Ledley King believes that Tottenham have little chance of breaking back into the top four and returning to the Champions League this season.
Spurs are seen as candidates alongside the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton to scrap it out for the final qualification spot for Europe’s top club competition, with new boss Mauricio Pochettino having been tasked with achieving the desired finish after succeeding Tim Sherwood.
Yet the Argentine has endured a tricky start to life in north London, with some impressive displays having been punctured by a heavy home loss to Liverpool as well as defeat at the hands of West Brom at White Hart Lane.
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And with the strength of their competitors this term, King – who works as an ambassador at the club once marshalled the backline for – believes that it may be too “tough” for his side to break into the top four this time around:
“I think it is going to be tough [to finish in the top four this season].” He told talkSPORT.
“There’s going to be six or seven teams thinking they have got a chance of the top four. We are one of them, but a lot of things would have to go right for us this season.
“I think it will be difficult this season.”
But King is sure that Pochettino is the right man to lead the club to glory:
“It is going to take a little bit of time for him to get his thoughts and methods across, but we are confident he is the right man for the job,” he said.
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“I’m sure he will still want to bring in one or two players moving forward. He is still seeing who fits in with the style of play.”
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Schalke have warned Arsenal and Liverpool that striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will not be leaving the club in January.
The Premier League duo have been strongly linked with the Dutch hit-man, who could be available a bargain rate in the New Year.
Huntelaar’s current deal with the Bundesliga outfit is set to expire at the end of the season, meaning that he may well leave the club for free.
It has been rumoured that Schalke are willing to cash in this January, with a fee in the region of £4m being much more attractive than the prospect of losing their star attacker for nothing next summer.
However, the club’s general manager Horst Heldt has hit back at speculation, insisting that, as far he is concerned, Huntelaar is not leaving:
“These stories are nothing more than rumours.” he is quoted by The Metro.
“As of today, I have not heard anything from any club.”
The 29-year-old has been heavily linked with Liverpool, who have sent scouts to watch him on numerous occasions. The Reds are in the market for a prolific goal scorer and Huntelaar’s record of 42 strikes in 70 appearances is thought to have tempted them.
Arsenal are also interested, with manager Arsene Wenger keen to improve his squad for domestic and continental campaigns.
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The Dutchman has played for the likes of Real Madrid, Ajax, AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven and won 59 caps at international level.
Paul Pogba was ruled out of Manchester United’s crunch clash with Liverpool on Saturday at the eleventh hour.
The French international suffered a gash to his leg in the closing stages of the training session that directly preceded United’s 2-1 victory over their fiercest rivals, secured by two Marcus Rashford goals.
He had performed poorly in the previous match, as United laboured to a 3-2 win over struggling Crystal Palace. The whole team was poor for the first hour but Pogba was particularly bad throughout even as his team-mates rallied to secure all three points.
In actuality, you make the argument that United actually performed better in Pogba’s absence. Jose Mourinho conjured a cohesive, disciplined and vibrant performance from his side and the feeling persists that it would not have been possible – or at least as successful – if he had been forced to try and fit Pogba in.
Despite that, United fans greeted the news that Pogba had undertaken a brief amount of training ahead of the crunch second leg of the Champions League last 16 tie with Sevilla at Old Trafford cheerily.
Many Red Devils fans are clearly of the opinion that Pogba’s natural talent puts him head and shoulders ahead of their club’s other midfield options. We’ve taken a look at the best of their Twitter reactions…
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It was all going so well. Me, playing as Arsenal, enjoying a one-nil lead, albeit to a rather fortuitous goal. But I could sense the momentum had changed, my brow moist, my palms so slippery I was having difficulty stopping the controller from squirting out of my grasp.
That was when Larry, self-proclaimed Super-tech of rising Indie rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen and best friend of lead singer Van McCann, staged a three-goal comeback in the last fifteen minutes with his beloved Chelsea.
The FIFA gods were mocking me for their daily entertainment. Heart-broken, I muttered ‘good game’ and shook Larry’s hand. But by the end of the formalities, I began to count my blessings; at least this interview wouldn’t have to start with an official public apology – common FIFA etiquette for any defeat by a five-goal-or-more margin.
