“It’s not unfair”, says Ralph Hasenhüttl on the return on 2000 fans.
This month’s candidates for Premier League player of the month:
- Ben Chilwell
- James Ward-Prowse
- Jack Grealish
- Bruno Fernandes
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
- Angelo Ogbonna
Olivier Giroud on his future while speaking with the Chelsea official website:
‘I had a conversation with [Didier] Deschamps and he said if the situation stayed like that, I will have to take a decision in January. I am pretty sure I can get some more game time and stay at Chelsea because that is what I want. I want to win trophies with Chelsea so basically that’s it.
‘You never know in football, everything is going very fast, but right now I am very happy. I am a happy man and I am proud to be a Chelsea player.’
Here is Suzanne Wrack on South Sudan’s drive to attract more female footballers.
On this day in 1994, some typical magic from Alessandro Del Piero.
Patrick Viera has officially been sacked by Nice after five consecutive defeats. Nice are currently 11th in Ligue 1 and 8 points from the top. In the Europa League, they have 1 win and 4 losses in 5 games.
This is nice.
Some good news for Southampton as Danny Ings has returned to training and may take part in Monday’s game with Brighton.
Ralph Hasenhüttl: “Yesterday was his first time training with the team. We must have a look at how his body reacts to the training, and then we can say more, but he looked good yesterday.”
Sean Dyche, the longest serving English manager in the Premier League, will take charge of his 200th Premier League game tomorrow as Burnley face Everton at home. He was in a reflective mood yesterday:
“It is enjoyable in a strange kind of way, finding your way through those tough times and how you make them work, and learn a lot about yourself as a person.
“When you do find those ways and you do make things right then it’s very rewarding to you as a manager – not just the financial rewards but the feeling that it gives you to work so hard to get things right.
“To have done that for 200 games I’m actually pretty proud of that because I don’t think it’s easy for English and British managers at the moment to get 200 games in the Premier League.”
Dyche marked his 8th year at the club in October. In team news, Nick Pope will return to action after missing Burnley’s annual 5-0 loss to Manchester City with concussion.
Via PA.
Tomorrow marks Ralph Hasenhüttl’s two year anniversary with Southampton, which he discussed during his press conference this morning.
“I’m very happy where I am. I feel that fits absolutely together. That’s the reason why when I got the chance I extended my contract.”
Hasenhüttlthen talked about the tough periods he has faced since his arrival, especially last season.
“We are more and more coming in the direction where I want as the manager of this team”
Back then Southampton 18th in the league and now they sit in 6th place. On Monday they face Brighton away.
A boost for Tottenham fans.
Scott Parker on the effect of Fulham’s very impressive 2-1 away win against Leicester last week as they prepare to face Manchester City away tomorrow afternoon.
“It’s done a lot. Of course, I do always say that this season we need to keep morale, we need to keep spirit high and that has been the case, although we haven’t won many games.”
“But in saying that, when you do get a result against a very tough team, I don’t think anyone expected us to get a result and we went and got a result and played extremely well.”
“So with that brings a little bit of extra confidence and an extra bit of belief and that helps on the way. So a big result for us on Monday and something for us to build on. Not just to build on come Saturday or against Liverpool but for the remainder of the season really.”
Of course, Manchester City may have received their own boost after their annual 5-0 battering of Burnley. Few people envy the task ahead of Parker’s Fulham tomorrow.
Via PA.
Marcelo Bielsa on his current relationship with Frank Lampard two seasons on from ‘spygate’, Via PA:
“It’s not bad. The relationship I have with him is similar to the ones I have with the rest of my colleagues.”
“This is a moment that has already gone past. It was already resolved by the authorities, who judge how these actions need to be punished.”
In 2019 Leeds were fined £200k after a staff member was caught spying on Lampard’s Derby during a training session. Bielsa later revealed that he had done the same thing against every opposing club and he says that he paid for the fine himself.
There are no new developments with injuries. Pablo Hernandez, Diego Llorente and Jamie Shackleton are all on the road back to recovery but will not feature on Saturday evening.
Graham Potter on the prospect of welcoming 2000 fans back to Brighton when they face Southampton on Monday night:
“We hope that it’s a really positive impact. I am sure the players will look forward to seeing them and playing in front of them. It’s what makes football, ultimately.
“We have had games at home even after lockdown – Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool – the games we have lost are arguably the ones where you really need the supporters, we have had to play those behind closed doors.
“We hope we can use the support, we hope that we can play well and get them involved in the game, that they provide a good atmosphere and that can help us against a good opponent and get a positive result.”
Potter also said that Adam Lallana will be out for a further two weeks after exacerbating his groin injury in his brief appearance during Brighton’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool last week.
Via PA.
It has not been a bad start at all.
Some pieces to catch up on
Tim Stillman on the feeling of reconnecting with Arsenal in person after 9 months away:
Rob Davies on the imminent review of gambling laws, which could potentially see sports sponsorship by betting companies banned.
Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward distanced the club from calls for a so-called European Super League. By David Conn.
Ten things for everyone to keep an eye on this weekend.
Hello! Welcome to another Friday of football news as we count down the hours until matchday 11 in the Premier League. This weekend is, of course, particularly notable as we will see fans streaming through the turnstiles of some stadiums once more.
Kicking things off on Saturday at 12:30pm will be Burnley versus Everton, which will be followed by Manchester City against Fulham at 3pm. West Ham United vs Manchester United begins at 5:30pm before Frank Lampard’s Chelsea hosts Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds to close off play at 8pm. The headlines will of course be about Lampard and Bielsa as they cross paths again after the ‘spygate’ drama whilst Lampard was head coach at Derby.
Sunday begins with West Brom against Crystal Palace and then Sheffield United taking on Leicester City at home. Then we will finally see the fixture of the weekend as an ascendent Tottenham Hotspur face Arsenal at home in another North London derby. Liverpool close off the weekend with a 7:15pm battle against Wolves.
There will be no game tonight after a Covid-19 outbreak in the Newcastle United camp forced the cancellation of their away game against Aston Villa.