According to a recent report from The Northern Echo, Dwight Gayle could be set for a permanent move to West Brom this summer. The 28-year-old is currently on loan at the Championship outfit from Premier League side Newcastle United after struggling with the Magpies in the top-flight last term, while his fine start to life at the Hawthorns has prompted speculation about a permanent move to the Midlands club.

And Gayle himself is reportedly keen on making that move permanent come the end of the season, but Dean Smith’s Aston Villa must themselves seek to register an interest and thus beat their Midlands rivals to the £9 million-rated perennial Championship goal-scorer (as per Transfermarkt) in the summer.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Darren Moore’s Baggies were seen to have pulled off quite the coup in luring Gayle to the Hawthorns during the summer, what with the Englishman one of the most prolific Championship goal-scorers in the last few years.

Be it the 13 goals in 29 appearances he netted for Peterborough United back in the 2012/13 season, or indeed the 23 goals for Newcastle in their run to the Championship title in the 2016/17 campaign, it’s clear that there are few better forwards at second tier level than Gayle.

And he has again proven that this time round with a staggering nine goals in just 14 appearances for Moore’s side, which is why it’s hardly surprising that he’s keen on a permanent move to the Hawthorns – but Villa must seek to beat the Baggies to his signature.

It has been a testing season for the Villans so far given they sit 11th in the Championship table and are onto their second manager of the campaign following Smith’s appointment to replace Steve Bruce, with the former given the brief of going one better than the latter and leading the club back to the Premier League.

That looks set to be a tough task this time round, and it could get even tougher next season given talisman Tammy Abraham, their top-scorer so far this term with five goals, is only on loan until the end of the current campaign.

And while Jonathan Kodjia is clearly a very accomplished Championship player, the other options besides those two don’t inspire a great deal of confidence – Villa may have scored 27 goals already this term but, without Abraham, goals look set to be something of a problem.

And that is why a move for Gayle ahead of West Brom makes complete sense – he knows where the goal is at Championship level, and at the age of 28, he’s very much in his prime now and could be the man to fire the Villans back to the top-flight.

Yes, West Brom will obviously be firm favourites for his signature, but were Smith’s Villa to fail in their quest for promotion this term, they simply must seek to rival and beat the Baggies to his signature come the summer.

Aston Villa fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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Diving and playacting has unfortunately become part of the modern game, and it was something that irked Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Wednesday night.

The German coach believed that plenty of Paris Saint-Germain players went to ground too easily and also took far too long to rise to their feet during the Champions League encounter at Parc des Princes.

Klopp expressed his frustration to reporters after the match, which ended in a 2-1 defeat for Liverpool.

Neymar and Thiago Silva were among the players guilty of over-exaggerating fouls, while Marco Verratti was lucky not to receive a red card for a high foot on Joe Gomez.

Klopp was not alone in his criticism of the PSG stars, as plenty of Liverpool fans took to Reddit to blast their antics.

Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.Comment from discussion Klopp: “You act like you die then you get up again you should get a yellow card.”.

The Merseyside outfit now sit third in Group C, but they can still qualify for the last 16 with a 1-0 win over Napoli at Anfield.

However, if the Italian outfit score, Liverpool will need to win by two clear goals to progress.

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Such is the disillusionment towards world football’s governing bodies that the Nations League was met with first bemusement and then scepticism when UEFA announced its inception for the start of the 2018/19 season.

Had those money-grabbing big thinkers found a way of making international football even more tedious? Was the strange structure of the competition specifically designed to make football lovers apathetic by their own confusion? Did any of the motives include a genuine interest in improving the experience of the everyday fan?

To some extent, that initial fear of the unknown was inevitable. But fast forward a few months and, for England fans at least, the Nations League has brought almost excitement the summer’s World Cup. Intriguing, sometimes thrilling, encounters against top quality international sides, a vehicle for genuine growth that will better prepare the Three Lions for future tournaments, and non-summer international games that felt truly significant. Such incidents have been exceptionally rare down the years.

