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Crystal Palace and Leeds United scouts were in attendance for Benfica’s Champions League meeting with Barcelona on Tuesday, Melissa Reddy confirmed.

The Lowdown: Barcelona keen on Gallagher?

La Liga giants Barcelona have been credited with an interest in Palace loanee Conor Gallagher in recent weeks.

Spanish outlet Fichajes believe the Catalan heavyweights have set their sights on a future move for the 21-year-old, who has been working under Patrick Vieira on a season-long loan at Selhurst Park.

However, it appears as if Palace, who pipped Leeds to Gallagher’s services this summer, have been looking at Barcelona and Benfica themselves.

The Latest: Reddy’s tweet

Reddy, The Independent’s senior correspondent, took to Twitter in the early hours of Thursday morning to share a list of scouts who were in attendance for Benfica’s 3-0 win over Barcelona.

Palace were on that list, along with Leeds and eight other Premier League sides.

The Verdict: Who impressed?

It remains to be seen who Palace went over to Portugal to watch, however, there were a number of impressive individual displays from the Liga Nos side.

Centre-forward Darwin Nunez was the best-rated performer on the pitch with a WhoScored match rating of 8.10/10.

The Uruguayan scored twice, while centre-back Lucas Verissimo and midfielder Julian Weigl also caught the eye.

Palace may well have come away from the match with new targets in mind, so it’ll be interesting to see who the club are linked with over the coming months.

In other news: Palace keen on free-scoring midfielder in cut-price move on less money than Mitchell.

Following Ireland’s successful World Cup qualifying campaign in South Africa coach Phil Simmons has extended his deal until 2011

Cricinfo staff25-Apr-2009Following Ireland’s successful World Cup qualifying campaign in South Africa coach Phil Simmons has extended his deal until 2011.Simmons, 46, took over following the 2007 World Cup and has helped guide Ireland to four trophies in nine months.”I’m delighted to continue in the post, and am happy to commit myself to Irish cricket to the end of 2011,” Simmons said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time with Ireland, and believe that there are more trophies and further success to come. I’m ambitious and so are the team – we’ve got a lot of important fixtures coming up, and I’m confident we’ll continue to impress on the world stage.”Warren Deutrom, the chief executive, added: “We believe that continuity in our senior coaching ranks is essential to maintain the high professional standards that Ireland has set for the Associate world in the last few months.”Many felt that our World Cup exploits of two years ago were the summit of our potential, but Phil has managed to raise the bar still further as we have completed the ‘Associate treble’ in 20-over, four-day and 50-over cricket in the space of nine months.”With Phil at the helm, we are confident that this team can achieve even greater things on the international stage, and strengthen our argument for ICC to outline a clear road map for strong Associate countries like Ireland to progress to elite status.”There is little time for Ireland’s players to rest as they start their Friends Provident Trophy campaign against Worcestershire, at Stormont, on Sunday.

The bad news just keeps on coming for Celtic and Ange Postecoglou right now.

The Hoops have lost their last two matches and injury blows continue to plague the Glasgow based side.

It’s a sad eventuality for the manager who had made some strong improvements to the Celtic team since his arrival.

Kyogo Furuhashi is still out injured, though, while Greg Taylor is set to miss the next 12 games because of a shoulder problem.

Yet, in a fresh blow, they will still be without Callum McGregor for their tie with Raith Rovers on Thursday evening.

Postecoglou was optimistic about the captain’s return to the team last Sunday against Livingston but he didn’t even make the squad.

The manager then admitted he was hopeful of having the Scot back for their League Cup tie in midweek but he’s now been ruled out of that game too and it has now been confirmed that he’s even facing a race to be fit for their clash in a week’s time with Bayer Leverkusen.

This is a seismic blow to Celtic, particularly if he’s going to be out for another week.

It comes at a particularly unfortunate time with both Ismaila Soro and James McCarthy struggling to cement themselves in the last seven days.

Soro looked like a red card waiting to happen against Real Betis last Thursday and was fortunate not to be given his marching orders after a few mistimed tackles in the first half.

All of that led to his substitution just minutes into the second period.

McCarthy came in for the diminutive midfielder against Livi but was also extremely abject. He surrendered possession on 15 occasions and failed to provide the team with any attacking actions.

