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Will West Brom ever find a new manager? It’s becoming increasingly unlikely. That’s until the end of the season at least.

James Shan is looking like he may take the job until the end of the current campaign after journalist Matt Wilson confirmed that the club will give him temporary help in the coaching department if he wants it.

It’s yet more news that has left Baggies supporters incredibly frustrated, branding the club a laughing stock and claiming they were utterly incompetent.

One fan’s message was simple, leaving a GIF of a clown, summing up how the entire situation has become a circus since Darren Moore was sacked.

The club dismissed the 44-year-old from his position at the beginning of March but are still yet to find a replacement. Talks with Slavisa Jokanovic were reportedly ongoing but nothing has materialised.

For now, the wait will go on for a new permanent manager to walk through the door at the Hawthorns.

However, Shan has steadied the ship having won his first two games in temporary charge.

Here’s how West Brom supporters reacted to the latest update.

Coming up against Liverpool is always a daunting task, especially in the current campaign given their form.

And earlier in the season, it would have been an even more daunting one for Southampton considering how they were playing.

Months later, and it is a game the Saints players now look to be relishing with Ryan Bertrand sending the Reds’ star man a stark warning ahead of the St. Mary’s encounter.

The Breakdown

“It’s always good to play against the best players. That is why you play and it’s the ultimate aim,” Bertrand told Sky Sports when discussing the threat of Mohamed Salah.

“I won’t change my preparations. I’m just looking forward to seeing his strengths and seeing his weaknesses and trying to nullify some and exploiting the others.”

Bertrand’s message to Salah shows the sort of confidence in the Southampton camp right now — something that was severely lacking under Mark Hughes — and it is not hard to see why.

Since Ralph Hasenhuttl replaced the Welshman in the St. Mary’s dugout, not only have Southampton managed to put in big performances, but they have also done so against some of the division’s top dogs.

The south coast club have claimed victories against both Tottenham and Arsenal, earned a draw with Chelsea and ran Manchester United extremely close in a 3-2 defeat.

Such displays have helped to give Bertrand and co a new lease of life. And if they can take that into the clash with Liverpool, then things will not be easy for Salah and his team-mates.

Southampton fans, does Bertrand have what it takes to neutralise Salah on Friday? Join the discussion by commenting below.

Despite getting back to winning ways at the weekend, Crystal Palace suffered another blow when star centre-back James Tomkins had to be taken off after suffering a groin injury. Indeed, while we’re awaiting confirmation as to its seriousness, Football.London reported at the time that Roy Hodgson had hinted he could be out for the rest of the season.

Especially now that the Eagles have some daunting task ahead in the next couple of weeks, not having their leader in defence can cost them badly. Tomkins has been a rock in their defence throughout the season, bailing them out of trouble and neutralizing some intimidating strikers at the same time.

Alongside Mamadou Sakho, the former West Ham man has given the club a solid base, one making up for their relatively poor attacking threat.

Tomkins, who is valued at £7.2 million (by Transfermarkt), has certainly been consistent in fending off danger and helped the Eagles keep 8 clean-sheets in his 29 appearances. Along with that, he’s recorded a 55% tackling success, made 63 interceptions and 213 clearances. When it comes to being tough, he’s won 116 aerial battles (stats via Premier League), bullying strikers and containing their threat amicably.

However, his absence will now badly be felt as Palace face Manchester City, Arsenal and Everton in their next three fixtures. Scott Dann and Martin Kelly might’ve seen out the result against Newcastle, but repeating it over 90 minutes against the upcoming nightmare could end up crumbling their momentum.

Unless Crystal Palace keep a solid defensive shape, they won’t be able to attack with full force either. Roy Hodgson might’ve built a reputation for being a giant killer with Palace, yet surviving the upcoming onslaught without their dominant centre-half is now almost an impossible task.

Palace fans, do you think Tomkins’ presence will be missed in the upcoming big matches? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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According to the Liverpool Echo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continued his recovery from a knee injury by playing in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Bury earlier this week.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been back in training for some time and played his first competitive minutes for the club’s Under-23 side towards the start of last month.

