Gianfranco Zola says he sees signs of improvement after gaining his first point as Birmingham manager with a comeback draw at Barnsley.
Goals from Tom Bradshaw and Sam Winnall had the hosts 2-0 ahead on Saturday but Jac-ques Maghoma pulled a goal back before Lukas Jutkiewicz’s penalty levelled the scores.
Zola said after the 2-2 contest at Oakwell: “It’s important that we are off the block and you can see that things are getting better.”
On the transfer window, Zola added: “I have a clear idea what we need. Only a player who can change our team will come.”
Baggies’ boss hails Robson-Kanu
Tony Pulis believes Hal Robson-Kanu’s thunderbolt winner at Southampton justified West Brom’s “big risk” in signing the Wales forward in the summer.
Robson-Kanu’s stunning strike sealed West Brom’s 2-1 win at St Mary’s on New Year’s Eve – the 27-year-old firing his first Premier League goal in more than three years.
“It was always a risk, it was a big risk for us to bring him in the summer,” said Baggies boss Pulis of Robson-Kanu.
“Sometimes as a manager it drops for you and sometimes it doesn’t.
“You leave yourself open for criticism if Hal hadn’t scored and we’d lost the game. You toss a coin and it lands well for you, which I’m very pleased for.”
Bolt out of the blue in MUTV phone-in
Manchester United’s in-house television channel got a shock when Usain Bolt called up to discuss the 2-1 win over Middlesbrough.
In the traditional post-match phone-in, MUTV presenter Mandy Henry introduced the next called as being a “Usain from Jamaica” and added: “It’s not Usain Bolt is it?”
Bolt, the fastest man of all-time, replied: “It is Usain Bolt”.
Henry still looked disbelieving as Bolt gave his opinion on United’s win, saying: “They came through like the old United.
“They came through and pushed on and persevered... I am very happy about this.”
Van Ginkel joins PSV
Marco van Ginkel has joined PSV Eindhoven on loan for a second time on the day that Chelsea announced they have extended his contract.
The 24-year-old midfielder had a successful spell at the Philips Stadion last season and returns after recovering from a knee injury.
The extension is for one year to the five-year deal he signed when joining Chelsea from Vitesse Arnhem in 2013.
He spent the first half of last term on loan to Stoke City, before moving on to Dutch giants PSV in the winter transfer window.
Callejon a stalwart for Napoli
Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Jose Callejon has made the most consistent contribution for Napoli since joining them in 2013 after figuring in 99.24 per cent of all their Serie A matches.
The Italian sports daily said Callejon was only absent for one league match after his transfer from Real Madrid more than three years ago.
That came in February 2014 when he had to serve a one-match ban imposed on him by the Italian League.
In all, the Spaniard has played 131 out of 132 Serie A matches during his time at Napoli.
The attacking midfielder scored 40 goals in the process.
Colombians voted S. America’s best
Atletico Nacional forward Miguel Borja and coach Reinaldo Rueda were named South America’s best in 2016 in the annual poll held by the daily El Pais.
The pair were key figures in Nacional’s victory in the region’s top club competition, the Copa Libertadores, and their progress later in the year to the final of the second-string Copa Sudamericana.
Nacional were set to meet Chapecoense in the Copa Sudamericana final before most of the Brazilian side’s players were killed in an airplane crash in Colombia on their way to the first leg a month ago. They asked that the title should go to Chapecoense.
Manchester City-bound teenager Gabriel Jesus, who helped Palmeiras win the Brazilian Serie A title last month, was runner-up to Borja.
Swansea City need quick appointment
Swansea City need to appoint a new manager soon to help their struggle against relegation, interim boss Alan Curtis said as British media reported that Paul Clement will move from Bayern Munich to take over this week.
A demoralising 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Bourne-mouth on Saturday was the Welsh club’s fifth defeat in six matches and left them four points from safety at the halfway stage of the season.
“I think we need to sort something out as quickly as we possibly can,” Curtis told reporters.
Clement, 44, has been assistant manager at Bayern Munich to Carlo Ancelotti.