Rangpur climb to second place after comfortable win

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Jahurul Islam steered Rangpur Riders’ chase of 136•Associated Press

Rangpur Riders inflicted three timely run-outs and then batted well to beat Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets. The win meant that Rangpur, Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls now have 10 points each on the table, while Dhaka are in fourth place with six points, and still need to strengthen their lead over Chittagong Vikings and Sylhet Super Stars, who have four points each.The fielding was the main difference between the two sides. Dhaka misfielded several times, especially Sohail Khan at the boundary, while Rangpur made sure that their bowling wasn’t going to be the only thing attacking Dhaka as they limited the side to 135 for 7. Jahurul Islam was in charge of the chase for most of the time, ending with an unbeaten 35 off 26 balls with four boundaries.When Rangpur’s chase began, however, there were plenty of plays and misses from the Rangpur openers – Soumya Sarkar and Lendl Simmons – in the first six overs. Soumya hit just the two fours and a magnificent pull off Sohail Khan in the fifth over but in the following over, Abul Hasan had him caught at mid-off as he attempted to bunt the medium-pacer. Simmons was caught at point off the same bowler, after making only 18. Rangpur’s chase received a further jolt when, in the 12th over, Mustafizur Rahman duped Shakib Al Hasan to give a catch to mid-on to make the score 74 for 3.Sammy had a terrible time at the start of his innings, missing deliveries against Mustafizur and Abul, but just as things were getting tougher for Rangpur, Shykat Ali was given a third over with 54 needed off 42 balls. Sammy struck two fours and Jahurul got one past the wicketkeeper to take 16 runs off the over. In the next over, the pair combined to hit Sohail Khan for three fours in a 15-run over. The target came down to 23 off 30 balls.Mohammad Irfan had Sammy drag one on to the stumps after making a 21-ball 23, with 17 needed off the last 24 balls. Jahurul kept his cool and, with Thisara Perera, made sure the win was achieved with 10 balls to spare.When Dhaka decided to bat, the 45-run, fourth-wicket partnership between Nasir Hossain and Kumar Sangakkara was the best part of their batting. That partnership helped the side overcome a sluggish start after they had slipped to 39 for 3 in the seventh over. Shadman Islam was the first to go, run out by Soumya Sarkar’s direct hit in the fourth over. Shamsur Rahman was struck in front against Shakib, before Shykat, impressive while hitting the two fours and the six, holed out at long-off for 18.Sangakkara and Nasir worked on picking the singles and twos, and occasionally found the boundary; the stand-out shot was Sangakkara’s inside-out six over cover off Mohammad Nabi in the 11th over. The partnership had the potential to push the total past the 150-mark, especially after Arafat Sunny dropped Sangakkara on 29 but, off the very next ball, Shakib’s direct hit from short midwicket found the batsman inches short of the crease.Nasir made a 28-ball 30 and, after Sangakkara’s dismissal, tried to push the run-rate. He even struck a six off Sunny but was gone next ball after the bowler turned it and beat Nasir’s charge. Ryan ten Doeschate swept one straight down deep square-leg’s throat in the 18th over before Mosaddek Hossain was run out trying to run a bye after Thisara Perera bowled a wide at the end of the penultimate over.Apart from Sunny’s two-wicket haul and the three run-outs, Sammy and Shakib had one wicket each.

