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Everton are reportedly now in ‘pole position’ to land Steve Hitchen as their new Director of Football (DoF).

The Lowdown: Hitchen leaves Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur announced the exit of Technical Performance Director Hitchen on Wednesday evening, and football.london journalist Alasdair Gold revealed that he sent a heartfelt email to staff at the North London club explaining why he left.

The move was apparently due in part to the presence of new Spurs transfer guru Fabio Paratici, whose ex-Juve fingerprints are all over their deadline day moves for Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.

With the Goodison Park faithful rapidly making changes of their own, as both Marcel Brands and Rafa Benitez have already left midway through this season, Hitchen is now being eyed for a role in Merseyside.

The Latest: Everton favourites

As per The Athletic journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen is now in ‘pole position’ to land the DoF job at the Toffees following his resignation from Spurs:

“Steve Hitchen in pole position for Everton DoF job after resigning from Spurs.

“- Signed Suarez for Liverpool in 2011

– Returned to Spurs 2017, close bond with Poch

– Convinced Poch to sign Lucas Moura. Got him Ndombele

– Tried to get Poch back in 2021.”

The Verdict: Shake-up needed

With the Blues lurking just outside of the relegation zone in the Premier League and the mood around the club at an all-time low before Benitez’s exit, a real shake-up is needed on the pitch and at boardroom level.

Described as a ‘shrewd operator’ by Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen does not seem to someone that would take anything lightly at EFC, and so could be the exact kind of character that they need to come in and shake things up from the outside.

Gold has claimed that he had little involvement in the Lilywhites’ last two transfer windows, with Paratici doing most of the work. Given the north London outfit’s failures to sign both Adama Traore and Luis Diaz in January, perhaps Hitchen is someone who should have been given more trust with regards to recruitment, something Everton in particular have been heavily criticised for in recent years.

In other news, find out which seven players will miss Brentford here!

Round-up of the third day of the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy Plate League

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2010Group AMadhya Pradesh went top of the Group A table after an innings and 239-run victory over Jharkhand at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. MP needed just 37.3 overs to bowl out the visitors for 140 on the third day. Seamer Amit Sharma and Anand Rajan took four wickets each, giving Rajan eight for the match. MP’s victory had been set up on the first two days after they bowled Jharkhand out for 131 and then piled on 510. It was always going to be an uphill struggle for Jharkhand from then on, and they surrendered meekly. Their highest scorer in the whole match was wicketkeeper Shiv Gautam who got 32 in the second innings. Jharkhand remain at second-last position in the table.It was a strong fightback from Hyderabad on the third day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium as they brought themselves to within 131 runs of Goa’s big first innings score and still have five wickets in hand. Captain Ravi Teja set the platform with his 126 and then Syed Quadri got 68 to take the hosts to 351 for 5 at stumps. Having avoided the follow-on, they have all but assured themselves of a draw but still need to do a lot of work to avoided conceding the first-innings lead and with it three points. Reagan Pinto’s excellent match continued as he followed up his century in the first-innings with two wickets with his part-time legspin for Goa.Group BServices set Vidarbha 353 to win in the fourth innings – a stern ask considering the pitch has been offering the bowlers plenty of assistance and Vidarbha haven’t scored more than 300 since their first game of the season. Services had the advantage at the start of the third day at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, having dismissed the hosts for 147 on the second. Openers Pratik Desai, captain Yashpal Singh and Soomik Chatarjee drove home that advantage, getting half-centuries to take Services to 265 for 6. They then declared to give themselves an entire day to bowl Vidarbha out.A 93-run stand by AP Singh and Parvez Rassol for the sixth wicket helped Jammu & Kashmir avoid a possible innings defeat, but Andhra Pradesh are still in the driver’s seat at the Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground in Jammu. The pair came in when J & K were 60 for 5 in their second innings, still 63 behind Andhra. Rassol was the aggressor hitting nine fours and two sixes in his 68 not out, while Singh was unbeaten on 39 at stumps. Captain Syed Sahabuddin and legspinner Sairaj Bahutule had given Andhra five early breakthroughs after Bodapati Sumanth’s 136 had helped them to a first innings total of 376. The overnight pair of Sumanth and Sahabuddin, who got 71, took AP from a precarious position of 219 for 6 in the morning to a strong total. J & K are now 30 runs ahead but will need to make their last five wickets last well into tomorrow to stave off a defeat.Maharashtra’s match against Kerala is heading towards a draw after another rain-hit day at the the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The visitors accelerated their scoring-rate on the third day, scoring 130 runs in 29.5 overs. Sangram Atitkar scored 109 and Maharashtra declared at 347 for 8. Kerala played just one over and were 5 for 0. Maharashtra will be hoping for a whole day’s play tomorrow so that they can try to bowl out Kerala and at least pick up three points for a first-innings lead.

