Pune Warriors have been listless with the bat and on the field, but where does the franchise go from here?

Abhishek Purohit11-May-2013This is what some weak sides do in an ODI chase, when they know they have been batted out of the game and have no hope of winning. They try and bat out their 50 overs, without showing too much intent to go after the target. This may sound incongruous in the times of Twenty20, it is still not easy to throw your bat around for 50 overs at a stretch.Is this approach possible in a T20 chase, when say, you have been batted into oblivion by Chris Gayle? Maybe you can be forgiven for backing off if the opposition opener makes 175 off 66 and you go into the break knowing, as does everyone present at the ground, that chasing 264 in 20 overs is just not happening.But taking the same approach when batting first in a T20? At your home ground? With absolutely nothing to lose, having already lost 11 of 13 games in the season? In their three years of existence, Pune Warriors have done their best to show that the concept of Twenty20 as fast-paced entertainment was sold to the world without watching them bat. When Warriors bat, there is little entertainment, unless your idea of it is to watch some quality batsmen and some not-so-good ones block, nudge, and mistime, all in slow motion.The IPL is only into its sixth season, but fans have come to expect something different from every franchise. Chennai Super Kings have made go-slow-and-explode into something of a mantra. You know you have to watch out for Gayle, Kohli and AB to do their respective acts when Royal Challengers Bangalore bat, and more often than not, they don’t disappoint. Mumbai Indians have big guns all the way from No. 1 to No 6, and invariably, a couple of them fire and post big totals.What do you get with Warriors? Change as many captains as you will, you get the same brand of directionless batting, as if all they want to do is play out the 20 overs and get off the park. One can’t blame them too much, at least not at this stage of another season that has gone nowhere.Losing streaks can grow on a side, and especially when it has been guilty of putting together multiple ones, a team can easily get into another rut, where every game seems like a chore. The regulars might think, ‘Oh well, this looks like that time last season, the good part is that seasons come to an end.’ The fringe ones might go, ‘Here comes my chance after four matches. Do I bat for my place in the side? I’ll take my cue from the regulars.’You would expect a line-up that looks so competent on paper to translate at least some of it onto the field. You would think the pressure of playing in a billion-dollar league and being owned by a billionaire would at least goad them to go down blazing. What you get instead, game after game, is tepid, mediocre stuff.Equally disappointing is that most of the personnel are no way close to being mediocre. People still remember that Robin Uthappa used to hit sixes on the walk. His strike-rate this season is 116.66. Yuvraj Singh is arguably a limited-overs great. He’s hit a couple of outstanding shots here and there to average 20-odd for the season, which is not saying much for someone around whom the line-up was supposed to be built. One-time captain Angelo Mathews has cut a confused, helpless figure. Current captain Aaron Finch has increasingly done the same.Allan Donald will have us believe there is some class in the bowling attack in the form of Ashok Dinda, who’s leaked close to ten runs an over. If there is class there, it is playing the wrong format. Mitchell Marsh isn’t far behind on the economy front. Abhishek Nayar’s batting average is the same as the number of games he’s played – 11. His strike-rate is an apologetic 90.41.As sorry as these figures look, their collective effect on the field is worse on the typical Warriors’ fan. Bombarded as he is by the notion that T20 is all explosive, thrilling hitting, he has had to endure exactly the opposite for most of three seasons now. Against Mumbai Indians, Warriors did not hit a single boundary for the last 57 deliveries – almost half of their innings. You have to feel for those who made the journey in the afternoon heat to the Sahara Stadium from both sides of the Pune-Mumbai expressway.

