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Lots of Everton fans have been left to blast the display of Mason Holgate in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Friday night.

The former Barnsley man was guilty of some very poor defending along with Michael Keane for both of their goals conceded at Goodison Park, as Harry Kane pounced both times to earn Spurs a point.

Holgate did not have his best game for the Merseyside club statistically as well, as he failed to block any shots on Jordan Pickford’s goal and also lost possession of the ball on no fewer than on 11 different occasions in the match, earning him a very measly 6.4 overall rating on Sofascore, the second-lowest out of any Toffees outfield player to have set foot on the pitch.

Everton fans on Holgate display

These Blues blasted his performance on Twitter, with one EFC supporter even going as far as to compare the English central defender to a ‘Sunday league’ player.

That may feel a little harsh on a young player with potential, but it’s fair to say the Goodison faithful were not happy with what he produced against Jose Mourinho’s side…

“Keane and Holgate like a pair of Sunday league players. Other than that we battered them there. Looking more like a shootout for 7th place now with spurs #EVETOT #EFC”

Credit: @PaulEddie84

“So frustrating. Didn’t play badly. Keane and Holgate poor. James and Sigurdsson really good. #efc”

Credit: @james_mcgrow

“Defensive mess again! Absolutely awful and Holgate at fault again for me #EVETOT #EFC #COYB”

Credit: @Macca8t1

“Good 1st half performance. Always look better when we play the ball quicker and close down as a team. Allan looks a couple of games away from full fitness, still not convinced with Holgate. #efc”

Credit: @caehoward

“Holgate for me at fault both goals. Didn’t communicate with Keane in both, could of instructed Keane the 1st, didn’t listen to Keane at all the 2nd when he was screaming. And all the rumours are about Mina? #EFC”

Credit: @AlanWong_1987

“Keane & Holgate cost us the points tonight with their playground defending #Everton #efc”

Credit: @Kmac7472

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by Toffees here!

In a recent article, Alasdair Gold criticised the performance of Tottenham Hotspur right-back Matt Doherty in Spurs’ North London derby defeat on Sunday.

The match was ultimately decided by goals from Arsenal duo Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette, whose respective strikes cancelled out Erik Lamela’s stunning opener for Spurs 33 minutes into the game, with Mikel Arteta’s side eventually running out 2-1 winners.

While none of the Tottenham players covered themselves in glory for their efforts at the Emirates Stadium, Doherty was arguably one of the worst performers on the day, with the £74,000-per-week Irishman earning a SofaScore match rating of 6.4 for his display, a rating better than only Son Heung-min – who was withdrawn due to injury after just 19 minutes – and Hugo Lloris.

Rather unsurprisingly, the 29-year-old was one of the players who came under fire in Gold’s article for football.london looking back at the defeat, with the journalist claiming that there is “no excusing” the way Kieran Tierney drifted past the Tottenham right-back shortly before Odegaard’s goal, suggesting that Doherty “might as well not have been there.”

Gold added: “Doherty was pulled all over the place and was left frequently out of position as Arsenal targeted his side of the pitch with overloads, knowing Bale would not be providing the same cover as Son and then Lucas would on the opposite flank for Sergio Reguilon.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Since joining Tottenham late last summer, Doherty has not endured the best of times in north London thus far, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.71 over his 15 Premier League appearances this season – ranking him as the club’s joint ninth-best performer in the top flight.

Following his latest display, which Gold has understandably criticised, and with Serge Aurier waiting in the wings, it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which Doherty spends the next few games on the bench for Spurs.

In other news: Tottenham have been sent a warning over Harry Kane – find out more here!

After months of humiliation, failure and frustration, West Bromwich Albion are finally looking like a side capable of putting up a fight under Sam Allardyce – even if it may be a little too late.

In reality, the Baggies could have come away with a victory against Manchester United last weekend – creating two more big chances than the third-placed outfit – and against Burnley, they toppled the shooting charts despite playing with ten men for over an hour.

Mbaye Diagne has offered a direct threat in attack, the elite quality of Ainsley Maitland-Niles has made an instant impact, while in Okay Yokuslu, Albion finally have their defensive anchorman to shield the Premier League’s leakiest defence.

If only these signings were in place from the start of the campaign. If only.

West Brom cannot afford to let themselves ask that very same question this summer when several of their key stars are out of contract, including club captain Kyle Bartley.

The 29-year-old must be offered fresh terms sooner rather than later, irrespective of the division they’ll be competing in as he’s now become a crucial cog under Big Sam.

Sporting director Luke Dowling and the fellow Hawthorns hierarchy have already shown that they are thinking of the future by tying Conor Townsend down to a three-and-a-half-year extension, so they must do the same with the 6 foot 4 titan.

He, just like the former Hull City man, is going to be a player suited to the test regardless of whether it is Premier League or Championship football next season.

Bartley had been struggling for consistency early in the season but in more recent times, he’s shone at the back, notably against arch-rivals Wolves, where Allardyce labelled him “excellent” (even comparing the centre-back to himself) and versus the Red Devils, where he kept the illustrious Edinson Cavani silent for 90 minutes.

The long-serving defender, who earns only £17.5k-per-week in the Midlands, is also a massive threat from set-pieces, thus resulting in him being the Baggies’ joint-second top goalscorer on two for the season, alongside Callum Robinson and Conor Gallagher.

Bartley is a “natural-born leader” and a “real competitor,” according to former caretaker Jimmy Shan, who waxed lyrical to the Express & Star over him less than two years ago.

Which is what Albion need in abundance, particularly if they face the dreaded drop.

The former Leeds United man can continue to play a crucial part for the club, so with that in mind, Dowling and co must follow up their Townsend call by tying down the £1.7m-rated colossus to their defining future.

AND in other news, Left for £0, now a Dortmund target: West Brom will rue Pulis call on 21 y/o “finisher”…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Carlton Palmer suggested his former club West Brom did all they could in the January transfer window.

During it, manager Sam Allardyce and technical director Luke Dowling were able to bring in the likes of Robert Snodgrass, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Mbaye Diagne, giving the Baggies a boost in their fight for survival.

With West Brom struggling at both ends of the pitch this season, though, the Baggies could have perhaps done with further strengthening. They are one of the lowest scorers in the Premier League, registering just 20 goals in the current campaign, and have the worst record when it comes to goals conceded.

However, Palmer believes the club did what was realistically possible in the transfer market, noting the need to be financially cautious. In an exclusive interview with FFC, the former England international said:

“Well, the problem is in the position that they’re in, it’s always dangerous, isn’t it? Do you overspend to try and stay in the Premier League? Because, you know, if you go down, you’re left with a big wage bill.

“And it’s not that easy, as we’ve seen, to get automatic promotion from the Championship, so I think it’s a balancing act. And I think they would have taken that with a view when they brought Sam in.

“At the time they brought him in, obviously the wage they’ll be paying Sam and the recruitment they’ve done, I think they would have taken a calculated gamble in what they were doing. So, you know, I think they’ve done as much as what they can.”

Whatever the case, West Brom will believe that they can stay up. The Midlands club are currently nine points adrift of safety; however, they play 17th-placed Newcastle United on Sunday in a relegation clash that could completely change the dynamic down at the bottom.

The players can also draw confidence from having a very experienced manager in charge in Allardyce, with the ex-England boss boasting zero relegations from the Premier League on his CV, leading previous sides Crystal Palace and Sunderland to top-flight safety.

Rangers were unable to make their second-half pressure count at Parkhead on Sunday afternoon, as Steven Gerrard’s side drew 1-1 with their Old Firm rivals, although they do preserve their unbeaten run by avoiding defeat.

The Ibrox outfit had plenty of chances to add a second goal after Alfredo Morelos’ equaliser in the first half but were forced to settle for a draw against John Kennedy’s Celtic side.

Although the performance was much more impressive than Thursday’s 2-0 defeat against Slavia Prague in the Europa League, there will still some lacklustre displays at Parkhead, with Joe Aribo arguably nowhere near his usual standard.

The Nigerian international has been one of Gerrard’s most impressive performers in the Premiership so far this season, having averaged a superb 7.4 rating across his 26 appearances, with six goals and four assists to his name.

However, he wasn’t anywhere near his best on Sunday and struggled to have much influence on the game, even when Gerrard pushed him further forward when Scott Arfield replaced Ianis Hagi in the second half.

As per SofaScore, the former Charlton Athletic man would earn a disappointing 6.6/10 rating for his display, which was the worst of any Rangers player who started the game.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Rangers news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Aribo really struggled to have any influence on the game whatsoever, as he managed no shots, no dribbles and no key passes during his time on the pitch.

Considering he has averaged 1.6 shots, 1.9 dribbles and 1.3 key passes per game in the Premiership so far this season, it is definitely fair to suggest that he was very underwhelming on Sunday, which will surely frustrate Gerrard, as he is reliant on the Nigerian to be the creative force in his midfield.

The 24-year-old also failed to complete a single long ball or cross in his 77 minutes on the pitch, so it was no surprise to see him axed in favour of Scott Wright as Rangers chased a winning goal.

[freshpress-quiz id=“588789″]

Although he may well have been tired following the Europa League game in midweek, there is no denying that this performance was far from Aribo’s usual standard, and with their rivals there for the taking, Gerrard may well be fuming that one of his chief creators failed to really turn up.

And, in other news… Wilson can sign Rangers’ ideal Defoe with swoop for £6.3m-rated beast

Many Glasgow Rangers fans are not happy with defender and captain James Tavernier following his performance in the match against Motherwell.

The right-back will be frustrated with his own performance as the Motherwell goal which they scored early came from his flank (SofaScore). This wasn’t the only reason as to why fans were frustrated. He also lost possession 32 times and also lost three ground duels. One fan called him ‘comical’.

The lead that Rangers have at the top of the table is massive. However, if key players like Tavernier have games where their performance are starting to drop, then the club could very well begin to drop more points.

This is something that their Old Firm rivals Celtic will surely take notice of as they have three games in hand so could reduce this big gap.

In the end Steven Gerrard’s side managed to get back into the game following a late equaliser and Tavernier will probably count himself lucky that the Gers did not lose the match.

Here is what Rangers fans said about Tavernier:

“Tavernier is having a shocker. Believing his own hype”

Credit: Rangers_316

“Tavernier’s crosses not at it so far today”

Credit: @Ewan_Carr

“Tavernier’s delivery has been awful so far. *will be happy if this is being quoted back to me later.”

Credit: @GrouvilleBear

“Tavernier has been utterly horrendous by the way. His passing so far is honking. Needs to waken up.”

Credit: @BMCRangersRants

“Goldson and Tavernier absolute comical for that goal btw”

Credit: @Richie1993Craig

“Tavernier has been stinking the day and probably the last couple a games also needs to pick it up”

Credit: @dean_cameron16

In other news, find out which Rangers ace has been lauded by one pundit here!

Marlon Harewood, while speaking exclusively with Football FanCast, has claimed he cannot believe Daniel Levy let Jan Vertonghen leave Tottenham Hotspur for free this summer.

Vertonghen departed north London at the end of his £100,000-per-week contract after seeing his playing time limited under Jose Mourinho, who started the Belgian in just 13 Premier League fixtures upon succeeding Mauricio Pochettino at the helm.

The 33-year-old centre-half left Spurs after 315 games across all competitions, featuring 14 goals, seven assists and a key role in guiding the club to the 2018/19 Champions League Final and the 2014/15 EFL Cup Final.

Vertonghen joined Portuguese giants SL Benfica as a free agent following his Tottenham exit and has proven a regular under Jorge Jesus, who has favoured the 123-cap international in every fixture he has been available for.

A facial fracture prevented Vertonghen from featuring at home to SC Farense in October’s 3-2 Liga NOS win, which helped the Estadio da Luz natives to second in the table to rivals FC Porto ahead of visiting C.S. Maritimo on Monday.

Harewood continues to be in disbelief at Levy’s decision to allow Vertonghen to leave Spurs in the summer, feeling the veteran central defender would take Mourinho’s current backline to another level.

“They might have their reasons for that situation, but sometimes it’s hard to understand why you would let a play like that go when your defence is struggling. Defensively, you’re not the best, you’re good, but you’re not the best,” Harewood told FFC.

Mourinho had favoured a defensive pairing of Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier for five of Tottenham’s opening nine Premier League fixtures, but was without the 31-year-old Belgian for Sunday’s London Derby with rivals Chelsea through a muscular injury.

Tottenham have begun the 2020/21 campaign with one of the Premier League’s best defensive records and are among the top-flight’s most winning sides, while Southampton and West Ham were the only clubs to strike home multiple goals ahead of facing Chelsea.

Clean sheets had been hard for Spurs to find, though, with Tottenham not recording a shut out until matchday six when they held Burnley to just four shots on target from 13 attempts at Turf Moor.

Brighton and West Bromwich Albion were each restricted to only two on-target efforts in defeats earlier this month, too, while Manchester City were forced to attempt seven of their 22 efforts outside of the Spurs penalty area in defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Gary Mabbutt makes bold Spurs Premier League claim…

Spurs look to have been handed a huge boost ahead of Saturday’s clash with Leeds after Jose Mourinho confirmed in his pre-match conference that both Carlos Vinicius and Lucas Moura would be fit to face Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

Both Brazilians have been missing of late through injury but it seems as if they could be in with a chance of appearing against the Yorkshire outfit in Saturday’s early kick-off.

Spurs are without a win in their last four Premier League games, whereas Leeds were superb in their 5-0 win against West Brom last time out, so it is definitely going to be a tricky game for the Lilywhites.

Recently we have seen Steven Bergwijn play in the front three alongside Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane, although with the Dutchman having failed to contribute a goal or an assist in his 10 top-flight appearances this season, Mourinho will surely be glad to welcome back Moura, especially with fellow winger Gareth Bale also sidelined with injury.

The former PSG man has struggled with his performances in the Premier League this season, averaging a disappointing 6.30 rating, although his performances in the Europa League have been excellent, as he has earned a superb 7.40 average rating in that competition.

Therefore, it seems as if Mourinho has a huge decision to make ahead of Saturday’s game, as to whether Moura or Bergwijn start on the right-hand side.