The England international has still not made his comeback for the first team, though, and the Liverpool fans have been on social media speculating when that might happen.

It does seem unlikely that the 5 foot 9 midfielder will be involved when considering that Liverpool have to win every match at the moment in pursuit of glory.

It would be a huge risk to throw Oxlade-Chamberlain into a Premier League game at this stage, but some of the club’s fans have called for the 25-year-old to make the bench against Chelsea in the league this weekend.

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Sheffield United will be short of two key men heading into their next game against Nottingham Forest as John Egan misses out due to suspension and Chris Basham is almost certainly going to be absent with an injury, per The Star.

Broken back line

The Yorkshire club’s back three have been unbelievable this season. The Blades have conceded only 39 goals this season making their defence the best in the Championship.

Chris Wilder rarely strays from his favoured trio of Egan, Basham and Jack O’Connell and that has been the winning formula this season.

The United defence is about so much more than keeping goals out though, as Basham and O’Connell are given the freedom to burst forward and create opportunities in the final third.

Basham averages 0.8 key passes per game which is an anomaly for centre backs in the division – the 30-year-old is one of Sheffield United’s most potent attacking threats as well as being a rock at the back.

John Egan, on the other hand, plays the role of the middle centre-back in the back three and his role is much more strict as he doesn’t venture forward like his centre-back partners.

All is not lost

Luckily for the Blades, they have two ready-made replacements in the shape of Martin Cranie and Richard Stearman.

Cranie can bring the attacking threat and carry the ball out of defence just as well as Basham. The 32-year-old has played that role brilliantly in his 13 appearances so far this season and his assist for Kieron Dowell at the Hawthorns in February highlighted his attacking prowess.

Cranie provides brilliant cover as a ball playing defender and can slot in perfectly as Basham’s replacement for the next few weeks.

Watch the moment Sheffield United’s promotion hopes were dealt a major blow by Millwall in the video below…

Stearman will have to play Egan’s role, which does make United’s back line somewhat weaker. Stearman doesn’t possess the quality that Egan does but the Blades can count themselves lucky that Egan will only miss the game against Forest.

Martin O’Neill’s side have only netted six goals in their previous six games so Egan shouldn’t be missed too much in a game where Stearman shouldn’t be threatened too much.

[ad_pod ]Liverpool fans on Twitter have been busy praising Jordan Henderson after the midfielder’s upturn in form.The Reds captain has been in and out of the team for most of the season, as Jurgen Klopp has opted to rotate him and Fabinho in the No.6 position ahead of the back four.Mo Salah has been brutally mocked for his recent diving antics in a new video by 442oons. Check it out below…However, following a chat in which Henderson told Klopp that he would prefer to play further forward in a No.8 position, the England international has excelled in the role and more than put his money where his mouth is.The former Sunderland man has notched one goal and three assists since Klopp moved him higher up the pitch, whilst he has also displayed that undying passion for the club which has always been there since he signed.

At such a crucial time of the season, the Liverpool fans are loving the fact that their skipper has started to come into form, and have taken to Twitter to heap praise on the 28-year-old…

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Tottenham Hotspur fans have been left horrified by an official club update, confirming that midfielder Harry Winks has undergone groin surgery.

Winks has emerged as a crucial player under Mauricio Pochettino in recent seasons and has made 40 appearances in all competitions this season.

He has been sidelined since the 1-0 Champions League quarter-final first leg win over Manchester City though.

Winks has subsequently missed Premier League encounters with Huddersfield Town, City, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United, as well as the second leg against Pep Guardiola’s men.

It has now been confirmed that he has gone under the knife and he will surely miss both legs of the European semi-final against Ajax, and is also likely to be absent from the Premier League encounters with AFC Bournemouth and Everton.

And Spurs fans have been left devastated by the news, with Winks rapidly becoming a fan favourite in north London.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

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Rangers fans and Steven Gerrard would all love to sign Ryan Kent again this summer, but former St Mirren boss Alan Stubbs believes the Gers have absolutely no chance.

What’s the word?

