United are confident of their captain’s availability during the later stages of the season

Danyal Rasool04-May-2025

Shadab Khan is Islamabad United’s joint second-highest wicket-taker this season•PCB

Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan is expected to miss at least one more game as he recovers from a groin injury. The full impact of the injury is yet to be determined, and United have consulted a doctor from the UK for a complete diagnosis. It is their game at home – against Quetta Gladiators in Rawalpindi – which looks set to come too soon for the United captain.ESPNcricinfo understands United are confident of Shadab’s availability during the later stages of the season, with the side on the brink of making the playoffs after winning the first five games of the season.Shadab picked up the injury during United’s game against Peshawar Zalmi on Friday while batting. An official statement from United said that Shadab had experienced discomfort in his groin during his innings. He subsequently did not bowl or take the field in the second innings, with United ultimately falling short.Shadab then missed his side’s game on Saturday against Quetta Gladiators, with Salman Agha deputising in his absence. United lost a thrilling contest in Lahore in the final over to slump to their third defeat of the season, consequently relinquishing the top spot to the Gladiators.Shadab’s form has been a vital component of United’s success in the first half of their campaign, playing a number of handy cameos in the middle order. However, it is the return of his bowling form that has been the brightest spark. His nine wickets place him in the top ten wicket-takers in the PSL this year, but it is his economy – a consistent weakness of late – that stands out.Shadab has a superior economy rate (6.70) to all spinners in the league bar Mohammad Nabi and Sikandar Raza, each of whom has fewer wickets to their names. That it has been achieved as a legspinner makes the numbers even more impressive; no other legspinner has managed an economy rate lower than 7.64.

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O São Paulo fechou contrato com a Avanutri, com validade de um ano, para reforçar seu Reffis no CT da Barra Funda. A empresa é especializada em recuperação, nutrição e performance e foi a mesma que teve parceria com a CBF e a Seleção Brasileira durante a Copa do Mundo do Qatar em 2022.

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O objetivo da parceria é melhorar a recuperação física dos atletas após as partidas, diante do alto número de jogos do time de Dorival Júnior.

+ Renove o seu estoque de camisas do Tricolor com o cupom LANCEFUT 10% OFF

Os aparelhos da Avanutri vão complementar os equipamentos que já integram o Reffis. Um desses equipamentos será o sistema Cryo Sport, que “combina crioterapia e compressão ativa, proporcionando aos fisioterapeutas do clube eficiência e segurança nos tratamentos, com monitoramento da temperatura em tempo real”, segundo definição da própria empresa.

Na Copa do Mundo do Qatar, o Cryo Sport foi fundamental para melhorar a performance de Neymar e Danilo, jogadores da Seleção Brasileira que se contundiram na competição.

Para Rodrigo Santana, CEO da Avanutri, a parceria com um clube do porte do São Paulo, equipe tricampeã mundial, mostra a credibilidade que a marca conquistou no mercado futebolístico.

– Acreditamos que a parceria com o São Paulo é uma importante constatação do crescimento e consolidação da Avanutri no mercado, tanto dentro do Brasil quanto fora do país. O clube, com sua gloriosa trajetória recheada de títulos, vai além de ser apenas uma vitrine, mas a busca da excelência no esporte, o que é o objetivo da Avanutri no desenvolvimento dos seus produtos.

O São Paulo começou uma ampla reformulação no departamento médico, visando à melhora na prevenção e outros processos que colaboram com os rendimentos físicos dos atletas.

No processo de aquisição de recursos tecnológicos em recovery, o tricolor paulista viu na Avanutri a parceria ideal. Os produtos da marca são conhecidos por fornecer aos atletas longevidade e qualidade na performance dentro de campo.

Não por acaso, além do São Paulo, a empresa também é parceira da Associação Uruguaia de Futebol e de outros grandes clubes brasileiros, como Botafogo, Fluminense, Vasco e Cruzeiro.

