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Glasgow Rangers have had their appeal to reduce Kemar Roofe’s four-game European ban rejected by UEFA.

The Lowdown: Roofe receives four-game ban

During the Gers’ 2-0 defeat to Slavia Prague in the Europa League round of 16 second leg at Ibrox, Roofe received a red card for a horrific challenge on opposing goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.

In the aftermath of the game, the £5.4m-valued 28-year-old (Transfermarkt) was hit with a four-match ban by the European governing body.

The Latest: Appeal rejected

As such, the 55-time Scottish champions decided to appeal the punishment.

However, they have been thwarted in their attempt to get the sanction reduced, and it has instead been upheld (via The Daily Mail). As such, Roofe will miss Rangers’ Champions League qualifying run next term.

The Verdict: Expected

Rangers’ decision to move ahead with the appeal was bold. Roofe’s challenge was reckless and unacceptable, and could have caused the Slavia goalkeeper long-term damage. Quite frankly, four games could even be viewed as lenient.

From a footballing perspective, this will no doubt come as a blow to Steven Gerrard. With 16 goals in 34 matches for the Gers so far this term (Transfermarkt), the former Leeds United striker has proven to be an astute signing, and the goal he scored against Standard Liege in the Europa shows he is capable of moments of magic. Rangers will have to try to reach the Champions League group stages without him though, so perhaps this could influence the short-term futures of Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe.

In other news, Rangers have been urged to sign this right-back.

Derby County forward Martyn Waghorn endured a disappointing afternoon on Saturday as Wayne Rooney’s side slipped up in their bid to secure Championship safety.

Knowing that a win against Swansea City would have all but ensured the Rams’ place in the second tier ahead of next season, despite taking the lead at the Liberty Stadium, two second-half Swansea goals ultimately saw Derby slump to their sixth consecutive league defeat, with the 2-1 loss leaving Rooney’s side in very real jeopardy of dropping down to League One on the final day of the season.

With both Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday picking up draws in their respective fixtures against Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest, as well as Wycombe Wanderers securing a shock win against Bournemouth, Derby now find themselves just three points above all the trio of Wednesday, Rotherham and Wycombe in the relegation places – with the Rams’ final game of the season essentially becoming a relegation play-off against the Owls at Pride Park.

In the fixture against Swansea itself, Martyn Waghorn was easily one of Rooney’s worst performers, with the 31-year-old earning a SofaScore match rating of just 6.2, ranking him as the club’s second-worst player on the day.

This disappointing rating is likely to do with just how ineffectual the former Rangers striker was, with Waghorn managing no attempts at Freddie Woodman’s goal, completing just seven of his 13 passes, failing with all three of his attempted dribbles and losing possession of the ball 14 times over his 80 minutes on the pitch.

As such, it would very much appear as if Waghorn badly failed Rooney on Saturday, and, if the 35-year-old manager opts to start him again in the crucial clash with Sheffield Wednesday this weekend, it is essential that the striker ups his game – or else Derby could well be playing their football in the third tier next season.

In other news: Bye-Bye Waghorn: Rooney must sanction Derby summer swoop for “fantastic” £5k-p/w ace – opinion

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who made 280 Premier League appearances, claims Joao Mario didn’t impress him at West Ham during the 2017/18 season so doesn’t want the Hammers to make a move for him this summer.

It has been reported that West Ham may look to bring the Portugal international back to the London Stadium with his contract set to expire at Inter Milan, where he hasn’t played since 2018/19, next summer.

Mario spent six months on loan with the Hammers during David Moyes’ first West Ham spell, but they opted against making the move permanent with his market value at that time being around £23.4million. The midfielder made 14 appearances in claret and blue, scoring twice, but still failed to convince the club that he was worth the money.

Speaking on how he can’t even remember Joao Mario playing for West Ham and why owners get blinded by foreign players and the clubs they play for, Lee told FFC:

“I don’t remember him impressing me that much and if he did impress people, why didn’t they sign him at the time? I don’t remember him really and I can’t remember many West Ham fans talking highly about him. 