Well, The Scottish Sun reported recently that Gerrard would like to sign Kent again this summer, after the winger has enjoyed a phenomenal debut campaign at Ibrox.

Kent, who is on a season-long loan from Liverpool, has six goals and nine assists in all competitions, and he set up the deciding goal in the club’s only Old Firm win of the season.

Fans are desperate to sign him permanently too, but Stubbs, who lasted less than three months and won just two games during his most recent managerial role at St Mirren, believes the lure of the Premier League will be too great for the 22 year-old.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

“I would be surprised if Ryan Kent is still there next year,” he told the Scottish Football Extra Show on BT Sport (28/04/19).

“The season that he has had, I think there will be other suitors maybe down south queuing up to take him.”

Verdict

With all due respect to Kent, it seems unlikely that Premier League sides will be “queuing up” to sign him this summer.

Norwich, Sheffield United and whoever joins the promoted pair through the play-offs will have learned from Fulham’s mistakes of last summer, and will likely avoid revamping their squad with loads of new signings and Premier League loans.

In fact, Stubbs is perhaps being a little naive to suggest a player with just six goals in 40 games in Scotland could cut the mustard in the world’s greatest division.

Then one has to consider the relationship between Gerrard and Liverpool and the trust the boss and Kent have with one another, and suddenly a move looks more than possible.

After Liverpool quoted the Gers at a whopping £12m to sign Kent permanently, another loan deal seems the most likely option, and fans should ignore the judgement from a man whose last 23 games as a manager have yielded just three wins.

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Jonjo Shelvey was an unused substitute in Newcastle United’s 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool on Saturday night, and there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the midfielder’s long-term future at St James’ Park.

The Magpies missed his creativity against the Reds, though, and there is still a role to play for the former Charlton Athletic youngster moving forward.

The Chalkboard

It was not a surprise that Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez left Shelvey out of his starting XI for the clash with Liverpool on Saturday.

Indeed, Ki Sung-Yong joined Isaac Hayden in the middle of the park as the home side looked to outwork their title-challenging opponents.

Ki and Hayden both did a decent job in the engine room, but there is no question that the Magpies missed that little bit of creativity in the areas behind Salomon Rondon.

That was particularly true with Miguel Almiron missing through injury, whilst a 5-4-1 formation meant that three central midfielders was not an option.

Shelvey would have been desperate to face his former club on Saturday; it wasn’t to be, but the midfielder can still have a big role for Newcastle moving forward.

A season to forget

It has not been a good season for Shelvey, who has appeared in just 15 of Newcastle’s 37 Premier League matches this term.

Just one goal and one assist in 17 games in all competitions shows his struggles, and his 73 minutes against Brighton & Hove Albion on April 27 was the most that he had played in a single league game since the end of October.

A niggling thigh injury has harmed Shelvey’s campaign, but there is no question that Benitez wants more work from the 27-year-old when Newcastle are without the ball.

On his day, Shelvey can be absolutely devastating. There are few players in the Premier League with his range of passing, whilst he is certainly capable of hitting the eight to 10 mark in terms of goals each season.

It has been suggested that the 6ft ace could move on this summer, but he is a player still capable of playing a huge role for Newcastle, who are not exactly a team full of forward-thinking central midfielders.

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Bright Enobakhare has had a thoroughly successful loan spell with League One side Coventry in the second half of the campaign.

His performances have been excellent for the Sky Blues and, despite only being with the club since January, he was named their young player of the year.

However, while discussing whether he should get another chance at Molineux on Twitter, Wolves supporters were split on the future of the 21-year-old.

One fan said that by keeping him around he could save the club £20m in future investment in the transfer market. Two other supporters meanwhile made comparisons between him and Adama Traore, claiming that Enobakhare had the same dribbling ability but a better final ball.

However, there were less convincing responses too with a further tweet suggesting Niall Ennis was higher up in the pecking order and another commenting that he wasn’t ready yet.

In 18 matches since arriving at the Ricoh, Enobakhare has scored six goals. He was able to play a bit part throughout Wolves’ Championship winning campaign last year, playing in 21 matches.

Here’s the best of the Twitter discussion surrounding the Nigerian’s future: