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      Mauricio Pochettino issued brutal warning over Chelsea future and told to sign striker who will ‘get in the f***ing box’

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      JOHN OBI MIKEL says Chelsea need a striker who will “get in the f***ing box”.But the former Blues midfielder warned Mauricio Pochettino that he is running out of time to prove to the new Stamford Bridge owners he is the right man for the job.
      Mauricio Pochettino has been issued a brutal warning over his Chelsea futureCredit: Rex
      Mikel was one of the stalwarts of the Chelsea glory era that started under Jose Mourinho.
      The Nigerian won the Champions League, Europa League, two Prem crowns and six domestic cups in his 11-year spell in West London.
      But Mikel, who played alongside the likes of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Diego Costa at the Bridge, is looking in disbelief at Chelsea’s current lack of a potent attacking threat.
      Mikel said: “We need a striker, simple as that. We need a good one.
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      “If you watch Haaland, most of his goals, where are they?
      “In the f***ing box. The box.
      “So that’s where we need a striker to score goals – to get in the f***ing box.”
      Mikel believes there is a simple solution available, in the shape of his fellow Nigerian Victor Osimhen – whose relationship with Napoli has become increasingly strained this season.
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      John Obi Mikel has not held back with his assessment of the BluesCredit: Getty
      He added: “For me, the one we need is Osimhen because he’s someone who would come in and score goals.
      “He’s not the most technical guy but what he does is get you goals and that’s what we really need, we need goals.
      “When I see him I can tell he is at the Chelsea level and he’ll get better with time.
      “But the good thing about him is that he knows what his job is. His job is not to come in and mess around and that whole thing. It’s to score goals.”
      Mikel, who played under six Blues managers in his spell at the club, gave a qualified vote of support for Pochettino, although it was a sugar-coated warning.
      He said: “Everybody says we’ve spent a lot of money. Yes, we have.
      “We’ve bought a lot of good players. They  need time to improve, time to get better, to get up as a team.
      “Poch is a really good manager, someone who works really well with the young players and with the team.
      Pochettino has been urged to sign a striker by MikelCredit: Getty
      “But we’ve given them time now. It’s half a year together and now it’s time to win.
      “At Chelsea, there’s no time. You have to win. That’s our motto.
      “In my time, if you don’t win, Roman [Abramovich] gets you out of the door and gets someone else in.
      “And that should be the new owners’ way of thinking. They are used to winning as well.
      “If you don’t win, what’s the point of being at Chelsea? You have to win games.
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      “The excuse of trying to rebuild is done. So now we have to win games, we have to play better, we have to improve and try to compete.
      “That’s the minimum now for this year. Then we can knock it on the head. But next year, we need to be there.” More

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      Furious West Ham fans demand Said Benrahma never plays for club again after ‘assault’ on Bristol City opponent

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      FURIOUS West Ham fans have demanded that Said Benrahma “never plays for the club again” after he was sent off against Bristol City.His 51st-minute red card came with the Hammers trailing the Championship club 1-0.
      Benrahma was sent off for kicking out at his opponentCredit: BBC
      Benrahma kicked out after being on the receiving end of this tackle from Joe WilliamsCredit: BBC
      Benrahma was sent off for kicking out at Joe Williams after being on the receiving end of a heavy tackle.
      The petulant red summed up Benrahma’s night, with the winger not getting any joy down the left-flank.
      It comes with the winger being linked with a move away from the club today.
      SunSport’s Jack Rosser reported on Tuesday that West Ham had rejected a loan bid from Marseille for the winger.
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      West Ham are understood to be holding out for a fee of £25million for Benrahma this window, with Marseille’s offer only consisting of a loan with an option to buy in the summer.
      Fellow Ligue 1 giants Lyon are also understood to be interested in the Algerian winger.
      West Ham are reluctant to sell Benrahma in light of a medium-term injury to Lucas Paqueta.
      Jarrod Bowen’s struggles for fitness also affects any deal, alongside Mohammed Kudus being away at Afcon with Ghana.
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      But tonight’s red, which came with West Ham trailing 1-0 has made up a lot of fans’ minds on whether the player should be sold.
      One Hammers fan took to X to say: “Said Benrahma should never play for this club again. Absolutely disgraceful.”
      Another wrote: “Benrahma probably just ended his Premier League career there, pathetic.”
      A third posted: “Benrahma is an absolute disgrace. Hasn’t cared about West Ham all season. Wouldn’t even put him on the pitch.”
      While a fourth angry fan said: “Benrahma you moron, shouldn’t play again ffs.”
      A fifth fan said: “Pretty much assault from Benrahma.”
      West Ham boss David Moyes was in no mood to let Benrahma off the hook, either.
      On the sending off, the Scot boss said:  “It made it much more difficult that’s for sure… we were a goal down already at that point.
      “I’ve had a look at it and I don’t think we can have any complaints. I wasn’t sure about the tackle on him, that might have been questionable.
      “At the time I thought it was a hefty challenge on him.
      “I’m not sure the referee moved in quickly enough to deal with the first challenge and that allowed something else to happen. There was one on Danny Ings as well that was not the best either.
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      “I’m not taking anything away, I don’t think his reaction was correct. It was a sending off.
      “I’ve got no problem with tackling but the world we live in now, some of the decisions should be slightly different.” More