Plus, Hillary-Norgay’s previously undocumented Everest cricketing duel

Andy Zaltzman17-Sep-2014The Confectionery Stall will be taking a sabbatical until December, whilst I am touring with my stand-up show (details at satiristforhire.com). England will also enjoy a couple of months off the cricketing treadmill. It is very rare these days that England play no cricket at all during a two-month stretch. The last time it happened was from November 2013 to January 2014, a period that unfortunately coincided with the Ashes.England’s hiatus will be followed by a bumper 2015 (and early 2016) which will feature 17 Tests in 10 months, bookended by a 50-over World Cup and a World T20. Amongst all this, there is a liberal sprinkling of assorted unforgettable ODIs and T20Is, plus a week-long team-bonding marathon playing the 1980s computer game on an old Commodore 64, a Broadway run of the new cricket musical , starring all centrally contracted players as themselves, a stint on the UN Security Council, and a series of 24 one-off triangular cricket-baseball-tennis hybrid matches against the New York Yankees and the women’s world No. 5 and former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, which will be played entirely via Skype.There are also plans for England to play a simultaneous Test match and five-game ODI series on adjoining pitches, against themselves, whilst the ECB is rumoured to be on the verge of announcing the installation of a new month – provisionally entitled Cooktember – to take place between January and February 2016, which will be used for rest, practice, promotional activities, welding Stuart Broad back together, reinstalling and re-sacking Kevin Pietersen in what will become a formal biennial ritual, and a supplementary bonus Ashes.No doubt, every single game in that period will be equally as special and memorable as the next, to both players and spectators alike, and no doubt the executives may well be giggling into their balance sheets. The golden goose, however, must be looking at its schedule, muttering to itself: “You want me to lay eggs? Ouch. Well, you’re the boss. Could you fetch me some Vaseline, please. I think I will need it.”Perhaps in time, 2014 will be seen to have laid the foundations for a new era of success after the seismic upheavals of the winter. It was a curious international summer, with two classic Test matches, at Headingley and Lord’s, both of which resulted in English defeats, one dull Test with a thrilling finale (the first against Sri Lanka), one dull Test without a thrilling finale (the first against India), and three absolute humiliations of MS Dhoni’s sappingly inept team, whose theoretically brilliant batting line-up explored every possible avenue of incompetence in a depressing masterclass of underachievement.From an English perspective, it began with fascinating failures and ended with rather uninteresting successes. All in all, it was a strangely unsatisfying summer, but one that held out promise of a genuine English resurgence. If Anderson and Broad stay fit. And Australia pick Pankaj Singh.

By the time Alastair Cook and Alex Salmond toss the coin at the Hagley Oval in five months’ time, Hadrian’s Wall may well have been completely rebuilt, and the Queen could be floating over the British Isles in a hot air balloon, desperately appealing for calm through the royal megaphone