I was catching up with Catfish and the Bottlemen at the FIFA 15 Soundtrack Event, held in a swanky London office. The Wales-based band made it onto the popular video-game’s soundtrack this year, a true badge of honour for their front-man Van, a FIFA enthusiast and avid Manchester United supporter.
But we’ll come onto that later. First I had to enquire into the band’s sensational rise since the start of the year. In 2014, they’ve had three singles, all premiered by Radio 1’s Zane Lowe, welcomed a new band member in guitarist Elaine Bond, signed a deal with Island Records and now their debut album, The Balcony, hits shelves on September 15th. So my first question to Van was simple;
Have you been able to keep up with the Rock ‘n’ Roll pace of it all?
It’s been hectic. We’re all getting about two hours of sleep every night, it’s been like that for the last two years. It’s mental but it’s exciting.
More importantly, have you been able to keep up with the football at the same time?
It’s really hard to. We always miss games because we’re travelling. We have to check up at the airports and stuff. I’ve not really seen much of the start of the season; I’ve seen the first two Manchester United games, which I wish I hadn’t, and that’s it really. It’s hard to keep on top of it.
How was the album-making process? I hear some of it was composed in a Bed and Breakfast?
Yeah, pretty much all of it. We live in the back of a B&B, it’s class. From the ages of about 17 to 21 I just wrote, wrote and wrote, so when it came to doing the album we had a hundred-odd songs to pick from. At the label everyone went ‘take the first twenty songs, we’ll use them straight away’. So it was kind of spontaneous really. I think the album is class, the tunes are perfect in terms of capturing 17-year-old to 20 year-old life.
What about working in the studio, you know, like normal bands?
We didn’t really write anything in the studio. We changed a few things but everything was pretty much done and we wrapped it up in about three-and-a-half weeks. I don’t like being in the studio. I don’t like being in the same place for too long – unless there’s FIFA – so we kind of just smashed through it as quickly as we could and made sure everything was honest.
And how was linking up with Jim Abbiss (producer of Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Editors, the Kooks)? He’s already got quite a CV.
He’s a beast. Me and him clashed big time but in a way that just got the best out of us. He used to tell me things I didn’t want to hear and me the same to him, but always productively. We’d just fight our way through songs, but it was class because he wanted to put his stamp on it and I didn’t want to lose my identity within it, so it worked really well.
Where did the album name, The Balcony, come from?
It kept coming up throughout my life. I remember reading a poetry book when I was a kid by TS Elliot and I stopped at a poem called The Balcony. I don’t know why but it made me read it. To me it screams enormity, it feels like you’re looking over a beautiful city. When I wrote Cocoon, I went to New York and stayed with these girls in their apartment. I used to go up on the roof every night to write lyrics, overlooking the whole of New York, and I just thought, ‘the Balcony is a mint place’.
Are there any tracks yet to be released we should be particularly listening out for?
There’s a track called Hourglass which is the slow song on the album, and that’s the only song I’ve ever had to chase. Normally they take as long to write as they do to listen to, like three or four minutes, but that one took me a few weeks to get. It’s all one take; the guitar is slightly out of tune and it’s all not quite right but it’s in the middle of the album and it takes you off on one.
And there’s a tour coming up to support the album, where are you guys playing?
Everywhere. We’re going to America in two weeks for a month, then we come back for the first half of the UK tour which has sold out and in the middle we’re going to Europe before coming back for the second half of the UK tour, which is also sold out. So, everywhere man!
Is touring and performing live the band’s biggest strength? You guys seem to do a lot of it.
Big time. I never got into the band to sell albums or singles or get rich or famous. It was all about playing live and filling venues, seeing people go crazy and sing along.I used to watch gigs to my dad, I used to be in that crowd, so now it’s just an amazing feeling. To think ‘I could be the puppet master of this’ – it’s always just made loads of sense to me.