Steven Smith claims top ICC awards

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Australia captain Steven Smith has won the top ICC awards for 2014-15, being named Cricketer of the Year as well as Test Cricketer of the Year.Smith became the seventh player after Rahul Dravid (2004), Jacques Kallis (2005), Ricky Ponting (2006), Kumar Sangakkara (2012), Michael Clarke (2013) and Mitchell Johnson (2014) to bag both awards in the same year.Smith was “thrilled” to receive the awards, but said he would end 2015 with “mixed feelings”.”Given that there are so many great players around the world, I’m incredibly honoured to receive these awards,” he said. “While team success is always my number one motivation, awards like this are very special. I’m thrilled and very proud to receive them.”I will look back on 2015 with mixed feelings. Winning the ICC Cricket World Cup at home was a career highlight, and being appointed captain is a great honour, but the disappointment of losing the Ashes remains.”To be the best team that we can be, we have to become better at winning away from home, and that remains our motivation heading into 2016.”South Africa’s ODI captain AB de Villiers was named ODI Cricketer of the Year for the second successive year, while his compatriot Faf du Plessis won the T20 Performance of the Year award for his 56-ball 119 against West Indies in January. Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year.The two awards in women’s cricket, for the ODI Cricketer of the Year and T20I Cricketer of the year, went to Australia captain Meg Lanning and West Indies allrounder Stafanie Taylor respectively.Former UAE captain Khurram Khan was named Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year, while Richard Kettleborough got the Umpire of the Year award for the third straight year.New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who has announced he will retire from international cricket in February, bagged the Spirit of Cricket award, for “inspiring his side to play the game in its true spirit”.McCullum said his team-mates deserved as much recognition for buying into his sportsmanlike vision of cricket.”The team has loved how the New Zealand public and cricket fans from around the world have responded to the way we’ve played our cricket in the last 12 months,” he said. “I think the Spirit of Cricket is hugely important and I feel extremely honoured to have received the award. It does take buy in from the entire team though and the rest of the Blackcaps squad needs to be recognised for this as well.”The awards were given on the basis of performances during the voting period between September 18, 2014, and September 13, 2015. In that period, Smith was the leading run-getter in Tests, with 1734 runs at an average of 82.57. In that period he also made 1249 ODI runs at 59.47, his excellence across the two formats contributing to his winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year.De Villiers, the ODI winner, made 1265 runs in that format in the voting period, at an average of 79.06 and a just-as-astounding strike rate of 128.42. The 24-year-old Hazlewood, who made his Test debut in December 2014, took 40 Test wickets in the voting period.Lanning was the top Women’s ODI run-getter in the voting period, with 531 runs at 88.50, while Taylor finished on top of the Women’s T20I charts with 340 runs at an average of 42.50 and a strike rate of 105.91.Awards list
ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) – Steven Smith
Test Cricketer of the Year – Steven Smith
ODI Cricketer of the Year – AB de Villiers
Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Meg Lanning
Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Stafanie Taylor
T20I Performance of the Year – Faf du Plessis
Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Josh Hazlewood
Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year – Khurram Khan
Spirit of Cricket Award – Brendon McCullum
Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy) – Richard Kettleborough

Rain washes out second consecutive day

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFurther heavy rain in Sydney led to the abandonment of the fourth day’s play•Cricket Australia

For the first time in more than 25 years, two consecutive Test days were washed out in Australia without a ball being bowled, as heavy rain continued in Sydney on Wednesday. Only 68 balls had been bowled on the second day before days three and four were completely abandoned, leading Cricket Australia to declare free entry for day five, in addition to refunds for tickets on the second, third and fourth days.The forecast for the fifth day is for a possible shower, although only two millimetres of rain were expected by the Bureau of Meteorology, which would likely mean play was possible if the outfield was in a fit enough state. Australia will lift the Frank Worrell Trophy at the end of day five regardless of what happens on the field, having earned a 2-0 lead from their wins in Hobart and Melbourne.Only 86.2 overs had been bowled in the entire match by the end of day four, with West Indies still 7 for 248 in their first innings. Last time two straight days were washed out in Australia was also in Sydney, against Pakistan in 1989-90. The first two days of that Test were rained out without a ball being bowled, which led to a sixth day being added, though further rain throughout the Test meant a draw was inevitable.

Hales and Compton could swap places – Bayliss

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Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has sought to reassure his top-order batsmen that their modest displays in the victory over South Africa will not necessarily lead to their exclusion from the Test side that takes on Sri Lanka in England in May.But Bayliss has conceded that, with batsmen unable to cement their positions in the team, “there are possibilities” for players in domestic cricket who start the County Championship season well.Alex Hales and Nick Compton both contributed just one half-century each during the four-Test series against South Africa. But Bayliss saw enough in each of them to retain faith that they could prove valuable players for England, though possibly in different batting positions.Certainly he retains faith in the natural talent of Hales – a key member of the limited-overs squads – and feels that Compton will find greater consistency once he relaxes in the England environment. And while Hales looked vulnerable outside off stump, Bayliss felt some technical work – and perhaps a move down the order – could help him flourish in Test cricket.

