Elliott & Webb called up, Baird captain

Stuart Elliott and Sean Webb have been called up to replace injured pair Damien Johnson and Jonny Evans for Wednesday’s match, while Chris Baird has been named captain in the absence of Aaron Hughes. Under Lawrie, the honour would normally have gone to Maik Taylor.

Baird becomes Lawrie’s 3rd NI signing

Chris Baird has turned down the chance to join Sunderland to sign for Fulham for £3.025m.
Lawrie: “I am well aware of Chris’s attributes as a player from my time with Northern Ireland and his qualities and versatility will be a major asset for the club next season. Winning the Southampton player of the season award last year is testament to his continued progress and development, which I have seen first hand at international level. Chris becomes my second defensive signing following the arrival of Aaron Hughes and both players provide some much needed strength to our defence.”
And having Hughesy and Baird playing together at club level can only be good for NI!

Baird: “I became aware of Fulham’s interest at the start of the summer. It’s been a long time coming as Fulham have made bids to Southampton for me but they were turned down straight away. It’s been a long, hard wait but thankfully it’s all done and dusted now and I’m a Fulham player.
“I had to speak to my family first and make sure they were happy with the move but it’s been made easier for me because I know a lot of the players and staff here at Fulham. I know Aaron Hughes, Steven Davis, Heidar Helguson and Antti Niemi on the playing side and Terry Gibson, Dave Beasant and the Manager, Lawrie Sanchez, from Northern Ireland.
“I was at Southampton for nine years which is a very long time and there comes a time when you have to call it a day and this was a great opportunity for me and my family. To play in the Premiership was one of the major reasons for me coming here. There are good quality players here and I’m just looking forward to the season. It’s not the easiest start against Arsenal but I don’t see why we can’t get a result if we do things right in pre-season.

Since the last update

Bristol City completed the signing of Ivan Sproule

Ivan signed a 3-year contract
Aaron Hughes moved to Fulham

“I’ve worked with the Manager before with Northern Ireland and I know that when he goes about a job he’s fully committed to it,” Hughes said. “I knew where he wanted to take Northern Ireland, he was successful and he’s got the same ambition with Fulham.
“Possibly the perception is that Fulham is a nice little London club, but when you get down here and have a look around, you realise that it’s bigger than many people think, which impressed me a lot. I always knew that Fulham was a good club and all things considered, it was a perfect move for me,” he said. “As far as move down here is concerned, I’m quite excited about living in the area and I think it will be a really good Club to play my football at and do well at.
“There is certainly a lot of potential; I know there are a lot of good players here already and hopefully we can fulfil that potential. I know how the Manager thinks and the way he wants Fulham to go. I’d like to be around here as long as I can and do really well. I’ll give everything every game and hopefully that will be enough. I hope to fit in and be part of a good team because, like I say, there are good players here already.”
LS: ‘I am delighted that we have been able to bring Aaron to Fulham. As my Captain whilst I was Manager at Northern Ireland, I saw his obvious leadership skills and his qualities as a player which are widely recognised, so I’m delighted that he becomes my first signing of the summer. He’ll bring some much needed depth to the squad and a level of commitment and tenacity that forms an integral part of my philosophy for next season’s campaign.’
And Lorry also completed the £4M signing of Steve Davis

‘I am pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement between the two clubs to enable me to play for Fulham next season. It was decision that took a lot of consideration as I have been at Aston Villa throughout my playing career, so leaving was not an easy choice to make. However, I discussed the move with the Manager and we talked about his plans here, which really impressed me, so although it’s sad to be leaving Villa, I know this is the right decision for me and my future.’
LS: ‘I am delighted that we have been able to bring Steven to Fulham. He is a young and exciting player and one whose signature reaffirms my ambitions for this Club. I made him the youngest player to Captain Northern Ireland with good reason – his commitment, passion and enthusiasm for the game are hard to rival, and I know that he will bring real quality to our squad. It was a slow start to the window for us, but now we’ve begun to add some new faces which is good for everyone here so I’m looking forward to some hard work on the training pitch and, of course, to the start of the season.’
Royston signed a 1-year deal at Rangers after being released by West Ham

Finally, Sunderland have had a £3M offer for Baird accepted by Southampton.

