According to reports in the Daily Mail, West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan says his children begged him not to sign Robert Snodgrass during the January transfer window, and Irons fans have been quick to show their support for the Scot after he criticised the comments on his official Twitter account.

The east London outfit brought the winger to the London Stadium earlier this year following an impressive first-half of the campaign with Hull City, but the 30-year-old only made 15 appearances in all competitions – with many of those coming from the substitutes’ bench – and struggled to make an impact.

The Scotland international joined Championship side Aston Villa on a season-long loan deal during the summer, but he clearly wasn’t impressed with Sullivan’s comments or his lack of support given the Irons are still Snodgrass’ parent club.

West Ham supporters took to social media to show their solidarity with the wide-man, and while one said “we all hate him too”, another said “West Ham fans are on your side”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Derbies are about the here and now, but reflecting on last weekend’s derby day clashes between the Manchester clubs and the Liverpool ones, it’s clear that they’ll have more long-term effects than short-term ones.

For the Merseyside derby, the point gained by both clubs will unlikely be too significant come the end of the season. Everton look like they’ll be safe, and won’t trouble the top six. Liverpool might rue their missed chances if they narrowly miss out on the top four, but other than that, both clubs will be looking for redemption in the cup competitions.

As far as the Manchester derby was concerned, too, City seem so far ahead that even a Manchester United victory would surely only have prolonged the vain hope of a title race. The victory probably just puts neutrals out of their misery that little bit earlier.

But there will be long-term implications to both of those games, perhaps mostly for Manchester United, but possibly for Everton, too.

It feels like this was the shape of things to come. For Everton under Sam Allardyce, they may well improve and become a more potent attacking force, but for now it’s clear that the focus is on sorting out the defence. That might well be fair enough, given that the former England manager inherited the team with the worst defensive record in the league and who looked destined for a relegation dogfight until he took over. Since then, they’ve conceded just one goal.

That might mitigate Everton’s unambitious performance at Anfield last Sunday, and after going on to beat Newcastle in midweek, Evertonians probably won’t care all that much – not unless they’re still watching boring football come the end of the season.

For Manchester United, there can be no excuse. Ideas have been floated, that United are outgunned by City’s spending power, or that Paul Pogba – who cost well over £30m more than Blues’ record-signing Kevin de Bruyne – was absent for the derby. They’re complete red herrings, of course, designed to deflect from the fact that Jose Mourinho and his team are 11 points behind their rivals. The reason that the Portuguese coach was appointed manager of Real Madrid was to topple Pep Guardiola at Barcelona. The same thing is happening in Manchester. And he’s not just behind: he’s behind in double figures.

But Mourinho is hiding another massive deal. He’s not just hiding his failure to track down City, he’s hiding the fact that his side can’t attack.

All season he’s been on the defensive about it, pointing to the goals they’ve scored and their place in the table. But in no big game this season have they been on the front foot. The first 20 minutes against Arsenal were perhaps the best in any of those big games this season, but even then they had to rely on two mistakes to put them far enough ahead to deal with the onslaught that eventually came.

The problem with their derby day performance, though, is that when you’re playing the league leaders, who are eight points ahead of you, and everyone is billing the game as pretty much your last chance to start pinning them back, you only have one option: attack.

If there was ever a game that United had to attack a team this season, surely it was this one. Surely it was the one game where it mattered that they actually won.

So far, Mourinho has seemed happy to draw the away games against the top six rivals. He’s seemed happy to play the percentages. But playing at home against the league leaders isn’t a game where you can do that. Must-win games are ‘must-win’ for a reason.

It’s set a dangerous precedent, one that will have long-term implications. For a club who base their footballing identity on the idea that they play attractive, attacking football, this isn’t good enough. Nor, surely, is it acceptable to United that their city neighbours can come to Old Trafford, outplay them, end their title hopes, and leave only after their fans have sung ‘park the bus, park the bus Man United’.

Last week’s derby day showed that the Premier League is now divided into teams who feel like they’re good enough to live on the front foot, taking the game to their opponents, and those who feel that they aren’t, and who hide behind excuses, complaints and two banks of four.

Far from being about short-term bragging rights, these derby days will live on in the memory as a day when Everton and Manchester United added a cowardice to their identity that no-one knew they had.

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Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Newcastle winger Yasin Ben El-Mhanni according to The Daily Mail.

What’s the story?

El-Mhanni joined Newcastle from Lewes in 2016 but has failed to make a single league appearance, only playing a couple of FA Cup matches for the Magpies since joining.

The 22-year-old came accused Peter Beardsley of bullying and discrimination earlier this year and his contract has now come to its end at Newcastle.

A number of clubs are interested in signing the pacy winger on a free, including Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford, Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon.

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A fresh start

Clearly El-Mhanni hasn’t enjoyed the greatest of times at Newcastle and understandably he wants to move away from the club and enjoy a fresh start.

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Having not made any league appearances it’s hard to judge how he would perform in the Championship, but by all accounts the 22-year-old is a tricky winger with the ability to beat a man.

For a free signing, Forest have little to lose and a lot to gain as Aitor Karanka looks to strengthen for the season ahead.

According to Transfermarketweb, Tottenham Hotspur remain interested in signing Barcelona’s Andre Gomes this summer, but the London could should instead attempt to bring in Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid.

What’s the story?

Gomes has long been linked with a move away from Barcelona, with the Portugal international struggling to settle at Camp Nou following a 2016 move from Valencia.

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The 24-year-old did make 31 appearances in all competitions for the Catalan outfit last term, but found it tough to gain a regular spot in the XI.

Reports in Spain have claimed that Gomes has been left out of the Barcelona squad for their pre-season tour of the United States, which appears to signal a departure.

According to Transfermarketweb, Tottenham want to sign Gomes this summer, but the midfielder has not shown too much during his time at Barcelona.

There is no question that the former Benfica midfielder is a talent, but Tottenham should drop their interest in Gomes to pursue a deal for Real Madrid’s Kovacic.

Would Kovacic fit in at Tottenham?

Kovacic will not make a final decision on his future until the 2018 World Cup has finished, and he will be hoping to play a part in Sunday’s final between Croatia and France.

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The 24-year-old has made over 100 appearances for Los Blancos since a 2015 move from Inter Milan, but he only started 10 La Liga fixtures last term.

Kovacic is at the stage of his career where he will be looking for first-team action, and there is no question that he has the ability to replace Mousa Dembele at Spurs.

The Croatian’s high-tempo, all-action style of football is just what Mauricio Pochettino will be looking for when it comes to new signings in this summer’s transfer window.

A number of other clubs are also said to be monitoring the situation though, and Tottenham should move for the 5ft 10in ace next week to ensure that they do not miss the boat.

Everton fans will be frustrated at their lack of transfer activity in the summer transfer window.

New boss Marco Silva has not be given the funds to strengthen the squad to his liking this summer. Following an expensive window last summer, the Blues need to offload some of their struggling stars before they can spend. Director of football, Marcel Brands, is already starting to streamline the Toffees’ team.

Wayne Rooney left the club for Major League Soccer after just one year back on Merseyside. His departure will free up some much-needed funds on the wage bill at Goodison Park. Defender Ramiro Funes Mori also departed. Alongside Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott, Silva will want a new left winger to complete his attack.

The answer to his problems could be Porto ace – Yacine Brahimi. Valued at £23.4m by Transfermarkt, Everton are long-term admirers of the Algerian and had a £33m bid rejected back in the summer of 2016. Instead, the Toffees opted to sign Yannick Bolasie from Crystal Palace.

With just one-year remaining on his contract in Portugal, now is the time to bring him to the Premier League. The 28-year-old was a key player for his side last season, making 33 appearances in Liga NOS, scoring nine goals and registering seven assists. He also made seven appearances in the Champions League.

Brahimi is an excellent dribbler and loves to beat his man. He has the pace to cause defenders problems and excellent all-around technical ability. His arrival would be great for Cenk Tosun who no doubt would benefit from Brahimi’s creativity in would the final third.

Everton fans, thoughts?

Mike Ashley has been keeping his wallet closed for much of the summer. 

The Toon haven’t had much investment so far this summer and with the transfer window ticking down, it looks like Benitez may have to work his magic again.

The club are closing in on Fabian Schar according to reports but Benitez will need more than that if he wants to keep the club in the league again next year.

The Magpies have been linked with a move for Championship fullback, Joe Bryan according to the Daily Star. The impressive fullback has attracted interest from Augsburg, Mainz and RB Leipzig as well as Wolves.

Wolves, however, have also been linked with a move for Manchester City Oleksandr Zinchenko according to the Express and Star.

Wolves have also sanctioned the transfer of fullback Barry Douglas to Leeds as they look to bolster their funds for a bid for Zinchenko which could now leave Newcastle with a free run at Joe Bryan.

The Breakdown

With Paul Dummett and Achraf Lazaar the only two left backs for Benitez to call upon, a move for Bryan makes complete sense.

