Lack of player movement causes concern

SOCCER/On Soccer: The emergence from retirement of Zinedine Zidane and friends last week may not have been what Brian Kerr wanted to hear as he wrapped up his holidays. But there must already have been disappointment for the Ireland manager in the failure of several of his squad to get away from clubs where they have become marginalised.

Three of those named in the panel for next week's game against the Italians - Clinton Morrison, Ian Harte and Liam Miller - ended last season watching their teams from the sidelines. The first two were widely expected to move on in search of regular first-team football, but neither has done so despite considerable interest in both. Miller, meanwhile, has apparently been won over by reassurances from those close to Alex Ferguson that his long-term prospects are bright at Old Trafford.

Kerr hinted at disappointment in relation to the three and admitted to concern over Miller's position.

"He hasn't played enough football from the point of view of his own development," said Kerr. "But when you get your chance you have to take it and there's been a bit of movement out during the summer, which might leave him closer to being picked on a regular basis. I'd hope so, because it would be important to get more games in order to help his development."

A breakthrough for Miller, long regarded as a potentially important player for the national team, would be hugely welcome, but only Phil Neville's departure for Everton would appear to be of any benefit to him, while Park Ji-Sung's arrival could more than cancel that out.

For Morrison and Harte things look more uncertain. Both are anxious to move but, Kerr revealed, have been hindered by the size of the fees their clubs are looking for.

In the case of Harte, Kerr remarked, "The club have told him that they want £3 million, and given that they paid nothing for him he must have had quite a season".

If they think so then clearly there's been a major change of tune around Levante, for after the club changed coach just prior to being relegated, Harte was swiftly dropped, which was taken as a clear indication the new man didn't rate him.

West Ham were strongly linked with a move for him but eventually signed another Irish left back, Clive Clarke, instead.

There were other expressions of interest, but the Ireland manager fears the former Leeds United player could now fall victim to an increasingly soft transfer market in which most clubs are seeking to avoid paying transfer fees and those outside the top flight are attempting to keep a lid on wages.

Morrison's position is somewhat similar. The striker was widely linked to Sunderland before Mick McCarthy's budget for the summer was set. But the former Ireland boss was not given as much cash as he expected, while Steve Bruce, who has repeatedly said that he wanted to keep Morrison around the place, would not let him go for free.

On the face of it the return of Mikael Forssell to St Andrew's might be viewed as a mixed blessing for Morrison given that he had helped to set up so many goals for the Finn during his first spell at the club. The problem is that since then Emile Heskey and Walter Pandiani have been signed and look to be firmly ahead of the Ireland international in the queue for regular football.

The French, of course, might be bemused by such problems. Their biggest concern of this type seems to be whether William Gallas is obliged to play at full back rather than in his preferred central position at Chelsea.

Manager Raymond Domenech himself, however, has had a good deal else to worry about in recent months, and when Kerr half joked yesterday that the return of Zidane and company might be a sign of panic he probably wasn't far off the mark.

Close observers of the team in France believe Domenech originally felt the group was easy enough and that he could let the veterans go and blood a string of up-and-coming players while qualifying.

A youngish team would then reach the World Cup with a decent campaign under their belts, at which point they might at least be able to match France's showing at Euro 2004.

With this in mind he made little effort at first to persuade the old guard to stay on. Only much more recently did he come to the realisation that the policy had backfired and he was in serious trouble.

Prior to Ireland's draw with Israel in June there was widespread resignation to the French having to settle, at best, for a place in the play-offs but Israel's two goals have rekindled Domenech's hopes of progressing and he has worked hard over the summer to salvage the situation.

On the face of it his position has been improved by last week's announcements, but the truce in the French camp is likely to be an uneasy one and Domenech must now get more out of players he wished to discard than they produced in Portugal last summer. We will find out in just a few weeks how well he is rising to the challenge.