+ Clique aqui e veja como apostar no Brasileirão

+ Confira os jogos e classificação resultados da Copa do Brasil-23 na tabela do LANCE!

Tottenham Hotspur might not have secured all three points away to Brighton & Hove Albion, but Thomas Frank must be satisfied with the way things are taking shape.

The Spurs boss replaced Ange Postecoglou in the summer and was tasked with creating a more stable project. Tottenham won the Europa League last year, but also languished to a 17th-place finish in the top flight.

Signings have been made, and while he’s an imperfect player, Mohamed Kudus has offered much to the Lilywhites cause after signing from West Ham United for £55m in July.

Mohammed Kudus' start to life at Spurs

Kudus’ shot somewhat fortuitously found Richarlison before the break, and so the Brazilian converted and halved the deficit, scoring a crucial goal that would lead to late parity.

The Ghanaian winger still needs to bring his clinical output into focus, but there’s no denying he is a talented and effective winger, adding a dimension to Frank’s project.

According to Sofascore, Kudus won eight duels and completed six dribbles across the afternoon, causing all sorts of problems for his opponents and whipping in the ball that ricocheted off Jan Paul van Hecke.

With three assists from five Premier League appearances for Tottenham, Kudus is coming into his own, bouncing back from a difficult campaign last year with the Hammers.

However, this isn’t the biggest revival within the Spurs squad, with Destiny Udogie rising back up to the fore in a manner not dissimilar to that of Djed Spence last season.

Frank's own Djed Spence revival

When Spence was called up to Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad, it was a landmark moment in the 25-year-old full-back’s development.

While Spence has revived his career over the past year, reinventing himself last year under Postecoglou’s wing, Udogie’s performance against Brighton underscored the importance of having a natural left-footer at left-back, working wonders for the side’s progression.

Awarded an 8/10 match rating by football.london, the statistics perhaps don’t tell the full story, with Udogie shackling – for the most part – the bright Yankuba Minteh and working effectively to build up patterns of offensive play down the left flank.

They also considered Udogie to have been the standout performer against the Seagulls.

Minutes played

90′

Goals

0

Assists

0

Touches

86

Accurate passes

58/65 (89%)

Key passes

1

Possession lost

14x

Dribbles

1/3

Tackles + interceptions

2

Clearances

1

Ground duels won

3/7

Having struggled with injury and subsequent dips in form last year, the Italy international made his first start of the season here, with Frank hailing his “absolutely exceptional” performance and continuing to remark that he was “almost unstoppable going forward”.

With Udogie fit and firing on all cylinders, Tottenham’s backline will begin to look far more fluent, not just solidifying when facing the ball but opening up a more coherent build-up process too.

This is not to the discredit of Spence, who continues to go from strength to strength at the club, but instead highlights the quality of the 22-year-old, who now provides his manager with the very best kind of selection headache.

Kudus might have been directly involved in both of Tottenham’s goals, but Udogie proved his worth as one of the most exciting full-backs in the Premier League, and under a new manager in Frank, this might just prove to be the start of something special.

Worth even more than Kudus: Spurs have struck gold on "sensational" talent

Tottenham Hotspur have once again shown their impressive work in the transfer market given one player’s rise.

