Can Bamford still lead the line in the Premier League?
Will Patrick Bamford still be an asset in the Premier League?The 31-year-old struggled for fitness last season and did not start a game in the Championship, coming off the bench 17 times without scoring.However, he boasts more top-flight experience than most in the Leeds squad and did score 17 Premier League goals in the 2021-22 season, the last time the Whites went up.This week's Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast episode discusses whether he can still be useful for Daniel Farke."Most people listening would probably agree that a nine needs to be bought," said BBC Radio Leeds sports editor Jonny Buchan. "But if [Bamford] plays every pre-season game, has a decent one, plays in Dublin against AC Milan - he does have Premier League pedigree, something the club need and want," . "He's already got that and he scored 17 in the top flight before."Co-host and Kaiser Chiefs bassist Simon Rix can also see the value of keeping Bamford around."We've seen Bamford trying to get fit," added Rix. "He never gave me any hint he wants to leave Leeds. He knows he needs to get to the first day of pre-season ready to go because last season was a bit of a washout."He's back in credit with the fans. There is an argument that if you get Pat fit for 28 games in a Premier League season, he's very worth having. If someone else had him, you'd think he's a good striker for them to have."I just don't know if you can go into a very important season again relying on Bamford to be fit. It feels like a stretch."Listen to the full episode on BBC SoundsWhere do you stand on Bamford's future? Would you use him in the Premier League and, if so, what should his role be?Lets us know here.
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
Tommy Freeman tried — but Lions tactics will not work with bad kicking
The British & Irish Lions didn't lose to Argentina for lack of effort. They didn't lose because of any overriding tactical aberration. Through the course of the 80 minutes, their discipline was outstanding. Much as supporters like nothing more than to blame a referee, James Doleman, if anything, was instinctively on the side of the Lions. He needed the help of the TMO despite being in the ideal position to see Luke Cowan-Dickie clearly fail to ground the ball for a 'try'. There were other examples. The sea of red supported them all the way. As for the opposition, Argentina have, if anything, had a poorer preparation than the Lions. There are no excuses. Tommy Freeman, the Lions wing, summed up an evening that — far from wishing to forget — Andy Farrell's men will do well to remember. This is what happens when effort is eclipsed by inaccuracy and sub-standard execution. Freeman is a superb player but nothing went his way in Dublin on Friday night. Nothing went his way and yet he did exactly what his coaches would have wanted in terms of what he set out to do: Chase those box-kicks, sprint after every restart, get hands on the ball as often as possible. Hunt the ball infield. That's the essence of Freeman. He gives, and gave, everything. From the first to last minute of his performance, he was taking his typical run-up, behind the box-kicker, to compete in, and usually win, those aerial contests. In Dublin, he must have sprinted a 1,000 metres without one clean catch. Argentina's wings are less physically imposing than Freeman and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe but they were far more effective chasers. That is not just about the respective abilities of those wide players, though, more a profound reflection of the difference in quality of the tactical kicking. Freeman can time his chases from Northampton Saints and England team-mate Alex Mitchell in his sleep but Mitchell's kicking was too often a metre too long. These were not bad kicks but they weren't good either. At the highest levels these fine margins are critical. Whereas Mitchell was OK, his opposite number, Gonzalo García, was outstanding. In the opening ten minutes, the tone was set as the Lions chased in vain and Argentina made frequent gains and turnovers. Mitchell must be disappointed with his performance. He failed to kick-start the Lions. As for Freeman, he produced a fabulous example of how to work off his wing. Sweeping from right to left, he persistently carried hard into the midfield of Argentina. Unfortunately, the passes he received were usually a fraction off target, as Scotland's Sione Tuipulotu failed to find the English wing's wavelength. Little combined errors resulted in collective failure. Tuipulotu, the Glasgow Warriors centre, hasn't played much rugby this season; his rustiness was part of Freeman's frustrations in midfield, just as his scrum half's slightly long kicks helped to explain the ineffective chase game. Tuipulotu needs game time. His lack of sharpness is understandable. Mitchell at No9 wasn't bad but nor was he good enough to press for a Test place. Nothing quite fitted for Freeman. It wasn't a memorable night for Fin Smith, either . A poor cross-kick could, maybe should, have conceded a first-half try while penalty kicks to the corner lacked the vicious precision expected. His all-round game was tentative. If anyone questioned Finn Russell's status as Test No10, this game