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      Wayne Rooney’s Derby and EFL at war over 12-point administration deduction as TWO parties line up £25m takeover bid

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      WAYNE ROONEY’S Derby County and the EFL are at war in a fight over a 12-point penalty for going into administration.The Rams are lodging an appeal against the fixed amount that is normally handed out for the ‘offence’ of taking this drastic financial step.
      Wayne Rooney’s Derby have been deducted 12 points for going into administrationCredit: Rex
      Owner Mel Morris says the financial troubles Derby find themselves in are due to the Covid pandemicCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      The defence will centre on former owner Mel Morris’ claim their troubles were caused by Covid hitting their gate money.
      And now the EFL are demanding that Derby show them their books for the last SIX YEARS to see if they have a case.
      The appeal, which will cost the administrators around £300,000 in legal fees, will rock football as Derby bid to get the amount of points deducted reduced to six — HALF the standard penalty.
      Only a year ago Wigan tried the same argument, and lost out, with the ‘automatic’ 12 points taken off and costing them relegation.
      If Derby are successful it could allow other clubs to go down the route of administration for Covid reasons if they are only to be hit with six points off their totals.
      Championship Derby are also facing a penalty from the EFL for Financial Fair Play breaches.

      They are likely to lose nine points with a further three suspended.
      County hope there is a chance of survival if their appeal is successful and the admin penalty plus the FFP charges mean they ‘only’ lose 15 points.
      The news comes as TWO leading football figures are in the race to take over at Derby.
      The chance to rescue the Rams from administration in a deal worth around a basic £25million is catching the attention of a few with connections to rival clubs.
      Former Ipswich owner Marcus Evans has shown a firm interest.
      Multi-millionaire Evans sold Town after 14 years in charge and has the cash to do the deal — with feelers already being put out.
      Evans would have no problem passing the EFL tests after his lengthy spell at the Tractor Boys.
      Burton chief executive Jez Moxey is being strongly linked with a big consortium including local and American cash.
      Moxey has previous experience at Wolves too and could be tempted to change club if the group put in the biggest bid.
      There is also interest from a British businessman based abroad who has previous sports clubs and financial groups in America and Switzerland.

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      American-based Scot William Binnie’s two sons and their Carlisle Capital are also serious players.
      The administrators hope to do a deal for the club AND include the stadium.
      Morris would need to accept an offer at a reasonable price on top of the sale of the club. More

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      Ex-Crystal Palace star Bakary Sako on verge of free transfer to secret Championship club having not played in 15 MONTHS

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      BAKARY SAKO is looking to make a comeback in England — with a Championship team set to bring in the experienced forward this week.Former Crystal Palace and Wolves striker Sako is a free agent after a spell in Cyprus and has been in contact with clubs about a return.
      Former Crystal Palace star Bakary Sako has not played since featuring for Cypriot side Pafos last yearCredit: Getty
      The destination of the France-born attacker, 33, is being kept secret but the interested outfit want to see him train before deciding on a deal.
      Sako has not played for more than a year since he left Cypriot side Pafos in 2020.
      He enjoyed two spells with Palace, the first of which came between 2015 and 2018 when he joined from Wolves.
      Sako played 50 times and scored eight goals before leaving for West Brom.
      He only spent four months at The Hawthorns before returning to Palace in 2019.
      He then featured another four times for Palace before leaving for Cyprus.

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      But after just six games for Pafos he became a free agent in 2020 and has been unable to find a club ever since.
      Meanwhile, Palace playmaker Ebere Eze is ahead of schedule in his recovery from an Achilles injury.
      There were initial fears the 23-year-old would be out until the new year after sustaining the problem in training at the back end of last season.
      But he is back running and doing ball work already – as he revealed himself in an online clip on Tuesday to the delight of fans. More

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      Mick Wadsworth swaps football management for art and hopes drawing auction will raise money for charity

