Roy Keane may have been critical of Darren Fletcher during his Manchester United days but the West Brom midfielder insists his former captain played a huge role in his development.
Fletcher broke into the United first team during the 2003-04 season and became an important part of their midfield before leaving for The Hawthorns in 2015.
During his time at Old Trafford he was praised for his work ethic and battling qualities, but in his early years he had to deal with a fair amount of criticism.
Some of that came from Keane, either on the pitch, in the dressing room or at training, with the Irishman also publicly criticising Fletcher following his United exit.
After two seasons playing alongside Fletcher, Keane departed for Celtic in 2005 and, during an …
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has voiced his frustration with the ongoing uncertainty about Joel Matip s availability, claiming the defender could miss up to eight games without having done anything wrong.
Matip was called up by Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations, despite having signalled his desire to stop representing his country.
The centre-back was withdrawn from the squad for the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the weekend and will also miss the upcoming FA Cup replay with Plymouth Argyle as Liverpool seek clarification over his availability.
FIFA has reportedly failed to provide any further guidance to the Reds, pointing them to regulations that state: A player who has been called up by his association for one of its representative teams is, unless ot…
What the papers say
Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos, 21, has emerged as a major target for Manchester United. The Daily Mirror reports the Old Trafford club have held talks with Benfica over a deal worth up to £100million, including add-ons.
The Red Devils are also poised to join the race for England midfielder Declan Rice, 24, according to The Sun. United are ready to join Arsenal and Chelsea in the hunt for Rice, who impressed in their narrow 1-0 defeat to West Ham on Sunday.
The Hammers are eyeing a move for Fulham boss Marco Silva if they part ways with David Moyes, according to the Daily Mail. The 45-year-old has a £6million release clause in his contract.
Chelsea are keen to make Portugal forward Joao Felix’s loan from Atletico Madrid permanent. Accordi…
Mikel Arteta has told his Arsenal players to put talks of their future on the back-burner and focus on their Premier League title charge.
The Gunners head into the weekend a point behind leaders Manchester City having played a game more and with Europe-chasing Brighton travelling to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
While Arteta’s side have been in fine form this season, there are a number of issues outstanding heading into the summer.
England pair Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka are believed to be close to signing new deals while Reiss Nelson is out of contract and Granit Xhaka has this week been linked with a move back to Germany.
But Arteta batted away questions on the future of some of his key players on Friday and is keen for focus to remain solely on…
Cardiff City have confirmed the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their new manager.
Solskjaer takes over at the Welsh club from Malky Mackay, who was sacked by controversial owner Vincent Tan last month following weeks of speculation.
David Kerslake has taken charge of Cardiff s two Premier League games since Mackay s dismissal, guiding them to a 2-2 draw with Sunderland and a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal.
However, former Manchester United striker Solskjaer will now take the reins for Cardiff s FA Cup tie at Newcastle United on Saturday.
The 40-year-old made his first steps into management at Norwegian side Molde, taking over in 2011 and leading them to two Norwegian Tippeligaen titles and a Norwegian Cup crown.
And he will now attempt to continue that succe…
Aston Villa have completed the loan signing of Grant Holt from Wigan Athletic until the end of the season.
The 32-year-old forward previously impressed in the Premier League for Norwich City under the guidance of current Villa boss Paul Lambert.
Holt joined Wigan from Norwich in the close season, but has found games and goals hard to come by for the Championship outfit, scoring just twice in nine league starts and seven substitute appearances.
Lambert is delighted to have boosted his forward line, with Libor Kozak having been ruled out for the remainder of the season earlier this month after breaking his leg in training.
Losing Libor was a blow to us, obviously, Lambert told Villa s official website.
When I knew Grant had become available it was somet…
Best odds: 8/11
Bookmaker:
Bayer Leverkusen will welcome Wolfsburg to the BayArena on Tuesday evening fir what will be the 28th game of the 2019/20 Bundesliga season for both teams.
Bayer Leverkusen
Peter Bosz s team have shown a very good form since the restart of the German top flight after a two-month break due the Covid-19 pandemic, having recorded away victories over Werder Bremen and Borussia Monchengladbach in which they scored no less than seven times. Those results will certainly have them looking forward to this game in high spirits. Overall, they ve won five of their last six league matches.
The triumph at the Borussia-Park on Saturday has seen them overtake the hosts in that game in the top-four race, taking them a step closer to a place in …
Verdict: Both teams to score yes
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
Borussia Dortmund know they must win out their final games of the season to have a slim shot at winning the Bundesliga title. They will try to earn three more points Saturday at home against Hertha Berlin, a team that is yet to lose since the resumption of the league last month. Kick-off for this match has been scheduled at 14:30 GMT.
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund are coming off a huge win last week, as they earned a massive 6-1 win over Paderborn despite going scoreless at the break. Jadon Sancho was the undisputed star of the game, notching a hat-trick in his first start since the league resumed in mid-May. The Yellow Bees currently sit in second place of the standings with 60 points (W18…
(GSM) Wigan s Charles N Zogbia has admitted he would be tempted to leave Wigan if a bigger club wants to sign him in the summer. The Frenchman joined the Latics from Newcastle in the Winter transfer window of 2009.
N Zogbia has, since his move away from the Magpies, improved his reputation and he has now revealed that he wishes to make an eventual high-profile move.
There have been plenty of rumours about me in the press, he told France Football.
Now I want to reach a new level and gain more experience.
My objective when I left Newcastle was to play for a medium-sized club, before bouncing back in a big team.
I hope that will be the case next season. Everything comes to he who waits.
…
The man to take Celtic to glory?
Thirty-eight year old Neil Lennon is the new full-time manager of Celtic and he has the job of trying to revive interest and excitement in the club.
Embarrassing
Last season saw the club fall out of the title race early, have embarrassing cup defeats and a disastrous European campaign. Towards the end of the season we saw the unusual sight of vast areas of empty seats at Parkhead whilst Celtic toiled away on the pitch.
Most of the embarrassment came under the managerial spell of Tony Mowbray although Lennon was in charge for the worst of all, the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of First Division Ross County.
Dispirited
Other than that terrible defeat, Lennon did pretty well with a dispirited s…