Wolves’ Diogo Jota has been voted the PFA Bristol Street Motors Championship Player of the Month for August and September.

In a vote run by fan engagement experts, Snack Media, the Portuguese striker won 44.4% of the vote, well ahead of Bristol City’s Bobby Reid who came second with 21.1%.

Cardiff City’s defensive rock Sol Bamba followed in third place with 15.9% of the votes cast.

In the second of four divisional votes carried out over four days on Snack Media’s digital and social network, Jota strongly outscored his rivals. The voting period covered both August and September, during which time Jota scored five goals.

The 20-year-old striker has also registered one assist and averaged 1.2 key passes per game in the Championship so far, helping Wolves announce themselves as strong promotion contenders in 2017/18.

The other contenders from the final short list polled as follows:

Junior Hoilett – 8.7%

Joe Bryan – 6.8%

Luke Freeman – 3.1%

The League One vote opens at 10 am on Thursday October 5th, to vote go to: https://www.footballfancast.com/pfa-awards

Barry Bannan will not be returning to Sheffield Wednesday this week in a happy mood.

The 27-year-old and his Scotland teammates failed to grab a World Cup playoff spot, meaning that Gordon Strachan’s team will not compete in Russia next summer.

The Scots knew that they had to defeat Slovenia to give themselves a chance of securing second place in Group F, but it was not to be.

At 2-1 down, Robert Snodgrass gave the nation some hope when he nabbed an equaliser with two minutes of normal time left on the clock.

Strachan’s men were unable to find the winner that they needed, and Slovakia ended up securing the playoff spot thanks to a 3-0 triumph over Malta.

England won the group courtesy of an earlier 1-0 victory over Slovenia at Wembley.

Bannan made his second start in four days, sealing his 26th international cap in the process, but he is no stranger to criticism from Scotland fans.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters pre-empted the negative reaction to their midfielder, who has been with the Owls since his 2015 move from Crystal Palace.

Mike Ashley announced on Monday that he has put Newcastle United up for sale, as reported by MirrorSport.

The news will have been music to the ears of the St. James’ Park faithful who have been calling for his exit for a number of years now.

But what now for the club? We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to club takeovers in this country so Ashley’s willingness to sell up may not necessarily mean the grass will be greener for the North East outfit.

And what about the future of Rafa Benitez? Will the new owners want to keep him in the hotseat and will he even get on with them in the first place?

Our writers have had their say on the subject below…

Olly Huddlestone

After 10 miserable years under Mike Ashley things could be about to get a lot brighter for Newcastle fans.

The Magpies have the ‘big club’ status but don’t have any recent silverware to back it – you’d have to go back to the 1955 FA Cup triumph for their last major trophy – however, with a new owner who has ambitions to turn them into a major power, an addition to the St James’ Park trophy cabinet may not be that far away.

As for Benitez, this can only be seen as a positive. The new owners wouldn’t have the agonising search for a world-class manager – they have one right under their noses.

Matt Law

Newcastle spent more than £35m on new players during the summer, but owner Mike Ashley was not prepared to fully back head coach Rafael Benitez in the transfer market.

It would be very interesting to see how far Benitez could take the Magpies if he was handed funds that other managers enjoy, in particular Ronald Koeman at Everton.

The Newcastle fans will be delighted with the latest developments as the future looks potentially extremely bright.

Matt Pegg

Newcastle have been crying out for stability for almost a decade now. In his time at the club, Ashley has fallen out with the fans and overseen two relegations.

What the Toon Army will be crying out for is a man whose ego doesn’t overshadow St. James’s Park like an unwelcome cloud.

Christy Malyan

It’s no secret Newcastle have a frosty relationship with their frugal owner, who still treats the football club as a business first. But it’s often better the devil you know and for all the complaints over how limited the Magpies’ spending was during the summer, manager Rafa Benitez – easily a bigger asset to Newcastle than any individual player – appears relatively content with life under Mike Ashley at the moment – who does allow him un-interfered control of the first team.

While it would be wrong to pass judgement until we know more about the potential next owners, the Premier League have seen far worse, far more autocratic and far more destructive owners than Ashley down the years.

Cardiff City’s Vincent Tan particularly comes to mind. Newcastle fans will be glad to see the back of Ashley, but that doesn’t mean his replacement will be any better.

Chris McMullan

After years of wanting rid of Mike Ashley, Newcastle fans shouldn’t feel automatically optimistic at the thought of his departure. They are now in an awkward situation: they want rid of him for obvious and understandable reasons, but they also need him to sell to a good owner, otherwise the cycle will start to repeat again.

All things considered, though, some proper and quiet management at a club with a huge fanbase and passionate, match-going support is an exciting prospect not just for the North East, but for football as a whole. Everyone should be willing Ashley to sell to an owner who will invest in the playing staff and keep the circus out of town. If that happens, I’d hope that Rafael Benitez – one of the biggest names in football management – would stay and be given the funds to take his side to the next level.

