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It’s fair to say that Scotland fans were absolutely buzzing ahead of Euro 2020 and yesterday’s 2-0 defeat against the Czech Republic would have put a bit of a dampener on things. The tournament marks the long awaited return of fans in stadiums cheering on their home nation and former Scotland international and icon Ally McCoist sat down with Joe Cole, James Collins and Instagram sensation Munya Chawawa for Just Eat’s Home Advantage video series.

Just Eat’s Home Advantage  looks to bring the best of food and football together, as Munya orders a takeaway with some of the UK’s favourites footballers each week throughout the tournament.

The significance of Scotland’s participation is certainly not lost on former Rangers man, McCoist. Before the tournament McCoist did however voice some concern over the attacking output of the team. “Our lack of goals might be a problem. And I wouldn’t see us playing two up front in many games.”

When asked who we might expect to see some top performances from, McCoist praised Chelsea and Aston Villa youngsters, Billy Gilmore and John McGin. “I would like to see Billy Gilmore get a run. Hopefully John McGinn will be key for us and has a great campaign. If he does, we will be alright.“

Regardless of what happens, McCoist knows how special the tournament can be, recalling some of his favourite moments, the former Scotland international remarked, “As a wee boy, I can remember the original Penenka penalty. I remember him scoring it against Sepp Maier of West Germany. It was unbelievable. And I can also remember Van Basten’s volley against Russia, which was just an absolutely incredible goal. “

It certainly was and we’re sure Ally will be hoping for more of the same. Catch each week’s full episode of Just Eat’s Home Advantage below…

Many Everton fans have been left to blast the display of Abdoulaye Doucoure despite their win against Wolves in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.

The Merseyside club managed to take all three points away from Goodison Park in front of a few thousand of their supporters as Richarlison headed in from a corner by Gylfi Sigurdsson to keep their European qualification hopes alive.

However, while there were some very good performances for Carlo Ancelotti’s team, Doucoure’s flattered to deceive.

The former Watford man lost out on two of his duels and failed to record a single blocked shot or key pass, as well as losing possession of the ball on no fewer than on 13 different occasions in the game, the third-most out of any of his teammates to have set foot on the pitch (Sofascore).

Everton fans on Doucoure display

These Toffees blasted his performance on Twitter, with one Blues supporter even going as far as to claim that he is ‘dreadful’:

“Doucoure is having a mare! #EFC”

Credit: @chriswatson187

“The Allan and Doucoure lovers will be having a hard time defending them after today. Anyone with half a brain can see they’re dreadful but sadly a lot of our fans just don’t understand football. #EVEWOL #EFC #Everton”

Credit: @DannySports12

“I like Doucoure but he is having a shocker amongst many shockers #efc”

Credit: @Everton_Fans2

“Am I the only Everton fan that doesn’t rate Doucoure, ye he runs around but can’t pass and can’t hold onto the ball, just my opinion so don’t attack”

Credit: @AndrewD57414821

“I think Doucoure thinks we are playing in the away kit #EFC”

Credit: @JayKennedyEFC

“Doucoure doesn’t know if he’s coming or going. Backwards pass after backward pass and needs yonks to get it under control #Everton #EVEWOL”

Credit: @YToffees

In other news, find out whose display versus Wolves was slammed here!

A number of Liverpool supporters have been reacting positively to news claiming Alisson is keen on extending his stay at Anfield.

The Reds’ season is over for another summer, with Jurgen Klopp and his players earning some well-deserved downtime.

Liverpool managed to qualify for next season’s Champions League after a superb end to the campaign, which saw them win eight and draw two of their last 10 matches.

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Someone who played a massive role in the Reds’ third-place finish was Alisson, with the Brazilian a huge presence between the sticks a number of times.

Of course, the 28-year-old also scored that last-gasp winner away to West Brom earlier in the month, which arguably kept Liverpool’s season alive – pundit Micah Richards hailed him as ‘incredible’.

Alisson is a hugely important player at Anfield, and according to journalist Fabrizio Romano [via Anfield Watch], he wants to sign a new and extended deal.

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Liverpool fans react to Alisson update

These Liverpool fans reacted to the news on Twitter.

