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A number of Liverpool fans have been reacting negatively to training ground footage which emerged over the weekend.

The Reds are in the middle of a 20-day break without a game, having won 1-0 away to Wolves last Monday night.

With Jurgen Klopp’s men no longer in the FA Cup, and with an international break to come next week, they won’t play again until the meeting with Arsenal. The date and time for that match hasn’t yet been confirmed, but it appears likely to be Saturday April 3rd, due to their Champions League clash with Real Madrid the following Tuesday.

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Liverpool have been working hard on the training ground despite their lack of action, looking to find some freshness and confidence after a hugely disappointing campaign.

On Saturday, training footage emerged of a number of players competing in a football tennis game, with the likes of Andy Robertson, Thiago and Mohamed Salah involved, among others.

Liverpool fans react to training ground footage

While the video is both highly entertaining and impressive, some fans believe it is bordering on reckless, highlighting the risk of injury through playing it amid the backdrop of a campaign which has seen the Reds lose a number of key players to long-term setbacks.

Here are some of the standout reactions on Twitter, with negativity the order of the day.

“Watch someone get injured from this lol”

Credit: @LFCPierre18

“This is why we have injuries”

Credit: @EliasYusuff

“Injuries man injuries!!!! What the hell you doing!?!?!”

Credit: @Theman_shaq

“Stop trying to kill our players”

Credit: @lfcsonny

“We wonder why our players get injured”

Credit: @LFCRosser

“Then Thiago got injured…”

Credit: @kandill86

In other news, Liverpool are eyeing up a move for a striker with an amazing international record this summer. Read about it here.

Newcastle United players are reportedly ‘furious’ with Steve Bruce over consistently failing to personally inform them when they are being dropped.

That is according to Football Insider, who say that the former Aston Villa and Sunderland boss gives the task of informing players that they have been dropped from his team selection to his coaches Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence.

A source at the St. James’ Park faithful has told the news outlet that this was part of the reason why Matt Ritchie turned on Bruce and called him a ‘coward’ in a bust-up on the training ground earlier in the month.

The source added that there would be more respect for the manager if he made the effort to personally explain his decisions one-on-one, but Bruce prefers to avoid confrontation.

More Newcastle tension

Following the bust-up between Bruce and Ritchie and now this, the tension in the North East is beginning to mount.

The pressure of being relegated from the Premier League down to the EFL Championship seems to really be getting at everyone involved at the Tyneside club, and matters such as these really do not help things.

Nonetheless, the Magpies now need to focus on their next game at home to Tottenham Hotspur and really make a late push for survival.

In other news, find out what takeover claim Ben Jacobs has dropped after an update on PIF and Inter Milan here!

Celtic are closing in on landing Manchester City man Fergal Harkin as their new director of football.

That’s according to a report from Football Insider, who have been informed by a Hoops source that the club are ‘committed’ to land the Irishman in the newly created role.

Celtic impressed with Harkin

A deal was thought to be 90% done last month, and it seems that following recent extensive talks, a move to Glasgow is in touching distance.

His 11-year stint at the Etihad has reportedly impressed Celtic, who made the 44-year-old their top target last month, with Football Insider now claiming the deal is even further along than their previous 90% claim.

Transfer Tavern take

It seems as if Harkin will now have a major say as to who becomes Neil Lennon’s successor at Parkhead.

However, what this means in the club’s pursuit of former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe remains to be seen.

Howe reportedly wanted Cherries chief Richard Hughes with him in Glasgow, but with Harkin now closing in on the position, that could impact their chances of the Englishman taking over.

Other names such as former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre have been linked with the vacant role, and it looks as if one of Harkin’s first jobs as the new DoF will be to help the club land a first-team boss.

In other news: West Ham make progress in attempts to sign Celtic star, find out more here. 

With Celtic’s season now more or less done and dusted, the preparation can begin for next term at Parkhead.

It will be one of the most important in the club’s recent history as they strive to achieve parity with their biggest rivals and reclaim their dominance of Scottish football.

On the chalkboard

There aren’t many positives to take from this season. The defending has been diabolical and errors have littered their play.

They have conceded 14 more goals than Rangers and have been left to rue some poor recruitment last summer.