And England’s finish to the Group Stage, pulling off a late comeback against Croatia through Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane to qualify for the final four, was symptomatic of a tournament that has completely changed the wider perceptions of itself in an incredibly short space of time.

Of course, the experiences of each country have varied significantly and England’s ranks amongst the most enjoyable, but every nation has been given something valuable to take away from the tournament – and every neutral has been privy to a wealth of competitive, engaging encounters between sides of similar ability.

When Jamie Carragher described England’s 3-2 win over Spain as having the quality and atmosphere of a Champions League night, even one of the Three Lions’ greatest victories on foreign soil for many years couldn’t mask the dismay. There was certainly some snobbery about the reaction, perhaps because England fans for so long have understandably made criticism of international football their default setting. How could it compare to the Champions League, the most illustrious competition in the world?

And yet, in terms of competitiveness, there isn’t a competition quite like the Nations League. It remains to be seen how the subsequent edition will pan out now relegation and promotion has shuffled the teams around, but certainly at the point of origin every group included three or four countries of almost perfectly equal stature, and the complexion of the groups themselves meant that everything was still to play for until the final whistle of the last game. You can’t say the same thing about Champions League groups, which nearly always contain a designated whipping boy and guaranteed first-placer.

In fact, the statistics from the group stages of the Nations League compared to last season’s Champions League proper are incredibly telling. 51% of all Nations League wins were decided by one goal, whereas just 24% were decided by three or more; in the Champions League though, a greater proportion of wins were sealed by a margin of three or more than just the one. Likewise, although there were comparatively more scoreless draws in the Nations League, the percentage of goals in the final 15 minutes was pretty much identical in both competitions.

The Champions League provided more goals per game last season, and inevitably the quality of football  will be much greater than what international teams can produce for a variety of reasons. But the key here, for the experience of the spectator, is the level of competitiveness – very few Nations League games were dead rubbers and the flurry of late goals obliges viewers to keep watching until the final whistle.

In the Champions League, though, opponents proved to be much further apart on a lot more occasions and while the quality is still there, the intensity and unpredictability isn’t necessarily.

Check out the video below to see how Brazil fans reacted to being asked how Cristiano Ronaldo would peform for them in a hilarious prank by Playmaker FC…

Thus, it becomes a question of what we watch football for; are we here for all the tricks and flicks produced by mega-millionaires made all the easier to pull off by playing considerably inferior sides, or are we here for games that may not always be pretty but nearly always mean something, fought between two teams that could both realistically win, lose or draw?

To some extent that comes down to personal preference. But if you were to place a succession of Nations League and Champions League fixtures on a roulette wheel, the former being black and the latter being red, which is more likely to deliver an exciting, enjoyable and close-fought game? Despite the initial scepticism, the Nations League is at the very least giving the Champions League a good run for its money.

They may have not been at their free flowing best but Leeds United have put together a run of two 1-0 wins in their last two games to keep up their hunt of the Championship title. 

The wins mean that Leeds have won four of their last six games and are currently second in the table behind Norwich City.

Thanks to a whole host of injuries, Bielsa has had to dip into the youth academy to supplement his already threadbare squad. If the Argentine wants to keep Leeds in the race for the title, he must look to buy in January.

According to Leeds Live, Leeds are interested in signing Besiktas winger Jermain Lens.

The Breakdown

Besiktas signed the Dutchman from Fenerbahce in 2017 following a season where he scored four goals while also grabbing 12 assists. He hasn’t had the best of times at Besiktas and has failed to score too many goals in the league but he still could prove to be a solid cut-price deal for Leeds.

Lens has experience of English football after playing for Sunderland and might be a player that could provide some depth going forward. His record may not be outstanding but what he does have is the ability to create a goal out of nothing, which is a quality that not many in the Leeds side have.

At 31, his best years are behind him but what he would do is provide cover up front and also on the wing especially as Leeds enter the tough festive period.

Thoughts Leeds fans? 

Sunderland have been one of the form teams in League One this season as they continue to assert their dominance on proceedings. 

The Black Cats are in a very promising position to secure promotion this season, but they do face an awful lot of competition from a number of other sides.