“Give the man a contract to end his career here at Anfield”

Credit: @hotshotherambh

“Give it to him, whatever the numbers”

Credit: @CannonballBobby

“Give him whatever he wants”

Credit: @harkinlajar

“Alisson wants to extend his Liverpool contract. Great news”

Credit: @AnfieldAgenda

“This is fantastic news tying down a goalscoring goalkeeper”

Credit: @CityKop

“That helps strengthen and unite the squad more”

Credit: @MutuMyco

In other news, some Liverpool fans absolutely love footage of a former Reds player that has emerged. Watch it here.

Everton Football Club have a very proud youth academy.

From Wayne Rooney coming through the ranks roughly 20 years ago to the reliably consistent Leon Osman or the effervescent Ross Barkley, there have been some impressive talents to graduate from the Merseyside club.

Their product line in recent years hasn’t been quite as successful but we’ve still seen players like Tom Davies make the seamless transition from academy football to first team life.

The current jewel in the crown of Everton’s youth system is Anthony Gordon. The 20-year-old has played 20 times for the Toffees’ senior side but is yet to score for the club. He is currently earning valuable experience on loan at Preston but he may have to look over his shoulder in the next few years.

That’s because the winger will be challenged by plenty of other young attackers trying to make the grade at Goodison Park.

Ellis Simms is another making waves but the promising duo could be joined in competition by a certain Emilio Lawrence. The attacker is just 15 years of age but has made the step-up to under-18s football in the last few weeks.

A number of injury concerns have rocked the academy in recent months which has meant that a number of the under-18 squad have had to play at under-23 level.

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That has opened the door for spaces in the under-18s, a level at which Lawrence is now flourishing. He was handed 20 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week and he took full advantage of his opportunity by finding the back of the net.

Everton have never been afraid to fast-track young players if they’re ready and this was a fine example. Lawrence was a significant danger to the opposition as he popped up with a late strike to seal a 3-1 win.

Speaking at full-time, under-18 manager Paul Tait reserved special praise for the teenager, saying: “Emilio gave us a threat. He can hit the ball with both feet and shifted it from right to left to score a smashing goal.”

The ability to use both feet in such a confident fashion should give him a big leg-up when it comes to competing for places at higher levels of the game.

It seems evident that Lawrence plays with no fear, and although a first team breakthrough is still a long way from becoming a reality, he appears to have plenty of tools to continue making a splash.

He’s one talent who Carlo Ancelotti will need to keep watching in the coming years.

AND in other news, Imagine him & DCL: Everton must swoop for £24.9m gem who gives oppo “sleepless nights”…

Former Tottenham captain Graham Roberts has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that reappointing Mauricio Pochettino would be the best way to get the Spurs faithful back on side.

The club have come under serious scrutiny this season following the wretched run of results under Jose Mourinho which culminated in his sacking last month.

But the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium fans have pointed their anger towards to Daniel Levy, with protests scheduled for outside the ground this Saturday, 24 hours before Spurs host Wolves in their penultimate home game.

Tottenham are yet to appoint a replacement for Mourinho having missed out on their top three targets.

Their priority, Julian Nagelsmann, ended up taking the Bayern Munich job, Brendan Rodgers rejected any approach from Spurs, whilst Ajax manager Erik ten Hag committed his long-term future to the Dutch champions by penning a new deal.

Scott Parker and Graham Potter have both been strongly linked, but Roberts thinks that the most sensible move to reunite the club would be the return of Pochettino.

When asked if re-appointing the Argentine would help Levy build bridges with Spurs fans after the Super League debacle, Roberts told The Transfer Tavern:

“100%. I think that would be the best thing he could do.”

Former Crystal Palace striker Marcus Bent has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that he expects his old side to get good money for Wilfried Zaha if they sell him in the summer.

Zaha could be on the move in the next transfer window, with 90min reporting that Arsenal are set to reignite their interest in the 28-year-old winger.

Palace’s £80m valuation of their star man back in 2019 proved to be a stumbling block for Arsenal and was a fee that no team evidently wanted to pay.

Even so, Bent believes Palace will still be able to get a large sum if they do decide to sell Zaha this summer and expects the club to reinvest it.

On the Ivory Coast international’s possible departure, the retired Premier League footballer said:

“Will he go? I don’t know. But if he does go, I think he’d go for a big price tag and I think that Crystal Palace will have to replace him. I think they’d get a good price tag and bring in a couple of players, but the players that they do bring in won’t be superstars. They will be players that just work within the team.”

