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Chelsea are ready to rival Manchester City in the race to sign Aston Villa star Jack Grealish this summer, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: All roads seemed to point towards City move

Manchester City were named as the favourites to sign Grealish back in March, and since then, rumours have continued to gather pace.

Grealish has told friends he is very interested in a move to the Etihad to work with Pep Guardiola, with reports in recent days claiming City are ready to smash the all-time Premier League transfer record in order to land the 25-year-old.

The Latest: Source shares Blues twist

Football Insider shared a story on Grealish’s future on Tuesday morning, hours prior to his starring display for England against the Czech Republic at the European Championships.

A Chelsea source informed the site that the Blues have a ‘concrete interest’ in the attacking midfielder and are ready to push City all the way this summer.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has made it clear to the Blues hierarchy that he will finance big-money signings like Grealish if deals can be agreed.

The Verdict: Could it be good news for Villa?

This latest update could actually be good news for Villa in what could be a difficult scenario. Villa are under no pressure to part ways with Grealish, who is under contract at Villa Park until 2025.

The only way Villa could be forced into selling their captain is if he makes it clear to the club he wants a move away and a remarkable bid is received.

Chelsea now being ready to rival City for his signature may only push the price up for Grealish in a possible bidding war, should Villa have to look into a potential sale.

Villa could therefore reap the financial benefits should a move materialise to either Stamford Bridge or the Etihad, with both clubs now seemingly extremely keen on Grealish’s services.

In other news: John McGinn linked with Villa exit, find out more here. 

Rowledge will face Oxfordshire side Shipton-under-Wychwood a week tomorrow, Sunday August 18, for a place in the National Village Championship final at Lord’s

Mike Vimpany08-Aug-2002Rowledge will face Oxfordshire side Shipton-under-Wychwood a week tomorrow, Sunday August 18, for a place in the National Village Championship final at Lord’s.The big bonus for the Southern Electric Premier Division 2 strugglers is that they will have home advantage in next weekend’s semi-final."We’ve been drawn at home in all the national rounds and it’s obviously a huge advantage," admitted Rowledge stalwart Chris Yates, one of the survivors from the 1985 Lord’s final.Rowledge admit they know precious little at this stage about Shipton, except that they were beaten Lord’s finalists in 1997 and knocked cup holders Ynystawe (correct) out two rounds ago."They beat Werrington, the 1994 finalists, on Sunday and we’ll have a word with them to see what we are up against," Yates confirmed.A 37-run win over much fancied Langleybury put Rowledge through – the Farnham side notching 193-7 through David Lloyd (55), Shaun Woodhouse (35 not out), Chris Yates (30) and Nick Morant (25).The Hertfordshire champions slipped to 66-4 and, having needed 108 from the last 15 overs on Rowledge’s small village ground, fell away to 155 all out, with Darren Mitchell, Chris Rogers and Ricky Yates taking three wickets each."It was a really great team performance – something we need to repeat for the next four Saturdays," said Yates.While all eyes are on a September 1 date at Lord’s, Rowledge have crucial Premier League business to tie up before then – like winning at least two more matches in order to stay in Division 2.Second-to-bottom in Division 2 – and only ahead of Trojans on run rate – Rowledge faced the Stoneham club today before rounding off their season with games against Lymington (away), Easton & Martyr Worthy (home) and a potentially do-or-die trip to Hungerford – ironically, the day before a hoped-for Lord’s final.

Aston Villa and West Ham have both made contact over a potential deal for Young Boys defender Mohamed Camara.

And, as to be expected, a number of Aston Villa fans have been reacting to the links on social media.

According to Sports Witness, Villa and the Hammers have asked for information regarding the 23-year-old centre-back.

No formal offers have been made, however, the Swiss side would allow the Guinea international to leave this summer, should a convincing offer come in.

Villa recently confirmed they have reached an agreement with Royal Antwerp for Bjorn Engels, with the centre-back now set to depart Villa Park.

Camara could well replace Engels, with the former making 39 appearances in all competitions last season.

Villa fans react

@villareport shared the news of Villa’s interest in Camara on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.

This is what these Villa supporters had to say in reply, with many not knowing much about Camara.

“Big spenders fc at it again. First team squad is gonna be 100 man deep”Credit: @J7_BVN”idk who that is but i’m all for it”Credit: @DanAV___”If this happens, we’ll have Trezeguet AND Pique. Massive club”Credit: @VillansOpinions”Yess”Credit: @avfcmds”This link now looks a lot more believable”Credit: @stephenoleary89″Anyone know him?”Credit: @avfctom_

In other news: Many AVFC fans buzz as inside NSWE info emerges, find out more here. 

