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Southampton are prepared to listen to offers for striker Charlie Austin, according to Sky Sports.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been trimming his squad this January and is now prepared to part with the forward, who has been at St Mary’s Stadium since 2016.

What’s the word?

Austin has scored three goals this season, in 18 appearances in all competitions – per Transfermarkt.

However, his contract expires at the end of next season and the 29-year-old is deemed expendable by Hasenhuttl.

Indeed, Austin has not played 90 minutes this season and has been handed just three starts by the Austrian.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

The Englishman has not played for the club since the 2-2 FA Cup draw with Derby County and is now seemingly poised for an exit from the Saints.

Southampton have already sold Manolo Gabbiadini to Sampdoria this month – per BBC – while Wesley Hoedt was shipped out on loan to Celta Vigo, reports Sky Sports.

The club have yet to recruit a new addition in this transfer window, however.

No mercy

Hasenhuttl is showing absolutely no mercy at Southampton.

He is well aware of the style of play he wants to implement and it has become apparent that Austin does not fit with that vision.

The striker has been something of a journeyman throughout his career – playing for the likes of Poole Town, Swindon Town, Burnley and QPR prior to joining Southampton – and he appears poised to return to his nomadic roots this month.

It remains to be seen if any Premier League clubs will be willing to take a gamble on Austin, though, as he has never scored over 10 goals for the club in a single campaign.

But he does, at least, have the chance of a fresh start, while Hasenhuttl has the ability to bring in a new striker more in keeping with his modus operandi on the south coast.

[ad_pod ]Every club has a whipping boy, a player they just love to slate, a man who must have been responsible for Brexit, global poverty and every type ofÂsocial injustice all because they fluffed a really really good chance against Burnley. There are no exceptions. It doesn’t matter how good or bad a club is, there is just one player who the vast majority of supporters love to hate. At Everton that man is Theo Walcott. He’s the type of player who can score a hat-trick and leave fans feeling dissatisfied, so it’s no wonder that his name was banded around with pure disgust in light of Everton’s 2-0 defeat against Manchester City. Business as usual.

Tweets of this nature are simply the tip of the iceberg. Every Everton game draws a fresh batch of rage-fuelled tweets to be launched in Walcott’s direction. I honestly dread to think what his self-esteem looks like if he’s ever glanced over some post-match social media reaction to his performances since moving to Goodison Park.

But is Walcott really, I mean really that bad? There was once a time when the then-Southampton teenage sensation was breaking all kinds of records at youth level, drawing attention from Premier League giants and expectant England supporters who saw something special in him.

The speed at which Walcott ate up the turf hinted that the next Michael Owen had been born; his technical quality – particularly his finishing – would take time to fine tune but plenty of experience would surely guarantee a future at the summit of English, if not world football.

Well, the gargantuan expectation has not been mirrored by reality. The reality is actually something of a footballing catastrophe. Everton, with all due respect, are not the type of club which intrigued onlookers envisaged for the jet-heeled teenager’s future. And when you consider only a tiny minority of supporters would actually bat an eyelid in the event of his departure, the extent of his underachievement is as sobering as it is transparent.

Our friend on Twitter pretty much slams the nail on the head. Walcott has literally never improved; if anything he’s regressed. Against Aymeric Laporte, a top quality defender no doubt but a man who hasn’t always looked sure of himself at left-back, Walcott had fleeting moments when he threatened to do something but, predictably, his performance was about as middle of the road as a bag of ready salted crisps.

Rewind to 9th October 2008. England travelled to Croatia to face our arch-nemesis: the side who had the arrogance to step out at Wembley and dump us out of Euro 2008 at the qualification stage, leaving Steve McClaren – or “the wolly with the brolly†– infamously plastered on the back page of every English newspaper.

Tensions were high before the game and England were out for revenge. Under the watch of England’s replacement for McClaren, Fabio Capello, Walcott, 19 at the time, was handed only his second ever start at international level, getting the nod over no other than David Beckham. He scored a hat-trick. England went home with the taste of revenge festering in their mouths. Walcott was a national hero and surely the future of the English game. How far could he rise?

More than ten years later, this is now the type of question people are asking…

And within those five simple words the extent of Walcott’s underachievement was confirmed.

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Southampton take on newly-promoted Cardiff City at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday with both sides heading into the encounter looking to increase their chances of Premier League survival with a win.

The Welsh club are underdogs to avoid the drop this year, but as they proved with their 2-0 win over Bournemouth last time out, they’re capable of providing a stern test for the Saints.

On the chalkboard

Cardiff are an unashamedly physical outfit. Neil Warnock has embraced long-ball football and has built a side that are unafraid to put their bodies on the line and make life very uncomfortable for their opponents. 