England remained largely flaccid in ODIs, but given that they have not played a 50-over game with both Anderson and Broad in the team since the Champions Trophy final in June 2013, and only belatedly realised that it might be useful to have a few more players who can hit boundaries, their World Cup prospects cannot be completely written off. The World Cup, in its current format, is essentially a three-game shoot-out. In any shoot-out, of course, it helps to have arms and ammunition. England have generally focused too much on the bulletproof jackets. But if they take some reasonable selectorial risks, and hit form in the right week at the end of March, they have a chance. As indeed do the other seven regular quarter-finalists. Who mostly have more of a chance.I bid you farewell, then, at least until England’s ODI tour of Sri Lanka, scheduled to help them prepare for the dustbowl conditions they will no doubt encounter in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 23 February, when they will be involved in what may be one of the most politically incendiary World Cup fixtures ever played. Depending on the result of Thursday’s Independence Referendum in Scotland. By the time Alastair Cook and Alex Salmond toss the coin at the Hagley Oval in five months’ time, Hadrian’s Wall may well have been completely rebuilt, and the Queen could be floating over the British Isles in a hot air balloon, desperately appealing for calm through the royal megaphone.A Scottish victory in that game is about the only concession that David Cameron has not offered the Scots in his desperate attempts to stop the UK falling to pieces. Whatever else happens to England in their insanely overfull 2015, they simply must win that match. We must remain Great Britain’s undisputed No. 1 cricketing nation, or we will truly have nothing left.* With all due respect to the Champions Trophy, the most significant match taking place in the next few weeks is, without question, the charity game atop Mount Kilimanjaro, the celebrity 5895-metre-high Tanzanian retired volcano. The altitudinous showdown was organised by David Harper, who is raising money for cancer research, Tusk, and the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation, and features, amongst others, Makhaya Ntini, Heather Knight, Ashley Giles and Clare Connor. It is set to claim the record for the highest-ever game of competitive cricket.Whilst I applaud the charitable fund-raising efforts and the mountaineering valour of those involved – full details and a link to the donations page are here – I have my doubts that this will, in fact, be the highest altitude at which competitive cricket has been played. It simply beggars belief that Edmund Hillary – a New Zealander, after all – did not challenge Tenzing Norgay to a game of cricket when they became the first people ever to teach Mount Everest who was boss, back in 1953.Recent expeditions would almost certainly have discovered a bowler’s marker near the summit, had they bothered to look for it, whilst satellite imagery could probably reveal what look like three stump holes right on the peak of the world’s tallest mountain, if you look at it from the right angle. Furthermore, there is incontrovertible photographic evidence of the tea interval.Admittedly, it is unlikely that the game lasted very long, or offered much in the way of entertainment for the neutral. Norgay would have struggled with his run-up when charging up the slope from the South Col End, and Hillary would probably have been surprised by the pace of the ball through the thin air at 8848 metres above sea level, come down late on it, and edged it through the understandably vacant slip cordon.As the ball scuttled away across Everest’s notoriously slopey outfield, which makes Lord’s look like a paragon of flatness, the two men would probably have decided to call it an honourable draw, before heading back to base camp in their sponsored caps for the post-match press conference.Good luck to David and the teams. My prediction: a negative draw. No one is going to want to traipse all the way to the top of Africa’s highest mountain and lose. You can follow their progress on the website, and via Twitter at @kilimadness.

A 99-run stand between Bismah Maroof and Aliya Riaz, who both scored half-centuries, gave the Pakistan innings a degree of respectability

Annesha Ghosh08-Mar-20220:45

Healy – ‘We have the perfect opportunity to show everyone what we can do’

