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Some players at Newcastle United have reportedly been left to rage at Miguel Almiron in a behind-the-scenes claim by Football Insider.

The Paraguay international, who Alan Shearer claimed was ‘magnificent’ in a 3-2 home win over Southampton back in February, has recently made an admission at a local radio station that he would like to play in a team that ‘fights more’, which has reportedly caused a big stir among several players in the Magpies squad.

A source in the northeast has since said that a lot of players at the Tyneside club have been left to feel ‘extremely unhappy’ with the comments that he made, and believe that he is trying to distance himself from some recent bad displays in the hope of potentially engineering a move away in the upcoming summer transfer window.

Almiron’s comments suggest that the squad are not fighting enough to stay in the Premier League, to which there is ‘anger’ among the camp.

Not what Newcastle need right now

This behind-the-scenes claim of tension among the Newcastle players is certainly not what the Toon Army want to or need to hear right now as they look to try and avoid being relegated from the Premier League.

Whatever disagreements they may currently have at this moment in time, the players at St James’ Park must stick together in order to try and get themselves out of the mess in which Steve Bruce’s team find themselves.

In other news, find out what inside claim Mark Douglas has dropped on two potential managerial candidates at Newcastle!

Sheffield Wednesday are potentially less than nine games away from knowing their fate.

But recently-appointed Owls boss Darren Moore has an even tougher task ahead of him this summer, irrespective of which division the south Yorkshire fallen giants find themselves in.

No fewer than 12 players are out of contract at the end of the season, which is the vast majority of the current team, meaning there’s a likely rebuild ahead for the 46-year-old coach.

One of those names is Kadeem Harris – someone who has played a key role in this campaign. Letting him run down his deal is not only a dangerous game to play but is also going to make Moore’s job much harder.

Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri is on the verge of making another contract mistake here – the likes of George Hirst and Liam Shaw spring to mind, albeit they were much younger prospects with huge potential.

Harris has been a frequent presence in the starting XI under Garry Monk, Tony Pulis, Neil Thompson and now Moore, having started 27 league games – only three other players have managed more this term.

The 27-year-old winger has been a major source of creativity too, recording three assists – one fewer than Owls playmaker Barry Bannan.

Again, it is only the skipper (1.6) who is managing more key passes per game than Harris (0.8) and as their set-piece taker, it’s easy to see why he’s putting in more crosses (1.1) than the former Cardiff ace (0.7) too, as per WhoScored.

What this does suggest, however, is that Harris is an integral player on the flank and without him, the Owls would certainly suffer from a lack of service.

Pulis once claimed that he was their only danger man during a drab 0-0 draw with Stoke City, he said (via The Star): “He’s taken us down the pitch, he’s been a threat, and he was probably the one threat that Michael (O’Neill) will have been worried about during the game.”

The £1.35m-rated dynamo won’t be short of suitors either, as according to YorkshireLive, Championship rivals Middlesbrough are huge admirers, whilst the likes of Reading, Watford and Stoke are said to be interested ahead of the summer.

Boro boss Neil Warnock has had him before, and despite being the man to let him depart for Hillsborough, still waxed lyrical over his ability.

“He’s given them directness, pace and power,” said the veteran. “He’s got every attribute. I can’t praise him highly enough. We had a chat last year, around Christmas time, and he trained like a Trojan. We have been blessed with good wide players and he just couldn’t get a long run.

He must be doing something right, in what has been a diabolical season for Wednesday.

Letting the £10k-per-week wide man leave for nothing would be a disaster, and that ultimately falls at the feet of Chansiri, who appears to be making yet another catastrophic blunder here.

AND in other news, Owls must axe Luhukay dud this summer, Bannan once dubbed him “perfect”…

According to recent reports from Romania, Glasgow Rangers attacking midfielder, Ianis Hagi, is attracting the interest of Lazio this summer, with Steven Gerrard facing a battle to keep the Gers man at Ibrox.

The report by Sport.ro (via Sport Witness) claims that the Serie A side are determined to land Hagi at any cost this summer, and are prepared to offer Rangers a sum of around €13 million (£11.2 million) for the midfielder’s services.

Indeed, Gazzetta dello Sport also reported last month that Lazio are keen to bolster their attacking options in the summer transfer window and that the £5.4 million-rated 22-year-old is on the Italian side’s shortlist, with the Gazzetta suggesting it would take an offer of around €10 million (£8.5 million) for Gerrard to consider parting with the Romania international.

