotion places – Morgan’s arrival might do just that.

The 22-year-old may well have struggled to break into Rodgers’ first team at Celtic this season, appearing just nine times in the Scottish Premiership for the seven-times defending champions, yet one mustn’t overlook his great form at St Mirren, under the guidance of Ross no less, to suggest that he has what it takes to seriously improve Sunderland’s attack.

The Scotland international, capped twice by his country last year, scored 18 goals and laid on 11 assists in just 42 appearances for the Scottish Championship side last term to help Ross’ men win promotion to the top-flight – only two players netted more than him (14) in the league.

And in bagging ten times and laying on six assists the campaign before for the Saints, it’s clear that Ross knew exactly how to get the very best out of the attacker – prior to his arrival, Morgan hadn’t shown even close to the level he produced under the 42-year-old.

Yet the Scotsman came on leaps and bounds under Ross to suggest that a reunion at Sunderland this season could be what Morgan needs to rediscover his best form – and from a Sunderland point of view, his arrival would give Ross another option in attack.

Significantly, such was the 22-year-old’s level under Ross in the past, reuniting with the Black Cats boss at the Stadium of Light would go some way to seriously enhancing Sunderland’s promotion hopes in the second half of the season.

Sunderland fans… what do you think? Let us know!

[ad_pod ]

Jonny Hayes turned in his best ever Celtic performance in the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock with some fans pushing him for the Man of the Match award.

The late drama of a winning goal, red card and Timo Weah picking up a booking left Sky Sports racing after stories with the Man of the Match presentation appearing to be overlooked.

Hayes sat out the Europa League defeat from Valencia despite impressing last Sunday against St Johnstone but an ankle injury for Emilio Izaguirre opened the door for his return.

The former Aberdeen winger was never left exposed at left-back and looked confident as he pushed down the flank to support Scott Sinclair.

With Jeremy Toljan and James Forrest closely marked on the right, Hayes found space down the left to put in a few decent crosses as Celtic pushed for the breakthrough.

When the goal came and the final whistle blew Hayes was at the heart of the celebrations – after being on the edge of the side for so long he had finally been involved in a crucial win.

Kieran Tierney looks like returning to the side next weekend against Motherwell but after today’s display Brendan Rodgers will have no hesitation over putting Hayes into the side at left-back.

سقط ريال مدريد في فخ التعادل السلبي أمام مضيفه ريال سوسيداد في المباراة التي جمعتهما مساء اليوم الأحد.

وحل الفريق الملكي ضيفًا على ريال سوسيداد بملعب “انويتا”، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثانية من عمر الدوري الإسباني.

وارتفع رصيد ريال مدريد إلى نقطة واحدة قي المركز العاشر، مع العلم أن للفريق الملكي مباراة مؤجلة. 

في المقابل ارتفع رصيد ريال سوسيداد إلى نقطتين في المركز التاسع.

وللاطلاع على أحداث المباراة لحظة بلحظة اضغط هنــــــــــــــــــــــا

مهارة رائعة من بنزيما في مباراة ريال مدريد وريال سوسيداد

بنزيما يهدر فرصة هدف محقق أمام ريال سوسيداد

تصدي كورتوا الرائع ينقذ ريال مدريد من هدف محقق