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As per Football Insider, Southampton are closing in on the signing of Adam Armstrong after Danny Ings turned down a new contract at the club.

The Lowdown: Ings turns down new deal

Ings has long been linked with a move away from the Saints, with both Manchester City (Sky Sports) and Tottenham (Eurosport) in particular linked with his services.

He is now arguably closer to the exit door than ever though, with him turning down a four-year contract to stay at St. Mary’s Stadium (The Athletic via Sky Sports).

The Latest: Saints close to Armstrong

Now, it has been revealed that the Saints are close to signing Armstrong for £10m.

A source has claimed to Football Insider that Saints are now in pole position for capture the 24-year-old forward.

The Verdict: Prolific

Losing Ings would be a huge blow for Southampton – with 34 goals across the last two Premier League campaigns (Transfermarkt), he has been a key player for Ralph Hasenhuttl.

However, in Armstrong they would be picking up a prolific striker who has earned his chance to play in the Premier League.

Last term, he netted 28 goals in 40 Championship matches despite Blackburn’s bottom-half finish – only Brentford’s Ivan Toney struck the back of the net on more occasions in the second tier (BBC).

Throughout his career, he has managed 110 goals, 64 of which have come for his current club. For £10m, he could prove to be a steal.

In other news, Southampton want to sign this defender on loan.

Major League Soccer is at a pivotal point in its history with plans to expand the format from 28 teams to 30 by 2023. Austin FC were the latest team to enter the fold in the 2021 season, with Charlotte FC scheduled to join in 2022 and St Louis City SC confirmed for 2023.

This comes at a time when the league has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and is attracting attention outside of the USA. This is due to an increase in the quality on the pitch and some key names getting involved behind the scenes including former player David Beckham, who is a part-owner of Inter Miami FC; and actor Matthew McConaughey, who is an investor at Austin FC. The continued arrival of well-known players from Europe such as Gonzalo Higuain has also helped to maintain global attention on the league.

Transfers & Coaching Speculation

With new expansion teams comes new players and coaches. Charlotte FC have already recruited former Racing Santander midfielder Sergio Ruiz, who became the club’s first-ever signing;Âand Premier League-winning full-back Christian Fuchs, who has left Leicester City. There has been no news on who will coach the team, but rumours should start circulating in the second half of 2021 when the recruitment process begins.

Best Mobile Apps to Bet on the MLS

With so many US states now offering legal sports betting, punters will be looking for the best places to wager on US soccer in their region. The best way to bet is via mobile applications and there are plenty to choose from.

For a great choice of betting options delivered on a reliable platform, US bettors might want to consider establish European brands such as Unibet. They are a highly-rated company that operates in many countries worldwide and offer great bonuses to new customers. Features such as a generous welcome bonus and an easy-to-use website and app according to WSN.com make them a popular option.

Another well-known name with over 100 years of history is William Hill. This famous UK bookmaker is already a big name in US betting and brings a weight of experience to sports wagering. Despite their heritage, they are a modern and forward-thinking company with a smart app that offers smooth navigation between sports markets.

US Punters who prefer to wager with household names from closer to home might be impressed by the DraftKings SportsbookÂapp. The fantasy sports specialists have made a big impression with their slick serviceÂsince moving into sports betting. Other familiar names include BetMGM, BetRivers and Borgata Sportsbook who all offer a wealth of mobile sport betting opportunities.

A Bright Future for US Soccer

The fanfare surrounding the inclusion of Austin FC, combined with the opening of three new stadiums shows that the appetite for US soccer has reached new heights, and sports betting is set to boost popularity and revenues even further. The MLS has been established for a quarter of a century and organisers are already looking ahead to the next 25 years.

To maintain growth, an improved media rights package will have to be agreed upon in 2022, as well as investment in youth academies and infrastructure. The expansion of sports betting will play a key role as wagering companies form closer links with the league and its teams.

Strange decisions and at times virtually bordering on insanity, have been taken by the present Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which took over the reins of country’s most popular sport almost three years ago

