All posts by n8rngtd.top

Last season, the SABC were given the rights without having to pay anything, after CSA failed to strike a deal with SuperSport despite repeated efforts

Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2019CSA has sold the broadcast rights for the second edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) to the SABC, South Africa’s insolvent free-to-air broadcaster. This is a change from last season when the SABC were gifted the rights without having to pay anything, after CSA failed to strike a deal with their regular broadcast partner, pay television operator SuperSport, despite repeated efforts.While SuperSport continue to hold the rights for all South African international and other domestic cricket, a spokesperson confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that they did not put in a bid for the MSL.Neither CSA nor the SABC were willing to divulge the amount the MSL rights were sold for but CSA called the agreement “more commercially viable” than last season, when CSA budgeted a loss of R40 million (US$2.6 million) for the inaugural edition of the MSL. Sources claim the actual figure was higher.”We can confirm that the deal with SABC was different from the first edition of MSL in that this year, it is more commercially viable for us. As the lifeblood for CSA, broadcast revenue remains key for us, and we are pleased for the SABC’s investment in our valued property and for the assistance in providing access to millions of cricket-loving South Africans who may otherwise not be able to enjoy the game,” Kugandrie Govender, CSA’s chief commercial officer, told ESPNcricinfo.The SABC will broadcast all 32 matches live on both television and radio, in prime-time slots from November 8 for five weeks. Fixtures will be played on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, starting at 5.30pm local time, Saturday afternoons will kick off at 12.30pm and there are double-headers every Sunday at 10am and 12pm local time. These timings are earlier than the usual 6pm starts and 2.30pm matches, with CSA explaining the changes are a result of market research.Securing the MSL is a major coup for the cash-strapped SABC, who have requested a R3.2 billion (US$ 289 million) government bailout and have been unable to broadcast other high-profile sports events. They only showed South Africa’s first two matches of the men’s World Cup 2019 live, required the sports minister’s intervention to strike a deal with SuperSport to put South Africa’s Premier Soccer League on air and they are also not broadcasting any of the ongoing Rugby World Cup. Having the exclusive rights to some sport, albeit it is a local event, is unusual for the broadcaster.Whether CSA can boast of the same benefit is unlikely. The organisation forecast losses of R654 million (US$42.8 million) for the four-year cycle 2018-2019 to 2022-2023, though the South African Cricketers’ Association puts that figure closer to R1 billion (US$ 65.6 million). The sale of the most recent MSL rights will reduce that amount “drastically” according to Govender, but CSA were unable to provide any concrete numbers. Doubtless, CSA’s financial situation will also depend on the outcome of their renegotiation of a rights package with SuperSport, whose six-year deal with CSA ends in April 2021.

Tottenham have set their sights on signing an alternative to the heavily-linked Conor Gallagher after they seal a deal for Genoa star Radu Dragusin.

Spurs aiming to seal Dragusin deal

Spurs are still hoping to seal a deal for Dragusin in January after reliable media source Fabrizio Romano shared news of them already agreeing personal terms this week.

Tottenham now "putting together" offer for "versatile" young attacker

Spurs are apparently readying a proposal.

By
Emilio Galantini

Jan 5, 2024

The centre-back appears to be chairman Daniel Levy and co's top centre-back target as manager Ange Postecoglou makes strengthening that area of the squad a real priority this month. The Lilywhites have been hamstrung by injuries to both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, two of Postecoglou's first choice centre-backs, with Spurs regularly forced to use Emerson Royal and Ben Davies as makeshift options.

As a result, Tottenham are in advancing talks to sign Dragusin after having a loan bid rejected (Football Insider), but Serie A side Napoli are apparently lingering in the background with their own interest.

Conor Gallagher interest as Spurs eye new midfielder

Amid reports Chelsea could be forced to sell star midfielder Gallagher, Spurs have been credited with an interest in the Englishman who has really impressed under Mauricio Pochettino.

Gallagher, according to WhoScored, stands out as Chelsea's best-performing player by average match rating so far this season – starting 19 league games and registering four assists in that time.

Tottenham reportedly believe Gallagher is "perfect" for Postecoglou's system, but his apparent £50 million price tag could be a real sticking point where Levy is concerned. Therefore, alternatives may well be looked out for, and Royal Antwerp sensation Arthur Vermeeren is apparently one of them.

Tottenham set sights on signing Vermeeren

The midfielder has been in excellent form this season, earning call-ups to Belgium's star-studded national team squad. This has attracted Postecoglou's attention, with a report by Tottenham News claiming Spurs have set their sights on signing Vermeeren.

