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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Leeds celebrated their centenary on Thursday. It presented fans with a chance to relive past glories, to look forward to what might be to come and to simply talk about their beloved club.

But what could happen in the future is a grim reality, one that could well put Andrea Radrizzani out of his job if he’s not careful.

It might be a sad thought but amidst promising talk of QSI potentially investing again, the Italian owner revealed something that has not only put himself under huge pressure but also Leeds as a football club and as a business.

It’s no secret that mistakes have been made, Radrizzani even admitted he’d perhaps handed out long-term contracts to those who didn’t deserve it in an interview with The Times this week.

The fact Leeds had to ship 31 players out over the summer was all the evidence you needed of how many players were on their books.

But it wasn’t the talk of past mistakes or indeed of Qatari investment that was something to worry about – instead, it was the salary of those still at the club.

Angus Kinnear has previously told the BBC about just how significantly the wage bill has grown since Radrizzani entered west Yorkshire but it’s still at a huge level and one that simply isn’t feasible going forward.

The Leeds owner said this week: “It’s financially not sustainable to keep this level of salary which is now over £30m, probably £33m with Marcelo and closer to £40m with the coaches.”

Marcelo Bielsa’s salary hasn’t been a mistake, in fact investing in a high-class manager has allowed Leeds to even be in the conversation for a place in the Premier League.

Why are Leeds fans the best in the country? Find out in the video below…

He has taken Leeds beyond mid-table mediocrity but there is only so long they can go at this level of investment without facing some large consequences.

Profit and sustainability played a large part in the Whites not signing anyone permanently last summer and it even had a role in the sale of central defender Pontus Jansson.

But because of the current salary, Radrizzani is under huge pressure to ensure promotion is delivered this season and no later. He is the man who makes the decisions behind the scenes but ultimately it is up to Bielsa and the players to make sure it happens.

The current wage levels dictate that if it doesn’t occur they could be left in a spot of bother. A potential £170m awaits in the top-flight and achieving Premier League status would likely attract the interest of QSI even more.

However, commentator Adam Pope spoke last month about how Radrizzani may be gone within a year and indeed if they don’t go up this is a real possibility.

There is only so much he can pump into Leeds and without added investment from going up, sustaining the current salary at the stage it’s at for the time being simply isn’t possible.

If Leeds can’t achieve promotion on a high budget, it seems unlikely they’d manage it with lower cash reserves.

It’s probably now or never for Radrizzani. The pressure is certainly on.

[ad_pod ]The results of FIFA’s The Best awards ceremony on Monday night have seemingly caused huge issues amongst Liverpool circles.Indeed, despite the fact that Alisson won The Best Goalkeeper award and Jurgen Klopp won The Best Coach award, many affiliated with the Merseyside outfit have been fuming with the outcome of Monday night.A former fan favourite at Anfield took to Twitter to complain about some of the things that transpired on Monday.

John Arne Riise was seemingly far from happy with the fact that three key Liverpool men were snubbed at the awards ceremony.

Firstly, the Norwegian had an issue with the fact that Lionel Messi beat Virgil van Dijk to the Best Player award, but the former left-back was also annoyed that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were nowhere to be seen in the Team of the Year.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Instead, Matthijs De Ligt, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo made the XI ahead of the two Liverpool full-backs, and it’s hard to disagree with Riise about this being a baffling decision.

Everton fans have been debating on Twitter who they would like to see start up top for the Toffees against Burnley, with both Moise Kean and Dominic Calvert-Lewin splitting the opinion.Both strikers have had tough starts to the campaign, with Kean failing to score and looking unlikely to do so for his new side, averaging just 1.3 shots per game. The former Juventus man has started only two league games for Everton and has seemingly struggled to adapt to life in English football, registering a 6.19 rating thus far.As for Calvert-Lewin, despite scoring against Manchester City last week, the Englishman’s overall record for the Toffees is quite alarming. Since making his debut back in 2016, the 22-year-old has scored only 21 times in 101 appearances for the senior squad.This season, Calvert-Lewin has two goals already, but if he continues on this poor goals to game ratio, Marco Silva may be tempted to draft in Kean instead, or even delve into the market come January.Considering the team only has six goals so far in the Premier League, perhaps it’s time for a change and maybe even start the two of them.And with their toothless record infront of goal firmly at the forefront of Everton’s problems, it’s perhaps little surprise that plenty of Everton fans want to see Calvert-Lewin and Kean start together for the first time this season.Here’s what the fans have had to say…

Former Middlesbrough midfielder Ray Parlour has spoken out positively about his time at the club and in the city.

Speaking to talkSPORT, the 46-year-old reflected fondly on the time he spent on Teesside, having relocated completely from London after spending more than a dozen years in Arsenal’s first team.

When talking about his time with Middlesbrough, Parlour told talkSPORT: “I loved it, it was fantastic to live up there for a couple of years; great people, nice surroundings, it was great”, with those quotes shared on Twitter by @GazetteBoro.

