SOCCER ROUND-UP: Having endured a long wait before Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce finally indicated he was about to start serious talks about a new contract, Jeff Kenna yesterday seemed to take the tone of his manager's announcement as his cue to depart St Andrew's.
By tea-time the full back (33) was a Derby County player and preparing himself for a relegation scrap as his new club try to cling on to their first-division status.
The former Republic of Ireland defender had repeatedly made it clear that his preference was to stay on with the midlands club he skippered first to promotion and then, last year, to their highest top-flight finish in many years.
Having heard Bruce suggest, however, that he hoped to keep Kenna in the event that the player didn't feel the need to go elsewhere in search of first-team football, the Irishman may have sensed that the offer would not be quite what he had been hoping for, and his chances of re-establishing himself as a regular starter were looking increasingly fanciful.
In the circumstances the news, a few hours later, that Kenna had signed a two-year deal for George Burley at Derby was no great surprise, particularly as the Scot has been expressing interest in the full back all season.
"He's a tremendous professional with bags of experience and he'll be a positive influence on the players around him," said Burley of the man who won a Premier League winner's medal with Blackburn.
"I'm glad George maintained his interest," said Kenna, who made his English league debut against Derby while playing for Southampton almost 13 years ago.
"It's an old cliché but this is a Premiership set-up and there's no way the club should be propping up the first division. We need to turn things around but there's a lot of games left and there's no reason why we can't do it."
Clive Delaney, meanwhile, was expected to sign for Derry City last night after spending the weekend in talks with a number of clubs about a move from St Patrick's Athletic.
The Ireland under-21 international, who had a brief spell with West Ham after making his name at UCD, was told last week he could leave Richmond Park just six months after arriving there. Waterford United had also been chasing his signature in recent days.
Elsewhere, Stephen McGuinness has returned to Dundalk, the club where he won an FAI cup winner's medal two years ago. The 30-year-old defender was out of contract with Shamrock Rovers.
Alex Ferguson may have to play Ryan Giggs at left back in Sunday's Manchester derby because of an injury to Roy Keane that has left his defensive resources threadbare.
Keane has been deputising at centre half and unless he recovers from a hamstring strain Ferguson will have only three defenders available: John O'Shea, Wes Brown and Phil Neville.
There was better news, however, when it emerged that Cristiano Ronaldo's thigh injury might not be as bad as first feared, even though he is unlikely to figure against Manchester City on Sunday.
The fallout from Tuesday's 1-1 draw may have repercussions for Porto's coach Jose Mourinho, too, with UEFA investigating claims he made obscene gestures at fans as he ran down the tunnel at the final whistle.
UEFA are waiting for the match delegate's report but are aware the incident was caught on film.
