STOKE CITY manager Tony Pulis has confirmed that he is weighing up an offer from another Premier League club for Republic of Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan. The Dubliner is believed to have been targeted along with team mate Abdoulaye Faye and it is believed that City would be interested in selling the pair for a combined fee of around €2.4 million.
Pulis refused to name the club involved but Whelan, who said back in November he would consider leaving the Britannia Stadium if he did not regain a regular starting spot in order to safeguard his place in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland side, has previously been linked with Wolves and a number of other sides.
The midfielder turns 27 this week and while he had been a regular at City last season, Saturday’s 1-1 FA Cup draw with Cardiff City was his first start in 13 matches and he is expected to be back on the bench for this weekend’s Premier League game against Bolton.
Sean St Ledger, meanwhile, is hoping the change of manager at Preston North End will mean a brighter future for him at Deepdale, where he found himself on the margins towards the end of Darren Ferguson’s reign, prompting speculation he would move on this month.
“It is nice when people talk about you, but I just get on with it,” he says. “Phil Brown coming in is a new start for all of us. He’s a good coach as well as a good manager – he took Hull into the Premier League, so we can only learn from him. I’m enjoying playing football again, I’m happy living in the area, and the new manager coming in has been a breath of fresh air. He has been very positive and I will be giving my all for the rest of the season.”
Brown has insisted he wants the central defender to stay and believes the player can recover his best form once things settle at the club.
“I know we are in January and there is a chance you can lose players, but it would take an awful lot of money to take Sean away,” he says. “When you think about it, Sean has been pulled from pillar to post in the last year. With managers coming and going, and the move to Middlesbrough, he must have been thinking, ‘Where the hell am I?’ But against Forest he showed the level of commitment to the shirt which I’m after.”
Séamus Coleman insists the Everton players have been unmoved by the return of Kenny Dalglish to the Liverpool manager’s job ahead of the weekend’s Merseyside derby game.
“Maybe Liverpool and their fans will be more up for the game now they have a new manager,” he says, “but it will not change how we approach the game,” said Coleman. “We can only worry about ourselves, we just need to prepare well this week.
“Like we did against Spurs, we need to push and press Liverpool early on and not let them get their heads up,” added Coleman, who laid on a goal when the two sides met earlier in the season. “The derby is always a massive game and we’ve won one already and it would be great to get a second.
“I’m starting to enjoy playing on the wing more and more,” he continued. “I’m learning every week because I’m nowhere near the finished article but I’m learning the role more and getting a few goals is always good.”
Noel Hunt has confirmed he is in talks with Reading about a new contract. The striker, whose current deal is up in the summer, has suffered a couple of major injury problems since moving to the club from Dundee United in July 2008 but is hopeful of extending his stay.
Notts County are close to agreeing a deal with Blackburn to sign Dubliner Alan Judge on a permanent basis. The midfielder has been a big hit at Meadow Lane since joining on loan in August, making 14 appearances for Paul Ince’s side this season.
Shamrock Rovers have confirmed that defender Pat Flynn has signed a new one-year contract with the club. Karl Sheppard, Stephen O’Donnell, Gary McCabe and Enda Stevens have all also signed or re-signed for the league champions in recent days.