The 10-cap England international, who has been nicknamed ‘the Romford Pele’, came to ‘Boro on a free transfer from Arsenal in 2004 and was a member of the squad that reached the UEFA Cup final in 2006, although he did not play in the 0-4 defeat to Sevilla in Eindhoven.

He made 58 appearances in two and a half seasons at the Riverside Stadium before being released from his contract in January 2007, going on to have a brief stint at Hull to finish out his professional career.

These Middlesbrough fans on Twitter were appreciative of Parlour’s reflections on his ‘Boro days:

Do you have any favourite memories of Parlour at Middlesbrough? Let us know your views in the comments section below!

Fikayo Tomori is starting to prove his worth at the very top level with Chelsea.

Entrusted by manager Frank Lampard in the heart of the Blues defence, the 21-year-old scored his first senior goal for the club in the 5-2 win over Wolves last weekend, firing a long-range effort into the top corner at Molineux.

So far this season, Tomori has registered an average rating of 7.66/10 from WhoScored, while also making 3 tackles, 4 interceptions and 1.5 clearances per game for the west Londoners.

He is rapidly becoming a fan favourite at the Bridge, as shown in the Tweets below, with many Chelsea supporters excited about what the future holds with the young England U-21 international heading up their back-line alongside the returning Antonio Rudiger.

This weekend, Tomori will face his toughest test yet – dealing with Liverpool’s front-three; the front-three that devastate almost everything in their path on a weekly basis.

Should he pass that test, though, these ecstatic Blues fans will be given even more to smile about, including the fan who compared him to a former Chelsea player who made 225 appearances for the club, William Gallas…

Chelsea fans, how impressed have you been with Tomori this season? Let us know by commenting below!

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Derby County secured safe passage to the next round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley on Saturday afternoon.

Both sides were reduced to ten men before the final whistle, but despite a spirited performance from the League One home side, Martyn Waghorn pounced in the 78th minute to poke the Rams ahead from close range.

Frank Lampard’s side just about deserved the win on the balance of play, and Waghorn will surely now have put himself in contention for more regular starts in the Championship.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

The 29-year-old striker arrived at Pride Park from Ipswich Town in the summer (BBC), but he has been in and out of the Derby team so far this season. According to Transfermarkt’s statistics, the forward has made nineteen league appearances for Lampard’s side so far, though only twelve have come as a starter. He has only managed two goals and two assists in the league as well.

Lampard may have hoped to see a more prolific return on his summer investment by now, but he’ll be hoping that this contribution against Accrington Stanley sparks Waghorn into a run of good form.

After the win over Accrington Stanley, plenty of Derby fans took to Twitter to react to Waghorn’s heroics…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Nottingham Forest earned further bragging rights over Derby on Tuesday evening by defeating them 3-0 in the Carabao Cup.

The victory sees them progress into the third round of the competition when the Premier League’s elite, those competing in Europe this season, enter with the Reds also retaining the Brian Clough Trophy.

On the scoresheet was Albert Adomah, Joe Lolley and the returning Joao Carvalho, who fans were more than delighted to see back in training during the build-up to the match.

Forest are unbeaten in the Championship since losing their season opener against Midlands rivals West Brom, so the timely addition of the 22-year-old can only further boost their playoff-chasing ambitions this season.

On the Chalkboard

The 5 foot 8 Portuguese midfielder is the club’s record signing after he joined in a £13.2m deal from Benfica last summer.

He soon turned out to be one of their most influential players on the pitch as he racked up eight assists, only bettered by Lolley’s 11, and four goals – per WhoScored throughout 2018/19.

Carvalho also had the second-highest passing success rate in the team of any player who featured in 30 games or more at 78.4% – on top of averaging 1.2 key passes per match.

His return is even more impressive when you consider that he started just 28 Championship matches – only four of which were after the turn of the year.

Former boss Martin O’Neill seemed to favour other options, something that was somewhat bizarre considering the goal contributions he had been managing.

Carvalho has missed the opening weeks of the new campaign after picking up an ankle problem in Forest’s first pre-season encounter so as proceedings ramp up, his return could inspire the side onto greater things.

Under Sabri Lamouchi this season, he could play a big part, especially if you considering his impact in 33 minutes against Derby and his record last season.

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ExWHUemployee has dropped an update on the situation surrounding West Ham United goalkeeper Darren Randolph.

What’s the talk?

In a recent post on The West Ham Way, the club insider revealed that, while talks between the 34-year-old shot-stopper and Aston Villa regarding a transfer were taking place on Monday, the negotiations between the two parties subsequently broke down at an advanced stage – with the deal now appearing to be on hold.

ExWHUemployee went on to state that David Moyes’ side are actively looking to move the Republic of Ireland international on in the January transfer window, as his wages are extremely high for a third-choice goalkeeper, however, it no longer seems likely that the former Middlesbrough man will be making a move to Villa Park this month.

In his post, Ex said: “We can confirm that Darren Randolph was in talks with Aston Villa over a move [on Monday] although talks seem to have broken down at the advanced stage. The move is currently on hold and it is unclear whether Villa will look to resurrect the deal. West Ham are keen to move Randolph on, as he is on a large wage for a third choice keeper and his wages saved could be spent elsewhere.”

