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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

BBC Sport pundit Alan Shearer has backed Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce to turn things around at St. James’ Park after a mixed start to life in the Magpies dugout, but says that investment in January will be needed.

What’s he said?

Bruce has overseen nine competitive fixtures across all competitions since taking up the vacant head coach position on Tyneside in the summer but has only managed to win two of those.

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The Magpies’ performances in league defeats to Norwich City and Leicester City were particularly hard to swallow for United icon Shearer, as his former side were picked apart defensively by the reigning Championship title-holders in August in a 3-1 defeat, before later being trounced 5-0 at the King Power Stadium by the Foxes.

Both defeats came before shock wins, however, with Bruce able to orchestrate victories over last season’s Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur and Europa League hopefuls Manchester United.

If Bruce can continue to build on those results and sees players return to fitness and stay match sharp, Shearer is convinced he can be the man to guide Newcastle back up the Premier League standings.

The former striker has conceded that investment in January will likely be needed, however.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Shearer said:

“It’s been a mixture [of results]. I mean, there have been some poor performances – Norwich away and Leicester away were terrible. Then you look at Tottenham and Man United. There’s something in there to work with.

“If you can keep the majority of the squad fit, then I think they’ll do all right. Then if you look at investment in January, and hopefully that’ll come as well.

“I think it was a huge relief to everyone, including Steve, who I was delighted for, because he’s had to put up with a lot of **** over the last couple of weeks.”

Bruce needs consistency over surprises

Beating Manchester United before the international break will certainly have come as a huge relief to Newcastle and particularly Bruce like Shearer claims, but the Magpies need to strive for consistency instead of merely celebrating the occasional surprise result.

Games against the likes of Norwich, Brighton & Hove Albion and Watford should be the sort of league ties Newcastle see as their best route of putting points on the board, but they demonstrated little in any of those clashes to suggest they will be doing so anytime soon. Indeed, they drew 0-0 with Brighton and 1-1 with the Hornets.

The Brighton display was particularly worrisome for Newcastle, as they allowed the Seagulls to enjoy most of the possession at St. James’ Park, and were arguably fortunate to take a point after Graham Potter’s visitors squandered the majority of their 16 efforts on goal, per WhoScored data.

Upcoming games with Wolves, West Ham and Bournemouth after travelling to Chelsea, then, are vital if Shearer’s words are to be heeded.

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Sheffield Wednesday hosted an unexpectedly strong Everton side in the third round of the Carabao Cup at Hillsborough last night.

After a poor start to the season in the Premier League, Toffees boss Marco Silva decided against making any wholesale changes by opting for just a handful of changes.

One of which was Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored a brace in his 100th appearance in a Blues shirt as the Premier League side came away with a 2-0 victory.

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Wednesday should be buoyed by the fact they limited their top-flight opposition to just two goals all game and even recorded more shots than them in the match.

That’s even with Garry Monk making as many as eight changes to the side that drew with Fulham in the Championship on Saturday.

One player that kept his place was Adam Reach though it appears his performance has drawn vast criticism amongst several of the Owls fanbase.

“Woeful” and “bang average” were just two phrases used to describe his showing with one fan calling him the worst player on the pitch by far.

While another supporter believes the 26-year-old should be dropped for this weekend’s game against Middlesbrough.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

Footballers are more than just people who kick a ball around the pitch in a slightly more organised fashion than those of us who do it every Sunday morning.Some of the players we watch at the weekend double up as some of the biggest celebrities in today’s society.Watch Crystal Palace Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Of course, this type of fame leads to newspapers and media outlets continuously writing articles about them – sometimes regardless of whether the stories are true or not.

Slapping Wilfried Zaha’s name in a headline has always been a sure-fire way to earn some clicks, but on Tuesday that backfired for The Daily Mail.

Indeed, they published an article that stated the Crystal Palace star was planning to sue his agent after failing to secure him a move away from Selhurst Park this summer.

Zaha quickly shot down these outlandish rumours in hilarious fashion, stating that the whole story has been made up.

The paper have certainly been left with egg on their face, and their reports will have undoubtedly gone down in the estimations of many Palace supporters.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Tim Sherwood believes that defenders Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen could both move to China at the end of the season, per Sky Sports.

What’s he said?

Both defenders have contracts that expire at the end of the season.

Alderweireld had a £25m release clause that could have been triggered in the summer, though no club came forward with an acceptable bid, while Vertonghen was left out of the first three games of the season.

Sherwood, though, believes that they could both seek a move to the Far East in search of one last payday.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Debate, he said, initially speaking about Christian Eriksen’s future: “I really hope for Tottenham’s sake that he does (sign a new deal).