Australia got the better of Pakistan by seven wickets in a one-sided game in the second 2022 ODI World Cup match for both sides in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. After restricting Pakistan to a below-par 190 for 6, Australia, the frontrunners for the title, rode Alyssa Healy’s quick half-century to wrap up their second win in a row, with seven wickets and more than 15 overs to spare.Two years to the day since her 75 in the T20 World Cup final, Healy steered the chase with two 60-plus stands on her way to a 79-ball 72. The first was with her opening partner, Rachael Haynes, who followed up her ODI best of 130 in the previous game with a run-a-ball 34, and the next one was with No. 3 Meg Lanning. Dropped on 8 by Aliya Riaz at midwicket, Healy showed just how dangerous she can be if let off the hook.Unleashing an array of pulls, her favourite shot, and majestic inside-out lofted drives, and making deft use of her feet against Pakistan’s four-pronged spin attack, Healy added an element of inevitability to the result after being reprieved. With Haynes, whom offspinner Nida Dar dropped off her own bowling when on 26, Healy powered Australia to 50 inside nine overs and past the three-digit mark inside 18.The run rate didn’t really challenge Australia, and sloppy catching made matters worse for Pakistan, and their 16th straight defeat in an ODI World Cup loomed large as Lanning, too, found fluency after scoring just three off 20 balls. Lanning put her cut to good use to hit a series of fours but it also caused her undoing when she chopped Omaima Sohail on on 35. Sohail later took out Healy just when she looked set to waltz to a hundred.Bismah Maroof and Aliya Riaz put together 99 runs for the fifth wicket•AFP/Getty ImagesWhen Healy fell, Australia need just 38 in 23 overs. Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney took only another 7.3 overs to overhaul the target, thanks to their unbeaten fourth-wicket stand, and keep Australia’s 13-0 record against Pakistan in ODIs intact.In the first half, Pakistan’s highest stand in ODI World Cups, between Bismah Maroof and Riaz, and Maroof’s unbeaten 78, were the highlights. But a painfully slow scoring rate – with 186 dots – meant Australia’s decision to bowl, and play three spinners, stood vindicated. It came to Maroof and Riaz to breathe life into Pakistan’s innings after they were 44 for 4 in under 13 overs.At the start, Pakistan crawled to 37 for 2 in the spin-less powerplay, though they found a few boundaries early on. Opener Nahida Khan, replacing the injured Javeria Khan, perished to the wide lone slip in the third over as Megan Schutt’s late movement had her reaching for a wide delivery. Perry, too, shaped a few away, including the first ball of her second over, which Sidra Ameen edged to Lanning at first slip. Schutt’s swing in the powerplay was recorded at an impressive 2.4 degrees and Perry’s at 1.9 degrees.Alana King provided the first glimpse of spin, and got an orthodox, tossed-up legbreak to crash into Sohail’s stumps. Jess Jonassen and Amanda-Jade Wellington came on soon after as Australia applied the choke, Wellington also taking out Dar.Alana King picked up a couple of key wickets, one at the top and one at the end•Getty ImagesAt that stage, little came by way of runs and wickets fell in quick succession for Pakistan, but Maroof tucked one away to the midwicket boundary for her first four and added a second to her tally with a glorious square-drive. She appeared reluctant to go aerial early on and brought up her 15th ODI half-century, off 96 balls.For a player returning to lead her team only six months after childbirth, the celebration of the milestone was fitting: bat on ground, arms folded in a cradle, out came the rock-the-baby gesture as Maroof turned towards the dressing room where her mother and daughter acknowledged her effort.In Riaz, Maroof found a partner to rebuild with. Both batters struck their maiden fifties in ODI World Cups, the first instance of two Pakistani women making half-centuries in a 50-over innings. Riaz got to hers with a powerful four to fine leg off Schutt on the 107th ball of her innings, and now has the joint-second-highest ODI fifties for a batter at No. 6 or lower. She fell shortly after reaching the milestone, though, the 189-ball fifth-wicket stand ended by Nicola Carey.Pakistan were going at just over three an over at the 45th over before Carey’s eighth, the 47th of the innings, went for a few. Maroof guided a chest-high no-ball for four over short third man to kick-off the 14-run over. Fatima Sana did her bit with a 15-ball 14 at No. 7. She perished in the penultimate over as Healy snaffled her bottom edge off an attempted sweep, off King’s bowling. Diana Baig’s 7 off four balls and Maroof’s cover-driven four off the final ball of the innings helped Pakistan to 190 for 6.

Leeds United may well need to dip into the free agent market for a new midfielder following long-term injury blows to both Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.

Leeds injury latest – Ampadu and Gruev

The Whites and Daniel Farke began a busy week of Championship action last weekend against Coventry City, and a 3-0 victory came at a cost with club captain Amapdu suffering a knee ligament issue.

The Wales international has been ruled out until 2025, which left Gruev, Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell as Farke’s senior midfield options. Next up was a trip to Carrow Road to take on Norwich City, and despite picking up a 1-1 draw, Gruev became the latest injury for Leeds. The club has now shared that the Bulgaria international also needs surgery on a knee injury and will be facing months on the sidelines.

Agreement reached: 49ers land new Leeds kit deal after £50m Adidas success

Plans are being put in place behind the scenes.

ByCharlie Smith Oct 3, 2024

Teenager Charlie Crew could be in line to make a debut in the near future, but Farke revealed in a recent press conference that while he isn’t a fan of signing players who are out of contract this far into the season, the free agent market may be something they look at.

“First of all, we wait a bit for the outcome with Ilia’s injury and how long he will be out. If it would be really a long-term injury I think it’s one of our professional duties to be aware and also to check who is perhaps available and what we could do.

“If I’m really honest, I’m not a big friend of signing players who are out of contract in the beginning of October, because it means, more or less, they are out of team training since May. That means they are out of team training since whatever, five months.