The young English fullback has been one of the standout performers for Lee Johnson’s Bristol City side, and with his contract running out next year, Newcastle might just be able to pull him away from City.

It seems a £6 million deal may be on the cards for Bryan and surely even Mike Ashley may even warrant spending such a small fee.

Thoughts Newcastle fans? 

After weeks of uncertainty, Birmingham City have finally been placed under a formal transfer embargo with just days to go until the Blues kick off their Championship season against Norwich City.

That leaves Garry Monk forced to go with what he inherited at St Andrew’s back in March, a squad assembled by various managers with different footballing ideals, but without a single player – unless Kristian Pedersen is somehow able to be registered – signed by the current boss.

To that end, with Monk having cut out experienced goalkeeper David Stockdale, he is reportedly planning to go with untried 22-year-old stopper Connal Trueman for the aforementioned meeting with the Canaries.

So, we decided to ask Blues fans whether they back Monk’s risky plan to start the rookie and it is clear that Blues fans have got faith in the former Leeds United manager.

73 per cent of them back his plan to go with Trueman over outcast Stockdale, as shown by the full poll results below…

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Sunderland fans have seen it all over the last two seasons but now they hope with the addition of a few new faces, they can start climbing the divisions once more.

Having been relegated to League One, times are tough for Sunderland who were in the Premier League just two seasons ago. Fans are dejected and their better players want to leave, making the upcoming season already challenging. However, should enough money be freed up, the Black Cats must look into signing Ross McCormack who is valued at £4.5 million on Transfermarkt.

The Aston Villa man is unlikely to stay with the Championship outfit, having been out on-loan with Melbourne FC for the last season, where he well and truly found his goal-scoring touch again. Despite the lower quality, McCormack bagged an impressive 14 goals in just 17 appearances whilst in Australia, a record that would look good in any league in football.

Sunderland desperately need a goalscorer more than anything and that is certainly what they would get should they pursue Ross McCormack. The 31-year-old has enjoyed a goal-littered career in the Championship and so bringing him to League One could only be a sensible idea, on the back of his brilliant performances down under.

Sunderland remain a big club and they would like to think their League One stay won’t be a long one as they plan to reach the top flight once again after sorting out a messy few seasons. The capture of Ross McCormack is exactly the signing that would allow Sunderland to make progression through the league again and one that they must consider should the money be available.

Thoughts… Let us know!

Everton are facing a rocky spell of fixtures during pre-season, where they have failed to win since their first game earlier last month in a crushing 22-0 victory. 

Marco Silva has found life trickery with Everton so far and his team really haven’t helped him during pre-season as a number of individual errors are leading to Everton becoming the laughing stock of the English clubs right now.

It is believed the Toffees need to improve all over the pitch, especially in defence but fans want to see exciting forwards arrive at the club to partner or provide competition for Cenk Tosun, someone like Tammy Abraham, a player valued at £9 million according to Transfermarkt.

The 20-year-old spent last season on-loan with relegated Swansea City where he was given the chance to show off his talent with regular football. It’s fair to say he didn’t light up the Premier League but with eight goals and 5 assists in all competitions does prove that Abraham has potential to be a potent English forward in years to come.

Everton already have an array of attacking options in Sandro, Calvert-Lewin and Oumar Niasse but none can say they offer anything quite like Tammy Abraham. The tall, powerful runner is a lot to handle in and around the penalty area and his slim frame is also deceiving for how strong on the ball he can be.

The Toffees have only brought in one player officially so far in Richarlison so, at this stage, fans are desperate for any kind of talent to arrive at Goodison Park, whether that be Tammy Abraham or someone else.

Would this be a good decision for both Everton and Abraham… Let us know!

West Ham fans are suddenly feeling confident about their trip to Anfield, after reports claimed Liverpool could have just one fit centre back.

Jürgen Klopp confirmed in his press conference on Friday that both Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan are unavailable for selection on Sunday.

Lovren has only just returned to Melwood after his World Cup exploits, and Klavan is struggling with a knock picked up in pre-season.

Joe Gomez and Joel Matip could also miss the clash with short-term issues, meaning Virgil van Dijk may be partnered with a youth team centre back when the Hammers come to town.

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Manuel Pellegrini and West Ham have been hard at work transforming their attack this summer, and what better way to kick off the season than against an injury-struck defence.

Liverpool have of course had their issues with defending over the last couple of seasons, so the injuries to several first team players could see those problems arise again.

West Ham fans are certainly feeling confident, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…