Everything we’ve done is to sell out gigs. I don’t know if our album will even chart because we’re still a cult band, but the gigs, we’re playing 1,500 capacities and selling them out in two weeks. The live shows are on a massive scale compared to where we’re at as a band. It’s all word-of-mouth, people are going because it’s a party.
As well as all that going on, you hit the festivals this year, Leeds, Reading, Latitude, Ibiza Rocks and Bestival to name a few. Did you develop a favourite festival by the end?
Leeds. We played Reading the night before and it was absolutely class. It set the bar really high, and we were over all the questions like ‘how many people are going to turn up? How many people know us? Are people going ping stuff at us?’ Then we played the gig at Leeds and it was just mental, everybody was buzzing. There was a moment, everyone was there – all our management and the label – all crying and that. It was a nice feeling.
So amid this exceptionally busy 2014, have you found time to play FIFA?
Any day off I play FIFA. My girlfriend lives in Scotland and she came down for a weekend, the only weekend we get off, but I pretty much cancelled on her because I wanted to play FIFA all day. It was grim, I felt so bad, but sometimes you need to.
Rate your FIFA obsession out of 10…
10. Well, nine because we can’t get to it enough. We don’t have it put into the dressing rooms but if we could, we would. Only me and Larry play it religiously though – when we get home we play it all night.
Who’s the best FIFA player in the band?
VAN: Me.
And the worst?
VAN: Bondy, our new guitar player. He’s so crap man, he’s terrible.
How about the worst loser?
I’m pretty bad when we’re about to go on tour. Larry gets all like “you don’t want you as the loser and me as champ for the whole tour”. I’ll beat him all day but in the last game he’ll beat me, so for the whole month we’re on tour he’ll be sitting on his bunk grinning like “what’s it’s like not being champ?”
And of course, the reason we’re here today – your single ‘Cocoon’ made it onto the new FIFA 15 soundtrack. How did it all come about?
We Tweeted FIFA asking if they could get us on the soundtrack. I don’t think bands appreciate it enough; when it comes out I’ll put a FIFA logo on our drum kit! I’ve never seen a band say ‘thank you, we’re on the FIFA soundtrack, go buy it’, so I said to the band we should promote it like mad. I Tweeted FIFA, and then our fans started getting involved, trying to trend the hashtag #getcatfishonfifa, so FIFA picked up and listened.
I’m more excited about that than anything; any tour, any album. That’s our childhood dream. It was massive for us growing up.
So our readers know what to listen out for, if Catfish and the Bottlemen’s sound was any footballer, past or present, who would it be?
Danny Welbeck. I love Danny Welbeck. Because he’s just a normal lad – he’s not a superstar – but he plays at the biggest clubs in the world. Everyone says ‘what’s Danny Welbeck doing there?’ and I think that’s what our band is like.
And how would you define Larry’s role in the band set-up? Would Super-Roadie be an accurate description?
He calls himself Supertech. I call him ‘Rock the Rider thief’ because he always used to come in and steal all our food and drink. But he’s just my mate. One night he said “pass me that guitar, I’ll carry it to the van,” and the next night it was “pass me your guitar, I’ll put it in the case,” and the next night it was “I’ll tune your guitar tonight.” It developed like that, until a point where I’m passing him guitars, he’s stringing them and giving them straight back to me.
We only started paying him two weeks ago – he’s worked for free for the last couple of years. We decided to give him a job instead of getting a guitar tech, because he worked his arse off and learned it all. He just became really good it at. You should see him at festivals bossing meat-head 40 year-old roadies around!
“Now onto the serious stuff,” I said to Van, an avid Manchester United fan, whilst trying to subtlety alter my posture as if we were both on Football Focus. What do you make of Louis van Gaal?
Well, his face looks like it’s pressed up against a window. He’s not been [at United] long enough to tell, but clearly his record is unreal. I just think he needs to get used to the team. It was left in a poor state and there’s this whole black cloud over him already but I think we’ll end up really high this season. We’ve got some good players.
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And Wayne Rooney as captain, the right choice for you?
