12 reasons why Leicester City will win the Premier League

 

The Foxes’ fairy tale needs no introduction.

Listed below are 12 reasons why Leicester City have a superb chance to clinch the Premier League.

1) Claudio Ranieri’s men have the least amount of games to play of those in the title race

According to Sky Sports, title rivals Tottenham, Arsenal and Man City potentially have 27, 25 and 26 games remaining, respectively, and at least 3 extra games (in City’s case 4)  in the upcoming weeks. Leicester only have 12 remaining.

2) Jamie Vardy

The former Fleetwood Town forward broke Premier League records in November 2015 for scoring in the most consecutive league games (11), he is this season’s current top goalscorer on 19 and has now been involved in 31 goals in his last 39 games

3) In 1981 Aston Villa only used 14 players to win the First Division

Those concerned with the depth of Leicester City’s squad look no further. It would undoubtedly be a disaster if first teamers such as Mahrez, Vardy, Fuchs, Schmeichel and co were injured but if they remain injury free, there is no reason why a small number of players cannot defy the odds.

4) N’Golo Kanté

The six million pound signing has earned widespread praise for his defensive work. Kanté has made the joint most interceptions in the league, alongside Villa’s Idrissa Gueye, this season. He also ranks third in the most tackles made, behind Lucas Leiva and Mathieu Debuchy, who has only managed 144 minutes of football for Arsenal.

5) There is top division title-winning experience in the squad

Robert Huth, who Ranieri previously signed for Chelsea, was part of the Blues squads that won the Premier League in both the 2004-05 and 2005-06 season. Over both seasons he made 13 starts and ten substitute appearances. Argentine Leonardo Ulloa won the title with San Lorenzo in his native country back in the 2006-07 as a sprightly twenty-year-old. Marcin Wasilewski won three titles in Belgium from 2009-2013 with Anderlecht and Gökhan Inler won back-to-back titles in Switzerland during his earlier career. None have set the world alight but have, nonetheless, been part of persistently victorious squads.

6) Leicester have the easiest fixtures remaining of the title contenders, taking into account opponents’ current league position

Based on this calculation, Leicester have the easiest fixtures followed by Tottenham and Arsenal, though the two still have to play each other. Man City have the most difficult fixtures remaining.

7) No one has scored more goals than them this season

Man City currently sit on the same amount of goals scored as the Foxes on 1.85 goals on average per game. Other than Mahrez and Vardy, in the league Shinji Okazaki has scored 5, Robert Huth 3 and Leonardo Ulloa 2, amongst others.

8) Riyad Mahrez

Twenty-four year old Mahrez ended last season with 4 goals and 3 assists and was awarded the 2015 Algerian Ballon d’Or in recognition for his performances. This year he has already tallied fourteen goals and ten assists, the joint fourth top goalscorer in the division, whilst also holding third place for the most assists in Europe’s top five leagues.

9) Leicester “complete[d] one of the most remarkable late season comebacks in the history of the division” last year

With just eight games remaining, Leicester had won only four all season and looked destined for the drop. Six wins and a draw saw them safe. From this experience they have the determination in the squad to succeed.

10) Some of the team’s lesser-known players were once youth players at Chelsea, Man United and Man City

Danny Drinkwater, Matty James and Danny Simpson all came through the Manchester United youth academy. Andy King and Robert Huth were developed at Chelsea and Kasper Schmeichel at Manchester City.

11) Leicester have beaten the league’s big boys

Early in February the team, which was heavily tipped for relegation at the start of the year, thumped Man City 1-3 at the Etihad. They’ve also beaten Spurs at White Hart Lane, Chelsea and Liverpool.

12) Only Liverpool and Arsenal have beaten Leicester this season

Recently Arsenal claimed a 2-1 victory, following up a 5-2 victory in September, and Liverpool beat the Foxes 1-0 in December.

Of course, if you still were not convinced, this horse confirmed Leicester’s fate and as all the evidence clearly suggests, they’ve been taking performance enhancing drugs all along too.

