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West Ham United right-back Vladimir Coufal is set to be absent for the Hammers over the course of the coming weeks after the Czech Republic international underwent groin surgery.

What’s the latest?

The 29-year-old missed last weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle with a hernia issue and on Thursday the football club released the following statement: “West Ham United can confirm that Vladimir Coufal has had successful surgery on a groin injury.

“The 29-year-old defender has been troubled by an ongoing problem and, following specialist consultation, underwent an operation in London on Thursday morning.

“Everyone at West Ham United would like to wish Vladimir a full and speedy recovery.”

Moyes will be fuming

It’s unknown as to how long the right-back will be absent for, however, it’s a major blow for David Moyes’ side in their push for European qualification.

Since joining the Hammers from Slavia Prague in October 2020, the 29-year-old has been outstanding as the East London outfit finished sixth last season and are on course to compete for another top-six finish.

The Czech has already made 62 appearances for United, registering 11 assists in that period with the club’s rapid progress correlating alongside his tenure in the English capital.

To be in touching distance with the latter stages of the season and not have one of his key defenders available will be a major blow for Moyes, however, the Scotsman does have options to choose from.

29-year-old Ryan Fredericks was picked to take Coufal’s place against Newcastle last Saturday but the defender was withdrawn at half-time having picked up a yellow card and 22-year-old Ben Johnson took his place for the second half.

It’s unclear as to who of the two will be picked to start on Sunday as the Hammers host Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Bruno Lage’s side also chasing European qualification and sit one place below West Ham in seventh.

Moyes’ side’s season could be defined in the coming weeks as after Sunday’s showdown with Wolves, the Irons travel to St.Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday evening to take on Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round as well as league games against Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham as well as two Europa League matches against Sevilla to come before the end of March.

In other news: Sold for £23m, now worth 5x less: West Ham played a blinder with “heated” 32 y/o flop

The ICC’s suspension of the three Pakistan players linked to the spot-fixing scandal is the first time cricket’s governing body has suspended cricketers under its anti-corruption code

Cricinfo staff03-Sep-2010The ICC’s suspension of the three Pakistan players linked to the spot-fixing scandal is the first time cricket’s governing body has suspended cricketers under its anti-corruption code. The clause for provisional suspension was included in the code less than a year ago.The Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel was updated and came into force on October 6, 2009 after unanimous approval from all ICC member nations. The updated code has also instituted an independent panel to investigate the matter, which cannot include the member country involved – in this instance, Pakistan.On Thursday, the ICC took the unprecedented decision to suspend Pakistan’s captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who are at the centre of the allegations concerning the Lord’s Test. They announced the decision hours after the PCB said that the players had decided to “opt out” of the remainder of the series against England, and added that they had not been suspended by the board.An ICC press release, however, said the three players had been charged with “various offences under Article 2” of the code “relating to alleged irregular behavior during, and in relation to, the fourth Test”. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat announced that the players would have 14 days to respond to the charges.The players can contest their suspensions under the system of a provisional hearing. The burden will rest on the ACSU to establish a “strong, arguable case” for the charges made against the players, which in the circumstances could have “seriously undermined the integrity of the sport”.Under Article 4.6 of the anti-corruption code, relating to provisional suspension, the three Pakistan players cannot play any cricket. They will also be prevented from participating or being involved in any “other kind of function, event or activity (other than authorised anti-corruption education or rehabilitation programmes) that is authorised, organised, sanctioned, recognised or supported in any way by the ICC, a national cricket federation or any member of a national cricket federation”.According to the code, a charge is laid and a suspension decided upon only after the ACSU’s general manager consults with the ICC’s chief executive and the head of the legal department. Any player ultimately found to be guilty of committing an offence under the code would be subject to the sanctions described in Article 6. In this case, the alleged offences, if proved, would involve the imposition of a ban. There is also a possibility, at the discretion of the independent tribunal, that a fine would be imposed in addition to a ban.A full hearing needs to be convened within three months of the imposition of the provisional suspension, after which the player can apply to the ICC Code of Conduct Commission for his suspension to be lifted.

Everton are still monitoring the situation of Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard and could be tempted to make a late swoop with Premier League clubs able to do business with each other until 3 February.

What’s the latest?

According to the Manchester Evening News, Everton are amongst the clubs still monitoring Lingard’s situation at Old Trafford with a potential move to Newcastle United facing numerous difficulties.

The £18m-rated Englishman has only made one appearance in the Premier League under United interim boss Ralf Rangnick who has already admitted to the 29-year-old that he isn’t in the German’s plans for the remainder of the campaign with the winger’s tenure at Old Trafford looking all but over.

The Toffees are set to appoint former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard as their new manager after sacking Rafa Benitez following a torrid run of one win in 13 league games and the 43-year-old could be tempted at the possibility of bringing Lingard to Merseyside.