I don’t think so. I don’t like him – he gets a cob on. For me he’s lost his childish side. He’s lost the reason why you play football in the first place, and he plays like a player now, not like Wayne Rooney. I think he’d be better in midfield, pinging balls about like Pirlo.
Who would you have named instead?
There’s no real strong candidates. I’d take Phil Jones; he looks like a leader, he’s aggressive, he clearly cares about playing football, but he’s not going to play week-in-week-out. He’s not quite there yet. But I’d still say Phil Jones, if they made him a first choice centre-back.
The Red Devils have spent a ridiculous £150million this summer, also known as 4.3 Andy Carrolls. Which signing stands out for you as someone who can make a real difference?
Falcao is meant to be insane isn’t he? I never judge a player until they come to the Premiership because it’s a completely different game. I like Luke Shaw, and I like the idea of Marcos Rojo, but I’ve not seen him play. I liked who we had already though; Adnan Januzaj is going to be a top player. Herrera looks like a talent too.
We’ll see. Falcao’s the obvious one but everyone thought Marouane Fellaini was going to be decent, everyone thought Ashley Young was going to be decent.
Where do you think you’ll finish this year?
I thought we were going to finish first until the start of the season; I really thought it would be one of those United moments. Top five I reckon. On paper I think we’ve got the best team in the Premiership but Chelsea are class at the moment, Manchester City are great, Arsenal are good too. I think Arsenal might win it – I might put a bet on that.
Who’s your favourite United player? Past or present?
Paul Scholes or Roy Keane. There’s no players like Keane anymore. Scholes though, he played all of his career with one eye didn’t he? (Paul Scholes has continually denied allegations that he’s partially blind, but famously suffered from recurring eye problems throughout his career) He’s nuts, Paul Scholes! Imagine what he could do with two eyes!
And finally, on FIFA, I’m known throughout the London borough of Bexley (and small parts of Greenwich and Lewisham) as the Emulsifier. What’s your FIFA nickname?
(Van calls into the other room to ask Larry for some advice, who is now trouncing another budding journalist at FIFA. A brief discussion takes place) ‘The wrong kid died’. Have you seen that film Walk Hard about Johnny Cash and his brother? His brother dies and his dad says ‘the wrong kid died’ because he was the best kid. So I always say, the wrong kid died, as if the best part of me died and you’re stuck with the crap one.
Catfish and the Bottlemen’s new single “Cocoon” features on the soundtrack of EA SPORTS FIFA 15.
The demo is available to download NOW via XBox Live and PlayStation Network. The band’s debut album, “The Balcony”, is available to download from iTunes.
Udinese midfielder Emmanuel Badu has confessed his desire to play in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old has been linked with the likes of Reading, QPR, Wigan and Stoke in recent times, after a string of impressive displays in the Serie A.
Despite being a key member of the Udinese squad, Badu admitted that he is flattered by the interest being shown in him and would be open to moving to England:
“It is all players’ dream to play in the biggest league in the world,” he told SkySports.
“I am doing my best here, Udinese is a very good team.
“I am flattered by clubs showing interest in me. My performances have been good, but I need to improve.”
Fellow countryman Kwadwo Asamoah left the club during the summer, signing for Juventus, and Badu has confessed that he misses his team-mate:
“I miss the banter with Asamoah, he has been a brother to me.
“I wished him good luck, he deserved to go to a big club like Juventus, he is a big talent.”
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Badu began his career with Berekum Arsenal in his home nation.
He caught the eye of Udinese’s scouts during trails with Middlesbrough and a loan spell at Spanish club Recreativo Huelva, tempting the club to swoop for his signature in 2010.
Despite being just 22-year-of-age, Badu has already made in excess of 30 appearances at senior international level.
According to reports in The Sun, German giants Borussia Dortmund have stolen a march on Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign £50m-rated Brodeaux winger Malcom this summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Sun says that Dortmund have launched an official bid to rival Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich for the highly-rated 21-year-old, with Spurs falling back in the race having signed Lucas Moura from Paris Saint-Germain last month after failing to bring his Brazilian compatriot to north London.