 

 

All facts correct as of publication. Gathered from WhoScored where not specified.

In defence of Mel Morris

Much like the tip-tappers playing his company’s Candy Crush, chairman Mel Morris left Derby County fans puzzled this week after dismissing head coach Paul Clement.

Some believed he was justified, Clement had not won a league game in the previous seven attempts, but most were left dumbfounded. Clement left Derby five points off of the summit, eight months into his first managerial post.

So what did life-long Derby fan Morris have to say?

“Maybe for Paul, his horizon was slightly shorter than ours.

“If you are focused on promotion being the primary goal then you don’t see the thing in the same perspective as we do and I think that was a part of the big issue.

“This is a guy who just simply had a slightly different plan to ours and that was getting further and further apart.”

According to Morris, Clement was focused on achieving promotion even if that meant ignoring the club’s priorities of style of play and utilising youth players.

Clement’s approach was, so it seems, his downfall, sacrificing what Morris described as the “Derby way” and the club’s long-term plan for quick promotion and quick success.

Managers are given a mandate of what they must try and achieve and often how they should go about it, and Clement ignored his.

From understanding a little more about his character, there is the impression that, having spent much of his career in Europe’s top leagues working with some of the continent’s best players and coaches, Clement saw Derby County as a stepping stone to greater success.

During an interview with the Guardian last December, Carlo Ancelotti’s former No.2 revealed he had five framed t-shirts at his Moor Farm office, that of: Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimović and his late father Dave Clement.

Of all his past colleagues he admits that he speaks most to Carlo Ancelotti, a man that will be fighting for glory on both the domestic and European front at Bayern Munich next season, a man who is in a totally different sphere of management.

In his Twitter banner, Clement stands triumphant next to the Champions League, Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Super Cup trophies after Real Madrid’s success in the 2013-14 season and upon his announcement as head coach, he even confessed that the managerial post at the iPro was his “best opportunity to be successful”.

This is a man clearly accustomed to and craving success at the highest level.

Clement’s mind was on higher things than developing the next generation of youth graduates and establishing an attractive style of play, he wanted glory and he wanted to reach the heights of the Premier League.

What is wrong with that you ask? Derby County’s 2007-08 season. The season that broke Premier League records for all the wrong reasons, an experience that is still very raw for fans.

The likelihood of breaking the record for finishing with the lowest number of points in Premier League history  is a small one but since the 2012/13 season, 44% of clubs that have been promoted to the Premier League (Reading, Cardiff, Burnley, QPR) have gone straight back down.

If Derby want to establish themselves in the Premier League, they should do so thoroughly prepared and not approach promotion like a 100m sprint.

It is true that managers get sacked far too easily nowadays but the stakes have never been higher, larger sums of money have never been spent and whilst the short-term gains of promotion are lucrative, the long-term gains of Premier League security are far greater.

Mel Morris made a brave decision sacking a figure viewed as an up-and-coming manager due to his prestigious tutelage but the two were not compatible in the end and perhaps the detail of this will be revealed in time.

Clement’s drive for success was an admirable quality but as Eddie put it on one fans’ forum “if the boss likes cats, don’t bring a dog to work.”

 

A look at Derby County’s 2015-16 fixtures

The fixtures for Derby County’s up and coming season were announced earlier today. Using the list, the graph below plots Derby’s opponents across the season against their standing in the previous year’s league, to put the fixtures into perspective and pick out any patterns.

Relegated teams have been positioned in the order in which they were relegated (i.e. Hull City were relegated from the Premier League in 18th place and are therefore positioned first in the Championship standings), as were promoted teams too.

All comments are based on the assumption that teams that finished higher last season will be more difficult to beat, and vice versa.

At a quick glance there does not seem to be any clear patterns from the above graph. Closer examination, however, reveals a few potential indicators for the season.

