McAteer drops a division to Tranmere

Six weeks after being released by Sunderland as part of the first division (now Championship)club's latest attempt to rein in its wage bill, Jason McAteer has signed for second division (now League One) outfit Tranmere Rovers, writes Emmet MaloneSoccer Correspondent

The move, which is certain to involve a substantial cut in pay for the 33-year-old Republic of Ireland international, follows the collapse of his proposed move to Leicester City which, according to reports at the weekend, failed to go through because of continuing doubts about his long-term fitness.

McAteer, predictably, was upbeat about the move yesterday in a statement issued through the club's website saying that it had not taken Rovers boss Brian Little long to persuade him of the club's potential.

"After speaking to him it was an easy decision to make," he said. "They were unlucky not to make the play-offs. This season they'll be one of the favourites and hopefully with my experience we can get something going and get promotion."

The former Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers player is the fifth new arrival at Prenton Park since the end of last season and Little expressed satisfaction with both the quality and experience he will bring to a side that narrowly missed out on the play-offs in May after finishing eighth in the table.

One obvious plus for the midfielder, who has signed a two-year deal, is that the switch will involve a move back to Liverpool where his family has lived since failing to settle in the north east.

The drop in standard, however, will come as a serious blow to a player who had been bitterly disappointed not even to be sounded out by Mick McCarthy about what terms he might have accepted at Sunderland.

His final season at the Stadium of Light was severely disrupted by injury and having lost his place in the Ireland team his future in the side looks more doubtful than ever now.

John O'Shea, meanwhile, has welcomed the arrival of Gabriel Heinze at Manchester United as a good thing for the club even though the Argentinian defender threatens his place in the side.

"At a club like United, if you don't have competition for places, you are not going to get success," said the Irish defender who made 49 appearances for the Old Trafford club last season despite failing to maintain the sort of consistency he had produced during the 2002/'03 campaign.

"If you look back to the treble season, we had a fantastic squad," he observed. "Maybe we were lacking a little bit in terms of numbers last season and when we had a few lads injured or suspended, it upset us a bit.

"Additions have been made now and they are all welcome. Hopefully they will help us regain our title and challenge for other trophies."

Having paid more than €10 million for Heinze, Alex Ferguson is certainly likely to see him as adding to his options at the back where United often looked vulnerable last season.

The Scot will have to wait to give his new signing his debut, however, as the former PSG star is involved in the Copa America. Like the Argentinian, O'Shea also misses United's pre-season trip to the United States as he is recovering from a knee operation.

O'Shea, who has become a regular in the Irish team during the past 12 months concedes that last season was a little disappointing but, he says, "hopefully, it is something I will learn from and I can put the experience to good use this season.

"You have to expect new faces but there is no point worrying about who is coming. The only person I can afford to worry about is myself."

One man who will be spending the next couple of weeks in America, though, is 17-year-old Ireland youth international Darren O'Dea who flew out to Seattle with Celtic yesterday after receiving a late call-up to the club's senior squad from Martin O'Neill.

"It's something I definitely wasn't expecting," admitted the teenager prior to departing. "I'd just thought that I'd be coming back for pre-season with the youths or the under-21s but it's amazing how quickly things can change.

"The first I heard that I'd be going was just a couple of days before we flew out. I'd known that I was on standby ever since I was asked to come back for pre-season training with the first team and from that point of view it was just a case of waiting to see whether there would be any signings brought in.

"But nothing happened and that was obviously good news for me. Now I just want to make the most of it.

"Realistically I'll go there not expecting to play, just to take in the whole experience but I'm fit and more than ready to come into things if required. I'm certainly confident enough in my own ability to think I can do a job," he added.