PLAYERS PLAYING IN ENGLAND WHO COULD BE IMPACTED BY THIS FIFA’S DECISION

FIFA is expected to rule today whether Ecuador will participate at the 2022 Qatar World Cup as its appeals commission explores allegations of a cover-up of Byron Castillo’s identity. According to the Daily Mail, they report the Ecuador Football Federation (FEF) has new information relating to an alleged false Castillo birth certificate.


FIFA has been looking into Castillo’s true place of birth since April after the Chilean FA raised concerns over his eligibility. It made an official complaint to football’s governing body, claiming the right-back is a Colombian citizen and was not born in Ecuador.
Chile hope to replace Ecuador at the World Cup if their fellow South American nation is deemed guilty and kicked out of the tournament as a result. If the appeals commission upholds the complaint, FIFA is likely to grant La Roja two 3-0 wins that would move Chile up from seventh in the South American qualifying (CONMEBOL) standings to fourth – La Tri’s position. With such a massive decision having a big impact on two nations, HITC Sport takes a look at the players playing in England who could be impacted by FIFA’s decision on whether Ecuador will participate at the World Cup. Continue reading PLAYERS PLAYING IN ENGLAND WHO COULD BE IMPACTED BY THIS FIFA’S DECISION

BLACKBURN TARGET SECOND WIN AT SWANSEA

Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has made a good start to his managerial career at the club and the Dane would be hoping to continue in the same fashion when he takes his team to face hosts Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Tomasson was named the new Blackburn Rovers manager this summer as the replacement for Tony Mowbray. Blackburn Rovers were in the Premier League promotion spots for several weeks last season before they fell off towards the end of the season and eventually had to settle for a mid-table spot. Mowbray left shortly after the end of the season thus paving the way for the appointment of the aforementioned Tomasson. Continue reading BLACKBURN TARGET SECOND WIN AT SWANSEA

POTENTIAL BLACKBURN APPOINTMENT COULD MARK NEW ERA

Blackburn Rovers have been linked with the appointment of Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen. Teamtalk have reported that the 53-year old could be in line to replace Tony Mowbray ahead of the new season. Mowbray’s contract expired at the end of the campaign in which he led Rovers to 8th in the Championship table. It was a promising first half of the season which fizzed out into an underwhelming second half of the year.


It was ultimately an anticlimactic end to the 58-year old’s time in charge at Ewood Park, and the manner of his departure certainly raised concerns over the running of the club. The former West Brom and Celtic boss had done well to make the club this competitive in the second division, so this felt an injustice to not do more to retain his services beyond the summer. However, the potential appointment of Knutsen shows that there could be brighter days ahead. As far as possible replacements go, Knutsen’s name is perhaps the most exciting name being thrown around. Continue reading POTENTIAL BLACKBURN APPOINTMENT COULD MARK NEW ERA

WIGAN CLOSING IN ON BLACKBURN AND SUNDERLAND TARGET

League One outfit Wigan Athletic are leading the transfer race for non-league striker Josh Stones, according to Football Insider. Stones, an England schoolboys international, currently plays for Vanarama National League North team Guiseley in the sixth tier of English football, where he has made his senior breakthrough this season.
Having been called up to the first-team after scoring nine goals in five outings for the club’s youth team, Stones and made his debut against Darlington back in October.


Stones has played 15 times in the league for the Lions this season and scored his one and only goal for the West Yorkshire side against AFC Telford in December. Continue reading WIGAN CLOSING IN ON BLACKBURN AND SUNDERLAND TARGET

CHELSEA, UNITED DEALT TRANSFER BLOW

The Premier League heavyweight duo of Manchester United and Chelsea have been dealt a blow in their quest to sign young Blackburn Rovers defender Ash Phillips. The interest of Chelsea and Manchester United in the young Blackburn Rovers player was confirmed via a report from the stables of The Sun, one of the most popular newspapers in the British media. It was also disclosed by media outlet Lancashire Live that the two Premier League teams keen on signing Phillips from Blackburn Rovers will have to pay a lot of money to sign the Colombia 16-year-old as he would not be a cheap signing.