A first thing to notice is that Derby have an easier finish to the season in May, coming up against Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday and finally Brighton & Hove Albion in succession. Of those clubs, Charlton Athletic finished the highest last year and they only managed a 12th place finish. Nevertheless, only 2 of these 5 fixtures are at home

At the other end, Derby have a mixed starting month to the season, coming up against the likes of newly promoted Preston North End, play-off finalists Middlesbrough and Leeds United, amongst others.

Shortly afterwards Derby encounter a tough few fixtures as they face Burnley, Brentford and Wolverhampton within the space of 4 fixtures, though they can take consolation that these 3 fixtures are all at the iPro Stadium.

The rest of the season is largely a mixed bag of easier, harder and moderately difficult fixtures other than 3 consecutive games across January into February against Preston North End (Home), Fulham (Away) and MK Dons (Home), two of which are newly promoted clubs.

Whilst Derby start the season against Bolton Wanderers, should it go down to the wire once more, Derby will, however, finish the season at home against Ipswich Town, who could prove tricky opponents after making it into the playoffs last year.

Derby County will face Nottingham Forest on 7th November 2015 and 19th March 2016 whilst this year’s Boxing Day fixture is at home to Fulham.

One of the most charming aspects of the Championship is that many teams that come up from League One contend for the promotion places whilst relegated Premier League sides can drop straight down into League One, it is often very unpredictable. The above provides but a brief indicator of what Derby County could expect this season based on last season’s league finishes.

For a fascinating read information on how the FA and the Football League compile fixture lists, read Paul Fletcher’s blogpost from the BBC.

Scott Carson signs for Derby County

Derby County have today announced the signing of former England international Scott Carson. The goalkeeper was in the last year of his contract at Wigan Athletic and moves to Derby for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal.

The 29-year-old will provide great competition for current Derby No. 1, Lee Grant, especially as it was understood that Dutchman Kelle Roos did not provide adequate competition. The ‘keeper, who has 4 international caps to his name, last played for England in a 1:0 win against Sweden back in 2011 and has previously played for Liverpool, West Brom and Bursaspor amongst other clubs. Over the course of a disappointing season at the DW Stadium, Carson played 34 games and acquired a modest 8 clean sheets.

Carson follows the recent signings of Darren Bent and Alex Pearce as Paul Clement prepares his squad to mount a considerable push to the top flight. Other players currently being linked with a move to the iPro stadium include Aston Villa duo Andreas Weimann and Matthew Lowton as well as ex-player Tom Ince.

5 Slovenia players to look out for against England

Josip Iličić celebrating for Palermo back in 2010.

In preparation for England’s European Qualifier against Slovenia on Sunday afternoon, we take a look at 5 Slovenia players to watch out for.

Samir Handanović – Goalkeeper

The Inter Milan No.1 is currently Slovenia’s most prized asset and will be the preferred starter over his eventual successor Jan Oblak. Although it has been another season to forget at Inter Milan, who finished a lowly 8^th in Serie A, Handanović has managed a clean sheet rate of 33% in all competitions, just shy of his in-game rival Joe Hart, who achieved a rate of 34%. The 6ft 4 ‘keeper has gained a reputation for being a great penalty saver and, with just a year to go on his contract, his name has been frequently linked with various top European clubs.

Boštjan Cesar – Centre Back

Cesar is currently the Slovenian national team’s captain and their most-capped player of all time on 82 appearances. He plays his football in Italy with Chievo Verona and once graced British shores at West Brom, helping them on their way to the Premier League in the 2007-08 season on a season-long loan from Marseille. The then-West-Brom manager Tony Mowbray did not see enough quality in Cesar for the Premier League however, as the defender returned to his parent club.

Josip Iličić – Attacking Midfielder

The 27-year-old has been slowly gaining admirers since his move to Italy in 2010, the same year he made his debut for Slovenia. This season Iličić has played 34 times for Fiorentina in all competitions, scoring 10 and assisting 4, making him the team’s joint top goalscorer, alongside Mario Gomez, and helping Fiorentina to 4^th place in the league and the Europa League semi-finals. The attacker is regularly deployed in various attacking positions for the national team and has been known for his long-range strikes, including this 30 yarder against his former club back in May. Iličić did not play last time Slovenia faced England.

