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As reported by the Mirror, Nottingham Forest could be facing a battle to keep their latest young star, with Everton and Stoke keeping their eyes on young defender, Joe Worrall.

What’s the word?

Worrall has only broken through to the Nottingham Forest first-team this season and despite making just four starts, he is already attracting interest from big clubs.

With his contract situation still up in the air, the Mirror reckon that Forest could be forced to cash in on the defender should the Premier League clubs come calling.

The Tricky Trees have already lost the likes of Oliver Burke to Red Bull Leipzig and Jamaal Lascelles to Newcastle in recent seasons.

Is he any good?

Worrall has actually played against Everton before, featuring in an FA Cup clash last season on loan at Dagenham & Redbridge. Despite their lowly status and having only 25% possession in the match, Dagenham & Redbridge put in a dogged defensive display to keep the score down to 2-0 at Goodison Park with Worrall playing a major role.

He’s certainly impressing his manager, too, with Philippe Montanier recently gushing about his abilities.

Quoted by the Nottingham Post, Montanier said: “As a central defender, he’s big and strong. We saw against Ipswich how important that was, and against Reading too, because in the Championship you need powerful players – you need technique as well, of course.”

A move to a Premier League club and the chance to work with elite players would certainly allow him to improve said technique, and already having the physical attributes to be an effective central defender it’s no wonder he’s attracting interest from the top division.

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According to reports from London Evening Standard, West Ham are ‘closing in’ on a transfer deal for Scott Hogan after tabling a £12.5million bid for the in-form Brentford striker.

The Hammers have already seen £10million and £11.5million offers turned down by the Bees but have now launched an improved bid that could well convince the Championship outfit to sell – although LES claim they’re holding out for £15million.

Hogan has been in fantastic form this season, notching up 14 goals in 25 second tier appearances despite Brentford languishing in the bottom half of the table, and the Irons certainly need a dependable goalscorer, having netted the seventh-fewest times of any Premier League side in 2016/17.

Those statistics alone are pretty convincing evidence of the Hammers pursuing the right January deal to give their lacklustre campaign a much-required boost, but FootballFanCast have three more to prove Hogan is the man Slaven Bilic’s side desperately need.

Payet’s playmaking

Kicking us off is a statistic most West Ham fans will already be painfully familiar with. Key passes are defined as passes leading to a shot that doesn’t result in a goal – in other words, unconverted chances – and no Premier League player has racked up more this season than Hammers talisman Dimitri Payet, who stands a staggering twelve above his closest rival in that regard, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.

Looking at the West Ham squad, it’s not hard to see why. The entire strike-force – Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho, Andre Ayew, Jonathan Calleri, Ashley Fletcher and Simone Zaza – has notched up just four Premier League goals combined this season. Fitness has been a factor for many but it’s clear the Irons need a front-man who quite simply knows where the goal is. Which brings us onto…

An out-and-out goalscorer

As the above statistics comparing the Championship’s five leading scorers this season show, Hogan’s all-round game leaves a lot to be desired. At 5ft. 11″, his presence in the air is almost non-existent, winning the fewest headers of any of the above, whilst he also ranks second-bottom for total duels won (including aerial duels, take-on attempts and good old shoulder-to-shoulders) and joint-bottom for chances created alongside Glenn Murray.

But it’s the upper statistics that really show what Hogan would offer the Hammers. Only Tammy Abraham has produced more shots inside the box this season, highlighting his poacher’s instincts, and he comes in first place in terms of shooting accuracy – a fantastic testament to his finishing ability and composure in front of goal. Combine that with Payet’s aforementioned service from midfield and the Salford-born striker should supply goals as regularly as clockwork for Bilic’s boys.

Good business

£14.6m

Average fee paid for strikers in summer 2016

A unique statistic courtesy of the gremlins kept in the basement at FootballFanCast Towers. Excluding free transfers, Premier League clubs paid, on average, £14.6million-per-striker during the summer transfer window.