Since the last update

Bristol City completed the signing of Ivan Sproule

Ivan signed a 3-year contract
Aaron Hughes moved to Fulham

“I’ve worked with the Manager before with Northern Ireland and I know that when he goes about a job he’s fully committed to it,” Hughes said. “I knew where he wanted to take Northern Ireland, he was successful and he’s got the same ambition with Fulham.
“Possibly the perception is that Fulham is a nice little London club, but when you get down here and have a look around, you realise that it’s bigger than many people think, which impressed me a lot. I always knew that Fulham was a good club and all things considered, it was a perfect move for me,” he said. “As far as move down here is concerned, I’m quite excited about living in the area and I think it will be a really good Club to play my football at and do well at.
“There is certainly a lot of potential; I know there are a lot of good players here already and hopefully we can fulfil that potential. I know how the Manager thinks and the way he wants Fulham to go. I’d like to be around here as long as I can and do really well. I’ll give everything every game and hopefully that will be enough. I hope to fit in and be part of a good team because, like I say, there are good players here already.”
LS: ‘I am delighted that we have been able to bring Aaron to Fulham. As my Captain whilst I was Manager at Northern Ireland, I saw his obvious leadership skills and his qualities as a player which are widely recognised, so I’m delighted that he becomes my first signing of the summer. He’ll bring some much needed depth to the squad and a level of commitment and tenacity that forms an integral part of my philosophy for next season’s campaign.’
And Lorry also completed the £4M signing of Steve Davis

‘I am pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement between the two clubs to enable me to play for Fulham next season. It was decision that took a lot of consideration as I have been at Aston Villa throughout my playing career, so leaving was not an easy choice to make. However, I discussed the move with the Manager and we talked about his plans here, which really impressed me, so although it’s sad to be leaving Villa, I know this is the right decision for me and my future.’
LS: ‘I am delighted that we have been able to bring Steven to Fulham. He is a young and exciting player and one whose signature reaffirms my ambitions for this Club. I made him the youngest player to Captain Northern Ireland with good reason – his commitment, passion and enthusiasm for the game are hard to rival, and I know that he will bring real quality to our squad. It was a slow start to the window for us, but now we’ve begun to add some new faces which is good for everyone here so I’m looking forward to some hard work on the training pitch and, of course, to the start of the season.’
Royston signed a 1-year deal at Rangers after being released by West Ham

Finally, Sunderland have had a £3M offer for Baird accepted by Southampton.

Baird submits transfer request

After sticking with Southampton throughout the years when he had more international caps than club appearances, their player of the season Chris Baird has handed in a transfer request. This comes just days after Southampton laughed off a £2.5 Million bid from Fulham.
Following last night’s results Euro 2008 qualifiers we have fallen to 3rd place in the group. Sweden thumped the Icelanders 5-0, Spain beat Liechtenstein 2-0, and Denmark beat Latvia 2-0 as well.
The top of the group is as follows:
1 Sweden P: 6 – Pts: 15
2 Spain P: 7 – Pts: 15
3 Northern Ireland P: 6 – Pts: 13
4 Denmark P: 5 – Pts: 10
UEFA will rule on the Sweden – Denmark postponement tomorrow. However with a double header against Liechtenstein and Latvia coming up, hopefully we can take 6 points and charge back up the rankings. Hopefully…

Baird screamer

Chris Baird scored his 3rd goal of the season tonight, an absolute screamer. I’ll get the video on as soon as it’s on YouTube. It was in a 2-2 draw with Cardiff.
In Sheff Wed’s 2-0 win over Colchester, Chris Brunt hit in a corner so good that a Colchester defender couldn’t resist heading it into his own net.
Stuart Elliott also got another 90 minutes under his belt as Hull moved clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Luton. Feeney came on at half time – his side are now 2nd bottom of the Championship.

Baird scores again!

Chris Baird got his second goal of the season, and indeed his career, this afternoon against Crystal Palace. Baird headed Southampton into the lead, but was robbed in the second half to gift Palace an equaliser.