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

In the past, this is exactly the kind of approach that would regularly rattle Southampton. In order to prove that things really are different under Hasenhuttl, the Austrian coach must encourage his side to meet the challenge of Cardiff head on and make sure that they don’t give their opponents an inch.

A physical approach

Hasenhuttl should deploy a pairing of Oriol Romeu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the base of his midfield, with Stuart Armstrong stationed just ahead of them and with the license to drop back to form a midfield three when needed.

This trio ought to be able to match Cardiff physically. If they can win that battle, then their superior technical quality can give the Saints a platform from which attacking pressure can be applied to the visitors’ defence.

Further up the pitch, the likes of Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings – if fit -, Shane Long and Charlie Austin cannot allow themselves to be bullied either, and must diligently track back to aid the midfield throughout the match, to ensure that Southampton aren’t overrun in the middle of the park.

Everton were beaten by Watford on Saturday afternoon as Marco Silva returned to Vicarage Road, however, things got worse for him after the final whistle.

The Toffees were poor throughout the game and failed to produce anything of quality in the game and to make matters worse, one of their main players was subsequently sent off after the final whistle.

According to a report by Sky Sports, Kurt Zouma was shown two yellow cards after confronting referee Lee Probert.

It is understood the Chelsea loanee was arguing the decision of the official to award Watford the corner from which they scored the winning goal.

The 24-year-old, who was arguably Everton’s best player on the pitch at Vicarage Road, will now be suspended for the game against Cardiff City.

The Verdict:

Zouma’s suspension will come as a huge blow to Silva and Everton as the pressure continues to mount at the Goodison Park outfit.

The defender has been a mainstay in the team this season during his loan spell from Chelsea and has been a key performer for the Merseyside outfit.

It will be hugely disappointing that the Frenchman’s dismissal could have been avoided, however, they will have to make do without him for the Cardiff game and hope he is not further punished – with Liverpool being their following opponents.

Everton fans – thoughts?

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Everton will be looking to return to winning ways when they travel to Cardiff City in the Premier League on February 26.

The Toffees have lost five of their last six matches in all competitions, including their last three in the Premier League during a very difficult run.

Head coach Marco Silva is under severe pressure, and that will only get worse if the team suffer another defeat against Cardiff later this month.

It would be fair to say that the Everton fans are not too pleased with their team at the moment.

Indeed, a number have already reacted negatively to a recent tweet from the Toffees which mentioned both Richarlison and Yerry Mina.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

Everton put out another tweet on Friday showing that the team were hard at work, but that also did not go down very well with the supporters, who want a lot more than they are getting at the moment.

A selection of the reaction from the club’s frustrated fans can be seen below:

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West Ham United face a tough test on Wednesday night when they meet reigning Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side go into the fixture against his former club as underdogs, but the Chilean coach will believe that his team has what it takes to pull off a positive result, having already beaten Arsenal and Manchester United and earned draws with Chelsea and Liverpool this season.

These impressive results against ‘big six’ sides have helped the Hammers to their current position of 9th in the table, which many would consider a fair placing for the Irons. Pellegrini, though, has been more vague on what constitutes success for his side.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

What he said

Speaking ahead of the east London club’s clash in Manchester, as quoted by West Ham’s official website, Pellegrini said “we must wait until the end of the season until we can judge how much progress we have made…I will be happy at the end of the season if we are in the position we deserve in the way that we play.”

The manager has clearly been careful not to specify any exact expectations there, and beyond saying that “we are never fighting for relegation, we always try to have a winning mentality”, he gave no indication of what he thinks would be a good league finish.

Aiming high

Pellegrini should be showing more ambition with his comments. With the quality he has in his squad, and the likes of Declan Rice, Issa Diop and Felipe Anderson all impressing, the 65-year-old can afford to be more demanding in public.

Only four points currently separate West Ham and 7th-placed Watford. With the top six pulling ahead in a pack of their own, there’s no reason that West Ham shouldn’t be aiming to be the ‘best of the rest’. By articulating that ambition publicly, Pellegrini would be making a bold statement to everyone that he and his side really mean business.

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Sheffield United failed to move into the automatic promotion places on Monday night as they could only secure a goalless draw against their bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the Steel City derby at Hillsborough.

Chris Wilder’s side were by far the more aggressive, and played on the front foot throughout. However, Steve Bruce’s Owls defended diligently, and as such the likes of Billy Sharp and Gary Madine failed to really threaten the opposition. 

The Bramall Lane club have now lost the initiative in the Championship promotion race, with Leeds United and Norwich City still ahead of them. However, there’s still plenty of football to be played.

Did Chris Wilder get it wrong in the Steel City derby? Check out the thoughts of Ingood Nick below…

If Wilder’s side are to get back into an automatic promotion spot though they have to show more penetration and incision than they did on Monday. In order to provide the injection of creativity they need, Mark Duffy should come back into the starting XI. The 33-year-old midfielder has been benched for the Blades’ last two games with Kieran Dowell preferred.