So picking up an in-form front-man for just £12.5million, provided Brentford accept West Ham’s latest offer, would be excellent business on the east London outfit’s part, coming in slightly below the market norm.

Of course, the Bees are reportedly holding out for £15million, which – barring a few pennies – would put Hogan almost exactly in line with the Premier League average. But considering the winter market is always more expensive than its summer counterpart and transfer fees tend to naturally inflate with every window, £15million still represents a solid yet sensible and fiscally cautious investment on West Ham’s part.

Three Arsenal players have committed their futures to the North London outfit, but the club are still waiting on star duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

French trio Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Francis Coquelin have put pen to paper on new contracts.

The club have not specified the length of deals for the players, but manager Arsene Wenger sees them as important members of the team now and for the future. He told the club’s official website:

“We are very pleased that three important members of our team have committed to us for the long term. Francis has made tremendous technical strides over the past few years because he’s so focused every day.

“Olivier has big experience in the game now and has become a more and more complete player since joining us. Laurent is of course a key part of our squad and I believe one of the best defenders in the world today. So overall, this is great news for us.”

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Giroud has found goalscoring form of late, netting four in as many games, while Koscielny has formed a strong partnership with Shkodran Mustafi in defence.

Coquelin has struggled with injuries this season, but he has still managed to make 17 Premier League appearances and four in the Champions League.

A number of fans are pleased to see the trio extend their stays at the Emirates, but they would have been even happier had Sanchez and Ozil been included.

The duo have been in negotiations with the Premier League club for the last few months, but are yet to agree on fresh terms.

With 18 months remaining on both of the players’ contracts, there is a feeling of uncertainty surrounding their futures at Arsenal.

After the news was announced that Giroud, Coquelin and Koscielny had penned new deals, fans took to Twitter to give their reaction.

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Unlike any other facet of football – from playing to coaching, commentating to hard print journalism – there has never been a golden age of punditry. Some may stake a claim for Clough and Allison back in the day but in truth they trolled verbal-tweets for the cameras forty years ahead of their time. As for the Hills and Hansens of the nineties they alienated rather than informed, their otherwise solid contribution to the artform looked back on with rose-tinted spectacles due to the dumbing-down that followed after.

There has never been a golden age because it’s a discipline that lends itself best to biased opinion and ego while allowing the worst practitioners to settle a few scores along the way. It’s a discipline where thoughtful insight gets shouted down by forthright attention-seeking. In fact, when placed under a microscope, it’s hard to figure out why it’s needed at all.

Yet there can be little argument that even by punditry’s traditional low standing it has fallen face-first into a cesspool of nonsense and noise of late. We didn’t ask for the five ‘experts’ below to pollute our airwaves and we deserve much, much better.

Paul Merson

The only logical conclusion as to why this mess of a human being is allowed to slowly decompose into a mush of strangulated vowels before our very eyes is because Sky wanted to prepare us for the emergence of Donald Trump. While the rest of the world has been rendered dumbstruck by a psychopathic man-baby being given the keys to the Oval Office, Soccer Saturday viewers have witnessed a former player who is unable to pronounce words or names and has less knowledge of the game than a freshly clipped toenail having his opinion sought on Pep Guardiola’s tactical strategies.

In comparison the Donald becoming the most powerful man in the free world is small-fry.

Robbie Savage

This poodle in a scarf is another who requires a far-fetched theory to explain his prominence. Unless Savage is an avant-garde artist undertaking a subversive project to illustrate the futility of a profession then all hope is lost.

Why do I suspect this to be the case? Because the highly decorated midfielder wilfully reduces his role to paint-by-numbers simplicity, dispensing with any actual substance whatsoever.  He reveals its pointlessness; exposes punditry for the con that it is. In Savage-world something is either ‘brilliant’ or a ‘disgrace’; no in between because that would require a degree of insight and certainly no explanation as to why he has chosen one extreme over the other. In truth, most of the time he doesn’t need to as he sticks rigidly to stating the bleedin’ obvious. That amazing last-ditch tackle? Brilliant. That six-yarder blazed over the bar? He needs to have a word with himself.

