The Athletic’s Newcastle United correspondent Chris Waugh believes that Matt Ritchie needs to be restored to the club’s starting XI, per The Pod on the Tyne podcast (March 11th, 09:23).

What’s the word?

The 30-year-old started against Southampton at the weekend but missed a penalty in the 1-0 victory.

He has made 10 Premier League appearances thus far this season, but has started just four times in 2020.

And Waugh thinks that he should be playing regularly, given the influence he has on the team.

He said: “I just think Ritchie gives you that leadership on the pitch.”

He added: “I’m not convinced long term that Matt Ritchie as an offensive player in the Premier League is necessarily the best idea, but for now in the situation Newcastle are in and the need to fight for points, he needs to be in that team somewhere.”

Not wrong

Ritchie is a remarkably seasoned professional.

Throughout his career, he has made 478 first-team appearances, from Newcastle to Portsmouth, and Bruce’s men need leadership like that if they are to survive in the Premier League.

They are currently eight points clear of the relegation zone but there remains nine games of the season to play and Newcastle could easily slip back into that battle should they lose a number of games in succession.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all 25 of these obscure Newcastle signings…

They have games against the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool to come, and need to pick up as many points as possible.

Having Ritchie’s influence in the side could be necessary as the season progresses; in the games that he has started in 2020, Newcastle have never once lost.

Instead, they have drawn with Everton, Norwich City, and Burnley, while beating Southampton; he also played 75 minutes as a left-back against Chelsea in a 1-0 win.

He should be in the side.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are interested in this Championship ace!

According to The Sun, Crystal Palace have been put off by QPR’s £20m valuation of Ebere Eze.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Eagles definitely made an enquiry for the attacking midfielder in January, as QPR’s very own Director of Football Les Ferdinand recently told the Beautiful Game Podcast (via The Evening Standard).

However, Ferdinand also said that was as far as Crystal Palace went in their pursuit of Eze in January – no discussions over a potential fee or other technicalities were discussed.

The London-born attacking midfielder has shone for the R’s this season, scoring 12 goals while also registering eight assists in the Championship.

There are definitely shades of Wilfried Zaha about the QPR No.10, as both men enjoy a bit of flamboyancy in their game while both honed their skills in the Championship at a London-based club – The Guardian even likened him to ex-QPR star Adel Taarabt, who was arguably one of the most skilful players the Championship has ever housed.

The Guardian also spoke to Marcus Bean, who scouted Eze for Gareth Ainsworth while at Wycombe.

He said: “Ebs makes the game look easy, he goes past players at will and he scores goals as well. I went back to the manager and said: ‘Listen, we need to get him in. He’s got that X Factor.’”

Freedman is wrong to be put off

While £20m is certainly a lot of money for a 21-year-old without any Premier League experience, the Eagles’ Sporting Director is wrong to be put off by that figure.

It is quite simply the going rate for exciting Championship stars nowadays, and if the south Londoners don’t want to pay it then surely someone else will eventually – this is a real gem of a footballer we’re talking about.

For example, as recently as last summer, Sheffield United signed Oli McBurnie for £20m, while Brighton signed Neal Maupay for just under that figure in a deal worth £16m.

Crystal Palace have already lost out on one stellar name in the Championship after West Ham beat them to Jarrod Bowen, so Freedman would be foolish to pass up another rough diamond who isn’t being valued unrealistically by QPR at all.

Calling all Eagles fans: Can you get 90% on this quickfire Palace quiz?

In other news, Tony Pulis secured a 2014 bargain when signing this man worth just £10.4k per game for Palace…

It was one of those rare Sir Alex Ferguson calls that the great Manchester United legend admitted he may have got wrong.

“When I think of disappointments, obviously Jaap Stam was always a disappointment to me, I made a bad decision there.”

The Dutch defender joined the Red Devils back in 1998, agreeing a then club-record fee with PSV to get their man. He went on to enjoy great success in the short time that he was at Old Trafford, winning a hat-trick of Premier League titles in consecutive years, and of course being part of that famous Treble-winning side in 1999.

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But in 2001, the centre-back left the club in rather acrimonious circumstances, with the fall-out from his book causing ramifications for his place in the team and the trust that he had with Ferguson.

However, whilst the former United boss himself he made a “bad decision”, is that really the case?

Yes, the club may have lost an elite central defender who was part of a team that had dominated English and European football for a three-year period, but what transpired the summer after that arguably off-set any feelings of regret.

The Red Devils signed Rio Ferdinand for a British record £30m in July 2002, which made him the world’s most expensive defender for the second time in his short career (his £18.5m switch from West Ham to Leeds in November 2000 was the first).

The then 23-year-old went on to establish himself as the cornerstone of United’s defence and back-line for the best part of a decade, winning multiple Premier League titles, domestic trophies and getting his hand on the coveted Champions League crown too.

How well do you really know the Premier League’s greatest ever manager? Find out below…

Had Stam stayed put, would Ferguson have considered splashing out big-money to sign yet another dominant central defender? Indeed, even if they had, Ferdinand may have struggled to impose himself as he did by himself, and may have been under the shadow of the more high-profile Dutchman.

