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Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that it would be harsh for his old side to ditch Dean Smith and hire Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

Earlier this week, it was revealed by Football Insider that super-agent Jorge Mendes, who represents Nuno, is looking to move his client to another club with more financial resources like Aston Villa.

Smith has done a great job at Villa since taking over back in 2018, guiding the Villans to the Premier League and helping them to retain their status there. Considering that, Hendrie believes it would be a brutal move to push him aside for Nuno.

Speaking exclusively to FFC on the subject, the ex-Villa player said:

“I feel that it would be a bit harsh if Dean was pushed aside to let in Nuno at this current stage because I feel that Villa have built from last season.

“They have been a little inconsistent, but I do feel that if we can bring in two or three or four players next season, why can’t we be a force next season and push for Europe? I do feel Dean can do that.

“He’s got a good understanding of the players, he’s got a good bond, so if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

Smith has done nothing to warrant a dismissal. Looking at the Premier League table, Villa are sitting pretty after being brought back to English football’s top flight by the 50-year-old in the first place.

Any hopes Crystal Palace had of signing midfielder Conor Gallagher on a permanent basis have taken a significant blow after it was revealed the loanee is planning on returning to parent club Chelsea at the end of the season.

What’s the story?

That’s according to former Blues midfielder Steve Sidwell, who claimed that the highly-rated 21-year-old is determined to fight for his place at Stamford Bridge next term.

“I remember Rio (Ferdinand) telling me he did an interview with him (Gallagher) not long ago,” Sidwell told the Daily Express.

“And he said to Rio: ‘When you speak about me, make sure that I state that I want to go back to Chelsea. I’m not here in the shop window to get a move. I’m doing this to show them what I can do to go back to Chelsea.’”

Parick Vieira will be gutted

Although Sidwell’s revelation regarding Gallagher’s long-term career plans may not come as a huge surprise to Patrick Vieira, the Palace manager is still likely to be gutted at what will potentially be a huge blow.

That’s because the box-to-box dynamo has been in imperious form for the Eagles in the opening weeks of the campaign, bagging four goals and providing a further three assists in just 11 Premier League appearances, prompting Ashley Cole to label him a “leader.”

His outstanding displays at club level also caught the eye of England manager Gareth Southgate, who rewarded Gallagher with his senior international debut when he came on at halftime in the 10-0 thrashing of San Marino last week.

However, the south London outfit look set to be without his services next term as the £13.5m-rated gem sets his sights on breaking into Chelsea’s first-team setup.

Thomas Tuchel can currently call upon the likes of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic to pull the strings in his engine room, but with fringe stars Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek linked with moves away, Gallagher could get his opportunity.

It remains to be seen if Tuchel can find space in his plans for Gallagher, but for now, Palace should just enjoy having such a talented player at their disposal for the rest of the campaign.

And, in other news…Journo drops big claim over Palace “warrior” who Vieira loves, fans will be delighted

As Crystal Palace took on Newcastle United at Selhurst Park today, many Eagles supporters were left blown away by the performance of striker Christian Benteke.

Patrick Vieira’s side, looking to gain some momentum after a fairly inconsistent start to the season, met the Magpies in London this afternoon in what was a fairly entertaining encounter.

The travelling side, fresh off their headline-grabbing takeover, were given a run for their money by Palace who constantly threatened and provided real problems.

One major vocal point of the attack was Benteke, and despite missing some big chances across the 90 minutes, hitting the woodwork twice, his goal summed up just how threatening he actually was.

According to SofaScore, the Belgian had six shots on goal in total and won the vast majority of his duels up against Newcastle – prompting supporters to praise Benteke on social media, who was unlucky to have a second strike ruled out by VAR too.

Find all of their best verdicts down below.

Palace fans blown away by Benteke…

“This is one of the best Benteke performances I can remember. He’s been excellent”

Credit: @TalkCPFC

“Forget the goal, Benteke has been absurdly good in hold-up today”

Credit: @jack_jsteele

“If you cross the ball, Benteke becomes almost unplayable.”

Credit: @CroydonExile1

“Benteke has much more confidence under Vieira”

Credit: @Dave_Winbod

“I can’t believe my eyes benteke back in form??”