should have ended any such delusions. Nor did things fall the way of Van der Merwe. He showed the reason for his selection, rampaging into midfield once to shatter the defensive plans of opposition analysts, as James Lowe does for Ireland. However he looked positionally weak beneath the high kick. Whereas Freeman was invariably in the right position, the beefy wing on the opposite side was worryingly ten metres out of position beneath one cross-kick, which left Smith isolated and knocking on. There's no doubt that Van der Merwe is a brilliant broken-field operator but with Australia head coach Joe Schmidt hoping to unleash the unique athleticism of Joseph Suaalii in the wider parts of the pitch, the Scot appears vulnerable. It was noticeable that when Mack Hansen emerged from the bench, he offered more industry and variety than the prolific finishing of Van der Merwe. There is no such thing as a good defeat but Farrell's men have only lost a sporting battle (to write 'skirmish' would be to insult Felipe Contepomi's Argentina). There is no shortage of effort or intensity and the serious stuff is yet to come. By the time the Lions play Western Force in Perth next Saturday, their execution will need to be better than it was on a Friday when it was Argentina, despite missing a host of their Top 14 stars, who shone. The 1971 Lions lost to Queensland en route to their one and only series win in New Zealand. Far better in the immediate aftermath of defeat to praise the Pumas rather than panic about the Lions. Friday night's fix can be a relatively quick one, even though this vintage lacks Edwards, John, Davies and JPR. Optus Stadium, PerthSaturday, 11amTV Sky Sports Main Event
Times
an hour ago
- Times
England vs India live: scores and updates from day 2
Brydon Carse will open the bowling, with Shubman Gill on strike. It's a short ball, which Gill pulls for a single. Before we get under way, watch all the highlights from day one below. Simon Wilde, at Headingley Stokes has put the opposition into bat more times in Test cricket than any other England captain in history. This is the 11th time he has done so (out of 19 won tosses): nine times in England and twice in New Zealand last winter. In those games, he had seen the other side rack up healthy scores in the first innings — 553 by New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022, 416 by India at Edgbaston the same year, and 348 by New Zealand at Christchurch last November. Yet England won each of those games. At Headingley however, Stokes's error was probably in asking a lot of his bowlers in difficult conditions on the opening day of the series when many of them have had little recent red-ball cricket. Read Simon's piece in full here. There is still a long way to go, but any England fan who has resigned themselves to defeat (we know who you are) there is still plenty of hope. The two teams have clashed 136 times since 1932 and England have won 51 of them. In fact there have been more draws (50) than India wins (35) in Tests between the two. This still gives England the edge with a 59.3 per cent win percentage versus India's 40.7 per cent in these contests. Mike Atherton, at Headingley Jaiswal battled an early blow to the ribs from Brydon Carse and a bad attack of cramp to his right hand and forearm just before tea to register his fifth Test hundred and his third against England in only six matches. At 23 years old, he is one of the most exciting young players of the moment and looks driven to make the most of his talent, as those who have known deprivation tend to be. He made more than 700 runs in the 2024 series, including double hundreds in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot, but the way he celebrated his hundred here, swinging his helmet above his head and roaring his delight, showed how much a hundred in English conditions meant to him. All batsmen are judged by their performances in the round and Jaiswal now has hundreds in the Caribbean, Australia and England, as well as at home. Simon Wilde, at Headingley Chris Woakes came late to the Bazball era. When he was finally introduced by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum for a must-win Test against Australia at Headingley in 2023, he was the 24th player they had chosen and the eighth seamer. They hardly rushed to embrace his talents, perhaps sharing a suspicion held by many that he was done as a red-ball player after the West Indies tour the previous year that brought down the curtain on Joe Root's reign. Two years on Woakes is central to their thinking and has been for much of the time since he hit the winning runs in Leeds to seal a nerve-jangling Ashes win and finished that summer as man of the series. He has featured in only one of eight Tests in Asia since, was rested in Hamilton and still recovering from an ankle injury at the time of the recent Zimbabwe Test, but has otherwise played every game. Since Jimmy Anderson retired in July last year, he has served as England's attack leader of choice. ● Read in full: Chris Woakes is James Anderson without aura but is just as important Steve James, at Headingley We have seen Yashasvi Jaiswal struggling with cramp before, but that was hardly unexpected when flaying runs for fun in India's heat last year, so to see him battling with