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      Audio of Martin Odegaard’s handball against Liverpool is released as Howard Webb reveals referee got decision WRONG

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      HOWARD WEBB has revealed Liverpool SHOULD have been awarded a penalty in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal last month.The former Premier League referee gave his thought on the incident after releasing the VAR audio in the latest instalment of Match Officials Mic’d Up.
      VAR audio from Martin Odegaard’s handball against Liverpool has been releasedCredit: Premier League
      PGMOL chief Howard Webb talks through VAR’s decision to not award Liverpool a penalty for a possible handball against Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard 👇 pic.twitter.com/xAOm6o4xLM— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 16, 2024

      Liverpool were denied a penalty by referee Chris Kavanagh during the match at Anfield on December 23.
      Mohamed Salah had attempted to flick the ball round Martin Odegaard when the ball hit the Arsenal captain’s arm.
      However, a VAR review into the incident confirmed Kavanagh’s on-field decision.
      The audio from the decision shows Kavanagh saying: “No, his hand’s on the floor. His hand’s on the floor,” as the Liverpool players appealed for penalty.
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      Assistant VAR Lee Betts can then be heard during the review saying: “Yeah, from the brief look I’ve seen, yeah, agreed, yeah, yeah.”
      VAR David Coote then confirms the decision, explaining: “For me, Lee, I’m back with live. So, he’s falling down, he’s moving his arms in towards him, so it’s check complete for me.”
      Webb and former Liverpool striker Michael Owen disagreed with that analysis on Match Officials Mic’d Up, though.
      Ex-Red Owen admitted: “I thought it was a penalty,” before Webb explained his views on the decision.
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      “So do I,” the PGMOL chief responded. “The referee on the field recognised that Odegaard had slipped and saw his arm go towards the ground. 
      “We talk about ‘supporting arms’. If somebody falls, breaks their fall with the arm, it’s all very natural and a pretty well-established concept. In this situation. though, there’s an important difference to a normal play that’s falling.
      “This is not just Odegaard accidentally falling on to the ball. He does slip, his arm does go out, but he actually pulls his arm back in towards his body, which is when the ball makes contact with the arm.
      “The VAR looked at that aspect. He felt it was a case of Odegaard trying to make himself actually smaller by bringing the arm back towards the body. That is the element that’s important here.
      “Whether it’s instinctive or deliberate, he gets a huge advantage by bringing the arm back towards the ball. All the feedback we got afterwards was very clear. The game expects a penalty in this situation. I would agree.”
      Webb argued that the red card for Fulham’s Raul Jimenez at Newcastle and penalty awarded – also on review – for Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski’s “sustained” tug on Brighton striker Danny Welbeck, were correct interventions.
      Howard Webb revealed referee Chris Kavanagh should have given a penaltyCredit: Premier League
      He also backed Manchester City’s crucial penalty in the win at Everton, where the Toffees argued Amadou Onana was too close to the Nathan Ake shot to be penalised.
      But more surprisingly perhaps, the former World Cup final whistler said VAR Michael Salisbury was justified in allowing Luton’s last-gasp leveller at Turf Moor to stand.
      Burnley were furious, convinced that Elijah Adebayo had fouled keeper James Trafford before Carlton Morris headed home.
      But ref Tony Harrington’s initial view that Trafford has instigated the contact was eventually backed by Salisbury’s belief it was “not a clear and obvious error”.
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      Webb said: “I can understand why Burnley would expect a free-kick but I’ve spoken to a whole host of people who don’t see it that way.
      “VAR was brought in to rectify very clear situations. This was a grey one, not black and white. It split opinions so the VAR came out in the right place.” More

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      Everton suffer devastating blow as £500m takeover on brink of collapse just hours after Toffees hit with Prem charge

