Callum Brittain, a Blackburn Rovers full-back, has been criticised for refusing to play in their pre-season win over Accrington Stanley in order to force a move to Middlesbrough.
The right-back’s future has been the subject of much speculation during the summer transfer window, with Derby County and Middlesbrough both interested in signing him. Given his importance to Rovers, manager Valerien Ismael was determined to keep the right wing-back, but with one year remaining on his contract, Blackburn are in a difficult situation.
Callum Brittain looks to push through the Middlesbrough deal from Blackburn
The objective was to nail Brittain down to a new contract, but the former Barnsley man has yet to sign, and the situation took another turn on Saturday when Ismael disclosed the player did not want to play in the friendly against Accrington.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t sit well with FLW’s Blackburn fan commentator Simon Middlehurst, who slammed Brittain’s actions when asked about the scenario and whether he understood why the player took such a stance.
“I’m very disappointed with that,” Simon told FLW. “If you want to leave in that situation, that’s OK; just don’t act as Brittain did.
| Callum Brittain – Blackburn Rovers league goals and appearances (per Fbref.com) | ||||
| Season | Appearances (Starts) | Goals (Assists) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 27 (15) | 0 (1) | ||
| 2023-24 | 44 (40) | 1 (5) | ||
| 2024-25 | 33 (30) | 2 (5) | ||
“At the end of the day, you’re still under contract with the club; it’s still a year, and we still pay his salary. We’ve never been a club that didn’t pay wages, and we’re still paying him. So for him to do that and then turn around and say he’s refusing to play is an extremely terrible attitude.
“It’s not what you’d expect from a fan favourite, especially one who was recently looking to sign a new deal and praised Ismael after working with him at Barnsley.
“It’s simply not what we need heading into the season.
“Personally, I’d let him go; he made his decision.
It’s a really bad mentality, and hopefully, like a few other players who have left Blackburn, he understands the grass isn’t always greener.
Callum Brittain has ruined his reputation among Blackburn Rovers fans
Of course, this is only one point of view, but it is likely to be shared by the majority of Blackburn fans, who will be rightly annoyed by Brittain’s actions.
There’s nothing wrong with the player wanting to move, and it’s natural that he believes Middlesbrough has a better chance of promotion this season, even if they finished behind Rovers last season.
But that doesn’t mean you can do things your way, and refusing to participate, even in a friendly, is disrespectful to his teammates, the club, the fans, and the manager.
Finally, Blackburn have demonstrated that they will sell players if the proper deal occurs, whereas Boro have yet to do so.
So it appears that Brittain will leave for Teesside, which is unfortunate because it would tarnish his reputation as a good player over the years.
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