Edwards tops McCarthy's list.
Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers are set to hand manager Mick McCarthy £10 million to strengthen his squad in January. And it seems that none other than Sunderland winger Carlos Edwards is one of the first players on McCarthy's list.
Meanwhile, over the Christmas season Sunderland players; Kenwyne Jones, Kieran Richardson, Danny Collins, Phil Bardsley and Carlos Edwards dished out goody bags full of special gifts for the children. The players also signed autographs as a memento of their visit.
Trinidad and Tobago international Jones, two-goal hero in the morale-boosting 4-0 win over fellow Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, was happy to help cheer up the children.
He told the Sunderland Echo - "It's good to come and see some of the kids that are poorly," he said. "It's not the best for them to be here so it's nice to try to put a smile on their faces for Christmas."
SAFC fan Daniel Bennett, eight, from Washington, was delighted to meet his heroes. "It was great to have the players in," he said. "I was looking forward to it all day. "Kenwyne gave me some tickets for a match and I can't wait to go."
After yesterday's visit to Sunderland Royal, Black Cats players will visit poorly youngsters at three other North East Hospitals this week. They will go to University Hospital of Durham, in Durham City; South Tyneside, in South Shields; and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
John Hughes wishes Latapy luck in new role.
Russell Latapy will quit Falkirk next month to take up a coaching job with Trinidad and Tobago. Latapy was appointed to a permanent position on the technical staff of the Trinidad & Tobago national team.
The 40-year-old maestro will be part of the Francisco Maturana’s support team and will arrive this weekend to hammer out the fine details of a move that would see him become assistant head coach.
Latapy spent six years with the Bairns and played into his 40s after Hughes convinced him he still had a lot of offer. Hughes said: "I have given Russell permission to go back home to finalise things.
"He has done wonders for Falkirk and I think all of our supporters would wish him all the best in his new job. He will always remain in our thoughts."
Hughes said Latapy will not be the only player to leave next month but that the credit crunch has put paid to his hopes of freshening things up in the January transfer window.
Roberts quietly moving up the Turkish table.
Trinidad and Tobago striker Darryl Roberts is among the 2008 Turkish Super League’s leading scorers. Roberts is fourth among the league scoring leaders.
Playing for Denizlispor, the former Liberty standout has put in a strong season during his rookie year in the league. He has tallied six goals in 12 games this season. Roberts scored his second goal in Super League play, only five minutes after his first.
The former Sparta Rotterdam man has got 3-goals in 18 games for his country, though his best goal-scoring record came in his time based in the U.S. with Carolina Dynamo which he managed to score 17 goals in 27 league appearance. International teammates Stern John, Osei Telesford and Randi Patterson also played for the North Carolina based team.
Roberts was first was drafted by Toronto FC as the 14th overall pick of the 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft, but rejected the offer and chose to move to Europe with Sparta Rotterdam instead where he also had a relatively good start to his professional career notching 9-goals in 34 games.
The Liberty University men’s soccer all-time leading scorer played at Liberty from 2003-06, and earned Freshman All-America honors in 2002. He finished his career as Liberty’s all-time scoring leader, with 94 points on 36 goals and 22 assists during his time in a Flames uniform. Now youngstar and countryman Emmanuel Joseph will look to follow the former Flames striker into the Flames book of fame.
Tables could turn for Bichall.
Just last week Times & Star reported that Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Chris Birchall is currently not being considered for first team selection by Carlisle United because he is not fit enough.
Even though Birchall has agreed to extend his loan deal with Carlisle until the end of the season the midfielder plays most of his games in reserve matches for Carlisle. Coventry's Chris Coleman has already told the Trinidad & Tobago international that his days with the Sky Blues were numbered.
Now it seems the loan spell could become a permanent deal as Carlisle United remain in negotiations with Coventry City over a possible permanent move in January for the loan midfielder, who came off the bench for his Blues debut at Swindon.
The Trinidad & Tobago international is pushing for a place in the starting line-up against leaders Leicester City and with midfielder Chris Lumsdon unlikely to kick a ball again this year after picking up an injury Birchall may well get his chance to cement a spot on Carlisle's start team and ink a permanent deal come next month.