The Sun says that Mauricio Pochettino was ready to make another attempt to get Malcom at the end of the season, but Dortmund may well be the frontrunners for his signature as they look to finally replace Ousmane Dembele following his move to Barcelona next summer.
How has Malcom done this season?
He has been outstanding.
The 21-year-old has scored eight goals in 25 Ligue 1 appearances for Bordeaux, providing a further six assists.
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The Brazilian has become renowned for scoring special goals, with a number of his strikes coming when he has cut in from the right and unleashed a long-range effort with his left foot.
He loves to dribble – he has successfully completed 67 of the 96 he has attempted in those 25 games this term according to WhoScored.com – while the same statistics-based website says he has also made an impressive 59 key passes to show the creative ability he has in his locker.
Would he be a good signing for Tottenham?
He certainly would be.
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Malcom has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young players in European football, and he is likely to have plenty of interest in his services from a number of big clubs this summer.
With Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich keen and with the club already signing Lucas Moura and continuing to be linked with Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, you do have to wonder if a deal for the talented 21-year-old is slipping away from the north London outfit.
We’re down to the last few weeks of this summer’s transfer window, and while many teams have concluded their business early, there are still a few players that managers believe are the missing piece to their tactical jigsaw.
Last season we saw Man United boss David Moyes make a last minute panic buy for former player Marouane Fellaini, and it proved to be a massive flop.
For Liverpool, they will mainly need to fill the hole left by Luis Suarez, but should really take their time in considering their options before making a last minute purchase.
Here are SIX PANIC BUYS Liverpool should avoid this summer.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON MARIO BALOTELLI TO SEE THE FULL LIST!
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Mario Balotelli
The AC Milan star hasn’t had the best of years with the Serie A giants, finishing an underwhelming 8th place in the Italian top flight.
And after another unimpressive World Cup, the former Manchester City star has been linked with a move back to the Premier League with Liverpool a mooted option.
Like Suarez himself, Balotelli is never far away from the limelight but unlike the feisty Uruguayan, ‘Super Mario’ is not yet the finished article that will score 30+ league goals for the Reds.
He is more trouble than he is worth… which is around £20million.
Thomas Vermaelen
Liverpool fans are a bit disappointed that Danish defender Daniel Agger is set to leave the club this summer, but they should avoid purchasing an almost like-for-like replacement.
Thomas Vermaelen is on the same boat as Agger… but at Arsenal. The Belgian is looking to leave the Emirates after an injury-plagued campaign last season… and it would be a mistake for Rodgers to bring Vermaelen to Liverpool.
With Mamadou Sakho, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, and Kolo Toure all already vying for a starting berth, Vermaelen will find it even tougher to break into the first team compared to Arsenal.
Jay Rodriguez
It is quite clear that Liverpool are desperately seeking a striker to ease the loss of Suarez, but it would be unwise to sign their FOURTH Southampton player in Jay Rodriguez.
Rodriguez definitely has the ability to score goals (15 league goals last season), but what the Reds require at the moment is a player capable of producing a goal out of nothing… a player that will step up in the big games in the league as well as in Europe.
Rodriguez is also not a pure striker, mostly cutting in from the wings and in the end will fight for a place with the likes of Lazar Markovic, Raheem Sterling, and Adam Lallana.
Dani Alves
The Barcelona ace is set to depart the Nou Camp this summer, and Liverpool has been rumoured to be a possible destination.
But with the loan signing of Javier Manquillo, Brendan Rodgers will not need to splash the cash on the Brazilian who is no longer in the prime of his career.
Glen Johnson may have had a poor campaign last year (as well as an extremely bad pre-season tour), but given Manquillo’s presence we could see the rebirth of the Englishman to make the right-back position his own.
And if Glen continues to disappoint, then Manquillo looks very capable of taking over.
Mauro Icardi
Mauro Icardi is the traditional number-9 striker, looking for balls into the box and usually an adept finisher. A former Barcelona youngster, the Argentine now plies his trade with Inter Milan scoring nine goals in only 23 appearances.
