There was renewed uncertainty around the Shelbourne camp last night after the club's chief executive, Ollie Byrne, was taken to hospital with reported chest pains. The 63-year-old Dubliner was said to have been undergoing tests last night.
Byrne, who has repeatedly suggested that he might take more of a back-seat role at the Tolka Park outfit should an offer to take over the club be made by what he considered to be a party with the best interests of the club at heart, has been under intense pressure in recent months amid a series of major financial problems.
The club is again reported to have had problems with the wage bill this week with insufficient funds available, it seems, even for the limited number of players signed up for the coming season.
After several unsuccessful attempts to appoint a successor to Pat Fenlon, former striker Stephen Geoghegan had been lined up to take on the manager's job, but his appointment has been held up, apparently by reservations on his part over the club's financial situation and complications connected with his lack of coaching qualifications.
The funding required to get the club through the coming year has been on offer from Ozzie Kilkenny who, along with his business partners, owns an option to buy Tolka Park for development. But the money was to be made available only if Byrne stepped aside. The Dubliner, who owns the club and is central to its day-to-day operations, fiercely resisted the proposal, but there are suggestions that his position might have softened in recent days.
Former under-21 international Colin Hawkins will train with Coventry City this morning for the first time in almost a decade as the 29-year-old eyes up a return to the struggling English Championship club where he started his career.
Interim City boss Adrian Heath has apparently expressed a firm interest in signing the former St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians and Shelbourne defender, although Hawkins is weighing up offers from Derry City and Dunfermline.
Coventry are still considering who to appoint as long-term successor to Micky Adams, who was dismissed last week, while Stephen Kenny's Dunfermline look likely to lose their battle against relegation from the Scottish Premier League. Linking up with Pat Fenlon again at the Brandywell would also have its attractions, although the League of Ireland club is unlikely to be able to match the financial side of the deals being offered by the two British clubs.
Longford's Seán Prunty, meanwhile, is on trial at Kenny's East End Park club this week.
Kenny yesterday released veteran defender Andy Tod and warned that others are likely to follow him out of the club, with Prunty possibly getting an opportunity as a result of the departures to establish himself at left back.
