All posts by h716a5.icu

Bangladesh’s interim head coach hopes for a big performance from Mustafizur Rahman and his spinners; says Shakib’s inclusion subject to a fitness test

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo15-Mar-2018Bangladesh’s batsmen, led by Mushfiqur Rahim, have had their moments, but the bowlers have underwhelmed. So said stand-in coach Courtney Walsh on the eve of his side’s must-win encounter against Sri Lanka. In their previous match, Bangladesh had conceded 79 runs in a definitive six-over period against India. Even in the game they won, they conceded 214.There has been one bright spark in their attack, however, and this time it is not the young left-armer with the magic wrists. It is Rubel Hossain who has been Bangladesh’s best, maintaining an economy of 8.22 in three matches. Along the way, he has picked up four wickets. One of those was the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, who was bowled by perhaps the ball of the tournament so far: a late-swinging, yorker that zipped past Dhawan’s outside edge and flattened middle stump.”Rubel has been very consistent,” Walsh said. “If the other guys stepped up, it would give us a little more cushion. I would be lying if I said I thought we bowled well. We have bowled okay, but not as well as we can. The improvement is coming, but not as quickly as we would like. If we can put it all together, it will be a big plus for us in Friday’s game.””Spinners also have not been as spot-on as we like them to be. They have had good patches. But if everyone did their bit, it will give us a very good chance.”Among those who have under-performed at the Nidahas Trophy has been Mustafizur Rahman, whose 12 overs have gone at 9.75 runs apiece, though he has also taken four wickets in the competition. His cutters have been only sporadically effective on Khettarama decks that have atypically failed to reward revolutions on the ball.Friday’s virtual semi-final will be played on a fresh pitch, which means that seam and swing may be more reliable fast-bowling weapons than cutters. “Someone like Mustafizur Rahman having a good game will help us tremendously,” Walsh said. “I am hoping he can step up to the plate in this crucial game. I know he can. He had some fantastic games in PSL so it is a case of turning it around here. One game can make a difference. It could be his game, or another bowler’s game, but we’re hoping that he comes good.”The attack would appear to have been bolstered with news that Shakib Al Hasan is joining the team ahead of this game, but Walsh was reluctant to suggest Shakib is a certainty for the playing XI. Though he will be with the team in the approach to the game, Shakib is expected to take a fitness test for his injured finger that has kept him out since mid-January.”He is on his way. Like any other player he will be assessed. If he is fit, someone of his class and calibre will be considered to play.”

Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon systematically dismantled South Africa’s batting order on the second day in Durban to give Australia a 189-run lead

