Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Now Jack fears the Gunners are forcing him out
PAY-AS-YOU-PLAY DEAL AND LOWER WAGE OFFER PUTS WILSHERE ON QUIT ALERT
JACK WILSHERE fears he will have to quit Arsenal this summer.
Wilshere, 26, (left) is desperate to stay at the Emirates, but is becoming increasingly worried the Gunners’ offer of a pay-as-you-play deal is a sign they do not share his commitment.
Arsenal have asked Wilshere to take a pay cut from his current
JONNY EVANS is hoping a Windsor Park window helps provide an escape route for West Bromwich Albion at the foot of the Premier League.
The Baggies are currently 1/100 with bookmakers to be relegated after a run of just one win in their last 29 league outings.
The Hawthorns men are seven points adrift at the foot of the table and 10 points from safety with just seven games to play.
Nothern Ireland defender Evans has found himself making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks as part of the well documented Barcelona taxi quartet.
But while the 30-year-old says tears were shed after Saturday’s damaging 2-1 loss to
Bournemouth, he believes
Albion have the grit and quality to claw their way to safety.
He said: “A lot of people have been writing us off but it’s not like we have got to the point where we have accepted relegation.
“I understand with the position we are in it’ll be very difficult to get out of. After the Bournemouth game at the weekend there was real disappointment in the changing room.
“There were a few tears. It’s hard to take sometimes. Mathematically though we still have hope and we will keep going until it is mathematically not possible.
“We owe that to ourselves and the fans. You always ask is it a good time for an international break but in our situation it may do us a favour.
“Hopefully we can go back, regroup and look at things from a different perspective and go into the last seven games with everything to play for.”
Evans dismissed any link between Albion’s ongoing malaise and the recent ‘Taxigate’ incident during a club training camp.
The skipper, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill were all questioned but not arrested after being accused of stealing a taxi outside a fast food restaurant
The case was provisionally dismissed while all four players apologised for breaking the club’s curfew and “the events which have been the subject of widespread and negative publicity”.
Speaking yesterday, Evans said: “I don’t think it has reflected anything on the pitch. People try and relate things that aren’t always relateable.
“Before we went to Barcelona, I think we were bottom of the league. Our performances throughout the season haven’t been up to scratch. We haven’t got enough points on board.
“We have quite a harmonious dressing room and that has been a big positive for us. The pressure is there and it’s something we expect.
“We have seven games left and it is a tough run-in. But the place isn’t completely crumbling like things have been reported on the outside.”
On the international front, Evans – who is poised to win his 68th cap in Saturday’s friendly with Korea Republic in Belfast – believes Northern Ireland’s new blood is a huge positive.
Millwall’s George Saville and Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones both made their debuts during the World Cup campaign while Norwich City left-back Jamal Lewis is another new addition.
Evans has been impressed by the pacy Lewis, who has only made 16 club appearances since his Canaries debut in December.
He said: “Jamal has come in and I’ve only trained with him two days but he looks like a really top player. When young players come in, they give you a lift.
“There is a real impact with the older players.
Even George Saville coming in at the end of the last campaign, he did fantastically well.”