Transfer Tavern Take

While Hagi has impressed over his 28 Scottish Premiership appearances so far this season, with the midfielder scoring six goals and providing nine assists, as well as averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.93, should Lazio indeed submit an offer of around €13 million for the 22-year-old this summer, it would certainly be interesting to see how Rangers respond – considering the Ibrox side paid KRC Genk just £3.15 million for Hagi last summer.

However, with Gerrard claiming earlier this season that the Romanian is an “absolute dream” to work with, it would not appear likely that the Gers boss will let Hagi go without putting up a considerable fight.

In other news: ‘I am not surprised’ – Pundit backs ‘exceptionally’ good talent to join Rangers after agent hint – find out more here!

Having edged past the Premier League’s bottom club Sheffield United last week, Leeds United face the other end of the spectrum when they take on champions-elect Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side needed an own goal from Phil Jagielka to see them over the line in a 2-1 victory over the Blades, and know that a City team who come off the back of a superb Champions League win against Borussia Dortmund will pose arguably their stiffest test of the season.

With Liverpool and then Manchester United to come, Bielsa will be keen to ensure his side start off a trio of tough encounters with at least an impressive performance, if not a result.

Here is a look at just how Leeds might line up when they travel to the league leaders.

In goal, Illan Meslier will be hoping to keep his tenth clean sheet of the Premier League season against the division’s most prolific side – Pep Guardiola’s men have racked up an impressive 66 goals in just 31 games, an average of more than two per match.

The back four could see one change, with the 29-year-old Gjanni Alioski dropping out and Stuart Dallas potentially reverting from his recent central midfield position to left-back.

That could open the door for a return to the starting line-up for Mateusz Klich, who has had to battle with the virus in recent weeks after picking it up early on international duty with Poland.

After coming on as a substitute for Patrick Bamford in their last game, Leeds could hand Rodrigo a recall, with the Spaniard taking the place of Tyler Roberts.

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Bielsa will have to make one enforced change to his starting line-up, with winger Jack Harrison ineligible to play against his parent club. That could see Helder Costa replace him in the team, but the Leeds boss could spring something of a surprise by unleashing Poveda against his former club.

Predicted XI: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas; Phillips; Raphinha, Klich, Rodrigo, Poveda; Bamford.

Meanwhile, Leeds could finally wave goodbye to this liability by signing this Premier League titan…

As is often the case for Tottenham Hotspur this season, it was another game in which they dropped points from a winning position.

Jose Mourinho has seen his Spurs side now drop a whopping 18 points having led in 21 of their 31 Premier League outings after they were defeated 3-1 by Manchester United in north London.

In an attempt to put a stop to the frequent mistakes in his backline, the Portuguese turned to Eric Dier, in what was his first appearance in the top-flight for six outings.

The England international came in for Davinson Sanchez, who was at fault for Newcastle’s late equaliser a week ago.

Dier simply failed to repay the faith put in him by his manager, and as a result, he badly let Mourinho – and Spurs – down with a shocking performance.

He was awfully lucky that Edinson Cavani’s first strike was ruled out through VAR as the lethal United striker had beaten him all ends up with sublime movement.

That was a recurring theme for the 27-year-old midfielder-turned-defender as he never really knew where the opposition was – he was again caught napping for the second, leaving the Uruguayan once again, and for the third goal, he was far too static as Mason Greenwood rounded off a calamitous afternoon.

The warning signs were there pre-game, too, as Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane told supporters in the build-up to kick-off that Dier is “not good enough” to play centre-back.

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His subsequent figures would back that up.

Alasdair Gold was particularly scathing in his post-match ratings for football.london, ranking Dier amongst Spurs’ worst performers with a 5/10. No other home defender was given worse.

Whilst, as per SofaScore, the £22.5m-rated disaster has a big influence on how this side plays, managing the third-highest number of touches with 67 throughout the 90 minutes but from that, he lost possession 16 times, the second-most of any Spurs player.

It means Dier effectively gifted possession back to a rampant United side once every four touches, and once every five-and-a-half minutes.

Similarly, he was equally wasteful with the ball at his feet, making just 74% of his 53 passing attempts, which is below his season average of 82%. Not only is that underwhelming but instead of playing it out from the back to good effect, he made just four of 14 long balls (28.5%).

It’s no wonder the Red Devils dominated possession (54%), particularly in the second half (59%).

There is a reason Dier was axed from Mourinho’s starting XI for six straight league games and now the Spurs boss will be thinking again before trusting him.