However, it appears as if the club are currently looking at a possible addition, as according to The Chronicle Live, Jack Ross has said that David Edgar will be on trial with the club next week.

Edgar is a free agent at the moment following his departure from Ottawa Fury, so the Black Cats are set to take him on trial ahead of a potential swoop for his services.

The 31-year-old Canada international defender has experience of playing in England, having featured for Newcastle, Burnley, Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United, so he could prove to be a real asset for the Wearside club as they chase down promotion.

Here’s what Ross had to say about the defender:

“I think we’re going to have a look at him next week. It’s a bit challenging at the moment because of the schedule and that’s why I was a bit reticent to commit last week.”

THE  VERDICT:

David Edgar, who has 42 caps for his national side Canada, has plenty of experience from playing in English football and is currently out of contract, so the Black Cats shouldn’t hesitate to swoop in for his services by offering him a contract if he impresses while on trial.

Indeed, with Jack Matthews, Donald Love and Denver Hume all suffering from injuries at this moment in time, it would do no harm if Ross was to welcome him to the club.

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Newcastle fans have taken to Twitter to heap praise on their boss Rafa Benitez, after the Spaniard was awarded the Premier League Manager of the Month award for November.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager led the Magpies to three wins out of three, beating Watford, Bournemouth and Burnley to give the Tynesiders a vital boost in their battle for survival.

It is the fifth time that Benitez has won the award, beating the likes of Pep Guardiola, David Wagner, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Marco Silva and making the St James’ Park faithful forgot about their 10-game winless start to the season.

However, the usual ‘Manager of the Month’ curse looks to have struck Newcastle since, losing two of their first three games in the month of December, although the Magpies fans are still revelling in their boss’ success…

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Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to Marcelo Bielsa’s big injury update, and plenty suspect the signing of Izzy Brown could prove to be a complete waste of time.

Bielsa delivered two huge updates on Friday, as the boss confirmed Luke Ayling is in contention to face Aston Villa on Sunday.

The versatile defender injured his knee against Nottingham Forest, but has recovered quicker than expected to rescue the boss from a defensive crisis.

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

That news has come partnered with a very worrying update though, as Brown is expected to miss around three to four weeks with a hamstring problem.

The young midfielder has been injured since January, when he underwent knee surgery, and has now damaged his hamstring in an Under-23 match.

This is a huge setback as he was nearing a first team birth, although Bielsa claims this type of muscle injury is not unusual after a long-term problem.

Fans are fed up of signing players that are injury-prone or in this case already injured though, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, look away now Izzy…

Everton were able to get back to winning ways following their humiliating 6-2 defeat to Tottenham after they beat Burnley 5-1 at Turf Moor yesterday.

A Lucas Digne brace and goals from Yerry Mina, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison ensured it was a great afternoon for supporters with their club now sitting eighth in the Premier League table.

And while they have the above names to thank for the three points, Dominic Calvert-Lewin also deserves praise coming out of the match for his display and recent form overall.

The 21-year-old has been leading the Toffees’ line over their last couple of fixtures with Silva moving Richarlison back to his more preferred position out wide in a move that has shown some promise.

Albeit he is not the most prolific of No.9s, £13.5m-rated (Transfermarkt) Calvert-Lewin has done a fairly good job up front, troubling defenders with his runs in behind and willingness to chase them down when in possession.

Later down the line, Silva will be keen to add a centre-forward to his squad who can find the back of the net on a regular basis, something that Calvert-Lewin nor Cenk Tosun look capable of doing in this moment of time.

But even when that time comes, Calvert-Lewin has shown enough in recent weeks to suggest he can still play a part in the Silva revolution at Goodison Park.

West Ham fans have reacted to the news of Wolves’ desire to sign Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who has been in fine form this season whilst out on loan with Aston Villa.

The 21-year-old striker has scored 16 goals in 20 Championship starts for the Villains so far this season, and is attracting a lot of interest from Premier League clubs with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side reportedly leading the chase for the England international.

Given the fact that the Hammers and Wolves have similar ambitions this season, some fans of the east London club may be looking on enviously as last season’s Championship winners steal a march on a player they should perhaps be looking to sign themselves.