Everton should sign Lingard

With their Premier League position still precarious, Everton would be wise to make more signings before the transfer window closes.

The Toffees are sat in 16th just four points clear of the relegation zone and Lampard will be keen to ensure that any fears of dropping down to the Championship are extinguished as soon as possible.

A swoop for Lingard, therefore, could appease both parties, with United getting an unwanted player off their books ahead of the expiration of the 29-year-old’s contract in June and Everton adding quality out wide, something they lack.

Summer signings Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray have exceeded expectations, scoring six goals each thus far whilst Richarlison refused to rule out a move away from Goodison Park back in September.

However, 25-year-old Alex Iwobi has only managed one Premier League goal this term whilst youngster Anthony Gordon is still developing.

Anwar El Ghazi has joined on loan from Aston Villa for the remainder of the campaign but is yet to make an appearance for the Merseyside club.

Labelled as an “intelligent footballer” by ex-Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, Lingard enjoyed a successful loan spell at West Ham United in the second half of last season in order to reignite his career.

The 29-year-old scored nine goals in 16 appearances for the Hammers and if he can replicate that form in Merseyside, he’d be an inspired signing by the incoming boss, one that drags them back up the table quickly.

The Englishman needs to depart Old Trafford as soon as possible and a move across the northwest could prove the perfect opportunity to revive his career.

Plays of the day from the third day of England v Bangladesh at Lord’s

Andrew Miller at Lord's29-May-2010Bowler of the day
Steven Finn was England’s most threatening bowler in batter-friendly conditions on Friday, and sure enough, when the clouds rolled over and the deck juiced up today, he continued to excel by sticking to the virtues that had made him a threat in the first place. Finding a tight line and appreciable lift from his six-foot-plenty frame, he set the tone for his team-mates with 2 for 33 in a seven-over first spell, and when the new ball was taken late in the day, he was rightly given first use from the pavilion end. Within two deliveries, he scalped Mushfiqur Rahim with a beauty.Delivery of the day
Where Finn was discipline personified, James Anderson reaped his rewards through whimsy. Line and length has never been his modus operandi – hence his reputation as a bit of a “daisy” – but whereas yesterday was one of those days he didn’t, today he got the ball singing to his tune. The delivery to extract Jahurul Islam was a beauty – a snaking outswinger that burst off the turf, grazed the edge, and zipped through to Matt Prior.Fumble of the day
After a blissful year in which he seemed finally to have seen off his challengers, Prior’s place in the side is once again under scrutiny thanks to the emergence of Craig Kieswetter in the limited-overs format. The assumption is that his Test place is safe for now, largely because his glovework – once so shaky – has improved beyond recognition. Even so, he’ll be under pressure not to let his standards slip, and so he was very grateful for Andrew Strauss’s alertness at slip as he parried a flying edge off Shakib Al Hasan into the hands of his skipper.Decision of the day
There’s no Decision Review System for this series, largely because of Sky’s justifiable unwillingness to foot the hefty bill without the aid of sponsorship, but while the stakeholders wrangle on the sidelines, the umpires are left to make their judgments without back-up. And after Alastair Cook’s unlucky lbw on the first morning, today it was Mohammad Ashraful’s turn to cop a rough one. Facing up to a hostile spell from Finn, he was trapped on the crease by a full-length lifter, and was not best pleased by Asoka de Silva’s verdict. The ball would have flown over the top of leg stump.Stop-start of the day
It always seemed ambitious to schedule a tea break at 5.10pm, and sure enough, the final “session” of the day was a little bit of a farce. The players managed 13 deliveries in a row before a beauty from Bresnan to Mushfiqur persuaded umpire Bowden that the light really wasn’t up to scratch, but after a five-minute hiatus, out they came again … for seven balls … in which time Mushfiq was less fortunate, as Finn splayed his stumps with a bail-trimmer down the hill that was reminiscent of Glenn McGrath in his Lord’s pomp. Still they weren’t quite done, however. A further nine deliveries, in which Shahadat Hossain somehow survived against Anderson, brought a lop-sided day to a close.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has dropped a teasing transfer hint regarding the future of on-loan winger Jota.

What’s been said?

In recent comments cited by Football Scotland, the 56-year-old suggested that, following reports which claimed that Celtic are locked in ongoing negotiations regarding a permanent £6.5m deal for the 22-year-old, a move for the Benfica winger will take care of itself in due course.

Speaking about the future of the Portugal under-21 international, the Hoops coach said: “In terms of [Jota remaining at Parkhead] beyond this season, that will take care of itself at the appropriate time.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Jota has been since his arrival in Glasgow last summer, Postecoglou’s suggestion that the permanent signing of the winger is just a matter of time will have undoubtedly left the Parkhead faithful buzzing.