After two days of one innings play and second session rain, the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 was shared between Sanath Jayasuriya’s Sri Lanka and Sourav Ganguly’s India

Anand Vasu30-Sep-2002After two days of one innings play and second session rain, the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 was shared between Sanath Jayasuriya’s Sri Lanka and Sourav Ganguly’s India. The result was an utter disappointment for the spectators, and this is one point both captains agreed on.”It was disappointing. Both teams were very keen to play the final. Overall it was a disappointing last two days to the tournament,” said Jayasuriya.Ganguly said: “I am disappointed with the result. We bowled well in the afternoon to restrict them to 222 and got off to a good start, reaching 38 in eight overs. But then, you can’t help the weather. Both days were disappointing but today was perhaps a bit more so than yesterday because we just had to get 223.”On how fair a reflection of the teams’ performance the result was, the two captains differed greatly. “I think it was a fair result. We did well yesterday to get 244 and if there was no rain we would have had a good chance,” said Jayasuriya.”The wicket is getting lower and slower. We played on the same wicket yesterday. When the wicket is so slow it is not easy to bat. When the ball is new you can play a few shots but even 220 is a manageable score on this wicket. 225 to 240 was the kind of target we had in mind as the wicket was not easy at all.”When Ganguly responded to the same question, the look on his face, more than the words he said, conveyed that the Indian captain thought his team had been denied victory by the rain. “No, I don’t know, I’m not too sure about that,” he said, suggesting that the end result did not really reflect the true chances of both sides.With yesterday’s game being replayed today, Aravinda de Silva has had two farewells to limited overs cricket in Sri Lanka in as many days. “Aravinda has decided that this will be his last game on Sri Lankan soil,” Jayasuriya said. “But I want him to continue both in the Tests and the one-dayers. I would like to have a chat with him about this.”The Sri Lankan skipper added: “It was disappointing to lose so many wickets in the first 15 overs. It was unfortunate that Aravinda got out when he did because he was batting well.”Meanwhile the Indian captain took a few minutes to talk about the plusses and minuses for the Indian team from this tournament. “We need to work on our fast-bowling department. Zaheer (Khan) was exceptional. We were a little unfortunate with Srinath as he had to come all the way and did not have even a day to prepare for the game. Zaheer, Harbhajan and Sehwag have been outstanding, Kumble was at his very best today so there weren’t too many negatives really,” he said.Ganguly also spent time on the issue of Sachin Tendulkar, where he should bat and why his role in the side should be better understood.”Sachin would have batted at number three yesterday as well, had he got the chance. He didn’t get runs in two games, that happens with everybody but then a lot of people put a lot of unnecessary pressure on him so we thought it would be good for him to go with the ball being hard – that’s what he’s used to. Then he could score a few boundaries early on and the pressure would be off him.”Another thing is that we know that Muralitharan is their key bowler. So some of the younger boys like Yuvraj, Kaif and even Mongia might find it a bit difficult against him. If Mongia already had a few runs under his belt when Murali comes on, he would be able to play him better. And I’ve played Murali for about seven years now and know his art a little better than the youngsters.”Recent reports have suggested that Tendulkar wished to return to batting at the top of the order. To this, Ganguly said: “He hasn’t expressed his desire to me. We’re playing really well at the moment. Sachin had a fantastic series batting at number four in England. He’s a quality player and it’s good for the team that he bats at number four.”Once again the captain dwelt on the fact that certain people are putting pressure on Tendulkar, without quite clarifying who he was talking about. “The people who put pressure on him should realise that we need to win as a team. We have to stop selecting individuals and making them stars; we need to pick an eleven and back them,” he said.Playing two games of this kind on the trot is always a gruelling affair, but Ganguly explained that there was enough at stake in this tournament to keep the team motivated. “It wasn’t difficult to motivate ourselves. If you win this you would be the champions of the world and that is enough to motivate us. That’s what saw us through today and I thought we did fantastically.”

Dean Smith appears to have somewhat of a transfer war chest this summer at Villa Park but a shrewd and under the radar piece of business could be Chris Wood ,who has been backed to impress for the Villans by former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey.

Wood is part of an illustrious club that may surprise a few people, especially Villa fans who may not be impressed with links suggesting Smith could move for the striker, as he is one of only eight players to have hit double figures in the last four Premier League seasons.