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      FORMER football boss Mick Wadsworth has swapped his tactics board and cones for watercolour pencils and paper.Wadsworth, 70, had a distinguished coaching career, managing Carlisle, Scarborough, Colchester, Oldham, Huddersfield, Chester and Hartlepool in the Football League.
      Mick Wadsworth has swapped football for artCredit: Dave Pinegar
      The ex-football manager showcased some of his drawings for SunSportCredit: Dave Pinegar
      He was also assistant to the late Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle, as well as on his England coaching staff at the 1990 World Cup.
      But now he has turned his hand to art.
      At the start of the pandemic, Wadsworth decided to fuse two of his biggest passions, football and drawing, to raise money for charity.
      He has sketched a series of football grounds including Carlisle’s Brunton Park, Burnley’s Turf Moor and the now demolished former homes of Scarborough (Athletic Ground) and Darlington (Feethams) plus local scenes from his life.
      On Saturday night, he is selling 12 of his charming framed sketches at an auction in Carlisle to raise funds for the Eden Valley Hospice, which cares for patients from Cumbria and south-west Scotland.
      Wadsworth told SunSport: “Me and my Carlisle team were going to get together last year to mark the 25th anniversary of the club winning what is now known as the League Two in 1995.

      Wadsworth drew various places during the coronavirus lockdownCredit: Dave Pinegar
      He is hoping to raise money for charity in his upcoming auctionCredit: Dave Pinegar
      “But because of the lockdown, we had to postpone it a year.
      “I’ve always liked the arts — Lowry, Turner and Norman Cornish are my favourite artists.
      “I drew a lot as a kid and would paint avidly as I was growing up.
      “I was brought up in a pit village in Yorkshire called Dodworth, near Barnsley.
      “My dad was a collier and I started my working career down the pit, so that part of my life was important. It was a big grounding.
      “I drew whatever was around me then — whether it be football or local scenes.
      “And then, during lockdown, I started again, dabbling in sketches and watercolour.
      “I’ve done quite a few football grounds but through the lens of a few years ago.
      “I researched all the grounds that I’ve drawn and acquired old images to get the architecture as accurate as I can.
      “Then everything else is from my weird and strange imagination.”
      Wadsworth’s artistic talents stretch further as he also plays guitar, piano and harmonica.
      But football has always been his big passion and he wanted to do something in memory of former Carlisle midfielder Tony Hopper, who died of motor neurone disease aged just 42.
      Football grounds feature prominently in Wadsworth’s drawings
      He said: “I gave Tony his debut when I was manager and he sadly passed away three years ago. Tony was looked after by the Eden Valley Hospice, who have been struggling because of the pandemic, so we’ve decided to raise funds for them.
      “Not only do we want to mark what we achieved at Carlisle all those years ago but to also remember Tony and our physio Peter Hampton, who passed away last September.
      “It was an incredible time for the club. In my two seasons at the club, they reached the play-off semi-final, which we lost to Wycombe; won the title to get promoted and made Wembley for the first time in Carlisle’s history for the EFL Trophy final against Birmingham. There were 76,663 fans there that day!
      “I gave the likes of Rory Delap and Paul Murray their senior debuts at Carlisle.”
      The Cumbrians will always have a special place in Wadsworth’s heart as they were the first club to make him a professional football manager in 1993. And he admits his regret at resigning a few months after their 1995 triumph.
      He said: “Carlisle — and later Newcastle — are the two clubs where I look back and reflect that I shouldn’t have left when I did.
      “I should’ve stuck around but was stupid. That’s life, though, isn’t it?
      “In the Carlisle case, we had just got promoted to the third tier and didn’t invest so it became difficult and frustrating.
      “Norwich came in and made a good offer to go as assistant manager to Gary Megson.
      “It was a big mistake because after just a couple of months they declared they were bust. What a great move that was!
      “I went into work one day and they said, ‘Can you hand your car back in? Oh, and by the way, we’ve sold your flat!’”
      Wadsworth will always cherish his memories of working with Robson for England and Newcastle.
      Wadsworth is attempting to raise the money in memory of Carlisle midfielder Tony HopperCredit: Dave Pinegar
      He worked as an FA regional coach in the north west and it was while there that he met Robson. And the former Three Lions boss took him to Italy to be part of his coaching team for the World Cup in 1990.
      Robson later recruited him as his assistant at Newcastle and Wadsworth said: “Bobby knew what I was good at.
      “He really leaned on me to head up the coaching at Newcastle so training on a daily basis was my responsibility, along with the coaching team as it were.
      “John Carver was there then and Tommy Craig was doing the reserves.
      “It wasn’t a dictatorial situation under Bobby.
      “I got on with what I enjoyed most, which was being on the training ground.
      “Bobby was fantastic and always very thoughtful in everything we did.
      “If Bobby said, ‘No, I don’t agree with that’, it was fine.
      “I’d make a point, John would make a point, he’d make a point and in the end we’d agree that Bobby was right all the time. Everyone held him in such reverence and working with him was a delight.
      “He was a wonderful person — a true gentleman but also as hard as old boots.”
      Wadsworth is working with Sheffield Star chief football writer James Shield on a book charting his life and memories, which will most probably be published at some point next year.
      And renowned football photographer Stuart Roy Clarke is also hoping to use some of Wadsworth’s drawings in a book and at an exhibition of his work in Carlisle soon.
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      Wadsworth added: “I’ve been so blessed to have had such a great career in football.
      “I only played 20-odd games myself for Scunthorpe in the Football League, with the rest of my playing days in non-league.
      “So I was fortunate to have a successful career in the professional game.”
      Roberto Mancini would be ‘ideal’ new Newcastle manager as he has experience to manage new projects, says Trevor Sinclair More

