Soccer: Clinton Morrison was last night on the verge of completing a move to Norwich City that should provide the Republic of Ireland striker with the opportunity to play regular first-team football for the first time since he left Crystal Palace almost three years ago.
The move looks likely to go through after the clubs agreed a €3-million fee and the player headed straight to Norfolk from Dublin yesterday to discuss personal terms. It would be something of a boost for Ireland manager Brian Kerr who could, after Wednesday's 2-1 defeat by Italy, do with having the 26-year-old at the top of his game for the visit of France in almost three weeks' time.
More important, though, will be the return to the team of Roy and Robbie Keane, both of whom were sorely missed at Lansdowne Road, where Kerr's attempt to make the most of the resources available to him by switching to a 4-3-3 formation fell flat.
While the Italians excelled in attack thanks to the efforts of a frontline of Alessandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri and Alberto Gilardino (and sluggish defending by the Irish, particularly Richard Dunne) the home team struggled to make an attacking impact early on as Damien Duff and Andy Reid operated more as wide men in a five-strong midfield than as the additional strikers either side of Morrison that Kerr had apparently intended.
Morrison was isolated for long spells as he fought a brave physical battle with a couple of the best central defenders in Europe. The French may not be quite so strong in this department but it is clear they will need to be tested more effectively than the Italians were. And the most obvious way of achieving that will be for Kerr to revert to 4-4-2. There will be a downside to that too if either of his first-choice strikers is missing on September 7th.
"We were slow," said Morrison when asked about Wednesday's performance. "We didn't adapt to the 4-3-3 and we only started to get going after 20 minutes. We can't do that again. Obviously we've done well this campaign playing with 4-4-2, so it was a big change. Playing 4-3-3 - I don't know if we'll adjust quickly enough to it."
With the two Keanes back, Morrison believes the Irish will be much better equipped to counter the strengths of the French but, he accepts, "if we don't put away our chances, and we don't defend properly we're going to pay for it and we won't qualify. The fact is that we wouldn't deserve to qualify.
"But the players know what it's about and come three weeks' time I think things will be different. I honestly think we'll get the result that we need."
By then Morrison looks certain to be playing his football at Carrow Road, a step back which he believes is worth taking in order to take a couple forward again.
"When I'm playing football I know what I'm capable of and I just want to be given the chance on a regular basis. When I come here and put on a green jersey I'm given a chance and the manager believes in me.
"First and foremost, it (his future) is up to Birmingham. I've said all along that I'm happy to stay once I get my chances but at the moment that doesn't look like happening. Obviously in those circumstances you've got to look elsewhere."
City manager Steve Bruce certainly seems to have made up his mind on the matter, the former Manchester United skipper more or less bidding adieu to the player yesterday.
"We are facing the prospect of losing someone on a Bosman free transfer or accepting a deal worth a couple of million quid," he said. "He has always played his part and helped us to get to where we are. He has been great for the club, maybe not as great as we hoped when we signed him, but I will genuinely miss him and I wish him well."
While a string of other clubs had expressed an interest in Morrison, Norwich seem to have been the only one prepared to stump up the fee and wages required while also offering the near-certain prospect of regular starts.
Games and goals for Morrison over the coming weeks would not quite solve all of Kerr's concerns ahead of the visit of France but they would at least constitute a small step in the right direction.