the horrible spasms in his right forearm, causing one or two of his fingers to curl up and be difficult to prise back into their usual positions, was surprising, even if these are unusually canicular days right now. But Jaiswal had clearly earned the right to suffer, gripping tightly on to his bat with that top (right) hand as he navigated his way so elegantly and easily through his first Test innings in England to make a splendid century. Yes, maybe the stoppages while he received attention were too long and too frequent (although they did allow the always mischievous Harry Brook to shadow-bat gleefully with his bat) and maybe his stamina could still do with a little attention — there are those who say that the 23-year-old is still catching up in that regard after his tough, well-chronicled upbringing in leaving his home, a village in Uttar Pradesh, at the age of ten to live in a tent on the Azad Maidan in Mumbai — but this was some statement on another foreign shore by the lavishly talented left-hander after Test centuries in Australia and the West Indies. ● Read more: Yashasvi Jaiswal defies cramp for India to justify hype and hoopla Elizabeth Ammon, at Headingley Good morning from Headingley where it's already very warm and sunny. Predicted to be hot and stuffy but there may perhaps be a couple of thunderstorms this afternoon. India are already in the nets and the England team strength and conditioning coach is laying out some yoga mats on the outfield and they've just started letting spectators into the ground. England will be really hoping for some early inroads or they are staring down the barrel of India piling on 550 or more. Headingley historically favours seam early but can flatten out — barometer expert Stuart Broad has voiced concern that England may struggle to claim 20 wickets if their bowlers miss consistency. Expect England to lean on Bashir in the afternoon session as any pitch deterioration could offer a spin challenge. ● Read more: Broad: England worry me — how will they take 20 wickets against India? Mike Atherton, at Headingley Before this Test, the talk was of India's absent stars. No Virat Kohli, no Rohit Sharma. No problem, as it turned out. On a warm Headingley day, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill demanded that our attention switch to the present and the future, rather than the past, with dominant hundreds after India were sent in by Ben Stokes, on a chastening day for England. The decision to bowl first was prompted by statistics that show the past six Tests have been won by the side doing so, and because recent evidence suggests the Headingley pitch does not deteriorate as before, but be that as it may England's bowlers were a long way short of their best. Gill, too, would have bowled first, but after feasting on a diet of inconsistent seam bowling, now has a chance to control the game. ● Read more: India's new generation feast on England's inconsistent bowlers Ben Stokes has signalled a change in England's Bazball approach to Test cricket, admitting that his team's main purpose is not to entertain but to win matches. Stokes has led the transformation of England's Test side alongside head coach Brendon McCullum since he was appointed captain three years ago, playing an exciting brand of cricket and previously stating: 'We're in the entertainment business.' ●Read in full: Stokes: It's no longer just about entertainment, it's about winning A reminder of the teams taking to the field today, and the series details. England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib Bashir India 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Karun Nair, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj Morning. How are we? Warm? Thought so. Unlike England's bowling on day one, which was pretty cold. It was the India batsmen who brought the heat, and that is why they are in a pretty fine position as we begin day two. We will have every cough, scratch and swing worth worrying about with updates from Elizabeth Ammon among others throughout the day. This should be a good one.
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Rangers 'set' to offer Nicolas Raskin new deal amid interest
The Belgian has been linked with clubs in England and his former manager Philippe Clement even suggested he is ready to sign for a top half Premier League side after emerging as a leading player in the Gers squad last season. Raskin is currently contracted at Ibrox until 2027, meaning he would be heading into next summer's break with just a year left on his deal. The Scottish Sun is reporting new manager Russell Martin is keen to build his team around the 24-year-old and, as such, wants him tied down on a new contract. Sporting director Kevin Thelwell is on the same page and is ready to sanction an offer. Read more: Thelwell, along with the new US owners, want a far better player trading model in place. And committing Raskin to a new deal would be one step towards that. It would mean any interested clubs would then be aware they would be required to make a significant offer to prise him away. Discussions are yet to take place between Rangers chiefs and Raskin's representatives, but they are in the offing. It is believed the Belgium international is happy at Ibrox and keen to prolong his stay.
