Loan Players Watch

Harry Wilson scored his first goal for Cardiff yesterday. Goal @0:11

 

Sheyi Ojo started the match with Wilson before coming off in the 79th min.

Harvey Elliot played the full match in Blackburn's 3-1 defeat to Watford.


Ben Woodburn featured for 68 mins as Blackpool lost 1-0 to Charlton.


Taiwo Awoniyi came on as a sub in the 67th min as Union Berlin drew 1-1 with Schalke.

Kamil Grabara kept his first cleansheet for AGF, who beat AC Horsens 3-0.

Karius and Grujic did not feature.

 

“Karius did not feature”

That’ll be one of his better performances

 

I would still have him featuring ahead of Adrian

 

Adam Lewis (averaging 74 mins per game) seems to be doing well at Amiens, although the team is placed 16 out of 20.


Tony Gallacher (averaging 39 mins per game) has yet to cement a starting position at Toronto FC.


Unfortunately, Morgan Boyes isn't getting games at Fleetwood.

 

You really wouldn't want to be an Amiens fan would you - scored 3 goals in 7 matches with those matches averaging 1 goal a game !

 

Article:

Harry Wilson has two main objectives this season: help Cardiff City win promotion to the Premier League and play for Wales at next summer's European Championship.

It's always useful to set yourself goals, though the attacking midfielder on loan from Liverpool has stronger incentives than most for his.

The last time he was vying for promotion from the Championship he missed out in agonising fashion, losing in the 2019 play-off final while on loan at Derby County.

And the last time Wales were at a major tournament at Euro 2016, Wilson was in France but there as a fan, three years after becoming his country's youngest senior international.

Over the next nine months, the 23-year-old hopes to address both those gaps in his CV.

"That's definitely the aim for me," Wilson says of his two targets.

"It's something I set myself going over to France in 2016 as a fan - I was desperate to make sure the next time it came around I was there as a player.

"I managed to play my part in the qualifiers to get us there [Euro 2020]. We had the disappointment of it getting delayed this year but next year, as a team and an individual, I'll be raring to go.

"As many games I can get and as many goals I can score with Cardiff will help me get there.

"In my last Championship season I had the disappointment of missing out at the final hurdle, losing in the play-off final, so personally I'm desperate to go one step further."

Wilson has certainly started as he means to go on, scoring on his first start for Cardiff in Wednesday's draw against his former club Bournemouth.

Cardiff are the fifth side Wilson has joined on loan from Liverpool, an increasingly common story for young players pushed to the fringes at top clubs.

Wilson is particularly eager to play regularly in order to further his international prospects.

He is a well-established member of Wales' squad with 19 caps and three goals to his name but, with the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, David Brooks and Daniel James vying for the same positions as him, competition for first-team places is fierce.

So for Wilson it is vital he plays. Having impressed on loan in the Championship with Hull City and Derby, the North Walian spent last season in the Premier League with Bournemouth and scored seven goals.

He was then linked with a permanent move to Burnley, so there were a few raised eyebrows on transfer deadline day last Friday when Cardiff managed to sign Wilson on a season-long loan.

"I feel this season was a massive one for me. I knew personally I had to get the games and the minutes that I wanted and, at Liverpool, I felt I wasn't going to get that," Wilson explains.

"So I wouldn't say I was desperate to get out but I was really keen to rack up the appearances and minutes that I wanted.

"When I sat down with my agent and discussed the teams that were in for me, we thought Cardiff would be a good fit.

"You look around the stadium here and quality of players, it's a Premier League club. I'm desperate to play my part in getting us back up there."

Cardiff were promoted to the Premier League in 2018 but lasted just a single season before dropping back down to the Championship.

Several other clubs wanted to sign Wilson on deadline day, with Derby, Nottingham Forest, Reading and Cardiff's arch rivals Swansea City also vying for his signature.

Wilson chose Cardiff and, having discussed his options with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, he feels he made the right choice in leaving the Premier League champions.

"I spoke with Jurgen at the beginning of the season and I let him know that I wanted to be playing football and he agreed," Wilson says.

"He said a player at the stage of my career now, he knew I had to be playing and with the quality of the squad they've got at Liverpool I wasn't going to get the minutes I needed.

"So as soon as I had that chat with him, I knew we were both on the same page and then it was all about finding a club that would take me and where I would feel I could show people the type of football I like to play.

"I'm here at Cardiff now and I'm desperate to get them in the Premier League."

