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Two early first-half goals were enough to see ten-man Queens Park Rangers to victory this weekend, but it could’ve been a different story thanks to the sorry display of one struggling Hoops star.

Defensive duo Rob Dickie and Lee Wallace – who scored his first-ever goal in the Championship – had the west London outfit two-up inside 20 minutes before Middlesbrough grabbed one back before the break.

Mark Warburton then saw his goalkeeper, Seny Dieng, sent off on the hour mark as he brought down Ducan Watmore with a rash and late challenge, though he can be forgiven as it was his bravery and impressive shot-stopping that had kept QPR in the match until that point

In fact, the 58-year-old revealed the coveted gloveman was actually playing with a broken nose and his replacement, Joe Lumley, equally stepped up to the plate and delivered.

Warburton can count his lucky stars that they walked away with three points, let alone one – or at worst, none – because young defender Osman Kakay proved to be a liability in the back three.

Indeed, the 23-year-old was graded as the Rs’ worst-performing player on the afternoon, as per SofaScore ratings, where he was given a 6.1 and that was lower than Dieng (6.5), too.

Something that would be backed up by West London Sport in their post-game review. ‘Started at right centre-back and was given the runaround on occasions by the wily [Yannick] Bolasie,’ they wrote.

Kakay struggled immensely with the threat of Bolasie and Watmore, losing four of his five duels (80%), both on the ground and in the air. He also earned a yellow card for his troubles – the only other player to receive a booking besides the sent-off goalkeeper.

In addition to that, the Loftus Road academy graduate was hugely wasteful in possession, losing the ball 20 times, which was the most of anyone that featured and six more times than any other visiting Rs star, as per SofaScore.

It means the right-sided defender lost the ball once every 2.5 touches and once every 4.5 minutes, so it’s no wonder that Boro edged possession (51%) as the QPR ace regularly gifted the ball back to the home side.

Kakay was also poor in the passing game, making just 57% of his 37 attempts, comfortably the worst of any QPR starter besides Lyndon Dykes, but strikers aren’t supposed to be outstanding in possession compared to a centre-back who needs to play the ball out from the back.

All in all, Warburton is lucky that Boro didn’t punish this shocking display further as it could have certainly seen them drop a valuable three points.

Kakay’s performance very nearly cost QPR and his place in the starting XI must be questioned going into Tuesday’s game with Swansea City.

Rangers’ run in the Europa League came to an end at Ibrox on Thursday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Slavia Prague, with both Kemar Roofe and Leon Balogun seeing red for Steven Gerrard’s side in the second half.

The Liverpool legend took a big risk in selecting the Nigerian international ahead of Filip Helander at centre-back for the tie and unfortunately it did not pay off as the former Wigan Athletic man endured a nightmare display even before his early bath.

As per SofaScore, the 32-year-old earned a 5.9 rating for his performance, which was the worst of any player who started the game.

The centre-back was on tenterhooks for almost the entire match after picking up an early booking, which makes it even more baffling as to why he wasn’t replaced by Gerrard at half-time.

Many Rangers fans were confused as to why Helander didn’t start the game when replying to the team news on Twitter, especially after the Swedish international scored the equaliser in the first leg last week, with many disappointed to see Balogun start.

The Nigerian was perhaps fortunate not to concede a first half penalty when he gave the ball away before finding himself the wrong side of the Slavia attacker but was given the benefit of the doubt by the referee on that occasion.

However, the man in the middle was left with no choice when Balogun made a ridiculous challenge in the second half when Rangers were already down to ten men, as he compounded an awful display by getting himself sent off.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Rangers news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Although Balogun has performed well for Rangers in the Premiership this season, averaging a 7.09 rating, this still rates him below both Helander and Conor Goldson, so it was a surprise to see him start.

The Nigerian international has averaged a less impressive 6.76 rating in the Europa League and was very poor in the 5-2 win against Royal Antwerp recently when he was substituted at half-time by Gerrard.

Therefore, it was something of a tactical disasterclass from Gerrard to select him ahead of Helander for such an important game, but perhaps even more baffling that he kept him on at half-time when it was clear that he was struggling and susceptible to pick up a red card.