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      Inside Oldham’s crisis, as fans protest against owner with demos featuring a coffin and Boundary Park pitch invasions

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      FOR Oldham Athletic fans, the atmosphere at Boundary Park is toxic – and likely to only get worse.On and off the pitch, the Latics are a club in crisis with their followers pointing the finger at owner Abdallah Lemsagam.
      It’s the final nail in the coffin for Oldham Athletic fansCredit: Getty
      Fans have spent almost three years campaigning against owner Abdallah LemsagamCredit: Getty
      They have spent almost three years campaigning against the Dubai-based former agent in the fear that the club is heading for extinction under his regime.
      Since he took over in January 2018, Boundary Park has slowly but surely turned into a war zone with repeated protests by fan groups.
      Before a drab 0-0 draw with Hartlepool, police were forced to patrol a demo that featured a coffin inscribed : “RIP OAFC” and was placed outside the main door of the stadium.
      Supporters have taken to donning clown masks on a match day, echoing the belief that Oldham Athletic have become a circus.
      While there have also been pitch invasions, tennis balls and flares thrown onto the playing surface as the tensions rise.
      And although the club moved off the bottom of Football League Two last weekend on goal difference, despite losing at home 2-1 to Harrogate Town, the ill-feeling is still there.
      In 2019, fed up with not being heard, four fans launched Push The Boundary to communicate the concerns and dissatisfaction with the current owner regarding the handling of the football club, whilst raising awareness of its precarious state.
      Founding member Steve Shipman, 40, tells SunSport: “We started seeing the warning signs a few years ago and that things weren’t quite right.
      “We wanted to do something about it because we were just shouting into a big, black hole.
      “But we didn’t want to get to this point, where we’re near the bottom of the league, before people start to act and it’s too late.
      “We’ve been banging on the door for a couple of years. And initially we were trying to engage with the club, not necessarily saying we want the owner out.
      “We made the point of telling them fans weren’t happy, we gave them evidence of that through the form of surveys, but the owner chose to ignore it.
      Push The Boundary’s founding members, including Steve Shipman, far left
      Flares and tennis balls have been thrown onto the pitch as the fans protest against the clubs ownershipCredit: KIPAX
      “I think what we’ve seen recently with the protests is a culmination of that pressure, fans going on the pitch because they’re unhappy, and now he’s got no choice but to address it.
      “But the fact is, he could’ve done this a few years ago. Fans have got to a point now where enough is enough with the new manager appointments and false dawns.
      “And if he wasn’t going to listen to us, then the fans were going to take matters into their own hands.”
      SunSport has repeatedly highlighted the growing crisis at the club that was originally one of the Premier League’s founding members in 1992.
      Before the lockdown in March last year we reported that unless the controversial Moroccan paid debts of £575,000 to the ground’s leasehold owner Simon Blitz then he would put the club into administration.
      That threat, which Blitz would have carried out, followed a bitter war between the pair after Lemsagam sparked a two-month investigation by The Sun over his claims that he had found a £5.2M “hole” in the club’s finances
      Oldham Police were called in over Lemsagam’s allegations, relating to the construction of the ground’s new North Stand with £1.78M of local council money part of the so – called missing money.
      There was no case to answer by former director Blitz as SunSport confirmed.
      But depressed Latics supporters declare that Lemsagam very much does have one to answer following years of turmoil.
      And many believe that they are witnessing the last rites of the club founded 126 years ago.
      Abdallah Lemsagam has refused to cooperate with Oldham fans who don’t understand his intentions for the clubCredit: Rex Features