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      THE £500million proposed takeover of Everton 777 Partners is almost certainly dead in the water.Or to be more specific at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea with the Bermuda Monetary Authority understood to have acted to place one of the American company’s subsidiaries, 777Re, under administration.
      Everton’s 777 takeover is on the brink of collapseCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
      The club are already facing a further points deductionCredit: PA
      The BMA action means finances worth around £2.4billion can no longer be accessed to complete the deal.
      There were already serious doubts over whether 777 founders Josh Wander and Steven Pasko would pass the Premier League’s fit and proper person test to become the Toffees’ new owners.
      777 have been given the green light by the Financial Conduct Authority but exactly three months on since Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri agreed to sell, the Prem have yet to see audited accounts from the Miami-based group – who also have interests in a clutch of other clubs around the world.
      The action by the BMA is not the only reported bombshell to have hit Moshiri, who on Monday saw his club hit by another Prem charge of breaching its profit and sustainability rules with Nottingham Forest also being held to account.
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      Investigative media platform Josimar also report that insurance company Haymarket is under investigation in Utah.
      Haymarket, which is understood to have provided the majority of its financial assets to 777Re, is under investigation for a suspected breach of financial rules by the US state’s Insurance Department which has the power to revoke its licence or put it into receivership.
      The moves from both financial authorities could effectively cut off any prospect of 777 moving into Goodison Park.
      At the same time Moshiri, who has invested £750m into the club since first starting to take control in 2016, could be left with no buyer and in charge of a club that is appealing one ten–point Prem penalty and now faces another which could add at least four more.
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      777 Partners are already understood to have poured £150m to keep Everton going and help fund the construction of the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium which is expected to now cost far more than an initial £500m and which still needs around £200m to complete.
      The controversial American outfit have yet more financial woes to deal with.
      They are being pursued in the UK High Court over alleged unpaid aircraft leasing fees worth £22.4m.
      Yet that civil action is not even the half of it.
      Lawsuits against them total around £49m, including one worth £3.95m received in September last year for an unpaid security deposit relating to their New York office on Madison Avenue.
      It is also claimed that two 777 subsidiaries, Sutton Park Capital and Speed Leasing Company, took out loans worth a total of £8.85m last summer from hard money lender Balanced Management, based in Utah.
      The loans were agreed at an eye-watering interest rate of 52.5 per cent and guaranteed by 777 Partners.
      Yet it is understood no payment from them has been received by Balanced, who are now seeking damages of the money they lent, plus interest plus legal fees and costs over breach of contract.
      At a meeting with the government’s culture, media and sport select committee Prem chief executive Richard Masters confirmed any decision on 777 Partners’ takeover of Everton had been held up by unsatisfactory answers provided by the US fund.
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      Masters declared a final decision was still “weeks” away.
      But in light of the new financial allegations against them, 777 and the Bermudian freeze on the £2.4bn assets within the 777 Re financial framework, it is only a matter of time until the controversial American company either walk away from Goodison – or are told to do so by the Premier League. More

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      Laura Woods haunted by picture of Premier League manager that ‘keeps popping up’ in her home

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      LAURA WOODS has joked she is being haunted by a picture of Ange Postecoglou.The TNT Sports host has revealed a snap of her and the Tottenham manager “keeps popping up” in her home.
      Laura Woods has joked she is being haunted by a picture of Ange PostecoglouCredit: Rex
      The TNT Sports host took a snap with the Tottenham boss at WimbledonCredit: instagram / @laurawoodsy
      Woods had her picture taken with Postecoglou at Wimbledon last summer, with the polaroid snap now at her home.
      However, she has now admitted she cannot escape it after being asked if she would swap the Spurs boss with Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta.
      Postecoglou has become a fan-favourite since his appointment in the summer and Gunners supporter Woods is even an admirer.
      Speaking to talkSPORT at the Six Nations: Full Contact premiere, she explained: “No, because I love Mikel Arteta so that was an easy one for me but I do have a big soft spot for big Ange, I really like him.
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      “I met him at Wimbledon and I’ve got this polaroid of him, I don’t know why. A polaroid of me and big Ange. It keeps popping up in my house.
      “I’ll open up a drawer and it’s there and I’m like ‘wow’. Then I’ll go into my cupboard a couple of weeks later and it’s in my cupboard and I’m like ‘why does it keep popping up?’
      “I don’t know what that means but I love what he’s done as an individual coach. I really am disappointed that it means Spurs are better and it’s quite a threat for us.
      “I think he’s brilliant. I think he’s done a brilliant job. I think it’s a massive shame that he lost [James] Maddison, I think that was a huge hit.
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      “He’s struggling quite a lot with injuries but no, I wouldn’t swap him.”
      Woods stunned on the red carpet in a bold all-black outfit as she attended the Netflix event in London on Monday.
      The new Six Nations documentary series is available on the streaming platform from January 24. More

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      Premier League pitch completely covered in snow as freezing temperatures wreak havoc on stadium