India’s Praveen Kumar underwent a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy to determine whether he can participate in the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2011Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, underwent a fitness test early on Monday morning at the National Cricket Academy, immediately after returning from England, where he had dashed last week to consult experts on his injured right elbow. Though there was no official word yet from the BCCI on Praveen, sources monitoring the developments have indicated that the fast bowler’ dreams of playing his maiden World Cup were virtually over because the injury had not healed as fast as was expected.Praveen had picked up the injury at the outset of the ODI series last month in South Africa and was sent back immediately as a precautionary measure to recuperate at the NCA. But the recovery did not go as planned and Praveen was rushed to meet Dr Andrew Wallace, a London-based surgeon, who has treated many Indian players including Sachin Tendulkar. The BCCI officials were tight-lipped about the development, but it is understood that the board wanted to first approach the tournament’s technical committee to report on Praveen’s injury and get the approval for his replacement.In all likelihood that man could be Sreesanth, who was present in Bangalore on Monday and took a fitness test in the afternoon. But the BCCI has not gone public yet announcing the replacement. According to the tournament rules, once the technical committee receives the request it is passed straightaway unless there are any exceptional circumstances.

Windward Islands beat Jamaica by 17 runs, but both teams went through to the semi-finals since Jamaica still had a better net run-rate than Guyana and Somerset

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2011Windward Islands beat Jamaica by 17 runs at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, but both teams went through to the semi-finals since Jamaica still had a better net run-rate than Guyana and Somerset. Windwards completed their third win after electing to bat and scoring 165, a total that proved a few too many to chase for Jamaica. Windwards’ openers got them off to a brisk start, and then Devon Smith and Keddy Lesporis got half-centuries in quick time. Smith remained unbeaten on 58 off 39 balls. Seamer Krishmar Santokie took three wickets for Jamaica while David Bernard was their most economical bowler, giving away just 20 runs in his four overs.Jamaica lost a couple of early wickets in their chase, and left-arm spinner Gary Mathurin, who was used as an opening bowler by Windwards, stifled their innings, as he bowled a miserly spell of four overs for just nine runs with one wicket. Marlon Samuels and Wavell Hinds resurrected Jamaica’s innings, both getting half-centuries, but they couldn’t score fast enough and ended up falling well short of the target.

In the first match, Somerset had comfortably beaten Combined Campuses and Colleges. Somerest chose to bat, reached 165 and then restricted CCC to 123 in a dominant performance. Nick Compton and James Hildreth did the bulk of the scoring for Somerset, putting together a 90-run partnership for the second wicket. Hildreth stayed unbeaten on 69, and Craig Meschede played a cameo at the end, hammering 26 off 11 balls.CCC were never in the chase, as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Seamer Steve Kirby did the early damage for Somerset, and finished with figures of 3 for 26, and then left-arm spinner George Dockrell put the choke on in the middle overs, taking 2 for 15 in his four overs.

A day after Ireland’s heroics in Bangalore, normal service resumed in Mohali where AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla reeled off contrasting hundreds to set up 231-run hammering of Netherlands

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar03-Mar-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHashim Amla’s obduracy combined with AB de Villiers’ aggression to leave Netherlands floundering•AFPA day after Ireland’s heroics in Bangalore gave the Associates a major fillip, normal service resumed in Mohali where AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla reeled off contrasting hundreds to set up a hammering of Netherlands. Peter Borren elected to field under overcast skies, but things unraveled at an alarming rate after a disciplined show in the first quarter of the match. Amla overcame a sluggish start and focused on accumulation, while de Villiers shredded the attack in a blaze of big hits that was reminiscent of Herschelle Gibbs’ assault in the last World Cup encounter between these two teams. South Africa’s bowlers then backed up the batting with a near-perfect display to set up the fourth-biggest win in World Cup history.Smart Stats

AB de Villiers has now scored two consecutive centuries in the 2011 World Cup. He becomes the first South African to score two centuries in a single World Cup and the fifth batsman after Mark Waugh, Saeed Anwar, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden to score two consecutive centuries in a single World Cup tournament.

de Villiers also became the 16th batsman to score two or more centuries in one World Cup tournament. The record is three centuries in one tournament, jointly held by Mark Waugh (1996), Sourav Ganguly (2003) and Matthew Hayden (2007).

de Villiers’ strike rate of 136.73 is the highest among South African batsmen who have scored centuries in World Cup matches.

