SOCCER:STEVE BRUCE is expected to hold face-to-face talks with John O'Shea today in a bid to clinch the 30-year-old's signature ahead of Sunderland first session of pre-season training tomorrow.
Talks with the Waterford man are believed to have gone well in recent weeks with O’Shea finding the club’s offer acceptable. However, things have dragged on for weeks since Bruce made an offer of nearly €15 million for O’Shea, Darron Gibson and Wes Brown. The Sunderland manager is said to be anxious to sort out any remaining obstacles in relation to O’Shea in order to have him available for as much of the pre-season as possible, and to head off any possible enquiries from other clubs.
The Shay Given saga continued to rumble on yesterday with Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish still said to be keen on the 35-year-old Irishman but a little reluctant to meet Manchester City’s valuation of about €4.5 million. Villa are reported to have offered roughly half that amount and it is claimed Given has turned down a move to West Brom because of Villa’s interest. However, it still seemed possible last night McLeish might be deterred by the asking price and revert to Ben Foster, the Birmingham City goalkeeper who is widely believed to have been the Scot’s preferred target all along.
Seán St Ledger has completed his €1.35 million move to Leicester City with the 26-year-old signing a three-year deal with the Championship outfit. “I am very pleased Seán will be joining us,” said manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. “He expressed a real desire to play for Leicester City and I believe he will have a positive impact. Seán is a very good defender and has proven this in league football, but also on the international stage for the Republic of Ireland. He fits the profile of hungry players, eager to impress and work hard for their place. He is strong and is a reliable defender.”
Former Ireland Under-21 international goalkeeper Stephen Henderson looks set to leave Bristol City for Portsmouth after turning down the chance to stay at Ashton Gate for a further two years. Henderson has made just five starts since joining the club in 2007 but enhanced his reputation considerably last year during a loan spell with Yeovil. He appears to have delayed making a decision until it was clear what was happening with the club’s two other goalkeepers, David James and Dean Gerken, but now that both have signed up for next season he looks certain to leave.
Also on course to join Portsmouth yesterday was former Ireland midfielder Alan McLoughlin who has been offered a coaching post with the youth team set-up.
Colin Calderwood was on the verge of leaving Hibernian last night in order to rejoin his former boss Chris Hughton at Birmingham City. The clubs were reported yesterday to have agreed a compensation package for the former Spurs player who has been the manager at Easter Road since leaving Newcastle during the early part of last season. Shamrock Rovers manager Michael O’Neill is likely to be one of the names linked with the vacancy, at what is one of his former clubs, in the event the switch does go through.
Paddy McCourt says he is happy to stay and fight for his place at Celtic despite finding first-team chances harder to come by after Kris Commons arrived in January.
“I was disappointed not to be involved but had to take my hat off to Kris because he was playing great stuff,” said the Northern Ireland international who is on a pre-season tour with the club in Australia. “My confidence didn’t suffer, though, because I spoke to the manager and he assured me I’d done nothing wrong. It was simply Kris was playing so well and that was keeping me out . . . I just need to work hard this year.”
Sheffield Wednesday manager Gary Megson has paid tribute to James O’Connor’s commitment to the club after acknowledging that the Irish midfielder had to take a “substantial” cut in pay to sign a new one-year deal with the League One side.