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And although Icardi is a natural goalscorer, the 21-year-old has the capability to create chances as well… and would fit Liverpool’s system quite nicely.
However Icardi’s £17million price tag is not worth the gamble for Rodgers, as the money can be spent on a more prolific and experienced hitman… especially with the Champions League on the horizon.
Wilfried Bony
Although there is no doubting Wilfried Bony’s goal-scoring abilities, the 25-goal Ivorian is not the player that suits Brendan Rodgers high pressing system.
Bony prefers to receive the ball and hold it up, waiting to lay it off for his team-mates with his back to goal.
The Swansea star fits the perfect possession based team, but without the ball Bony is not the man to put pressure on the opponents’ defenders… something Luis Suarez did extremely well last season.
If Rodgers cannot find himself a suitable replacement for Suarez, he may as well keep Fabio Borini. The Italian may not be as talented as the Uruguayan, but he will chase every ball and chip in with the goals as well.
co-owner David Gold has revealed he would welcome investment from someone wealthy enough to give the club an opportunity to compete with the Premier League’s elite.
West Ham’s bid to move into the Olympic Stadium is the first sign that the club are exploring ways in which the club can grow and begin competing with the top-flight’s big clubs.
And Gold has admitted that, although he and fellow co-owner David Sullivan do not have the funds required to compete with billionaire owned clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City, he would welcome some who can help the club step up to the next level.
He told the Daily Mirror: “You have to be a billionaire to make a major difference and there are not many of them about.
“In an ideal world, though, if you ask what I would like to see happen, I would like a very wealthy person to come and join us. David and I and wealthy by normal standards, but not by football standards.
“We would be reluctant to sell the whole football club because we feel a great part of it. It has taken us a lifetime to earn enough money to return to our roots and we will not give that up lightly. We are doing our best but it would be much easier if there were three of us.”
And Gold believes the move to the Olympic Stadium would attract the sort of investment every club craves.
“To grow the club, fingers crossed to get to the Olympic Stadium, would change our whole image, would help us attract better players,” he added
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“But it all boils down to income and we have to generate more income.”
Liverpool have no shortage of star players who can pick up a goal or two, but they need strength in depth to progress.
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are likely to be the stars of the show once again this season.
However, the team could be made even more dangerous with the addition of a new attacking midfielder.
Manager Jurgen Klopp is yet to recruit a replacement for Philippe Coutinho, who left Anfield to join Barcelona in January.
What do you think of the World Cup so far? Let us know and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.
Nabil Fekir was expected to take the Brazilian’s place, but by all accounts, the proposed transfer fell through.
Isco has been linked to numerous Premier League clubs before, and it is easy to see why.
The Real Madrid star has skill on the ball and can pick out a pass for his teammates from the middle of the park.
As well as playing more centrally, the Spain international can also be used on the left wing as an alternative option.
Last season, Isco struggled for game time under manager Zinedine Zidane, starting 21 La Liga matches and coming off the bench in a further nine.
The 26-year-old scored eight goals and created nine assists in 45 appearances in all competitions.
Given that Liverpool could do with an additional attacking option, is Isco the right man for the job?
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Let us know by voting below…
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257647″ player=”12034″ title=”Three reasons we love to hate… Brazil and Argentina”]
Occasionally, football clubs will conduct an interview with one of their players that will allow the fans to participate.
A common approach is the Twitter Q&A, which gives supporters an opportunity to pose their own questions.
This week, West Ham United decided to call on the fans to put questions forward for Declan Rice.
The 19-year-old defence-minded player has been at the club since 2014 when he signed from Chelsea’s youth academy.
Rice made his debut at the end of last season, and in this campaign he has had more game time, making 21 appearances in all competitions, six of which have been Premier League starts.
In total, Rice, who can play at centre-back or as a defensive midfielder, has played a full 90 minutes for the senior team on eight occasions and three of those have been in the league.
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When the club’s social media team asked fans to post their questions for Rice, not all of the responses.
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It did not help that the hashtag #AskDec inadvertently encouraged supporters to bring up TV presenting duo Ant and Dec.
Below are some of the more humorous questions posed.