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According to Sky Sports, Middlesbrough have announced the signing of free agent John Obi Mikel for the rest of the season. 

The Nigerian has a wonderful pedigree, and won almost everything a player can win in England during his 11 seasons with Chelsea.

With that in mind, here are the pros and cons of Boro signing Mikel:

Pros Experience

With 85 international caps to his name, as well as playing almost 400 games for Chelsea, very few in the Championship can match the experience of Mikel. He has won multiple Premier League and FA Cup titles, as well as a Champions League and Europa League.

Manager Tony Pulis will relish having a player of this calibre in his ranks, and this level of experience will be invaluable as Boro push for promotion this season.

He’s free

Middlesbrough will not want to recklessly spend money this transfer window. With promotion not guaranteed at the end of the season, they cannot rely on a bumper paycheque to cover their expenses this season.

That means shrewd signings like this one are worth their weight in gold. Being a free agent after leaving Chinese outfit Tianjin TEDA, this won’t be too great a financial hit for Boro apart from wages.

Cons Age

Some will say that at 31 years of age a footballer still has a lot to give in football. But when one looks at the fact that Mikel was playing at the highest level in his teenage years, there are probably more miles on the clock than most 31-year-olds.

Mikel may not have the stamina or legs to play that often, but then again, for only a few months, he may still be able to do a job with Boro.

Style

As already mentioned in another article, Mikel will bring a lot to Middlesbrough, but he may not be the answer to their problems at the moment. The midfielder is resolute defensively, but his weakness would be his attacking prowess.

For a team like Middlesbrough who seem to have a chronically turgid attack, Mikel may not help that much.

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Tony Cascarino, writing in The Times, has claimed that Leeds United would get battered were they a Premier League outfit, if they continued to play in the same way they are now.

What he said

The former Republic of Ireland striker wrote that the Whites “would be smashed to pieces” in the top flight.

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Promotion to the Premier League is a very real proposition for Leeds this season, as Marcelo Bielsa’s side currently find themselves in second place in the Championship table – on goal difference, behind Norwich City – having led the pack for the much of the campaign so far.

However, Cascarino believes that their no-holds-barred, intense style would see them come unstuck in the upper reaches of the English league pyramid. He told The Times: “I like the way that Marcelo Bielsa plays but if Leeds United are promoted to the Premier League, they are going to be like Fulham this year — they would be ripped to pieces. Bielsa’s game is very adventurous but it comes with risks, as Norwich City showed on Saturday.”

What Cascarino has missed

What Cascarino has not appeared to consider though is the fact that no current Championship side would thrive in the Premier League as things stand.

When teams get promoted from the second tier they receive a not insignificant cash injection, which they then use to strengthen accordingly. Failure to improve adequately or smartly in the summer almost always results in an immediate relegation from the Premier League. Why should things be any different for Leeds?

Of course their current side would struggle in the top flight – so would Norwich City and Sheffield United, both also in the promotion hunt. It has nothing to do with style of play, but rather the quality of their players. Only promotion will give them the chance to put together a Premier League quality side by adding the extra talent they’d need to survive. 

Things are already looking incredibly different at Manchester United with the dark cloud of 3rd-year-syndrome-Jose- Mourinho now a thing of the past.

Despite Paul Ince’s deluded opinion that just about anyone could pull things around at United – including himself, strangely – Ole Gunnar Solskjær has worked absolute wonders to get the players back on board and inject a bit of identity back into their game.

Paul Pogba is finally showing signs of consistency and quality to back up his dabbing frenzies, Anthony Martial is his opportunity to shine, Marcus Rashford is being played in the correct position, and Victor Lindelöf has firmly rescued himself from the “flop” pile. Even the draw against Burnley showed signs of classic Ferguson-era Manchester United.

What will excite fans the most, however, is Solskjær’s work off the pitch. One of the club’s most prized positions, Anthony Martial, has already signed a contract keeping him in Manchester until 2024 (source: manunited.com). A miracle, given just how reportedly close he was to leaving just a few months ago.