“Alderweireld looks like he’s going to move and at 30 years of age, it’s probably his last time, and Jan Vertonghen at 32, it’s probably the last time they’re ever going to fill the till up.

“It’s a short career. They need to do that. Perhaps China, Chinese clubs don’t take defenders very often but the last move of their career, they’re probably waiting for that big one just to come.”

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A mistake

Vertonghen and Alderweireld both have the ability to play for the club for the next few years.

Yes, the former is 32 and the latter is 30, but they both show precious little signings of ageing on the pitch.

Vertonghen was probably the club’s best defender last season and he has formed an exceptional partnership with his compatriot in north London.

It would be an error for both players to head off to China, which is fast becoming a graveyard for elite stars who were once plying their trade in Europe; one only has to look at the career trajectories of the likes of Oscar and Ramires to see proof of that.

Keeping them at Spurs is key to the club’s future and chairman Daniel Levy should be pulling out all the stops to make it happen.

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After getting the nod over Roberto Firmino on Saturday, Divock Origi’s day for Liverpool failed to really kick into gear.

The Belgium international made just five passes in his time on the pitch, and was forced off with less than ten minutes remaining in the first-half after suffering an injury.

Firmino’s introduction galvanised the Reds, and the Brazilian helped Jurgen Klopp’s side register a comfortable 3-1 victory over Newcastle in the end, thus maintaining their perfect start in the Premier League.

Having seen Origi’s ineffectiveness, Liverpool fans took to Twitter to slam the Belgian’s lack of output.

Many supporters of the Merseyside club called him a “waste of space”, whilst a few insisted he is “over-rated” and “useless”.

Some Reds fans even suggested not turning to Origi completely, and pointed to Firmino’s brilliance over the course of the game.

Check out some of the reaction of Liverpool fans below:

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West Ham United continue to flatter to deceive under Manuel Pellegrini and were on the wrong end of a thrashing on Tuesday, as they lost 3-0 at Wolves.

The result was their third defeat in as many games in all competitions and came on the back of losses against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League and, embarrassingly, AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup.

On the chalkboard

The Hammers had not one stand-out performer against Wolves, much like their performance against Wimbledon, a team rock bottom of League One.

But Angelo Ogbonna appears to be one man who is really struggling and was exposed time and time again at Molineux.

Per Whoscored, he made just one tackle across the 90 minutes and failed to deal with the movement and interplay between Wolves’ strikers Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez, and fans were absolutely crucifying him after the match.

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

A game against Liverpool on Monday offers no chance of a reprieve, such are the fearsome talents of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

Of course, Ogbonna has been parachuted into the team after Fabian Balbuena’s injury, but he has looked a fish out of water and Pellegrini would be well advised to drop Declan Rice back into defence as he bids to shore up a backline leaking goals at a dangerous rate.

Assiduous defender

Rice has the ability to play anywhere on the pitch, but he has experience of playing as a centre-back and is clearly a better defender than the error-prone Ogbonna.

Deploying the 20-year-old at centre-back would also add a calming presence alongside Issa Diop, who enjoyed an excellent start to the season next to Balbuena.

Rice offers the assiduity to mop up any potential threats effectively and also distribute the ball with precision, an attribute that is clearly lacking in the erratic Ogbonna’s game.

If the Hammers are to have any chance against the Reds, who appear to be steaming towards the Premier League title, they are going to have to reinforce their backline somehow.

Playing Rice ahead of Ogbonna seems the only logical way of doing just that.

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The transfer window has been closed in England for a number of weeks now, but that hasn’t stopped Slaven Bilic adding to his West Brom side.

The Croatian has snapped up veteran goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi on a contract until the end of this current season.

Al-Habsi has been plying his trade for Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League for the past two seasons, after departing Championship side Reading following their playoff final defeat to Huddersfield in May 2017.

The 37-year-old shot-stopper has made 228 appearances across England’s top two tiers, playing for Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Reading.

He becomes the third option between the sticks for Bilic with Sam Johnstone his first-choice, starting all five Championship matches, whilst Jonathan Bond has worked with the Oman international before at Reading.

Several supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

One fan suggested the club might as well announce promotion now whilst another described the decision to add Al-Habsi as ‘sensible.’

Others shared similar sentiments, including one who called for the veteran to be the starter this season.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

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Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has dropped a major update on West Ham United’s plans for the rest of the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Speaking on The Transfer Show on Sky Sports, Sheth revealed that the Hammers are “still” keen on bringing in a new centre-forward as they look to provide Michail Antonio with some vital striking competition.

He said: “David Moyes is still looking for a striker to strengthen his West Ham United squad this month, but he won’t take any risks in the market.”

Fans will be buzzing

While Antonio has certainly led the line well for the Hammers this season – he’s scored eight goals and provided another six assists in just 21 Premier League games – he could certainly do with being given some help up front.

That’s something which former Leeds man Noel Whelan has suggested Moyes’ side should be targeting this month. He said: “You can’t have enough strikers. When you look at the top sides and where where you want to be year in, year out in the Premier League, you’ve got to have cover.

“You’ve got to have options. It’s no different to Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool. You’ve got to have options in these positions. I think it will benefit, Michail Antonio. Yes, I know he’s going to be up for the fight to keep his place but it becomes healthy competition. Sometimes you’re not going to be able to play the same as you did the week before when you’re on a good run.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Paddy Kenny, who insisted: “You can’t rely on one man to score all of your goals. Antonio is great but he’s not going to score every week. Sometimes that pressure of scoring goals can almost be a burden. It wouldn’t surprise me if West Ham went and got a player to come in and support him.”

If the Hammers are intent on making a push for a Champions League place for next season, then bringing in someone who can share that goal-scoring burden with Antonio could prove to be crucial, and be the real difference-maker.

The news that Moyes is “still” looking for a new centre-forward is sure to have West Ham fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, West Ham are pushing hard for this attacker…

Even though Aston Villa currently have a strike duo of Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings, who have scored a combined total of nine Premier League goals so far this season prior to today’s clash at Everton, it hasn’t stopped the Midlands club from keeping an eye on other potential attacking transfer targets.

In a recent report for The Athletic by Gregg Evans, Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah has been “considered” for a potential move to Villa Park during the January transfer window.

With this in mind, Villa manager Steven Gerrard has the chance to turn the 22-year-old, who is currently picking up £17k-per-week according to Salary Sport, into the club’s next version of former loan star Tammy Abraham.

Villa signed the latter on loan from Chelsea in 2018 when they were still in the Championship.

During his spell at Villa Park, the striker racked up 26 goals and three assists in 40 appearances under Dean Smith, helping them to secure promotion back to the Premier League before he returned to Chelsea.

As a young English attacker from one of the top Premier League clubs in London, Nketiah could follow in the footsteps of Abraham by making a move to Villa and testing his talents there given that regular game-time in Mikel Arteta’s side has been hard to come by this season.  The 22-year-old has just eight appearances under his belt across all competitions despite scoring 69 goals in his career at senior and youth levels.

While he might not be a regular starter every week for Villa if he were to make the move this month or even in the summer, when his current deal at Arsenal expires, he would have a better chance of getting more minutes competing against the likes of Watkins and Ings than he is enjoying at Arsenal.

Labelled a “goalscoring machine” in the past by Arsenal youth development figure David Court, Nketiah has the ability and time ahead of him to fight for a regular starting place in Villa’s side in the near future, making a potential transfer swoop for him worth a shot, especially if they can get him as a free agent in the summer.

In other news – “Not happening..”: Preece drops crushing Villa transfer update, Gerrard will be fuming

West Ham United are interested in a deal to bring Tosin Adarabioyo to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by ExWHUemployee, with the West Ham insider revealing on a recent episode of The West Ham Way podcast (via Hammers News) that David Moyes has identified the Fulham defender as a potential target in the upcoming market, as the 58-year-old Hammers boss attempts to replace the injured centre-back duo of Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma.

Fans will be buzzing

Considering how impressive Adarabioyo has been for Fulham this season, the news that West Ham are interested in a move for the 24-year-old is sure to have left the London Stadium faithful buzzing.

Indeed, over his 19 Championship appearances this term, the £13.5m-rated centre-back has helped his side keep five clean sheets, scored one goal and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.7 interceptions, 1.2 tackles, 3.7 clearances, 63.9 passes and winning 63% of his duels per game.

These returns have seen the £17k-per-week man average a rather extraordinary SofaScore match rating of 7.22, ranking him as Marco Silva’s fourth-best performer in the second tier of English football.

As such, with Zouma looking to be out until at least February, in addition to Ogbonna appearing unlikely to feature in the league again this season, Adarabioyo would not only be an excellent option to stand in for the stricken defensive duo, but also one who boasts the ability to go on and stake a real claim for a regular starting spot in Moyes’ backline.

Indeed, considering just how impressive the 24-year-old has been this season, we believe it would be highly advisable for the 58-year-old West Ham manager to do everything in his power to get a deal over the line for the Fulham star next month.

In other news: GSB could land Neymar’s “perfect replacement” as WHU begin talks for “outstanding” gem