Blackburn Rovers transfer claim made - £2m man "made the wrong move" to Spurs | OneFootball

FLW's Blackburn Rovers fan pundit has given his verdict on Ashley Phillips' move to Spurs amid lack of Stoke City game time

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Former Blackburn Rovers defender Ashley Phillips is struggling for consistent game time during his loan spell at Stoke City from Tottenham Hotspur.

The 20-year-old initially signed for the Potters on a temporary basis last year, featuring 35 times in the Championship in the process.

However, Mark Robins’ side have made a strong start to the new campaign, and it has involved Phillips being on the bench.

He has come on as a substitute in three of their six fixtures in the Championship, failing to start on a single occasion.

The Welshman made the move to Spurs from Blackburn in a reported £2 million deal in the 2023 summer transfer window, but has not been able to break into the Premier League club’s first team plans.

Blackburn Rovers departure was bad advice for Ash Phillips

When asked if Phillips would be a better player had he stayed at Ewood Park, FLW’s Blackburn fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, claimed that he should’ve continued to get first team experience with the Lancashire outfit due to their strong reputation for producing talent.

He believes the player was given bad advice, and that his decision to leave Rovers was the wrong move.

“Really, really weird situation for him,” Middlehurst told Football League World.

“He was obviously someone who had a lot of promise, making his debut at Blackburn when he was 17.

“Obviously, at that point it was always going to be the case where a big club was going to come in for him and hopefully it was going to kickstart his career from there, but for some reason it hasn’t worked out for him.

“I know that when he went on loan to Plymouth that he didn’t quite have the performances to back up the big hype behind him.

“So, if anything, he should’ve stayed at Rovers for a few more years, got a bit more first team football experience under his belt.

“Obviously, Blackburn are well known for producing young players, so it would’ve made sense for him to stay.

“But, clearly, he got advice at the time and made the wrong move.”

Stoke have made a positive start to the campaign, earning 12 points from a possible 18 to move into second in the table.

But Phillips has only been a bit-part player through this period, playing a total of just 62 minutes across his three appearances.

Meanwhile, Blackburn have earned six points from five games, which has left them 18th in the table but with a game in hand.

Tottenham Hotspur move hasn't worked for Ash Phillips

Phillips is still only 20-years-old, so there is plenty of time left in his career to turn things around and start fulfilling his potential.

However, it is clear that the move to Spurs just hasn't worked out and that he was given bad advice at the time, as a player of his age can't be expected to predict how these things will shake out in the long run.

It's unfortunate, and his lack of game time at Stoke is also a shame as it will only stunt his development, so perhaps a January switch to somewhere else could be on the cards in a bid to get him regular minutes.

Phillips' move to Spurs could perhaps act as a warning sign to other youngsters in the division that a jump up to the Premier League at a young age might not be the best step to take at that stage of their careers unless assurances can be made over game time.