Have no doubts, this will be a slow process. There’s still a huge margin for error and getting it wrong could make things even worse. But the silver lining is the potential for a very exciting future.

James Beavis

It will certainly be interesting to see where Newcastle go next when it comes to potential new owners as we have seen both positive and negative experiences from international investors in the Premier League and England in general.

While Asian investment seems to be the most popular option right now, they would have a passionate St. James’ Park crowd to deal with if things started going wrong or if they chose to make controversial changes.

In terms of Benitez, you would expect the Spaniard to be pretty happy with the latest developments because of the rumours that he doesn’t get along with Ashley, and the potential of increased transfer funds and ability to build a strong Premier League squad that he wanted to during the summer could be enough to see him reject interest from elsewhere.

Manchester United have cooled interest in Real Madrid star Gareth Bale, according to Diario Gol.

What’s the story?

A few months ago, United manager Jose Mourinho was praising the Wales international to the high heavens, suggesting that he wanted to make a move.

However, it seems that the Portuguese coach has now changed his mind about the 28-year-old, who moved to the Bernabeu from Tottenham Hotspur n 2013.

Diario Gol claims that Mourinho has been put off by Bale’s injury record, which has prevented him from having a consistent run in the last season and a half.

In the 2016-17 campaign, the attacker had spells on the sidelines with hip, ankle and calf problems, the latter of which is still troubling him as he has now missed six games of the current season.

Should United forget about Bale?

An injury-prone player can end up being a regretful purchase, and it is safe to say that over the past year or so, the Real Madrid star has struggled.

When fit, though, the ex-Spurs star can be a game-changer and could propel United to the league title.

There is always a risk when it comes to injuries, but Bale is certainly worth taking a chance on given that he has scored 70 goals in 159 games for the Spanish giants.

Due to the fitness issues, United have every right to argue for a lower price tag than the £85m that Madrid spent to sign Bale four years ago.

Whether Los Blancos are willing to consider a lower offer remains to be seen.

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There has always been debate over whether football fans put clubs before country.

In many cases, supporters get anxious when their club’s top players go on international duty during a season due to the possibility of injuries.

On this occasion, Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane may miss out on England’s next two fixtures due to fitness concerns.

The Mirror reports that the 24-year-old, as well as teammate Harry Winks, could miss the Three Lions’ friendlies against Germany and Brazil after the pair were substituted during Sunday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Winks has an ankle knock, while Kane has been dealing with a hamstring injury that he initially suffered against Liverpool last month.

Kane’s fitness was the talking point among Tottenham fans in the comments left under the striker’s post-match tweet.

Plenty of supporters are hoping that the forward withdraws from the England squad in order to be fresh for the North London derby on November 18.

It certainly wasn’t a vintage night for Manchester United as they lost 1-0 in Basel in the Champions League group stage. A late Michael Lang strike means that no Premier League team has ever kept a clean sheet in Basel in European competition, and more importantly, confirms that United still have some work to do even to progress from a group they should probably have won already.

It shouldn’t be hard to qualify, however. Anything better than a record home European defeat will see United qualify for the knockout stages, but it does mean that a midweek Champions League game just days after a trip to Arsenal and in the build-up to probably the most important Manchester derby in years has suddenly become meaningful.

That’s down to complacency, really.

Away Champions League fixtures can always pose a problem no matter who you’re playing, but United should have been out of sight in the first half before slumping in the second, and taking a foot off the gas before having actually finished the job is not a usual hallmark of a Jose Mourinho team.

Indeed, the performance of Romelu Lukaku shows part of the problem.

The first half of the game showed that United could create chances, and as a result, no player on the pitch managed more shots than the United striker. And yet, only one of those shots actually managed to hit the target as the Belgian frontman couldn’t finish what he was presented with.

Question marks have been raised about United’s style of play this season, too, and there’s no doubt that United have a visibly physical squad and that is borne out in the stats: both Lukaku and Fellaini won six aerial duels, and the next player on the list from both teams is Nemanja Matic, who won three.

What that shows is United’s dominance, but it’s also a little concerning for those of a Red Devils persuasion: it’s one thing for Fellaini to be contesting plenty of high balls, but it’s clear that Romelu Lukaku’s game relies on intelligent runs in behind defences, when he can put his pace and physicality to a different and probably more effective use.

As a result, whilst Lukaku may have managed to get 34 touches of the ball – comfortably the least of any of United’s outfield players, but you’d expect that – he only managed to complete 16 passes, leaving his accuracy at just 67%. It wasn’t just his profligacy in front of goal which was in evidence, but with the ball, too, as the second half saw United amble through the game. And they were punished for it.