Though, if we are looking for salvage points from a torrid campaign, look no further than Ismaila Soro.

The Ivorian arrived in January 2020 but had to wait until the end of the year to really make his mark in a Hoops shirt. He burst onto the scene during the win over Lille in the Europa League, a match where he produced a colossal ten tackles.

For a period of time, he was irreplaceable in the Bhoys side. When Soro has started this term, Celtic have lost just twice in the league.

Though, with Neil Lennon brutally moving him back to the bench, he has now only started just once since the end of January. Soro is also struggling to appear from the substitute’s bench.

That being said, he has caught the eye when he’s featured, making 2.3 tackles per game on average this term. With that in mind, he feels like the most natural successor to Scott Brown if he winds down his contract.

A sticking point

Soro might well be viewed as the internal heir to Brown’s throne but Celtic’s recruitment team could take things in a different direction.

That’s because the Hoops have consistently been linked with a move for Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy. Their interest initially arose last summer and then it re-emerged in January.

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James McFadden even recently told the media that he could come in and replace Brown. On a grand total of £50k-per-week at Selhurst Park, he’d presumably have to take a considerable wage drop to move to Glasgow.

That being said, he is out of contract in the summer and available on a free transfer. Soro, however, will have every right to be fuming with the Celtic hierarchy if they sign another midfielder, especially one of McCarthy’s calibre.

Dubbed a “class player” by Roy Hodgson, the 30-year-old has 42 caps for Ireland to his name and 267 Premier League appearances under his belt.

With that in mind, he’d surely come to Paradise in a bid to start ahead of Soro. For someone who has been so impressive whenever he’s played, this would be an almighty blow to his aspirations.

The 22-year-old immediately came in and made the Bhoys look like a better defensive outfit. When he started his first game of the season in the 2-0 win over Kilmarnock in December, he helped Lennon’s men keep their first clean sheet since early October.

He has been the glue that binds this team together at stages this term. That being said, in recent months, he has been dislodged by the wise old head in Brown. Thus, if McCarthy arrives, it would only further hinder his chances of regular football at Parkhead.

Considering how impressive he’s been, this would understandably be a bitter pill to swallow.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Ajer: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen “tower” next term, he’s a big “weapon”…

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has revealed that Jaden Philogene-Bidace’s situation is “complicated” at Aston Villa.

What’s the story?

After the impressive performance that Villa’s youngsters delivered in the FA Cup third round defeat to Liverpool earlier this year, the spotlight has grown on the club’s blossoming academy.

But in the case of Philogene-Bidace, Evans has suggested that despite the 19-year-old wanting to stay at Villa Park, his contract situation has left things uncertain.

In a Q&A for The Athletic, he wrote: “It’s a little more complicated with Philogene-Bidace, who is 19 now and out of contract at the end of this season. It’s down to Villa to sort it out, but I understand he wants to stay despite the speculation linking him elsewhere.

“What I would also say is that in recent years, Villa have a good history of keeping the players they want. There was a lot of interest in Carney Chukwuemeka, for example, but Villa tied him down to a professional contract.”

Lange must act now

With rumours swirling in recent weeks that Bundesliga side RB Leipzig are interested in luring him to Germany, the onus is really on Johan Lange to ensure that Villa don’t lose one of their most promising starlets.

The 19-year-old is enjoying a stellar season with the club’s U23s, scoring five goals and providing another two assists in just 11 games at Premier League 2 level.

The left-winger is showing exactly why he’s one for the future, and it appears he’s got all the tools in his locker to become a really dangerous player for Villa’s senior side.

Speaking to The Birmingham Mail, one of his former coaches, Ahmed Abdulla, said: “He’s a right footer but he plays off the left. He can come inside or go on the outside. The model winger.

“He hugs the touchline and can beat his man. (He’s) Very confident and very light on his feet and skips past tackles, not one of them that gets hit and goes down. He bounces off tackles. He’s very strong and outstanding in one-v-ones.”

Evans’ update that things are “complicated” with the teenager is concerning, and it’s up to Lange to kick things into motion over a new contract.

Meanwhile, Villa are facing transfer disaster over yet another academy starlet…

Glasgow Rangers romped to a 4-1 win over Dundee United to leave Steven Gerrard’s side needing ten more points to win the Scottish Premiership.