[freshpress-quiz id=“588789″]

Of course, it’s easy to criticise in retrospect and, if Balogun had performed superbly in a Rangers win, then we would probably be talking about how it was such a good decision by Gerrard to start him. However, the reality is that the Gers were let down by Gerrard’s decision to select the Nigerian ahead of Helander on Thursday.

And, in other news… Forget Sakala: Wilson should seal Rangers swoop for £2.7m-rated beast, he won’t cost a penny

Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways in style with a 4-0 victory over Wolfsberger in the Europa League last 32 first-leg, and Spurs’ very own Gareth Bale stole the show on their way to a vital win.

Jose Mourinho said his side had “one foot in the next round” after Bale and Son Heung-min combined to open the scoring, though they had to endure a few shaky moments after Michael Liendl’s penalty gave Wolsferberger hope before Christopher Wernitznig hit the bar.

Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius also netted for the Premier League giants, but Moussa Sissoko’s clumsy challenge inside the box diluted the joy a little before Wednesday’s second leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, it was a vintage performance from Bale, who cut inside from the right flank to fire home their second. It is a sign of what Spurs fans had been expecting to see from the Welshman after he returned to north London last year to high anticipation and much fanfare.

Matt Doherty picked out Bale and he cut back inside with his left boot before letting rip with a powerful shot into the far corner.

Writing in his post-match review, football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold graded the 31-year-old a 8/10 and noted he ‘set up Son’s early headed goal with a low cross and then netted himself with a powerful finishing after cutting inside superbly, sending the defender sliding a mile past him.’

The Wales international has looked a shadow of his former self since his return from Real Madrid amid reports of a public disagreement with Mourinho over his fitness.

However, Bale sent Mourinho a reminder of what he can offer after he registered a goal and an assist against Wolfsberger in the Europa League last night.

Bale was a constant threat on the right-hand side of the pitch as he caused Wolfsberger all sorts of problems, recording four key passes, which was the most out of any player on the pitch in Budapest, Hungary – in fact, he had a overall pass accuracy of 100%.

Usually, it’s Son’s task to be their chief creator, as the South Korean is averaging the most key passes (1.7) out of the entire Spurs squad in the Premier League this season, but it was Bale who stole the limelight last night.

This is also supported by the fact that Bale, who reportedly earns £600,000-a-week, took two shots on target, more than anyone else in a Spurs shirt aside from Dele Alli, which suggests that he posed a greater counter-attacking threat than the likes of Son and Moura.

Indeed, the £18m-rated star utterly terrorised the opposition’s defence, as he registered three successful dribbles from five attempts, which was second only to Moura, and also won 63% of his duels overall, winning seven out of his ten duels on the ground.

In the absence of Harry Kane, who was rested for the game against Wolfsberger, Bale sent Mourinho a huge message of his obvious class.

With the advent of online gambling, it is needless to say that a lot of people simply avoid venturing into gambling since it could quickly turn quite addictive. However, thanks to new technologies surfacing every day, punters have the option to stop getting into problematic gambling with schemes such as Gamstop, Gamstop, Gamban, etc.

The operating body of Gamstop is a non-profit organisation, namely, The National Online Self-exclusion Scheme LTD. If you want to avoid getting addicted to online gaming then Gamstop helps you. But this service could not limit your accounts on non GamStop betting sites that aren’t on self-exclusion. It is a free self-exclusion service that allows punters to self-exclude themselves from casino sites and services which are registered with the UKGC.

The self-exclusion feature of Gamstop can be used with a registration process where the individual has to provide his/her basic details like:

Full name Date of birth Phone number Email address and Residential address

As mentioned, the registration process is quite simple and Gamstop also offers the time of period for which an individual wants to be in the self-exclusion agreement. They are:

Six months One year and Five years

After all the information is provided, a verification process is carried out with a third-party verification service provider, namely, TransUnion. After the verification, the reviewing option is given before finalising the registration.