Sources have told the outlet that scouts believe he has the potential to be another Christian Eriksen with the way he plays, and the 18-year-old is wanted by a host of clubs in England.

Tottenham boss Postecoglou would also likely welcome the signing in January, especially considering their shortage of numbers in midfield, with both Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr off to AFCON. There is little else added beyond that, but other reports have claimed Antwerp value him at around £20 million.

Vermeeren is garnering a stellar reputation across Europe following his displays in the Jupiler Pro League this term, with journalist Graeme Bailey telling the Talking Transfers Podcast that Antwerp have a "little superstar" on their hands.

"This guy is special," said Bailey.

"Antwerp have a little superstar on their hands here in Arthur Vermeeren. He really is, from what I’m being told speaking to scouts, they think he’s special. Our understanding is that Man City, Arsenal and Tottenham have all enquired about him, so have Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Juventus, Barcelona as well who looked in the summer at him."

Cristiano Ronaldo says it is “good to be back” after rejoining the fold at Al-Nassr following his disappointing showing at Euro 2024 for Portugal.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Disappointment at European Championship
• Has enjoyed extended break since then
• Back alongside colleagues at club level

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The five-time Ballon d’Or winner played more minutes for his country at that tournament than any of his international team-mates, but went goalless through the competition and was left in tears after missing an extra-time penalty in a last-16 showdown with Slovenia.

Advertisement

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Ronaldo had headed into another European Championship – the 11th major tournament of his remarkable career – after registering 50 goals for Al-Nassr in the 2023-24 campaign. Questions are, however, being asked of his ability to contribute at the very highest level after turning 39.

• WHAT RONALDO SAID

  CR7 has made a habit of making doubters look foolish down the years, with the intention being to do that again in the 2024-25 season. He is back alongside club colleagues following an extended break, with the evergreen frontman all smiles as he reported for pre-season training.

• WHAT NEXT?

  Al-Nassr have a friendly date with Spanish outfit Granada to take in on Sunday, before opening their first quest for silverware in the new campaign when facing Al-Taawoun in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup on August 14.

Mitchell Santner hit the winning runs for the visitors in a dramatic final over

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Sep-2019For the second time in succession, a substantial fourth-wicket stand swung a run-chase decidedly in New Zealand’s favour in their T20I series in Sri Lanka. Despite a drama-filled final over, in which two wickets fell, and a third should have had two fielders not collided at wide long-on, fifties from Colin de Grandhomme and Tom Bruce proved sufficient to propel the visitors to victory with two balls and four wickets to spare. New Zealand thus sealed the series, despite not having had the services of their two most prolific T20 batsmen – Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor – for this innings.The chase, which had several similarities with Sunday’s performance, was calculated. Once again, Sri Lanka took three early wickets – Akila Dananjaya striking three times in the space of seven balls. But then de Grandhomme and Bruce came together, and the pair calmly set about building a partnership, picking up the singles and twos on offer first, before taking aim at the boundary only later in their association. Like on Sunday, Sri Lanka should have had New Zealand’s eventual top-scorer dismissed for 36, but substitute fielder Lahiru Madushanka slipped beneath the high chance off de Grandhomme’s bat, and could not even get a hand to the ball. He would go on to make 59 off 46, Bruce would be out in the last over for 53 off 46, and it was their 109-run stand off 88 balls – a record for New Zealand against Sri Lanka – that formed the spine of the innings.Sri Lanka had not bowled particularly well – Lasith Malinga in particular conceded 39 runs in four wicketless overs – but still had one final chance of sneaking a victory, when legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga ran Bruce out first ball of the final over, and then had Daryl Mitchell caught at long-on next ball. New Zealand still needed seven from the last four deliveries, and should then have lost Mitchell Santner to make it three successive wickets. But Shehan Jayasuriya, who took an outstanding running catch at wide long-on, was tripped up in his stride by an oncoming Kusal Mendis, and was sent crashing into the boundary. Both fielders might have sustained substantial injuries, taking several minutes to get up. What was worse was that a ball that should have provided a dismissal had now conceded a six – Jayasuriya unable to jettison the ball in time.Earlier, Guptill had to go off the field with a sharp pain in his abdomen, and was unavailable to bat. Taylor had been ruled out of this game with a hip injury sustained during practice.New Zealand had to shuffle their top order to make up for Guptill’s absence, sending Tim Seifert in to open, and promoting Scott Kuggeleijn to a pinch-hitting No. 3. But Akila quickly sewed up the top three, having Colin Munro caught at long-on in his first over, before nailing Kuggeleijn and Seifert lbw in his second.Thanks to some early boundaries, however, de Grandhomme and Bruce had time to play themselves in. Once the Powerplay ended, they respected the spinners, until in the 12th over, against Hasaranga, they decided to hit out again. Two fours and a six from that over set New Zealand back on track with the asking rate. With regular boundaries coming after that, they would not fall behind again. De Grandhomme completed his fifty in the 15th over, and the pair’s century stand came up in the 18th. The batsmen had given their team such a cushion that even those dramatic late wickets could not sufficiently shake the chase.Sri Lanka’s own innings had been a stuttering effort, in which virtually every batsman who came to the crease appeared to go through a period of struggle. Kusal Mendis did his best to compensate for Kusal Perera’s lack of timing, hitting two memorable leg-side sixes in his 26. Even Mendis could not strike at better than 108, however, and Sri Lanka’s run rate at the end of the Powerplay was only slightly over six. It did improve through the middle period, as Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando prospered against spin in a third-wicket partnership worth 68 off 44 balls, but after those two batsmen departed – for 39 and 37 respectively – the middle order could not quite provide an explosive innings. Sri Lanka’s 161 for 9 was perhaps 15 runs short.