      An airplane displays a banner over Boundary Park calling for Lemsagam brothers to leave the clubCredit: Rex
      Shipman stresses what he would like to happen next.
      “The ideal situation would be if Lemsagam works with us and the supporters foundation to help facilitate his exit from the football club,” he says.
      “Let’s work towards something that gets him the most money that allows him to walk away.
      “But what we don’t want is if he brings someone in on his own accord, because he’s already proved he can’t be trusted.”
      Back in March, Lemsagam appointed Keith Curle as manager to save the club from relegation.
      Astonishingly, he is the ninth coach to work for the Moroccan, and before his arrival there were on-going accusations of Lemsagam’s interference in team matters, even down to the selection of certain of his favourite players against others.
      Lifelong Latics fan and Manchester United legend Paul Scholes lasted only 31 days in the job, saying he could not work due to Lemsagam’s meddling.
      Wages of players and staff have frequently been delayed, there have been near misses in terms of administration – not just with Blitz but with the tax man too.
      Yet experienced Curle has a managerial career that spans six previous clubs, including 2020 promotion to League One with Northampton Town.
      The 57 year-old is certain he can spark a revival and insists he is doing things his own way – as he has always done –  that he is his own man, not just a company man.
      Paul Scholes lasted only 31 days in the job at Oldham before walking awayCredit: Getty – Contributor
      Many fans are calling for Lemsagam to sell the clubCredit: Getty
      Curle hints that some of his predecessors may have taken the easy way out and allowed Lemsagam to carry the can rather than look at their own efforts.
      The former Manchester City captain declares that won’t be the case with him.
      He stresses that if he fails to keep Oldham up: “I’ll take all the blame. That’s what I do.
      “When we win a game I applaud everybody that’s helped.
      “When things aren’t going well I shoulder the responsibility. The easy thing to do is look at the past circumstances.
      “But I know when I have all of my players fit and available we will be competitive in this division.
      “I know where Oldham can get to but the route there is not a straight line.
      “A straight line is having £3M in the bank as your budget, you get the best players for the division, and you double up on it.
      Oldham manager Keith Curle is tasked with keeping the club up this seasonCredit: Getty
      Last weekend, Oldham lost 2-1 at home to Harrogate TownCredit: Alamy
      “As proven by Salford, it ain’t as straight a line as you think it is.
       “Whatever get thrown at me, I deal with it in eight words : it is what it is, deal with it.
      “It’s not arrogance, it’s not being aggressive or having a confrontational approach.
      “I’m just not one of those people that keep complaining about problems. I find solutions.
      “Being bottom of the league without ten injured players and working within the restrictions of an EFL transfer embargo is a problem.
      “But I know the solution and we continue to put things together to create that solution.”
      Lemsagam’s brother Mohamed is under fire from the fans, who believe the sporting director has only helped deepen the club’s crisis with dressing room interference.
      Curle stresses : “I don’t know what went on before, but it doesn’t happen with me.
      “That’s not the relationship that we’ve got. I make my own mind up, I make my own decisions, I pick the team.
      Curle insists he hasn’t had any issues with team meddling with the Lemsagam brothersCredit: Alamy
      However, should Oldham fall out of the National League they could be headed to extinctionCredit: Getty

      “How else can it work? It’s the only way I work.”
      Oldham fans will be praying his efforts save their side and their efforts in raising awareness of unrest might make the owners appear more transparent.
      Otherwise, if the club falls out of the National League, they could fall into oblivion like neighbours Bury. Imagine the fans protests then? More