In the end, Sir Alex’s “bad decision” worked out for the best at United. With 455 games under his belt, and multiple trophies in his cabinet too, Ferdinand became a United legend, and surely more than erased any bad memories of Stam’s exit in 2001.

Meanwhile, Man Utd must make a ruthless decision on this ace.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s emergence at Liverpool has been an enthralling tale of fulfilled promise.The flying full-back is valued at £99m by Transfermarkt at the age of 21, making him the most highly valued right-back on the planet according to the popular football website.Jurgen Klopp’s trust has truly paid off. Last season Alexander-Arnold recorded 12 assists in the Premier League, and his form has continued into the 2019/20 campaign.

Who said it: Klopp or Thanos?

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Before the global pandemic placed football on hold, the England international had already matched his previous return of 12 assists, firmly establishing himself among the world elite in the process.

But just how good is he?

Well, according to Gary Lineker he is the world’s best in his position.

In response to a tweet posted by SPORF, which suggested Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal as the best right-back on the planet, Lineker quickly name-checked Alexander-Arnold.

It’s a big claim to make about a player of the Liverpudlian’s age, but there is no doubting the legitimacy of Lineker’s verdict.

There is undoubtedly still plenty of scope for improvement to be made in regard to Alexander-Arnold’s defensive repertoire.

He is guilty of making some fundamental errors and lacking concentration at times, but the positives significantly outweigh the negatives at this stage.

Right now, there is simply no better right-back on the planet, and he’s only going to get better in the coming years.

Philippe Coutinho has failed to live up to the hype since leaving Liverpool in January 2018.

The Brazil international was in stunning form for the Reds before his departure, scoring 20 goals and providing 13 assists in his last 45 league games, but it was pretty clear he wanted to make the move to Barcelona – there were rumours he was refusing to train to his full capacity in an attempt to force a switch, whilst he also handed in a transfer request.

Since then, though, his stock has plummetted. He failed to make the grade at Barcelona, being sent out on loan to Bayern Munich after just 76 games, and now the Bavarians don’t seem eager to sign him permanently. The Blaugrana paid £106m for his services, but now he is said to be worth just £50.4m as per Transfermarkt.

Phil Thompson, though, said he would take him back “in a heartbeat” at Anfield (Sky Sports via Goal.com). As you can imagine, this has got the club’s supporters talking, and it seems they are torn over whether they would like to see him return. You can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Would you like to see Coutinho back at Liverpool? Let us know in the comments!

Brandon Barker came to Glasgow Rangers last summer with plenty of promise.

Of course, he had joined them permanently from Manchester City, which goes to show that he at least has pedigree at youth level. He had already had a spell in the Scottish Premiership with Hibernian, where he scored twice and provided five assists in 30 games for the Edinburgh outfit in all competitions (as per Transfermarkt).

However, it is fair to say he has struggled to make his mark so far at Ibrox under Steven Gerrard. Since joining the club last August, he has made just 12 appearances in all competitions, managing a paltry one goal during that time. Indeed, he has failed to start a single league match in 2020 (as per Transfermarkt).

Jordan Campbell has written an article for The Athletic debating how the Gers can get the best out of the 23-year-old, but it is clear that some supporters don’t think they can – one fan even called him “one of the worst players I’ve seen at Ibrox”. They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

‘Gers fans, do you feel that Barker is simply not good enough for the Ibrox club? Let us know what you think by commenting below!

Three members of India’s victorious Under-19 World Cup squad – left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, allrounder Baba Aparajith and medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma – have been rewarded with Challenger Trophy spots. Harmeet has also made it to the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup match.”It is a big break for me and it is important to stay calm, and focus on doing the right things in the match,” Harmeet told . “I am a bit surprised to get selected in both squads. I was expecting to get selected for Irani Cup.”Harmeet was one of the key performers for India in the U-19 World Cup and former Australia captain Ian Chappell wrote that Harmeet was ready to be considered for national selection. Harmeet, who picked up six wickets from four games, however, said that it was important for him not to lose focus. “I know there is a lot of talk around the U-19 cricketers. It feels good, but my main goal is to make the senior team. I am well aware of the fact that if I keep performing well, people will talk.”But once I stop performing, nobody will bother. My focus is completely on my game and training. I want to keep doing well,” he said.The Irani Cup, the opening fixture in India’s 2012-13 domestic season, has been shifted to Bangalore because of poor weather conditions at the original venue, Jaipur. Cheteshwar Pujara will lead the Rest of India squad against Rajasthan, the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy champions, in the five-day match beginning on September 21.The 50-over NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, to be played from September 29 to October 2 in Rajkot, will be contested between 2011-12 Vijay Hazare Trophy winners Bengal, India A and India B.With the selectors picking a young squad, which includes U-19 captain Unmukt Chand, for the upcoming India A tour of New Zealand, the Rest of India team features mostly known names. The 15-man squad has six players who were part of the India Test side against New Zealand recently.Yusuf Pathan, whose international comeback in March had lasted one Asia Cup game, has found a spot in the Irani Cup as well as the Challenger Trophy squads. M Vijay, who hasn’t played for India since the tour of West Indies in mid-2011, is also part of both the first-class and List A squads. Vijay made 558 runs at an average of 46.50 in the previous Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu.One player who has been rewarded for an outstanding domestic season last year is Karnataka allrounder Stuart Binny. Binny, 28, made 742 runs at 67.45 with three hundreds and picked up 20 wickets at 20.10 in the previous Ranji Trophy but was not part of the A squads for the tours of West Indies and New Zealand.Shikhar Dhawan, who had a poor time in West Indies with the A side, has been picked as well. Parvinder Awana will have more opportunities after getting just one game in West Indies. Abhimanyu Mithun, who went as Praveen Kumar’s replacement on India’s trip to Australia, is the fourth fast bowler in the Rest of India squad, which includes two wicketkeepers in Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik.Praveen, who’s last appearance for India was during the Asia Cup in March, has been picked for the Challenger Trophy.Rest of India: Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, S Badrinath, Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Parvinder Awana, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Stuart Binny, Abhimanyu Mithun, Harmeet Singh.India A: S Badrinath (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Parvinder Awana, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Iqbal Abdulla, Harshal Patel, Udit Birla.India B: Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), M Vijay, S Aniruddha, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Bist, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Baba Aparajith, Praveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Munaf Patel, Harmeet Singh, Rohit Motwani, Sandeep Sharma.