Mohamed Salah will depart Liverpool if he hasn’t accepted their latest huge contract offer, according to former Scotland international Alan Hutton.

The Lowdown: Salah coy over future

The future of the 29-year-old has been a key talking point for months now, arguably having an impact on his overall form for the Reds.

While Salah is clearly happy at Liverpool, he and the club are yet to agree on a new deal, with wages appearing to be the main stumbling block.

With the Egyptian’s current deal expiring in 2023, this is crunch time regarding his next move, as the Reds look to tie down their star man.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-33/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Latest: £80m final offer

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton, a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live, claimed that Liverpool can only offer Salah so much, reacting to a report from the same outlet detailing a ‘huge’ four-year offer worth £80m:

“Well, I think you’re looking at now. Surely, if they’ve offered him that, that’s their top level.

“Unless Mo Salah has this thing in his mind where money’s not the issue, it’s not about that. It’s not about the length of contract, it’s about another challenge in some other league.

“If that is is his wish, then it’s up to him. Then it’s about: ‘Okay, my time’s up here,’ and Klopp saying: ‘Okay, I’m going to sell you because you’re into your last year.’

“If he’s happy at Liverpool, that is an unbelievable contract at a club where he’s happy. He’s done ever so well so there’s no problem there for me.”

The Verdict: No player bigger than the club

The hope is clearly that Salah will sign a new Liverpool deal, having scored a remarkable 155 goals in 252 appearances and been hailed as ‘world-class’ by Jurgen Klopp.

That being said, it is a saga that has the potential to be troublesome, and ultimately, no player is bigger than the Reds and they can only offer the forward so much money.

It still feels likely that a compromise will be met and Salah will extend his stay at Anfield – if not, his next move will only feel like a step down in his career, given Liverpool’s current brilliance as one of the world’s top two teams.

In other news, a journalist has made a Liverpool transfer claim. Read more here.

Argentina's late equaliser in their Paris Olympics opener in men's football against Morocco got cancelled after 75 minutes suspension of play.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Argentina's equaliser got cancelled
• Play resumed after 75 minutes
• La Albiceleste went down 2-1 against Morocco

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The South American giants came back from a two-goal deficit as they scored a dramatic late equaliser against Morocco in their Paris Olympics opener at Saint Etienne on Wednesday. Soon after they had restored parity in the match, chaos broke out at the stadium as the Morocco fans invaded the pitch and attacked the Argentines by throwing objects from the stands including firecrackers.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  THE EXPLANATION

  The match was immediately suspended due to fan violence and was only restarted after the stadium was vacated after almost 75 minutes. VAR cancelled Cristian Medina's 106th-minute equaliser in between as Bruno Amione was found in an offside position during the build-up. Morocco eventually emerged victorious 2-1 as La Albiceleste failed to find a second goal in the final three minutes that were played.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Ahead of kick-off, the fans present at the stadium booed Argentina's national anthem due to the racist anti-France chant that Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez and his co-stars sang as they celebrated their Copa America victory earlier this month.

• (C)Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR ARGENTINA?

  After a shock defeat in their opener, Javier Mascherano's side will aim to get back to winning ways on Saturday as they face Iraq in their second group game.