Players

Return dates

Max Wober

November/December

Ethan Ampadu

New Year

Ilia Gruev

Unknown

Daniel James

October

Manor Solomon

October

“And even if you bring them in, it lasts also a while until they are really ready to go and fully fit and really could play first team football and then, quite often the player who is right now injured for the next few weeks, he’s even back in perhaps and ready to go earlier than the players who are out for since five months.

“I think quite often it’s a bit like a panic buy or like to pretend to do something anyhow. I think it’s professional to check it, and sometimes, out of coincidence or out of a special situation, there could be someone out who really suits the needs in this moment.”

Jake Livermore touted as free agent option for Leeds

The Yorkshire Post’s Tom Coates looked at six midfield free agents who Leeds could target, one of which is Jake Livermore. The 34-year-old, who had a spell on loan at Elland Road from Tottenham back in 2011, has been without a club since leaving Watford in the summer.

He has 244 appearances under his belt in the Championship and 196 to his name in the Premier League, as per Transfermarkt, so his experience and availability could be something Leeds need at this moment in time. As Farke alludes to, he may need some time to get up to match fitness, but the upcoming international break presents the perfect chance to get a head start on that process if the club acts quickly.

Micky van de Ven has been filmed running in an intense Tottenham training session with the defender likely return from injury this week.

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Van de Ven recovering from hamstring injuryDutch defender back in team trainingPostecoglou also shared positive updateFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Dutch centre-back, sidelined since early December due to a hamstring injury sustained in Spurs' loss to Chelsea, was seen running and defending during drills. His injury coincided with the absence of Cristian Romero, another vital figure in Spurs' defensive lineup. Romero, like Van de Ven, has been out of action since December, leaving Tottenham without their first-choice centre-backs for nearly two months.

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Their absence has been felt heavily as in the eight Premier League games played since Van de Ven and Romero were sidelined, Spurs have managed just one win. This poor run of form has left the team desperate for reinforcements, especially with a series of season-defining fixtures on the horizon and the threat of relegation creeping into the picture.

WHAT POSTECOGLOU SAID

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou provided an update on the fitness of Van de Ven and Romero following the team’s recent defeat to Leicester. The Australian expressed optimism about the duo’s progress, hinting that their return to training was a step in the right direction.

"There are definitely a couple getting close, Micky and Cuti, they’ll be training with the group, and even just having them training is great," he said. "There are another couple who are not too far off, on the horizon as well, so that will definitely help."

Aston Villa reportedly have their eyes on a free transfer in 2025, however, Newcastle United are in talks to seal a deal of their own.

Aston Villa transfer rumours

NSWE and Monchi were extremely productive over the summer, signing eight players in the transfer window. Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen, Jaden Philogene, and Ross Barkley all sealed permanent moves to Villa Park and have featured under Unai Emery during the current Premier League campaign.

Meanwhile, Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea joined in a deal that saw Douglas Luiz head to Juventus, however, the pair have been sent out on loan to Bologna and Valencia respectively. Meanwhile, Lewis Dobbin also joined and left on loan, whereas Cameron Archer was brought back to the club from Sheffield United, only to then be sold to Southampton.

Aston Villa eyeing move to sign 6 ft 1 colossus who Leon Bailey knows well

Three more clubs are keen, though.

1 ByCharlie Smith Sep 26, 2024

It was a busy few months in the Midlands, and earlier this month, Monchi admitted that Villa shouldn’t be scared to sell as well as buy if they want to compete at the very top. “If we want to be in the top we need to sell, 100 per cent. Because of our revenue – we cannot raise more revenue because of our stadium. We need to consider the profit as revenue.

“We need to consider in future that to sell a player is revenue. Because we cannot have more revenue. When Damian worked in Valencia and I worked in Sevilla it was OK to increase the level by selling players. The most important thing in my opinion is not selling players – the most important thing is to buy good [players].

“We were not afraid to sell players but we had to do it within a plan. In my opinion we need to sell players because City sell players, Arsenal sell players, Real Madrid and Barcelona sell players. We are not afraid to sell players – the most important thing is to have, one – a buyer, and two – buy a player to replace this one.”

