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Alasdair Gold has revealed that Tottenham have decided on their top candidate to replace Jose Mourinho as manager and hope to appoint him in the next seven to 10 days.

The Lowdown: The search continues

Although we are now at the end of the season, it remains unclear as to who the next Spurs manager will be. Brendan Rodgers was said to be Daniel Levy’s priority, but the Leicester boss has all but closed the door on a move to north London (talkSPORT).

Other targets have included Hansi Flick (The Telegraph), Julian Nagelsmann (Daily Mail) and Antonio Conte (Corriere Dello Sport via Daily Express).

The Latest: Gold makes new boss claim

In an article for football.london, Gold was unwilling to reveal who the new manager would be, but he says that Levy has decided on his number one target.

The journalist added that the Lilywhites hope to unveil the new man in charge in the next “seven to ten days”.

The Verdict: Time is of the essence

With the season now over, Tottenham know exactly where they stand going into the next campaign. While they will have been hoping for Champions League or even Europa League qualification, they will still be playing European football in the new Conference League, and they will need to prepare accordingly for that competition.

However, they cannot embark on any real transfer negotiations before the new manager is in charge. Whoever that is will have his own ideas on which players need to be brought in, and if Spurs want a successful partnership, they must be willing to work with those targets. Therefore, time is of the essence with regards to this next crucial appointment.

In other news, Levy made an enquiry in February for this star striker.

It was the 1716th ODI in cricket history

Rajneesh Gupta12-May-2001It was the 1716th ODI in cricket history.It was West Indies’ 422nd and South Africa’s 227th match.It was the 23rd match between these two sides. The record now reads: South Africa 16, West Indies 7.Umpires Billy Doctrove and Eddie Nicholls were officiating in their 10th and 26th match respectively.The sixth wicket partnership of 61 runs between Brian Lara and Ridley Jacobs was West Indies’ best for this wicket against South Africa. This obliterated the previous highest of 46 between Marlon Samuels and Jacobs in the previous match.Brian Lara (92) became a victim of nervous ninety for the fourth time in his career. His other scores in 90s are: 95* v Pakistan at Port-of-Spain on 26-03-1993, 90 v Australia at Perth on 12-01-1997 and 93 v England at Port-of-Spain on 08-04-1998. Now only Richie Richardson (6) has more scores in nineties than Lara for West Indies. Lara moved ahead of Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards and Desmond Haynes who each has three 90s on his name. This was also the first score in ninety’ for West Indies against South Africa.Lara also became the 17th batsman in ODI history to make four or more scores in ninety. The list is headed by Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva with 8 such instances. The details:

Batsman              Country  90s  99sAravinda de Silva       SL     8    0Mohammad Azharuddin    Ind     7    0Richie Richardson       WI     6    1Dean Jones             Aus     6    1Martin Crowe            NZ     6    0Sachin Tendulkar       Ind     6    0Krish Srikkanth        Ind     5    1Hansie Cronje           SA     5    0Nathan Astle            NZ     5    0Allan Lamb             Eng     4    1Ijaz Ahmed             Pak     4    0Grant Flower           Zim     4    0Ajay Jadeja            Ind     4    0Saeed Anwar            Pak     4    0Inzamam-ul-Haq         Pak     4    0Allan Border           Aus     4    0Brian Lara              WI     4    0

Kallis’ figures (4-22) were best by a South African against West Indies in West Indies. He bettered Allan Donald’s 4 for 38 in the previous match at Grenada.Kallis has now taken 23 wickets in 12 matches against West Indiesmost for South Africa. Allan Donald and Hansie Cronje are jointly placed second with 19 wickets each.Herschelle Gibbs (107), on 46,completed his 2000 runs in the shorter version of the game. He was playing his 68th match and innings. He became eighth South African and 92nd batsman in the world to reach this landmark.Gibbs’ innings equalled the highest by a South African against West Indies in West Indies. Jacques Kallis had made the identical score in the third match of this series at Grenada.The hundred was Gibbs’ second in this series (he had made 104 at St.John’s on May 2nd). He has now joined three other countrymen who have scored two hundreds in a series (or competition). The accompanying table has the details:

100s Batsman       For  Season  Series/To'ment  Mts Inns NO Runs HS   Ave   502   Gary Kirsten   SA   1995-96   Sharjah Cup    5    5   1 356  115* 89.00  12   Jacques Kallis SA   1998-99   [NZ]           7    6   0 323  100  53.83  22   Nicky Boje     SA   2000-01   [NZ]           6    6   2 355  129  88.75  12   HH Gibbs       SA   2000-01   [WI]           5    5   0 292  107  58.40  0

The victory in this match sealed the series in South Africa’s favour. South Africa also ended West Indies’ remarkable run at home soil. Out of the 22 bilateral series prior to this one, West Indies won as many as 17, drew three and lost only two (including a one off match series against Sri Lanka in 1995-96). The only other team to beat West Indies in a series of atleast three matches in West Indies is Australia which clinched the five match series in 1990-91 by 4-1 margin.The Man of Match award was fifth for Herschelle Gibbs.

Allan Donald, the South African fast bowler, has revealed that he would like to play another season of county cricket in 2002

CricInfo11-Jun-2001Allan Donald, the South African fast bowler, has revealed that he would like to play another season of county cricket in 2002.
Allan Donald: Back to Birmingham?
Photo © CricInfo
“I’m thinking of giving county cricket one more shot for another year,” Donald said. “I spoke to Bob Woolmer (Warwickshire director of coaching) and he is aware of what I’m thinking.”It had been thought that Donald had played his final game in England after the 2000 season, as he decided to concentrate on international cricket and, in particular, the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. But Donald, who has a home in Birmingham and whose wife comes from the area, has clearly had something of a rethink, perhaps due to his retirement from Test cricket.”I know that Warwickshire want Shaun Pollock to come back next year and it all depends on whether the South African board are prepared to release him. If they aren’t then I’d like to give it another shot with Warwickshire and if that happened it would be fantastic.But Donald admitted that he could be lured to another county if Warwickshire plump for Pollock.”I might have to look at playing for another county which would be hard after the career that I have had with Warwickshire,” he admitted.

Auckland Hearts opener Shelley Fruin, of the Grafton United club, was last night awarded the RT Cup as the Auckland Cricket Association’s Women’s Club Player of the Year during the Crown Relocations Awards night for Auckland Cricket

03-May-2001Auckland Hearts opener Shelley Fruin, of the Grafton United club, was last night awarded the RT Cup as the Auckland Cricket Association’s Women’s Club Player of the Year during the Crown Relocations Awards night for Auckland Cricket.Fruin also took home the Don Coleman Cup for the most meritorious batting performance at any level of Auckland Cricket.That was in recognition of her brilliant innings of 97 during the State Auckland Hearts victory over Canterbury in the final of the State Insurance Cup in February.It is the second time a woman cricketer has been a recipient of this award. CLEAR White Ferns captain Emily Drumm won it in 1994/95.Aaron Barnes was awarded the Auckland Cricket Association Trophy for the most runs in Men’s Premier Grade.The State Auckland Aces representative scored 949 runs at an average 47.45 helping his Cornwall side to win the Crown Relocations Premier Men’s One Day Championship.East Coast Bays and State Auckland Aces player Mark Haslam won the Platypus Trophy for the most wickets in Men’s Premier Grade. With best bowling performances of 7-34 and 7-62, Haslam finished with 51 wickets at an average of 13.41.The newly established Ken Deas Memorial Trophy for the Men’s Premier Grade Rookie Player of the Year went to Suburbs New Lynn’s Michael Bates.At 17 years of age, the left arm quick bowler has a promising future having already represented the Auckland Under-17 and Under-19 XI’s at the respective National Tournaments.The Carson Cup for Outstanding Contribution to Auckland Cricket was awarded to Nick Craig of the Howick Pakuranga club, in recognition of his contribution to club and representative cricket.Other major award winners on the night were:Best Novice Umpire, Peter Gasston; Best Women’s First Year/First Grade Player, Catherine Bristow (Parnell); Most Improved Women’s First Grade Player, Ingrid Cronin-Knight (University); Most Promising Women’s Player, Catherine Bristow (Parnell), Most Improved Men’s Player, Bradley Nielsen (Howick Pakuranga).