Credit: @GhostKingUK

“wow our own benteke”

Credit: @AendeLaw

Journalist Pete O’Rourke believes that Rangers defender Connor Goldson could sign for Aston Villa in January, as per GIVEMESPORT.

Unsurprisingly, a number of Villa fans have been giving their thoughts to a possible winter move for the centre-back on social media.

Gerrard left Ibrox for Villa Park last month and was linked with a move for Goldson, whose £27,000-a-week contract with the Scottish giants expires at the end of the season.

The 29-year-old is thought to be ‘dreaming’ of a Premier League move, with a £2m fee involving Villa being touted. NSWE have promised Gerrard a huge January transfer kitty, and when asked about the Villa manager’s transfer plans, O’Rourke said:

“One of the names in the frame would be Connor Goldson, who is yet to sign a new deal at Rangers. “I think his contract is up in the summer, so Villa might be able to get him for relatively cheap in January.”

Villa fans react

Total Villa shared O’Rourke’s comments via Twitter and here is what these Villa supporters had to say in reply, with many not exactly keen on a transfer to go through, possibly due to the fact that the club already has four on the books, or that Goldson is relatively unproven at Premier League level.

Indeed, one supporter dismissed him as a “carthorse”, given that the 29-year-old hasn’t always excelled for Rangers.

“My dayysss, Hause is clear”

Credit: @AvfcRoyal

“Are you willing us to get relegated? Total carthorse, nowhere near as good as the 4 CBs at Villa.”

Credit: @Cuchullain2505

“No”

Credit: @JxmesAVFC

“He is a CB, is he really better/as good as Konsa and Mings? If not, no point signing him”

Credit: @markwalker1985

“Don’t want any of these Scottish league players, substandard”

Credit: @waynipoos1

“No thanks”

Credit: @CharlieAEG

In other news: ‘On my knees’ – Many Aston Villa fans erupt as Lange makes ‘bold’ January transfer bid

Charlton Athletic will hope to extend their unbeaten run to six games on Saturday as they take on AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane. A win could take them further into a playoff contention spot, potentially jumping above fifth-placed Doncaster.

The Addicks came away with all three points against relegation-threatened Bristol Rovers on Tuesday,  scoring a late goal to seal a 3-2 victory. First half goals from Andrew Shinnie and Jake Forster-Caskey cancelled out their opposition’s two goal lead before Conor Washington found the back of the net in the 84th minute.

It seems as though new manager Nigel Adkins will be without injured duo Ryan Inniss and Marcus Maddison in his first game in charge, but they have no new absentees leading up to this fixture. Adkins was appointed on Thursday after Lee Bowyer left the managerial position for Birmingham City.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Adkins to line his side up against AFC Wimbledon, with two changes from the team which started against Bristol Rovers in midweek…

Ben Amos is expected to retain his place in between the sticks, despite not putting in a great performance on Wednesday. Wimbledon have scored the second fewest goals this season in League One, so he shouldn’t be in for too much trouble tomorrow afternoon.

Their back four is expected to remain the same, with Ian Maatsen, Jason Pearce, Akin Famewo and Chris Gunter all keeping their places in the starting lineup. Out of all the teams in the top of half the league table, Charlton have conceded the highest number of goals, and so Adkins will want his defence to sharpen up if they are to withhold a playoff position.

Jake Forster-Caskey and Liam Millar will most likely keep their places in their midfield, but we could see Ben Watson come back in to add more solidarity and experience. Andrew Shinnie should also start again after an impressive performance in midweek.

Conor Washington has now scored four goals from his last three games and should definitely be in Adkins’ starting XI on Saturday. 27-year-old Chuks Aneke comes in for Jayden Stockley after missing out on a starting place against Reading. Aneke is the club’s top goalscorer in this campaign with 12 goals.

Crystal Palace have joined Premier League rivals Sheffield United in the race to sign Wolves centre-back Dion Sanderson.

That’s according to an exclusive report from Football Insider, who claim that the Eagles and Championship outfit Huddersfield Town are now in the hunt for the 21-year-old alongside the Blades.

Sanderson open to move away from Wolves

Sanderson, who has been out on loan at Sunderland this season, is hoping to make his mark with his parent club.