That performance saw his faith completely betrayed. Perhaps it’s time to throw the dice to Toby Aldwereireld, who must be wondering what he must to do garner a start in this side.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Gary Mabbutt claims Spurs miss one man after huge transfer decision…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 99 appearances for Manchester City, has backed Pep Guardiola to make Erling Haaland a better player, if City were to sign the striker after BBC Sport reported he was their top target last month.

Mino Raiola and Alf-Inge Haaland were reportedly recently in Spain to discuss potential transfers with both Barcelona and Real Madrid, as Haaland potentially edges closer to the exit door at Borussia Dortmund.

Haaland has a release clause of just £75 million, however that is not active until next summer which may put several clubs, such as Man City, off from breaking the bank for the Dortmund striker.

Speaking on what makes Haaland such a great striker and why Guardiola would make him an even better player, Howey told FFC:

“Haaland is just so big, strong, powerful and he knows where the goal is. I played with his dad at Man City so I know Alfie was in Spain last week seeing if that would be a possibility.

“I’m sure if there’s somebody that could actually take Haaland on and improve him more it would be Pep Guardiola, but they’ve said they won’t pay ridiculous money for players.”

Halland has a whole host of clubs chasing his signature both this summer and next year when he will be available for significantly cheaper.

His father, Alfe-Inge, made 38 appearances for Manchester City in two years before he picked up a serious injury during a Manchester derby.

There is now a growing belief at Tottenham Hotspur that Jose Mourinho will no longer be in charge next season.

That’s according to the ever-reliable Alasdair Gold of football.london, who dropped this bombshell over the weekend.

With only six games left to play in the Premier League, Spurs are five points adrift of West Ham and the top four, making Champions League qualification seem out of reach.

Whilst they’ve been knocked out of both the FA Cup and Europa League in what has been a dismal second half of their 2020/21 season.

One recurring issue has been defensive mistakes, with Mourinho unable to settle on a regular partnership at the back. Indeed, he’s utilised as many as 16 different defensive combinations, so it’s no wonder errors creep in and linger.

Spurs’ calamitous campaign has largely been summed up by their abysmal record when going in front – they have lost a whopping 20 points from winning positions, a feat that would see them occupy second place.

If Mourinho does leave, the new manager would need to alleviate this problem as their top priority, that’s for certain. But who?

Julian Nagelsmann is thought to be Daniel Levy’s top target should he hand the Portuguese his P45, though his inexperience in the Premier League has to be one concerning factor.

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His RB Leipzig team have the best defensive record in the Bundesliga but he’s got quality weapons at his disposal, with the likes of Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate all better options than Spurs’ current trio of Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez.

Perhaps a manager who’s proven a little more with less resource in England is a better fix for this big issue.

Gold believes Fulham boss Scott Parker, who used to play for the Lilywhites, is one to keep an eye on as he still has “a lot of friends” at the club, and they’re monitoring his progress down the river.

Even though the Cottagers are in the relegation zone, he’s done a fantastic job to turn things around, especially defensively, where Lyon loanee Joachim Andersen has looked every bit like a future Premier League star – he’s someone Spurs could also look to sign in the summer, so maybe Levy should try and bring both to north London.

The Daily Mail have previously lauded the 40-year-old for his ‘defensive rebuild’ at Craven Cottage – when they went down in 2019, they leaked a whopping 81 goals. Now, they have the second-best record of any side 13th or below, having conceded only 43 times.

Parker has received glowing praise from two of the best in the English top-flight, too.

Pep Guardiola called him “incredibly good” and Jurgen Klopp echoed has such sentiments.

Perhaps Spurs ought to look to their former midfielder over Nagelsmann at this stage; he hasn’t spent bucketloads and the club’s hierarchy know what he can do all too well.

He could well be the lesser risk in comparison to Nagelsmann this summer.

AND in other news, Spurs can land Aurier upgrade in 22 y/o beast who’s made 74 tackles this term…

Dean Windass has exclusively told Football FanCast that Eddie Howe would join a Premier League team over Celtic.

Howe has been out of work since leaving Bournemouth after their relegation to the Championship last season, but has since been linked with a number of high-profile jobs.

Following Neil Lennon’s departure from Celtic in February, the ex-Cherries manager was the standout favourite to take over at Parkhead, but with the likes of Crystal Palace and Newcastle now interested, talks stalled although the Daily Record are now reporting that Howe is on the brink of replacing Neil Lennon at Parkhead.