The New Zealand international has a contract that runs until 2023 but that has not stopped Villa from being linked with the striker, and it would appear no price tag would put them off if they accept Manchester City’s £100 million offer for Jack Grealish.

It would certainly be a different type of signing to Ollie Watkins but with Smith unable to rely on his main striker to be firing every single game, a proven Premier League player like Wood who would offer them a different style of attacking could be a smart signing, according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“He’s certainly a very good outlet, you can just clip a ball into him if you’re under pressure and he can win you a foul further up the pitch. 

“If he can improve his hold-up play then I certainly think you’ve got a striker there with his goals that could be quite good for Villa.”

Wood was signed from Leeds when they were in the Championship and despite being part of a Burnley side who are more often than not in a relegation battle, he’s thrived off great service and Sean Dyche’s side playing to his strengths.

Despite his frame and being six foot three, his touch and finishing with his feet is very underrated. You just have to look at his goal away to Fulham last season which left Alphonse Areola with no chance, and Alan Shearer praising him last year for being very good at occupying two centre backs at once, saying he’s “horrible to play against”.

Mike Hussey has been reappointed Northamptonshire captain for next season

CricInfo22-Oct-2002Mike Hussey has been reappointed Northamptonshire captain for next season.The West Australian, who made 69 for the ACB Chairman’s XI against England at Lilac Hill today, remains in the job despite failing to lead Northants to promotion in either league competition.All-rounder Tony Penberthy remains as the club’s vice captain.Hussey said: “It’s a great honour to captain the county and it’s something I love to do.”I learned a great deal last season and I hope that some of those lessons will be put into practice next year.”I’m looking forward to working again with Tony, whose experience of Englishcounty cricket is invaluable.”Hussey scored 1,379 County Championship runs at 72.57 last season.

Swansea City have made contact with Michael Appleton regarding him taking over at the Liberty Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football Insider, who claim that, with Steve Cooper being linked with both the Crystal Palace and Fulham managerial positions, the Swans have made an approach to Lincoln City regarding the availability of their 45-year-old head coach.

Appleton had already been in talks with West Bromwich Albion this summer regarding the job at The Hawthorns, however, the Albion hierarchy ultimately decided they did not want to pay the compensation fee the Imps were demanding to allow the former Oxford United boss to leave the club.

Appleton could continue Cooper’s legacy

While losing a manager who has secured consecutive top-six finishes in the Championship would undoubtedly be a huge blow for Jason Levien and Swansea City, should Cooper indeed move onto pastures new this summer, Appleton would appear to be a fantastic candidate to replace the 41-year-old boss.

Not only did Appleton match Cooper’s achievement of reaching a play-off final with an unfancied Lincoln side last season, the 45-year-old also achieved the feat while putting an emphasis on the development of young players, with the Imps squad ranking as the third youngest in League One.

Indeed, since Appleton’s arrival at Lincoln back in September of 2019, the Imps have seen the average age of their squad drop from 30 to 23, a decision that the progressive manager took in order to build a side capable of long term success, rather than prioritising immediate glory.

This is something that Cooper has also earned plaudits for, with it being reported that, due to the England U17 World Cup winner’s reputation for developing youth prospects, Premier League clubs now offer Swansea their starlets on loan deals before putting them on the general market – something that has been reported to occur with Lincoln City too.

As such, while losing the services of Cooper is rightly a worry for Swansea fans this summer, if Levien goes on to land Appleton as his successor, it would very much seem as if the club will be in the hands of a perfect replacement for the Welshman, as the 45-year-old’s philosophies would see him continue Cooper’s fantastic work at the Liberty Stadium.

In other news: Major update drops about “outstanding” £25k-p/w Swansea target, fans will be gutted

Simon Jones’ injury was bad luck for England

David Wiseman08-Nov-2002Simon Jones’ injury was bad luck for England. Not only did England losetheir quickest bowler, they have been left a bowler short for the rest ofthe Test match.Cricket is one of the only team sports which does not allow for replacementof players. Soccer does, rugby does, basketball does. However, these are notsports which last up to five days.But is there merit in cricket sides being able to replace an injured player?Cricket is the most traditional of games and you might be hard-pressed toconvince the purists that the change is worthwhile.It has also been the inability to replace injured players which have brought thegame some of its most heroic moments. Such as the time Eddie Paynter cameout of hospital to hit the winning runs for England in the fourth Test ofthe Bodyline Series.How could anyone ever forget Rick McCosker coming out to bat in theCentenary Test with a broken jaw. Coming in at the fall of the eighth wicket,his 25 runs, and his partnership with Rodney Marsh, proved the difference.That’s batsmen and there is no doubt that cricket is a batsman’s game becauseif you are a bowler and are injured, it’s doubtful that you would be able tobowl. And it’s not like you have to. That tenth wicket may prove thedifference but if you can’t bowl, the ball is simply thrown to anotherbowler.Maybe one solution is to allow the 12th man to bowl. Who knows?Cricket has embraced the technologies which are available and updated thegame to complement the modern age. The whole concept of the twelfth man,substitutes and replacements is something which the ICC should look atmodernising next.

