Other soccer stories in brief

Staunton in line

Steve Staunton is among the candidates to succeed George Burley as manager of Championship side Southampton, writes Emmet Malone. The 39 year-old is reported to have applied for the job, three months after being sacked by the FAI.

Burley vacated the job in order to take charge of the Scottish national team and Staunton is aiming to move in the opposite direction, having never previously managed in club football.

The Louthman has kept a low profile since losing his job here but confirmed in a recent interview his intention was to pursue a career in coaching.

McAuley stays

The Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric has revealed that the club has rejected Ipswich's latest offer for Gareth McAuley. Mandaric also revealed that he plans to keep McAuley at the Walkers Stadium by offering the Northern Ireland international defender a new contract.

Ipswich first expressed their interest in the player at the turn of the year, but Mandaric said, "We have finally rejected the offer and Gareth McAuley stays".

"He is a quality player, we are ambitious to get into the Premier League and we need players like him to do that."

2012 preparations

Poland and Ukraine were told by Uefa president Michel Platini yesterday to speed up their preparations for the 2012 European championship.

Platini did not go as far as saying the two countries risked losing the right to stage the tournament in four-and-a-half years' time, but he said their preparations for the tournament must be improved.

"I have the distinct feeling that the next four to six months will be crucial in order to avoid any critical slippage in sports and public infrastructure projects and to protect the global credibility of the Euro project itself," Platini said during executive committee discussions of the planning stage.

Uefa recognised preparations had suffered because of political instability in the two countries since they were awarded the championship last April.

Riveiro signs

Athletic Bilbao have agreed to sign 37-year-old goalkeeper Armando Riveiro from second-division Cadiz in order to provide cover for the injured Gorka Iraizoz, who is expected to be out for the rest of the season after tearing a tendon in his thigh.

Armando, who was born in the Basque Country, has played for Cadiz for the last 10 seasons and made 25 appearances for the side when they were in the Primera Liga in the 2005-2006 season.

Cahill for Villa

Bolton have signed Aston Villa centre-half Gary Cahill on a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee, the club announced last night.