ByEthan Lamb Sep 19, 2025

Sussex captain stars with another century to set up likely fourth-day win

Alan Gardner13-Apr-2025Sussex’s imperious form continued into the third day at Hove, led by yet another commanding performance from their captain, John Simpson. His unbeaten 110 from 117 balls bludgeoned Somerset into submission, setting the visitors a notional target of 595 to win, and Sussex made strides towards finishing the contest as Sean Hunt added to his first-innings five-for by dispatching four of the top five across two fiery spells.Hunt, who has the frame of a rugby union second row and facial hair straight from Aussie rules, hammered the ball into what had been a relatively benign surface to land potentially the decisive blows during the evening session. His third delivery snagged Sean Dickson’s outside edge and flew to fourth slip, and Hunt then surpassed his previous best match haul of six wickets by having Archie Vaughan caught on the hook at deep backward square leg.The 23-year-old’s golden match continued when he returned to break a 63-run stand between Tom Lammonby and Tom Abell with his first ball, plunging to his right in his follow through to hold a spectacular return catch. He finished the over by uprooting Tom Banton’s off stump, and should have notched ten for the match soon after, putting down a much simpler caught-and-bowled chance when James Rew had made 1.Abell played punchily during an unbeaten half-century that saw Somerset to the close, giving them a glimmer of hope – Worcestershire, after all, escaped Taunton on Monday having gone into the final day five down. But the scale of the likely challenge here was encapsulated by Jack Carson’s sixth ball, which ripped past Rew’s outside edge into the gloves of Simpson; Sussex were convinced of a nick, but replays suggested it had done too much.Hove isn’t the sort of ground where you would be likely to see a banner lauding Simpson as “Captain, Leader, Legend”, but it’s fair to say his tenure has been nothing short of inspirational. Having never officially captained a side during his 14-year career at Middlesex, his elevation to the role on joining Sussex was initially confirmed only for the first half of the 2024 season. Come the end of it, he had guided them to promotion and the Division Two title, racking up five hundreds and more than 1000 runs in the process.As one of the few Sussex players to have previous experience of the top tier, he went into the new campaign impressing on his team-mates the need to be “better for longer” – and straight away set the tone with an unbeaten 181 in a strong showing away to Warwickshire. His efforts in the second innings against Somerset lifted his first-class average for Sussex to 86.50, with seven hundreds in just 16 matches (all with the added burden of captaincy). Contrast that with an average of 33.07 for Middlesex, with 10 centuries in 200 appearances, and it’s hard not to conclude that Simpson has found the sea air to his liking.The only conceivable grumble about how he has overseen Sussex’s efforts in this match centred on the declaration, which came at tea on the third day and with Somerset having given up on the pursuit of wickets in order to post eight men on the boundary.With the pitch continuing to play well, Sussex were clearly wary about leaving the door ajar. They were given a scare here last season, when Leicestershire fell 19 runs short of chasing 464 in the fourth innings, inspired by Louis Kimber’s brazen double-century. Doubtless the team analyst would have been able to inform Simpson and Paul Farbrace that Somerset successfully hunted down a target of 415 on the last day against Warwickshire at Taunton, too.Proceedings therefore began with Sussex content to shore up their position, wary of making early missteps on returning to Division One after a ten-year absence. Tom Haines resumed with a century under his belt, his partnership with Tom Clark ticking over towards three figures until the latter was drawn into a push outside off and edged Josh Davey behind. Haines was next to go, adjudged lbw playing across the line to Vaughan, before Tom Alsop feathered behind off Jack Leach. Simpson survived edging to slip off Vaughan on 3, Gregory missing a catchable chance, and at lunch Sussex’s total had advanced by 88 runs in 32 overs, the lead already 427.With Somerset content to sit in while bowling their spinners in tandem, the onus was on Sussex to raise the tempo. As the seagulls swooped, a healthy crowd, encouraged by free entry on Sunday, waited patiently for the martlets to do likewise. Simpson immediately swept and drove eight runs from Leach’s first over back, though his partnership with James Coles was one of steady accumulation rather than all-out attack.Coles brought out the reverse-sweep but fell playing its orthodox counterpart, Rew scrambling back to take a big top edge. There followed a period of stalemate, Sussex seemingly wavering about exactly what sort of target they wanted to set, Leach adding his third and fourth wickets – before Simpson finally flicked the switch and started lumping sixes towards the Shark Stand. Carson followed suit, as the eighth-wicket pair piled on 84 in 9.1 overs before Simpson decided he had enough. Few of a Sussex persuasion were looking to quibble come the close.