Euro 2020 has served up a couple of exciting semi-finals. Italy’s match with Spain looks fascinating, while England’s tie with Denmark is pretty eye-catching too.

The latter is England’s second consecutive major tournament semi-final, while the team has reached this stage without even conceding a goal. Then you have Denmark, who have been on an emotional journey through the competition.

However, another interesting side-plot relates to goalscorers. There are some intriguing odds on who could grab a crucial goal in the game, with a few names in the running for the coveted Golden Boot.

Sterling’s time?

UEFA.com details how Ronaldo and Schick are currently the tournament’s top scorers with five goals each. However, with Portugal and the Czech Republic now out, the path is clear for some other stars to try and claim the top spot.

One name that cannot be ruled out is of course Raheem Sterling. The England forward already has three and, at the time of writing, these England v Denmark betting odds state he is 5/1 to grab the first goal in the match. He is also 21/10 to score anytime in the semi-final, while there are even odds on him grabbing a hat-trick. The Man City star is 100/1 to score three.

It would not be a major surprise to see Sterling on the scoresheet. He has enjoyed a fine tournament, grabbing some crucial goals in the group stage and sending the country into a frenzy with the opener against Germany. His form has been there for all to see, so it may not be a shock if he adds to his tally.

Kane or Kasper?

Another England star who will surely have an eye on the top scorer rankings is the captain, Harry Kane.

The Spurs striker may have endured a slow start to the tournament, but he has burst into life in the knockout stages. His goal against the Germans settled nerves up and down the country, while he also grabbed two in the demolition of Ukraine. According to Betfair, he is 3/1 to open the scoring in the semi-final, while he is 11/10 to score at any point during the match.

Of course, the Danes have their own Golden Boot candidate as well. Kasper Dolberg scored twice in the side’s 4-0 victory over Wales, while he also grabbed another crucial goal in the win against the Czech Republic. Betfair states he is 9/1 to score first against England, as well as 7/2 to score anytime.

Real talking point

All in all, the semi-final between England and Denmark looks set to be a truly mouth-watering tie. There are many exciting elements, but the fact that several of the competition’s top forwards will feature is a real talking point.

Are Kane, Sterling and Dolberg safe bets to grab decisive goals or could another star rise to the occasion and write themselves into footballing folklore instead? Fans of both England and Denmark will be waiting with bated breath to find out. Not long now.

The Somerset Playing for Success Centre has just completed the first series of tenweek courses for young people from four primary and four secondary schools in the Taunton area

SOMERSET11-Dec-2002The Somerset Playing for Success Centre has just completed the first series of tenweek courses for young people from four primary and four secondary schools in the Taunton area.The Playing for Success Centre that is located in the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground was the first of its kind to be officially opened earlier in the autumn, and the first ten week courses have been very well received by the students.Centre manager Simon Lowe told me: "The ten weeks were hugely successful, and at the end of the course we presented eight students with their Junior Sabres memberships for their outstanding performances."He continued: "I would like to thank everybody who has been involved in this venture for their help in making it such a success, especially the Somerset coaches who performed the awards ceremony for us."For the last five Wednesday mornings Simon has been running an ICT course at the Centre for several members of the Somerset staff, including several of the players and chief executive Peter Anderson.The Centre manager told me: "I want to give something back to the people at the club who have all gone out of their way to help me, especially the chief executive who has been inspirational."Simon Lowe is now in the process of recruiting for his next intake, and is spreading his net a little wider, to include schools from Bridgwater, Wellington and Wiveliscombe.The Centre has been such a success that Simon Lowe is looking to recruit a Senior Learning Mentor to work alongside himself.The post is for 20 hours per week (3pm to 8pm – Monday to Friday) and is for 38 weeks of the year.Further details of the post are available from The Recruitment Team, Education Personnel, County Hall,Taunton, TA1 4DY.Details can also be obtained by telephoning 01823 356292 quoting reference R/10532/MLT.The closing date for applications is noon on December 19th.