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Burgess fee revealed

An update has emerged on Cameron Burgess, regarding how much Ipswich have paid for the defender. 

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun on Sunday (15/08/21, pg. 63) (via The 72), Ipswich agreed a £750k deal to sign the 25-year-old defender from League One rivals Accrington Stanley this month.

The Tractor Boys officially confirmed the signing on Sunday, with Burgess putting pen to paper on a three-year deal with the club.

Accy boss John Coleman confirmed that the Tractor Boys are closing in on the defender on Saturday, admitting that he believes the player is being sold for less than he is worth. He said:

“It looks like he’s going to Ipswich. I think the two sides agreed [on] a fee last night.”

“Me and [Andy] Holty are generally on the same page a lot of the time but this one wasn’t my decision.

“If it was my decision I would have held out for more money and I certainly didn’t want to lose him because I think he’s worth more.

“But we have got a decent fee for him and the chairman can carry on trying to make this club a better place to come to which, at the end of the day, is what everybody wants.”

Fans will be buzzing

Ipswich fans will surely be buzzing with this news as it appears as though Ipswich have picked up a bargain deal for the defender. Coleman’s comments suggest that the club should have paid more for Burgess than they have, given that he says he would have held out for more.

Looking at his statistics for Accrington in League One over the past 12 months or so, it is easy to see why his former boss believes Ipswich are getting a steal.

Of the players who are still at Portman Road, Nsiala’s WhoScored rating of 6.96 was the highest out of the centre-backs in League One.

So far this season, Ipswich have conceded four goals in their first two league outings and Luke Wolfenden’s score of 6.79 is the highest by any central defender, with Janoi Donacien also playing out of position at centre-back in both games.

Meanwhile, Burgess enjoyed a sensational 2020/21 campaign with Accrington. He averaged a phenomenal WhoScored rating of 7.22 across 44 appearances, winning 6.8 aerial battles and making 4.4 tackles and interceptions per game.

In his first match of the current season, he achieved a rating of 7.21 as he won 10 aerial battles, made six clearances and one block. He also put in a stout defensive display against Rotherham in the League Cup, winning 13 aerial battles and making three blocks as he recorded a rating of 7.62.

This shows that he has the quality to put in consistently excellent performances in League One at centre-back, which suggests that he has a good chance of being a success at Portman Road – in the third tier at least.

To pick up a player of that ilk without breaking seven figures appears to be a terrific deal for Ipswich on paper and the supporters will be delighted with this approach from the club. They will be buzzing that their side is being shrewd in the transfer market and snapping up bargains instead of overpaying on talent.

AND in other news, 27x possession lost: Cook must ruthlessly axe 25 y/o Ipswich dud after horror showing…

Vettori slams 'poor' batting effort

New Zealand will consider playing an extra batsman in the first Test and dropping one of their four fast bowlers after the side’s disappointing effort in the tour match loss to New South Wales

Cricinfo staff17-Nov-2008
Daniel Vettori: “We know to compete with Australia we’ve got to put at least 350 on the board in the first innings” © Getty Images
New Zealand will consider playing an extra batsman in the first Test and dropping one of their four fast bowlers after the side’s disappointing effort in the tour match loss to New South Wales. Jamie How’s first-innings 170 was the only real batting bright spot in the six-wicket defeat, which the captain Daniel Vettori said was unacceptable.”Absolutely not,” Vettori said after the match. “We came here with a desire to win the game and the performance for the majority of it, particularly with the bat, was pretty poor.”New Zealand went in to their only warm-up game with six specialist batsmen, including the wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum. That gave them room to play four seamers but the poor result will force them to consider including Peter Fulton to bolster the batting when the Test starts at the Gabba on Thursday.”A couple of decisions may need to be made to try and make sure that balance is right, if we actually did have enough batting with myself at No. 7,” Vettori said. “It’s a fine line whether we’ll get more out of another batsman coming in, or the fourth seamer. In the next few days we’ll have a look at that wicket and go from there. “Vettori at No. 7 was not the problem – he made 73 in the second innings – but the lack of runs from the top four, How excluded, was a concern. Totals of 266 and 256 frustrated Vettori, especially considering the New South Wales attack was significantly under-strength.”Particularly when a guy gets 170 on the first day and rest of us can only manage just under 100,” Vettori said. “We know to compete with Australia we’ve got to put at least 350 on the board in the first innings and take our chances from there. If we’ve got any chance in Brisbane that’s what we have to do.”But Vettori praised How’s effort as one of the best first-class innings he had witnessed and he said How would enter the Test brimming with confidence. Another positive sign was the bowling of Chris Martin, who finished with match figures of 5 for 88, although Tim Southee collected only one wicket and could face a nervous wait to see if he is retained.Whoever the selectors go for, New Zealand are well aware that they will need to be at their very best to challenge Australia. “Australia’s the No. 1 team in the world and we’re No. 7,” Vettori said, “so we’ve got far more to prove than they have.”