Ianis Hagi gave the Gers the lead before Ryan Kent made it 2-0 with a low drive from the edge of the area, and Joe Aribo cut inside from the left flank to blast his shot into the bottom corner.

Alfredo Morelos also came close to scoring on several occasions, only for the Colombian to finally get his name on the scoresheet in the strangest of circumstances after goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist’s clearance bounced off him into the back of the net.

Rangers impressed for most of the game, but Marc McNulty gave the Tangerines a lifeline with a goal just before the final whistle blew though by then, the damage had already been done.

However, there was one man who struggled while those around him shined: Filip Helander, who let his manager down badly.

Now, we may, perhaps unfairly, be accused of having an agenda against the Swede defender. But we’re surely not the only ones who are beginning to question the logic behind Gerrard’s decision to start him regularly, especially after such a dismal showing.

In defence, no Rangers player was arguably worse than the centre-back, who looked distinctly out of sorts.

It was Connor Goldson and new boy Jack Simpson who conceded against Dundee but at least they were getting in the right areas, with the latter managing the same number of clearances as Helander, despite only playing a handful of minutes.

As per SofaScore, he received the worst rating out of any Rangers player who started the game, and it’s easy to see why when you take a closer look at the numbers.

During his 67 minutes on the pitch, the 27-year-old produced just one tackle and one interception, the latter being the lowest of all defenders to start the game.

Despite being on the pitch for a little more than 23 minutes, Simpson was still more diligent. He attempted the same number of clearances as Helander and also provided 100% of his passes. For context, Helander could only muster a pass success rate of 82%.

With that in mind, it wasn’t a great surprise to see him substituted in the second half, and it would be a shock to see him start against Royal Antwerp.

With Simpson patiently waiting in the wings, Gerrard has plenty of options at his disposal. If Helander keeps performing at such a low standard, he may find his chances limited in the coming weeks and months.

The Swede was an accident waiting to happen against Dundee and Gerrard should seriously consider dropping him ahead of the Europa League return fixture with Antwerp.

AND in other news, Rangers dealt devastating James Tavernier injury blow ahead of Dundee clash…

A Paraguay international has dropped an inside claim on the latest injury that Miguel Almiron has sustained at Newcastle United.

Speaking to VERSUS radio, Antony Silva, who is currently a goalkeeper for Puebla and a national teammate of Almiron, claimed: “I spoke with Miguel and it is not as much as they say about his injury. He told me that he is fine.”

Newcastle need Almiron back

It seems as if the original injury suffered by Almiron is not as bad as first feared, which should give the St. James’ Park faithful a lot of hope going into the rest of the 2020/21 term.

In the last two games that the attacking midfield player has missed through injury, the North East club have only managed to pick up a mere two points against fellow relegation-threatened West Brom and at home to an Aston Villa side who were missing their talisman in Jack Grealish.

It is clear that Steve Bruce’s team miss him badly, given his eye for both a goal and assist, in a season where he has scored five and assisted three in 29 games in total over all competitions so far (Transfermarkt), as well as his all-round general hard work across the pitch.

Nonetheless, the Tyneside club will be hoping that the 27-year-old can return to the squad after the international break to help them fend off their relegation fears.

In other news, find out who was claimed to have their ‘best game’ for NUFC against Villa here!

Many Liverpool fans were left stunned by reports regarding Bayern Munich defender David Alaba.

According to the Mirror, the 28-year-old is beyond the Reds’ reach as far as finances are concerned despite the Austrian centre-back due to be out of contract in the summer, news which some fans found ’embarrassing’.

Alaba is deemed to be too expensive for Liverpool due to his wages, while Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano are also out of reach.

The nine-time Bundesliga champion has scored 32 goals from 405 appearances for Bayern over the course of 10 seasons, which included a brief loan spell at Hoffenheim in 2011 (TransferMarkt).

With the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez out for the season due to knee injuries, supporters were livid with this update. With Joel Matip unable to stay fit, some supporters felt humiliated about the fact their side couldn’t afford a player of Alaba’s calibre.

Fans in shock by Alaba update

“That’s literally not possible. We are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world. I could understand if he wanted £1m a week but he is not out of reach at all.”