They’ll still qualify barring an historic night at Old Trafford, but it does create one more meaningful game exactly where Jose Mourinho didn’t want it. And after an encouraging display at home to Newcastle at the weekend, the stodginess that United showed before the international break might well be peaking through once again.

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Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has confirmed that Cedric Soares will play no part in Sunday’s Premier League match against Bournemouth.

What’s happened?

In the closing stages of Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, Soares suffered a hamstring injury and was forced off the pitch.

The problem was severe enough that it has ruled him out of Sunday’s fixture against the Saints’ coastal rivals.

In Pellegrino’s pre-match press conference, he confirmed the news about Soares.

Could this affect the result?

The Portugal Euro 2016 winner has been a regular in Pellegrino’s team this season.

The 26-year-old has played in all 14 of the Saints’ Premier League fixtures, and his absence could prove detrimental.

Jeremy Pied is likely to replace the right-back for the match at the Vitality Stadium, but he has only featured once before this season.

Southampton can feel relatively confident heading into the match as they managed to earn a 4-1 win over Everton prior to the clash against City.

Even though the team lost on the night, they put in a strong performance and challenged the league leaders.

Bournemouth will be looking to bounce back at home following their midweek 2-1 defeat to Burnley.

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Celtic got back to winning ways on Wednesday night, defeating Hamilton 3-1 at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership.

After defeat to Anderlecht and a draw against Hibernian at the weekend, a win was a must for Brendan Rodgers’ side and they didn’t disappoint with a strong first half performance.

Olivier Ntcham got the scoring underway with a smashing volley from Scott Sinclair’s cross, delighting supporters with his fifth goal of the season.

Hamilton then silenced the home crowd with a cracking effort of their own, Danny Redmond lofting a shot over Craig Gordon from 20 yards.

The Hoops though came surging back and finished the first half strongly with efforts from James Forrest and Sinclair coming just a minute apart.

Accies gave it a good go in the second half and had chances to get back into the game, but couldn’t convert. Celtic were comfortable seeing the game out and had chances of their own to net another one or two.

Fans were pleased with the performance and some had particular praise for a young player getting a rare chance to impress in the Hoops defence. Kristoffer Ajer started just his fourth league match of the season and looked solid throughout the 90 minutes, even showing the ambition to support attacks when given the opportunity.

Still just 19 years of age, supporters are delighted with his progress and delivered their verdict on his performance last night…

It’s going to be a busy summer for Arsenal fans in the Transfer Tavern. 

Arsenal are looking to continue their summer rebuild under new manager Unai Emery. After two poor years, Arsenal need to sign well if they are to win any silverware or even return to the Champions League places. One new arrival that Arsenal have been linked with, is Real Betis defender, Junior Firpo.

The Breakdown

 With reports linking Real Sociedad with a move for Nacho Monreal, Arsenal need to be on the look out for a replacement. With that in mind, AS (h/t the Metro), report that Arsenal have scouted the Real Betis fullback and have shown an interest in bringing him to the Emirates.

Under Quique Setien, Betis played some of the most exciting and intriguing football in La Liga last year. Under his guidance, the Andalucian club finished sixth in the table, nine places higher than the previous year. Among a cast of impressive performers, Junior Firpo emerged in the second-half of the season to become a regular in the side.

Capable of playing further forward, Firpo was promoted from the B team and eventually made 14 appearances in the league. Although Monreal has been one of Arsenal’s best players over the last few years, at 32 and with only a year left on his current deal, the Spaniard is entering the twilight of his career.

Signing Firpo would give an Arsenal a modern, attacking fullback, who at 21 is still nowhere close to his prime and would be a great deputy to Sead Kolasinac.

What do you reckon Arsenal fans? 

Manchester United have been relatively quiet in the transfer window so far, particularly with regards to recruiting marquee signings.

The biggest news so far is that Marouane Fellaini has penned fresh terms, which unsurprisingly has not gone down well with every supporter.

A recent piece of transfer gossip, though, has made some fans take note as it involves one of the stars of the World Cup.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”269905″ player=”12034″ title=”Football’s Coming Home The Myth Behind ‘Three Lions'”]

Mexico international Hirving Lozano, who reached the last-16 of the tournament, was one of the breakout figures in Russia.

On Saturday, Tuttomercatoweb reported that United are planning to launch a bid in the region £35.3m for the PSV Eindhoven winger.

What do you think of the World Cup so far? Let us know and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

If the Red Devils are successful then it would call into question the long-term futures of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

The pair shared left-wing duties last season, but recent speculation suggests that Martial could be moving on.

As for Rashford, it is unclear where the England international sees himself in the future, but he would certainly face plenty of competition if Lozano signed.

We asked you if the PSV star would shine in Mourinho’s team, and the majority feel that it would be a positive capture.