The Report by Brydon Coverdale02-Mar-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThis was the reason South Africa picked an extra batsman. Australia’s attack, led by Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, systematically dismantled South Africa’s batting order on the second day in Durban; such was Australia’s complete dominance that it seemed an achievement for South Africa even to avoid the follow-on. Starc wrapped up the day neatly with a five-wicket haul to dismiss South Africa for 162 in reply to Australia’s 351.If the first four sessions of the Test seemed rather low-key, the octane level rose considerably after lunch on day two. Last time the teams met in Durban, in 2009, Australia did not even pick a specialist spinner, but here Lyon struck twice in his first over of the Test, removing Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla to open up South Africa’s order for the fast men. Pat Cummins then broke through with a fierce bumper, before Starc began his procession through the middle and lower order.Only AB de Villiers looked like pushing South Africa to a competitive total, but almost inevitably he ran out of partners, left unbeaten on 71 when the final wicket fell to finish the day’s play. Fittingly, it was Starc who put the icing on the cake, or to coin a more appropriate Australianism, the coconut on the lamington, by trapping Kagiso Rabada lbw and smashing the stumps of Morne Morkel. Starc finished with 5 for 34, his best work having been done against the right-handers earlier.Mitchell Starc removed Faf du Plessis•Getty ImagesLike a hustler of the highest order, Starc played the angles to perfection and conned mark after mark into nibbling outside off stump. Coming around the wicket, he found the perfect line and often enough moved the ball away, beating edges not left, right and centre, but left, left and left. This method first accounted for Faf du Plessis for 15, then Theunis de Bruyn – the extra batsman not helping South Africa – for 6, and finally Vernon Philander for 8.It was an exquisite display of left-arm pace bowling, though Starc had support from all other members of Australia’s attack. Lyon was the man who sowed the first seeds of doubt in South Africa’s minds. His second ball of the Test caught Elgar’s leading edge and was brilliantly taken by the bowler leaping to his right, and three balls later Hashim Amla’s inside edge was snapped up at short leg by Cameron Bancroft to give Lyon a double-wicket maiden.He later returned to add a third wicket, Quinton de Kock’s recent batting struggles continuing when he was bowled by Lyon’s quicker delivery for 20. Josh Hazlewood chipped in by rattling the stumps of Keshav Maharaj, which meant all four of Australia’s bowlers were wicket-takers. Cummins had earlier ended an enterprising innings of 32 from Aiden Markram, who could only fend an accurate short ball to Bancroft in close.Markram was the only batsman beside de Villiers who threatened to worry the Australians. But really, de Villiers was in a league of his own. He scored all around the ground and was especially strong through the leg side, striking 11 boundaries on the way to his highest Test score since his recent return to the side. But one man making a half-century was nowhere near enough; South Africa needed a more even list of contributors, as Australia had possessed.The day had started with Australia on 225 for 5 with Mitchell Marsh and Tim Paine at the crease. Paine edged behind off Rabada early, but Marsh compiled useful partnerships with Starc and Lyon to continue frustrating the South Africans.Marsh seemed destined for a century, which would have been his second in consecutive Test innings, when he tried to bring up the milestone with a boundary over mid-on, where the giant Morkel hurled his hands up to clutch the chance. Had Temba Bavuma been fit and fielding there, Marsh might have had his hundred. Instead he fell for 96, but his impressively patient innings was more than enough for Australia to post a competitive total.Starc had provided an entertaining cameo of 35 from 25 deliveries, clubbing two sixes over deep midwicket off Maharaj and striking four fours, including three in one Morkel over, before he was bowled by Maharaj. Cummins had fallen in similar fashion, bowled through the gate by Maharaj, though after an innings very different from that of Starc – Cummins occupied the crease for 38 balls for his 3 runs. His innings was just about the last quiet passage of play for the whole day.

Former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder and club icon Carlton Palmer has given his verdict on what he thinks about two of the Owls' summer signings.

When Sunderland got promoted from League One in 2022, they entered the Championship with one of the strongest squads in the league – Black Cats’ sporting director Kristjaan Speakman managed to recruit the likes of Édouard Michut, Daniel Ballard and Amad Diallo, who would help the side finish in the playoffs.

Sheffield Wednesday on the other hand hasn’t managed to recruit as well as their new league rivals since their promotion to the Championship and losing manager Darren Moore only makes their fight for survival much harder.

Former Watford boss Xisco Muñoz was appointed as Moore’s successor, however, the Spaniard is struggling to guide his side to points.

The Owls currently sit 23rd in the Championship with their only point coming in a lacklustre 0-0 draw to Yorkshire rivals Leeds United.

And Palmer hasn't been too impressed by the deadline-day acquisitions of Jeff Hendrick and John Buckley…

What has Carlton Palmer said about Wednesday's transfer business?

Speaking to FootballLeagueWorld this week, Palmer said:

"Sheffield Wednesday needed to bring in some Championship experienced players into their squad, so on deadline day, they secured the services of John Buckley.

“It was believed that Buckley was the subject of a £3 million pound bid from Swansea on a permanent deal, but Buckley rejected the move to stay up north.

"Buckley has fallen down the pecking order at Blackburn starting only 21 games last season, but at 23, has played over 100 Championship games, so is a useful acquisition."

Palmer then turned his attention to Hendrick. The former Leeds United midfielder added:

"Hendrick is 31, is experienced, and has a lot of Championship experience.

"He spent last season out on loan at Reading playing 45 league games. Although they were relegated, that was due to the six-point deduction. So, [Hendrick is] another useful acquisition.

"Both are not top-drawer signings but useful additions to the squad."