Football Betting Apps Support Responsible Gambling and the Gamstop App

Here we will look into some football betting applications which support the inclusion of Gamstop in their agreement.

Betfair

Betfair is an online gambling platform through which an individual is able to bet on football matches. It is available in both Google PlayStore and in the IOS platform with a rating of 4.7 out of 5. It has multiple options of betting and has very wide options of gambling through football leagues and virtual tournaments.

The most important feature that Betfair has is that it uses Gamstop as one of its software to include the self-exclusion feature which is mandatory under the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Betfair follows the protocols of responsible gambling and offers punters a chance to self-exclude themselves through schemes such as Gamstop. Alternatively, punters who have enrolled in the Gamstop service will not be able to access the Betfair site.

Bet365

Bet365 is a sports-based betting application with a solid 4.7 rating out of 5 which proves that it is widely popular among the gambling community. This application consists of several sports with in-play and pre-match features like soccer, football, horse racing, ice hockey, Lotto, and so on. Nonetheless, Bet365 promotes responsible gambling through the inclusion of Gamstop.

The application also makes sure that it provides a lot of features like self-exclusion, deposit limits, reality checks, and so on with which an individual can exercise a sense of self-control while investing real money into the games.

Paddy Power

Originally, Paddy Power originated in Dublin in the year of 1988. At first, it used to do business with a group of betting shops that are licensed in Ireland and in the UK along with managing Ireland’s telephone’s betting channel. Gradually, on the internet, Paddy Power became one of the most promising betting platforms as trusted betting sources said which offer sports betting, slots, poker, and so on. In 2016, Paddy Power collaborated with Betfair and created another platform named Flutter entertainment which is defined as a global platform where betting, gaming, and entertainment are provided.

Paddy Power being a UKGC registered platform ensures that the protocols of responsible gambling are followed strictly. Like every other application which has collaborated with Gamstop, Paddy Power offers the self-exclusion service and also other tools like self-assessment, take a break, budget calculator, and so on. Paddy Power gives the option of self-exclusion for a minimum of six months and once registered, the individual won’t be able to reverse the action.

Conclusion

In each and every football betting application, we saw how they ensure responsible gambling. Responsible gaming can be defined as a trait where an individual has fun in gambling without any financial pitfalls while investing more money than they could possibly afford. Needless to say, gambling can be addictive and people have lost fortunes for gambling addiction. Applications such as Gamstop, Gamban, Gamcare, etc are the key highlights when it comes to fighting gambling addictions. In other words, rule the gambling but do not let the gambling rule you.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has confirmed Glasgow Rangers’ Old Firm derby will be allowed to go ahead on Sunday.

Yousaf confirms Old Firm will be played

The Gers’ status as Premiership champions was confirmed on the Sunday before last after Celtic could only draw 0-0 with Dundee United. In the aftermath of that triumph, thousands of Gers supporters took to the streets of Glasgow to celebrate, breaking coronavirus regulations in the process.

Yousaf had suggested the match this weekend against Celtic could be cancelled if he did not receive assurances that such scenes would not be repeated (Herald Scotland). However, it appears he is now satisfied after he confirmed the game will be played (BBC).

Sensible

It always felt unlikely that the match would actually be cancelled. After all, there didn’t seem to be any real danger of such scenes being repeated given the game itself is pretty much a dead rubber. Cancelling it may have led to more trouble anyway.

Now, Steven Gerrard and his players can look towards Parkhead as they aim to get back to winning ways. It has been a difficult few days as the fall-out from their Europa League exit at the hands of Slavia Prague continues – an Old Firm game could well be the perfect distraction for them.

In other news, Rangers fans react to this Ondrej Kudela footage.

After crashing to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Crawley in the FA Cup last week, Leeds United would have been hoping for a return to winning ways in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Instead, Marcelo Bielsa’s side slipped to yet another loss, this time 1-0 to Brighton, and Patrick Bamford certainly didn’t cover himself in glory with his performance.

With reports in recent days and weeks linking the Whites with a move for a new striker in this January transfer window – the likes of Christian Kouame of Fiorentina and M’Bala Nzola of Spezia being two of them – the pressure is well and truly on for Bamford to prove he should be the club’s out-and-out striker for both now and for the future.