Early reports state the Irishman wasn’t one of Celtic’s first choice options in the market this summer and that he’s already struggling with the intensity of Postecoglou’s methods.

This has only elevated McGregor’s importance to the team. Being club captain, he is already a monumental figure at Parkhead but the displays of his midfield colleagues in the last week have made him irreplaceable.

With Celtic stuck in a rut, the manager is likely to be increasingly gutted about the skipper’s fitness.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Jota: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen 19 y/o who “looks the part”…

Former Premier League footballer Dean Windass could see James Ward-Prowse going to Aston Villa, but says Southampton won’t want to lose him.

Villa have already signed Danny Ings from the Saints this summer and there has been plenty of speculation that they are interested in midfielder James Ward-Prowse.

Sky Sports reported last month that Southampton had rejected Aston Villa’s £25m offer for the player and that the south coast outfit have no interest in selling him.

Speaking to Football FanCast, Windass could see the transfer happening but also understands that Southampton won’t want to lose him, saying: “Another situation where Southampton won’t want to lose him, he’s the captain.

“I can see that happening obviously with the funds they get for Jack, he could be the one that can come in. [He’s] not a similar player to Jack but obviously similar quality in the sense he can get you goals from free-kicks. His wide free-kicks – he puts them on the money every now and then.”

Ward-Prowse featured in every Premier League game for Southampton last season and also in the clubs six cup matches (5 FA Cup and 1 EFL Cup), scoring nine goals and creating a further seven.

Both Villa and Southampton have looked to strengthen their sides this summer, with both making five new signings each. With under a month to go in the transfer window, will Ward-Prowse be the sixth Villa signing or will the Saints stand firm and keep hold of their captain for the upcoming season?

Oman and Thailand retained their unbeaten records with emphatic wins over Myanmar and China on the fourth day of the Asian Cricket Council Trophy Challenge in Chiang Mai

Cricinfo staff15-Jan-2009Oman and Thailand retained their unbeaten records with emphatic wins over Myanmar and China on the fourth day of the Asian Cricket Council Trophy Challenge in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but the standard of the teams continued to cause concern.The performances of China will be giving their many enthusiasts within the ICC and ACC uneasy nights after yet another dismal display. “The boys are a little nervous,” China’s manager Zhang Tian said ahead of the game. “It’s the first international tournament for many of them.” The nerves showed.After a 307-run loss to Iran in their opening match, China struggled to make 39 off 20.2 overs against Thailand, with extras again the top scorer. No batsman managed double figures, with Wang Ronggang’s 8 off four balls the best of a poor bunch. Noppon Senamontree was the destroyer for Thailand, earning the Man-of-the-Match award with 4 for 21 from 4.2.overs. Thailand took 6.3 overs to record an eight-wicket win.The other match was even more lamentable as Oman bowled out Myanmar for 12 and then took 14 balls to complete a ten-wicket victory.

Group A    P   W   L   NR  Pts  Oman       2   2   0   0   4  Brunei     2   1   1   0   2   Bhutan     2   1   1   0   2Myanmar    2   0   2   0   0Group B    P   W   L   NR  Pts  Thailand   2   2   0   0   4  Iran       2   1   1   0   2   Maldives   2   1   1   0   2China      2   0   2   0   0

Thirteen out of the 27 Pakistan players offered central contracts last month by the PCB have so far signed up. Though there is a delay, the rest are expected to sign up soon

Cricinfo staff04-Feb-2009Thirteen out of the 27 Pakistan players offered central contracts last month by the PCB have so far signed up. Though there is a delay, the rest are expected to sign up soon.Some players, including category A seniors Shoaib Akhtar and former captain Shoaib Malik, have already signed the contracts. It is understood, however, that a delay in the formation of the central contracts review committee, has held up the rest of the contracts.The board formed a four-man committee, including chief selector Abdul Qadir, junior selector Mohammad Ilyas, chairman Ijaz Butt and former director general Javed Miandad, to review the contracts, particularly in terms of younger players they might want to put on a retainership.But the resignation of Miandad and the absence of terms of reference of the committee have stalled its working. Now, some senior players, it is believed, want to work out small details with Butt before putting pen to paper.”The rest of the contracts will be signed soon. We don’t forsee any real problems with it,” a board official told Cricinfo.