Plenty of United fans want the Liverpool-born man back in the side. After the derby disappointment, lots of supporters took to Twitter to appeal for Duffy to come back into the fold…

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Loads of Spurs fans have been running the rule over Saturday’s north London derby, and they’re absolutely full of praise for Moussa Sissoko.

When Sissoko arrived at Tottenham in the summer of 2016 for a fee of roughly £30m, it seemed like everyone was just waiting for the Frenchman to fail.

After a poor start to life in north London, the former Newcastle midfielder was taking as much stick from his own fans as the opponent’s, but that has all changed this season.

Sissoko has been perhaps Pochettino’s most reliable and consistent performer this campaign, bossing the middle of the pitch with his incredible engine and drive.

The 29 year-old was absolutely everywhere as usual on Saturday as well, doing a little bit of everything in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

Sissoko completed 83 per cent of his pass, took one shot, completed one key pass, two dribbles, and also made one tackle and one interception, per Whoscored’s stats.

It was about as well-rounded performance as you are likely to see from a central midfield player in such a big game, and the Twitter reactions down below are full of praise for the one-time scapegoat…

Will Jurgen Klopp be a fool to reject an offer from Real Madrid this summer? Probably. And I’m about to tell you why.

Speculation is rampant about who will be Los Blancos’ next manager next season and Klopp seems to be on their radar.

Indeed, according to reports via the Independent, the German manager is being touted as Santiago Solari’s successor come next season. What is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the German, he shouldn’t allow emotions to cloud his judgement.

The work he’s done on Merseyside is admirable, but in order to attain the best in the world status, he needs to succeed at possibly the most difficult managerial job in Europe.

Klopp’s high voltage style of football and the way he’s transformed Liverpool into such a complete side must’ve impressed Florentino Perez. Despite being close to legendary status at Anfield, if Klopp’s an ambitious manager, and shouldn’t say no to the Madrid offer.

The idea of developing a host of young talents in the Spanish capital – the likes of Dani Cellabos, Vinicius Junior, Marco Asensio and Brahim Diaz – should be exciting and lend itself to the idea of creating a dynasty at the Santiago Bernabeu, one that could rival Barcelona in terms of long-term dominance.

Granted, he’ll receive a lot of flak for not further immersing his legacy at Liverpool, but when Real Madrid come calling, you don’t say no. There’s a good chance Los Blancos made huge “Galactico” signings like an Eden Hazard or a Neymar to boost their squad next season, and the opportunity to work with such a world-class squad is irresistible.

After failing to win trophies in his years at Liverpool, Klopp could showcase his trophy-winning ability at Real Madrid. If he does manage to lead them back to the pinnacle of European football, the German’s reputation will sky-rocket from being a promising manager to an indefinite winner.

Liverpool fans, do you think Klopp’s potential departure will be a huge blow to the club? Join the discussion by commenting below…

Rangers rebel Alfredo Morelos continued his reign of disciplinary terror with yet another booking on Tuesday night against Aberdeen.

There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes and a Morelos booking.

Being a man of consistency and immense talent, both at scoring goals and picking up suspensions, Morelos was true to form when securing a yellow card against bitter personal rivals Aberdeen – adding to mightily impressive collection of 15 yellow cards and four red cards.

It is genuinely mind boggling how Morelos has only missed five games this season – but he has managed it, and Rangers have ultimately benefitted.

Morelos’ 16 goals make him the Scottish Premierships leading goal scorer ahead of Aberdeen’s Sam Cosgrove (14) and Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard (12), and interestingly full-back teammate James Tavernier (11).

The Colombian’s heroics in front of goal is exactly why the club and Gerrard are so keen on keeping him on the pitch – in the hope of consolidating their second-place position, or even the top spot.

And Rangers most recent attempt to haul him out of trouble is testament to that.

Morelos’ suspension on Tuesday was awarded for an apparent dive when the player adjudged to have hit the ground too easily upon contact from Dons defender Andrew Considine – meaning he will be missing for the first round of the Scottish Cup next term.

Whether the decision was correct or not, Rangers were absolutely right to challenge it (as per Daily Record).

Of course, ensuring they have their star player is on the pitch is paramount. After all, Morelos has spearheaded the club back into sight of their former glory – to lose him at this stage would be a disaster.

But we believe there is a more fundamental reason behind their appeal.

Even if it was a dive – and there is every chance it will be reviewed in favour of the referee – Rangers will want to prevent the development of a dangerous precedent whereby Morelos is handed cards irrespective of the legitimacy of his actions, simply because of his reputation.

An inherent bias against Rangers would not be good news for their future.

Rangers fans, what do you think – is Gerrard right to appeal? Let us know in the comments below…