Alexander Isak has revealed his first impression of Liverpool following his deadline-day move. The Sweden international departed Newcastle for the Premier League champions as a long-running summer saga finally came to an end on deadline day. And while he has struggled for form since his move to Anfield, the club and city have already made a positive impact on the former Magpies hitman.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Isak struggled in opening weeks

  Isak completed his British-record move to Liverpool on deadline day, having gone on strike to secure a switch to the Premier League champions. As such, the Swede was unable to take part in pre-season training for Newcastle, and he's been playing catch-up in the weeks since. 

  As a result, the 26-year-old, who scored 23 league goals last season, has only made three league appearances for the Reds, starting twice. In addition, Isak has only scored one goal, that coming in a 2-1 EFL Cup win over Championship outfit Southampton last month, a game marred by Giovanni Leoni's season-ending ACL injury. 

  Despite a lack of match fitness, Isak was called up to Sweden's national squad for upcoming World Cup qualification meetings with Switzerland and Kosovo as the Blue and Yellow look to put their first win on the board having failed to win their opening two World Cup qualifying matches, following up a 2-2 draw with Slovenia with a 2-0 loss to Kosovo.

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• 'A great team and a city'

  Isak has kept a low profile following his move to Liverpool, instead focusing his efforts on getting up to speed with his new team. Indeed, the striker skipped Sweden media duties in the September international break as he looked to avoid the spotlight.

  However, Isak has since broken his silence ahead of Sweden's meeting with Switzerland on Friday, 10th October, and when asked about Liverpool as both a team and a city, he's quoted by Sport Witness as saying: "Great so far. A great team and a city where the team has a good relationship with the fans. It’s been great so far."  

  The striker's comments will sit well with the Liverpool faithful, who have thrown their full backing behind their big-money summer signing, despite having scored just one goal in his opening six appearances for Arne Slot's men.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  'I feel in a much better position now'

  And Isak's comments on his shape and fitness will sit well with Sweden and Liverpool fans. Isak is yet to play the full 90 minutes for club or country this season, having been subbed off in all four of his Liverpool starts to date. 

  However, Isak insists he feels as though he is able to play a full match having spent time building up his fitness, stating ahead of Friday's game against Switzerland: "Tomorrow I’m ready for 90 minutes if needed.  

  "It’s been a month now. I’ve gotten a lot more playing time, and things have calmed down. I feel in a much better position now than last time."      

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• Liverpool looking to get back on track

  Liverpool fans will be hoping Isak can get his season up and running for Sweden over the coming days as the Reds look to get their season back on track. Slot's side sacrificed top spot before the international break as they fell to a 2-1 loss at Chelsea last weekend. 

  Defeat at Stamford Bridge means Liverpool have now lost their last three matches, having conceded late on in a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace and succumbed to a 1-0 reverse at Galatasaray in the Champions League.  

  The loss to Galatasaray came at a cost, too, with Alisson ruled out until after the November international break owing to a hamstring issue. The Brazilian's absence means Giorgi Mamardashvili will continue between the sticks when domestic duties resume next weekend.  

  Liverpool return to Premier League action with the welcome of rivals Manchester United. United headed into the break on a high, having defeated Sunderland 2-0 at Old Trafford as Ruben Amorim seeks to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time since taking over from Erik ten Hag last November.  