Decisions, decisions

Cricinfo presents Plays of the Day from the second day of the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA18-Dec-2008
There were a few nerves from South African fans at the WACA when Graeme Smith’s elbow required treatment from the physio Shane Jabaar© Getty Images
Trusting one umpire …
Jason Krejza must have wished the referral system was being used in this series when he struck Graeme Smith on the pad in his first over. Krejza was coming around the wicket to the left-hander and Smith missed a ball that went straight on with the arm. Despite a loud shout from the Australians, Aleem Dar turned the decision down and it was a fair call as there was enough doubt, even though replays suggested it may have hit the top of the stumps. But it had a distinctly familiar look to the first decision that was overturned in the current New Zealand-West Indies series, when Chris Gayle rapped Daniel Flynn on the pads and referred the not-out call to the third umpire, who advised the standing official that it was out.… and correcting another
Critics of the referral system have argued that it leaves the on-field umpires with little to do but count the balls and if that is the case, Dar and Asoka De Silva might want to brush up on their maths. On the first day Dar called a five-ball over from Dale Steyn before correcting his error and making Steyn bowl the last delivery. Today it was De Silva’s turn. Peter Siddle had sent down five balls when De Silva called over and immediately the phone in the scorers’ box rang. It was the TV official Paul Reiffel confirming the count. He relayed the information to De Silva, by then at square leg for the next over, who asked Siddle to send down a sixth ball. It was an exhausting delivery – most of the players were in position for the next over when the decision was rectified.Pen mightier than the needle
Graeme Smith has had problems with his right elbow since August, when he cut short his tour of England to rest the troublesome joint. There were therefore a few nerves from South African fans at the WACA when the same elbow required treatment from the physio Shane Jabaar during Smith’s innings of 48. Jabaar appeared to be pumping some sort of device into Smith’s elbow and there was confusion as to whether it was a pain-killing injection. But the apparatus is known as the pain-gone pen and sends an electronic impulse into the bloodstream that wakes up the body’s own pain-relieving properties. A South African team spokesman said Smith felt a jarring in the joint after a Peter Siddle delivery hit the splice of the bat. No further treatment was required and Smith went on to add 28 to his score after the incident.Clarke gets the thumbs up
A cracked thumb forced Ashwell Prince out of the Test and Australia had a similar concern over one of their key batsmen when Michael Clarke headed off to hospital at lunch to have an x-ray on his right thumb. Clarke had suffered the problem when he was fielding in the cordon and dived to stop a low edge from Neil McKenzie. The 12th man Shane Watson occupied Clarke’s spot at third slip for much of the second session but the news was good for Australia – Clarke’s x-rays revealed no fracture and he was back in a catching position before tea.VVS flashbacks
Australia have been tormented by VVS Laxman over the years and they were given a vision of a similar batsman who could well trouble them in the future. Hashim Amla is arguably the most improved Test batsman over the past year and he looked set for a big score with his wristy work at the WACA. One flick over midwicket for four off Peter Siddle was particularly impressive and the Australians were slightly concerned when he raced to an attractive 47 from 67 balls. Fortunately for Ricky Ponting’s men, Krejza made the breakthrough when he drifted a superb offspinner through the gate. Still, it was a promising start in Amla’s first international of any sort against Australia.AB online
Iain O’Brien raised his profile during the Australia-New Zealand series by writing a daily blog and now it’s AB de Villiers’ turn, whose own website abdevilliers.com features a tour diary that is updated every day. He’s even so intent on drawing in readers that he has the address printed on his bat. The early entries don’t quite go into as much detail as O’Brien’s musings but it’s an interesting continuation in the trend of Test players recording their thoughts for all to see.Fastest of the fast
The match was hyped for its quick bowling potential and the South African attack was the centre of much attention in the lead-up, with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel identified as two super-fast men who could thrive on the WACA pitch. But in the end, neither breached the 150kph mark on the opening day and it was Mitchell Johnson who won the initial battle for the quickest delivery. In Johnson’s second over he became the first man for the match to nudge past 150kph although he did have the advantage of bowling on the second day – the WACA pitch generally quickens up as the match wears on.

