Middlesbrough have had a strong start to the season, picking up six points from a possible nine in their opening three Championship fixtures.

Tony Pulis’s side currently sit at the top of the league with a one-point advantage over Leeds United, Aston Villa and Swansea City.

The transfer window is no longer open to make permanent signings, but Championship clubs are permitted to recruit Premier League players on loan.

According to The Northern Echo, Boro are attempting to secure a temporary deal for Everton winger Yannick Bolasie.

The club are in need of new wide man following Adama Traore’s switch to Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.

It appears, though, that Middlesbrough face some competition as the Daily Star reports that Aston Villa are also tracking the former Crystal Palace star.

On Twitter, account @BoroFanTV used the Daily Star’s report to suggest that Pulis could miss out on signing Bolasie.

In response, some Boro supporters expressed frustration, while others were not too disheartened by the prospect of losing their target.

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According to the Birmingham Mail, Southampton striker Sam Gallagher was on the radar of Aston Villa this summer, but Steve Bruce should be aiming higher and must target Saints man Charlie Austin if he wants to secure promotion.

What’s the story?

Gallagher spent last season on loan with Villa’s city rivals Birmingham, scoring a fairly average seven goals in 34 matches in all competitions. In the 2016/17 season though he did reach double figures in the Championship, netting 11 in 43 league appearances for Blackburn.

Gallagher played for both England and Scotland at U19 level, before progressing into England’s U20 squad where he scored one in four appearances.

The Birmingham Mail reported in July that Bruce was a longstanding admirer of the Southampton man. However, the Daily Echo has now reported that although Saints boss Mark Hughes is willing to send some players on loan, he is hoping to keep Gallagher as a member of his 25 strong Premier League squad.

An ambitious bid

Because of this admission from Hughes, Villa should test his resolve for striker Charlie Austin, with a loan bid that could include a substantial fee for the man valued at £9m by Transfermarkt.

Bruce will need to use this loan window as he would have a normal transfer window after the financial problems at Villa meant he couldn’t make any signings until the new owners arrived in July.

With Danny Ings coming in at St Mary’s from Liverpool and impressing off the bench against Burnley, Austin’s place in the starting line up could be at risk and he may prefer to drop down a division to help with a promotion push. This would be a hugely ambitious bid from Villa but Austin is a player with the goalscoring ability to fire them back to the Premier League.

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Jurgen Klopp is attempting to clear the deadwood for his squad before the transfer window slams shut at the end of August.

Business concluded early in England after Premier League clubs voted last season to close the window before the new campaign began. This put English clubs at a disadvantage with other teams around Europe still able to sign players until the end of the month. Eager to get his new players into pre-season Klopp completed the majority of his business early in the window.

The German will now focus on selling his fringe players who no longer have a future at Anfield. Danny Ings left for Southampton and Simon Mignolet, Lazar Markovic and Divock Origi are reportedly set to follow him through the exit door at Anfield. One man who has definitely departed is veteran defender – Ragnar Klavan.

Valued at £3.15m by Transfermarkt, the Estonian has been a great servant to the club since joining from Augsburg back in 2016. Despite his bit-part role, Klavan performed well when called upon and gave Klopp a decent option to fall back on – Liverpool fans won’t forget his last minute winner against Burnley last season! Still, the defender has now joined Cagliari in a deal worth £2m according to the BBC.

The decision to sell Klavan could seem risky with both Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren currently sidelined with injury. That leaves just Joe Gomes and Virgil van Dijk as the recognised centre-backs in the Liverpool squad but Klopp is adamant that former Bolton Wanderers defender, Nathaniel Phillips, can step up to the first-team when necessary. The 21-year-old impressed during pre-season and the German believes he is ready to make the step up in competition.

Liverpool fans should trust Klopp’s decision in allowing Klavan to depart.

Liverpool fans, thoughts?

Loads of Rangers fans have been giving their verdict on Thursday’s win, and they’re absolutely in love with summer signing Connor Goldson.Steven Gerrard’s Rangers continued their impressive Europa League run on Thursday with a 1-0 win over FC Ufa, and £3m signing Goldson is drawing intense praise from the Ibrox faithful.The 25 year-old giant topped off his fine defensive display with yet another goal, reacting first to bury a loose ball after Alfredo Morelos’ header was saved.The Gers really should have scored more than once, but there was some threatening opportunities for the visitors as well, opportunities that were nearly all snuffed out by Goldson and Nikola Katic.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”284523″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch The FFC Accy Show Another winning double plus a mega sixfold”]Gerrard’s top priority when he signed was clearly to strengthen the spine of the team, and Goldson and Katic have done just that.The towering pair were wonderful again on Thursday, and fans just can’t get enough of Goldson, who is already showing himself as potential captain material.[ad_pod ]You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, as it looks like yet another genius transfer from Gerrard…

Before Middlesbrough’s biggest game of the season against Leeds at Elland Road tonight, manager Tony Pulis has been dealt the hammer-blow that in form striker Martin Braithwaite wants to leave The Riverside Stadium. 

There have been rumours circulating about Bratihwaite’s departure all summer, with the 27-year-old wanting to force a move to Spain, so Pulis must have been prepared. However, even though the transfer window will be closed by 7:45 PM, and therefore Braithwaite (valued at £7.2m on Transfermarkt.co.uk) will either be remaining at the club or not, he should not play tonight.

Obviously, if a transfer goes through, he will be ineligible to play, but in the event that he does stay at The Riverside Stadium, Pulis cannot pick a player that has gone through an ordeal like this.

If a player has spent the entire leave expecting and wanting an exit from his club, he will not be in the right mental state going into the game tonight. The turnaround is too swift for the Dane to mentally adjust and the team will suffer.