Hashim Amla reached his first century in World Cups off 121 balls. Overall, he has scored over 2200 runs at an average of 60.07 with eight centuries and 12 fifties.

The 69 runs scored in South Africa’s batting powerplay is second only to Pakistan’s aggregate of 70 runs in their batting powerplay against Kenya.

The 221-run stand between de Villiers and Amla is the highest third-wicket partnership for South Africa in World Cups and the third highest for any team in the World Cup. It is also the highest partnership for the third wicket for South Africa in all ODIs.

South Africa’s 351 is their third-highest World Cup score and the 12th highest score for any team in World Cups. South Africa’s highest World Cup score is the 356 against West Indies in the 2007 World Cup.

From a decent position of 81 for 2, Netherlands lost their last eight wickets for just 39 runs to be bowled out for 120.

The 231-run win is the fourth largest margin of victory for any team in World Cups and the largest for South Africa in World Cups. It is also the second largest margin of victory for South Africa in ODIs.

With his third player of the match award in World Cups, de Villiers is joint second with Jacques Kallis on the list of South African players with most match awards in World Cups. Lance Klusener heads the list with five awards.

Chasing 352, Netherlands’ best chance of getting anywhere depended on the top order’s ability to see off Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. The openers played out six overs from South Africa’s fastest bowlers, but Jacques Kallis ruined their efforts by snaring two quick wickets after coming in first-change. With the run-rate under control, Graeme Smith deployed his spinners on the lower order, and Netherlands sank without a trace, losing their last seven wickets for 39 runs against Imran Tahir and Robin Peterson.The margin of victory completely eclipsed Netherlands’ spirited efforts with the new ball. Their steady army of seamers stuck to tight lengths, and their accuracy left Smith prodding uncertainly from the outset, unsure of his footwork and indecisive in his outlook. After 31 balls of struggle, Smith had seen enough, and lost his leg stump while trying to shovel Bernard Loots across the line. Ryan ten Doeschate then won the first round in the battle of the prolific allrounders, strangling Kallis into glancing one down the leg side through to the wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi. At 58 for 2 in the 16th over, South Africa were in some strife. Thankfully for them, their two best batsmen in recent times were on hand to revive the innings. Even their most optimistic fans, though, would not have envisaged the emphatic manner in which the tide was turned.Restless to put the failure against West Indies behind him, Amla tried to kick off his World Cup career by disregarding the lengths, and punching on the up. He nearly paid the price in Berend Westdijk’s third over, when his drive fell just short of the man at short cover. In Mudassar Bukhari’s next, he mishit another forcing shot through the off side, getting an inside edge that was pouched by Barresi on the bounce. Amla tightened his approach following the two reprieves, resorting to deflections behind square, and compact drives down the ground. His first eight balls yielded three fours, but he got only one more – a fortuitous inside edge to fine leg off ten Doeschate – on his way to a vital half-century.As he had done against West Indies, de Villiers checked in with a surge of immaculate boundaries, flicking and cutting ten Doeschate for fours in the 18th over. They were shots of intent that changed the complexion of the game, ending a period of nearly ten overs in which South Africa’s only boundary was Amla’s edge to fine leg. de Villiers then went on to expose Netherlands’ limitations, leaving the accumulation to Amla and throwing punches in all directions. He looted boundaries in all but two of the overs between 27 and 35, pinging boundaries in a comprehensive arc from third man to midwicket, with shots ranging from the revers- sweep to the slapped flick. While his improvisation was top class, the hallmark of his innings remained the trademark crunched cover-drives whenever the bowlers over-pitched.Netherlands enjoyed a boundary-drought between overs 36 and 41, but it was clearly a case of the batsmen calibrating their guns for a final assault. Amla strolled to one of his quieter hundreds in the 40th over, and South Africa took the batting Powerplay soon after. de Villiers began the carnage by lapping Pieter Seelar for the first six of the innings, before reaching his century off 88 balls. His next ten deliveries brought him 34 runs, as he smashed Loots for three successive sixes and then ten Doeschate for a hat-trick of fours. Netherlands managed to dismiss both batsmen in quick succession, but it was scarce solace as the Powerplay went for 69. The fields fell back for the last four overs, but that did not seem to affect Duminy, who kept getting under length deliveries to swing four gleeful sixes. Netherlands must have known they were out of the game once South Africa finished with 351. Unfortunately, they did not have Kevin O’Brien in their ranks.Match Timeline

Leeds United are keen on signing RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Previous interest

The Whites were linked with a move for Gvardiol following promotion back to the Premier League. However, the 20-year-old, who journalist Izak Ante Sucic told BBC Sport is “built like a tank”, snubbed a move to Elland Road to sign for RB Leipzig.

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Gvardiol made 18 appearances under Jesse Marsch at Leipzig, and with the American now in charge at Elland Road, it looks as if the Croatia international is wanted once again in Yorkshire.

The Latest: Source reveal

FI shared a story on Thursday morning regarding Leeds and Gvardiol after being informed by a Whites source.

They claimed that Leeds are stepping up their interest in the defender and Victor Orta has had scouts watching him at recent matches ahead of a potential summer move.

The Verdict: Club-record deal?

The report adds that Leipzig now value Gvardiol at £27m, so it looks as if Leeds will need to hit their club record to sign the centre-back this summer, matching or eclipsing the £27m they spent on Rodrigo.

A defensive overhaul is in the pipeline over the coming months, with Robin Koch a player who could be set to leave the club ahead of Marsch’s first full season in charge.

Gvardiol may well be the man to arrive as a marquee signing, so a move could once again be one to watch closely.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano reveals big transfer blow for Leeds as key 21 y/o target now set to move elsewhere

Manchester United have made an offer to sign Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele, according to El Chiringuito journalist Darío Montero (via Sport Witness). 

The lowdown: Big-money player

Signed from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 for what was then second-biggest transfer fee in world football (£135.5m, as per BBC), Dembele has struggled to recapture his best form in Catalunya.

Despite directly contributing to 64 goals in 147 outings for the Spanish giants, the 24-year-old has also missed 96 matches through a variety of injury issues since arriving at Camp Nou.

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With Dembele set to become a free agent at the end of the season (Transfermarkt), a fresh update has emerged from Spain…

The latest: Offer made for Dembele

As per Montero, as translated by Sport Witness, the Red Devils and Paris Saint-Germain are both keen on signing the 2018 World Cup winner.

It is claimed that United are ‘offering’ Dembele a salary between €10m and €15m (£8.4m-£12.6m) per year.

Hailed as an ‘exceptional player’ by team-mate Dani Alves upon the Brazilian right-back’s return to the La Liga club, the 27-cap forward could yet remain at Barcelona should Xavi and the club act quickly.

The verdict: Worth the risk

It is an undoubted gamble to pay such high wages to a player who is so prone to injury, but without the expenditure of a transfer fee, the signing of Dembele has the potential to be a masterstroke for United if they can pull it off.

So far this season, the versatile forward has scored twice and provided 11 assists in 29 appearances across all competitions, highlighting his wizardry with a league-high 2.8 successful dribbles completed per match whilst earning the second-highest overall rating in La Liga with 7.61 (Sofascore).

Considering that the Spanish top flight is Europe’s second-highest ranked league in UEFA’s association club coefficient, it is no mean feat to be a performance leader at that level of football.

Incoming United manager Erik ten Hag will have to choose between Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga and Marcus Rashford for the wide attacking berths at present, leaving ample room for a player of Dembele’s proven quality.

In other news: Red Devils in pole position to sign Premier League star…find out more here

Rangers have seen many players come and go out of the club during previous transfer windows, some on loan and some on permanent deals.

As happens with a lot of clubs, some deals don’t end up working out as well as all parties involved would have hoped.

However, one deal that took place at Ibrox in recent memory that definitely worked out well for the Gers is their 2017 swoop for Alfredo Morelos.

Signed from HJK Helsinki during the 2017 summer transfer window, the striker has gone on to make 224 appearances for the Gers across all competitions.

In those appearances, the Colombian has scored 113 goals and provided 51 assists along the way, cementing himself as a crucial attacking player for the team.

With 26 league games under his belt in this SPFL campaign, the 25-year-old has found the back of the net 11 times and provided seven assists.

To further highlight how much of an attacking threat the centre-forward is, no other player in the SPFL has managed to have as many shots on target as Morelos (37) this season.

