Blackburn Rovers FC – CaughtOffside

Kris Boyd urges Leeds to sign 28-year-old goal machine after Portsmouth draw

Charlie Patrick — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 23:13:34 +0000

Kris Boyd believes Leeds should go and sign Blackburn Rovers attacker Sammie Szmodics after Mateo Joseph failed to impress against Portsmouth.

Having failed to win promotion last season after losing the play-off final to Southampton, Leeds kicked off the new campaign in chaotic fashion against Pompey.

Daniel Farke’s side required a 95th minute penalty from Brenden Aaronson to rescue a 3-3 draw at Elland Road.

Boyd urges Leeds to sign Szmodics

It’s been a difficult summer for Leeds, who have lost Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville to Tottenham and West Ham respectively.

Those departures have seen the Whites lose a lot of quality from the their squad, and there’s still a chance more players could leave with Wilfried Gnonto attracting interest from Premier League clubs.

However, Leeds do have a considerable budget to spend in the window on reinforcements and it’s important they spend it wisely and get the right players in.

Szmodics was the top scorer in the Championship last season.

Ex-Rangers striker Boyd thought Leeds lacked a goal threat through the middle and urged them to reinvest some of the money they have made on Szmodics, who was the top scorer in the Championship last season with 27 goals.

“He (Summerville) is (a miss) but if you look at what? Kamara’s left, Summerville, Archie Gray’s left, you go right through the list, they’ve got money there why don’t you go and get a striker?, he told Sky Sports Soccer Saturday

“You’ve got someone there, Sammie Smodzics, who’s scored the goals for Blackburn last year, can you go and get him?

“Because they created loads of opportunities but they never looked like scoring and it was all from (Willy) Gnonto or Dan James the good work from them. (Jayden) Bogle got forward, Junior Firpo got forward, they put balls in the box but Joseph in the middle huffed and puffed but there wasn’t anything really there.”

Leeds warned they have seven days to complete transfer for 28-year-old hotshot

Charlie Patrick — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 19:57:31 +0000

Leeds United have been warned they only have seven days to complete a deal for Blackburn Rovers attacking midfielder Sammie Szmodics according to journalist Alan Nixon.

Daniel Farke’s side are looking to strengthen their squad to make sure they don’t miss out on promotion for the second consecutive season.

The Whites will be hoping to keep hold of as many of their star players as possible, but have already lost talented teenager Archie Gray to Tottenham, whilst Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto have both been linked with moves to the Premier League.

Blackburn set Szmodics deadline

With the departure of Gray and the possibility of other stars leaving, Leeds could find themselves in a position where they have a sizeable transfer budget in which to strengthen their squad.

TalkSPORT reported that Leeds have recently entered the race for Szmodics, who is also attracting interest from Premier League new boys Ipswich.

Szmodics is attracting interest from Leeds and Ipswich.

In fact the Tractor Boys are understood to have had an offer of £6m plus add ons rejected for the 28-year-old who was top scorer in the Championship last season with 27 goals.

However, Nixon has reported that if any potential suitors want to sign the Republic of Ireland international they need to do so by the end of the month so Blackburn have time to sign a replacement.

Leeds attacker has a preference club if he leaves Elland Road

Isabel — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 17:17:39 +0000

Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt has been linked with a loan move away from the club and has hinted at a preferred destination.

The 20-year-old could drop significantly down the pecking order under Jesse Marsch due to the arrival of Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim on a deal worth £35 million – a club record fee.

Rutter is the same age as Gelhardt but comes with more experience, having been a key first-team player for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga since joining in 2021.

The Englishman’s game time is now expected to decrease, with a loan spell on the cards for the remainder of the 2022/2023 campaign.

Gelhardt’s preference key in loan move

According to journalist Alan Nixon, Gelhardt would reportedly prefer to stay in the North of England. The likes of Swansea City, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers are interested in signing the youngster, with the latter looking the most likely due to the player’s decision.

They sit fifth placed in the Championship and will be keen on adding the talented prospect to help boost their promotion hopes.

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Premier League clubs with most PFA Team of the Year players ever: Man United 1st, Chelsea 3rd

Edward Bennett — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:23:46 +0000

A look at the Premier League clubs to have had the most players named in the PFA Team of the Year ever, with Manchester United, unsurprisingly, some way ahead of all of their rivals, but how do the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool rank?

