Club head watched Blackburn Rovers man last week as they fancy January bid

Newcastle United will make a fresh bid to sign Blackburn Rovers starlet Adam Wharton in January, reports Alan Nixon.

Newcastle United fancied Wharton, 19, in the summer transfer window, but the youngster remains at Ewood Park where he’s featured 10 times in the Championship this season.

And Nixon has revealed on his Patreon that Newcastle head of recruitment Steve Nickson watched Wharton in action last week and that he hopes to tempt him to St James’ Park.

Nixon adds that Eddie Howe may have a space in the Newcastle first-team for Wharton with the Blackburn Rovers man previously unsure about the move as the Magpies wanted Wharton in their European U21 side.

Former Newcastle striker Jon Dahl Tomasson is the man in charge at Blackburn. His side won 4-0 at QPR yesterday to end a run of four-straight defeats, moving up into 17th place of the Championship table.

Newcastle United in for Wharton

Wharton has certainly shown his class over the past season and a bit.

He’s a very tenacious midfielder and with the right guidance and rgeular game time, he could become a very valuable player for whoever he’s playing for.

But game time is the key here. It wouldn’t be productive for either Necwatsle or Wharton for the player to go and play youth football or sit on the bench.

His development is arguably best served at Blackburn Rovers for the time being, but if the Magpies come in with a sizeable offer then Blackburn will no doubt accept.

The club didn’t spend a huge amount in the summer and if they’re struggling come January, a player sale could go towards funding a comfortable end to the campaign.

 

 

 

Tomasson vindicated by empathic Blackburn Rovers response

‘That’s been coming, hasn’t it?’

That was the universal verdict amongst the local media after Blackburn Rovers ran riot with four goals at Queens Park Rangers. The emphatic scoreline did not flatter Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side.

From the moment Tyrhys Dolan finished off a fantastic team move to open the scoring, it was one-way traffic. Joe Rankin-Costello exploited the space in QPR’s right channel, just as he did in March, to put it on a plate for Dolan’s first of the season.

Rovers’ performance at Loftus Road was not that dissimilar from displays in their four-game losing run in the Championship. They were not streets above their recent performance levels. The difference? Scoring at the right time.

Whilst against Sunderland and Ipswich Town, they spurned chances at bog moments, they were clinical against a poor QPR side. The second goal followed soon after the first with Sam Szmodics driving down that same channel and picking out Arnor Sigurdsson for his third Rovers goal.

The movement from the Icelandic forward was that of a centre-forward. It was the run of a goal-scorer, sniffing an opportunity to get in front of the defender and anticipate where the ball could fall.

That is what Blackburn have missed in their opening quarter of the season and it’s why fans are right to be excited about what Sigurdsson could do. They need players that have a goal-scoring sense.

Sigurdsson’s second will perhaps get more of the headlines. If the first was reminiscent of the departed Bradley Dack, the second was more Ben Brereton Diaz as he strode inside and curled a brilliant strike into the bottom corner. The defending was statue-esque but the finishing was cold.

More chances came and went. Andrew Moran will wonder how he spurned the rebound from Szmodics’ saved effort, turning wide from close range. It didn’t matter as Rovers’ top-scorer took matters into his own hands, pouncing on a terrible pass and slotting under Asmir Begovic.

Szmodics has now matched last season’s goal tally already. Another display that showed he is ready to step up and be Rovers’ talisman. Whilst Sigurdsson will fly out to join Iceland during the international break, the Championship’s top-scorer must be wondering what more he can do to get into the Ireland reckoning.

That oversight is Rovers’ gain, though, with Tomasson keen to keep his group fresh. Seven games in three weeks has taken its toll and it would’ve been easy for heads to drop after a frustrating run of form.

The Blackburn Rovers head coach has been persistent in his appraisal of the situation. ‘We hate losing, we have to defend better, take our chances, but we are playing well’, to summarise. All of this is true, although it may have grated on some fans after the fourth defeat in a row.

Tomasson is not deluded, though. He knows what his team’s shortcomings are but they’re not, by and large, between each box. Rovers have been playing excellent football and someone was going to get a drubbing. QPR were worthy recipients, in poor form and generous mood with their defending.

Football is a fine-margin sport, defined by tight scorelines. Going two nil up away from home is not easy and Rovers ensured there was no fightback. They defended manually, with James Hill impressing at right-back after coming into the team this week.

Tomasson’s half-time change saw Callum Brittain come on for Dilan Markanday, a tactical switch that could be perceived as negative, swapping a winger for a ‘full-back’. It was anything but though.

With Brittain, Joe Rankin-Costello and Hill, Rovers have fantastic options down their right side. The performance at QPR again illustrated the need to get Brittain and Rankin-Costello in the same team, they’re too good not to play.

The versatility of all three players makes that possible too. Whether it be Rankin-Costello in midfield, as he was at QPR, or Brittain at left-back, Tomasson has options and competition for places.

Sondre Tronstad made light work of his first Championship start since the opening day of the season. He broke up play, protected the defence and kept things moving. After an adaptation period, he will give Tomasson food for thought on his midfield balance after the international break.

There was even minutes for Niall Ennis and a Championship debut for Zak Gilsenan, the icing on a delicious West London cake. Throw in a second clean sheet of the season – and second in 17 away league games – and Tomasson can be satisfied with his team’s display.

Dom Hyam was a man-mountain at the back, showing the level of performance that made him the obvious choice for Player of the Year in his debut season. His block on the goal line to preserve the clean sheet in stoppage time was as good as a goal.

Hayden Carter had tough moments against the lively Sinclair Armstrong but showed resilience to bounce back. In the second half, the striker barely had a sniff. It’s been a better week for him after difficult moments against Ipswich and Leicester.

Rovers will now have several days off as the players and staff unwind after a hectic period. Whilst being 17th after 11 games isn’t to be celebrated, Tomasson will feel that this morale-boosting win has justified his faith in Rovers’ game plan.