 

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-talking-points-watford-19145189

Article:

Elliott and Nyambe's partnership

There's a great deal of expectancy on Elliott's shoulders and it's so easy to forget that he's only 17.

Even so, for a Championship debut he more than held his own and you would be forgiven for thinking he was a seasoned veteran given the manner in which he strutted his stuff.

Mowbray spoke of his partnership with Armstrong and how that will wreak havoc in the Championship over the coming months, but it was his relationship with Ryan Nyambe on the right flank that impressed me.

The pair telepathically manoeuvred around each other in attack and Ken Sema was in urgent need of extra support as Elliott and Nyambe connected on several occasions. Even defensively, Elliott was attendant to his defensive duties and helped his full-back whenever possible.

Tyrhys Dolan has been excellent in his movement and positioning to allow Nyambe the space to explore moving forward and Elliott has only built on that. Given the duo have only been training together for two days, it's a relationship that has the potential to blossom over the coming weeks and that will be a significant boost for Rovers' attacking exploits.

 

Good for Ojo to impress and increase his valuation.


Awoniyi came on as a sub for the last 20+mins. Karius missing due to injury.

 

Elliott added an assist. (Coventry were down to 10 men after 14 mins though)

 

Fucking love that outside the boot flick

 

Kamil Grabara started his 3rd game for AGF Aarhus. They conceded an early penalty 7 mins into the game and went down to 10 men at the 61st min.

 

Article:

The Harvey Elliott critics who emerged to scoff at his loan move to Blackburn Rovers were silenced once more after the teenager produced another impressive display during a convincing 4-0 victory over Coventry City.

Elliott retained his place in Tony Mowbray's starting XI and proved to be a thorn in the Coventry defence, his technical ability causing Ryan Giles persistent problems down the right flank.

The 17-year-old was given the freedom to drift inside at will and his selflessness enabled Joe Rankin-Costello the time and space to deliver from right-back, which created an additional element to Rovers' attacking play.

His performance was rewarded in the second-half when an exquisite counter-attack allowed Ben Brereton to square it across to where Elliott was waiting to pounce and the forward had the composure to bend his effort beyond the outstretched body of Marko Marosi.

And with Rovers oozing control, Elliott capped off a tremendous day at the office as he chalked up an assist after sending an inviting cross over to Sam Gallagher, who thundered the ball in for a fourth and put the icing on an impressive day for Tony Mowbray's side.

Mowbray was still ranting and raving after the fourth, urging his side to press and win the ball back and it's something Elliott has learnt to love in a short space of time, with the forward grateful for Mowbray and his welcoming personality as he settles into the club.

"He's a very good manager," gleamed the teenage sensation. "He's always onto everyone but in a positive way, and that's what you need from a manager just to keep everyone on their toes, to keep you working.

"Even when we're 4-0 up, straight from kick-off he's telling us to press and win the ball back and I think that tells you what sort of man he is.

"He just wants us to keep pushing and not ease off so to have him as a manager is a really good help."

So now Elliott is off the mark on the goals and assists leaderboard. If you think it's getting to his head, you couldn't be any further from the truth.

The Liverpool starlet was delighted to get on the scoresheet but insisted he was just happy to play his part in an excellent team performance.

"The main result is the key thing here," Elliott said after the game. "I was just happy to score and contribute to the win. Hopefully it's the first of many but I'm just excited to see what happens really.

"It's only the beginning, I have a long way to go. I'm taking it day by day and hopefully I can put in the performances in training and in matches to show people what I can do.

"Once we went 1-0 up, (we were) not comfortable but we were able to play our football and keep it ticking and then we killed them off.

"A couple of us had a fair few chances that we should have put away but thankfully we put them away in the second-half.

"It just shows you what this team has. It has a lot of creative players, a lot of technical players as well and it was a good goal.

"It can be harder as teams sit back, they protect the goal which makes them harder to break down. In all fairness they done it well in the first-half but like every team would they got lucky and we were able to kill them off.

"Everyone has a lot of fun in this team. I think we all play together, we all want to give each other opportunities and there's an unselfishness in this team but working hard comes with it as well.

"The main goal for me this season is to get the team nearest to promotion really, I think that's my main goal.

"Help the team and I think Blackburn deserve to be in the Premier League, it's a great club with great players and even against Watford we proved the quality we have in the team and they're a decent side as well."

Asked whether he'd had any contact from Liverpool the past week, Elliott admitted his parent club have been monitoring each day and has even had some kind words from team-mates.