Who have Sheffield Wednesday signed this season?

Wednesday’s deadline day business may save them from relegation as they managed to get a few additions through the door. One signing that the three-time FA Cup winners signed was Irish midfielder Hendrick from Newcastle United.

The 31-year-old had seen his minutes vanish at Newcastle United as the Magpies invested heavily in their midfield with the Dublin-born midfielder being nowhere near the quality of £55m rated Sandro Tonali or £42.7m Bruno Guimarães.

Name of signing Former club Price as per Transfermarkt Djeidi Gassama PSG 850k Pol Valentín Sporting Gijón 250k Juan Delgado Paços de Ferreira Free Di'Shon Bernard Manchester United Free Anthony Musaba Monaco Free Ashley Fletcher Watford Loan Devis Vásquez AC Milan Loan Mohamed Diaby Portimonense Loan Jeff Hendrick Newcastle United Loan John Buckley Blackburn Rovers Loan Bambo Diaby Preston North End N/A Reece James Blackpool N/A The £1.2m valued midfielder played three times for Newcastle in the 2021/22 season and was later shipped off to Reading the next year. During his time at the Royals, Hendrick played 45 times in the Championship scoring four and assisting once as his side were relegated.The Owls also reinforced on deadline day with 23-year-old John Buckley arriving on loan from Blackburn Rovers.Like Hendrick, Buckley also plays in the centre of the park and has already played 130 times for the Riversiders despite his relatively young age. Last season, the hard-working midfielder averaged 0.43 yellow cards a game (seven in total), so Muñoz may want to have a chat with his new signing about being less aggressive when defending.Whether Palmer is right in his assessment remains to be seen, but after the international break, the Spaniard will be hoping the arrival of these two midfielders will help change their fortunes on the pitch or they will face an instant return to the doldrums of League One.

Grant Flower says Pakistan’s lack of footwork has been the main reason for their struggles in the New Zealand tour, but it’s still not too late to turn it around

Danyal Rasool14-Jan-2018Grant Flower would be well within his rights to be worried. He’s the batting coach of a side that came dangerously close to posting ODI cricket’s lowest score ever. Against the fire and intensity of New Zealand’s fast bowlers, Pakistan’s top order has crumbled in each of the three games they’ve played. However, the manner of defeat on Saturday, culminating with the side being skittled out for 74 – they were 32 for 8 at their nadir – has sparked criticism from around the world. For many, it is evidence that lingering issues around batting in fast, bouncy conditions are nowhere close to being resolved.Flower accepted that playing in New Zealand was a big challenge for Pakistan, and one they hadn’t risen to till now. “The conditions might have helped New Zealand, but that’s no excuse for some of the shots we played,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They’re world-class bowlers playing in their home conditions, so they’ll obviously have an advantage on that front. We have players more used to playing on slow, low wickets, and that obviously tells in the way some of the wickets fell.”New Zealand’s conditions are a world away – in more ways than one – from the kind Pakistan are used to playing in, but the University Oval in Dunedin has one of the slower pitches among international grounds in the country, and it had showed in the first innings, with New Zealand’s batsmen struggling to time the ball.When Pakistan batted, however, the pitch looked altogether different, the ball whizzing through to the wicketkeeper around shoulder height, and rising sharply off the surface. It might have been to do with the drizzle that was a constant for much of the Pakistan innings, but with the ball coming on to the bat, that could easily have worked in the batsmen’s favour.”Yeah, well, the ball gets a bit wetter and there’s a bit more zip in the wicket,” Flower said. “But it’s still no excuse, like I said. The guys are good enough to adapt, but at this stage we haven’t been good enough, or smart enough. Against world-class bowlers, you have to be ready from ball one, but in the first ten overs so far, we’ve been blown away.”Grant Flower addresses the media in Lahore•Getty Images/AFPIt isn’t just the wickets that have been the problem for Pakistan in the first Powerplay. The top order has consistently looked uncomfortable against the lethal opening pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, too often sitting on the back foot, looking to survive. It has stood in stark contrast to the way Martin Guptill and Colin Munro have approached the first 10 overs, looking to attack the bowlers and getting ahead of par scoring- rates.”To be honest, it’s apprehension and getting caught on the crease with guys’ lack of foot movement,” Flower said. “The better way is trying to be more positive and try and take on the bowling a bit more. We’ve probably been just a bit apprehensive. I think if you get a few shots away and take the challenge to the bowlers, then all of a sudden they have to think of their lengths a bit, so hopefully we’re going to see a more positive display on our batting side.”With a result like this, particularly in a game that had the series on the line, things can often fall apart very quickly. And it did when Pakistan toured England in 2016. There, too, the low point was a thrashing in the third ODI, where England amassed a record 444 in the first innings, and ended up winning 4-1.”I hope not [that this doesn’t become like the England tour],” Flower said with a laugh. “Mickey [Arthur] was quite measured after the match. He had a few words, but it was more just trying to let the guys know that the tour’s not over and we can turn it around very quickly. It sounds like a cliché, but that’s the thing. One good match or two good matches and it’s 3-2 and then you’re going into the T20s so hopefully the guys are thinking that way, and I suppose time will tell.”There’s always a few things we can work on technically. I spoke to the guys, we had a travelling day today, so I spoke to one or two. Then we’ll take that to the nets tomorrow, we have practice in the morning. But sometimes you don’t want to get too technical, you want to keep trying to be positive. Sometimes too much advice is not the right way to go, you just want the guys to go out and hit the ball. But like I said, it’s a balance that the guys have to find, and hopefully over the next few days we will find that.”But just going out and hitting the ball hasn’t been easy. That isn’t just because of the conditions, but also a New Zealand bowling line-up every bit as dominant in their home conditions as more celebrated attacks like South Africa’s and Australia’s. When pressed about how he reckoned Pakistan could reconcile playing attacking shots without playing the sort of poor shots they have so far, Flower was blunt.”That’s what you get paid for. That’s what you do all the practice for and the hours in the nets. The guys have to find that balance. If they can’t, they’re not worth their place in the team.”