Moyes will be gutted

Considering just how little Randolph has featured for West Ham since his £4m return to East London in January of 2020, in addition to the fact the goalkeeper is reported to be earning a whopping £42k-per-week at the London Stadium, the news that the 34-year-old’s move to Aston Villa looks to have fallen through will undoubtedly have left Moyes gutted.

Indeed, in the last two years, the £900k-rated man has made just nine appearances for the Hammers, with only five of these fixtures coming in the Premier League.

As such, when taking into account the fact that the shot-stopper has cost the club around £4.3m in wages, in addition to his £4m transfer fee – meaning each league fixture Randolph has featured in has set West Ham back around £1.7m – it is clear for all to see that the veteran ‘keeper is not worth keeping on the books.

In fact, it would appear highly advisable for Moyes to simply offer the 34-year-old out for free this month, as, at present, Randolph has another year-and-a-half left to run on his contract – something that will only set the club back around a further £3.25m.

In other news: Jacob Steinberg reveals big January transfer twist that’ll leave West Ham fans fuming

In his first January transfer window as Aston Villa manager, Steven Gerrard has seen three new faces come through the door at Villa Park as the Midlands club look to strengthen their squad and push up the Premier League table as high as they can go under their new boss.

One of the new players that made the move to Villa this month was Gerrard’s former Liverpool teammate Philippe Coutinho, who played in 81 games with the Villa boss before making the move to Barcelona, who the Brazilian is now on loan from.

Despite only making two appearances for Villa, Coutinho has had a fairly mixed start to his second spell in the Premier League, firstly with a goal on his debut from the substitutes bench in their 2-2 draw against Manchester United, which then followed with a lacklustre performance in their recent 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

While it’s still early days in his spell with the Midlands club, Gerrard still has enough time left in the January transfer window to bring in a player that would certainly raise the roof of Villa Park.

Having been mentioned with an audacious transfer swoop for Real Madrid and former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard in recent weeks with Villa “looking” at the player, bringing the Belgian back to England for another spell in the Premier League, in a similar way they did with Coutinho, would surely be a massive boost to Gerrard’s squad, ensuring they end their January transfer window with a flourish.

Madrid reportedly accepted a €40m (£33m) proposal from Newcastle for the winger’s services, only for the player to reject them. That has now left the door open for Gerrard to swoop in.

With a total of 245 appearances in the Premier League under his belt including 85 goals, 61 assists, two Premier League titles and one FA Cup, the 31-year-old, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £381k-per-week according to Salary Sport, could bring a serious amount of experience and winning mentality with him to Villa Park.

Labelled as an “exceptional” player during his time with Chelsea by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, Hazard could be tempted with a move to Villa considering he’s only started seven La Liga games so far this season.

Either way, if Villa do think that adding the former Chelsea star to their already strengthened squad this month would be worthwhile, they should definitely make an approach to him and his club to see if the winger would relish another spell in the Premier League under Gerrard’s guidance.

In other news: Lange can replicate Digne masterclass as AVFC plot move for “phenomenal” £10m dynamo – opinion

A report from 90min at the beginning of the month claimed Everton had joined the race for Zenit St.Petersburg forward Sardar Azmoun, with the 26-year-old set to be available for free next summer.

However, with the January window now just days away, it would be a good idea for the Toffees to further their interest next month.

Dubbed previously as ‘the Iranian Messi’, the £22.5m-rated forward has scored ten goals in 21 appearances across all competitions for Zenit so far this campaign, including a goal against Chelsea in the Champions League recently.

Furthermore, having joined Zenit from Rubin Kazan three years ago, Azmoun has a prolific record of 62 goals and 23 assists in 104 appearances for the Russian giants. A goal contribution every 1.2 games.

The Iranian has reportedly attracted interest from Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, who is of Iranian decent, and, according to a previous coach of Azmoun, Moshiri previously contacted him and “tried to negotiate a transfer.”

The Russian Premier League side may have no choice but to sell the 26-year-old next month in order to receive a fee, with his contract set to expire in just seven months time.

The Toffees have appeared stuck all season, sitting in an underwhelming 14th place in the Premier League and are in desperate need of some extra firepower to propel them up the table in order to avoid any nervy moments in the second half of the campaign.

Luckily, signings that initially received a mixed reaction from fans in the summer have exceeded expectations with Demarai Gray (five goals) and Andros Townsend (three goals) helping to fill the void left by star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Moreover, with the lack of goals from Rondon who has netted only once, Rafa Benitez’s side’s attacking output could’ve been much worse.

Alas, extra options in that department will be welcomed with open arms by the Everton faithful, and a possible deal for Azmoun would be shrewd business given his goals record for Zenit.

The only doubt would be the fact that the Iranian hasn’t played professional football outside of Russia, and therefore the jump up to the Premier League may prove a tricky one…at least initially.

AND in other news, Time to go: Benitez should axe EFC’s “reckless” £18m-rated dud, he’s not good enough…