Oliver Ntcham, who is currently on loan at Marseille, could wind up staying at Celtic following the collapse of France’s TV deal, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

The lowdown

French football was pushed to the ‘brink of financial ruin’ when a €1.15bn (£1bn) TV deal with Mediapro collapsed in December. Canal+ stepped in but have only paid a total of €365m (£315m) ,via SportsPro.

Ntcham made the move to the south of France at the end of the winter transfer window. The loan agreement contains an option to buy for £4.5m, but the move hasn’t worked out.

The midfielder was immediately engulfed in controversy when manager Andre Villas-Boas was sacked after voicing his displeasure with the signing, while he has gone on to play for only 118 Ligue 1 minutes across four appearances.

The 25-year-old’s £15,000-per-week Celtic contract expires in June 2022.

The latest

Speaking to Football Insider, Maguire warned Celtic that compromise would be necessary if they were to offload the Frenchman this summer.

“I think they are going to have to be pragmatic in terms of the asking price,” the football finance expert said.

“If we take a look at what Celtic have done historically, they have usually made one big sale and that has generated £10million, £15million or £20million.

“But the market for mid-tier players is going to be significantly impacted, especially with the collapse of the French TV deal.

“French clubs are going to have to accept whatever offer comes in, to a degree. They are desperate to make ends meet.

“It could mean Ntcham ends up staying at Celtic.”

The verdict

Following these developments, Celtic will surely be kicking themselves for rejecting FC Porto’s £13m offer for Ntcham back in 2018.

With only a year left on his contract and with his loan move backfiring, his value must have plummeted, maybe even below £4.5m.

A new manager might, in the circumstances, look to help Ntchem try and revive his career at Celtic instead.

In other news, read the latest on the Celtic future of Ntcham’s compatriot Odsonne Edouard.

According to reliable club insider ExWHUemployee, via West Ham News, the Irons also have West Bromwich Albion keeper Sam Johnstone in their sights for the summer alongside Alphonse Areola.

The latter shot stopper is a target for David Moyes after Ex shared news the club are interested in signing him, but the in-the-know Hammers source has now claimed that Johnstone is also a target.

Both keepers have earned praise for their performances this season, especially Johnstone, with England boss Gareth Southgate recently handing him his first international call up.

His exploits at the Hawthorns, according to Ex, have prompted the Irons to take note as they scour the market for possible future successors to Lukasz Fabianski.

The Poland ace recently signed a contract extension until 2022, but Moyes and co arguably need to start theorising when they bring in a suitable new shot stopper, given Fabianski is 36 years old.

Flocking to this Ex update that West Ham are interested in both Areola and Johnstone, many Irons were ecstatic, with one even calling it the ‘best news’ he’s heard in a while.

Find all of their verdicts down below.

West Ham fans adore Ex update

“Best news I’ve heard in a while.”

Credit: @fabz_lewis

“Yes yes yes”

Credit: @whuryan_

“2 fantastic keepers would take either 1 of them”

Credit: @JamieWHU_

“Both would be very good signings IMO”

Credit: @JosephSammut_

“Johnstone for me although they are both quality”

Credit: @whufredd

“Things you like to see”

Credit: @JamieBraddley

“Get both”

Credit: @GeezerWESTHAM75

In other news: West Ham fans also went wild for this official club post, find out more here.

Southampton battled to a 1-1 draw against Leicester City on Friday night despite Jannik Vestergaard’s early red card, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side more than deserving of a point against the Foxes.

There were plenty of impressive performances from the Saints at St Mary’s, particularly from a defensive point of view, as they restricted Leicester to very few chances after going down to 10 men.

One man who impressed with his performance was Mohammed Salisu, as he replaced Nathan Tella after the sending off and was superb at the back throughout.