Credit: @ronakricky

“embarrassing if true.. getting him in a free, wages should not be a problem!”

Credit: @RyanKeyo

“Wow. Financially out of reach in signing or wages, I don’t get.”

Credit: @Alexand36742345

“Embarrassing owners how are we so poor when we are champions”

Credit: @jmwLFC2000

“This is where FSG let themselves down and invite scrutiny on themselves. We clearly aren’t poor but they make out like they are so they don’t have to spend money.”

Credit: @Braden_Simmonds

“FSG out”

Credit: @SeanMG_

In other news, Exclusive: Carlton Palmer provides viewpoint on potential Georginio Wojnaldum replacements.

Glasgow Rangers’ strong start to the season continued on Sunday afternoon as Steven Gerrard’s side cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership at Ibrox to move 11 points clear of Celtic at the top of the table.

Rangers have won 18 out of their last 21 games in all competitions as they aim to stop Celtic from winning ten titles in a row. But they came dangerously close to losing their unbeaten streak after they shipped two late goals to draw with 10-man Benfica in the Europa League at the beginning of the month.

Sam Cosgrove, Ryan Hedges and Matty Kennedy all had their chances at times for Aberdeen but they failed to take the opportunity to put pressure on the 54-time Scottish champions.

However, the Ibrox boss should be concerned by the fact that only valiant efforts from Allan McGregor and Connor Goldson were enough to ensure that the Gers kept a second consecutive clean sheet.

Gerrard deployed Ryan Jack in the centre of the midfield, his fourth straight start and 13th appearance of the campaign in all competitions which could have backfired horrendously had the Dons been able to find the back of the net, as he was uncharacteristically lacklustre.

Per SofaScore, he received the joint-lowest rating out of the entire starting XI, having lost possession nine times, committed two fouls and only won 50% of his ground duels overall as well as only making one tackle, whilst he failed to register a single clearance or interception, so it’s perhaps hardly surprising he was replaced by Steven Davis in the second half.

Quite why Davis didn’t start we’ll probably never understand, although it may have had something to do with his withdrawal from the Northern Ireland squad last week.

The defensive midfielder, who earns wages worth £18,000-per-week, hasn’t been named in the starting line-up for the past couple of games, which is quite simply baffling as he has been one of the club’s best players in recent weeks, especially when you consider the fact that the Gers are getting ready for the Benfica rematch on Thursday night.

Glen Kamara is the only Gers midfielder who has been given a higher statistical score by WhoScored than the 35-year-old for his performances in the Europa League.

In two appearances in the European competition, Davis is averaging 3 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game, which is some way above what Jack has managed, whilst he has also mustered 1.5 shots, via WhoScored, which shows that he is a useful attacking asset as well.

Davis is a player who performs well in the biggest occasions, that’s for sure, with former Gers manager Alex McLeish calling him “incredible” for becoming the most-capped player for his country in the Euro 2020 playoff semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina last month.

Therefore, Gerrard must ensure that the enforcer is recalled for the home game against Benfica on Thursday night, as he was named the Man of the Match for the away trip to Lisbon last time out.

AND in other news, Ross Wilson must secure Glasgow Rangers winger Ryan Kent amid interest from Leeds United…

According to an ‘interesting’ update by reliable transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, via Man City Xtra, Juventus are ‘in love’ with striker Gabriel Jesus but they are not negotiating with Man City or his agents – with the Sky Blues’ stance on selling him made abundantly clear.

Jesus, who signed for City back in 2017, has been tipped as Sergio Aguero’s heir at the Etihad Stadium – with the latter club legend now entering the twilight phase of his career as he slowly returns to full match fitness.

The Argentine has made brief cameos recently since his latest injury lay-off, with City now having to start planning ahead for life without the club’s all time top goal scorer.

Flocking to this Romano update, despite Txiki Begiristain and co not wishing to sell Jesus, many Man City fans have buzzed over Juve’s interest whilst begging the club to offload him.

As links to Erling Haaland grow stronger and stronger, it’s clear these supporters don’t see their current attacker as a man fit to replace Aguero.

Find all of their verdicts on the young Brazilian down below.

Man City fans buzz over Jesus news

In other news: Man City fans were left fuming by this update, find out more here.