Zaha may not be the only Palace player who departs Selhurst Park this summer. The likes of Christian Benteke and Patrick van Aanholt are set to be free agents, while manager Roy Hodgson will also be out of contract come the end of the season.

Many Wolves fans have been left to flock to a big update from the Daily Mirror on Nuno Espirito Santo.

As per the news outlet, the current manager at the Midlands club is being eyed by Tottenham Hotspur as a potential replacement for Jose Mourinho.

Daniel Levy is reportedly an admirer of Nuno, who is under contract at Molineux at the moment until 2023.

The compensation package for the Portuguese boss to leave the Wanderers would likely cost roughly £8m.

The news has left several WWFC supporters torn, with some thinking that letting him go would be the right thing to do given how disappointing the season has turned out for them so far.

Injuries have of course played a huge part in the disappointing season though, losing the likes of Raul Jimenez and now Pedro Neto for lengthy periods, so others are far less reluctant after he helped guide them up to the Premier League from the EFL Championship and has helped attract a wealth of top talent to the club.

Wolves fans on Nuno update

These Wolves fans flocked to the update on Twitter, with one claiming that he has been ‘brilliant’ for them:

“Leave him be! I do think he needs to be able to keep world class players such as Jota though”

Credit: @peggyja95517835

“Maybe it would suit all parties if he does move on for him and for Wolves!”

Credit: @WolvesBlogger1

“Makes me laugh all these ‘Wolves fans’ saying how terrible Nuno is, the guy has been brilliant for us and an absolute pleasure for the city! Get behind the guy because he has had it tough not seeing his family! We should be there for him”

Credit: @gazzdroid

“Could be a good thing to freshen things up only if Jose Mourinho comes to Wolves. If Mourinho could win the league with Wolves that would give him legendary status and his biggest achievement like Leicester.”

Credit:  @DChappleton

“No thanks”

Credit: @67Doodle

“Take him”

Credit: @bestwolvesfan

In other news, find out what injury update from Tim Spiers has been bemoaned by Wanderers here!

Spurs star Harry Kane continues to rise despite all of his team’s woes on the pitch this season.

Having come through the Hotspur Way academy system, the 27-year-old has established himself as one of the best centre-forwards on the planet, regularly delivering goals on the domestic, European and international stage.

This season alone, he’s found the net 27 times, taking his career total to 215 goals from 327 Spurs appearances, via Transfermarkt.

Kane, who clinched the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup, heads into the summer with plenty of uncertainty of his future, though will first captain England in the European Championships, aiming to end a 55-year wait for silverware.

Value soaring

In 2017, Kane’s value was at a then-career-high of £54m, aged just 24, and in the subsequent four seasons, that figure has soared to a whopping £108m, as of mid-March 2021, as per Transfermarkt.

That’s an increase of 100%, meaning his value has doubled rather rapidly.

This ranks him as not only the most valuable player at Spurs, but in the Premier League too – sitting ahead of Mo Salah (£99m), Raheem Sterling (£90m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£90m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£90m).

Similarly, Kane sits third worldwide, with only PSG duo Kylian Mbappe (£162m) and Neymar (£115.2m) worth more right now.

Bombshell dropped

Speaking during the current international break, Kane dropped a rather worrying bombshell over his long-term future in north London. Ultimately, he refused to rule out an exit amid interest from both Manchester clubs and Real Madrid.

“Look, I try to stay out of that speculation as much as possible,” said Kane via Sky Sports. “I’m fully focussed on doing the job on the pitch from now until the end of the summer, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”

Spurs haven’t won a trophy since 2008, long before Kane’s initial breakthrough at the club, though they do have a tough-looking Carabao Cup final with City on the horizon.

Now, Jermain Defoe has urged the 27-year-old to leave if he wants to win accolades to match his prolific form on the pitch. He told talkSPORT: “If Harry Kane wants that and wants to win trophies then it looks like he has to go.

“I don’t think it will be easy for him to leave and he might be looking at it and want to finish off being the highest goalscorer in the club’s history and see where that takes him.”

Levy drooling

As we know, Daniel Levy isn’t afraid to cash in when the time is right. After all, he sanctioned the sales of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, and more recently Christian Eriksen to Inter Milan.