“I think when people name all these foreign players owners seem to get carried away with their names and what club they’re playing for, but none of that means anything if you aren’t a good player.”

Since Mario left West Ham, he has experienced loan spells at both Spartak Moscow and Sporting Lisbon with one season at Inter Milan coming before those.

David Moyes will be looking to build around his team this summer and after working with the midfielder during his first stint as Hammers manager, it could be someone Moyes wants to bring back.

Kelechi Iheanacho has committed his future to Leicester City by signing a new contract.

The Nigerian’s deal, which was set to expire next summer, has now been extended by a further two years, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2024. It is also a new contract that reportedly includes a considerable pay increase.

The new deal is a great reward from Director of Football Jon Rudkin for Iheanacho’s fantastic recent form, an aspect that has seen him become a consistent name on the teamsheet and even scoop the Premier League Player of the Month award for March.

However, considering his career at the King Power Stadium so far, it might have been slightly too early to invest so much in the 24-year-old.

Since arriving at Leicester from Manchester City in 2017, Iheanacho has frustrated more than he has thrilled.

He has netted just 32 goals in 118 matches in all competitions and has not scored more than six Premier League goals in a single campaign as of yet.

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Whilst rewarding him with a new contract also evades the threat of losing the striker on a free transfer, it might have been a better idea to have waited until the summer and seen if hot streak in which Iheanacho has scored nine goals in his last nine matches was closer to his true form or simply a purple patch.

After all, the Nigerian has also endured long spells without finding the net in the league at Leicester; runs of 14 and 24 matches amongst his lengthiest spells without a Premier League goal at the King Power Stadium.

Indeed it is clear though that Rudkin and Brendan Rodgers have seen enough in which to reward Iheanacho. After all, the Foxes’ boss has highlighted simply how “valuable” the former Manchester City starlet has been.

Should his form take a downturn though, it may indicate that the new deal was slightly too early for the £13.5m-rated striker.

AND in more news, the Foxes have been hit with a devastating defensive blow…

Liverpool are closing in on a move for RB Leipzig centre-back Ibrahima Konate, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein.

Jurgen Klopp is likely to be eyeing up a new defender this summer, having experienced all sort of problems in that area throughout the season.

Liverpool are without injured trio Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip for the remainder of the season, with Nathaniel Phillips forced to become a regular and Ozan Kabak joining on loan from Schalke.

Konate is a player with whom the Reds have been linked numerous times in the past and it now looks as though he will be heading to Anfield in the summer.

Liverpool look set to sign Konate

According to Ornstein, significant progress has been made with regards to a deal for the 21-year-old , with talks now at an advanced stage.

Konate has been limited to just four Bundesliga starts this season, due to injuries of his own, but he is considered a player of big potential. His former coach Ralf Rangnick has said of the Frenchman: “He’s so good that he could play for Real Madrid or Barcelona one day.”

Transfer Tavern take

It is apparent that Klopp sees the importance of bringing in a centre-back this summer, with Matip particularly unreliable when it comes to staying fit consistently.

Konate is a player who could not only come in and do a job straight away, boasting ample Bundesliga and Champions League experience, but could also represent the long-term future at Anfield.

In other news, one Liverpool star has been tipped to stay put this summer – find out who it is here.

When Everton raided Swindon Town for their academy graduate Lukas Jutkiewicz in 2007, few may have forseen how poorly things would turn out for the striker at Goodison Park under David Moyes.

But after a nomadic career having failed to make the grade on Merseyside, the Polish forward found a home for himself at Birmingham City in 2017 on the back of an initial loan spell.

Life at St. Andrew’s has been good for Jutkiewicz in most, and on Sunday he reached a landmark by making the 500th senior appearance of his career in a 1-0 win over Rotherham United that moved Lee Bowyer’s side nine points clear of the relegation zone.