Despite potentially needing to sell in 2025, there have been rumours of further incomings. Recently, defender Richard King has been linked with a Villa Park move, whereas Besiktas winger Semih Kilicsoy and Brazil U20 international striker Rayan Rocha are also on the radar.

Another mooted target has been Lille striker Jonathan David. Reports earlier this month said that Villa were one of the sides in the running to sign the Canada international, and a further update has now emerged.

Aston Villa in contact over Jonathan David move

According to The Boot Room and journalist Graeme Bailey, Newcastle United are in talks with David over a potential pre-contract agreement in January.

However, the Magpies aren’t the only Premier League side David’s representatives are talking to, with the report adding that Aston Villa, alongside Arsenal, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United have also been in contact, asking to be kept informed of the situation.

The possibility of signing the “mind-blowing” striker appears to have alerted a lot of English suitors, so Villa may have to act fast if they are to win the race for the 24-year-old.

Somerset slump to 55 for 7 before salvo of late hitting takes them past west country rivals

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2022

Roelof van der Merwe smashed 48 off 15 balls to snatch victory•Getty Images

Roelof van der Merwe was the match-winner as Somerset recovered from a shock start to win a rain-affected Vitality Blast clash against arch-rivals Gloucestershire by three-wickets (DLS) at Bristol.After the visitors had won the toss, Miles Hammond smote four sixes off the opening over of the game, bowled by Tom Lammonby, on his way to making 29 off just 12 balls. By the time rain interrupted play after five overs, Gloucestershire had raced to 61 for 1. A resumption at 8.45pm saw the game reduced to ten overs per side and the hosts went on to post 101 for 5.Somerset’s revised target was 112. They slumped to 55 for 7 before van der Merwe hammered an unbeaten 48 from 15 balls, with four sixes and four fours, to see them to an unlikely victory with three balls to spare.It was an extraordinary end to a game Gloucestershire had dominated. With a very short boundary on one side of the ground, the last thing Somerset could afford was to bowl too straight from the Ashley Down Road End. Left-arm seamer Lammonby erred in that respect and saw his second, third, fifth and sixth deliveries effortless lofted over the leg side by left-hander Hammond.Hammond and James Bracey took the score to 46 off 3.5 overs before Josh Davey made a breakthrough, having Hammond caught at short third man off an edged drive. Bracey was undeterred, taking a boundary off Siddle’s opening delivery of the fifth over, which also saw new batsman Ian Cockbain strike two fours.When rain sent the players off, Bracey was unbeaten on 21 from 14 balls. He added only a single to his score before being caught at cover off a leading edge in the first over of the resumption, bowled by left-arm spinner van der Merwe.Somerset opted for spin at both ends. Lewis Goldsworthy’s first ball was dispatched for a straight six by Cockbain, who fell to the second, caught at deep cover to leave Gloucestershire 72 for 3.Jack Taylor hoisted Goldsworthy for another straight six. But van der Merwe completed two canny overs for 14 and when Glenn Phillips skied a catch to wicketkeeper Tom Banton off Lewis Gregory, Gloucestershire were 90 for 4. Gregory’s over cost just five runs. The final one was delivered by Ben Green, who sent back Taylor, caught at deep midwicket in conceding only a further six.Now it was Gloucestershire bowling with a wet ball. David Payne used it to good effect, having Banton caught a short third-man off his second delivery in an opening over costing eight. When Rilee Rossouw was caught in the deep attempting to pull Josh Shaw over the longer square boundary and Tom Abell tamely cut Zak Chappell to backward point, Somerset were 15 for 3 in the third over.Will Smeed skied a Shaw full toss to be caught on the leg side and Gregory drove Benny Howell to long-on where Hammond took a fine diving catch.Lammonby had quickly cleared the ropes twice, the second time with an audacious reverse scoop off Shaw. But when he tried to reverse sweep Tom Smith and guided the ball straight to extra cover it was 50 for 6. Smith accounted for Green in the same over. But van der Merwe kept things interesting by hitting the left-arm spinner for 6-6-4, in the eight over.Somerset needed 27 off the final two. That became 12 off the last when van der Merwe hit Payne for a six and a four.Ryan Higgins, bowling for the first time in the innings, saw his first ball swept for four by van der Merwe. The second, a slower delivery was dispatched over deep square for six and the third through the off side for four.