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      Arsenal still owed £8m by crisis club Derby for Krystian Bielik as desperate Rams step up search for new owner

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      DERBY COUNTY reportedly owe Arsenal an outstanding fee for the purchase of former Gunners midfielder Krystian Bielik.Telegraph Sport claims the Emirates giants are one of the Rams main creditors after the two sides made a deal over the sale of the player.
      Arsenal are still owed £8million by Derby in transfer fees for Krystian BielikCredit: PA:Press Association
      It is thought groups or individuals interested in purchasing the Pride Park club will have to take responsibility for its liabilities which is reported to be in the region of ‘tens of millions of pounds”
      And Derby, who play Swansea next, are claimed to still owe the Gunners £8m for Bielik who signed for the Rams in August 2019 when Philip Cocu was managing the team. 
      The Poland player, who has two senior international caps, joined Derby for a club-record fee reported to be worth up to £10m. 
      It is thought the agreement between the sides enabled the Rams to pay a small chunk of the transfer fee upfront with the rest of the cost to be paid in structured instalments. 
      However, the Telegraph reports that only £2million has been paid so far.
      It is claimed that any prospective owners interested in buying the Rams are expected to take on transfer fee payments owed to Arsenal. 

      Earlier this week Derby are reported to have axed the jobs of twenty staff with administrators overseeing cost-cutting measures at the Championships. 
      The BBC says jobs were cutting despite administrators hoping to obtain some-term funding next week. 
      This month it has been claimed the Rams were late paying one of their transfer instalments to Arsenal.
      This is thought to have resulted in the Football League temporarily adding a charge to their transfer embargo before the situation was remedied. 
      Reports claim the Gunners have been informed they will receive the transfer fees owed to them with the Rams’ administrators including the figure in financial negotiations with interested buyers. 
      Bielik, who made 15 Championship appearances for the Rams last term, is currently recovering from a knee injury. 
      The defensive midfielder’s injury is reported to be his second knee problem since joining Derby two years ago. 
      It is thought the Rams, who went into administration in September, also owe money to Polish outfit Lech Poznan for the purchase of winger Kamil Jozwiak. 
      And it is claimed the fee owed for the player takes Derby’s transfer fee ‘debts’ over  £10m. 
      The Poland winger joined the Rams for £4m in September 2020. 
      The Rams are reported to owe £26million to HM Revenues and CustomsCredit: PA
      Derby’s financial challenges include £26million owed to HM Revenues and Customs. 
      It is reported Phillip Cocu, who was sacked by the side in November, will not receive £5million owed in compensation to him following the club entering administration. 
      And it is thought the club’s administrators Quantuma has distributed marketing materials to groups and individuals interested in buying the Rams.

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      Wayne Rooney slams ‘disrespectful’ Derby owner Mel Morris for keeping him in dark as club entered administration More

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      Football fans set to be allowed to drink alcohol at their seats after 36-year ban if review recommendation is allowed

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      FOOTBALL FANS could be allowed to drink alcohol in STANDS in the near future following a fan-led government review.Supporters haven’t been allowed to enjoy booze while watching football since 1985 but a change in the rules is to be recommended.
      Fans are allowed to drink from their seats at cricket matchesCredit: Getty
      According to The Times, ex-sport minister and Conservative MP Tracey Crouch has completed an independent review of the matter.
      She is set to push for a pilot on serving alcohol at clubs in the National League and League Two with a view to extending it to a higher level.
      British football’s 36-year ban on alcohol being drank in stands was introduced in a bid to battle hooliganism.
      Other top European leagues allow supporters to enjoy a pint in their seats while they watch the action unfold.
      There is also no such ban in other British sports, such as cricket and rugby.
      Crouch believes the move could encourage fans not to binge drink before games and will generate much-needed revenue for lower-league clubs.

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      She told The Times: “Take a club like Dulwich Hamlet, which is in National League South. It’s revenue is generated through its refreshments.
      “If it gets promoted to the National League Premier, it effectively stops generating that revenue during a game.
      “They said openly in evidence to us that they cannot afford to get promoted because of the rules around alcohol.
      “Lots of clubs generate a lot of their income through their bars and I think it’s time to look at this issue again.