Khalid H Khan08-Nov-2002Strange decisions and at times virtually bordering on insanity, have been taken by the present Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which took over the reins of country’s most popular sport almost three years ago.But PCB’s decision to organise Super League One-day Ramazan Cup from Nov 11 to 27 must take the cake. Never before has PCB dared to turn a deaf ear as regards holding tournaments in the holy month of Ramazan as done this time around.What is PCB’s logic behind organising the tournament is beyond comprehension.With sponsors nowhere in sight to support the event, PCB is determined to carry on its promise of ‘discovering new talent’, come what may. After all, there is the small matter of World Cup at stake.Total cost of organising the one-day championship is roughly a cool sum of Rs 3 million. No doubt PCB, arguably the richest sporting organisation in this debt-ridden country, is more than willing to throw money at every opportunity. On top of it, PCB has decided to play three day-night matches and, for the first time, two fixtures will be all-night affairs.The person behind this “brilliant idea” did not bother to take into account the simple fact that the dew factor at this time of the year creates a mountain of problems. Wet balls and the damp outfield are two major ones.What is the guarantee that PCB intends to pick several players from this event before officially announcing list of 30 World Cup probables before Nov 30 deadline.It would surprise no one if the dummy PCB selectors have already pre-selected 30 players and only make it public once the exercise in futility is over. Any prior announcement is bound to open Pandora’s box.If this has already been agreed upon in principle among PCB’s top brass, then staging the one-day event is nothing short of bordering on sheer insanity.Organising domestic competitions is PCB’s prerogative. All previous cricket regimes generally were sensible enough to ensure the dates of a particular tournament or series, local or international, did not clash with any major religious event.The current PCB hierarchy lags behind in this regard. Of course, these days the taxing nature of international schedules has repeatedly resulted in Pakistan playing overseas, regardless whether it is Muharram or Ramazan, Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid-ul-Azha or any other religious occasion. This time round too, Pakistan squad will celebrate both Eids outside the country.After all, it was PCB’s reckless approach that led to England playing two Tests during the month of Ramazan two years ago.Not a single PCB official owned up to declare that he messed up England’s itinerary, which was obviously prepared well in advance.

Crystal Palace have been linked with a move for Juventus defender Radu Dragusin ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (print version via Tutto Mercato Web), the Eagles have made an offer for the highly-rated 19-year-old as they prepare for life after Roy Hodgson.

The report doesn’t state the exact sum that Palace are believed to have offered for Dragusin and claims that the Romania Under-21 international would be open to staying with the Turin giants if Merih Demiral is sold.

Parish must swoop

A new contract was signed by the former Regal Bucharest academy graduate as recently as April, appearing to end any chance of a summer exit for the youngster.

However, it appears as though Dragusin could still depart Juve over the coming months as Massimiliano Allegri plans an overhaul of the Serie A outfit.

It could present a perfect opportunity for Palace chairman Steve Parish to snap up one of Europe’s best teenage centre-backs, and he must swoop for prodigy before another interested party pounces.

Although Dragusin doesn’t have an abundance of first-team experience, making just four appearances for the Old Lady’s senior side, his arrival at Selhurst Park is much-needed.

The Eagles are in desperate need of young players over the imminent window in order to lower the average age of their squad, which was the oldest in the Premier League last season.

They also have real problems in the heart of defence. Mamadou Sakho, Gary Cahill and Scott Dann are all set to become free agents when their current contracts expire at the end of the month, meaning reinforcements will be desperately required.

After impressing in a 20-minute cameo against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League group stage, former Juve manager Andrea Pirlo was quick to praise Dragusin’s development.

“He’s physically very strong. He’s very young and must develop on a technical level, but he will have time to do it, training every day with great champions,” said Pirlo in his post-match press conference.

Therefore, news of his potential arrival will surely have the Palace supporters buzzing as the club enters a treacherous transitional period. At long last, the club are beginning to target young players who they can build for the future or sell on for a greater fee.

That business method has eluded them in years gone by so this deal would be timely from Steve Parish, one that provokes a sense of relief from supporters at Selhurst Park.

And, in other news…Worse than Nuno: Palace must avoid potential Hodgson successor with 42.51% win record 

It took 13 balls on the final morning of this Test for Nasser Hussain to reach his twelfth Test century, his fifth as England captain and his fourth against India as he led England’s resistance at Headingley

Ralph Dellor26-Aug-2002It took 13 balls on the final morning of this Test for Nasser Hussain to reach his twelfth Test century, his fifth as England captain and his fourth against India as he led England’s resistance at Headingley. However, once he was out for 110, that resistance crumbled and India swept to a convincing win by an innings and 46 runs to level the series with one match to play.Hussain started on his way by driving the fifth ball of the day handsomely through the covers for four. He pulled a thunderous four to bring up the century partnership with Alec Stewart, and then nudged a two square on the leg side to reach a hundred off 184 balls with one six and 16 boundaries.At the other end, Stewart was looking far less certain, playing and missing and generally failing to locate the middle of the bat, but hanging on resolutely. As so often happens when one batsman is struggling, it is the other who falls first. Anil Kumble came on from the football stand end and, with his sixth ball, had Hussain pushing forward and edging to bat/pad where Virender Sehwag swooped for a very good one-handed catch.Stewart took a single off the second ball of Zaheer Khan’s next over, new batsman Andrew Flintoff got a no ball first up before edging the next to Rahul Dravid at slip. It was his fourth Test innings on this ground and his fourth nought. He has survived for a grand total of 11 balls.Stewart had faced 135 in this innings alone when Kumble spun one past his forward defensive push and the ball was edged to Dravid at slip. Stewart was out for 47, and England had lost three wickets for two runs in ten balls.Ashley Giles and Alex Tudor made a decent fist of defiance for nine overs and had even played some cultured strokes when self-inflicted disaster struck. Tudor pushed a ball from Harbhajan Singh just to Sourav Ganguly’s left at mid-on. For some reason known only to Giles himself and one that he will always regret, he set off for a single. Realising that Tudor was not interested, his attempt to turn and regain his ground was totally inadequate.Tudor himself followed eight runs later when he was taken at bat/pad by Sehwag, before Andrew Caddick edged Kumble to gully where Ganguly took the catch and India had completed their victory in only 153 balls on the final morning and, once Hussain had gone, only 78 minutes passed before the match was over and India were heading to The Oval at one-all in the series and their spirits sky high.