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By this measure I’m a food critic for giving a thumbs up to the perfectly grilled bacon I had this morning but decreeing the burnt toast was terrible. Give me a column in a national paper.

Elsewhere if a team is doing well, he says they are doing well. If they’re struggling he lambasts them using one of the three negative words he has in his limited vocabulary. For this he has gained the reputation for being outspoken.

As Johnny Rotten once asked, ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

Danny Mills

Even the Shredded Wheat-haired buffoon Mark Lawrenson had his fans, no doubt aware that his entire knowledge of players was sourced from a dog-eared copy of Match magazine left in a dentist’s waiting room yet still endeared to his world-weary dad-quips.

It is, however, virtually impossible to imagine there is a single, sane, non-dribbling individual out there who champions Danny Mills’ cause. Seriously ask around and win a prize because locating any member of the British public who would compliantly choose to hear the bitter, dull tones of this bitter, dull man as he grumbles out his bitter, dull thoughts is like a fixed Where’s Wally competition where there is no Wally.

The BBC is surely aware that even Mills’ reflection scowls back at him but unpopularity has worked well for them in the past. Here though, they have made a big miscalculation. Being universally disliked is not enough to prompt social media engagement; we have to also care – even slightly – what is being said by that person.

Jamie Redknapp

Flash suited and with legs so far apart you can see he’s due a colonoscopy Redknapp utters words that evaporate into irrelevance before they’ve even reached the screen. There is no pundit – other than the comedy turns like Dwight Yorke – who openly display more bias towards their former clubs than Little Prince Spiceboy and you can add regular sniping at any club who has previously slighted his ol’ fella too. Which would all be rather annoying were it not for the fact that we all collectively fall into a stupefying trance when he speaks as we await someone who knows more about football than we do to pipe up.

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Liverpool are having a disastrous January. Jurgen Klopp’s side have played a massive eight games across the month but have only won one of them, a victory that is now irrelevant after Saturday.Winning against Plymouth in an FA Cup 3rd Round replay is insignificant now that Wolves have dumped them out of the FA Cup.Wanderers picked up a deserved 2-1 victory at Anfield on Saturday thanks to goals from Richard Stearman and Andreas Weimann, who was making his first ever start for the club.Klopp badly needs answers or risks seeing all his progress at Anfield being reversed. It’s a run of form that needs sorted out or Liverpool’s season will crash and burn hard after such a promising first half of the season.How hard a task will that be? Well, this stat from OptaÂshows just how deep a slump Klopp finds himself in.

It’s the German manager’s worst run of home form for nearly 10 years. It’s not something that Liverpool fans will enjoy reading and we’re sure support for the popular boss won’t wain, at least in the short-term, but he really needs to start picking up wins again or will find that the pressure arrives very quickly indeed.

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Rio Ferdinand and Martin Keown were heavily critical of Arsenal following their demise against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Both were providing their analysis of the game during punditry duties for BT Sport, and not many kind words were heard.

Arsenal gave themselves hope of progressing into the quarter-finals of the tournament when Alexis Sanchez scored an away goal after following up his saved penalty.

At the half-time break the tie was 1-1, but the Gunners capitulated shortly after Laurent Koscielny hobbled off the pitch as they conceded three goals in 10 minutes before Thomas Muller wrapped it up two minutes from time.

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Arsenal are now on the verge of getting knocked out of the elite tournament at the last-16 stage for the seventh season in a row.

Ferdinand, who spent 12 years playing for the Gunners’ rivals Manchester United, did not hold back in his criticism.

“Teams are usually a reflection of their manager. And that was a weak performance. A lack of fight. A lack of direction. A lack of leadership in the team.”

Arsenal legend Keown, who won three Premier League titles and three FA Cups at the North London outfit, believes that manager Arsene Wenger will be thinking about ending his 20-year stint in charge.

“I feel for Arsene Wenger, it’s almost embarrassing. [They were] outclassed, outplayed, they did it at a canter. He must be really considering his future, that was an embarrassing performance. This is obviously his lowest point ever.”

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Rangers managed to overcome St. Johnstone last night but they surely made it as hard as possible for themselves in their 3-2 victory.

Indeed, despite being 2-0 up against the visitors they were at 2-2 and down to ten men going into the final minutes.

Fortunately for them Emerson Hyndman stepped up and hit the winner as the Gers got back to winning ways as they look to catch Aberdeen in the league.

It was Rob Kiernan who received his marching orders during the match – ruling him out of the Old Firm Derby against Celtic – and, interestingly enough, there’s been a somewhat surprising reaction to the news.

Indeed, the defender really isn’t rated by many at either Rangers or Celtic and whilst Bhoys fans on Twitter actually want to see him play, the Gers are keen to see a proposed appeal against his ban rejected.

It makes for pretty comical reading then – provided your name isn’t Rob Kiernan – and you can read some of the best of the reaction below:

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According to reports on BBC, Derby County are said to be close to appointing former Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett (at the time writing) as their new manager, following the sacking of Steve McClaren on Sunday night.

The former England chief was relieved of his duties after the Rams picked up just six points from their last nine Championship fixtures, which has left them 10 points from the play-off positions with just nine matches of the season remaining.

Rowett is set to be the man that tries to pull off the miracle over the course of the next couple of months, starting with a tasty trip to arch-rivals Nottingham Forest this Saturday.

While he had an impressive record during spells with Burton Albion and Birmingham City, there are of course some factors that could mean that the 43-year-old isn’t the right man for the east Midlands club at this stage in time.

Here are three reasons why Rowett would be the wrong appointment for Derby County…

Not used to working with a big budget

During his time with Burton Albion, and the majority of his spell at Birmingham City, Rowett wasn’t used to working with a big budget, and it seemed to suit him.

After leading the Blues to a 10th-placed finish in his first season in charge on a shoestring budget, the 43-year-old was given money to spend last summer.

However, it is nothing compared to what is on offer with the Rams, who are determined to return to the Premier League.

It is something that Rowett will have to adapt to – and make the correct decisions on players – quickly.

More pressure than at Burton and Birmingham

Similarly to the first point, there was little pressure on Rowett to succeed at Burton Albion or Birmingham City, and it was something that he seemed to thrive on.

Even when the Blues were circling around the play-offs prior to his departure, they were doing so under the radar, but it will be a completely different story at Pride Park.

The board, and supporters, will expect a quick, positive start and they will demand promotion next season – if, as expected, the club fail to finish in the play-offs this term.

It will be the first time in his career that the 43-year-old has dealt with this level of pressure, and he will need to cope with it in the right way.

Relationship with the board

With Rowett doing so well with Birmingham City before his sacking, it would suggest that perhaps the relationship between manager and board wasn’t as strong as it could have been with the new owners taking the decision to sack him.

It might suggest that the 43-year-old is a little stubborn and wants to do things his way – which of course is fair enough – but in modern day football this is becoming less and less the norm.

With the pressure of promotion, keeping the communication between the board and Rowett positive will be key.

Oumar Niasse has not ruled out making his move from Everton to Hull City permanent, but has suggested that a lot depends on whether the Tigers manage to retain their Premier League status.

What’s the word?

The Senegalese forward signed for Hull in the January transfer window on a loan deal until the end of the season.

It was a much-needed move for Niasse, who was shoved to the Under-23s at Everton after failing to score in seven appearances for the Merseyside outfit.

There was huge disappointment surrounding the striker given that the club bought him for £13.5m from Lokomotiv Moscow in February last year.

In a lot of cases, a loan move signals the end of a player’s career at their parent club, and while Niasse is open to leaving the Toffees’ permanently, he is unsure if he will stay at Hull.

BT Sport quotes the striker as saying:

“It’s going to depend on my performances [whether I stay], but I think now the focus is to play the good football, to try to help the club stay in the league.

“It was a difficult time at Everton. I was like standing in the dressing room with the under-23s playing with them, travelling with them all the time. It was difficult, but I always kept smiling and always kept a positive mind to start again. But it’s also a little bit complicated because of the position of [Hull], but we have to enjoy the football.”

Should Hull keep hold of Niasse?

Given that he failed to score a single competitive goal for Everton, Niasse is already doing better at Hull.

The forward has netted three times in eight Premier League appearances, in which five of them he came on as a substitute.

He also found the back of the net in the Tigers’ 2-1 victory over Manchester United in the EFL Cup, but the result was not enough put them through across two legs.

Niasse proved at the weekend that he is an asset to the team after coming off the bench and scoring twice in a 2-1 triumph over Swansea City.

The 26-year-old, who netted the goals within nine minutes, is becoming something of a ‘super sub’, which is worth Hull keeping hold of.

The issue for Niasse, though, is whether he is willing to settle for a regular spot on the bench. Although having said that, his recent performances could warrant him a place in Marco Silva’s starting XI more often.

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When Gareth Southgate announced his England squad last week, he must have known it wouldn’t please everybody. Whilst every Three Lions selection contains a few contentious inclusions, a series of events left him with a real headache up front that could only be resolved by an inevitably controversial solution.

England’s strike-force was in fantastic shape before Euro 2016 but Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy have endured underwhelming campaigns since then, whilst captain Wayne Rooney and the Premier League’s second-top scorer Harry Kane were ruled out for the coming fixtures against Germany and Lithuania through injury.

Therefore, Southgate was forced to make some big calls and eventually opted for Vardy, Manchester United prodigy Marcus Rashford and Sunderland veteran Jermain Defoe. But according to Football FanCast’s exclusive poll, our England readers would have selected the Three Lions strike-force rather differently…

5. Jermain Defoe

One of the few Southgate selections our readers actually agreed with, a free-scoring campaign has seen Jermain Defoe earn his first England call-up since 2013. Now aged 34, the Sunderland striker is enjoying an Indian summer – keeping his side’s survival hopes alive with 14 strikes for the Premier League’s bottom-placed side. He’s got the experience and ability required at international level and is now enjoying a level of form that made leaving him out impossible.

4. Theo Walcott

Southgate has already revealed he had a rather unpleasant telephone conversation with Theo Walcott, after informing the Arsenal striker he’d missed out on place in the latest squad on his 28th birthday. The 47-cap star was pretty miffed and our readers seemingly agree with him, voting Walcott to fourth in our poll. Admittedly, despite often dividing opinion, Walcott is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career with 17 goals across all competitions. His personal best is 21, which came during the 2012/13 campaign.

3. Andy Carroll

He may not be the most pleasing on the eye, but there’s no questioning how effective Andy Carroll can be when in top form. Towering, athletic, aggressive and imperious in the air, England don’t have another striker quite like the West Ham front-man, who has scored six goals in twelve Premier League starts this term despite a raft of injury problems. That may have put Southgate off involving the 28-year-old, but our readers clearly view him as an important, different kind of weapon in the England arsenal.

2. Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck may struggle to convince as a natural goalscorer but he’s hit the onion bag three times in eight appearances since returning from injury in January – including a strike against Liverpool the weekend before last. Versatile, physical and energetic, he would have added a lot to Southgate’s attacking options and the scope to switch approach mid-match. But perhaps due to his injury problems, the 26-year-old missed on a place in England’s latest squad.

1. Marcus Rashford

The only other forward who made both Southgate and our readers’ selected strike-forces, Marcus Rashford may have only scored seven times this season, including just three goals in the Premier League, but England fans seemingly still have high hopes for the 19-year-old, who was arguably the Man of the Match during Manchester United’s win over Middlesbrough on Sunday. Despite the lack of goals, Rashford has been a busy, industrious and inventive nuisance in the final third all season, showing he can make a difference both out wide and centrally.

Results

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