Alan Hutton has now given a reason why Glasgow Rangers decided to let Cedric Itten go out on loan in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Itten leaves

The Ibrox faithful announced on Transfer Deadline Day that Itten has joined Bundesliga club Greuther Furth on loan for the rest of the 2021/22 season.

He had already played in four games in total over all competitions this campaign before his move to Germany.

The Latest: Hutton on Itten

Speaking to Football Insider, former Light Blues right-back turned pundit Hutton has claimed that Itten was allowed to go out on loan because Alfredo Morelos ended up staying:

“It was a bit of a curveball, not one I saw coming.

“Obviously his first season was difficult, there were no fans, he didn’t hit the ground running.

“There was loads of competition upfront as well. When called upon he did well.

“Whenever I saw him play he added something a little bit different to that Rangers side.

“It’s a strange one but I think it’s down to Morelos staying. Obviously if he went, they would have needed someone to come in.

“The fact he stayed gave Gerrard a bit of leeway to send someone out on loan to give him game time, that’s what he needs.

“There is a player in there, he’s a finisher. He needs to play games, I think it’s a good move.”

The Verdict: Right move

There is no doubt that Itten still has a lot that he can offer, as Steven Gerrard even went as far as to dub him as a ‘superb’ player when he is given his chance in a press conference back in February.

The Switzerland international has scored six goals and made a further three assists in 42 matches in total across all competitions under the Liverpool and England legend (Transfermarkt).

However, given that he already has four strikers to choose from in the squad at the moment, including Morelos, the 24-year-old needed to go out on loan in order to get more regular game time under his belt.

In other news, find out which Ger this Premier League manager wanted to sign here!

Shantanu Pitre and Sunil Dholpure took eight wickets between them to knock over Assam for 96 on day one in Indore

Cricinfo staff20-Nov-2008
Scorecard
Shantanu Pitre and Sunil Dholpure took eight wickets between them to knock over Assam for 96 on day one in Indore. An unbeaten half-century from Devendra Bundela gave Madhya Pradesh a lead of 54 by stumps, with eight wickets remaining.Assam and MP were playing their third-round match which was postponed to accommodate India’s second ODI against England at the venue on November 17. Five Assam batsmen were dismissed for ducks and Jacob Martin’s 36 was the highest score of the innings. Though Dholpure and Pitre did most of the damage, it was Sanjay Pandey who set it up for them with two wickets in the first over of the day. He had Nishanta Bordoloi caught off the second ball and Rashmi Parida bowled off the fifth to reduce Assam to 0 for 2. Assam crawled to 47 in 19 overs before Pitre broke the innings’ highest partnership by dismissing Sibsankar Roy for 21. Martin took 10 in the next over but lost his partner Deepak Sharma – who edged Dholpure to the keeper for a duck – off the last ball. Assam made their way to 61 but lost three wickets in three overs without adding to the total. The tail-enders hung on for 14.5 overs before Pitre ended their misery by dismissing Ranjitkumar Mali for 5.The MP openers put up 49 – more than half of Assam’s total before Krishna Das struck twice in three overs – Himalaya Sagar was caught for 35, while Jatin Saxena was lbw for 15. Kantikar and Bundela went on to add 96 runs before stumps were drawn.

According to Sportitalia TV reporter Rudy Galetti, Tottenham Hotspur, and by extension managing director Fabio Paratici, are in ongoing talks to sign Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez.

The Lowdown: Spurs in midfield hunt?

Daily Star reporter Paul Brown broke news of unrest surrounding Tanguy Ndombele’s future in north London last week, with Football Insider now going one step further and claiming he has informed club chiefs of his desire to leave.

Tottenham, as a result, have been linked with a plethora of central midfield options as Paratici looks to add more steel for Nuno Espirito Santo.

Denis Zakaria, Corentin Tolisso and Joao Palhinha are among the players being targeted by Spurs (Daily Star), with Galetti now sharing news on another midfield maestro.

The Latest: Spurs in ongoing talks for Nandez…

Writing on Twitter, the Italian journalist has claimed that Spurs are in ‘ongoing’ discussions to sign the Uruguay international on loan.

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He believes it is an ‘evolving situation’, with the Lilywhites possibly even being boosted by Inter Milan pulling out of the race for Nandez’ signature.