Kevin Kampl – Right Winger

Born in Germany but eligible for Slovenia through his parents, Kampl’s performances at Reb Bull Salzburg, whom he won the league and cup double with in 2014, earned him a move to Borussia Dortmund last January. From a bright start, Kampl has since faded away as rumours have started to circulate that he may be sent on loan next season. The winger is set to stay at the Westfalenstadion however as he is only 6 months into a 5 year deal. That being said, on paper the player has had a stellar season, scoring 11 and assisting 19 in 47 games this year.

Milivoje Novaković – Forward

One of 2 strikers in the Slovenia squad after Zlatan Ljubijankić dropped out, the experienced 36-year-old will be Slovenia’s main goal threat. Whilst his season with Japanese side Nagoya Grampus may have not been a great one, scoring 3 in 17, he does have an impressive international tally of 29 goals in 68 appearances.

Excluding Josip Iličić, all of the above have featured in all of Slovenia’s 5 European Qualifier matches so far and are set to continue in the starting 11 against England.

United Passions unites critics

After its release to American audiences, the film United Passions has been capturing the attention of film buffs and football fans for its pitiful opening weekend takings of $607 (£397), which, if you’re lucky enough, is enough money for 6 tickets to the final of Euro 2016. The film tells the story of FIFA, from its origins to the current day, is largely financed by FIFA and, funnily enough, paints a glowing picture of three of FIFA’s leading figures, Sepp Blatter included. As the film currently has no UK release date, it seemed the next best thing was to roam the internet to capture the opinion of the elusive few who have managed to watch it.

Amidst the corruption case which is currently engulfing the organisation, the Independent’s Tim Walker notes that the film’s release has “excellent comic timing – if only in its release date.” Walker refers to United Passions as a “preposterous, sports administration-based melodrama”. Sports administration. Hardly the greatest starting point for a £17,000,000 film.

Jordan Hoffman of the Guardian continues to address the film in a similar manner. In a film where Blatter is the hero and the English are villains, Hoffman compares United Passion to “Stalinist propaganda”, noting that a film of this ilk would be more appropriate for the religious cult of Scientology, than FIFA. Hoffman also picks up the film’s story, stating that the film has “absolutely no dramatic arm” and instead “lumbers along”.

Finally, Paul Field of the Mirror labels this “disaster movie” “a self-indulgent mess”, and notes that it is “impossible not to snort with laughter.”

In the interest of fairness, the two most positive reviews were found on IMDB. Users christophe-35-310494 and fabiennelobert, both from France, gave the film rave reviews, with a 10/10 and 9/10 scoring, respectively. The former notes that the film is a “classic but such a good movie” with great anecdotes and cast, a “Must see!” The latter notes that the film is “not especially for the football’s fans” noting that the film has wonderful music and beautiful pictures and gives a good account of FIFA’s history. Perhaps suspect, perhaps reflective of the spontaneous nature of arm-chair critics, both accounts joined IMDB around the release of United Passions in France and neither have since contributed anything.

Certainly the critics’ reviews do not reflect well on the film but, aside from all the controversy surrounding FIFA and the film, there was perhaps another factor holding it back from the off. Over the course of his 16 year career, Frédéric Auburtin has mainly directed comedy films. In fact 78% of the pieces he has directed have been tailored to grab a laugh rather than eek out tension and drama. Perhaps more money should have been shelled out on a more suitable crew than a cast which includes actors Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Peaky Blinders).

On IMDB the film currently holds a 2.1/10 rating from users and a 1/10 rating from critics. Not having seen the film, I cannot know for certain, but surely United Passions has been punished because of the profound international influence of the film’s claims and the current turmoil experienced at FIFA. Surely a film with the budget it wielded, the name’s it cast and the magnitude of the issues it explores, could not have got it so disastrously wrong to garner such a critical reception, or could it? Perhaps Paul Field was right when he said “it simply has to be seen to be believed.”