As per SofaScore, the defender earned an impressive 7.3/10 rating for his display, with only James Ward-Prowse (7.4) and Alex McCarthy rated higher (7.8) of the Southampton players who featured.

The 22-year-old had limited opportunities earlier in the season due to injury and fitness issues but has established himself as a regular in Hasenhuttl’s side in recent weeks.

Of the 11 appearances he has made for Southampton in all competitions this season, this was comfortably his best performance, with WhoScored rating him a 7.43/10 against Brendan Rodgers’ side.

It is seemingly a common consensus that the young centre-back, who joined from Real Valladolid in the summer, had an excellent game as Hampshire Live journalist Tom Leach also sang the 22-year-old’s praises in his match ratings for the game, saying: “He was heroic tonight. He steps up explosively, getting out and to the ball with unrivaled enthusiasm. He is a monster in one-on-one situations and is, in all honesty, one of the fastest defenders ever to wear Southampton colours.”

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During the game, the £9m-rated Salisu made 11 clearances, two interceptions and two tackles, which is even more impressive when you consider he has averaged 2.9 clearances, 2.8 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game in the Premier League this season.

It was an excellent defensive display from the Ghanaian, as he also won five of his eight duels during the game and wasn’t dribbled past once, despite the threat of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho in Leicester’s attack.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431″]

Therefore, with Vestergaard now set to be suspended, Hasenhuttl will surely be delighted that Salisu did so well as a substitute, and it would not be a surprise to see him start alongside Jan Bednarek against Liverpool next weekend.

In other news… Saints handed golden chance to axe “outstanding” flop, Gao surely delighted

It isn’t often that a seemingly bargain transfer turns into an absolute disaster for the buying club.

However, that’s exactly what has transpired with Leicester City’s signing of Eldin Jakupovic from Hull City.

The Swiss stopper joined the Foxes in a reported £2m deal at the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign in what looked a shrewd move at the time.

He was fresh off the back of an impressive personal campaign despite the Tigers suffering relegation from the Premier League.

Playing 17 out of the last 18 league games, he kept four clean sheets, two of those coming in impressive results against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Jakupovic looked like the perfect man to provide competition for undisputed No. 1 Kasper Schmeichel.

He made four appearances in his debut campaign at the King Power Stadium, conceding six goals and collecting two clean sheets. However, he has not been seen since.

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Leicester elected to bring in Danny Ward from Liverpool the following summer, with Jakupovic now restricted to appearances for the Foxes’ U23 side.

His pay of £23k per week means that the East-Midlanders have spent a grand total of £6.7m keeping him at the club for the past four years.

Whilst that is not the most considerable amount in the world, it takes on a more shocking complexion when noting that figure averages out at approximately £1.7m per appearance.

Now at the age of 36, rated at just £360k and also out of contract at the conclusion of the current campaign, it seems next to impossible that Leicester will recoup any of the money that they have spent on Jakupovic.

It goes without saying then that his signing, whilst seemingly a bargain at the time, has slowly but surely morphed into a costly disaster for Jon Rudkin.

AND in more news, find out which Leicester star has handed Rodgers a boost ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final…

Carlo Ancelotti must start Allan when Everton visit Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday night in order to take control of the midfield battle.

The Toffees boss is hopeful that the 30-year-old will be fit to feature at the Amex Stadium after missing last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace due to a minor injury.

Ancelotti could be short of options on the south coast after losing Andre Gomes to a hamstring issue against the Eagles, leaving Tom Davies and Jean-Philippe Gbamin potentially as his only fit holding midfielders.

Allan had started three of his side’s last four Premier League fixtures before the international break, after returning from a hamstring strain to face Southampton in March’s 1-0 win.

Everton’s medical team will carry out late checks to see if Allan can make his return against Brighton, where the Goodison Park natives will be without Abdoulaye Doucoure (foot) and Fabian Delph (tendon).

“For sure, Andre Gomes, who started to train individually today [Friday], will not be able to play on Monday,” Ancelotti said. “He will be able to play in the next game against Tottenham.