It was 15-years ago this month that Jutkiewicz made his senior debut for Swindon in a 2-1 defeat to Swansea City, just two weeks after his 17th birthday, but his efforts as the season petered out failed to prevent the Robins from being relegated to the fourth-tier.

Yet it was in League Two that Jutkiewicz caught the eye of Everton and Moyes, who agreed to hand the then 18-year-old a lucrative contract as part of a £1m move, after an impressive campaign with five goals and two assists in 33 appearances despite only starting 13 times.

Action was much harder to secure at Goodison Park, even with Moyes claiming in 2008 that the Southampton-born centre-forward “is certainly in our thoughts” after showing progress behind the scenes, with the only appearance of his Toffees career lasting just four minutes.

Jutkiewicz featured on the bench in dribs and drabs between his arrival in 2007, loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town and Motherwell before eventually leaving in 2010 when sold to Coventry City. But his only outing for Everton came as a late substitute when replacing Tim Cahill in a 3-0 win at home to Sunderland in December 2008.

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His time with Coventry failed to make Everton regret his departure with Jutkiewicz only scoring 18 goals in 69 games across all competitions before joining Middlesbrough, where he would again attract Premier League interest – this time from Burnley.

The Clarets spent £2.5m on Jutkiewicz in 2014 but would fail to see the forward find the back of the net in any of his 35 appearances, but did offer three assists – including one in a 3-1 defeat to Everton to equalise after Samuel Eto’o had opened the scoring.

That was the closest Jutkiewicz has ever come to making the Blues regret his exit, having gone on to round out the first 500 games of his senior career by establishing himself as a solid if not remarkable Championship centre-forward with Birmingham.

In 213 games across all competitions for the second city side, the now 32-year-old has hit 51 goals and offered 23 assists, with personal-best league returns of 14 goals in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns.

Jutkiewicz currently has five goals in 39 games this term as the £10,000-per-week frontman enters the twilight years of his career as a two-time Premier League flop, having failed to fulfil the promise that first caught Everton and Moyes’ attention more than a decade ago.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti faces a selection dilemma after a £16m-rated Everton star’s error-strewn weekend horrors…

The upcoming transfer window could be the perfect time for Crystal Palace to wave goodbye to a costly arrival.

According to Correire dello Sport, centre-back Mamadou Sakho is on a list of potential summer targets for Serie A giants Lazio alongside the likes of Arsenal’s David Luiz and Chelsea’s Thiago Silva.

Out of contract at the end of the season after four years as a permanent Eagles player, Palace should certainly not fight too hard to keep the Frenchman at Selhurst Park.

Having arrived from Liverpool, initially on-loan, Sakho has endured a rollercoaster period with the club.

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He has, at points, been an excellent option at the back for Roy Hodgson, specifically during the 2018/19 season where he played 27 times in the Premier League alone as the club finished 12th in the standings.

However, he has also endured frustrating injury problems, having missed a total of 67 matches through injury, whilst he has only appeared on six occasions throughout the current campaign.

For context, the defender has only actually appeared on 75 occasions for the club in his four years at the club since arriving for what was a reported fee of £26m from Liverpool.

As a result, Sakho has now fallen considerable down the pecking order, finding himself behind the likes of Gary Cahill, Cheikhou Kouyate, Scott Dann and James Tomkins for a starting berth at centre-back.

Considering that lack of action then, the £6.3m-rated French international has certainly not justified his £100k per-week wages at Selhurst Park.

With Lazio then now swooping for his signature, Palace now have the perfect opportunity to let him go as opposed to extending his contract.

It really now could be time then, for the Eagles to wave goodbye to Sakho in the upcoming transfer window.

AND in more news, Palace have been handed a huge boost in their pursuit of Aaron Ramsey…

Many West Brom fans have been left to fume as WBA Report have shared a leaked image of their new home kit for next season on their Twitter page.

