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When Jordan Jones signed for Sunderland on loan in January it was met with excitement and anticipation.

The Mackems had just bolstered their promotion bid by signing a man with European experience to his name. Indeed, when he first penned terms, there were glowing appraisals.

Glasgow Live reporter Mark McDougall told Chronicle Live that the 26-year-old had the abilities to light up the English third tier, saying: “In all honesty, he should stroll League One if his attitude is right when he goes down there.”

McDougall’s assessment couldn’t be truer. Since moving south of the border, Jones has been a revelation for Sunderland, scoring two goals and registering four assists in just five starts.

The Northern Ireland winger has been exceptional and, in his last three games, he’s proven why he was such a shrewd piece of business in January, registering an assist in each game and a solitary goal for his troubles.

The 26-year-old was missed during his recent time on the sidelines. He picked up a muscle injury which first caused him to miss the EFL Trophy final before he sat out a further three matches.

However, on his return to the starting XI against Oxford United, he was a dynamo. It may have been Lynden Gooch, Aiden McGeady and Max Power who popped up with the goals on Friday afternoon but it was Jones who proved to be the standout figure.

The winger was withdrawn on 77 minutes but this was one of his most eye-catching displays yet.

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He picked up another assist with a frightening piece of skill in the first half. He performed two stepovers and then nudged the ball past Jamie Hanson, beating him all ends up.

It was a dazzling moment, a genius piece of play which was arguably one of his finest flashes in the red and white of Sunderland so far.

Jones had the Oxford United left-back on strings throughout the entire contest, completing four dribbles and amassing three shots on goal. The forward also proved adept in the challenge, winning a considerable 13 ground duels from 16 attempted.

With Sunderland’s promotion hopes now well and truly in their own hands, they have unearthed a gem who could well fire them to the Championship.

The arrival of the Rangers attacker has been nothing short of game-changing for Lee Johnson’s team. He will be salivating over the prospect of unleashing him against Peterborough on Monday.

AND in other news, 18x possession lost: Johnson must be fuming with SAFC gem who was “led a merry dance”…

Celtic’s hunt to bring a new manager to the Bhoys dugout already feels like a tired and drawn-out affair.

Parkhead witnessed Neil Lennon leave the job a number of weeks ago but we are still no closer to discovering who his replacement could be.

What’s the word?

Eddie Howe is the undoubted favourite for the role at the minute. He was in advanced talks with the Hoops hierarchy but things have stalled for the time being.

That’s because of a number of reasons. Howe doesn’t want to return to management until the summer while issues are lingering over the backroom staff he wants to bring with him.

One source suggests that Celtic have said no to his requests, one of which could be to bring Richard Hughes to the club instead of Fergal Harkin.

However, a new reason has come to light. Speaking to Transfer Tavern, Peterborough director of football Barry Fry said: “He’ll have to do a lot of work, because Celtic on and off the field are in a little bit of disarray at the minute. You know what I mean?”

Fry continued: “There’s a lot of players unhappy. I think there’ll be a lot of comings and goings at Celtic in the summer and I’m not sure that’s Eddie Howe’s thing. I think he’ll want a Premier League job to be quite honest.”

Fry has plenty of contacts within the game, mainly in the Premier League and English football, so his words should be taken with more than a pinch of salt.

More twists to come

With Howe waiting until the summer to take up a new job, perhaps he’ll look to see the impact Dominic McKay has when he arrives at the club.

McKay is due to replace Peter Lawwell as Celtic’s CEO and his main task when he walks through the door will be to address the playing squad.

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This could lead to plenty of twists in terms of staff upheaval. Of course, both Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer are linked with exits while they need to address the future of Karamoko Dembele too.

If McKay can get some of those players so stay then it may turn out that Howe does want to come to Glasgow. After all, a Celtic team without Edouard and Ajer would be even tougher to manage.

A move to the Premier League seems safer for the 43-year-old but if he really wants to test and prove himself, Celtic is the place to do that.

Lucien Favre has emerged as an alternative for the former Cherries boss and could be more suited to the current situation at Paradise.

