If you were to ask a Luton fan to make an all-time best XI, Brian Stein would be the starting striker no matter the case.

The Cape Town-born striker is one of the greatest players to ever represent the Hatters, making 427 appearances and scoring 130 goals in two different spells for Luton and scoring the winning goal in the club’s only League Cup final appearance against Arsenal in 1988.

Stein is one of the most prolific players to ever play under the lights of Kenilworth Road, but it wasn’t meant to plan out like this. Signed from non-league side Edgware Town, the then 20-year-old prospect was originally brought in as a winger, but after impressing as a striker and forming a good partnership with both Bob Hatton and then Steve White as Luton went on to win the 1982 Second Division title.

But ask any Luton fan who was around to watch Stein in his prime, they will tell you his best striking partner was Paul Walsh, who was signed by the Hatters the season they were promoted, and the duo and a fruitful partnership in the two years they started alongside each other.

Although Luton were almost relegated in their first season, needing to rely on a win in the final game to remain in the First Division, goals were aplenty with Stein and Walsh up top. Games in which the London side scored three, four and five goals were uncommon, and the duo were so successful that in their second season together in the top-flight, Walsh was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 1984.

His move to Liverpool the following summer broke up another successful pair, but Stein’s ability to work well with anyone who plays alongside him continued to work, as current Luton boss Mick Harford, the striker who would partner the South African in the club’s finest hour, the dramatic 3-2 win against Arsenal in the 1988 League Cup final.

Stein’s tenure in London came to an end that season as well when the striker made the move to French side SM Caen where he was unable to consistently score as much as he did at Luton.

The striker would return to Luton 1991, however, three goals in a season where the club was relegated ended another spell with the Hatters. Stein is without question a legend of the club and a player who brought the team their greatest victory to date.

Luton fans, is Stein the club’s greatest ever player? Let us know!

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Sunderland fans have been left drooling over the performance of Jimmy Dunne.

The Black Cats beat Doncaster Rovers 2-0 on Friday, moving to within two points of Barnsley in second-place, with Dunne playing at centre-back.

Dunne even provided an assist in the victory, which has left the Black Cats in a fine position to win promotion to the Championship this season.

Sunderland are now third, two points behind Barnsley, but they have a game in hand on the second-placed Tykes.

Dunne, just 21, has won two caps for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s and joined the club on loan from Burnley in January.

Since then, he has played 11 times in League One and has never been on the losing side, even scoring in the 1-1 draw with Oxford United in February.

And fans were in awe of his no-nonsense display on Friday as the Black Cats edge closer to the second-tier.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

There has not been much to shout about this season if you are a Huddersfield Town fan.

The Terriers are currently bottom of the Premier League, 16 points from safety and facing the prospect of relegation to the second tier of English football at the weekend if results do not go their way.

However, off-the-pitch the club have posted some good news which may be vital for the future of the Yorkshire-based outfit. The end of year accounts for the previous year saw Huddersfield make a profit of £23.2m (via the BBC) which is a vast improvement on their 2017 postings which resulted in a £21.9m loss. Although this only accounts for expenditure up to last June, when you consider that the Terriers spent modestly in both the summer and the winter transfer windows, they should be in a good financial position for next season.

In contrast, Fulham’s decision to blow £105.3m (via Sky Sports) could prove to be incredibly detrimental for the club as they are almost certain to join Huddersfield as one of the three clubs who will be relegated to the Championship in May. Whereas Jan Siewert’s side could look to strengthen their squad in the summer, Scott Parker may have to offload a number of his players to finance any future moves as the Cottagers discover the costs of over-spending.

Even though they face a return to the second tier after just two years in the Premier League, the Terriers will undoubtedly benefit from the parachute payments that relegated sides receive. In 2018, the figure paid out to club’s who failed to avoid the drop was £40m (according to the Sun) with an extra £35m given in 2019 and £15m in 2020. However, if a side is promoted within three seasons of getting relegated the payments will stop.

What this ultimately means for Huddersfield is that if they wanted to, they could keep the majority of their key players for at least the 2019/20 campaign. However, giving how poor they have been this season, it would be a surprise if Siewert doesn’t completely overhaul the current squad in the summer.

What do you think Terriers fans? Should the club use their financial status to bolster the squad in the summer? Who should Siewert keep at the John Smith’s Stadium? Let us know below.

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Loads of Newcastle fans have been running the rule over Monday evening’s defeat to Arsenal, and they think they’ve noticed a problem on the left side of their team.