Given that the Hawthorns faithful know that they have been relegated from the Premier League, and so will be playing in the second tier come the 2021/22 term, rumours and images of new kits have been flying around.

In this case, the leaked home shirt abandons the traditional stripes that the Midlands club usually wear, and the shades of colour seem to be much lighter.

Baggies have not exactly has much to sing about so far in this campaign, and given that this would go away from traditions, a lot of Albion supporters have been left fuming at the potential new jersey.

West Brom fans on new kit

These WBA fans fumed as the image was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘awful’:

“Please tell me I am being blagged here……a day away from Twitter and my world is falling apart”

Credit: @Gornalwizza

“Stockport County comes to mind, awful if true”

Credit: @hebberts_ian

“Don’t like it…”

Credit: @BermondseyT

“Urgh”

Credit: @AstlesLeftfoot1

“Dire”

Credit: @musicmonkey1966

“I really hope this is fake that is disgusting and is not our classic stripes”

Credit: @harryjay94

“Sweet Jesus! What is this unholy mess?”

Credit: @Albionista3

In other news, find out which ‘tenacious’ West Brom ace has been linked with a summer transfer here!

Southampton fans have lauded James Ward-Prowse after an incredible stat from the 26-year-old emerged.

Most Saints fans would probably agree that, along with perhaps Danny Ings, captain Ward-Prowse is the club’s most important player. From an individual perspective, this has been his best season – he has never managed as many combined goals and assists in a single Premier League campaign (Transfermarkt), while he also scored his first goal for England during the international break against San Marino.

Incredibly, the 26-year-old has now started Southampton’s last 101 games in all competitions – a miraculous feat considering the danger of injury and, at the moment, a positive coronavirus test. The stat underlines just how much the club relies on him.

The stat was shared on the club’s official Twitter account, and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts on what is a brilliant achievement.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Ward-Prowse below

“The man is a machine Our captain”

Credit: @AlishaW1709

“We love you @Prowsey16 my captain!”

Credit: @DWTheDoctor

“More than just a Freekick merchant. An absolute engine”

Credit: @RhysTheSaint

“The marathon man,captain,leader,our heartbeat of the team”

Credit: @tugs081976

“Give him a statue outside the ground when he retires”

Credit: @HMacdonald07

“This man needs a lifetime contract imo Can’t wait for his testimonial”

Credit: @altoniansaint

In other news, Barry Fry has urged Southampton to sell this man.

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Two months ago there was some serious debate about Scott Brown being detrimental to Celtic’s performances. Wiser, older heads suggested keeping those thoughts private.

It is true that Celtic’s best form of the season came in November when the club captain was out injured but those two facts were unrelated.

Ryan Christie’s emergence made the difference to Celtic’s season – on Wednesday night the former Inverness man enjoyed the backing and support of his skipper alongside the brilliance of Callum McGregor.

Fortunately Brown wasn’t cast aside. Brendan Rodgers could have chosen that option in 2016 but felt that the washed out midfielder of the Ronny Deila days still had something to offer. Seven trophies suggest that the Irishman called that one correctly.

Against Hibs in midweek, Brown was in his element. Dominating and bullying opponents, many of them 10 years his junior and unable to get close to Celtic’s captain.

Ryan Gauld has been hailed as the bright young thing of Scottish football, but up against Brown he barely got a sniff of the ball with the Celtic midfielder hoovering up everything in the middle of the park.

There were a few second half wobbles in the Celtic performance but Brown quickly put things right, reassuring team-mates and exposing opponents. His presence brings out the best in others with McGregor and Christie highly influential as three more points were secured in the title countdown.

Last season, without Brown, Celtic were a shadow of their real self. This term other players have stepped up to show that the Hoops are equally as effective without their captain.

With a two-year contract secured Brown could afford to relax and coast it but that approach isn’t in his DNA.

If Celtic go on to win the title there won’t be many players to have contributed more than the 33-year-old – just ask Gauld and his Hibs team-mates.