 

Who will West Ham make their next manager in 48 hours?

West Ham United posted on their official website earlier today that they are “hoping to make an announcement [regarding a new manager] within the next 48 hours.”

The Board have spent the weekend grilling potential candidates and talks are now coming to “an advanced stage.” A 12^th place finished did not satisfy the West Ham hierarchy who chose not to renew Sam Allardyce’s contract after a 4 year reign, searching instead for a replacement to take the club to the next level.

Speaking about the next West Ham manager, David Gold said: “We would like someone who has managed successfully in one of the major leagues in the world. We want to bring in an established manager who has been there and done it.” Gold also went on to state that a history with the club would be beneficial.

A plethora of names have been put forward but they have since been narrowed down. Sevilla manager Unai Emery was identified as the primary target but he has subsequently signed a contract extension with the Spanish club, as will Michael Laudrup and Rafa Benitez has been appointed as the next Real Madrid manager. Jurgen Klopp has also been linked, but the former Borussia Dortmund manager is set to take some time out of the game, Real Sociedad’s President has stated David Moyes will not be leaving, Frank de Boer has ruled himself out and it looks highly likely that Steve McClaren will now join Newcastle United. Also, bearing in mind Gold’s demands, it appears Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche and Aitar Karanka are out of the running due to their inexperience at the top level.

Below we take a look at the leading candidates.

Slaven Bilić

The current favourite. Bilić not only played for West Ham for 2 seasons in the 1990’s but has managed the Croatian national team, Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas. Whilst his time with Croatia has largely viewed as a success, Bilić has since struggled in club management. In Moscow the Croat was sacked a year in after a poor campaign and in Istanbul, whilst he secured qualification to the Champions League in two consecutive seasons, he left after failing to challenge for the Turkish title.

Marcelo Bielsa

The experienced Argentine has been in management for almost 25 years. In recent years he has enjoyed successful spells with Athletic Bilbao and the Chilean national team and achieved a fourth-place finish with Marseille last season. At Bilbao it was noted that he had created one of the most exciting Athletic squads in decades, knocking Manchester United out of the Europa League and reaching the Europa League and Copa del Rey finals. Bielsa’s contract with L’OM runs out next year and the club have moved to tie the 59-year-old down but, according to reports, he has hesitated to respond whilst the West Ham vacancy remains.

Roberto Di Matteo

During his spell as caretaker manager of Chelsea, Di Matteo won the Champions League and the FA Cup before being dismissed 8 months into his tenure. Last month the Italian resigned after he failed to secure Champions League qualification with FC Schalke 04. Di Matteo is an outsider, but he is familiar with the Premier League, having managed Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion, available, and fits the bill.

Lucien Favre

Due to his success at Borussia Mönchengladbach, numerous sources have seen Favre more as a replacement for Pep Guardiola than Sam Allardyce. Nevertheless, his success at the German club, taking them from relegation contenders in 2011 to the Champions League and a third-place finish in this year’s Bundesliga, has seen his name rumoured with the Hammers’ position.

Harry Redknapp

‘Arry doesn’t need any grand introductions and, like Di Matteo, would be an outsider but he is a previous player and manager at Upton Park and has enjoyed Premier League success over the years. Earlier today Redknapp backed recently retired Rio Ferdinand to be the manager of West Ham, even though he has no managerial experience, where Redknapp would assume the role as director of football.

A few of the names listed above are not of the same pedigree as Sam Allardyce but the club have previously punched above their weight and have Europa League football to offer a prospective manager next season after topping the Premier League Fair Play system.

Although rumours suggest Bilić is the favourite, on paper Bielsa looks the best option due to his illustrious CV but equally another contender may creep in off the radar. All should be revealed by 15:00 on Wednesday, when West Ham United announce their 15^th permanent manager.