“We are checking on Allan. He trained normally this morning. We have to wait and see how it goes and if he will be available.”

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Ancelotti will hope that Allan is passed fit and can join Davies in protecting Everton’s backline against Brighton, as the Seagulls will have been encouraged by how Crystal Palace were able to take a point last time out.

Everton had to be more attacking with their line-up after losing Gomes in the first half as Gylfi Sigurdsson came on to replace the Portuguese, and the later introduction of Gbamin failed to add the defensive resilience needed.

Crystal Palace applied heaps of pressure in the closing stages and were able to strike a late equaliser through Michy Batshuayi to leave Merseyside with a draw, but could have scored beforehand had it not been for Robin Olsen.

The AS Roma loanee was called on to deny Eberechi Eze, Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew in quick succession before Batshuayi found the net, which will have given Brighton a sense of confidence that they too can take a result in Monday’s clash.

Ancelotti could prevent Graham Potter’s side replicating Crystal Palace’s methods by starting Allan if the Brazilian is passed fit, as the £21m summer signing from Serie A side Napoli – who Noel Whelan calls “incredible” – can get Everton on the ball and playing on the front foot.

The only game that Allan did not start following his return to action last month came away to West Bromwich Albion, when he was introduced with half an hour still to play to help the Blues gain control of the game.

“Allan coming on was probably about getting on the ball and getting us playing, sit in there and dictate us going forward – and then probably me to create or score a goal because it was 0-0,” said Sigurdsson after the game, via quotes shared by the Liverpool Echo.

Everton will need a result against Brighton to preserve their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, and they will likely need Allan performing like he has done previously if Ancelotti’s side are to dictate the midfield battle on Monday.

AND in other news, Everton have landed a huge boost in the race to sign an 11-goal striker subject to a potential £21.5m bid…

This has been a torrid old season for Wolves. They’ve been missing Raul Jimenez since November and any dream of securing European football is long gone.

Therefore, this is a critical summer for the Old Gold.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, Wolves are considering a phenomenal return for Matt Doherty.

The Irishman only left last summer but, after a difficult campaign with Tottenham, he could return to the Midlands.

Doherty has started just 12 of 29 Premier League matches this term and thus may be searching for an escape route.

Sources have told Football Insider that Wolves are keen to re-sign him for a fee lower than the one Spurs paid last summer. The Lilywhites initially dished out £16m for his services, paying him a wage of £74,000 per week.

Nuno’s dream

Wolves have recruited poorly over the past 12 months, something evident in what they did last summer.

Jeff Shi replaced Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota, 25% of Wolves’ goals last term, with Nelson Semedo and Fabio Silva.

Wolves paid out £27.61m for Semedo while Silva set them back £35.6m. It’s safe to say that neither of them have been worth the money.

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The former has been a defensive calamity while the latter has scored just twice since arriving, so Doherty would be a welcome addition. The wing-back has played 302 times for Wolves, displaying immense consistency throughout his time at Molineux.

The defender very quickly became a dream for Nuno Espirito Santo, someone capable of fitting into Wolves’ desired system and style of play perfectly.

Speaking about him when he left for north London, the manager said: “Such a nice person, it was a pleasure to work with Matt. He had to adjust and adapt to so many things and the way he grew as a player was amazing. I wish him all the best. I will miss him. It’s up to us to find solutions (to replace him).”

Unfortunately, Wolves haven’t been able to replace him sufficiently. Semedo has been criticised for his role in the defensive, being beaten all too easily on numerous occasions. Recall his performance against Arsenal and you’ll envisage the torment that Nicolas Pepe gave him.

Doherty, on the other hand, was a loyal servant to Wolves, being described by journalist Tim Spiers as “superb” during his time at the club.

He wasn’t just defensively astute, but he was adept in offensive areas too. During his two seasons in the Premier League with Wolves, he scored eight goals and claimed the same number of assists.

It goes without saying that he should be a tremendous addition if they can bring him back.

AND in other news, Better than Jose: Wolves must swoop for “special” £30m beast with 27 goals this term…