Multan Sultans will play one fewer game at home after the PCB announced their clash against Karachi Kings on May 1 will be played in Lahore instead. It is one of two games affected by a reschedule, with Sultans’ home match against Quetta Gladiators pushed back by a day to May 11.The PCB said the decision was taken due to “operational ease and recent heatwaves in certain parts of the country”. Multan, the warmest of the four cities hosting the tournament, was due to host both of the rescheduled games in the afternoon, one of which will take place in Lahore while the other moves to the evening.However, Lahore has also been affected by extremely hot weather, with temperatures only about 3 degrees cooler on average than Multan. Further exacerbating logistical challenges was the departure of more than two dozen members of the production crew hailing from India earlier this week, in the wake of deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries.ESPNcricinfo has learned the decision has left Sultans feeling extremely frustrated. In talks with the PCB, Sultans proposed moving the game against Kings to May 6 in a bid to ensure they did not lose the advantage of playing at home. However, Kings objected to that proposal, saying it would disadvantage them. Had the game been played on that day, Kings would have played three games at three different venues across five days. They argued it left them with no rest for five days in a row, with each day a match or travel day.It was left to the PCB to mediate, who ended up deciding to stick to the original date for the Sultans-Kings game. Sultans are understood to be upset that the decision was communicated to them fait accompli, providing no further window for discussion or negotiation, and depriving them of a game at home against Kings. The PCB has defended its position, acknowledging Sultans’ disappointment but maintaining any alternate schedule would have resulted in fixture disruption for more teams.Sultans, who made each of the last four PSL finals and won the tournament in 2021, have endured a horror first half to the PSL. They sit bottom of the table, having lost five of their first six games, and likely need to win all remaining matches to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Marcus Rashford has lined up a permanent move to Barcelona next summer after a prolific start to his life in Barcelona. After being put in Ruben Amorim's 'bomb squad' this summer, Manchester United outcast Rashford was sent out on a loan move to Barcelona. The Catalan giants have the option to make the transfer permanent next year for a fee of £26million ($34m).

Rashford off to a flying start at Barcelona

Rashford, who struggled for form in the last two seasons at Old Trafford, looked like a completely different player once he signed for Barcelona on a loan deal. Under Hansi Flick's tutelage, the English forward rediscovered his game and has already established himself as a regular starter. Rashford has appeared in 10 matches across all competitions for Barcelona, where he scored three goals and provided eight assists. Out of the three goals he has scored, two of them came against Newcastle United in the Champions League to help them beat the Magpies.  

After the game, Flick had heaped praises on the loanee as he had said: "I am not surprised [by his goals]. I think he's a fantastic player. His skills are unbelievable and his finishing is unbelievable. I think also in the first half, he tried to create chances, but the finishing wasn't there. In the second half, it was. For a striker, it's always good to score. I am really happy. He is an important player. When we spoke before the season about what we needed in the team, we felt we needed a player like him. When we had this chance [to sign him], I said we have to do it. He's an outstanding player." 

AdvertisementGetty Images SportRashford ready to continue at Barca permanently

After displaying tremendous form at the Catalan club in the last one month, Rashford has attracted interest from several top European clubs, including reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, who are keen on signing the Englishman. However, according to , Rashford is happy at Barcelona and would love to sign a permanent deal and realise a childhood dream of playing for the reigning Spanish champions.    

Rashford has impressed Tuchel

After completing the loan move to Barcelona in the summer, Rashford regained his place in the England national team, as he has now been called up to the Three Lions squad in the back-to-back international windows in September and October. During last month's international break, Rashford scored a stunning goal in England's 5-0 drubbing of Serbia and in their latest 3-0 win over Wales in a friendly earlier this week, Rashford impressed with his performance as a second-half substitute. He will now hope to make it to Tuchel's starting lineup in their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Latvia in Riga on Tuesday night. England could very well secure a place in next year's World Cup if they beat Latvia and other results in the group go in their favour. Rashford would want to contribute to his nation's qualification to the World Cup and also remain in contention to earn a place in Tuchel's squad for the tournament next summer.      

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New role for Rashford at Barcelona

Once Rashford returns from national duty, the United outcast could be utilised in a new role by Flick at Barcelona. reported earlier this month that the 27-year-old is set for a key new role at the Catalan club as the German coach is determined to make a tactical change after back-to-back defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla. Flick’s blueprint involves Rashford spearheading the attack instead of an ageing Robert Lewandowski, with Raphinha on the left, Lamine Yamal on the right, and Fermín Lopez just behind them.  