But if Victor Orta was watching on at Elland Road on Saturday, then he will have been left unimpressed by the former Chelsea man’s efforts, and recognise that he absolutely has to dive into the transfer market in this January window.

As per Sofascore, he finished with a 6.5 match rating, the joint-worst of any Leeds player on the pitch, and when you look at some of his key stats it’s easy to see why.

With Brighton playing a back three, Bamford’s task as a lone striker was always going to be cut out, but he really struggled to get involved in the game and the build-up play for the Whites.

He had a measly 11 touches of the ball in the 90 minutes that he was on the pitch, by far the worst of any starter – to put that into context, Ian Poveda, who came on for the final quarter of an hour of the contest for Raphinha, had 13 touches.

Bamford made just four successful passes too, and that was particularly disappointing because Bielsa’s side needed an outlet and someone to hang on to the ball and get some runners next in and around him.

The likes of Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and Dan Burn all kept him in check with relative ease, with Bamford losing every single duel that he was involved in and struggling to cope with the Seagulls backline’s physicality.

When you compare Bamford’s display against Brighton to how he’s done this season, then things really get laid bare. Per game in the Premier League this season, he’s averaged 23.3 touches, 2.5 duels won and three shots per game.

On Saturday, he managed significantly less than that in all departments, even attempting no official shots on goal – his performance was rather summed up by the amount of near misses he had in terms of narrowly missing contact with the ball.

Leeds’ number nine let his manager down with a woeful display, but rather significantly, it made it clear to the club’s hierarchy that a new striker has to be bought.

Meanwhile, Leeds United are facing a transfer battle for this French striker…

Many Liverpool fans are reacting to the latest update on Georginio Wijnaldum and his contract, following a tweet from Fabrizio Romano.

The Dutch midfielder was involved in the 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on Sunday night, and also scored a sensational goal in the match.

As reported by the Italian journalist, the Netherlands superstar spoke after the win about his contract negotiations, and he said: “I already said it in my previous interviews, I don’t speak about my contract situation, I speak about the games. The club should speak about my contract.”

These comments have seen a lot of Liverpool fans begging for the Reds to give him a new deal. He is clearly highly-rated by the manager, who recently spoke about him and said: “Gini is one of the best people I have ever met and he is one of the best players I’ve ever trained and he is an outstanding person so there is no issue, no issue at all.”

Hopefully an extension for the 30 year-old can be sorted sooner rather than later. With his contract expiring in the summer, he is allowed to open discussions with other sides from the January transfer window. He has been a key part of Liverpool’s recent Champions and Premier League title wins, so it is easy to see why many want him to stay.

Wijnaldum’s durability and fitness levels have also been crucial for Klopp during the Reds’ ongoing injury crisis, so it is no surprise to see fans flocking to Romano’s tweet to beg for a new deal.

Liverpool fans react to Wijnaldum contract update:

In other news, Liverpool fans react to a big injury update, find out more here.

As Glasgow Rangers’ 2020 draws to a close, it’s about time we took a step back and reflected on some of the best and worst moments of a truly unforgettable year for club and country.

Steven Gerrard’s side currently sit at the summit of the Scottish Premiership as they continue to build on a healthy lead over their arch rivals Celtic. However, the Ibrox boss will be well aware his side cannot afford to slip up, as he will want to avoid a repeat of last season.

Gerrard will be under no illusion of the scale of the task at hand as he juggles both domestic and European competitions as Rangers have resumed their hunt for silverware in a bid to break their barren run since they won their last major Hampden trophy back in 2011.

How well can you remember Rangers’ 2020? Test your knowledge to the very limit with Football FanCast’s Big Fat Quiz of 2020!

According to Hammers insider and reliable source ExWHUemployee, David Moyes wishes to develop West Ham United’s scouting network behind the scenes ahead of future seasons – with the Scotsman and GSB reportedly deciding to appoint Shane O’Gorman as a scout, who is currently player pathway manager at Leyton Orient. 

