Page 5 - John Collins

20th March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Obtaining playing time was never going to be a straightforward task for Clement Grenier when he arrived at AS Roma on loan in January from Lyon. With the likes of Daniele De Rossi, Kevin Strootman, Radja Nainggolan and Leandro Paredes ahead of him in the pecking order for a spot within the Giallorossi's ultra competitive midfield, Grenier knew he'd have to be patient and wait for his opportunity.

Having waited over two months, last Sunday night, the 26-year-old midfielder was finally handed his Serie A starting debut, and he unquestionably made the most of his chance. While the man whose only other minutes came in a two minute cameo vs Fiorentina showed signs of tiredness in the second half, which led to his early substitution on 64 minutes, during his time afield, he was quite possibly Roma's most influential player.

Deployed on

17th March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
When speaking in an interview with L'Equipe, Dimitri Payet made it abundantly clear how happy he was to leave West Ham in January to rejoin his former club, Marseille.

Following a sensational debut season in the Premier League, where he notched an impressive nine goals and 12 assists, a disgruntled Payet bemoaned the Hammers' lack of ambition this term, though, even claiming he was bored by Slaven Bilic's style of play. "I didn't want to play the role of also-rans in the Premier League any more," he divulged.

"I didn't like the way we approached matches, the defensive system put in place. With a 5-4-1 in front of our penalty area, I could have all the freedom in the world, but it made it difficult to express myself. You could say I was bored, yes. I went through matches without enjoying it.

"The choice was quickly

15th March 2017. By Ryan Baldi.
Since making his record-breaking £89 million return to Manchester United last summer, Paul Pogba has come in for more than his fair share of criticism.

A high degree of scrutiny was inevitable given his price tag and the fact that he was joining one of the most polarising clubs in world football. There are swathes of people watching his every move in hope that he slips up so they can write him off as a flop or a fraud.

It's fair to say that over the last few weeks Pogba's performances for United have flattered to deceive, but there was a sustained period of around five months, after he settled into his new surroundings, in which the Frenchman was consistently the Red Devils' best player.

Following United's FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this week, the criticism of Pogba was at an all-time high.

Jose Mourinho came out in defence of his star player after the game. "We have to be positive, the

13th March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Ciro Immobile followed on beautifully from what he described as one of the best nights in his career in Lazio's sensational Coppa Italia semi final victory over AS Roma last week by putting in another exceptional performance against Bologna in the league.

Immobile's brilliant brace vs Bologna saw him continue his stunning rejuvenation at Lazio, after tough loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla over the last couple of seasons, with the 27-year-old now back to his best, propelling his Serie A goal tally to 16.

The former Capocannoniere winner with Torino in 2013/2014 used his explosive set of attributes, in tandem with his intuitive movement, to put the Rossoblu to the sword in fine style.

From his centre forward slot, his targeting of the left half space was a key theme of his showing, regularly using this area of the pitch effectively. Whenever Lazio

10th March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
With Atletico Madrid's midfield lynchpin, Gabi, set to miss his side's next two matches against Granada in La Liga and then their Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen, he certainly made his last game for a couple of weeks count against Valencia.

Diego Simeone's midfield warrior, who'll miss the Granada game courtesy of requiring surgery for two broken fingers, that allegedly occurred in a domestic incident, and the Leverkusen one through suspension, was unquestionably at his relentless best in Atleti's 3-0 mauling of the Bats.

From his customary central midfield station, the 33-year-old's energy, aggression and tenacity saw the club's captain set the tone beautifully for his teammates to follow. The sheer force, speed and physicality in which he executed his defensive work saw him emphatically impose himself on Valencia.

Los Che's talented midfielder, Daniel Parejo, was his direct opponent and bore the brunt

3rd March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Despite Crystal Palace enduring a very challenging season to date, it was encouraging to see one of their undisputed stars in Yohan Cabaye commit himself to the club in January.

Leaving would've been an easy way out for the Frenchman, especially with Marseille, who are coached by his former Lille manager Rudi Garcia, showing heavy interest. A return home and working under the familiarity Garcia could offer might have been enough to lure most players in his situation away, but Cabaye admirably decided to stay, desperate to help his team fight to avoid relegation.

"It's flattering, because OM are one of the great French clubs. I have immense respect for Rudi, the coach and the person he is. But my life is in London, my club, and I'm focused on that," he insisted.

"We're in a difficult situation. I'm trying

4th March 2017. By Danni Biggs.
So, was it a shock or a relief that Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri got the sack? Claudio the league-winning manager has been sacked just 9 months after leading his side to Premier League victory. Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton praises those in charge for taking a brave decision to sack Claudio Ranieri.

Reactions to the sacking of Renieri were quite saddening to say the least. Gary Lineker was one of many to express feelings about this outrageous decision. "I shed a tear last night for Claudio, for football and for my club." when speaking to BBC Sport the day after Lineker added "Last season was the inexplicable one, not this season. The fact they are in a reasonable position in the Champions League, they are not in the bottom three and given
the magic of last season surely he deserved more time."

7^th May last year concluded one of greatest stories in British Sport. Claudio joined his triumphant

2nd March 2017. By Danni Biggs
The well-known teams that are Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg and Hamburg are up against each other to avoid dropping to Bundesliga relegation zone this 2016/17 season. Currently, Werder and Wolfsburg are on level points while Hamburg is 2 points below and sitting in 16^th place and are all in a fight to stay above the Bundesliga relegation zone. On Friday we saw Bremen grab a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Wolfsburg, which saw them rise above the dreaded bottom two.

Although not in the bottom two Hamburg are not out of the woods as the 16^th place holder (which they currently are) has to play in a play-off game against third place 2. Bundesliga finisher. The winner of this game determines who will play in the Bundesliga next season. Hamburg finished mid-table last season showing that this season they are struggling as well as Wolfsburg and Werder

27th February 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
When speaking after signing his bumper new deal with Liverpool, which will reportedly see him earn a whopping £150,00 a week, Adam Lallana was justifiably delighted.

"I'm very proud and feel quite humbled by the show of faith from the club and the manager in particular," he gratefully explained. "Signing for a club like Liverpool is obviously a big thing but to re-sign shows you've obviously contributed enough that the people who make the decisions want you to stay longer."

Following an uninspiring start to life on Merseyside, after joining from Southampton in 2014 for a £25 million transfer fee, the key turning point for him arrived when Brendan Rodgers was relieved of his managerial duties and Jurgen Klopp took over last season.

Ever since, Lallana's been a crucial component within Klopp's high octane, all action brand of

25th February. By Danni Biggs.
The struggling Serie A Palermo has hired Uruguayan Diego Lopez as new coach, replacing Eugenio Corini and making it Palermo's 11^th coaching change in two seasons.  Winning just 2 games out of 21, 42 year old Diego took on the job to revive the mighty Palermo who sits just two points above bottom of the table.

Eugenio Corini was named as Palermo's coach in November 2016, their third that season in fact. After just 7 games in charge, Corini a former Palermo player himself took the decision to resign as coach after winning just one game in 7. His decision came just two days after Palermo were beaten 1-0 at home by Inter Milan. A pained and upset Corini said "This is a decision that I've taken with integrity and lucidness, which makes me feel great pain, but which seems the fairest and most logical option right now."

Diego Lopez Signs Contract until June 30, 2018