=5) Tottenham Hotspur – 13

In joint fifth place, it’s Tottenham Hotspur, who have had some fine stars of the Premier League in their time, including this year’s striker Harry Kane, also named PFA Young Player of the Year, plus Gareth Bale, now at Real Madrid. Other former stars include Dimitar Berbatov, Sol Campbell, David Ginola, and Scott Parker.

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Ten Championship stars who could shine in the Premier League next season, including ex-Arsenal & Chelsea youngsters

Mark Brus — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 10:15:31 +0000

A look at ten of the best players in the Championship this season, including ones we could see in the Premier League with promoted sides next term and ones good enough to be signed by other top flight clubs…

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10) Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough)

An exciting Chelsea youngster impressing on loan at Middlesbrough, Patrick Bamford has caught the eye and could have a chance in the Blues first-team next season.

9) Benik Afobe (Wolves)

Formerly of Arsenal, Benik Afobe has had a great season, scoring 19 goals for MK Dons in the first half of the season and 13 more since moving to Wolves in January, an impressive total of 32 for the campaign in total.

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Jordan Henderson left birth of second child to play Liverpool FA Cup game

Mark Brus — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 06:00:39 +0000

Liverpool star Jordan Henderson was keen to dash back from the birth of his second child to play against Blackburn Rovers in last night’s FA Cup quarter-final replay, manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed.

The England international was with his partner during labour as they celebrated the birth of a baby girl, but the midfielder was still desperate to play for the Reds in this crucial game despite the big occasion and the inevitable lack of sleep.

Henderson has really shone since emerging as the likely candidate to replace Steven Gerrard as captain next season, taking the armband for a number of games this season in the absence of the veteran skipper.

Rodgers praised his vice-captain, who then played for Liverpool as they won 1-0 at Ewood Park to book a place at Wembley to play against Aston Villa in the semi-finals of this season’s competition.

Speaking about the incident to the club’s official site, the Liverpool boss said: “Jordan Henderson actually had to go back from the hotel – his partner had their second child during the night, so he had gone away, hadn’t slept so much and travelled back again and put in a performance like he did tonight, a real captain’s performance.

“Some players maybe would have missed the game, but he said to me: ‘Boss, as soon as the baby’s out I’ll be coming back!’ There was a car waiting!

“He spent time with his young partner, child and family, which is great, but he said, ‘I’ll be back’ – and he was. He had his lunch, he had a good sleep this afternoon and then played like a real captain.”

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Adam Lallana out of Liverpool’s crucial FA Cup quarterfinal clash against Blackburn Rovers

Joshua Walters — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 08:46:55 +0000

Liverpool will be without summer signing Adam Lallana for their FA Cup quarterfinal second-leg with Blackburn Rovers tonight.

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The former-Southampton man pulled a groin muscle in the Reds 2-1 defeat to Manchester United before the international break and subsequently missed out on the England squad and Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend.

And after missing training on Tuesday, the Liverpool Echo claim that he will likely not be risked against the Championship side at Ewood Park.

Brendan Rodgers will be hoping it’s an injury that won’t keep Lallana out for much longer with a number of key fixtures coming thick and fast over the next few weeks.

Whilst Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season look highly unlikely, Manchester City’s defeat at Crystal Palace may just have opened the door once again.

This latest problem rounds off a frustrating first season for Lallana at Anfield, which has seen him miss a number of games with niggling injuries.

Since his £24 million move from the south coast, Lallana has contributed just five goals and three assists and although he has made 28 starts, he is more often than not substituted, coming of 15 times before the end of the match.

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Liverpool must win FA Cup to prove progress, says Brendan Rodgers

Will Rook — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 05:53:27 +0000

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists the Anfield club must win the FA Cup to prove that they are making progress after a poor season in the Premier League, according to The Daily Star.

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Following back to back defeats against Manchester United, Liverpool have gone from fighting for a top four spot to Europa League contenders, but setting up a Wembley semi-final clash in the FA Cup against Aston Villa would present a huge chance of winning the trophy.

Rodgers said, “I don’t want to go down the route of saying that it would save our season.

“Our objective was to win a trophy. I think if we didn’t get in the top four and we didn’t have a trophy this year, we ourselves would be disappointed.