This shows just how much of a nuisance he is to pretty much every opposition goalkeeper he comes up against in the league.

His overall performances have also earned him a seasonal rating of 7.35 from WhoScored, making him the second-highest rated player in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad.

Back in March 2018, Transfermarkt had the Colombia international’s market value listed as £1.58m, whereas it now stands at £11.7m, highlighting a significant increase of 640%, undeniably as a result of his impressive goalscoring efforts since joining the Gers.

Labelled as a “brutally ruthless” player on the pitch by Helsinki CEO Aki Riihilahti, that’s exactly what he’s been in front of goal since he became a Rangers player.

Taking all of this into account, it’s hard to deny that Ross Wilson and Rangers hit the jackpot when they secured the £31.5k-per-week Morelos’ signature back in 2017.

Given what he’s been able to deliver on the pitch in terms of his attacking output, it’s safe to say that this deal has been a real bargain for the club.

Moving forward, with the striker currently out for the rest of the season with an injury, Van Bronckhorst will undoubtedly be hoping that he will be able to get back out on the pitch and firing again by the time their next campaign kicks off.

AND in other news: Wilson must finally launch Rangers bid for “strong” 125 G/A gem, he’s a “real threat”

Australia’s selectors have backed middle-order batsman Marcus North despite his three ducks in the past three Tests

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010Australia’s selectors have backed middle-order batsman Marcus North despite him making three ducks in his previous three Tests. North has scored more than 10 only thrice in 13 second innings, but the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, indicated that he could still win a place in the Ashes squad.”No player is safe in international cricket, you’ve got to perform,” Hilditch told . ”What we do know is that he [North] was in excellent form in the tour game, he’s scored hundreds at international level, he’s scored hundreds against England. He is a very classy player. He’d be disappointed he failed, like any other player.”North, 31, made a century in the first innings against a Board President’s XI in Australia’s curtain-raiser to the Indian tour, and he collected 367 runs at 52.42 in the Ashes last year. He has also been occasionally effective as an offspinner, taking a six-wicket haul against Pakistan to secure a victory at Lord’s earlier this year. His place has come under increased scrutiny after he contributed only 10 runs and 1 for 47 in the gut-wrenching loss against India in Mohali.Another player who did not perform in Mohali was offspinner Nathan Hauritz, who managed three tailenders’ wickets in the match and looked ineffective on the fifth day. He too received a vote of confidence from Hilditch. ”I’m not reading too much into Nathan’s performance because he took three wickets,” he said. “He’s been averaging about 4½ [runs an over] since he came into the Test side, and he’s performed really well for us. The reality is that this was not a wicket that suited spin bowling. He’s been our premier spinner for well over 12 months now; that’s how we still see him”Hauritz also has strong support from Ricky Ponting, who called the offspinner a ‘lock-in’ for the Ashes two months ago.

India and Sri Lanka look set to welcome back injured troops for the final Test of the series

Sidharth Monga at the SSC30-Jul-2010Both sides look set to welcome back injured troops for the final Test of the series at the P Sara Oval on Tuesday. Gautam Gambhir and Lasith Malinga, if fit, should walk back into their respective sides, while Yuvraj Singh presents India with a conundrum. Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain, said Malinga – the biggest factor in the series so far – was on track to recover from the stiffness and fever that kept him out of the second Test.”[Looks] pretty good for the third Test,” Sangakkara said. “He had a lot of stiffness and soreness after the first Test. He had a bout of fever as well. We’ll assess his conditions as soon as we start training again. Everyone has been keeping an eye on him. If he’s back for us for the third Test, it’ll be a bonus.”India had more fitness worries on day five when Sachin Tendulkar didn’t take the field. MS Dhoni, though, quelled fears of a serious trouble. “Sachin had a stiff groin, but as of now he looks good,” he said. “Yuvraj is fit, Gautam Gambhir is also raring to go. This is as of now, but if anybody goes to sleep and gets up with something I”ll let you know tomorrow.”Yuvraj brought drinks out today, and also fielded for a bit, making a diving save at cover too. His return to fitness creates a selection headache because his replacement, Suresh Raina, has scored a century on debut.”It’s a perfect question to ask, which means if I answer it right now, there will be four days [between now and the start of the third Test] of coverage, then on the fifth day, I will decide which guy to play,” Dhoni said. “So I would prefer to keep it out for the next three days and we just have to wait till 9.30 on the day of the start of the next Test match.”