Newcastle United might have lost against Manchester City last time out in the Premier League, but Eddie Howe will be delighted with his side's application and will be confident of emulating last season's success and forging ahead with another prosperous year.

The Magpies qualified for the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish, and opened their 2023/24 account with an incisive 5-1 victory over Aston Villa at St. James' Park.

Howe's side did indeed lose 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium last week, but the performance was promising once again and now, returning to home turf, the Tyneside team await Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp's side looking to reclaim the Champions League spot Newcastle have swiped.

What is the Newcastle team news vs Liverpool?

Ahead of this afternoon's anticipated tie, Howe said that he hopes for barrelling midfielder Joelinton to be available against the Reds despite suffering a knock against Manchester City.

The 45-year-old also revealed that while Joe Willock is "making good progress" as he recovers from a hamstring problem, the former Arsenal starlet is still not ready for match day consideration.

The club's versatile signing Lewis Hall, who completed a £35m move from Chelsea earlier this week (on an initial loan), could also make his debut for the club, though the teenage talent is lacking match fitness and is unlikely to start.

Harvey Barnes is yet to make his full debut for Newcastle after his £39m acquisition from relegated Leicester City last month, and having impressed through his two cameos thus far, might finally earn his chance.

Will Harvey Barnes start against Liverpool?

While Leicester suffered relegation from the Premier League last year, Barnes was one of the standout stars and posted 13 goals in the top flight and was hailed as a "livewire" by pundit Alan Hutton.

It was this clinical ability and directness that persuaded Howe to bolster his ranks with the dynamic ace, who offers a different kind of threat to the mercurial Allan Saint-Maximin, who joined Al Ahli for £23m in July.

Barnes' qualities were showcased most emphatically as he entered the fray in the 68th minute against Villa, replacing Anthony Gordon, and stamping his mark with a match-best Sofascore rating of 8.5, clinching a goal and assist and making two key passes.

The Chronicle's Lee Ryder remarked that the performance "justifies" Howe's decision to demand the transfer, and while he was benched once again against the Citizens, he completed 92% of his passes and unleashed a shot on target during his second appearance in black and white.