Bayliss on…

Kevin Pietersen’s World T20 hopes
“I’ve been concentrating on the guys in the squad. We’ve done pretty well over the last six or seven matches. I don’t think there is any real need to change it at this stage.”
Jonny Bairstow
“He would be more disappointed with missing catches than his team-mates. Anyone who misses a chance feels a little embarrassed. They know how hard their team-mates are working to get the edge. I know he is disappointed. We like to enjoy each other’s success but we must stand by our mates as well when things don’t quite go our way. Everyone who has played the game has some bad days and disappointed your team-mates at certain times. It is just the way it is. So certainly there are some challenges for Jonny but at different times his keeping was very good. And he was starting to look like he belonged as a batter.”
Moeen Ali
“I’m reasonably happy with his spin bowling. Again, he’s a work in progress. On his day, he puts a lot on the ball and gets good spin and good bounce. Probably at times, he lacks a little bit of consistency in length more than anything. It just makes it a little bit easier for the batters to get off strike. That’s something he is aware of and trying to improve on all the time. If you take out the absolute superstars, most spinners became good spinners when they were 30 years old. He is improving since I first saw him.”
Defeat at Centurion
“There’s still a lot of hard work to do and that performance is a bit of a reminder. It was a bit of a kick up the backside to the players that we still have a lot of hard work in front of us. And it is also a message to the fans not to get too far ahead of ourselves. We’re going to go through a few difficult periods as well and disappoint, not just themselves but also the legion of fans. But have confidence that they are working very hard to rectify that. I still think we are probably two or three years away from reaching our absolute best.”

“Hales is one of the guys who will be disappointed with how he’s gone in this series,” Bayliss said. “I thought the first couple of games, even though he didn’t score a lot of runs in Durban, he looked quite comfortable at the crease and like he belonged.”He’s one of those guys who has shown what he can do at this level. So it’s about knocking off a few of those rough edges. Whether it is as an opener or somewhere else in the order, he is certainly a guy with a lot of talent.”Swapping Compton and Hales is one of those possibilities. Compton has done the job before and I think Hales has batted at No.3 before. That is certainly an option and has been spoken about in the past.”Bayliss admitted there had “been glimpses” of the intensity that that did not always endear Compton to all his colleagues, but suggested he looked “very solid” at times early in the series. And while Compton – perhaps scarred by his previous experiences in the England environment – has seemed somewhat unnerved by talk around his relatively sedate pace of play, Bayliss suggested he should not feel any pressure to change his natural game.”Early in the series, I thought he looked very solid,” Bayliss said. “Yes, he played a few more shots than I thought he would. Whether that’s any different to what he has done in the past, I’m not sure.”Hopefully, he’s not confused with what his role in the team is. He and Alastair Cook are very much blokes the rest of the order can bat around. So if he approaches it his natural way and scores 80, 90 or 100 or more, the rest of the attacking players can bat around him.”I think there were a few glimpses of that intensity. But a few of the coaching staff and people I’ve been talking to were saying that change in him since the first time he played for England was very noticeable. So hopefully he is relaxing as he gets a little older to give himself the best opportunity to succeed. He is trying to do whatever he can and certainly some of the signs were pretty good.”With neither man – or James Taylor, who also made a single fifty in the series – having made an irrepressible case for their continued selection, though, Bayliss said he would be watching the early weeks of the county season with interest. Given England’s almost relentless schedule, and the fact that he was appointed mid-way through last year, Bayliss has seen very little of the talent available in the county game, but did take the opportunity to watch England Lions team training a couple of times while he was in the UAE.”The players we have in South Africa are the best players we have at home,” he said. “But I think it is also a sign to everyone else in county cricket that, if I come out and score runs early in the season, there are possibilities there.”So when I watch county cricket, it will be a little bit with a view towards current selection and a little bit about looking towards the future. From my point of view, it is not necessarily about technique and the number of runs scored. It is the style of player or person. It’s about guys that have got a bit about them, guys who are a little bit tougher.”They always seem to be the guys that can make it at the top level. You don’t necessarily have to have the best technique to score runs or take wickets. It’s how you use the technique that you’ve got and being hard enough and strong enough and smart enough to be able to use that in the right context.”I’ll certainly be making an effort to watch some cricket and start to understand a bit more about the English game.”