However, the report claims the defender is privately open to a move away from Molineux, should Wolves decide to cash in on him.

Sanderson, who wants regular game time, is out of contract in the Midlands in 2022 and could cost just £2m this summer.

Transfer Tavern take

Sunderland manager Lee Johnson heaped praise on Sanderson just last month, calling him a ‘Rolls-Royce’ and a ‘leader’ even at his young age, so at just £2m this could be a good move for the Eagles to make.

Palace have just one centre-back under the age of 30 on their books at this moment in time, so an injection of youth may prove beneficial in the coming years.

Sanderson has gained plenty of experience at the Stadium of Light this season, making 22 appearances in all competitions.

He’s also plied his trade with Cardiff City in the Championship, so if Palace can offer him game time next season, a deal may well be on the cards.

In other news: Many Palace fans react as ‘shocking’ transfer twist emerges, find out more here. 

Carlton Palmer has slammed the West Brom board for allowing Sam Johnstone to leave the club as a free agent. 

The lowdown: Johnstone attracting interest

A report from the Daily Mail has claimed that the 29-year-old goalkeeper is a target for Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Southampton this summer.

Set to become a free agent in July (Transfermarkt), Johnstone seems certain to end a four-year permanent spell at The Hawthorns at the end of the current campaign. Indeed, Steve Bruce has acknowledged that the ‘keeper will be on his way out of Albion once the season ends.

The anti-climactic ending to Johnstone’s West Brom career has been criticised by one former England international…

The latest: Palmer criticises West Brom

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Palmer – who works as a pundit for the BBC – has slammed the club’s decision to allow the England ace to leave for nothing.

He fumed: “They’re going to lose Sam Johnstone on a free, which is crazy business. Why not let Sam Johnstone go last season if you’re not going to get him to sign a new contract? Why not let him go and get £10m-£12m for him rather than let him go on a free, it’s just crazy.”

The verdict: Bang on the money

Whilst keeping the three-cap England goalkeeper was perceived as a positive having suffered relegation last year, without the prospect of an instant return to the top flight it now appears to be a major oversight from the West Brom hierarchy.

Last summer, West Ham saw a reported £10m bid for the stopper rejected by the Midlands club, money which would now go a long way towards funding a much-needed squad overhaul.

Moreover, Bruce may need to replace Johnstone as first-choice at The Hawthorns, with neither David Button nor Alex Palmer seemingly up to the task based on the concession of 20 goals in their 10 combined Albion appearances so far this season.

In other news, West Brom have been backed to sign a Premier League midfielder. Read more here.

Manchester City are reportedly taking an interest in Brighton right-back Tariq Lamptey and if signed, he could prove to be the ideal long-term replacement for Kyle Walker in Pep Guardiola’s side.

The young defender signed a new long-term contract with the Seagulls last week, which sees him contracted there until 2025, but a report from The Athletic suggests that Manchester City, Arsenal and Everton are unlikely to be deterred by this, in their hopes of signing the 20-year-old.

Since signing from Chelsea in January 2020, Lamptey has been something of a revelation in Graham Potter’s side, first establishing himself in the first-team following project restart last season and he has now made 19 appearances, contributing one goal and four assists in that time.

The youngster has quickly become renowned for his incredible speed, which naturally makes him a potential replacement for Kyle Walker, who has consistently been one of the quickest players in the Premier League in his time with Spurs and City.

However, the England international will turn 31 this year and his pace won’t last forever, so perhaps the Citizens should be starting to look for a long-term replacement for the right-back.

So far this season, Walker has averaged a 6.81 rating for his performances in the Premier League, contributing one goal and one assist in 13 top-flight appearances.

Lamptey, meanwhile, has averaged a 6.73 rating, also contributing one goal and one assist but in two fewer appearances.

The City man has averaged 1.2 tackles and 0.8 interceptions in each game, whereas Lamptey has averaged 1.5 tackles and 1.7 interceptions, which suggests that the 20-year-old is arguably already outperforming Walker from a defensive perspective.

The Brighton man also averages more key passes and the same amount of dribbles per game when compared with Walker, despite playing in a team that is likely to be doing less attacking than Manchester City, which emphasises his attacking potential.