Now, attention is turned to their next superstar, Marcus Rashford.

The forward’s contract is due to expire at the end of next season with an option to extend for a further year if the club so wish. Reports from the Telegraph suggest that United are preparing to double Rashford’s current wage to more than £150,000 a week with bonuses in an effort to secure his services for the foreseeable future.

There’s every reason for United fans to be excited about this. Solskjær’s faith in Rashford as the starting striker has been repaid with the young forward returning six league goals in eight games, and showing signs of a developing lethal partnership with Paul Pogba – who has also been given a new role as the designated number 10.

The times are most certainly changing at Manchester United. For Rashford too, things could really be on the up.

[ad_pod ]Aston Villa slumped to a 2-0 defeat against bitter rivals West Brom at Villa Park on Saturday. First half goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Jay Rodriguez were ultimately enough to give the Baggies the win.Dean Smith’s side never really threatened to mount a comeback, and they largely looked toothless throughout. The Villans certainly lost the midfield battle, as a number of Smith’s players had a tough time in the middle of the park, none more so than Conor Hourihane.

The 28-year-old is a key member of Smith’s squad and a regular starter. The 8-cap Republic of Ireland international has made 31 league appearances for the Villans this season, racking up four goals and nine assists, as per Transfermarkt’s stats.Â

However, he has not been at his best for some time, and when he was subbed off on Saturday he was audibly booed and jeered by some members of Villa’s own support.

Hourihane’s display certainly sparked plenty of discussion on Twitter amongst Villa fans…

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David Davis made his first appearance of the season in Birmingham City’s home Championship match with Bolton Wanderers on February 12.

Birmingham lost 1-0, but even the defeat would not have dampened the occasion for Davis, who came on for the final 10 minutes of the match.

The midfielder fractured his left ankle during a training session last July and underwent surgery to repair the problem.

The 27-year-old has made 168 appearances for Birmingham and his return at this stage of the season is absolutely huge for the club.

There is no question that Birmingham will use him sparingly in the final months of the season, but the chance to play again at this level after such a serious injury has been branded ‘a blessing’ by the man himself.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

Indeed, Davis took to social media over the weekend to comment on his return, which led to a number of Birmingham fans lavishing praise on the Englishman.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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It would be fair to say that Dimitri Payet is still splitting the opinion of the West Ham United supporters, more than two years since he left the capital club.

The 38-time France international scored 15 times and registered 23 assists in 60 appearances for West Ham between 2015 and 2017.

It did not take long for Payet to become a firm favourite with the London club’s supporters and he scored 12 times during a very impressive first season in England.

Things ultimately turned sour, however, and the talented playmaker left West Ham in January 2017 to seal a return to Marseille.

The 31-year-old has been impressive since re-joining the French club and has contributed six goals and six assists during the 2018-19 campaign.

West Ham took a trip down memory lane on Thursday when they posted two spectacular goals from the Frenchman.

And the response from the club’s supporters was extremely mixed, as can be seen by the tweets below:

Spurs saw their title hopes almost come to an end really as they were seen off 2-1 by Burnley at Turf Moor this weekend.

The result, despite seeing a returning Harry Kane get on the scoresheet, was a bitter blow for the club any any lingering hopes of winning the league they might have had left.

Manager Pochettino also saw his frustrations boil over at the final whistle as he confronted Mike Dean, but ultimately it was just a bad day at the office, and once again highlighted the need for Spurs to go out and make some serious investments in the transfer market this summer.

It wasn’t necessarily that Spurs might not have done enough to warrant something from the game, it just appeared that when the time was right for a bit of inspiration of real quality from the bench, it just wasn’t there in the right areas.

The last few windows have seen Spurs not invest in the squad, and while Pochettino is to be commended for his work, he needs backing before some of the bigger and better players within the ranks start to up and leave at the club’s lack of ambition.

A move to the new stadium in the coming months might well open the chequebook in terms of transfers, but it needs to happen, and soon if Spurs are to capitalise on having such a talented first XI like they do at the moment.