If there’s a chance for Spurs to cash in on Kane this summer, then you’d imagine the chairman will be licking his lips at the prospect of making serious money given the immense increase in his value.

That will only increase if he keeps up his form, and who knows how much he’d be worth if England goes on to achieve something spectacular this summer.

Any funds produced from this potential sale would undoubtedly aid the prospects of a major rebuild, another reason why the Spurs chief would likely consider making a mega profit on Kane.

Dubbed a “monster” by Heung-min Son and a “beast” by former opponent Roman Burki, the Spurs striker would command a high price, and that could be the only thing in their favour if they want to keep hold of him.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Rodon: Spurs can build formidable duo with £22.5m-rated “leader”…

Celtic’s search for a new manager has taken on an exciting lease of life over the last week or so with the Bhoys really stepping up their hunt to replace Neil Lennon.

A number of managers have been touted with taking over but there is one name that’s now seemingly at the top of their list.

What’s the word?

Journalist Alan Nixon reported earlier this week that Eddie Howe was a serious candidate to become Celtic’s new manager.

That information has now also been reported by The Scottish Sun. They claim that Howe is indeed in the frame to take over, but they have also revealed the 43-year-old’s stance on heading to Parkhead.

They state that the former Bournemouth boss is seriously interested in succeeding Lennon in Glasgow.

Howe has even started his own due-diligence on the behind-the-scenes structure of the club and has sounded out contacts within the game who have close ties to Celtic.

Having sought advice from those connections, he is ready to return to management and become the new Bhoys manager.

Fantastic news for Celtic

Over the last week or so the Hoops hierarchy haven’t particularly had an easy time of it when trying to find Lennon’s replacement.

Jesse Marsch has been ruled out of the running to come to Scotland while Chris Wilder is facing pay-off issues and interest from Burnley.

As for Roy Keane, he now looks less likely to arrive after seemingly being the favourite a week ago.

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However, they have received a few boosts in the last few days with Lucien Favre and now Howe reportedly interested in becoming the next Celtic boss.

If those two names are at the forefront of Dermot Desmond’s thinking then fans should be completely delighted. Celtic podcaster Paul John Dykes revealed last week that Keane’s potential arrival had gone down like a led balloon among the supporters.

However, Favre and Howe have achieved a lot more and they’ve also not had ten years away from management.

Favre had a win rate of 61.82% before losing his job with Borussia Dortmund in December while Howe’s achievements make for impressive reading.

In two separate spells, he took Bournemouth from League Two to the Premier League, cementing themselves in England’s top-flight.

He is meticulous on the training ground and is known for developing and using young domestic talent; something that would undoubtedly benefit the Hoops.

Should Desmond bring him to Parkhead, he’d be a brilliant appointment, one who could breathe fresh life into a decrepit think tank.

AND in other news, Celtic could land Kenny upgrade in 32 y/o who’s “up there as a captain with Maldini”…

Leeds United star Patrick Bamford has admitted Mike Dean is actually one of the better referees in the Premier League currently.

The striker has enjoyed an excellent season for the Whites in 2020/21, excelling in the top flight and scoring 13 goals in 27 appearances.

Despite his rich vein of form in front of goal, Bamford was a frustrated figure on Monday night, as Leeds lost 2-0 away to West Ham at the London Stadium.

Chances came and went for the 27-year-old, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side also on the wrong side of some poor refereeing from Dean.

The 52-year-old isn’t the most universally popular official, with some claiming he often likes to make games about him, revelling in the limelight.

Bamford claims Dean is among the best referees

Despite this, Bamford gave a positive verdict on the divisive referee, telling the official Leeds podcast [via MOT Leeds News] that he rates him higher than others:

“There were a couple of them in midfield, Coops had one against him, so I don’t know what’s going on. But he’s actually alright Mike Dean, he’s a good one.”

Transfer Tavern take

In truth, the general consensus is that the current Premier League referees are not of a good standard, with every supporter having their own individual they rate the least.

It is refreshing to hear Bamford be positive about Dean, though, perhaps suggesting that he is one of the more competent officials in the game at the moment.

In other news, Leeds have been linked with a move for Stade Brest midfielder Romain Faivre. Read about it here.