During his time with Chelsea, manager Frank Lampard dubbed the youngster as “fearless” and you feel that if it wasn’t for the emerging Reece James at Stamford Bridge, Lamptey would have been afforded more first-team opportunities.

However, with the Brighton man now valued at €20 million (£18 million) by the CIES football observatory, it looks as if Chelsea made a mistake in letting him go to Brighton.

Therefore, considering the similarity in style of play, and the fact that Lamptey is only 20 and already impressing in the top-flight, Manchester City sporting director Txiki Begiristain must try and sign the defender in the future.

AND, in other news, Forget Stones: MCFC beast who played 3 key passes was Pep’s hero vs CPFC…

Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that he can understand why former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has called out the likes of Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie.

Celtic endured a disastrous season as they handed over their title to their fierce rivals, and McAvennie has not held back when discussing some of the players at his old club.

The retired forward told The Herald last month that he can’t work out why Ajer doesn’t want to head the ball, while he hit out at Christie for not doing enough when speaking to Football Insider.

Scathing criticism, but it did not surprise Hendrie, who spoke exclusively to TT about Celtic’s miserable campaign. On the subject, the ex-Aston Villa midfielder said:

“Yes, you can single out those players. I think they’re players you certainly look at and you want to stand up and be counted for, so there’s no surprise Frank’s dug a few of those players out.”

Ajer may not be a Celtic player for much longer, with the central defender currently being linked with a move to the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Christie’s contract is set to expire next year, though there has been some confusion about exactly when.

Tottenham Hotspur head into the final game of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign knowing they must pick up all three points to stand a chance of qualifying for the Europa League.

But it will be no easy task as they face a Leicester City side who also need a victory in their bid to make the Champions League.

Spurs will need to vastly improve from their abysmal result in midweek, where they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa, and that result leaves interim boss Ryan Mason with plenty to ponder ahead of kick-off.

They looked disappointing in front of goal again, with big names like Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Dele Alli all underperforming.

The link between midfield and attack may have been the root cause as the Lilywhites looked far more lively when Tanguy Ndombele’s presence entered the field of play during the second half.

Mason’s decision to opt for Harry Winks in the engine room in recent outings just hasn’t paid off. He is the man holding Spurs back right now as he offers very little going forward nor much defensively either.

Fans were less than impressed with his performance against Leeds, so perhaps it was surprising to see him come back into the starting XI in midweek after missing the win over Wolves.

As per WhoScored, the 25-year-old midfielder ranks as the worst performer on the season with an average rating of just 6.33. This should come as no surprise, though, as he’s never managed above a diabolical 6.57 average in any of his Premier League campaigns since his debut.

In terms of attacking output, the Englishman manages only 0.3 key passes and 0.1 dribbles per game, via WhoScored, often resorting to a side or backwards pass – something that is just not needed when the team are crying out for someone to drive them forward from the middle.

Against Villa, he once again failed to create a key chance, was dribbled past twice, and made only one of three long balls. proving to be rather wasteful too.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-managerial-latest-update-transfer-rumours-gossip” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, managerial gossip, transfer rumours and more!”]

Ndombele, however, tried to move Spurs forward in the mere 16 minutes he was on the pitch – via SofaScore, he made 90% of passes, successfully pulled off 100% of his dribbles, and won all of his ground duels, too.

Winks was poor defensively too. As noted by Chris Coleman during commentary, Eric Dier was seen lambasting his teammate during the game.

“You can see there. Eric Dier is having words with Harry Winks,” he said. “He’s saying that the shield in front of himself and Toby Alderweireld is not good enough. Grealish is getting in the space in front of the centre-backs and you don’t want that to happen. Eric Dier is asking for a bit more protection.”

Even the attack-focused Frenchman (1.2 tackles per game) is outdoing the £26m-rated passenger (0.9) with his work rate at the back, and that speaks volumes.

Given the £75k-per-week star has also been linked with an exit from N17 this summer, it would be wise to brutally axe him from the starting XI at the King Power this evening.

Winks has no right starting in a game of this calibre, especially not over a playmaker like Ndombele. It’s time for Mason to show no mercy over his old teammate in his final game in charge.

AND in other news, Mason must unleash “remarkable” £18m-rated beast on Leicester today, could be a game-changer…