Graham Roberts insists that Tottenham Hotspur need to sign as many as eight players this summer if they are to compete at the top end of the Premier League next season.

Spurs endured a rough season in 2020/21, ultimately ending the season in seventh under the caretaker management of Ryan Mason following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

Spurs have yet to appoint a new manager since the sacking of the Portuguese in mid-April, with links to Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte ultimately coming to nothing, but they are set to appoint Fabio Paratici to oversee all football matters – including transfers.

Roberts believes that the club need to spend big to overhaul the squad this summer if they are to move back into contention to qualify for the Champions League and challenge for the Premier League title.

Of course, it is difficult to know who exactly will be targeted, with a new manager yet to be installed, but Roberts has urged the club to strengthen in defence, midfield, and attack in order to freshen up the spine of the squad.

Roberts was asked by Football FanCast how many players were needed this summer, and he replied: “We need seven, eight players for the squad. We need two centre-halves to play with Toby and Joe Rodon, or whatever, we need another central midfield player, I think we need a right-back, we need an attacking midfield player, a creative midfield player and maybe a winger, or somebody to play up front with Harry.

“If you get one right-back, you need another right-back because you need two of them. You need two for every position and we don’t seem to have that.”

Hampshire Academy 281-5, Winchester K.S

Richard Isaacs13-Jul-2002SPCL DIVISION ONEPortsmouth 232-9, Burridge 182-10 – Portsmouth won by 50 runs
Calmore Sports 225-10, Andover 86-10 – Calmore Sports won by 139 runs
Havant 129-10, B.A.T.Sports 130-7 – B.A.T.Sports won by 3 wickets
Bashley (Rydal) 220-9, Liphook & Ripsley 197-7 – Match drawn
South Wilts 229-10, Bournemouth 231-1 – Bournemouth won by 9 wicketsSPCL DIVISION TWOHampshire Academy 281-5, Winchester K.S. 250-10 – Hampshire won by 31 runs
Easton & M.W. 198-5, Hungerford 111-10 – Easton & M.W. won by 87 runs
O.T. & Romsey 148-10, Lymington 149-6 – Lymington won by 4 wickets
Sparsholt 211-6, Trojans 214-4 – Trojans won by 6 wickets
Rowledge 153-10, US Portsmouth 154-8 – US Portsmouth won by 2 wicketsSPCL DIVISION THREEHook & N.Basics 238-10, Bashley (Rydal) II 148-10 – Hook won by 90 runs
Hursley Park 199-9, Hartley Wintney 200-5 – Hartley Wintney won by 5 wickets
Flamingo 114-10, Leckford 117-8 – Leckford won by 2 wickets
Alton 100-10, New Milton 103-1 – New Milton won by 9 wickets
Ventnor 245-9, Paultons 248-5 – Paultons won by 5 wickets
Gosport Borough 266-9, Portsmouth II 111-10 – Gosport won by 155 runs
Purbrook v Hambledon – result not yet known
Havant II 196-10, Redlynch & Hale 100-10 – Havant II won by 96 runs
St.Cross Symondians 187-9, Waterlooville 97-10 – St.Cross won by 90 runsNormal results service will resume on web-masters return from Mark Boston (Calmore Sports) stag weekend in Bournemouth!!