“I think certainly the FA Cup would give us a great boost as a team with lots of young players and players coming into the club. That’s the expectancy we want.

“We want to be able to be challenging every year. That was the key thing for me, to get the group challenging at the top end of the league and for trophies.

“The FA Cup would mark a good step forward for us”

The Northern Irishman knows he will have to lift his squad though, following two damaging defeats which have all but put an end to the Merseyside team’s hopes of Champions League qualification.

“The last two results and performances have been disappointing but there is still so much left in the season for us,” Rodgers added.

“The seven league games we have left offer 21 points and you never know – the teams above us still have difficult games to play.

“The mathematics of it show it will be difficult, but it can be done.”

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Liverpool boss set to hand Dejan Lovren FA Cup recall, defends decision to start Kolo Toure against Arsenal

Joshua Walters — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 07:07:35 +0000

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed he picked Kolo Toure over Dejan Lovren against Arsenal because of the Ivorian’s commitment.

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£20 million signing Lovren has suffered a difficult spell at Liverpool since joining from Southampton in the summer and despite being fit for the Reds eventual 4-1 defeat at the Emirates, he was overlooked for a start despite the key absence of Martin Skrtel.

Instead, veteran centre-back Kolo Toure began in his stead and was nothing short of abysmal.

However, Brendan Rodgers has since defended his selection claiming Toure’s mentality meant he was more worth of a start than the likes of Lovren.

“The thing with Kolo is he gives me everything every single day so I know what I am going to get with him,” said Rodgers when asked why the Reds big-money defender Lovren failed to start agains the Gunners, according to the Guardian.

“Dejan was obviously out over the international break but now he is fighting well and looking strong. He will be in contention for the Cup game for sure.”

Liverpool’s top four hopes suffered a serious hit following the defeat to Arsenal – and Man United before the international break – and Rodgers will be hoping to turnaround their slump in form against Blackburn in an FA Cup quarterfinal replay at Ewood Park on Wednesday.

But even with the enforced absences of Emre Can and Martin Skrtel through suspension, Lovren isn’t guaranteed to start that match with Glen Johnson also vying for a starting place.

“You bring players in with all the intentions of them doing well. What you cannot vouch for is when they come into a club of this size how long that adaptation process is going to take. You’ve seen that over many years at this club,” said Rodgers.

“You can be a very good player and not hit it off for some reason or it just takes time, like Lucas Leiva. It didn’t quite happen for him early on in his Liverpool career but he ended up doing well and the supporters appreciate the role he plays.

“It’s just unfortunate because these players need time and you don’t get that in modern football. We had a big influx of players coming in last summer so it was always going to be difficult for them all to hit it off straight away but I think you can see the progress that has been made. It just takes a bit of time.”

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Brendan Rodgers defends Liverpool commitment after Arsenal thrashing

Charli Casey — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 02:39:21 +0000

Only at the end of February were Liverpool flying high in the Premier League – topping the 2015 form table, as they looked to be on course for a top four spot – but a number of setbacks has seen the heads of Brendan Rodgers’ men drop.

While the Reds are by no means in a terrible position – with a top four spot still mathematically possible – devastating defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal, as well as red card for skipper Steven Gerrard at Old Trafford, has hit the confidence of the side.

What’s more, with Raheem Sterling’s ill-advised BBC Sport interview, Rodgers has had to cope with questions from the press that any manager would rather not be facing at the business end of the season.

The Anfield camp is certainly not in the greatest of spirits.

Nonetheless, the Liverpool boss has leapt to the defence of his team – insisting that they have certainly not given up on hopes of Champions League qualification and FA Cup glory – remaining as committed as ever to ending the season on a high.

Speaking to BBC Sport, the 42-year-old quashed claims of a lack of fight from his side.

“The team might be short of certain elements but in terms of commitment and focus, it’s pretty clear.

“After the [Arsenal] game I gave an answer which was logical in terms of the difficulty we have but it is not certainly a mindset,” he continued.

“Our attitude is to go right to the end. We would have to win our seven games but it is certainly something we will go into in order to do that.”

Discussing Wednesday’s FA Cup quarter-final replay with Blackburn Rovers, he added, “It’s important to have a game quickly when you lose.

“The group’s very committed to winning this trophy.

“We know Blackburn will be a difficult game for us, but getting to a final and winning a trophy is what we want.”

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