That trio, though, has all been nursing injuries, and their fitness will determine when the new system debuts. The manager is already eyeing Barcelona’s next fixtures as a testing ground. The first could be Girona on October 18 at Montjuic, followed by a crucial Champions League clash against Olympiacos on the 21st. If all goes well, the real test will come a week later, El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu on October 26. 

Glasgow Rangers head coach Russell Martin has taken plenty of criticism in the opening month of the 2025/26 campaign after a poor start to the season by his side.

The Light Blues are yet to win a match in the Scottish Premiership, drawing for the fourth time in their clash with Celtic last weekend, and failed to qualify for the league phase of the Champions League.

Martin’s team have conceded 17 goals in all competitions already this season, which is simply not good enough, but central defender John Souttar has performed admirably for the most part.

Why John Souttar is still a valuable player for Rangers

Despite all the brand-new signings brought in by the club this summer, the Scotland international remains an integral member of the squad because of his quality and experience.

The 28-year-old centre-back may not be the smoothest operator with the ball at his feet, but his dominant play physically and old-school backs-against-the-wall defending are valuable to the team.

Appearances

24

4

Sofascore ratings

7.28

7.25

Ground duel success rate

74%

60%

Aerial duel success rate

66%

55%

Ball recoveries per game

2.9

5.5

Clearances per game

6.1

3.8

Error led to goal

0

0

As you can see in the table above, Souttar has not made a single error that directly led to a goal since the start of last season in the Premiership, and has won the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air.

Such has been the impressive nature of his defensive work, the former Hearts man now looks like he is worth even more than Jack Butland, who was valued at £15m by the club last year.

Why Souttar is more valuable to Rangers than Butland

In February of last year, Football Insider reported that the Scottish giants valued the former England international at a price of up to £15m ahead of the summer window.

That came as Butland had kept an eye-catching 18 clean sheets in 38 appearances in the Premiership in the 2023/24 campaign, per Transfermarkt.

Unfortunately, his form since the club valued him at £15m has dipped. In the 2024/25 season, the Englishman conceded 2.2 more goals than expected, based on xG, per FotMob, and made four errors that led to shots or goals for the opposition, per Sofascore, in the Premiership.

As you can see in the post above, Butland was also very fortunate not to have a fifth error under his belt for the season, as the referee let him off by giving a very soft foul against Motherwell.

Interim head coach Barry Ferguson even dropped him out of the side to bring Liam Kelly in as the number one at the end of the campaign, but Martin has restored his position as the number one this term.

Butland has conceded 0.71 more goals than expected across four league matches this season, per FotMob, and it remains to be seen if he can recapture the form that once saw him valued at £15m.

At this moment in time, Souttar looks worth more than him with his impressive performances in comparison to the error-prone goalkeeper, whilst the centre-back is also worth more (£3.4m) on Transfermarkt than Butland (£1.3m).

The ex-Rangers striker who has scored 5x more goals than Miovski in 2025

This former Rangers centre-forward has enjoyed a terrific 2025 so far.

ByDan Emery Sep 5, 2025

Given that Rangers did not sign a new goalkeeper to compete with the ex-Stoke star, Martin will be hoping that Butland can get back to his best and prove that he is still a very valuable asset for the Scottish giants to have at their disposal.

تأهل فريق الكرة الأول بالنادي الأهلي، رسميًا إلى دور المجموعات من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا عقب الفوز على إيجل نوار البوروندي. 

والتقى الأهلي مع إيجل نوار البوروندي، في تمام الساعة الثامنة مساء اليوم، على معلب القاهرة الدولي، في إياب دور الـ32 من دوري أبطال إفريقيا. 