New Zealand’s cricketers were on the last Singapore Airlines flight out of Karachi when abandoning their tour of Pakistan after a bomb blast outside their hotel yesterday

Lynn McConnell09-May-2002New Zealand’s cricketers were on the last Singapore Airlines flight out of Karachi when abandoning their tour of Pakistan after a bomb blast outside their hotel yesterday.Singapore Airlines announced that they were suspending flights to Karachi until further notice following the bomb blast which killed 11 French people in a bus outside the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi where both the New Zealand and Pakistan teams were staying before the scheduled start of their second Test yesterday.New Zealand Cricket immediately called the team home, an act that has been supported by the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board.The New Zealand team and accompanying media representatives were all on the last flight out and are now in Singapore before their flight home tomorrow morning to Auckland.Yesterday’s events, and the continuing tension in the region, could mean it is a long time before New Zealand ventures back to Pakistan.This was the third bombing when New Zealand teams have been in the vicinity and more than a few would reason that the odds of serious consequences for New Zealanders in future can only be shortening.New Zealand had offered to return to Pakistan for a tri-series with Pakistan and Australia in August this year as preparation for its defence of the ICC Champions Trophy. That now seems improbable and there may be a question mark hanging over the Champions tournament itself, which is to be staged in Sri Lanka in September.New Zealand’s next scheduled full tour of the subcontinent is to Sri Lanka in May 2003, and as that has been the venue for two of the bomb blasts it is going to have to be very seriously considered.New Zealand are then due to tour India in October 2003 and host Pakistan in December 2003. Unless other arrangements can be made for the completion of the abandoned match from yesterday it could be that four Tests may be played against Pakistan on that tour, the first match being the ICC Test Championship decider from this year’s series.However, given the prospect of a significant change in playing personnel, moreso for Pakistan than New Zealand, the Pakistan authorities are almost certain to press for an earlier date for the match to be played.

A delegation from the United Cricket Board, including UCB CEO Gerald Majolaand President Percy Sonn, met stakeholders from the Eastern Province CricketBoard in port Elizabeth this morning to explain the High Court order whichplaced the EPCB under

Media Release20-Jun-2002A delegation from the United Cricket Board, including UCB CEO Gerald Majolaand President Percy Sonn, met stakeholders from the Eastern Province CricketBoard in port Elizabeth this morning to explain the High Court order whichplaced the EPCB under provisional judicial management last Friday.The meeting included Eastern Province schools representatives, sub-unions,umpires and country districts and was also addressed by the two judicialmanagers who have been appointed by the court. The judicial managers areKevin Helm, a former treasurer of EPCB and Cliffie Louw, a former senioremployee of the Master of the Court’s office.The two judicial managers, in consultation with the UCB, have appointed aninterim committee to manage the affairs of cricket in the province. Thecommittee is: Graham Barclay, Geoff Dakin, Freddie Kriel, Yusuf Lorgat, Peter Muzzell, Brian Nonganga, Colin Rushmere, Raymond Uren.Dan QeQe was asked to serve on the committee, but was unavailable due toill health.In the afternoon, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup executive director Dr AliBacher presented to the Council of the Nelson Mandela Metropole on theimportance of safeguarding next year’s World Cup matches in Port Elizabeth.The City Council also presented its preparedness to host the matches.”I have been very impressed by the positiveness from the Council and fromthe Mayor, Nceba Faku,” said Majola today. “I believe everything is back ontrack and that cricket affairs in the Eastern Cape are being looked afterwith an eye on the successful staging of very important World Cup matchesnext year.”

Celtic are reportedly interested in signing Dundee United’s Benjamin Siegrist, with the goalkeeper now addressing the links regarding a move to Parkhead.

The Lowdown: Celtic were keen back in December

It’s not the first time Siegrist has been linked with a move to Celtic Park. Back in December, the Hoops reportedly added the 29-year-old to their list of January targets.

As we know, a deal never materialised, but it seems as if Celtic are still keen on signing the Switzerland Under-21 international, who kept 12 clean sheets last season.

Former Dundee United manager Micky Mellon described Siegrist as ‘brilliant’, and it seems as if his displays haven’t gone unnoticed.

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The Latest: Siegrist addresses Celtic interest

According to Swiss newspaper Blick, cited by Sports Witness, both Celtic and Ipswich Town are still interested in signing Siegrist.

He has just over a year remaining on his deal at Tannadice and was quizzed specifically on Celtic’s interest.

Siegrist was asked about Celtic possibly offering £400,000 to £1m for his services, to which he said:

“If there is interest, I’ll take a close look.”

The Verdict: Who should Celtic move on?

Siegrist’s telling five-word admission ‘I’ll take a close look’, appears to be a come and get me plea to the Hoops.

Should the Hoops firm up their reported interest, then you’d expect one of Vasilis Barkas, Scott Bain or Conor Hazard would have to move on.

Having four first-team ‘keepers at Parkhead could be one too many, so it would be interesting to see what Celtic would do.

They spent big money on Barkas last summer and agreed on a new contract with youngster Hazard back in March. On that basis, Bain could be the man sacrificed for Siegrist.

The 29-year-old made 15 appearances last season but was missing from the squad for the last two games of the campaign.

It looks set to be a busy summer for the Hoops, and their interest in Siegrist could be one to keep a close eye on.

In other news: Olivier Ntcham contract speculation refuted, find out more here.