The search for a new bowling spearhead following Lasith Malinga’s retirement, however, could make the team sweat

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo31-Jul-2019In many ways, this was a low-octane bilateral series. It came on the heels of the World Cup. There was no major hype around it beyond Lasith Malinga’s retirement. There was a sense of fatigue around Bangladesh’s performance, and they were missing their best player in any case. But, despite all that, could the 3-0 result be a new dawn for Sri Lanka in ODIs?There is no clear answer to that, because they have had false dawns, of course, and there is increasingly no such thing as linear progression in Sri Lankan cricket. But their new captain, at least, believes the team’s ODI stocks to be in decent health as he contemplates building a team into the next World Cup cycle. The third ODI, in particular, featured encouraging performances from relatively young players who had not featured in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad. Dimuth Karunaratne thinks this is reason to be hopeful.”The young players grabbed their chances really well – the four players whom we put in the team today put up their hands and did a great job,” he said. Those four were allrounder Dasun Shanaka (30 runs off 14 balls, and 3 for 27), seamer Kasun Rajitha (2 for 17), allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga (12 not out off five balls, and 1 for 16) and Shehan Jayasuriya (13 off seven balls at the death).”If there’s a lot of competition and there’s a strong bench, if a player is injured I can easily bring another player,” Karunaratne said. “I think this is the way we have to build a good line-up. This is the time we have to bring some youngsters for the next couple of years. We’ve had an issue recently where we didn’t have that strong bench. But players are now ready, and they’ll grab the chances that come their way.”Apart from the pool of players that performed well during this whitewash, there are others, who could play an important role in the next World Cup cycle, Karunaratne said. “Beyond this team, there are others around as well, who are unable to break into this side at the moment – players like Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka.”You need a lot of players to build up that competition within a team, so that players are constantly putting pressure on each other to perform. If you have a strong bench, the players who are in the team have to take that responsibility. There are a lot of players trying to get that chance, so there’s pressure on the XI. I have a team I can work with. The youngsters have a great energy about them as well.”Despite his optimism, he did point out an area of particular concern – the bowling. With the retirement of Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka have lost their most penetrative ODI operator, and will now seek a new spearhead. “We need to find bowlers who can get us wickets,” Karunaratne said. “We have to find those players who deliver in tough situations. Today, pretty much everyone had a bowl, and they came up with wickets. That’s what I expect when I make a bowling change – that whoever comes on will build pressure and make those breakthroughs.”

With Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United heading into Wednesday’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea knowing that they had to pick up some kind of result at Elland Road in order to give themselves the best possible chance of avoiding the drop this season, the 48-year-old manager will be bitterly disappointed with the way the fixture panned out.

Indeed, the Whites found themselves trailing inside the opening five minutes of the match, with Reece James’ cutback finding Mason Mount on the edge of the box, before the 23-year-old emphatically curled his effort into the near top corner.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more” title=”Read the latest Leeds United news and rumours!”]

Matters were made worse for Leeds around 20 minutes later, when Daniel James’ “reckless” – in the words of Graeme Souness – challenge on Mateo Kovacic saw the Wales international receive his marching orders from Anthony Taylor – representing the second time in as many fixtures the Whites have been reduced to 10 men before the break.

From that point on, the clash was something of a Chelsea procession, with Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku both getting themselves on the scoresheet in the second half, and the meeting ending 3-0 to the visitors.

As is perhaps to be expected after such a lacklustre overall performance, a number of Marsch’s players endured individual displays to forget, with James, Jack Harrison and Pascal Struijk all being particularly below-par against the Blues.

However, while it is true that it was James’ red card that ultimately sealed Leeds’ fate on the night, it will undoubtedly have been the performance of Rodrigo that left the Elland Road faithful most enraged, as the 31-year-old was completely abject over the course of the 90 minutes.

After being handed a start up top – replacing Joe Gelhardt in the XI – the Spain international did very little to convince anyone that his heart is fully focused on helping Leeds retain their Premier League status, with the forward’s body language and effort very much being that of a man who has already thrown the towel in.

Indeed, this is reflected in his metrics, with the £13.5m-rated flop managing no shots at the Chelsea goal – either on or off-target – ceding possession on 11 separate occasions, losing six of his 10 duels – a failure rate of 60% – being beaten by an opponent twice, committing one foul and making one error which led to a Blues attempt at goal.

These returns saw the Whites’ £100k-per-week highest earner average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.2, while Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross awarded the Spaniard a measly two in his own player ratings, as well as stating of the Spaniard’s performance:

“A dire display and poor body language to go with it. Basic passes went astray and was too often seen languidly walking after losing possession.”

As such, with speculation concerning whether or not Rodrigo will still be a part of the Leeds squad next season starting to mount, we would suggest that – regardless of whether Leeds stay up or go down – the 31-year-old who Cross dubbed “completely anonymous” should have already played his last game for the Whites, as his performance against Chelsea made it abundantly clear his heart is not in it.