Thomas Rew to lead England at Under-19s World Cup

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Thomas Rew, Somerset’s highly rated wicketkeeper-batter, will captain England at the forthcoming Under-19 World Cup, to be played in Zimbabwe and Namibia in January and February.Rew, 18, missed the recent tour of the West Indies, where England Under-19s were beaten 5-2, due to his involvement with England Lions in Australia. He made his first-class debut in the Lions’ game against Australia A earlier this month, making scores of 19 and 47, having played for Somerset during the summer while still 17.Thomas is the younger brother of James Rew, another wicketkeeper-batter, who was part of the Lions tour – though Thomas was preferred to take the gloves at Allan Border Field. He broke the record for the fastest England U19s century with a 73-ball effort against India in June.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Nottinghamshire offspinner Farhan Ahmed – younger brother of England international Rehan – will be vice-captain, having led the side in the Caribbean. The rest of the 15-player squad is largely the same, with uncapped Leicestershire left-arm spinner Ali Farooq the only new inclusion for the World Cup.”This is an amazing opportunity for the players we have selected to not only wear an England shirt at a World Cup but also to go out and try and do something special,” England U19s head coach, Mike Yardy, said.Related

  • Thomas Rew's blistering century helps England U19s level series with India

  • Simbarashe Mudzengerere named captain of Zimbabwe Under-19 for home World Cup

  • Scotland call up Thaker and Tekale for men's Under-19 World Cup

  • Farhan Yousaf to lead Pakistan at Under-19 World Cup

“We have a balanced squad with a core group of players who already have county experience and who have developed a camaraderie while playing together for the U19s that will serve them well during the tournament.”I really want the players to enjoy the opportunity to play at a World Cup, in a beautiful country like Zimbabwe, and to embrace the chance to compete against different countries and show their quality.”England are in Group C with Pakistan, Scotland and hosts, Zimbabwe, at the Under-19 World Cup. They will begin their campaign against Pakistan at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare’s on January 16.England Men’s Under-19 World Cup squad: Thomas Rew (capt), Farhan Ahmed, Ralphie Albert, Ben Dawkins, Caleb Falconer, Ali Farooq, Alex French, Alex Green, Luke Hands, Manny Lumsden, Ben Mayes, James Minto, Isaac Mohammed, Joe Moores, Sebastian Morgan

FIVE players to replenish Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Chelsea have confirmed that Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti will be leaving the club at the end of the month after their contracts expire. With Deco also expecting to leave this summer there will be a few spots opening up in the Blues’ midfield, which has led to a media frenzy as many are speculating on who should Carlo Ancelotti sign to fill the shoes of the above.

Here are five players that Ancelotti should consider as replacements:

Bastian Schweinsteiger: the Bayern Munich midfielder has been linked with Chelsea in light of the recent exodus and many believe the 25-year-old could be a perfect replacement for fellow German Ballack and could inject some much needed youth into the Stamford Bridge outfit’s midfield.

The Germany vice-captain has enjoyed a good season with his club, who like the Blues won a league and cup double. Also, just like Chelsea lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League. Schweinsteiger is also a very versatile player and can be implemented anywhere in the midfield.

The transfer fee mooted is £25million, which doesn’t usually get you a whole lot these days and it could be a great deal for a player who has many years ahead of him.

Yaya Toure: I’ve already written an article on the benefits of the Ivorian as adding a defensive midfielder to the team would allow Ancelotti to play Michael Essien further up the pitch. Essien is probably Chelsea’s best player and I feel as though his talents are wasted as a deep lying midfielder, even though he plays the role so well (remember when he had Steven Gerrard in his pocket at Anfield in the Champions League in the 2008/09 season?).