The club have already shown strides in developing their potential stars for the future, evident by the signing of young centre-half Frederik Alves, who was scouted from Danish side Silkeborg (West Ham United).

ExWHUemployee shares Moyes plan

West Ham youngster Mipo Odubeko is also displaying huge promise, as evident by the manager’s praise (football.london), with Moyes apparently rating the youngster alongside fellow rising stars like Jamal Baptiste (ExWHUemployee).

Now, in an effort to further aid the club’s youth development, Moyes is allegedly set to appoint O’Gorman as an academy scout following his experience at League Two side Orient – and the new member of staff is expected to arrive in early February.

Indeed, as per ExWHUemployee, there has already been some new appointments in this area at youth level – with Moyes seemingly planning an academy overhaul as he seeks to grow young stars for the future.

Transfer Tavern take

Despite plenty of links to signing a centre-forward, Moyes appears determined to shape the academy and plan ahead for the future – which could come as a good sign for supporters.

The Irons boss has already enjoyed a great season at the Hammers helm so far, with his side sitting pretty in the Premier League top six, but Moyes is refusing to rest on his laurels as he steadily integrates an academy restructure.

In other news: West Ham fans lavished this ace with praise for his performance against Crystal Palace, find out more here.

Leeds United have less than 24 hours to complete the remaining pieces of business that they would like to do before the end of the summer transfer window.

The Whites have needed to dip into the market after losing a number of their key players from the 2023/24 campaign, including Archie Gray, Glen Kamara, Crysencio Summerville, and Georginio Rutter.

Joe Rothwell, Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle, Alex Cairns, Manor Solomon, and Largie Ramazani have all been brought in, whilst Ao Tanaka is reportedly set to join from Fortuna Dusseldorf for around £3.4m.

Along with those additions, the West Yorkshire outfit have also reportedly attempted to bring in a number ten to bolster their options in the final third.

Leeds made bid for Championship star

According to Sheffield-based outlet The Star, the 49ers made a second offer to sign Sheffield United attacking midfielder Gustavo Hamer this week.

The report claims that the Whites made a player-plus-cash bid that included Joel Piroe going to Bramall Lane, but the Blades had no interest in taking the Dutch forward as they do not believe that he would not have been a suitable addition to their squad.

It states that the 49ers had already had a £13m proposal turned down to bring the Dutchman to Elland Road, which some senior figures at Sheffield United believed was designed to unsettle the player.

The Star add that the Blades are desperate to keep hold of the former Coventry City playmaker, who was described as a "beautiful" player by journalist Josh Bunting, and it remains to be seen whether or not Leeds will go back in with a third offer, having now had two bids turned down.

Bad news for Joel Piroe

Despite Leeds failing in their latest attempt to prise the attacking midfielder away from Sheffield, this update should come as bad news for Piroe.

If the Whites were prepared to send the left-footed forward away to one of their promotion rivals, whilst also offering cash alongside him, to sign another player in his position for the number ten role, that does not bode well for his future prospects at Elland Road.

He has only started one of the club's first three matches in the Championship this season, all in the attacking midfield position as Mateo Joseph has been preferred to him as the number nine.

Appearances

44

48

Goals

11

13

Assists

11

4

Big chances created

18

3

As you can see in the table above, Hamer's form over his last full season-and-a-bit in the Championship suggests that he would have arrived to offer far more than Piroe as a playmaker.

They both offer a similar goal threat from that role but the Dutchman is significantly more creative and could have provided the full package, as a scorer and a creator of goals, for Leeds.

Piroe, who was signed from Swansea for £10m+ last summer, does not excel when it comes to creating chances for others, as evidenced by his three 'big chances' created in 48 league games since the start of last season.

Last-gasp move: Leeds on the verge of signing a "top" Kamara upgrade

The Whites are looking to bolster their options in the middle of the park before the deadline.

ByDan Emery Aug 29, 2024

Daniel Farke, as shown by the pursuit of Hamer, appears to want more creativity from his number ten and that is why Piroe's days at Leeds may already be numbered, even if he does not leave in the current window.