He took over at Borussia Dortmund in 2018 when the club were rather lost in a transitional stage of their history. When he first took on the role in Germany, he said: “Training Borussia Dortmund is an appealing task that I am taking on gladly. We will now build a new team together.”

The Swiss coach didn’t win a trophy with Dortmund but he did reignite a lost spark; winning 61.82% of his matches before being given the boot.

That was a big improvement on the man who managed the Bundesliga outfit before him; Peter Stoger. He won just 41.67% of his games so Favre was clearly adept at rebuilding a team.

Bearing in mind Fry’s comments, perhaps the biggest twist of them all could occur in the coming weeks; forgetting about Howe and moving on to other targets.

AND in other news, Forget Dembele: Celtic could save millions by unleashing rarely-seen “tricky” 18 y/o…

Fans of Aston Villa have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which the club confirmed the appointment of Mile Jedinak as a part of Dean Smith’s backroom staff at Bodymoor Heath.

In a short statement on the Villa website, the club confirmed that Jedinak – who made 80 appearances for the club as a player over a three-year spell at Villa Park, playing an important role in the club’s 2018/19 promotion-winning campaign – will be taking up the role of Loan Player Development Coach at the club.

In addition to confirming Jedinak’s return, Villa also revealed that Adam Henshall has been appointed as the club’s new Head of Emerging Talents & Loans.

And, after Aston Villa relayed news of these appointments on Twitter, fans of the club flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing delighted at the prospect of Jedinak being a part of the Villa setup once again.

So, what exactly did these Aston Villa fans have to say in reaction to Mile Jedinak’s appointment?

“Oh yes.”

@avfc_jf

“More key work behind the scenes looking after our future.”

@StephenArnold78

“Fantastic to see Mile still involved in the club.”

@BobBobb70447781

“Wow!!! Planning, that’s a novelty…”

@onmyshoe

“Love to see it.”

@liamhaddon1

“Great news.”

@BoysieBaldock

“Mile omds.”

@jlancaster0

In other news: Loads of Aston Villa fans called for this £42k p/w ace’s summer exit – find out more here!

Leicester City will be aiming to get their first win in three Premier League games on Saturday evening as they take on Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium.

The Foxes were held by Burnley at Turf Moor last time out, Kelechi Iheanacho cancelling out Matej Vydra’s early opener.

Brendan Rodgers’ men were not quite able to turn the game on its head, though, and departed Lancashire with just a point.

What will the Leicester City starting XI look like against the Seagulls?

We are expecting as many as four changes from Rodgers as he attempts to get his side back on track.

Kasper Schmeichel is an ever-present for Leicester this season so will undoubtedly start between the sticks. He will be screened by Timothy Castagne, Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira.

There will however be one alteration in the backline, with the fit-again Wesley Fofana, who made a brief 24-minute cameo against Burnley starting once again in place of Daniel Amartey.

Wilfred Ndidi, who was also deployed at centre-back at Turf Moor, should move back into midfield alongside Nampalys Mendy. The Frenchman should be starting back-to-back games for the first time since early December.

Elsewhere, having had a hectic schedule at the beginning of 2021 in playing almost every minute in the league, Youri Tielemans should be afforded a rest. He should be replaced by youngster Sidnei Tavares, who made his Premier League debut last time out.

In a similar vein, Jamie Vardy should also drop to the bench. The 144-goal forward is still recovering from a hernia operation, so a rest could potentially be beneficial. Marc Albrighton could well come in for him after his brief but impressive cameo against Burnley.

Following a mistake at Turf Moor, it also makes sense for Hamza Choudhury to drop out of the starting XI. Cengiz Under should get an opportunity to line up in attack in his absence, having not played a great deal of football recently.

AND in more news, take a look at our analysis of the winger’s excellent performance at Turf Moor.

Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting to comments from Humza Yousaf, who has threatened that the next Old Firm derby could be postponed.

The Gers confirmed their status as Premiership champions last Sunday after Celtic could only draw 0-0 with Dundee United. In the aftermath of the Gers winning the trophy, thousands of the Ibrox outfit’s supporters took to the streets to celebrate.