Toure’s agent claims that the Ivory Coast star has already signed an agreement with a Premier League club, with many believing it is one of Chelsea, Manchester City or Arsenal.

Rafael van der Vaart: the 27-year-old Dutchman has had a mixed time at the Santiago Bernabeu and is expected to be one of the casualties as new Real Madrid manager is set to shake things up.

The former Hamburg midfielder could be the sort of playmaker that Chelsea are crying out for and many believe he could be bought for as little as £10million. He is also fairly versatile and is a lot better passer of the ball than Joe Cole. If he can have a similar impact as two fellow Netherlands stars who have left Los Blancos (Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben) then he would be a fantastic bargain for any club.

James Milner: considering UEFA’s new quota which states that a 25-man squad must contain at least eight home-grown players the Aston Villa midfielder is set to become hot property this summer. As Chelsea are set to lose and Englishman in Joe Cole it would make sense to replace him with another and Milner is the best available.

The 24-year-old scored a dozen goals for the Villains last season and won the PFA Young Player’s award. The only stumbling block is the player’s price tag which could be in excess of £30million…perhaps more if he impresses in South Africa.

Diego: although the mercurial Brazilian has previously insisted that he does not wish to give up on Juventus after just one season at the club his manager Gigi del Neri is unlikely to use the player in his preferred system.

So, according to Juve’s general manager Beppe Marotta the club will listen to potential transfer offers for the 25-year-old.

Marotta told Tuttosport: “There are offers for Diego,”

“Del Neri’s tactical requirements have the priority and I don’t think the Brazilian fits into the 4-4-2.”

“Faced with an impressive offer, I believe we could sell him.”

Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea were all previously linked with the player before he moved from Werder Bremen to Turin in 2009 and may renew their interest in the player. The playmaker could operate at the tip of the diamond if Ancelotti wished to revert to his preferred system and he is likely to be a cheaper option than £50million rated Kaka.

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Of course there are many other alternatives and fans will speculate and debate over who they want to join during the summer. Some may even argue that it is time for the likes of Gael Kakuta and Nemanja Matic should make the step up and be given more chances in Ancelotti’s first team.

Who would the Chelsea fans like to see replace Ballack, Cole and Belletti?

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And Carragher deserves to be in the England squad for what reason exactly?

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

So… he doesn’t help us qualify, he retired 3 years ago, his side has their worst season in club football for 16 seasons and he declared that he wasn’t all that fussed about representing his country in his autobiography and yet now he has a chance to go to the World Cup. How on earth does that work? Are England really struggling that much for defenders? Many people argue that Carragher is versatile. And? So what? He’s not the only versatile English defender – what about Micah Richards? He was always available throughout the qualifiers and he can be considered to be versatile.

What about Matthew Upson? How must he be feeling? He helped the country get to the World Cup in the first place! While Jamie Carragher was sitting at home with his feet up, Matthew Upson was out there working hard to make sure that his country got to South Africa. Why? Because playing in a World Cup is the most important thing to some people and it is these people who should be contenders to be picked. Naturally there are going to be ‘guarantees’ to go to South Africa. Players like Rooney, Lampard and Ferdinand etc can consider themselves picked already but others, like Upson and Richards, have had to work as hard as they possibly can just to even be considered. Sadly for the pair – it was to no avail. The position went to somebody who didn’t even want it.

Don’t get me wrong. I respect and like Capello. But here it looks as though he’s just like every other England manager. If your name is big enough then you’re in the squad. If England require a holding midfielder and an attacking midfielder – sadly it won’t be a case of: ‘Sorry, it’s either Frank or Stevie for the attacking role.’ It’ll be ‘Well we’ll put Frank in there and then we can try and cram Stevie in somewhere else like Left-Midfield. We can’t not pick him – it’s Gerrard.’ Yes Fabio. You can ‘not pick him.’ In the exact same way that you can rely on English players from clubs outside of the ‘Big Four’. If Carragher played for West Ham – begging him to come out of retirement wouldn’t have even been an option.