Jose Mourinho’s sacking from Tottenham hasn’t helped Celtic’s pursuit of Howe, although with Ralph Hasenhuttl under pressure at Southampton, which is closer to his hometown Bournemouth, Windass believes that the 43-year-old’s doubts over the Celtic job might be due to the possibility of another job becoming available.

He told Football FanCast:

“People talk out of football, they will be saying ‘wait until next year because the job will be available, so don’t take the Celtic job’, because financially he will be alright. So you wait.

“The only way Eddie won’t take the Celtic job will be if he’s got another job in mind.”

With Newcastle eyeing up a summer move for Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, this could be the perfect time for Steve Bruce to wave goodbye to Joelinton.

Reports in recent days have suggested that the Magpies are one of the sides interested in signing Abraham, and a move for the centre-forward would push Joelinton even further to the sidelines amid a really disappointing career at St James’ Park.

While his performances have slightly gone up a notch in recent games, with two goals in his last five, it doesn’t mask the fact that the Brazilian has been terrible value for money – with 76 games played for the Tyneside club, he has a measly nine goals and seven assists.

To put that into context, Joelinton has actually earned more yellow cards for Newcastle than he’s scored (10 to 9).

It’s no surprise then that former Magpie Rob Lee has been very vocal in his criticism of the forward, and speaking exclusively to FFC on a couple of occasions, he let his feelings be known.

He said: “If he came for £5-10 million you’d probably think ‘yeah that’s not bad’, but when you arrive for £40 million and you wear the number nine shirt then the pressure is massively on you and I don’t understand why they paid that amount of money for him.

“He was immense against Aston Villa, probably our best player until he got to the box, and then when he’s in the box, he always makes the wrong decision. When you want him to shoot he passes and when you want him to pass, he shoots, it’s just a conundrum of how you play him.”

He added: “First of all, I want to know who spent £40 million on Joelinton. If it was Steve Nickson, then come out and hold your hands up and say ‘yeah, I sanctioned and put forward that deal’, but I’m sure he won’t.

“Secondly, the club should have made it clear from the beginning that he’s not a centre forward and they could’ve done that by not giving him the number nine shirt.

“The minute he was given the number nine shirt he’s a centre forward. He’s the club’s most expensive signing and with him being a forward player as well as the number nine, people instantly expect him to score 20-25 goals a season.”

In bringing in the £40m-valued Abraham – dubbed a “hell of a talent” by Aston Villa boss Dean Smith – Bruce would have the perfect chance to finally axe Joelinton from his starting line-up, or even just cash in on him completely.

Either way, Joelinton’s days at St James’ Park could well be numbered if Abraham arrives this summer.

Meanwhile, Newcastle could sign Joe Willock’s perfect midfield partner in this Premier League star…

Steve Bruce has dropped an injury blow before Newcastle United travel to Leicester City in the Premier League.

The Lowdown: Newcastle are virtually safe

The St. James’ Park faithful are virtually safe from dropping down from the top flight down to the EFL Championship.

They currently sit nine points above the relegation zone with just four games left to play (Sky Sports), and so while it is not mathematically impossible that they could still go down, it would take a huge ask from both Fulham and West Brom.

With this in mind, it may be an opportunity for Bruce to give some minutes to some of his fringe players or bed some youngsters in, but he will not have Elliot Anderson available for the visit to the Foxes.

The Latest: Anderson injured for Newcastle

Speaking in his pre-game press conference before the match against Brendan Rodgers’ men, Bruce confirmed with regards to Anderson (via The Chronicle):

“He picked up a knock in the last game he played and it’s set him back a little bit.

“We’re not sure how bad it is but it’s a hip problem.

“He’s going to be struggling for the next couple of weeks.”

This rules him out of the match against LCFC and potentially also their next two fixtures against both Manchester City and Sheffield United respectively, seemingly ruining his chances of a late chance to strut his stuff before the summer.

The Verdict: Anderson injury a big blow

Anderson is a promising talent, having already made his breakthrough in the team this season at the tender age of just 18, and with potentially nothing to play for, these next matches could have allowed him to get a run in the side.

Nonetheless, the midfield player will have to try and work his way back to full fitness so that he can hopefully make another appearance before the campaign finishes, otherwise it will be over to the pre-season period for him to show Bruce he has what it takes.

In other news, find out what insight Lee Ryder has shared from sources close to Mike Ashley on the potential takeover here!