Against Liverpool, Newcastle are going to have to take their chances to bypass Alisson's goal, and given that Barnes ranks among the top 5% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals per 90, as per FBref, they would certainly have a good chance of doing so with him on the pitch.

The £80k-per-week phenom, who has been described as "incredible" by former boss Brendan Rodgers, must now be provided the platform to shine, and while he does not boast the finest record against the Merseyside outfit, scoring just once from seven outings, he could now be in position to wreak havoc against Klopp's squad.

Barnes is a player who has scored once despite only playing 56 minutes of Premier League action for the Toon, and considering that he has been dubbed “unbelievable” by Klopp, it's clear that Newcastle's forthcoming opposition fear the qualities at the 25-year-old's disposal.

With Newcastle now in a position to push for three points against an outfit of Liverpool's ilk, Howe must opt to give Barnes his first start since joining this summer, and by making such a move, the home side might just conclude the evening affair in rapture.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is personally keen to close a deal to sign a midfielder he has previously shown heavy admiration for, according to recent reports.

What's the latest news involving Manchester City?

The Blues have favored quality over quantity this window in the transfer market, strengthening their squad with the additions of Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic, as per Transfermarkt.

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Manchester City have also added another exciting young talent to their conglomerate The City Football Group, stating on X: "Excl: RB Salzburg talent Leon Lalić joins Man City/City Group, here we go. It’s first deal ever from RB Salzburg to City Group — historical for 2006 born midfielder. Lalić will initially join Lommel. David Fernandez’s team followed Lalić for more than 2 years."

City are also believed to be keen on Crystal Palace playmaker Eberechi Eze in the final stages of the transfer window; however, the Eagles are looking to hold out for a fee of £70 million for the 25-year-old, according to Football Insider.

Eze has become a target for Manchester City following their decision to withdraw from their pursuit of West Ham United playmaker Lucas Paqueta. His former club, Queens Park Rangers, would be entitled to 20% of any fee Crystal Palace recoup for the midfielder due to a sell-on clause present in his contract at Selhurst Park.

BILD via The Manchester Evening News share quotes from RB Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff who had dispelled rumours linking Spain international Dani Olmo with a move to the Etihad Stadium, stating: "Dani Olmo will be part of the Leipzig squad, no matter who is interested."

Olmo also recently commented on links to Manchester City directly, stating: “There is nothing [in the rumours]. I’m fully focused on the task in Leipzig, the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the cup. Man City are a big club – one of the biggest in the world. Josko [Gvardiol] went there. But I’m happy here.”

Who else could Manchester City sign?

Transfer guru Romano has delivered a fresh update on Manchester City's pursuit of Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Matheus Nunes on X, revealing: "Manchester City will insist to close Matheus Nunes deal with Wolves in 24/48h after initial €50m proposal plus add-ons discussed yesterday. Pep, big fan of Nunes; player has already accepted City as destination. It's now up to Wolverhampton."

Cited by The Mirror, Manchester City boss Guardiola is no stranger to £85k-a-week earner Nunes and has previously offered up some really high praise when discussing the Portugal international, saying back in 2022: "I would say that Matheus Nunes is one of the best players in the world today."

In his time at Molineux, Nunes has become a fan favourite due to his tenacious displays in the middle of the park and has featured 41 times for Wolves in all competitions, registering one goal and a solitary assist, as per Transfermarkt.

Football Insider claim that Manchester City are confident of sealing a deal to land Nunes and are readying a bid close to £60 million to try and get a deal over the line, which would also help to provide cover for the injured Kevin De Bruyne.