England vs the Republic of Ireland Match Preview

Tomorrow afternoon England take on the Republic of Ireland in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

From a footballing perspective, the fixture is not the most exciting. Not only has it been overshadowed by the significance of off the field factors but the previous fixture in 2013 was lauded by Phil McNulty, BBC chief football writer, as “a game where moments of genuine quality were few and far between” in a game that ended 1-1. Nevertheless both camps will want it to use it their advantage to march on in the European Qualifiers next week.

England go into the fixture on the back of a brilliant streak of form, winning 7 out of their last 8. In particular the form has shone through in the European Qualifiers, winning 5 games out of 5 whilst scoring 15 and conceding 1. However, the form should be treated with a degree of caution as the average FIFA ranking of the teams in England’s qualifying group is 88. Roy Hodgson’s men face their next qualifying match, against Slovenia, on the 14^th June.

Due to the U21 European Championships, which begins later this month, Hodgson has had to make a few alterations to allow for the younger players to link up with England’s U21s. Harry Kane and Jack Butland are two notable omissions as a result of dropping down to the U21 squad and in their place Tom Heaton, Charlie Austin and Jamie Vardy could all be set to make their England debuts. Austin has been in a rich vein of form this season, scoring 18 league goals for relegated QPR, but Heaton and Vardy have been viewed as shock inclusions. Daniel Sturridge, Michael Carrick and Leighton Baines were ruled out through injury. An injury to Ryan Mason has seen a late call-up for Tom Cleverley, who has not featured for England since November 2013, whilst Hodgson decided not to replace the injured Welbeck in case he became fit for the fixtures. Wayne Rooney needs 2 goals to match Bobby Charlton’s all time goal scoring record and, according to a BBC article, a group of fans from Charlie Austin’s previous club Poole Town, are set to receive a pay-out of £7,905 if the QPR striker scores.

Squad 

GK: Joe Hart, Rob Green, Tom Heaton

DF: Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling, Phill Jones, Kieran Gibbs, Nathaniel Clyne, Ryan Bertrand

MF: James Milner, Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Tom Cleverley, Ross Barkley, Andros Townsend, Fabian Delph

F: Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy, Charlie Austin, Danny Welbeck

In the Republic of Ireland camp assistant manager Roy Keane, has described the fixture with England as “the ideal preparation” for their match against Scotland on the 13^th June, their next European Qualifier. A win against the Scots would see the Boys in Green leapfrog their opponents and potentially climb higher from their 4^th place spot, as they are only 3 points adrift from the top. Although the Republic of Ireland are currently the lowest ranked British Isles nation, they are on a five match unbeaten run against England.

In the build up to the match there has been a considerable amount of media attention surrounding Aston Villa player Jack Grealish in his breakthrough season. The 19-year-old has played for the Irish at U17, U18 and U21 level but he was born in England and turned down an invitation to join Martin O’Neil’s squad whilst he secured Aston Villa’s league safety and contemplated his own international future. Robbie Keane, of L.A. Galaxy, is the only player from both squads not to play in the English league system

Squad

GK: David Forde, Darren Randolph, Kieren Westwood, Shay Given

DF: Seamus Coleman, Marc Wilson, John O’Shea, Richard Keogh, Cyrus Christie, Alex Pearce, Paul McShane, Stephen Ward

MF: Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy, Jeff Hendrick, James McClean, Harry Arter, Stephen Quinn, David Meyler, Robbie Brady, Aiden McGeady, Wes Hoolahan

F: Shane Long, Jonothan Walters, Robbie Keane, Daryl Murphy, David McGoldrick

The game kicks off tomorrow at 13:00 and will be shown on ITV, coverage from 12:30

Conference club Macc bid for 2026 World Cup

Macclesfield Town FC have recently announced their intentions to bid for the 2026 World Cup in the wake of FIFA controversy and the need for a “sensible bid”.

