CHRIS Coleman's proposed £2.1 million move to Fulham has broken down, with the Blackburn Rovers central defender unable to agree on a move to join the ambitious Second Division club.

At the same time, Rovers are maintaining an interest in teenage Rochdale goalkeeper Stephen Bywater.

But reports in some of today's national newspapers that a £500,000 deal has been completed are premature to say the least.

Coleman, who has been unable to win a regular first team place at Ewood following his recovery from a year-long injury absence, accepts that it looks as though he will have to move elsewhere to achieve his ambitions.

And he has come to terms with it, bearing no grudges over the situation which has developed.

"I know the club would consider selling me, as they agreed a fee," he said.

"My fitness is 100 per cent now but the defenders (in the team) are doing ever so well and time is not on my side.

"I have been out for so long that I need first team football. "Blackburn are a very big club and, with Roy Hodgson, it looks like they are going to do a lot of things.

"But I have to be realistic about the situation. There's certainly no bitterness. The club have been 100 per cent behind me, right through my injury problems and I couldn't have asked any more from them."

Personal terms were the main stumbling block over a move to Fulham, though Coleman might also have been wary of dropping into the Second Division - even though the millions now being pumped into Craven Cottage could make it a short stay for the Londoners.

Meanwhile, Rovers have had an interest in young Bywater for some time but the clubs have not agreed a fee for him and if there was to be a deal - a possibility - it hardly ranks as a priority at the moment.

The keeper, in any case, has been out of action for five weeks with a broken finger.

He is still a trainee at Rochdale, where his father and grandfather also played as keepers, and they need money.

Don't expect Rovers to hand over a lump sum of anything like £500,000 even if a deal goes ahead.

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