Not only did they break coronavirus regulations, there were reports of public property being damaged (Sky News). Rangers are set to face Celtic on March 21st, but Justice Secretary Yousaf has suggested the game may not go ahead if he does not get assurances that there will be no trouble.

Yousaf shared the comments via his Twitter account, and he attracted plenty of attention from the Gers supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the comments from Yousaf below

“Hilarious that a justice minister would admit the he can’t police a game with no fans, that would normally have nearly 60k in attendance. Or is this a convenient ‘squirrel’ to divert attention from stories elsewhere. Might explain why there wasn’t outcry from previous gatherings”

Credit: @garryboy11

“A damming indictment of Police Scotland if that’s the case.”

Credit: @R1130_

“I have never saw any Rangers fan saying they had planned to go near Parkhead. It would maybe had been different if we had won the league there but that is now not the case. As usual the SNP using football to deflect from their own problems.”

Credit: @MrGaryValentine

“Your approach will put the euros in danger Police are responsible for public order Put a plan in place that is your govt responsibility”

Credit: @AlanC_44

“For once Rangers and Celtic fans and all football fans unite and show your power. 1st get this imposter out in the election. Secondly show the government the people have the power and get them out enough is enough no music in pubs no pint with food etc THE POWER IS WITH YOU.”

Credit: @nightmares54321

“Why would there be disorder in a dead rubber match with nothing to play for, when 2 that actually meant something, one on a national holiday, went without incident? Hopefully this Big Brother is watching governance eventually wakes up people hypnotised by myopic nationalism.”

Credit: @tagsbo

In other news, Rangers fans slammed this Gerrard decision against Slavia.

Reports by TEAMtalk earlier this week claimed that Crystal Palace are leading the race for Antoine Semenyo, but David Moyes should urge West Ham United to secure the Bristol City star’s signature this summer.

The Hammers are said to be one of several Premier League clubs trailing the Eagles for the forward’s services after being identified by the Selhurst Park natives as the perfect fit for their squad as a potential new Yannick Bolasie type.

Semenyo is seen to have immense potential and has a huge advocate in Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman following a five-goal, seven-assist season after 44 appearances across all competitions so far this term.

A number of top-flight suitors are understood to be carrying out regular checks on the 21-year-old’s progress at Ashton Gate, including West Ham, Palace, Southampton and relegation-threatened trio Newcastle, Brighton and Sheffield United.

Championship high-flyers Norwich and Watford – who both look set to secure an immediate return to the Premier League – are also noted to be keen on the ex-Chelsea target, for whom the Blues bid £1m to sign in 2019 but failed to get a deal over the line.

Any club wishing to sign Semenyo this summer faces paying a large increase on the Stamford Bridge outfit’s offer, with Bristol Post reporting that the Robins are happy to trade on their terms and that a price tag of £10m is possible.

Bristol City are unlikely to stand in his way of a move out of Ashton Gate if Nigel Pearson’s side receive suitable offers, although it is added that no official approaches have so far been made and that no bids were tabled during the winter market.

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Semenyo is under contract at the Championship club through to the summer of 2023 on £3,500-per-week terms, making him one of their lowest earners.

The forward would likely demand a significant pay rise to join a Premier League side in the off-season, yet the suspected asking price being touted should not see West Ham baulk in a bid to strengthen Moyes’ attacking options.

The Irons are expected to work heavily in the summer market clearing out deadwood on the wage bill, including £36m former record signing Felipe Anderson and £115,000-a-week top-earner Andriy Yarmolenko.

Neither are likely to fetch anywhere near the fees paid by the Hammers in 2018, with claims that Anderson could be sold for just £17m and Yarmolenko let go for offers of between £5m and 6m.

Anderson may have spent the season on loan at FC Porto – where he has proven to be a disaster for the Liga NOS giants – and Yarmolenko has only started one Premier League game all term, but the pair are capable of at least providing Moyes with depth out wide.

The Irons boss also has a lack of depth at centre-forward after Sebastien Haller’s winter move to AFC Ajax left Michail Antonio as the sole striker at the London Stadium, but Semenyo could solve both concerns.

