Hollins leaves Swansea

The Swansea City manager John Hollins and his assistant Alan Curtis have parted company with the Third Division club.

Hollins, a former Chelsea player, took charge in July 1998 but could not prevent the cash-strapped club being relegated from the Second Division last season. The Swans have managed to win only once since the opening day of the current campaign and went down 3-1 at Plymouth on Tuesday.

The club plan to announce their new management team today, with the former Wales international and current Barry Town manager Peter Nicholas thought to be the favourite to replace Hollins

Nathan Blake is leaving Blackburn Rovers to sign for Wolves in a £2m deal. The Welsh international has reportedly fallen out with the manager Graeme Souness. Blake was signed by Souness' predecessor, Brian Kidd, for £4m two years ago.

Blake's price is £1.5m to start with plus further installments worth up to £500,000 based on appearances and a promotion bonus.

Souness will look to use the money to bring in a left-back and a centre-half after a slow start to the season.

Cardiff City are poised to bolster their strike force by signing Peter Thorne from Stoke City for £1.7m. The two clubs have agreed a fee for the 28-year-old, and the move will go ahead subject to Thorne completing a medical this afternoon.

Thorne is due to put pen to paper on what is understood to be a four-year-deal with the Bluebirds. A £500,000 signing for Stoke in 1997, he made 146 league appearances for them and scored a total of 65 goals. A proportion of the money from the sale will go to Swindon as part of a sell-on clause agreed when Thorne moved from the Robins to Stoke.

Thorne follows in the footsteps of his former team-mate Graham Kavanagh, who left Stoke for Ninian Park in the summer in a £1m deal.