Wolverhampton Wanderers already have their eye on a double transfer ahead of the January transfer window, according to a new report.

The Old Gold had to be patient in the summer transfer window, as the majority of the club’s incomings didn’t arrive until the end of the window, which probably hasn’t helped the manager, and they have made a slow start to the new league season.

Wolves senior player now wants to leave after barely playing this season

A senior player could soon be leaving Wolves for a cheap fee.

1

By
Brett Worthington

Sep 3, 2024

Pablo Sarabia wants to leave Wolves

Wolves brought in eight new players over the course of the summer, which is a high number of arrivals but was needed as they also let 13 players leave. The Premier League side saw Pedro Neto and Max Kilman leave the club to join fellow top-flight sides, and when January comes around, the departures may not be over.

Wolves' summer signings
Andre	Fluminense
Rodrigo Gomes	SC Braga
Sam Johnstone	Crystal Palace
Pedro Lima	Sport Recife
Tommy Doyle	Man City
Bastien Meupiyou	FC Nantes
Jorgen Strand Larsen (Loan)	Celta de Vigo
Carlos Forbs (Loan)	Ajax

It was reported on Tuesday that Spanish international Pablo Sarabia is keen to leave Molineux and move back to Spain. The 32-year-old is not considered a key player for the club anymore, and a move in the next transfer window could occur.

La Liga side Sevilla are said to be interested in re-signing the player, as they look to add more goals and creativity to the side after a poor start to the campaign. The Spanish side considers a deal for Sarabia to be a “low-cost operation," given the fact that he is now 32 and is in the final year of his contract at the club.

Sarabia has been with Wolves since January 2022, and in his time at the club, he has played 52 times in all competitions, scoring five goals and recording 10 assists. As well as Sarabia leaving Wolves, the Premier League side also have their eye on a couple of additions by the time January arrives.

Wolves eyeing double transfer in same position as £4m signing

According to The Athletic, relayed by Molineux News, Wolves are set to try and sign an experienced centre-back as well as target a new left back. The Premier League side were looking to add a centre-back to their ranks in the last window, as they eyed a deal for West Ham’s Nayef Aguerd, but it never materialised.

This report states that the club’s need to sign a centre-back hasn’t gone away, and it will be one of two positions they prioritise in January. The other position is left-back, as Rayan Ait-Nouri has made a stuttering start to the season, and he is their only natural choice in that position.

This news comes after Wolves paid £4 million to French side Nantes to sign defender Bastien Meupiyou. The 18-year-old can play at centre-back as well as left-back, but he is likely going to need time to adapt before featuring for the first team, begging the question if they would have been better served spending that money on a ready made senior player.

The club currently have five options at centre-back, with the others being Craig Dawson, Toti, Santiago Bueno, and Yerson Mosquera.

MatériaMais Notícias

da esoccer bet： Neste sábado, o São Bernardo FC recebe o Cianorte pela quinta rodada da série D. O atacante Éder Paulista relembra os bons momentos pelas equipes, e analisa o momento em que chegam para o confronto direto.

O São Bernardo é líder do grupo G do nacional com oito pontos em quatro jogos. Por outro lado, o Cianorte é terceiro colocado com cinco pontos conquistados nas quatro primeiras rodadas.

O confronto pode levar o Cianorte a grudar no São Bernardo, que ocupa a primeira colocação. Entretanto, o time paranaense precisa furar a melhor defesa da competição, que não levou gols até agora. Por outro lado, o Bernô se preocupa em enfrentar o melhor ataque da Série C, com sete gols marcados.