Spurs pull plug on Tanganga move away

According to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur have now ‘pulled the plug’ on plans to let Japhet Tanganga complete a move away for 2021/22 after his performance against Man City – coming after the club were ‘set’ to loan him out.

The Lowdown: Tanganga impresses against the Champions…

The 22-year-old put in a phenomenal display against Pep Guardiola’s side on the opening weekend of Premier League action, coping very well with England star Raheem Sterling on that side and attracting much praise for his performance.

Gary Neville was one of many to lavish the youngster with praise, claiming his individual showings in one-on-ones against the likes of Sterling and Jack Grealish on the side were ‘really special’ (The Gary Neville Podcast via This is Futbol).

Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo also waxed lyrical over his ‘huge’ performance against the Sky Blues, with the Portuguese head coach now stopping plans to offload him this summer.

The Latest: Spurs pull plug on Tanganga move away…

As per a Lilywhites source, speaking to Football Insider, Tottenham have now ‘pulled the plug’ on plans to let Tanganga leave on loan – coming after he was ‘set’ for a move away from N17.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news/” title=”Tottenham latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

After his display against City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, manager Nuno ‘changed his mind’ on letting the Englishman leave north London for a temporary spell away from the club.

Indeed, the homegrown man is ‘now set to remain’ and be a key member of the squad after his man-of-the-match display in Tottenham’s first league game of the season.

The Verdict: Correct call…

We believe allowing Tanganga to stay and fill the right-back void could be a brilliant call by Nuno and one which may be popular among Spurs supporters.

The starlet showcased exactly what he can bring to this new look Spurs side at the weekend and his presence could mean that the club may not have to significantly invest in a new right-back signing after all.

Fabio Paratici has been touted to bag one this summer after being linked to a host of full-backs on that side but time will tell whether he now follows through, with any money saved from not doing so potentially put to better use at centre-back.

In other news: ‘Yessss’, ‘Omg’, ‘I beg’…Many Tottenham fans erupt as ‘perfect’ news emerges, find out more here.

Celtic: Edouard tipped to stay at Parkhead

Football Insider pundit Gabby Agbonlahor has tipped Odsonne Edouard to stay at Celtic past next week’s transfer deadline.

The Lowdown: Palace interest, Romano reveal

Edouard, on £988,000-a-year in Scotland, has reportedly been working on a Parkhead exit since July after his move to Leicester City fell through.

Fabrizio Romano was one of the first to share details of the 23-year-old’s move to the King Power collapsing, and the transfer expert recently responded to links of a switch to Crystal Palace.

The Eagles were thought to be weighing up a move for Edouard, however, Romano labelled that as ‘fake’.

The Latest: Agbonlahor’s claim

Following the updates with Edouard, Football Insider asked Agbonlahor if he thinks the French forward will be a Hoops player on September 1 following the deadline.

Here’s what the 34-year-old had to say in reply, believing there’s ‘a great chance’ he’ll stay in Glasgow.

“I think he might.

“He’s got a great chance of staying now with it being so close to the end of the window. Clubs may have already done all of their business and might not look at him.

“I don’t think he will mind, he’ll think to himself ‘Have a good season at Celtic and maybe I can get a better move on a free transfer’.

“When you’ve got a year left you’re not worried either way. If it’s not this summer, it will be next summer.”

The Verdict: Sell

With Celtic now appearing to be the frontrunners to sign VVV-Venlo striker Georgios Giakoumakis, parting ways with Edouard should be on Dominic McKay’s agenda over the next seven days.

Edouard is into the final 12 months of his Celtic contract, so the current window could be the last chance the Hoops have to receive a decent fee for a player, as he could sign pre-contract terms elsewhere in the New Year.

Celtic shouldn’t let it get to that point, especially if they sign Giakoumakis, but they’ll need to find a buyer relatively quickly who are happy to meet the Hoops’ demands.

In other news: 3 more: Reliable reporters share Postecoglou’s Celtic requests to McKay for the next seven days. 