Indeed, over his 11 Premiership appearances so far this season, the £4.95m-rated winger has been in remarkable form for the Hoops. He has already bagged five goals, registered four assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking three shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.

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These returns have seen the player who Postecoglou dubbed an “unbelievable” talent average an excellent SofaScore match rating of 7.38, ranking him as the sixth-best player in the entire league.

Furthermore, the £7.1k-per-week forward has also scored two goals and provided two assists over his five Europa League outings, in addition to netting one goal in his two League Cup appearances – returns which take his total haul to eight goals and six assists in just 18 games for Celtic.

As such, it is clear to see that the signing of the Benfica starlet on a permanent basis, particularly for a fee of just £6.5m, would certainly be a major coup for the Bhoys, so Postecoglou’s latest update on the winger will come as music to the ears of Celtic fans.

In other news: Postecoglou must finally sanction Celtic swoop for “strong” £3.7m beast, he’s the next Fred

Chairman of selectors, Clyde Butts, has said that Jamaica batsman Marlon Samuels will be considered for West Indies selection if he performs at the domestic level

Cricinfo staff30-May-2010Chairman of selectors, Clyde Butts, has said that Jamaica batsman Marlon Samuels, who has finished serving his two-year ban, will be considered for West Indies selection if he performs at the domestic level.”We all know Marlon Samuels can play cricket,’ Butts told . “Certainly, for a man who has been out of cricket for two years, youwould allow him to play some cricket, develop his game again and get back into form and, of course, he will be available to West Indies then.”Marlon needs to come out and start playing some cricket, [and] we will probably see that in the regional T20 and the one-day series and who knows. If Marlon certainly shows that he still has it, I think he will be considered.”Samuels returned to action recently for Jamaica, playing in a 50-overs match and two Twenty20 games against USA in Florida. He had missed two seasons after he was banned in 2008 for breaching rules, relating to “receiving money, benefit or otherreward which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute”. Samuels was punished by a West Indies Cricket Board disciplinary committee for discussing team information with Mukesh Kochar and later approaching him to pay a hotel bill.Samuels has played 29 Tests and 107 one-day internationals for West Indies since making his international debut against Sri Lanka in 2000.

The last thing Everton needs right now is losing any key players, as they try to navigate their way through an injury crisis and a lack of depth in many areas of their squad that has resulted in only five wins from 17 games in the Premier League, leaving them 15th in the table.

With the transfer window in less than 72 hours, Rafa Benitez must avoid the departure of any important players in his side to ensure he can rebuild and climb the table to get back into the top half for a satisfactory finish with the Toffees.

Everton superstar, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, has been rumoured with a move away to Arsenal for weeks, and even pundits have been adding fuel to the flames by encouraging the injured striker to make a move to Arsenal.

Gunners legend, Lee Dixon, spoke to the MailOnline about the potential of Arsenal signing the Toffees forward in the January transfer window;

“Would I like to see Calvert-Lewin at Arsenal? I think yes.

“It would be a step up for Calvert-Lewin, no disrespect to Everton.

“He is fit and athletic, he is strong and good in the air and a good finisher. I would take him.”

The MailOnline did also reported earlier this month, that Arsenal were interested in signing Calvert Lewin, but there has been no further links or official interest made by the London club as of yet, despite both Dixon and Paul Merson making their feelings clear about Arsenal’s potential signing of the player this week.

Fans will be fuming

If Benitez wasn’t already unpopular with fans, due to his successes as manager of fierce local rivals Liverpool, selling Calvert Lewin would be the final nail in the coffin for fans of the club and considered unforgivable, with the goal machine being arguably Everton’s best player, scoring 56 goals and bagging 16 assists in 176 appearances.

Selling the centre forward would be unwise with Everton’s severe lack of goals and creativity conceding more than they’ve scored this season so far, even with or without the fans on the manager’s back, it doesn’t make sense to cash in on him when what he can potentially offer to the side in the second half of the season is priceless.

It would be unlikely that Everton would let the £40.5m-rated star go, unless there was a huge, inflated offer from interested clubs, which actually isn’t unheard of in the January transfer window, Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m springs to mind, especially with many clubs desperate for prolific goal-scorers to assist with securing a good finish in the second half of the season.

The 28 year old has been side-lined since the early stages of the season sustaining a quadriceps injury and a broken toe, meaning he hasn’t played since scoring against Brighton on August 28th 2021.

He then suffered a setback with his recovery progress, and is only now in contention for selection for the side as we head into 2022, with the possibility of an appearance against Brighton on Sunday, although the England international did expect to be back in the side on Boxing Day, however postponement of fixtures hasn’t allowed that.

In other news: Benitez could solve problems by signing Vecino

It has been widely speculated that Rafael Benitez has fallen out with Lucas Digne, and news coming from the Everton camp on Friday afternoon appears to suggest that the pair can’t resolve their issues.

