This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… We brought you the exclusive this morning that Burnley, Middlesbrough and Rangers are keeping tabs on Swansea City forward Joel Piroe. The Dutchman has been a great addition to the Championship since arriving from PSV in the summer of 2021 and with the Swans failing to launch a top six bid this season an exit could be on the cards. The 23-year-old will enter the final yea ..read more

Swansea City could be set to lose Joel Piroe this summer, with it Football League World’s understanding that Burnley, Middlesbrough and Rangers are three clubs keeping tabs on the striker.  Piroe has been on the Swansea books since the summer of 2021 and has scored an impressive 38 goals in 82 appearances for the club. However, the Swans are failing to kick-on under Russell Martin in the manner they might want and could be at risk of losing their talisman in the upcoming summer transfer window, according to Football League World sources. It’s our understanding that th ..read more

Middlesbrough made it back to back Championship victories with a 3-1 victory over Swansea City on Saturday afternoon. It was the home side who had taken the lead in the encounter, though, with Joel Piroe giving the Swans a 1-0 advantage on the 15 minute mark. Eventually, Boro would get back into things, though, even if it did take until the second half. Aaron Ramsey levelled things in the 54th minute, before Cameron Archer gave Boro the lead just three minutes later. Chuba Akpom’s 77th minute spot kick wrapped up all three points for Michael Carrick’s side, ensuring they heaped the pressure o ..read more

Middlesbrough will be aiming to apply further pressure on Sheffield United in second place when they travel to Swansea City this weekend. Boro dispatched Reading to a 5-0 scoreline at The Riverside last weekend which may create some selection headaches for Michael Carrick ahead of the trip to South Wales. It is quite a good time to play the Swans with pressure building on Russell Martin but also the board at the Swansea.com Stadium. Jonny Howson and Tommy Smith need to avoid picking up a yellow card in Boro’s next two matches, Saturday and then Tuesday evening’s hosting of Stoke City, or they ..read more

Middlesbrough‘s five-star performance against Reading last weekend cut the gap to second-placed Sheffield United in the Championship standings to four points, but the last thing they would have wanted to see was the Blades come out on top against the Royals this week. Boro closed in a bit more on United as they were defeated by Blackburn Rovers earlier on Saturday, but the points differential is now seven points again going into this weekend’s fixtures. And the Teessiders have a long, long trip ahead of them as they take on Swansea City in South Wales, but they will perhaps fancy their chance ..read more

Clubs up and down the country will be starting their summer transfer planning as the 2022/23 campaign reaches its final quarter.  Of course, there are a handful of teams who do not know what division they will be plying their trade in when the season comes to an end, but ultimately, teams will at least be starting to consider their options. One player that could appeal to a lot of clubs in the Championship at present, whilst he has the potential to go on and play in the top flight in the future, is Lincoln City left-back Sean Roughan.  The 19-year-old has been in impressive form for ..read more

Luton Town built some momentum ahead of hosting Swansea City on Saturday in coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Millwall on Tuesday evening. The Hatters were strong throughout the match with a glaring error from Ethan Horvath leading to Zian Flemming’s opener while there was an offside in the lead-up to Tom Bradshaw’s second half tap-in. Elijah Adebayo’s finish from a tight angle and Luke Berry’s precise strike meant the Hatters stayed level on points with the Lions. Luton had to deal with serious injury issues at the back end of the 2021/22 campaign which rather compromised thei ..read more

Now under the stewardship of Gareth Ainsworth, QPR will be striving for steady progress as they look to return from a very difficult few months. Certainly possessing a squad that should be much higher up in the Championship standings, the former Wycombe Wanderers boss will be hoping to unlock the full potential of his squad. Naturally, the Rs hierarchy, and particularly the recruitment team, will already be assessing their personnel options ahead of the opening of the summer transfer window, where Ainsworth will be provided with his first opportunity to assemble a squad that suits the way he ..read more

It’s fair to say it was a hectic deadline day for West Brom in January as they left the business they wanted to do until late on the window. Whilst a move for Marc Albrighton was finalised, they failed to bring in Omari Hutchinson from Chelsea on loan, which had implications on Karlan Grant, who didn’t move to Swansea City as a result. That left the forward in a difficult position as he was returning to work the next day knowing the club were ready to let him go. Therefore, it’s perhaps no surprise to see his game time under Carlos Corberan has been limited since. Aside from the FA Cup, Grant ..read more

Swansea City‘s poor form in recent months continued on Monday night when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home against Rotherham United. It looked as though the Swans may get back to winning ways in South Wales thanks to Joel Piroe’s first half strike to put them ahead, only for January transfer target Chiedozie Ogbene to level the contest for the Millers early on in the second half. Despite having 65 per cent of the possession, Swansea produced just seven shots compared to Rotherham’s 14, with the visitors seeing five of those hit the target compared to City’s four. Swansea’s players were boo ..read more