Monday night went about as bad as it possibly could have for Newcastle and the travelling Toon Army, and we’re not just talking about the ridiculous scheduling that forced them to travel to London on a weekday.

The Magpies have been in terrific form recently, more so at home of course, but the lynchpin of their turnaround has been their fight and cohesiveness, neither of which shone through at the Emirates.

Arsenal had a goal disallowed early on, but quickly made up for it when Aaron Ramsey danced into the box and squeezed his effort past Martin Dubravka.

Alexandre Lacazette doubled the lead with a lovely goal, with a little help from his partner in crime Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, before the Gunners had another one chalked off.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

Rafael Benitez’s front three were hardly involved at all, and fans think in Miguel Almiron’s case that is the fault of Matt Ritchie.

It sounds ridiculous, but more than a few fans have noticed the Scotsman’s tendency to ignore Almiron’s lung-busting runs and turn and play backwards instead.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans suspect an internal problem plaguing their left flank…

أكد وليد صلاح الدين قائد الأهلي الأسبق على مساندته وتشجيعه لفريق الزمالك خلال مواجهة الرجاء المغربي في دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

ويواجه الزمالك منافسه الرجاء في إياب نصف نهائي البطولة القارية يوم 1 من نوفمبر المقبل، ليتأهل أحدهما لملاقاة الأهلي بالمباراة النهائية.

وقال وليد صلاح الدين في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورت”: “بالتأكيد سأشجع الزمالك أمام الرجاء المغربي وأختلف مع الزملاء الذين لا يشجعون الأبيض”.

وأكمل: “أنا لا أختلف في ذلك، يجب مساندة الزمالك في إفريقيا من مشجعي الأهلي ومساندة الأخير أيضًا من مشجعي الأبيض”.

طالع أيضًا | مدرب الأهلي: صالح جمعة سيشارك في مباراة طلائع الجيش

واختتم: “نريد النهائي مصري هذا شرف كبير أن نتسيد إفريقيا، وأتمنى التوفيق لـ بيراميدز أيضا ويفوز على نهضة بركان ويتوج بالكونفدرالية”.

يذكر، أن بيراميدز سيلتقي أمام نظيره نهضة بركان مساء اليوم في نهائي بطولة الكونفدرالية الإفريقية.

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Leeds United fans are struggling to agree with each other about the selection headache presented to Marcelo Bielsa after Kemar Roofe was cleared to return to first-team action.

Fans have been calling for Patrick Bamford’s head after his poor performance and penalty miss against Millwall this weekend, and with Roofe cleared to return from injury before the next game Leeds fans are speculating that Bamford might not get another sniff at the first team this season.

Roofe has been one of Leeds’ most important players this season netting 14 Championship goals as the Whites battle it out for spot in the top two.

Bamford himself has shown flashes of brilliance with a brace against West Brom a particular highlight of his Leeds career.

Leeds fans have been at odds about which striker should get the nod on Twitter after Roofe was cleared to return to full training following his knee injury, which saw him miss over a month of action.

Here’s a look at how Leeds fans reacted to news of Roofe’s potential return on Twitter…

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Left out in the cold during Fulham’s dismal Premier League season, Stefan Johansen is quietly going under the radar at West Brom during his loan spell.

The air has been far from positive at the Hawthorns over the past month. The sacking of Darren Moore has been preceded by a managerial circus, which after target Alex Neil signed a new deal with Preston still looks as though it’ll never end.

However, amid the chaos, Johansen has been one of the best players under caretaker James Shan. Bringing the Norway captain in has proved to be a shrewd bit of business and despite Dwight Gayle grabbing all the headlines for his hat-trick last weekend, Johansen also played very well.

It was a performance that in some ways was equally deserving of praise, looking assured and composed in midfield alongside Baggies skipper Chris Brunt.

Both of those aforementioned players claimed an assist during the game. Brunt’s was mesmeric but there was something about Johansen’s performance that deserved more appreciation.

West Brom’s performance saw a barrage on the Preston goal and Johansen played a large part in that with numerous shots on goal.

He was hugely influential at both ends of the pitch, picking two key passes as the willing Jay Rodriguez and Gayle proved a constant threat.

Johansen wasn’t just good in the final third, as he had an impact defensively too, making one interception.

It was a performance that typified the 28-year-old’s recent displays. He was one of few players who were able to take credit from the Baggies’ awful 3-2 defeat against Bristol City last Tuesday. In what was a shambolic performance he offered a slight sense of control.

That was an aspect of his game that once against stood out against Preston, boasting the third-best pass success percentage on his team.

If West Brom are to achieve promotion this season, then he will be key.