Pearson has utilised the 21-year-old at centre-forward and on either wing throughout Bristol City’s season, as the forward – once lauded by Martin Keown as an “exciting prospect” – has proven to be capable of netting and assisting as often when played out wide as he is through the centre.

If West Ham are only expected to make around £20m-25m through the sales of Anderson and Yarmolenko and likely chase a clinical centre-forward to challenge Antonio next term, beating Crystal Palace to Semenyo may be a very wise way to go.

AND in other news, West Ham land boost in £17m race to sign “one of the finest footballers” who was David Moyes’ dream target in 2020…

Celtic bounced back to winning ways after securing an emphatic victory over Kilmarnock last night. The Bhoys triumphed 4-0 thanks to goals from Odsonne Edouard (2), Albian Ajeti and skipper Scott Brown.

Neil Lennon opted for several changes in his starting lineup and they definitely paid off. For instance, Shane Duffy dropped to the bench in favour of 21-year-old Stephen Welsh, who put in an impressive performance at centre-back alongside Kristoffer Ajer.

Another man who is new to the Celtic first team this season, is summer signing David Turnbull, and he is rapidly becoming one of the Hoops’ biggest stars.

David Turnbull vs Kilmarnock

Once again, the 21-year-old proved exactly why he is a rare shining light in a turbulent season for the Bhoys. Turnbull assisted two of his side’s four goals, but also contributed an awful lot more than that as well.

No one came near the Celtic midfielder in terms of creativity, with FotMob revealing that his impressive five chances created were more than anyone else managed on the pitch. The £7,500 per week play-maker ran riot from the engine room against Kilmarnock, making three key passes and completing 100% of long balls and 50% of his attempted crosses.

The rest of his teammates combined for five key passes among themselves, whilst his total of two accurate crosses were as many as everyone else put together.

Turnbull also had two shots on target as he looked to get in on the score-sheet himself, and that desire to get in dangerous positions has been one of the key reasons behind why he has an impressive 11 goals contributions in his debut campaign for the club.

Nick Hammond may be under increasing pressure over his future at the club as head of football operations, but one thing is for sure, he pulled off a masterstroke by landing Turnbull from Motherwell last summer.

Meanwhile, this Celtic player surely impressed Lennon on Tuesday night…

Even the most optimistic of Arsenal fans surely couldn’t have imagined the kind of instant impact Gabriel Martinelli would have on this team.

The Brazilian starlet had been out of action for about nine months with an injury picked up earlier this year, and only returned to competitive first-team action against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

And after being handed a starting spot against Chelsea on Saturday night in the Premier League, he took his opportunity with both hands, and has left boss Mikel Arteta with no room to hide going forward.

The £22.5m-rated dynamo was just a relentless ball of energy, always hustling the Chelsea defence and pressing from the front, whilst also showing his willingness to take risks and try things with how direct he was on the ball.

As per Sofascore, he had four total attempts on goal, and was desperately unlucky not to get on the score-sheet himself when his effort was well saved by Edouard Mendy.

And defensively, he was superb, with his work-rate seeing him make three tackles (a joint team-high), and win five of his eight ground duels.

His performance led to BBC Radio journalist Nick Bright to say that “Martinelli must start every game from now”, and it’s difficult to argue with that assessment given just how much he lifted spirits at the Emirates.

It’s been a gloomy first-half of the season for the Gunners, but the Brazilian youngster’s return to action has brought a much-needed and welcome breath of fresh air.

Make no mistake about it, if he’s fit, Martinelli just has to play. Whilst Bukayo Saka may have been the one to earn the man of the match award, it was Arsenal’s other superstar talent that left the big impression.

Liverpool are reportedly one of the teams taking an interest in RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano ahead of the summer transfer window, and if the French international were to join, it could spell trouble for Joe Gomez.

Fabrizio Romano suggested in The Guardian that the Bundesliga side are resigned to the 22-year-old leaving the club in the summer when his £37 million release clause becomes active.