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When we go out in the Quarter-Finals and everyone is walking around the country feeling very glum and confused as to how the mighty England didn’t manage to ‘bring it home’, I ask them to look Greece’s win in the Euros in 2004. What do you see? Do you see a strong team of players, or a team of strong players? And yes – there is a difference.

Written By Stephen Rudd

Clark dismisses Fulham link

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Huddersfield Town boss Lee Clark has rubbished speculation linking him with the vacant managerial position at Premier League Fulham.

The 37-year-old spent more than five years as a player with the Cottagers, but says that he is fully focused on the job in hand at the Galpharm Stadium.

He told the club's official website:"I've spoken to the chairman this morning and he has had no contact from Fulham, our chief executive has had no contact from Fulham and I have had no contact from Fulham.

"Most of the time I don't comment on speculation, but there has been absolutely no contact from Fulham and I don't want people to become unsettled.

"It came as a genuine surprise to me when I saw the story on television this morning, but I take the same attitude towards it that I do when our players get linked with clubs from a higher division.

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"It's a good sign that these clubs are interested because it means that we are doing things right here. I'm completely focused on getting things ready for the new season with Huddersfield Town."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Bruce: Give Bramble a chance

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has pleaded with the club's faithful to get behind new signing Titus Bramble.

Bruce, who worked with the central defender at Wigan Athletic, has brought him to the Stadium of Light from the Latics, but he is concerned that the Black Cats supporters will be unhappy with the recent acquisition.

Bramble endured a mistake-riddled spell with north east rivals Newcastle United earlier in his career and, despite his connections with the Magpies, Bruce is confident he has what it takes to be a big hit on Wearside.

"Look, I thought long and hard about signing him, long and hard because I knew it might be a difficult one for Sunderland fans and for him," Bruce said to Sunderland Echo.

"But the great thing is that the lad's got plenty of bottle – he wanted to come here, he wanted to play for me and Sunderland, and I feel sure that Sunderland fans will recognise that and give him a fair crack of the whip.

"At the end of the day, Sunderland fans want the same as me and the same as Titus Bramble, which is success for this club."

"If Titus shows – as I think he will – that he can make us better, then I don't think supporters will have a problem accepting him.

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"The easiest thing would have been not to sign him and to avoid any hassle, but I think he's a player who can genuinely improve us.

"He had a difficult start to his top-flight career. I think the move to Newcastle was too soon for him, it was too big a club at too tender an age and he's had his work cut out to shift the image of himself he created there."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Why Aston Villa boss should rule the roost

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

The relationship between Martin O’Neill and Randy Lerner could be considered one of the best in the league but James Milner’s proposed move to Eastlands has forced O’Neill to admit he is not the sole authority at Villa Park.

Due to the amount of money in football in this day and age, the relationship between chairman and manager is scrutinised on a regular basis. Player transfers are often the bone of contention, a wrestle between keeping key players and business instinct to sell them at the right price.

O’Neill admits “”It is really in the owner’s hand at the end of the day” (Daily Telegraph)

This surely begs the question as to whether Lerner should have a say on the sale of players at all.

This is a footballing matter and perhaps it would be wise to let O’Neil decide whether selling Milner would be a good move for the club.

Milner was key for Villa last season and his versatility would be a credit to most Premier League sides meaning the decision (whoever that will rest with) to sell him would be a big blow if Villa have their sights on reaching the Champions League next season.

Whilst it is clear O’Neill wants Milner to stay, perhaps the quality of the squad would benefit from the 30 million pounds that the young England midfielder is arguably not worth.

Manchester City are set to have a clear-out of some extremely good players in wake of their summer spending and the likes of Stephen Ireland, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy have all been linked as part of the deal for Milner.

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By seemingly passing the buck to Lerner, O’Neill may soon be searching for a replacement for his winger after detailing that “Whatever they come up with, we will go with. I am not going to be running around dictating. If you own a football club, you can do what you want with it” during their pre-season exploits in Portugal.

It may be concluded that whilst O’Neill hangs desperately onto the bleak hope of keeping such an integral part of the set-up at Villa Park his opinion is overshadowed by Randy Lerner’s business acumen, selling a player for far more than he has yet proved to be worth.