Blackburn Rovers have not offered Phillips a professional contract mainly due to his age as it was revealed by Lancashire Live that an agreement has already been reached between the player and the club over a professional contract when he gets to the right age. It remains to be seen if the defender will sign his first professional contract at Blackburn Rovers or elsewhere due to the reported interest from the Blues and the Red Devils. For now, he remains on the payroll at Blackburn Rovers.

Phillips has been making waves in the youth team at Blackburn Rovers and he’s yet to feature for the first team under Tony Mowbray as they chase down a place in the Premier League next season.

The Blackburn Rovers first team suffered a big dent in their quest to secure one of the three available spots for Premier League promotion next season thanks to the 1-0 loss at Swansea City at the weekend. Michael Obafemi scored the only goal of the game for the home team who finished the game with ten men after defender Ryan Manning was sent off at the start of second half. Despite the defeat, Blackburn Rovers are still in second spot on the Championship standings.

ROVERS STRIKER ON SEVILLA RADAR

Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Bereton is said to be attracting the interest of Spanish La Ligaside Sevilla ahead of the winter transfer window. The Chilean national team star has been in sensational form for Blackburn Rovers in the English Championship and Champions League campaigners Sevilla are keeping an eye on him according to English publication The Sun.

Bereton is at the peak of his powers at the moment as he’s scoring goals for fun in the colours of both club (Blackburn Rovers) and country (Chile). The striker has 16 goals in the Championship this season and only Fulham striker AleksandarMitrovic has scored more goals. Bereton has 16 goals and one assist for Blackburn in 20 Championship games, whileSerbian national team all-time leading goalscorerMitrovic has 21 goals plus five assists in 19 Championship games.

Blackburn Rovers star Bereton has less than one year left on his existing deal at the club though the former Premier League winners have the option to extend his stay at Ewood Park to 2023. It has been reported thatsenior Blackburn Rovers officials are keen to hand him a longer contract that will seal his long-term future at the club.

In a related development, Blackburn Rovers have been warned that it would take a big transfer fee to prisedefensive target John Souttar of Hearts away from the Scottish Premiership outfit despite the fact that he has six months remaining on his contract. Hearts manager Robbie Nelson is adamant that Scotland international Souttar will only leave the club in the winter transfer window at the start of next year if they receive a huge bid for him.

Apart from Blackburn Rovers, Scotland national team central defender Souttar has been linked with a move to other Scottish Premiership sides such as Rangers and Celtic.

BLACKBURN UNBEATEN RUN ENDS AT HUDDERSFIELD

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Blackburn Rovers were on a five-match unbeaten run in the English Championship before they took on Huddersfield Town away from home in their latest league outing, At the end of proceedings, Blackburn Rovers were on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller thus putting an end to their run of five matches without defeat.


The run of games without defeat started immediately after the West Brom game at home which ended in a 2-1 defeat. Since the West Brom game, Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has guided his team to home wins over Hull City (2-0) and Cardiff City (5-1)as well as away draws with Middlesbrough(1-1) and Barnsley (0-0). There was also a 2-2 draw at home to Luton Town during the aforementioned unbeaten run. Continue reading BLACKBURN UNBEATEN RUN ENDS AT HUDDERSFIELD

BLACKBURN SET TO MISS OUT ON UNITED YOUNGSTER SIGNING

It looks like the English Championship side Blackburn Rovers will have to look elsewhere in their search for a new left-back as they are set to miss out on signing Manchester United’s Young defender Brandon Williams. The young England international star has been attracting a lot of interest lately after his brilliant debut campaign for the Red Devils but he has since not been featuring in any games for the club as there is now a lot of competition for places in the team. He can play in both the left-back and right-back positions but with Luke Shaw and Alex Telles (on the left) & Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (on the right) battling for a starting spot, it’s hard for him.