Flintoff scan shows 'no major damage'

An MRI scan has revealed no major damage to Andrew Flintoff’s left side, after he was pulled out of England’s warm-up against a St Kitts Invitational XI, and he will continue to be assessed on a daily basis

Cricinfo staff26-Jan-2009
Andrew Flintoff is back in St Kitts after his flying visit to Jamaica for a scan on his side © Getty Images
An MRI scan has revealed no major damage to Andrew Flintoff’s left side, after he was pulled out of England’s warm-up against a St Kitts Invitational XI, and he will continue to be assessed on a daily basis.Flintoff made a four-hour round trip to Jamaica on Monday to have the problem investigated and the scans were checked by the ECB’s chief medical officer, Nick Peirce, back in the UK. While the results are promising it won’t ease all concerns surrounding his fitness ahead of the first Test on February 4.He first felt the problem during an early-tour net session but was named in the opening tour match. However, after his brief innings of 11 on the first day he reported more soreness and was withdrawn from the contest as a precaution. Stuart Broad took his place in side and claimed two wickets on the second day.The team management insisted that Flintoff’s trip to Kingston was precautionary, but there will be concerns given his fitness history. Another side injury caused a delay in Flintoff’s return to the England side last year, when he was being earmarked for a recall for the home series against New Zealand following ankle surgery.He picked up that problem in the County Championship against Durham in early May and was forced to sit out international cricket until the second Test against South Africa, at Headingley, in July. Since returning his bowling has been impressive and he has regularly hit the 90mph mark. During the India tour before Christmas he was used extensively by Kevin Pietersen and said his body felt as good as ever.Meanwhile Owais Shah, England’s other casualty of an eventful 24 hours, is hopeful of a swift recovery after waking up with blurred vision on the second morning of the match. He was left ruing his misfortune after suffering a scratched left cornea following his unbeaten 125 on the opening day of the match.”I don’t know how I did it,” Shah told reporters in Basseterre. “The doctor didn’t know either, she said it could have been anything, maybe a tiny bit of sand went in, and I just rubbed my eye.”When I spoke to the physio, I was concerned about my eyesight going but he said ‘you can’t lose your eyesight overnight’,” he said. “The doctor put some medicine in there, covered it up and she reckons it should heal up overnight. Hopefully it will be okay tomorrow.”It was an untimely injury for Shah, who had seized his opportunity to impress ahead of the first Test at Kingston on February 4, but now faces an anxious wait to see whether he can recover in time to play in England’s first-class warm-up against West Indies A later this week.”It is timing, isn’t it?” said Shah, who has played only two Tests in the three years since he made his debut in 2006. “Sometimes you can do what you want and sometimes you might not get the opportunity. But I am actually not that frustrated any more – maybe 12 months ago I was, but I have sort of gone past that stage now.”

Aston Villa: Fans react to Conor Hourihane exit

Aston Villa announced on Monday that midfielder Conor Hourihane has joined Sheffield United on loan. 

And, as to be expected, a number of Villa supporters have been reacting to the news on social media.

Hourihane, who joined Villa back in 2017 from Barnsley for £3.15m, has signed for the Blades on a season-long loan.

He’s out of contract at Villa Park next summer, so may well have played his last game for Villa in the club’s 6-0 win over Barrow earlier in the month where he was captain.

The 30-year-old has made a total of 151 appearances for Villa during his time in the Midlands, scoring 29 times and registering 23 assists.

Villa are yet to add to their central midfield ranks this summer, so Hourihane’s departure leaves Dean Smith with one less option in the middle of the park.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news regarding Hourihane on their official Twitter page. This is what these supporters had to say in reply, with one labelling it as a ‘dreadful decision’.

“A sad day. Classy player, appears to be an even better man. One of a few heroes in the club’s recent history. Wish him nothing but the absolute best”

Credit: @JBayliss94

“Noooooo 🙁 But GL @ConorHourihane you’re actually amazing”

Credit: @AVFCJJC

“Dreadful decision”

Credit: @JayK0165

“Big mistake”

Credit: @NooneAVFC

“can’t believe he has gone before Nakamba I honestly can’t understand how Dean put him ahead of Conor”

Credit: @BOOMBEEF

“This man deserved a better send off than this tweet.”

Credit: @MarkPatton7

In other news: Many AVFC fans react to Curtis Jones latest.