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      GOODISON PARK’S pitch has been left completely covered in snow ahead of Everton’s clash with Crystal Palace.The Toffees are set to host Palace on Wednesday night in their FA Cup third round replay.
      Goodison Park has been left completely covered in snowCredit: Getty
      An Everton-supporting snowman has even been built next to the pitchCredit: Getty
      However, freezing temperatures in the north of England have wreaked havoc on the stadium.
      Snowfall has left the pitch covered, with no sign of grass or the pitch markings.
      Meanwhile, a snowman wearing an Everton scarf and woolly hat has been built in front of one of the stands.
      Temperatures could even drop as low as -1°C during Wednesday’s match against Palace.
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      A yellow weather warning for snow and ice is also in place for much of the north.
      The winner of the replay will host either Luton or Bolton in the fourth round on January 27.
      Snow and freezing temperatures have already disrupted matches across England this week.
      Former Premier League club Oldham are amongst those affected after their stadium was left buried by snow.
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      Boundary Park has been left with a frozen pitch, causing Tuesday’s National League clash with Boreham Wood to be postponed.
      The match is one of five National League fixtures to be called off, with just Chesterfield vs Altrincham still set to go ahead.
      Freezing temperatures have wreaked havoc on the stadiumCredit: Getty
      The Toffees are scheduled to host Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on Wednesday nightCredit: Getty More

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      Meet Andre Onana’s little-known goalkeeper cousin who has more Cameroon caps than Man Utd star

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      ANDRE ONANA may have shot himself in the foot by jetting to the Africa Cup of Nations late in order to continue playing for Manchester United.The goalkeeper received special dispensation from the Cameroon FA in order to play against Tottenham on Sunday.
      Onana flew 5,000 miles to try and make it for his side’s opener against GuineaCredit: Rex
      And despite making it to the game in the nick of time, was left out of the squad and replaced by his cousin Fabrice OndoaCredit: AFP
      The initial plan was that he would then jet immediately to the Ivory Coast in order to play Cameroon’s Afcon opener against Guinea the very next day.
      But once he reached the Ivory Coast, his plane for the last leg of his journey was blocked due to bad weather, making him late to link up with the squad for in Yamoussoukro.
      While he did reach the at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in time for kick off, he was left out of the squad entirely, much to his fury according to reports.
      The keeper was heard asking Liverpool legend El-Hadj Diouf why he had even bothered charting a private jet to make it for the game if he was going to be left out of the squad anyway.
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      And with Onana left out of the squad, his cousin, Fabrice Ondoa that was brought in as Cameroon’s no1.
      And despite Ondoa, 28, playing in the French third tier for Nimes, he now has far more caps for Cameroon compared to Onana.
      Ondoa boasts 49 total appearances while Onana has 37.
      And the 28-year-old has proved himself an able deputy for his cousin in the past, stepping in when Onana temporarily retired from international duty last year.
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      The United stopper retired after a fallout with coach Rigobert Song at the World Cup in 2022 when he was told to kick the ball long rather than pass the ball out from the back.
      Like Onana, Ondoa started his career at Barcelona in the Samuel Eto’o academy but his career has been far more nomadic – playing for clubs in Belgium, Croatia and Latvia.
      He is yet to make an appearance for Nimes this season.
      Onana will be needed for a tough game on Friday against Afcon holders Senegal, who are among the favourites to retain their title. More

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      Ex-Chelsea boss Graham Potter ‘splashes out on £1.75million Swedish mansion’ as he targets return to management

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      GRAHAM POTTER has lined up a return to management in Sweden – by buying a £2million mansion in the Scandinavian country.Potter, 48, was sacked last April after just seven months in charge at Stamford Bridge.
      Graham Potter has been linked with a new jobCredit: PA
      The former Chelsea boss has bought a new houseCredit: Google Images
      The Swedish mansion has 12 bedroomsCredit: Google Images
      He has recently been linked with the Sweden national coach’s job following Janne Andersson’s resignation last November.
      Former Brighton and Swansea boss Potter has now bought a luxury 12-room villa in the Swedish village Are.
      Built in 2021, it has 360 square metres of living space and 800 sq/m of surrounding land.
      The upmarket ski resort is just an hour from Ostersund, where Potter spent seven successful years.
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      He led the local club from the fourth tier to the Allsvenskan top flight, and won the Swedish Cup before joining Swansea in 2018.
      Potter’s wife Rachel is named on official papers about the house sale, which went through in late December.
      They paid 23million kroner – £1.75m – for the property after persuading the vendors to drop their initial £2m asking price.
      Estate agent Joakim Westerlind Wiklund said: “The house has been on [property website] Hemnet for quite some time, initially for a higher price than it was sold for.
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      “I have been working on this deal since March 2023.”
      Local paper Ostersunds-Posten asked Wiklund about the Potters’ choice of location.
      The agent insisted: “The customers have asked us to keep a very low profile.
      “I don’t think I’m going to answer any questions about the purchase, because it concerns public figures.”
      Potter has been out of work since he was sacked by Chelsea.
      He received a payment of around £13million from the Blues upon his departure. More