طالع.. محمد فضل: حكم مباراة الأهلي وإيجل نوار ظلم جراديشار.. والحل عند زيزو

وحقق الأهلي الفوز على إيجل نوار البوروندي، بهدف دون رد، أحرزه عمر كمال عبد الواحد في الدقيقة 58.  موعد قرعة دور المجموعات من دوري أبطال إفريقيا 

ووفقا لما أعلنه كاف في وقت سابق، فإن قرعة دور المجموعات من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا ستكون يوم الإثنين الموافق 3 نوفمبر 2025 في أستوديوهات “SuperSport” شريك البث لـ”الكاف”، بمدينة جوهانسبورج في جنوب إفريقيا.

ومن المقرر أن تبدأ قرعة دوري أبطال إفريقيا في تمام الساعة 2 ظهر الإثنين المقبل بتوقيت مصر وجنوب إفريقيا والسعودية.

Something has to change at West Ham United.

As things stand, the East Londoners are in the relegation zone with just one win from four games and a goal difference of negative seven.

If things don’t start to improve, and fast, the Hammers could be in real danger of losing their Premier League status come May.

It may be time for Graham Potter to be replaced, and while there is talk of Slaven Bilic taking his place, reports now suggest the club could be looking at someone who’d be even better.

West Ham target Potter and Bilic upgrade

Although it’s still early in the season, West Ham have been linked with several potential replacements for Potter.

One name that keeps coming up this week is former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who guided his former side back to European football last season.

Another name that has been consistently linked with the Hammers this month is Frank Lampard, who appears to be doing a decent enough job with Coventry City in the Championship this year.

However, another manager has now been thrown into the ring, someone who’d be a better option than Bilic: Gary O’Neil.

Yes, according to a recent report from Dean Jones, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss has been “mentioned” by some at the club.

The Englishman has been out of a job for over nine months, and while he might not be the most glamorous of options, we reckon he would be an upgrade on Potter and a better choice than Bilic.

Why O'Neil would be a better hire than Bilic

So, there might be a number of you wondering why we are advocating for O’Neil over Bilic.

Manager Focus

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After all, the Croat achieved a higher points-per-game average in his last job than the Englishman did in his.

Well, their last jobs are, in fact, one of, if not the most important reasons, as while the former West Bromwich Albion boss’s previous role saw him manage in the Saudi Pro League, O’Neil’s saw him in charge of Wolves.

Moreover, he wasn’t just tasked with overseeing a relatively stable mid-table side; the 42-year-old was handed the incredibly challenging job of saving the Old Gold from relegation, which he did do in his first season.

On top of that, while he was let go by Bournemouth for the more exciting Andoni Iraola, he also did what genuinely seemed impossible at the time and kept them in the league when taking the reins from Scott Parker in August 2022.

Also, that isn’t some reimagining of the situation; it was a pretty standard opinion that the Cherries would be going down at the time, so much so, in fact, that the club ended up making a snarky compilation of pundits and content creators saying so at the end of the season.

So, while he has been sacked from his last two jobs, the former Bournemouth boss did incredibly well in keeping both of them in the top-flight, and remains popular among the fans of both.

In contrast, Bilic was fired from his job in the Saudi Pro League, fired by Watford before that for underachieving and then prior to that spent a year managing Beijing Guoan.

In other words, while some fans might have positive memories of him from around a decade ago, the Split-born coach has not managed at a high level for a very long time.

Bilic’s recent jobs

Team

Joined

Left

Al-Fateh

07/23

08/24

Watford

09/22

03/23

Beijing Guoan

01/21

01/22

West Brom

07/19

12/20

Al-Ittihad

10/18

02/19

All Stats via Sofascore

Finally, while re-hiring Bilic might seem like a romantic idea to some, it’s hard to think of many instances of managers returning to clubs and doing better the second time around.

Moreover, both played for the club, so the Beckenham-born boss still has that connection to West Ham that should help him get to grips with things quicker.

Ultimately, even though both managers would be upgrades on Potter, we really think the Irons would be better off hiring O’Neil.

Related "Fantastic" manager now tempted to replace Graham Potter at West Ham

Graham Potter could be gone in the next few games.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini Sep 19, 2025