"They're always messaging me everyday," he added. "After every training session, after every game they're messaging me.

"I still got messages off the players saying good luck, hope you're well, miss you and stuff like that. So to have them message me is a boost for me as well."

 

Blackburn fans raving about Elliott:
https://www.brfcs.com/mb/index.php?...rvey-elliott-lets-enjoy-this-season-together/

 

Article:

Liverpool attacker Harvey Elliott is “bringing the Championship to light” while on loan at Blackburn Rovers, according to Noel Whelan.

The former Leeds United striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider correspondent Dylan Childs, hailed the impact of the 17-year-old at Ewood Park after he enjoyed a “dream start” in blue and white.

Elliott contributed a goal and an assist in a 4-0 thrashing of Coventry on Saturday on what was only his second appearance for Tony Mowbray’s side.

The highly-rated attacking midfielder joined Blackburn on a season-long loan deal earlier this month, Jurgen Klopp keen for the teenager to taste regular first team football.

Whelan believes that Ewood Park is the ideal place for Elliott to develop this season.

“When you have got a player is of that age, there is nothing better than getting him first team action in a very competitive league like the Championship,” he told Football Insider.

“Blackburn is the perfect place for him, not far from Liverpool and with a good manager at the helm in Tony Mowbray.

“The style of play will suit Elliott and Liverpool. Blackburn are a a good footballing side.

“It is not far for Liverpool to keep tabs and go and watch him. That is what it is all about when you are trying to bring these young players through. Let’s not forget that he is still very, very young.

“He is bringing the Championship to light. What a dream start. A goal and an assist.

He has nothing to prove to Liverpool because they know how good he is. They are just nurturing his progression.

“There is no doubt about it, he will have a lot more games to play for Liverpool if he carries on this way.”

Article:

Cardiff City boss Neil Harris believes Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson has been a "breath of fresh air" as the Welshman prepares to face his former club Derby County.

The Rams were believed to be interested in signing the Wales international, which was unsurprising given his exceptional loan spell at Pride Park two years ago, which led to them eventually losing out to Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

But it was Cardiff who eventually beat Derby, and a number of other Championship rivals, to the punch by sealing his signature this season in a huge transfer coup.

He has started his life as a Bluebird well, netting on his first start in the draw against another of his former clubs, Bournemouth, last week and City fans will be desperate to see him kick on, knowing what he can do in this division.

But, away from the playing pitch, Harris has said the forward has been a joy to watch on the training ground and his ability is clear to see every day.

"He had a great loan spell – he scored a lot of goals at Derby a couple of years ago," Harris said of Wilson.

"But you're probably also doing his loan spell last season a bit of an injustice, scoring seven or eight goals in the Premier League for a team that was relegated.

"He's had two great spells and he started very well for us as well.

"He creates chances, great free-kick deliveries, great corners, gets lots of shots off and he’s a handful to play against.

"I enjoy seeing him every day in training and he's a real breath of fresh air within the group as well, personality-wise and will just go from strength to strength."

The Bluebirds had been so heavily reliant on Lee Tomlin's creativity last season that having Wilson in the building feels like a huge burden lifted off the former's shoulders.

We are, though, yet to see both players on the pitch at the same time. Arguably two of the most creative players in the entire division.

And Harris highlighted the importance of having two highly-creative players within his ranks as he sets his sights on climbing the ladder in the coming months after a stuttering start to the campaign.

"It’s great to have two players, maverick players, in Lee Tomlin and Harry Wilson, players who play with an air of freedom on the training pitch every day and do things with a football I couldn't do as a player," he added.

"The way they play and the vision they have is phenomenal.

"They just take standards of training up all the time and those players are going to be key to us over the course of a season."

For that to happen, of course, Tomlin will have to be fully fit.

The 31-year-old has struggled at the start of this season owing to a groin injury, missing the weekend's clash against his former manager Neil Warnock and former employees Middlesbrough.

But, in an update which will certainly excite the fans, Harris is hopeful that Tomlin will be fit enough to play some part this week, perhaps even the clash against Derby, and a Wilson-Tomlin partnership could be seen for the first time.

 

Elliot provided the assist for Adam Armstrong's equalizer.


Elliot's assist @ 0:30min


Woodburn came off the bench in the 56th min. Blackpool lost 1-0 to AFC Wimbledon and finished the game with 10 men.

 

Ojo provided the assist for Cardiff's equalizer in their 1-1 draw with Derby.

 

Ojo's assist at around 1:17min

 

'That's enough assists' [Ed].