The PCB also decided to increase the player salary cap by USD 25,000 after all six franchises unanimously agreed

Umar Farooq13-Nov-2017The PCB has decided to increase the number of players per PSL franchise from 20 to 21 and raise the player salary cap by USD 25,000. Earlier, the purse allowed per team in the PSL was $1.2 million. Along with the existing squads of 20 players, each team will now be allowed to include a local player from the domestic circuit. The minimum squad of each franchise will consist of 16 players and can be extended to 21 with five supplementary players.”All franchises unanimously decided to increase the player salary cap by USD 25,000 allowing teams to pick a squad of 21 players for this season,” a PCB release said. “The newly inducted players will be from Pakistan and may include players unearthed through talent hunt programs or top performers from the National T20 Cup taking place in Rawalpindi currently.”A day after the draft was held in Lahore, the PCB held a meeting with all six franchises at the National Cricket Academy, touching upon a variety of issues for the improvement of the league going forward. The highlights of the meeting included the stance against anti-corruption, counterfeit merchandising and talent hunt programmes.Each franchise has a spending cap as players are picked through the draft system from five different categories – platinum, diamond, gold, silver, and emerging. But each category has a varying range and limit. A player can earn in the range of $140,000 to $230,000 for one full season.The players picked in the diamond category can earn between $70,000 and $85,000 while players selected in the gold category can take home up to $60,000 with the baseline of $50,000. Similarly, players selected in the silver category can earn from $22,000 to $33,000. Emerging players from the Under-19 circuit can be bought in the range of $10,000 and $12,000.

Behind-the-scenes footage has captured the emotional moment David Raya's family witnessed him officially become an Arsenal player.

What's the latest Arsenal transfer news?

The big story emerging from London Colney this week is the arrival of the Brentford goalkeeper in North London.

As per The Athletic, the 27-year-old joins initially on a season-long loan with the option to make the move permanent next summer. The Gunners will pay an initial £3m fee, while then in 12 months' time, if they want to make it a permanent transfer, they'll pay a further £27m.

The goalkeeper only had one year left on his contract at Brentford, but has signed a new two-year deal, with an option for an additional 12 months, to protect his value with the Bees in case he doesn't end up staying at Arsenal.

It appears to be a good deal all-round (except potentially for Aaron Ramsdale who now faces strong competition for the number one spot between the sticks) especially considering the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Tottenham have all reportedly shown interest in the player at some stage in the recent past.

And it seems as though Raya's family are pretty delighted with the move as well, especially his 91-year-old grandfather Joaquin.

Indeed, as seen in a clip now being circulated on Twitter – taken originally from a video shared on the club's official website –– Mikel Arteta presents the family member with a signed, personalised Arsenal shirt with his name on the back.

The Grandfather jokes: "I'm a bit nervous!" Before opening the gift upon which he adds: "This is my biggest dream."

They then go and take a picture together in a wholesome moment as sporting director Edu Gaspar jokes that 91-year-old Joaquin is "the first signing".

Who joined Arsenal in 2023?

The Gunners have made some pretty exciting moves already this summer, with Declan Rice most notably arriving for a club-record £100m fee (which could rise to £105m).

On top of that, Kai Havertz left Chelsea for their London rivals, and Jurrien Timber arrived from Ajax, making Raya the club's fourth signing in the current transfer window.

Arsenal also got a few more signings in through the door at the start of 2023 in the January transfer window as they picked up another player from the Blues in Jorginho, while also landing Brighton winger Leandro Trossard and Polish defender Jakub Kiwior.

Read the latest Arsenal transfer news HERE…

Arteta and Edu will no doubt hope this is enough to see their side fight successfully in the race to win the Premier League but a bad injury to Timber, could force them back into the transfer market to sign another defender before the window closes.

Indeed, transfers expert Fabrizio Romano has said recently: "Arsenal will explore the market, will discuss internally, Arteta will be involved in conversations because, at the beginning of the market, they looked at the possibility to bring in one more centre-back, a traditional centre-back, more than a versatile centre-back such as Timber who can play everywhere basically in the defence.

"They were looking for example at a player that they appreciate is Aymeric Laporte, this is true. The rumours about Laporte are true in the sense that he's one of the players appreciated by Arsenal, but from what I [have] heard, Man City didn't want to sell one more player to Arsenal; they prefer a different kind of destination for Laporte."