– A perspectiva é de um grande jogo, ambas as equipes entraram na competição para buscar o acesso. Mas nessas horas torço pelo empate, meu coração fica dividido entre os dois times, não quero ver nenhum perdendo – brincou o atacante

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da realsbet： O atacante passou pela equipe do Paraná em 2016, onde conquistou a segunda divisão estadual, garantindo o acesso à elite. Pelo São Bernardo, Éder venceu a Copa Paulista no ano passado, após ser destaque do Paulistão A3 pelo Nacional.

– São dois times onde fui muito feliz, pude construir uma história linda, fui campeão e dei alegria pros torcedores. Hoje em dia sigo acompanhando os clubes e torcendo pelas boas atuações e vitórias – ressaltou Éder.

O confronto será o primeiro entre as duas equipes na história, além do Cianorte buscar sua segunda vitória fora de casa na competição. A partida será às 15 horas deste sábado, no Estádio Municipal Primeiro de Maio.

With the World Cup just a few months away, Rilee Rossouw capitalised on his luck and gave a compelling audition of his skills in the first T20

Firdose Moonda05-Nov-2014Rilee Rossouw had an ODI debut he would probably rather forget, if he hasn’t already. Tasked with opening the batting in a dead rubber against Zimbabwe, with his team chasing just 166, Rossouw should have racked up a decent score but he was in such a rush to get his first run, he ended up short of his ground.His maiden T20 appearance almost went a similar way.Rossouw had managed seven runs from as many balls when he top-edged Doug Bollinger in the third over and, with the four ducks he had collected from six international innings lining up in his memory, he hoped this would not be another one of days.”As the ball got to him I was praying and saying to myself, ‘Drop it, miss it, please,’ and then fortunately it happened,” Rossouw said. “That’s the little bit of luck you need in this game.” It was another rookie, Nathan Reardon, who put Rossouw down and gave him the opportunity to show off the skills South Africans have known he has had for seasons.Rossouw may have looked uncomfortable at elite level but is a regular on top run-scorers’ lists across formats on the domestic circuit. That’s why, despite his stuttering start, he was endorsed by ODI captain AB de Villiers, who spoke of his ability to change games, and was encouraged by the rest of his team-mates. “The team is really supportive. Even though I was going through some rough times, I could always lean on someone and ask for help,” Rossouw said.But even the most welcoming change-room’s door eventually shuts and Rossouw would have known he was running out of rope, which is why he wished so hard for a reprieve today. When Reardon provided one, Rossouw clung on and came good.”We’ve all had hard times, especially at this level and it’s tough to get yourself up when things are tough for you. So it was exceptional to see the freedom he played with,” JP Duminy said. “We spoke about somebody getting a 75 for us and he was the man today.”Rossouw played a combined anchor-and-aggressor role and was the only batsman to register a half-century in the match. He was strong on the pull shot and down the ground and hit the ball with both power and careful placement. Some will call this innings a breakthrough; proof Rossouw has just justified his call-up but him it is merely a first-step.”It’s not about proving anything; I just want to do well for the team,” Rossouw said. “If, come summer’s end, I am still in the side, I will be very pleased.”Duminy hinted Rossouw’s ambitions may not be too far off when he said: “He will go from strength to strength not only in this format.” That may mean Rossouw’s chances of being included in South Africa’s World Cup squad could be boosted by strong showings in these T20s.The same could apply to a few other fringe players, particularly the bowlers who are in stiff competition for World Cup spots. In the series-opener, Kyle Abbott and Wayne Parnell put their hands up as death-bowling options, an area South Africa have lacked in in the fifty-over format. Both were able to execute the yorker to good effect, managing to hit a length that has sometimes proved elusive in the past.”There was a big tick for our seamers,” Duminy said. “We used the dimensions of the ground well – the boundaries are very long and straight so getting the ball in the blockhole was key for us. We spoke about doing that from the 13th over.”South Africa also did what de Villiers has asked of them in the field and pulled off exceptional catches. Farhaan Behardien was airborne at cover point to dismiss Cameron White, Duminy took one over his right shoulder and Quinton de Kock’s full stretch leap and one-handed grab off Reardon capped off an all-round pleasing performance for South Africa’s young T20 side.