Pakistan government clears players for IPL

Pakistan’s cricketers have been given the green light to participate in this year’s IPL by the country’s sports ministry

Cricinfo staff31-Jan-2009
Sohail Tanvir and the other IPL-contracted Pakistan players moved a step closer towards taking part in the Twenty20 competition © AFP
Pakistan’s cricketers have been given the green light to participate in this year’s IPL by the country’s sports ministry, but they were told that their security would be their own and their IPL franchise’s responsibility.”The players can individually decide what they want to do and we have no objections to them going to India for the IPL matches,” sports minister Pir Aftab Shah Jillani said. “The [Pakistan Cricket] Board has asked for our comments for individual players and not a national team so we have given our NOC [no objection certificate] and sent it to the President’s Secretariat for further action.”He explained that the ministry did not allow the national hockey and squash teams to travel to India for international tournaments earlier because they had to take into consideration the tense relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.The Pakistan players stood to lose all their money from their lucrative IPL contracts if their government had blocked them from participating in the tournament. Some IPL franchises had also expressed uncertainty over the future of Pakistan players on their books, mostly because the current political climate could lead to extended visa restrictions.

Petersen to lead SA President's XI

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has named Alviro Petersen as captain of a Board President’s XI team that consists solely of players from the Titans and Lions

Cricinfo staff17-Feb-2009
Alviro Petersen gets a chance to impress © Getty Images
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has named Alviro Petersen as captain of a Board President’s XI team that consists solely of players from the Titans, Lions and Dolphins. The unavailability of several key players due to the ongoing Standard Bank Pro20 series, the final of which clashes with the tour game, has forced the selectors to pick a weakened side to face the Australians.CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said that due to so many players being involved in the Pro20 semi-finals, and the fact that the final was to be played on the opening day of the three-day tour game, it was not possible to name a proper A team.”We have restricted our choice largely to players from the Highveld Lions and the Nashua Titans,” said selection convener Mike Procter. “There is some very exciting young talent in this team and I am confident they will give a very good account of themselves.”The Cobras, Eagles, Warriors and Dolphins are currently locked in the semi-finals of the Pro20 tournament. CSA had released the likes of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Neil McKenzie, Johan Botha, Herschelle Gibbs and Albie Morkel to represent their respective franchises during the ongoing series.Apart from Peterson, the squad includes Gulam Bodi and Vaughn van Jaarsveld, both with international experience. Imraan Khan is the only player to be named from the Dolphins.The three-day warm-up match will be played in Potchefstroom. The first Test between Australia and South Africa begins in Johannesburg three days later, on February 26.SA President’s XI: Alviro Petersen (capt), Craig Alexander, Gulam Bodi, Imraan Khan, Heino Kuhn, Ethy Mbhalati, Blake Snijman, Imran Tahir, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, David Wiese.

Liverpool fans react to Ben Davies comments

Liverpool defender Ben Davies has told The Mirror that he felt as if he had been ‘mentally released’ when he sealed a loan move to Sheffield United. 

The 26-year-old was ‘becoming aware’ that he was well down the centre-back pecking order at Anfield, even being as low as ‘fifth or sixth choice’, but the ‘promise of playing games’ for the Blades in the Championship has revitalised him.

Davies’ Liverpool struggle

Liverpool signed Davies from Preston North End in January in a £2m deal. Along with Turkey international Ozan Kabak, he arrived in the midst of a defensive injury crisis at Anfield, with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all ruled out for the remainder of the season.

However, the Englishman still didn’t see a minute of competitive action before the end of the campaign as Klopp demonstrated a preference for the likes of Kabak, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams. In fact, his only outing for the Reds to date has come in a pre-season mini-game against VfB Stuttgart.

Liverpool fans express sympathy for Davies

Twitter fan feed Anfield Edition relayed Davies’ comments, and here’s what some Liverpool supporters made of the 26-year-old’s words.

“This lad was poorly treated”

Credit: @WouldBeScouse

“I felt sorry for him. Even when Kabak got injured didn’t get a look in. I hope he progresses well in his career”

Credit: @Perry06675126

“Genuinely feel for the guy, came into impossible circumstances, tried his best, wasn’t meant to be. Hope he does well at Sheffield”

Credit: @CosmoKhan

“This lad has been properly mugged off”

Credit: @Michael_LFC78

“Good lad, we done the dirty on him and he continued to be completely respectful. Hope he does well there”

Credit: @Ifcj__

“He was treated terribly tbf. He’s much better than Rhys and should have played his games”

Credit: @ShaunlfcT

In other news, many Liverpool fans reacted positively to this transfer rumour. 

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