Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison has been called into the Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad for the matches against Portugal and Estonia next month. Don Givens called up the 22-year-old after Morrison confirmed to senior manager Mick McCarthy he would pledge his international future to Ireland.
Morrison obtained his Irish passport in time to be called into Givens' panel for the two qualifiers. An FAI statement read: "Clinton Morrison has been called into the Under-21 squad for the European Championship games against Portugal and Estonia.
"Morrison, who qualifies for the Republic as his Irish grandmother Mary is from Dublin, has succeeded in obtaining an Irish passport in time. Morrison, who also had claims to play for Jamaica and England, has decided he wants to declare for the Republic. Senior team manager Mick McCarthy was happy the player had taken this decision."
Blackburn Rovers moved yesterday to sign midfielder Alan Mahon on a permanent basis in a £1.5 million deal. Mahon was on loan at Ewood Park from Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon last season. The 21-year-old Dubliner said: "This is a fantastic club, everything is geared up for the Premiership and I really want to be a part of it."
Steve McClaren could be confirmed as Middlesbrough coach by tomorrow. McClaren looks set to quit Manchester United and move to the Riverside Stadium after Middlesbrough made a late entry to the race for his services. West Ham had been favourites and they were confident that they had beaten off interest from Southampton to land McClaren. But West Ham have now admitted defeat after McClaren cancelled talks scheduled for yesterday, claiming he wanted to speak to Middlesbrough. Terry Venables' future role at the Riverside became increasingly uncertain last night after ITV announced he has signed a five-year extension to his contract with them.
Crystal Palace have revealed that they turned down an offer from Paul Merson to become their new manager. "I was approached by his agent and was informed of Paul's desire to discuss becoming our manager but I said no thank you," said their chairman, Simon Jordan. The 33-year-old midfielder is still under contract at Aston Villa, but is keen to move into coaching. Anderlecht say Jan Koller is expected to sign for Borussia Dortmund after the German club agreed to match Fulham's offer for the striker. The Czech Republic international, currently with the Belgian champions, appears certain to move in the summer and the first division champions had agreed a £8 million fee to sign him last week. The Bundesliga side now look favourites to snare him.
Fulham are also likely to fail in their bid to sign the Welsh international Gary Speed after Newcastle offered the 31-yearold midfielder a new three-year contract. But news was less good for Kevin Gallacher, Daniel Cordone, Des Hamilton and David McMahon, all of whom were given free transfers by Newcastle yesterday.
Ecuador's coach Hernan Dario Gomez has resigned his post, throwing his side's hopes of qualifying for their first ever World Cup finals into turmoil. The Colombian-born coach was shot in the face and right leg earlier this month by people he believed were hired by exiled former president Abdala Bucaram. Bucuram was reportedly furious his son had not been selected in an under21 side by Gomez, but has since denied involvement.