At the beginning of the transfer window, reports started making the rounds that he was being tracked by Norwich City as the Canaries were looking to bring him to the club. United manager Olé Gunnar Solksjaer knee that Williams going out on loan would be beneficial for both the player and the club because he would have the chance to play more games, building his confidence and grooming him to become an even better player.

However, before Norwich came into the picture, Southampton were the first side to have made inquiries about the player. But the Saint refused to go ahead with the deal after the Red Devils insisted that the loaning club would take full responsibility for the payment of Williams’ wages; a fee Southampton deemed too much for their budget. Norwich have now reportedly agreed to the terms United stipulated and they are on course to make Williams their player this summer.

The youngster will join the Canaries on loan until the end of the season but it is unlikely that he will seal a permanent transfer from Old Trafford afterward.

PREMIER LEAGUE TRIO KEEN ON ARMSTRONG

Three Premier League teams want to sign Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong this summer though the asking price from the English Championship outfit could put an end to a transfer before it has even started. The report from English media outlet the72 stated that Southampton, Norwich City and West Ham United are all interested in signing Armstrong from Blackburn Rovers this summer.

Lancashire Live stated that Blackburn Rovers initially slapped a £25m asking price on Armstrong and that the transfer fee put off the Premier League trio keen to sign the former Newcastle United attacker. Blackburn Rovers have since revised the asking price to £15m.

Blackburn Rovers star Armstrong has established himself as one of the best strikers in the English Championship. He scored 28 goals plus five assists in 40 appearances for his team in the league last season but that was not enough to seal a place in the playoffs at least at the end of the regular season. Despite the goals of Armstrong, Blackburn Rovers finished last season in mid-table. The former Premier League winners ended the season in 15th position.

Premier League promotion is the target for Blackburn Rovers ahead of the new English Championship season which starts on August 7 and 24-year-old Adam Armstrong is a key player for Blackburn Rovers if they want to achieve promotion to the English top flight. To this effect, the Blackburn Rovers hierarchy don’t want to sell him this summer.

Armstrong had Premier League experience while he was at boyhood club Newcastle United and the top flight won’t be new to him if he were to move this summer. He played 15 times for the Magpies and only had one assist. Armstrong provided that assist in the 3-3 draw with Burnley on New Years Day in 2015.

Armstrong initially signed for Blackburn Rovers on loan on the back of loan spells at Coventry City, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers before his move to Ewood Park was made permanent in 2018.

ARMSTONG HAS NO NEWCASTLE REGRETS

Blackburn Rovers hitman Adam Armstrong has revealed that he has no regrets about how his Newcastle United career ended and that he’s enjoying his time with the English Championship club. According to him, his Blackburn Rovers move is the best decision of his career. Armstrong made this known in a chat with the official website of Blackburn Rovers.

Armstrong, 24, has been the major source of goals at Blackburn Rovers since he made his move from Premier League outfit Newcastle United three years. He came through the youth system at Newcastle United but didn’t really get the chance to show his quality at the club.

Blackburn Rovers striker Armstrong was farmed out on loan four times while he was at Newcastle United before he made the decision to join his present team permanently after impressing while he was on loan at the club. His switch to Blackburn Rovers was made permanent in 2018 after he aided the instant return to the English Championship.

Armstrong has grown into a formidable force in front of goal at Ewood Park netting an impressive 40 goals in the league since the start of last year. The increase in his attacking numbers has been aided by his movement and positioning.

The petite striker has played over 150 games for Blackburn Rovers in a little over three years and he’s amazed at the number of games that he has played in a short space of time. Armstrong while reflecting on his hugely successful time at Ewood Park told the club’s website that the decision to leave Newcastle United for Blackburn Rovers has been the best in his career.

Armstrong disclosed that it was hard for him to leave Newcastle United and that he’s delighted that he made the decision. He also said that playing a lot of games while on different loan spells at an early age has also helped his growth as a goalscoring striker.