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Ralph Hasenhuttl was unable to bring hopeful Southampton fans much good news ahead of Saturday’s clash with Tottenham as he stated that Danny Ings remains ruled out through injury.

The 26-year-old has scored eight goals in 17 league appearances for the Saints but, as has been the case at multiple other points in his career, injury setbacks have prevented him from getting an extended run in the line-up.

Ings suffered a hamstring issue at the start of February in the clash with Burnley and was substituted before half-time, with Hasenhuttl later stating that the striker would require two to three weeks to get back to full fitness.

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That time frame, though, has expired now and the Liverpool loanee has been absent for a month or more. The Saints have sorely missed his instinct in front of goal – Charlie Austin has struggled to find the net and has been more or less a passenger in the last few games.

Here’s how the St Mary’s Stadium faithful reacted to the update on Twitter…

With another win under their belts, what’s not to love about West Ham at the moment? Manuel Pellegrini has got the boys playing brilliantly and with a bit of consistency from now until the end of the season, their European aspirations may still be a possibility.

Whether you want Europa League or not, it would be a terrific achievement for West Ham to finish in seventh place, having stumbled out of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, making their season looking utterly miserable at times.

Disappointment has now turned to positivity, surrounding the brilliant unveiling of the Billy Bonds Stand and the football on the pitch has improved as well.

Having spent an eye-watering £100 million on new players last season, West Ham aren’t finished yet. Clearly, they’re on the hunt for constant improvement and the players they’re linked never seem to dry up.

One of those is reportedly (as per the Daily Mail) Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, a player that seems to fit the billing of a West Ham player.

Shelvey, (who is valued at £13.5 million on Transfermarkt) still remains an attractive proposition for West Ham, despite Rafa Benitez seemingly dropping him to Newcastle’s fifth-choice midfielder.

Having made 12 appearances this season, Shelvey has gone from being the Magpies main man to someone who can’t get a game.

A transfer to the Hammers has always been discussed amongst fans but never fully come to fruition, which could all change this summer.

Although there might be doubt, what cannot be argued is the Englishman’s work-rate, determination and skill.

Getting the best out of Jonjo Shelvey would make for a very happy set of West Ham supporters because he could be the missing man in their current set-up. Alongside Declan Rice and Mark Noble, Shelvey could complete the Irons’ midfield, making the team a lot easier on the eye and giving Jack Wilshere something to think about.

The capture of the former Arsenal hasn’t worked out at all and Shelvey’s potential arrival would go some way into capturing some of the talents Wilshere can no longer provide consistently enough.

Do you agree… Let us know!

Newcastle United have kickstarted a late ascent up the Premier League ladder with a number of quality performances and results – no thanks to Monaco loanee Antonio Barreca.

The ex-Torino man arrived from talent refining powerhouse Monaco in January as cover for Wales international Paul Dummett but has since failed miserably to establish himself in the team.

This will have come as a disappointing blow for those Newcastle fans who were excited about the prospect of an immensely talented player turning out for their team – one who was hungry to prove himself after being exiled by Thierry Henry; someone former Torino boss Sinisa Mihajlovic believed could be “become of one the best left-backs in Italy” (as per Chronicle Live).

In reality, Barreca has been very poor.

Chronicle writer Lee Ryder said: “Barreca has not impressed since coming in from Monaco on loan. Paul Dummett has been injured but Barreca has not stepped up.

“The fact that Matt Ritchie has played out of position ahead of him tells you everything you need to know.” (Chronicle Live Q&A 19:48).

Of course, it is always a shame when players fail to fulfil their touted potential – and Newcastle fans will be especially conscious of the consequences this flop could have on their future transfer plans.

Indeed, Mike Ashley will be keeping a keen eye on the progress of his signings and if he feels there are signs of poor judgement from either his manager or the club’s scouting team, then he will undoubtedly reduce the already dwindling funds for next season.

Newcastle United fans, is Antonio Barreca your most disappointing signing in recent years? Let us know in the comment section below…