NEWS:Robbie Brady is on course to return to Hull City on a permanent basis after the club agreed a fee of around €2.5 million to sign the Irish winger who has spent the the bulk of the last season and a half at the KC stadium.
Manager Steve Bruce has moved for the Ireland international after his latest loan spell at the club ended last week. The Dubliner had played well for the Championship side, who currently lie second in the table, over the first half of the season despite scoring just once in 12 appearances.
He has also started to feature for Giovanni Trapattoni in the national side, winning four senior caps since the close season.
Along with Brady, Bruce has also sought to make David Meyler a fully paid up member of his squad, with the Cork born midfielder having undergone a medical on Friday after a fee of just under €2m was agreed with Sunderland.
New contract
Robbie Keane looks increasingly likely to finish his senior club career in the United States after revealing he has signed a new contract with LA Galaxy.
Speaking on Friday night, the Ireland captain all but ruled out a loan move to England in the current transfer window and said he had signed his new deal over the course of last week.
“It’s been a long season with the Euros and what have you so I’ve a few little niggles that need to be sorted out, so I don’t think at this moment in time it would be right for me to go anywhere,” he said.
“I had another year left and they offered me a new contract at the end of last season so I’ve just signed a new two-year contract two days ago.”
With his club yet to confirm any details of the deal, it is not entirely clear whether the new deal involves a one- or two -year extension to the single season Keane had outstanding on his initial contract.
An outstanding second half to 2012 had made him look a solid bet for beyond next season despite being 32 years of age now.
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has described Shay Given as a “world class” goalkeeper in the wake of his strong performance against Ipswich in the FA Cup over the weekend, but did little to suggest the Donegal man man would be replacing Brad Guzan as his first choice despite the number of goals the Premier League side have conceded in recent weeks.
World class
“I think Shay has been unfortunate because of the way Brad has been playing,” he said. “Shay makes saves that I think are impossible to make. He is very good. Shay Given is a world-class goalkeeper but Brad Guzan has been playing fantastic for us as well.”
Given suggested last week he is considering a return to international football after retiring in the wake of the European Championships and Trapattoni is due to speak to the Donegal man about the issue over the course of this week.
The FAI, meanwhile, have said they are not aware of Sean St Ledger having suffered the sort of injury setback that could keep him out of the World Cup qualifiers in March against Austria and Sweden.
Unconfirmed reports over the weekend suggested the Leicester City defender will return to Germany for further consultations with specialists there and that an operation, to sort out a hamstring problem that would sideline him for eight weeks, now looks almost inevitable.
Former Ireland international John Sheridan was appointed manager of League Two strugglers Plymouth Argyle over the weekend, while Sean O’Driscoll turned down an approach to take over at Barnsley. Sheridan has previously been in charge at Oldham and Chesterfield but has been out of work since the latter relieved him of his duties back in August.