This is a basic sporting principle; that players who are not in the right frame of mind will negatively affect their team’s performance. In a game as crucial as this one, the Teeside club’s season may depend on it.

Pulis still has the red-hot Britt Assombalonga to play as a lone striker tonight. In light of the magnitude of this game, Pulis could well go for a much more defensive team, and may only play with a single striker, so the Braithwaite sage may not affect his side that much.

There is a good chance that Braithwaite will no longer be a player for The Boro come kick-off tonight, but either way, he should not play.

Aston Villa were hammered last time out as a rampant Sheffield United abruptly ended Steve Bruce’s men’s unbeaten run in the Championship this term.

The Villans had an up and down transfer window as the early part of the window saw the club struggle for funding and new players. However, a late influx of cash from new Egyptian investors saw Steve Bruce bring in a host of new players towards the end of the window.

One of those signings was Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who was a man in demand throughout the window, and should prove to be a shrewd addition over the course of the season.

However, we at the Tavern think that adding even more attacking talent would serve Villa well, and we think signing Abraham’s former Chelsea teammate Dominic Solanke would be an excellent move by the club.

The Liverpool striker finds himself well down the pecking order at the moment under Jurgen Klopp, and would surely relish a loan move away from the club as he looks to get his career on track.

Solanke is clearly a player of ability, and has been called into the England squad to recognise that. However, first team football is needed for the young forward if he is to prevent his career coming to a standstill, and a move to a club like Villa would surely pay dividends.

Quick, a good finisher, and no doubt hungry to prove himself, Solanke would be a superb January addition for Villa if they can sort out a deal.

Villa fans, what do you think? Would Solanke fit in? Let us know in the comments!

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Newcastle United confirmed on Friday that Rolando Aarons had left the club to join FC Slovan Liberec on loan for the next six months.

Aarons made his first-team debut for Newcastle back in 2014, and at that point, had been tipped to become a future star for the Magpies.

The attacker has struggled with injury problems in recent seasons, however, and only made five appearances for the club last term.

Aarons made 11 appearances during a loan spell at Hellas Verona in the second half of season, but returned to Newcastle during the summer, and had been tipped to play a role during the 2018-19 campaign.

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However, the 22-year-old has now moved out on loan once again, with Czech outfit Slovan Liberec securing his services.

The Newcastle fans have been reacting to the news on social media, and many feel that their club will be made to regret allowing the 5ft 9in attacker to leave.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

After a solid start to the season, Rangers currently sit seven points behind league leaders Hearts, which considering the number of new players that joined the club, combined with a manager who is taking his first top-level job, is quite impressive. 

Gerrard’s men, recovered from their pre-international break loss to Celtic with a 4-0 thumping of Dundee and now go into a tough Europa Lague game against Villareal tomorrow night.

In what came as great news for the fans, club-captain James Tavernier was signed to a new long-term deal despite only having signed a new contract in February.

The full-back has been one of the club’s best players since he made the move to Scotland and following his new deal, Rangers should be looking to sign Ryan Jack and Jordan Rossiter to new deals too.

The Breakdown

Both Jack and Rossiter have two years left on their current deals and the club should already be thinking about extending their respective contracts.

Despite missing the win against Dundee and probably tomorrow’s Europa League match, Jack has had a good start to the season and played a key role in Rangers getting through the Europa League group matches.

Rossiter, on the other hand, hasn’t had the same impact on Rangers as Jack, as he’s struggled with injuries. The combative midfielder definitely has the talent to be a reliable first-team player but he just needs a slice of luck to stay injury free. Moreover, with Gerrard now as the manager, he’s surely the perfect man to develop the youngster.

Rangers fans…what do you think? Let us know!

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In an interview with Alex Scott, for Sky Sports, Theo Walcott stated that towards the end of his time with Arsenal he felt his passion for the game desert him. The 29-year-old said, “I’m not going to lie, I fell out of love with football for a little bit.”

The winger’s reason for this state of disconnect with his sport was a lack of regular game time at the Emirates Stadium. Ultimately, these feelings were part of what fuelled his desire to move on from the Gunners, as Walcott went on to say, “I just felt I wanted to get the excitement of football again. I didn’t feel like it was going to be at Arsenal then.”

Walcott joined Everton in January, bringing to an end his 12 year stay with Arsenal. During that time, the England international made almost 400 appearances for the North London club and scored over 100 goals.

However, given the hype that surrounded him as a young player, there is a pervading sense that Walcott failed to live up to his potential at Arsenal. 

Following his recent comments in the aforementioned interview, many Arsenal fans have taken to Twitter to voice their indignation with the player who has admitted he lost his love for the game whilst playing for their club…

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Paul Dummett came through the youth system at Newcastle United, and has made over 140 appearances for the club since breaking into the first-team picture.

There are certainly players in the Newcastle squad more talented than Dummett, but few work harder, and that is one of the main reasons for his popularity at the club.

Dummett turned 28 on Wednesday, and the club’s official Twitter account was on hand with a special birthday message for the defender.

As expected, that brought a host of responses from the Newcastle fans, with many paying tribute to the Wales international.

The 6ft ace has played every minute of Newcastle’s 2018-19 Premier League season, and has been one of their most consistent players during what has been a tough start.

Dummett also captained the Magpies against Chelsea in the absence of Jamaal Lascelles, and one Newcastle fan claimed that the left-back should be the next permanent skipper.

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It is difficult to imagine Dummett ever leaving Newcastle, and there is no question that he is one of the club’s most popular players.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Newcastle fans can be seen below:

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