More Baird

Firstly, the video of the goal is now on YouTube:

However, it seems that scoring may have brought out Baird’s aggressive tendancies. Pete sent me this link yesterday which tells the strange story of Baird and his keeper (goalkeeper – he’s not totally lost it) having to be pulled apart by their own teammates following Baird deflecting a late goal past him in their 4-3 win over Birmingham on Wednesday.
Manager George Burley was Not Impressed: “I had to have strong words with them. I have always prided myself on my teams being disciplined and this will never happen again.”

BAIRD SCORES!!! – As does McCann in dream debut – and Sproule (v Old Firm, again)

Chris Baird scored his first senior goal, to mark his 50th Southampton appearance on Saturday. He got the opener in Southampton’s 2-1 win over Luton.



Everyone’s favourite NI defensive midfielder (:-P) said:
“I was delighted to get on the scoresheet at last. I got one for Northern Ireland Under 21’s a while back but this was my first senior goal. I have had a few half chances this season and not taken any of them so it was good to see this one go in. The ball went out wide following a corner and I thought I would stay up there and when the cross came in I made up my mind to attack it and see what happened. It was quite a powerful header which took the ball past the keeper. I was not sure it had gone over the line at first but it did and then i ran away not really knowing what to do! It’s good to get off the mark. I did not want to follow in the footsteps of Claus Lundekvam and wait 300 games for a goal. I told him I am catching him up now! To be fair it is hardly a prolific partnership with three goals in 400 games between us but I don’t mind as long as the strikers are scoring.
“I will be trying to get another one on Wednesday now because that is a massive game for us. If we can win that then we will have real momentum and the gap on Birmingham would be down to just four points which is nothing really. We then go into two away games where we have a real chance of picking up points so this is a crucial spell for us. We want to keep this unbeaten run going as long as possible and I am very confident we can go on to win promotion.”
For a long time, Baird famously had more NI caps than senior club starts:
“We did well against Luton and it was great to mark my 50th game with a goal. I did not even realise it was 50 until Grzegorz pointed it out. There was a time I never thought I would get to 50 games but now things are going well for me. A lot of things have changed in my time here – managers and players. But the spirit in the club is fantastic and I am sure we will be up there at the end of the season.”
Saints manager George Burley on ‘probably our best player this season’:
“I was delighted for Chris to get his first senior goal. He has probably been our best player this season and has been terrific since I came to the club. He deserved to open his account today.”

Grant McCann couldn’t have hoped for a better debut for Barnsley as he had on Saturday, getting a stoppage time winner to give his new club a 1-0 win over Ipswich. Earlier, McCann saw a fierce left-foot volley fly inches over the bar.

Ivan Sproule got the opener for Hibs against Celtic against Easter Road (see above). The home side went 2-0 up before being pegged back to 2-2.

There were assists for Stuart Elliott and Tony Capaldi (again from a free kick). Elliott also went close with a shot from distance, and seems to be playing himself into form. Capaldi still seems to be playing at left back, which can only be good for NI. Hull drew 1-1 with Norwich, while Plymouth lost 2-1 to Leeds – with David Healy an unused sub.

Baird signs new 3 year deal

Northern Ireland right back Chris Baird, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season, has signed a new 3-year deal at Southampton. He said:

“I am really pleased to have got it all sorted and now I am already looking forward to next season. This is the longest contract I have had; previously it has always been a two-year deal. But the chairman has given me a fantastic contract and I am very grateful.
“Obviously there could be a lot of changes for next season but I am very happy that I will be part of it. I love it here. It is a great club and a good place to live and I did not want want to move, but I did need to be playing first-team football.
“The new manager has come in and given me a chance and I feel I have taken it. I have played a few different roles too, even covering at centre-back and in midfield. Ideally I would like to try and hold down the right-back slot next season but I will play anywhere the manager needs me.The gaffer came in and gave everyone a chance and when Alex Ostlund got injured then I got a run of games and I have managed to stay in the side. I have enjoyed it and the last few weeks have gone very well for me. There were other clubs interested but I have been here all my career and did not want to move.”