“Ongoing talks between Cagliari and Tottenham for Nahitan Nandez,” he explained on social media.

“The 2 clubs are discussing on possible onerous loan for the midfielder. Inter no longer interested. Evolving situation.”

The Verdict: Get it done…

Nandez emerges as one of the more promising central midfield targets for Spurs given the amount of bases he can cover.

The 41-cap international can play out wide on both the left and right wings as well being a natural centre-midfield player.

Paratici could be attempting to secure a real coup for the Lilywhites and Nuno by landing him on a loan deal, especially considering the amount of praise he has received from Serie A pundits.

Indeed, BT Sport and ESPN pundit Mina Rzouki even labelled him ‘amazing’ and ‘one of the most underrated players’ (Twitter), so landing the versatile star on a temporary deal could be a real shrewd piece of business.

In other news: Offer incoming: Levy readying Spurs bid to sign ‘amazing’ player who Nuno personally wants, find out more here.

As fresh starts go this wasn’t too shabby from England as they wrapped up a consolation six-wicket victory on the final day at The Oval

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan11-Aug-2008
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Andrew Flintoff completes the consolation win with a towering straight six © Getty Images
As fresh starts go this wasn’t too shabby from England as they wrapped up a consolation six-wicket victory on the final day at The Oval. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook broke the back of the run chase with a positive opening stand of 123, before Makhaya Ntini and Paul Harris claimed two wickets apiece to take away a little of the gloss. But a week after England were plunged into uncertainty, Andrew Flintoff signed off the victory with a six to give Kevin Pietersen a winning start.Given the week he has had, the stage appeared set for Pietersen to hit the winning runs until he edged a catch to short leg with 15 required. As captain of England, Pietersen will have to get used to his side giving him some stressful times, but the opening stand meant that, here at least, the late wobble didn’t do any more than make victory appear less empathic. Tough challenges lie ahead for him, not least the forthcoming one-day series and tour of India, but he couldn’t have done much more at the start of his reign.Claiming victories after a series has gone was a speciality of England during the 1990s. While this success won’t soften the blow of losing the series, it has boosted spirits after a trying couple of weeks when two captains resigned and the questions were being asked about the set-up. With a new leader to impress England were motivated – while South Africa couldn’t quite summon one last push – and they produced some periods of vibrant cricket.Whatever South Africa say, they weren’t really up for this contest. They expended such huge amounts of physical and emotional energy at Edgbaston that they couldn’t rouse themselves. Makhaya Ntini and, especially, Morne Morkel wasted the new ball and the openers had very little to play at. Strauss after a successful run against New Zealand was back under pressure and was given a life on 4, when he clipped Morkel firmly to Ashwell Prince at leg gully, only for the umpire to call a no-ball. It summed up Morkel’s session.The increase in momentum came from Cook who latched onto a couple of short balls from Ntini and also drove nicely down the ground, a sign that hours with Andy Flower in the nets are paying off. Cook made the most of attacking fields set by Graeme Smith with controlled edges down to third man, and both he and Strauss countered Paul Harris with intent. Despite some spin out of the footmarks they used their feet to disrupt his line and length, taking him through the leg side with confident whips.Cook reached his fourth half-century of the series with a crunching back-foot drive off Jacques Kallis. After the sleepy opening 45 minutes 98 runs were added in the next 18 overs of the morning and they continued a similar vein after the break before South Africa made a breakthrough, Cook driving at wide ball from Ntini and edging to first slip. It was another opportunity to go begging for Cook and although he ends with a series average of 47 there is a sense of unfulfilment. However, without ever looking in top form he has continued to score runs, which is a testament to his strength of character.Strauss slowly found more fluency, bring out a perfect on-drive, and went to his first half-century of the series from 95 balls. Ian Bell never settled during his short stay and he paid the price for moving across his stumps when Ntini bowled him behind his legs. An inconvenience became a wobble when, in the next over from Harris, Strauss got an inside edge to Smith at leg slip. Three wickets had gone for 24 and two new batsmen were at the crease.However, any momentary concerns were settled as Paul Collingwood found the boundary and Pietersen’s late departure for 12 was about the only thing that hasn’t fitted with his script in the last week. South Africa have deservedly taken the series honours, but Pietersen’s England have regained some pride.