He also suggests that Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are amongst the Premier League sides interested in signing him, alongside Champions League holders Bayern Munich.

Whilst the 6 ft 1 Upamecano would be a great player for Liverpool to have right now, due to their lack of defensive options, Romano does confirm that he is unlikely to leave in this month’s transfer window, as Julian Nagelsmann’s side target domestic and European success.

Jurgen Klopp will get to scout the Frenchman personally when the Reds face RB Leipzig in the Champions League next month and if he is impressed, then perhaps we will see the Merseyside club swoop for him during the summer.

If he were to join, his superb performances with Leipzig in recent seasons suggest that he would definitely be challenging for a spot in Klopp’s first-team, which could spell trouble for Gomez.

Last season saw Upamecano average a strong 7.06 rating for his performances in the Bundesliga, whilst he was clearly a key part in Die Roten Bullen reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, as he averaged an exceptional 7.26 rating for his performances in that competition.

Gomez, meanwhile, averaged a 6.78 rating in both the Premier League and Champions League last season, which, when considering the Reds’ dominance domestically, is rather disappointing.

He also started this season in dreadful form before his long-term injury, averaging a 6.48 rating across his seven top-flight appearances, with only seven Reds players rated lower.

In January 2020 he was dubbed “world-class” by teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold but he will need to perform a lot better when he returns from injury if he wants to justify that praise.

Gomez has averaged 0.4 tackles and 0.6 interceptions per game in the Premier League this season, compared to Upamecano’s 1.1 tackles and 1.3 interceptions, so it could definitely be argued that the Frenchman would be an upgrade from a defensive perspective based on this season’s form.

Whilst the former Charlton Athletic man is only 23-years-old and would almost certainly still get game time under Klopp, as he has become first-choice centre-back in recent seasons, you worry that Upamecano could become the long-term partner for Virgil van Dijk, which could hamper Gomez’s progress and confidence as a result.

And, in other news, Klopp can sign his next Coutinho at LFC in 26 y/o who scores and assists …

Aiden McGeady’s Sunderland spell has been a crazy affair.

After initially signing for the club, he was on a weekly salary of around £31k-per-week. It’s hard to suggest he merited that as the club fell into League One.

Though, now on £19k-per-week, he’s more than earning his money at the Stadium of Light. Before Lee Johnson walked into the club, McGeady hadn’t played all season.

An incident where he was pictured alongside Chris Maguire at McDonald’s after a defeat in December 2019 saw him alienated from the side and transfer listed.

He signed for Charlton on loan but then returned to the north-east, again alienated by Phil Parkinson. Though, Johnson clearly recognised he still had something to give and it hasn’t taken the Irishman long to rekindle his fire.

The winger has been phenomenal in recent months, becoming the club’s chief creator. He assisted all four of Charlie Wyke’s goals in the 4-1 win over Doncaster and has ten assists in just 14 outings this term.

He has been running riot down the left-hand side but his contract expires in just a matter of months. If you told McGeady, and indeed the club’s supporters, that he’d stay beyond the summer at the beginning of the season, they’d have laughed.

Though, the reality is that he’s now one of Sunderland’s most important players again. The veteran hinted last week that he wanted to stay in the north-east and according to Kevin Phillips, he more than deserves a new deal.

He told Football Insider: “Why would you not offer him a contract? Whether they go up or not.”

Phillips continued: “It is hard to find players of McGeady’s calibre. He can create goals. It is just a question of whether he has the hunger and desire to do it week in, week out and McGeady has shown recently that he has that. He has been outstanding.”

Kyril-Louis Dreyfus finalised his takeover of the club in the last few days and he will have a whole list of priorities to address. Though, he can start his tenure at Sunderland with a bang by tying down McGeady.

No player has more assists than the 34-year-old in League One this term, and despite his age, he is still as valuable as ever.

McGeady may have lost a yard of pace but creatively, he is still magic. Dreyfus simply has to ensure that his future lies at Sunderland, not elsewhere.

AND in other news, Forget Power: SAFC star who won 6 aerial duels was Johnson’s true hero on Tuesday…