What’s the story?

Renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano gave an explosive transfer insight regarding the Toffeed, taking to his Twitter profile to drop this exclusive to his millions of followers:

“EXCL: Ukraine left back Vitaliy Mykolenko is currently undergoing his medical as new Everton player, here we go! 🔵🇺🇦 #EFC”

“He’s set to join Everton from Dynamo Kiev on a permanent move, final price around €21/23m. Personal terms agreed.”

The medical may further fuel rumours of an irreparable fall-out between the Everton manager and the French left-back, who has not been in the matchday squad since the Merseyside derby.

As recorded by WhoScored, since his arrival to the Premier League. no left-back has earned a higher rating than Digne, winning 28 aerial duels and 52 tackles in his 15 appearances for the Toffees this season. He also scored against Queens Park Rangers in their Carabao Cup tie.

According to The Athletic, Digne became frustrated in conversations with the Everton manager and continuously challenged Benitez, with the pair having reportedly ‘rarely seen eye to eye’ – specifically when it came to tactics – and tensions allegedly boiled over just ahead of the Arsenal match a couple of weeks ago.

Fans will be gutted

Digne has established himself as a fan favourite, with the left-back speaking out about the reaction that many fans have had to him since he joined the club, saying: “They have even written a song for me, and I want to say thank you to them for that. We have something special in this club.”

Quite a few Everton fans have taken to Twitter to express their feelings and thoughts on the news shared by Romano. One fan tweeted; “If we sell @LucasDigne we are stupid, @everton you need to sack that fraud @rafabenitezweb #rafaout”

Another wrote: “I’ll be so, so angry if Digne is forced out of Everton in January. Angry at Rafa, and at the club by default, as with most things these days.”

It’s clear that some fans aren’t happy about potentially axing the £119k-p/w left back from the side, and with squad depth already thin and injuries piling up, Benitez cannot afford to lose any more players. Freezing out Digne could come back to bite the manager unless Everton can complete the mooted signing of Mykolenko, and even then the Ukrainian may have a hard act to follow.

Either way, his impending arrival seems to suggest that Benitez intends to move on from Digne, who might have already played his last game for the club.

In other news: Benitez could solve big issue at Everton by signing this gem

Bayern Munich have not yet expressed an interest in signing Leeds United winger Raphinha in the January transfer window, according to journalist Graham Smyth.

The Lowdown: Bayern linked with Raphinha move

The Whites received a potential blow earlier in the week, with the Brazilian strongly linked with a January switch to Bayern after the European giants saw him as a strong option to sign.

Raphinha has surely been Leeds’ best player so far this season, scoring eight goals in 16 Premier League appearances, so the thought of losing him midway through the campaign is a worrying one.

Fortunately, a more positive update has now emerged regarding the 25-year-old’s future.

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The Latest: Smyth provides encouraging update

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Smyth, the rumour of an imminent move to Germany is wide of the mark, with Bayern ‘yet to make any interest known’ to Leeds regarding a potential transfer for the Brazilian.

It is stated that the Whites may need to sell players in January to generate funds for new signings, but it is also mentioned that selling Raphinha would ‘make next to no sense’.

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The Verdict: Can’t afford to lose him

With key figures such as Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford both plagued by injury this season, Raphinha’s importance to Marcelo Bielsa’s side is going to be greater than ever throughout the rest of the campaign.

Leeds are threatening to become embroiled in a relegation fight in the Premier League, so allowing arguably their best player to leave would be asking for trouble.

It could be that Raphinha demands to move on at the end of the season, but for now, it makes complete sense for the Whites to ignore any other club’s advances and try to persuade the 25-year-old to commit to the Leeds cause for another few months at least, especially when they badly need him.

In other news, Leeds are reportedly still interested in signing one player. Find out who it is here.

Somerset have confirmed that head groundsman Phil Frost has been made redundant after 22 years at the club

Cricinfo staff12-Feb-2010Somerset have confirmed that head groundsman Phil Frost has been made redundant after 22 years at the club.Frost, alongside another member of the ground staff, was relieved of the position in December in an attempt to “identify cost effectiveness and improve efficiency”, according to a statement issued by the club.While Hampshire sign lucrative link-ups with teams across the globe, other counties face the harsher climate of recession and, with news that the Champions League Twenty20 will encroach on the English season, an increasingly precarious domestic structure.Frost won many awards for his work at Taunton, but has also come under fire for the batsman-friendly nature of Championship pitches which have led to a high number of draws. The club are keen to produce more result-orientated wickets for the 2010 season and now Brian Rose, the director of cricket, will oversee the work.Somerset recently signed Kieron Pollard and Cameron White, two premium Twenty20 players, in an attempt to reach the lucrative Champions League tournament, which will have stretched their budgets and now cuts are having to be made elsewhere.