The side from the Midlands look to be in the most advanced talks for the former Bristol City striker, but West Ham fans are undecided over whether or not he is ready for a move back to the top-flight…

We’ve all got used to seeing Unai Emery in the Emirates Stadium dugout now. After two decades of Arsene Wenger and his big coats, Emery is now the man in charge of Arsenal and the Gunners fanbase seem to have taken the Spaniard to heart.

However, it wasn’t just an overdue managerial changing of the guard that occurred in north London last year. The club itself has recently undergone seismic changes at practically all levels.

Not long after the appointment of Wenger’s successor, Ivan Gazidis – the principle decision-maker behind that huge call – left the club too, to take up a role at AC Milan. Chief commercial officer Vinai Venkatesham and head of football Raul Sanllehi were named as Gazidis’ replacements, becoming managing director and head of football respectively.

What’s more, in September, Stan Kroenke finally succeeded in his long-held ambition to become the sole, 100% owner of the club. Individual shareholders were forced to sell up, and suddenly Arsenal became the property of one man. 

Far more than just getting a new manager, in many ways Arsenal became a whole new, and much more modern, club in 2018.

Pl>ymaker FC believes Arsenal fans won’t have to wait long to see Unai Emery’s long-term ambitions for the club come to fruition. Watch the video below to find out why…

One big aspect of Arsenal’s transition into a 21st century outfit was the restructuring of their transfer market strategy and operational setup. Whereas under Wenger, the manager himself practically held all of the power, in the wake of his departure a committee system was introduced. The three key members of which are Emery, Sanllehi, and the Gunners’ head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat.

Sanllehi and Mislintat both joined the club in 2017 (with Sanllehi not officially taking up his position until early 2018), and arrived with big reputations and impressive CVs. The former had spent much of the previous decade as director of football at Barcelona, in which capacity he oversaw the Catalan club’s captures of Alexis Sanchez and Neymar. Mislintat, meanwhile, made his name with Borussia Dortmund, where his habit of spotting exciting young talents such as Ousmane Dembele, Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski earned him the nickname ‘Diamond Eye’.

Together, along with Emery, this trio decide who comes and goes from the Arsenal squad.

The summer window just gone was their first market working together and they were busy, bringing five new faces to the Emirates Stadium: Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi.

It must first be acknowledged that much of their business has so far proven successful. Torreira is the robust and tenacious defensive midfielder that Arsenal have been crying out for for years; 19-year-old Guendouzi has been a revelation considering the vast majority of his previous playing experience came in the French second tier; and Sokratis has been generally solid at the back, bringing some much-needed authority and physicality to the Gunners’ rearguard.

36-year-old Lichtsteiner, meanwhile, who arrived as a free agent from Juventus to provide cover for Hector Bellerin, looks to have succumbed to his advancing years. Leno, for his part, has shown lots of quality but also flashes of indecision and fallibility that leave the jury very much out on him as a top level goalkeeper.

So far, though, Arsenal’s transfer committee have done well. Those early steps were the easy ones though. Now, the great challenge of getting Arsenal back to competing for the biggest prizes in England and beyond faces them. Considering they shall have to do so on a relatively meagre budget – at least in comparison with their rivals such as Manchester United and City – makes this task all the more daunting.

Further challenges present themselves in the form of Mesut Ozil, whose future at the club and usefulness to Emery’s squad must be in doubt, but the situation is complicated by the German playmaker’s vast wages and long contract. The replacement for Aaron Ramsey must also be identified and acquired, which is no small ask either.

It is too early to completely judge Emery, Sanllehi and Mislintat’s joint competence in the transfer market, but what is for sure is that their partnership is enduring a baptism of fire as they attempt to restore this club to the top of the game.

There’s a long way still to go for Arsenal, and patience shall surely be required from the board and the fans before tangible, long-term progress is made and major silverware won. However, the great leap of faith into the workings of modern world football has been made, and the club have landed seemingly unscathed. That alone is reason enough to be excited for what the future might hold at the Emirates.