AND in other news: Phil Hay drops exciting 5-word Leeds United transfer update, he’d be a huge upgrade

Starc fiery but expensive, while Hazlewood gives nothing away, after Travis Head warms up for Lord’s with ton

Daniel Brettig at New Road07-Aug-2019Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood made contrasting entries to the Ashes tour under the gaze of Worcester Cathedral at New Road, the former’s ability to take wickets but also go for runs neatly encapsulated in a spell reading 4-1-27-1 after the tourists had declared at 266 for 5 on the opening day.Taking the new ball, Starc got his line right in the opening over to pin Tom Fell lbw for a duck and with 1 for 0 after a single over would have been happy with his start. However, with the captain Tim Paine looking on from mid off – Matthew Wade taking the gloves in this game – Starc’s next three overs went for 27, most of them finding the middle of the talented teenager Jack Haynes’ bat, to the delight of a largely sedate crowd.Hazlewood, meanwhile, gave virtually nothing away while returning 2 for 2 from four overs, bowling Josh Dell off his glove with some prancing bounce and then getting Haynes lbw in his final over before the close. The combination of wickets and economy would have been of interest to Paine and the watching selection chairman Trevor Hohns, as all assess their options ahead of the second Test at Lord’s next week.Sent in to bat by Worcestershire on a fine if cloudy morning, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft had opened for the Australians but neither would have been entirely happy with their stays. Harris was only able to survive for 58 minutes before he was bowled trying to leave one from the otherwise-expensive Adam Finch, and Bancroft made a determined start before also losing his stumps in trying to drive at Josh Tongue.More comfortable were Usman Khawaja, gliding to an attractive 57 before touching a good one from Tongue behind the stumps, and Travis Head, who made the most of his return to a ground where he played county cricket last year by carving out a third hundred in six matches on this tour, having also contributed a useful 35 and 51 at Edgbaston.There was time too for Wade to punch 20 from 16 balls before Paine declared, giving Starc and Hazlewood 45 minutes of bowling before the 6pm close. Wade kept wicket in order to prepare himself for the event of Paine being sidelined from one of the remaining four Tests and forcing a change in gloveman, while also granting the captain a mental break from the task of keeping wicket.

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to build on their derby day triumph in midweek as they welcome Burnley to north London for today’s lunchtime kickoff in the Premier League.

After thrashing arch-rivals Arsenal 3-0 on Thursday night, Antonio Conte’s side moved to within one point of a place in the top four but the Clarets, who also need a win to bolster their survival chances in what is surely a huge game at either end of the table.

The Italian head coach is left with plenty to ponder in terms of team selection and he could well be tempted to remain unchanged – some of his in-game decisions against the Gunners certainly suggested that as both Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski were withdrawn prematurely.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/tottenham-hotspur-latest-news-updates-transfer-rumours-gossip-spurs-thfc-conte-paratici” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!”]

And the latter is an interesting dilemma, having already been dropped from the starting XI once in recent weeks, despite a red-hot start to life in the English captial.

Since his move from Juventus in January, the Sweden international has delivered three goals and eight assists across 18 appearances, including two assists from the bench against Leicester City, where he was initially amongst the substitutes for nearly an hour.

Conte may have felt he was in need of a rest but it does show that he’s not completely undroppable, with both Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn as alternative options.

Tired or not, Kulusevski must start against the Lancashire outfit today.

The £31.5m-rated winger, described as “explosive” by former Aston Villa man Marcus Allback, has all the attributes to destroy a struggling team like Burnley.

As per FBRef, Kulusevski ranks amongst the top 2% of all his positional peers across Europe’s ‘big five’ divisions for assists per 90 (0.46), amongst the top 4% for pressures (23.96 per 90) and amongst the top 6% for interceptions (1.69 per 90).

It’s no wonder he has quickly cemented himself as first-choice under Conte as he clearly defends from the front, often forcing the opposition into a mistake or handing the possession back to Spurs.

Elsewhere, the Juve loanee is third to only Son and Harry Kane for shots (1.4 per game) and second to the South Korean for key chances created (1.4 per game), via WhoScored.

The Clarets are expected to be without their first-choice central defensive pairing of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, so Kulusevski could quite easily wreak havoc at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon.

Said to be in “ridiculous” form by football.london reporter Alasdair Gold, the persistence with the Swedish machine out wide could seriously bolster the Whites’ top-four chances.

He must be unleashed once more today.

AND in other news, Conte demands Spurs to sign £25m-rated “revelation”, he’s miles better than Emerson…