Rejuvenating the Edgbaston academy is a prime target as an old favourite returns to Birmingham

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2017Graeme Welch is rejoining Warwickshire as bowling coach after losing out on the same role with England to Essex’s Chris Silverwood.Welch served as bowling coach at Edgbaston for four years from January 2010, during which time the club won the County Championship title in 2012 and the Clydesdale Bank 40 in 2010.He left the club in 2014 to take up a role as elite performance director at Derbyshire but when that did not work out he subsequently moved to Leicestershire as assistant coach in September 2016 only for them to finish bottom of Division Two in the Championship.Welch’s reputation as a bowling coach remains unblemished, however, and Warwickshire were quick to hail his return as the next step in a coaching reshuffle that saw Alan Richardson released from the role last month.Ashley Giles, sport director at Warwickshire, said: “Graeme Welch is an outstanding bowling coach who was part of an excellent coaching team that delivered trophies at Edgbaston.”In our view he is one of the very best bowling coaches in the game and it came as no surprise to us when he was recently connected with the position of England bowling coach.”We are delighted that he has chosen to return to Edgbaston where he will not only be responsible for getting the first team back to winning ways but also building a bowling academy equipped to develop a new generation of bowlers, from all backgrounds, capable of delivering continued success in all formats for Warwickshire and the Birmingham Bears.”Welch said: “I have enjoyed my time at Leicestershire, but the chance to return to Edgbaston was one I could not turn down. I have been lucky enough to be part of successful Bears teams in the past as both player and coach and am very excited by the challenge of building a bowling academy which will bring success to the club on a sustained basis.”Leicestershire responded quickly to fill the vacancy, appointing John Sadler, who initially rejoined them as Second XI Coach last winter before taking charge of first team affairs alongside Graeme Welch for the final three matches of the 2017 season. Sadler and Paul Nixon, Leicestershire’s new coach, played in the same Foxes side and were both key members of the team that in the early years had the most successful record in the country.

A lot of the focus around Arsenal in this transfer window has been regarding incomings. On the Loaded Mag NUFC YouTube Channel though, transfer expert Ben Jacobs’ spoke of a potential departure with interest from clubs both in England and further beyond.

What does the future hold for Arsenal defender?

Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney may well be playing his football in a different colour next season.

Two sides who also boast European football are monitoring the Scotsman with the potential for either a permanent deal, or, more likely, a loan spell away from the Emirates.

Tierney has seen his Arsenal tenure hampered by injuries which is a shame given that this comes in and around some very good runs of form.

Since arriving in London from Celtic back in August 2019, for an SPFL record fee at the time, the fullback has only once surpassed 2,000 minutes. In his first season and most recent season, he fell short of 1,000 minutes.

In 2020/21, Tierney appeared in 27 Premier League fixtures, 26 of which were starts, working out at 2,302 minutes.

What has Ben Jacobs said?

Here is what Ben Jacobs said on the Loaded Mag NUFC podcast.

“The latest news is that a loan option might be expired by Real Sociedad for [Kieran] Tierney, and that may be an indication, depending on if they’re gunning for an obligation to buy or an option, that the player wants game time.

“Arsenal might want that chance to bring him back. Tierney didn’t do much wrong for Arsenal the season before last, it’s just that Zinchenko came in and his game time has been diminished.

“The starting point of Arteta, I understood, was that if Tierney was happy at Arsenal, Arteta was happy with Tierney staying because he’s hugely valued as a squad player and they’re going to have a lot of important games now that they’re back in the Champions League.

“One thing Arsenal learnt last season coming into this season which can help them is that that depth is necessary because as soon as Saliba got injured they faded. What if Zinchenko gets injured? You’d love a player like Tierney there that can come in.

“Obviously, you have to listen to the player and whether he’s happy with that role, which is why a loan might be a solution to buy a bit more time to assess. So that could be one option, a loan somewhere. From Arsenal’s point of view, I highly doubt that they would want to loan to a Premier League team and from Newcastle’s perspective, if they do buy a left back then they’ll want something long-term.

“There are a few sort of moving parts in the Tierney situation, at the beginning of the summer Tierney made it clear that he would be prepared to fight for his place and then from Newcastle’s perspective, as much as they looked at Tierney, Livramento became more likely and it might sound strange to say because again, with Livramento we’re talking about predominantly or almost exclusively, a right-sided player and with Tierney, left-back.”