Reports emerging from France haven’t gone down well with the Tottenham Hotspur faithful this week.

According to beIN Sports, mooted director of football Luis Campos is now set to remain at his current club Lille following a couple of weeks of speculation linking him with an exit.

Many fans in north London were eager to see the Portuguese talent-spotter reunite with his former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho.

Campos is the man responsible for unearthing this era’s stars such as Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe as well as several Premier League regulars like Nicolas Pepe, Anthony Martial and Fabinho amongst others.

Spurs have somewhat suffered in the transfer market for several years under the guidance of owner Daniel Levy. The club has not had someone in the director of football role since December 2016 when Paul Mitchell reportedly fell out with the chairman.

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He’s now at RB Leipzig helping find talents like Matheus Cunha, Nordi Mukiele and Dani Olmo.

Whilst it took until this summer for Levy to break their club-record transfer fee, signing Tanguy Ndombele for £55m from Lyon after a couple of years without spending a single penny.

Which is why a couple of supporters took aim at the British businessman.

The situation has also given some members of the Spurs faithful a disappointing sense of deja vu – remember the Paulo Dybala saga?

At one stage, the Argentine forward appeared set to swap Turin for north London as Sky Sports reported that a €70m (£62.3m) fee had been agreed.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein then claimed a few days later that Juventus had pulled the plug on the deal, thus no Dybala at Spurs.

In some ways, this has been mirrored here after Canal+ had suggested that Campos was heading to Spurs – but now fresh claims counter that this week.

For now, it appears unlikely that Campos will become a member of Mourinho’s staff just yet.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold denies Spurs interest in reported striker target…

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDheeraj Jadhav and Natraj Behera did not make use of the starts they got•K Sivaraman

After losing five sessions to the weather, the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai got underway and Central Zone did not waste much time in grabbing the initiative. In the 31.2 overs possible on the second day, before bad light stopped play, they took three East Zone wickets to reduce them to 64 for 3.Central chose to bowl and while Praveen Kumar kept things tight at his end, the East openers, Dheeraj Jadhav and Natraj Behera, were able to score runs at a good pace from the other end. They looked to have settled in at 44 for no loss in the 17th, before Jalaj Saxena struck with his offspin. Saxena had Jadhav lbw with one that straightened after pitching, before Behera threw away his start by hitting a full toss off Saxena to Bhuvneshwar Kumar at mid-on. That was not the only wicket gifted away; Anustup Majumdar could hit a half-tracker from Bhuvneshwar only as far as Saxena at square leg, soon after which the umpires called bad light. Stumps were called not long after, with 6.4 of the scheduled 38 overs for the day left unbowled. Praveen finished the day with figures of 7-4-4-0.Some of the Central players sported black armbands, to mark the death of former Madhya Pradesh and Railways batsman Raja Ali, who suffered cardiac arrest on Sunday.

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Loads of Everton fans have been reflecting on one of the weirdest transfers in recent history, as Wednesday marked Eliaquim Mangala’s 28th birthday.

Everton have had real trouble transforming their defence in recent years, seemingly in a constant search for their next iconic back four as players like Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka reach the end of their time at the top level.

While the likes of Lucas Digne and Kurt Zouma are showing signs of being long-term Goodison favourites, the same could not be said for Mangala, who joined the Toffees on loan in January 2018.

The French international cost Manchester City a whopping £32m back in 2014, but has made just 57 league appearances for the Cityzens in nearly five years, with none of those coming this campaign.

His loan move to Everton was of course designed to help him re-gain form and fitness, and he did the complete opposite, injuring his knee in his debut against Crystal Palace.

He made just two league appearances for Everton, and now fails to even make the bench back at the Etihad.

Many fans have been discussing the defender, perhaps because his disastrous move sums up their transfer activity in recent years, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…