On their website the Chesire-based club announced: “After intense discussions with the relevant authorities, the town will be launching an official bid for the prestigious competition”.

The team, who finished 6^th place in this year’s Vanarama Conference, have the luxury of being able to offer “exceptional facilities” with the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose Stadium spearheading the stadia. Other venues include Booth Street, the home of Congelton Town FC, and Mary Dendy Playing field, which has the potential to stage an unprecedented event of 3 World Cup Fixtures at one venue and the impressive capacity of 200 people and 12 dogs.

In their bid to challenge the heavyweights and establish themselves on the international scene Macclesfield have scooped a right bobby dazzler with local celebrity David Dickinson on board to lead the open and closing ceremonies. Alongside the Duke, Macclesfield Town manager and one-club man John Askey will help give the bid an international presence.

Free WIFI will be on hand at the local library with 16 B&B’s and 6 hotels, include 2 Travelodges and 2 Premier Inns, on hand to cater for travelling fans.

There is, however, one notable stumbling block. In regards to the training facilities it has been acknowledged upfront that ”it is the responsibility of each association to make sure that the pitch is clear of dog foul prior to the start of each session”. It is yet to be disclosed who will take this duty upon themselves and if plastic bags or pooper scoopers will be used but the town has 11 years to sort out such technicalities.

Macclesfield Town have further boosted their bid by announcing that they have budgeted £40.00 to gift to FIFA, a proposal that no other potential bidding team has yet to formally make. Additionally, they can boast ex-Nigerian international Efe Sodje and former England C international Matthew Barnes-Homer in their ranks.

The world waits on as rival bidding teams put together their proposals to challenge the Silkmen with a decision set to be made on May 10^th, 2017.

Barker and Ward head Derby County releases

Yesterday Derby County announced their retained list as the summer re-build begins.

The list outlines players that have been kept or released at the end of a season and is sent to the Football League, giving notice to other clubs of who is freely available to sign.

One of the biggest names leaving Derby is club captain Shaun Barker. Barker signed back in 2009 from Blackpool for a fee in the region of £900,000, but has seen his Derby career curtailed by major injuries, last featuring in the first team in March 2012. Having recently played for the U21’s, his first competitive game in 3 years, and having trained with the first team squad, things seemed to be on their way up for Barker but the defender will not be able to complete his comeback. Barker emphasised this frustration when he tweeted:

I’ve been hoping that I’d get the opportunity to prove I’m capable of playing at this level but unfortunately that’s not the case

Back in March, Barker completed a trial with Nigel Clough’s Sheffield United and there is rumour circulating that he could join the ex-Derby contingent of John Brayford, Ben Davies, Paul Coutts, Jay McEveley and Kieron Freeman there.

The Northern Irish international Jamie Ward is another notable name on the release list. Ward signed a two-year deal last year but he does not fit into Steve McLaren’s plans, who has taken up the clause to release Ward early. Since news of Ward’s release has circulated, the unlikely rumour of transfer to embargoed Nottingham Forest has arisen, as has the option of a switch to Sheffield Wednesday.

Lee Naylor, Mark O’Brien, Zak Whitbread and Tom Naylor are all set to move on as well. Academy graduate O’Brien and versatile Tom Naylor have been on loan with Motherwell and Burton Albion, respectively, and whilst the former looks unlikely to return permanently due to Motherwell’s relegation, the latter has featured 17 times since January and may well head back permanently after being offered a contract by Jimmy Flloyd Hasselbank. John Eustace’s is also currently set for release but negotiations are ongoing.

Jesse Lingard, Omar Mascarell, Darren Bent and Tom Ince all return to their clubs after their loan deals end, leaving a squad of 18 players.

With all the departures, it leaves Derby’s squad depleted from its start of season squad. Will the likes of Alban Bunjaku and Isak Ssewankambo get a chance in the first team, will we see a fleshing out of the squad with fringe players or significant transfer activity? As always, it’s going to be an interesting summer in the transfer market.