Considering the way Leeds attack in numbers, the Portuguese boss might go with Moura as he is more adept at tracking back and contributing defensively, although Bergwijn’s pace could be useful to exploit Bielsa’s side on the counter-attack.

Whoever Mourinho selects, it seems clear that they will be in for a tough game against Leeds, as they continue to impress following their promotion from the Championship but if Spurs have title aspirations, these are the sorts of games they need to be winning.

And, in other news… Spurs must cash in on £22.5m-rated “liability” amid Pochettino interest

When Wolves travel to Lancashire to face Chorley this evening, they will do so hoping to avoid some bad omens.

Back in the 1986/87 season, the non-league side defeated Wolves 3-0, swatting them aside in robust fashion.

The Chorley players, at the time, earned around £25-per-week, a far cry from some of the meteoric sums of money that the current Wolves team now earn.

It will be a historic FA Cup tie, one that will hopefully demonstrate that the world’s oldest cup competition isn’t yet dead.

Given the form Nuno Santo’s team have been in, you wouldn’t put it past them to struggle against the National League North side. They have only two of their last ten games so it’ll be interesting to see how the Old Gold line-up.

Nevertheless, we’ve had a go at putting an XI together. Here’s how we reckon Nuno could go on Friday evening.

For starters, we’re tipping the Portuguese manager to make as many as seven changes to the team that lost the Black Country derby to West Brom.

Those changes start at the back where usual cup goalkeeper John Ruddy deputises in place of Rui Patricio. Both full-backs are swapped out with Rayan Ait-Nouri coming in on the left and Ki-Jana Hoever playing on the right. Romain Saiss moves into centre-back to pair Willy Boly with Conor Coady set to miss out.

The England international was withdrawn by Nuno for the first time in his Wolves career against West Brom so it feels like a good time to take him out of the firing line. After all, he did concede a penalty last weekend.

Further changes come in midfield where both Joao Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker drop out. We think Ruben Neves will be one of a few senior players fielded with Morgan Gibbs-White earning a rare start just behind the forward line.

We’ve hyped up Theo Corbeanu this week and reckon he should earn a first-team debut on the right-hand side, coming in for Adama Traore. Fabio Silva keeps his place while Patrick Cutrone gets an opportunity to prove what he’s capable of before Willian Jose possibly arrives on loan.

AND in other news, Wolves could find their perfect Raul Jimenez replacement in “very fast” £34k-p/w beast…

Looking to end their summer with a bang, Leicester City reportedly made late contact to sign a Premier League defender, only to see their approach knocked back.

Leicester transfer news

Only time will tell whether Leicester's transfer window can be deemed a success. On paper, the arrivals of Oliver Skipp, Odsonne Edouard and Jordan Ayew add crucial Premier League experience that should prove to be pivotal in their fight for survival this season.

The latter has, of course, got off to the perfect start by scoring a sensational first goal for the Foxes in their Carabao Cup victory over Tranmere Rovers.

Former Crystal Palace teammate Edouard is also an interesting arrival, joining on loan from Selhurst Park, with Leicester strengthening Steve Cooper's attacking options late on in the window.

It wasn't just going forward that the Foxes wanted to welcome reinforcements, with one particular defensive addition eyed in what would have been a last-gasp move.

According to journalist Graeme Bailey for HITC, Leicester made a late move to sign Matt Targett from Newcastle United, only for the Magpies to knock back both theirs and Fulham's approaches. The left-back, now all but set to stay put at St James' Park, currently finds himself behind Lewis Hall and Dan Burn in the pecking order under Eddie Howe.

Had Leicester pursued Targett's signature earlier in the window, they may well have got their man, but any late move was always more unlikely to reach completion. That said, given the defender's current Newcastle role, he could be one to keep an eye on in January.

A player with plenty of Premier League experience, Targett would have slotted straight into the mould of players that the Foxes signed in the summer, following the likes of Edouard and Ayew.

"Outstanding" Targett would have competed with Kristiansen

By adding Targett, Leicester would have been welcoming instant competition for Victor Kristiansen, who lacks the same experience as the Newcastle man at just 21 years old. It's competition that the Dane would only have benefited from, given the lessons that Targett could teach the left-back in a packed Premier League campaign.

This, of course, isn't the first time that Targett has been at the centre of speculation, with Howe left speaking about the defender's future in 2022, only to respond with high praise.

The Newcastle boss said via TEAMtalk: "I’ll be sitting down with all my players and discussing the future – and it’ll be the same with Matt. He’s been outstanding. I view him as an integral member of the squad. We really, really like him. He’s gelled with the squad.”

The Magpies reportedly wanted Targett's full wages paid to sanction a late loan move before the summer window closed, but could not tempt either of Leicester or Fulham into such a deal. If that offer is still on the table in January, the Foxes may yet turn back towards the defender.