      “We do have this bizarre situation where you can go to Headingley and drink as a cricket fan, but go to Elland Road and you can’t drink as a football fan.
      “We kettle people into drinking quickly at half-time. And that is the unhealthy aspect of the football fan’s relationship with alcohol.
      “They drink a lot in a short space of time. So my recommendation is to pilot this and not have to down a pint at half-time.”
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      Peterborough striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, 27, hit with four-game ban and £5k fine for historic tweets nine years ago

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      PETERBOROUGH talisman Jonson Clarke-Harris will miss the next four matches after being banned for tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013.The striker, 27, has also been fined £5,300 by the FA, and will undergo a face-to-face education programme.
      Peterborough striker Jonson Clarke-Harris has been banned for four-matches
      The tweets in question referred to sexual orientation.
      Clarke-Harris was charged with breaching FA rule E3.1 and E3.2 in August.
      An FA spokesperson said: “Peterborough United FC’s Jonson Clarke-Harris has been suspended for four matches, fined £5,300 and is required to complete a face-to-face education programme after admitting six breaches of FA Rule E3 in relation to social media comments posted between 27 October 2012 and 6 March 2013.
      “The comments were insulting, abusive, improper and brought the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1.
      “The comments also constitute “an aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as they included reference to sexual orientation.
      “An independent Regulatory Commission was subsequently convened and imposed the above sanction during a paper hearing. Their written reasons will be published in due course.”

      The punishment means Clarke-Harris will miss key Posh games against Coventry, Bournemouth, Bristol City and Middlesbrough.
      Outspoken owner Darragh MacAnthony has not yet responded after briefly to reacting to the charge in August.
      He said previously: “Somebody, just after we won promotion, spent hours going through a then-18-year-old’s tweets to find stuff and then reported him. World we live in nowadays. More on this nearer time of hearing etc.”
      Peterborough are yet to comment publicly on the matter.
      Wayne Rooney slams ‘disrespectful’ Derby owner Mel Morris for keeping him in dark as club entered administration More

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      Anthony Martial’s body language is ‘HORRIBLE to watch’ and striker ‘has not done enough at Man Utd’, slams Dion Dublin

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      ANTHONY MARTIAL’S body language at Manchester United is ‘horrible’, according to Dion Dublin.And the Frenchman has apparently ‘not done enough’ to justify a spot as the Red Devils’ No 9.
      Anthony Martial’s body language is HORRIBLE at Man UtdCredit: Getty
      That is according to former Red Devil Dion DublinCredit: Rex
      Martial put in another abject performance as United lost 1-0 at home to West Ham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
      The 25-year-old is now 14 games without a goal – having not scored since February.
      And Dublin – who played for United between 1992-94 – says Martial doesn’t want to put in the required work to be the club’s main striker.
      Speaking after the Hammers’ first win at Old Trafford since 2007, Dublin told BBC 5 Live: “We need to see more from Martial, we have said it many times before but he is not helping his cause.
      “I want to see him sweating and putting the ball in the back of the net.
      “He has not done enough since being at United, you see flashes and think it is the start then he doesn’t do anything.

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      “His body language is horrible to watch, he doesn’t want to run around and work hard to be Manchester United’s No 9.
      “There were too many parts in the game where Manchester United did not do enough, the final third was poor.”
      United paid an initial £36million for Martial from Monaco in 2015 and will let him go if they get a £40m bid in January.
      He has 78 goals in 263 appearances after scoring on his debut against Liverpool.
      Fans online were also unhappy with Martial’s West Ham showing.
      One wrote: “Martial’s career is finished at Man Utd if we’re being honest.”
      Another United fan account tweeted: “If 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo could track back, defend and run up and down the pitch, what excuse does 25-year-old Martial have?
      ⚽ Read our Man United live blog for the latest news and transfer gossip from Old Trafford
      “Slow, uninterested and static up front. Makes it hard to defend him.”
      And Ryan posted: “Genuinely think I put more effort making my cup of tea this morning than Martial did tonight. This is Man Utd’s #9.”
      SunSport explored five Premier League clubs Martial could move to in January after it emerged he is reportedly willing to stay in England if he leaves Old Trafford.

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