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Sky Sports pundit Danny Murphy has praised the impact of Lucas Moura on Tottenham Hotspur after his cameo against Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The Brazil international replaced Harry Kane after the Spurs striker sustained a potentially serious ankle injury at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

What’s he said?

Lucas came on in the 58th-minute following Kane’s injury.

Per WhoScored, the former PSG attacker completed two dribbles after coming on, made one tackle and, despite his diminutive frame, won two aerial duels.

And Murphy was impressed with the forward, who last completed 90 minutes in the Premier League in December, in the 5-0 win over AFC Bournemouth.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Debate podcast (08:33), he said: “I actually think Lucas Moura deserved credit.

“He was great when he came on. He’s a talented player.”

Deserves a chance

Lucas has been something of a bit-part player this season.

Clearly talented on the ball and blessed with genuinely explosive pace, he has completed 90 minutes just nine times in all-competitions this season.

He has been a European super-sub before, coming off the bench to score the equaliser in the brave 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the Camp Nou that sealed Spurs’ qualification to the knockout stages.

With Kane surely set for a lengthy period on the sidelines, giving Lucas a chance makes all the sense in the world for Pochettino.

Pairing him with Son Heung-Min up front allows for a greater degree of tactical flexibility and could bamboozle opposition defences both at home and abroad.

The time, surely, is now.

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Arsenal will look to maintain their place in the Champions League qualification spots on Sunday when they face Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

Going into the weekend the fourth-place Gunners are only above London rivals Chelsea on goal difference, with Manchester United two points further back.

The north London outfit’s manager Unai Emery spoke to the press (13:44) prior to the trip to Merseyside, and these are two most important things the Spaniard said.

Granit Xhaka injury update

After scoring against Manchester United and then for his country during the international break, the Switzerland international missed the clash against Newcastle United on Monday through injury.

Judging by Emery’s latest update, it seems unlikely that he will be in the starting XI on Sunday.

The 47-year-old said: “We are waiting on tomorrow’s training, some players – Xhaka, Koscielny – didn’t train with us today. They are working with the physios.”

The fact the man that is becoming more and more of a vital player for Arsenal missed training two days before the match is hardy promising, and others may well need to step up to the plate again at Goodison Park.

Poor away form

The former Sevilla boss was also asked why his team’s results on the road have been nowhere near as good as they have been at home in the Premier League, a fair point considering they have taken 44 points on their own patch compared to 19 on their travels.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Bhav runs down his Arsenal transfer wish list in the video below…

Emery said: “We don’t set up differently. In all my career I did the same but not for me, I also watched other teams. Usually every team gets more points at home than away. Every team.

“After is how we can take our best performance and results away. It’s our challenge. The last matches in the Premier League: Huddersfield, Tottenham. We had good performances. Good results.

“The first is we need to feel our moment now, getting better. Above all, being competitive at home. We want to be the same away.”

No explanation perhaps, but it is telling that Emery hints that he almost doesn’t believe in his team to be as good away from home as they are at the Emirates.

That attitude needs to change if Arsenal want to challenge the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for the Premier League title in the coming years.

Steven Gerrard will certainly want Ryan Kent back at Ibrox for their title challenge next season! It’s easy to see why though, and Liverpool’s decision on the youngster will define the Gers chances of winning their first major trophy since their liquidation.

Gerrard told the Scottish Sun he’d spoken to Liverpool about the possibility of them allowing his to return to Rangers, whether that be a loan or permanently. Indeed, the 22-year-old has made 21 starts and scored six goals in a real breakthrough year for the youngster.

If the winger chooses to return, it’d be ideal for Gerrard on two fronts. First of all, he’s proven this season that he can perform under the pressure of playing for such a big club. It’s clear he’s bedded himself into the team well and next season he’ll only improve with the rest of the squad.

The Englishman coming back would also mean Gerrard doesn’t have to spend money replacing him in the summer. Cash may be relatively tight, but Gerrard knows he has to upgrade some of his starting 11 in other areas to have a chance of beating Celtic to the title next season.

There’s no guarantee a new player would fit in or even be as successful as Kent has and could be at the club. That’ll worry Gerrard and, if he decides to stay it could be a choice that the fans look back on as a turning point in this Gerrard revolution.

There’s limited resources at the club, so when they find a gem like Kent, they need to keep him as long as possible. If he signs, that’s one huge step towards a title challenge. If he doesn’t, it’s one huge step backwards. It’s time to pull a few strings, Gerrard!

Rangers fans, who do you see starting on the left wing next season? Join the discussion by commenting below.