Soccer Shorts

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Perrin is sacked

Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric's chances of bringing in Neil Warnock as manager have been hit after Sheffield United signalled their intentions to keep him at Bramall Lane. But that did not stop the Fratton Park chief doing an about-turn and announcing the sacking of Alain Perrin after just eight months at Fratton Park. Coach Joe Jordan will now take over in a caretaker-manager capacity for tomorrow night's home clash Chelsea.

That comes just 24 hours after Mandaric said Frenchman Perrin, who was odds-on at the bookmakers to be the first Premiership boss sacked this season, would still be in charge despite his miserable run of just four wins in 21 matches. Kevin McCabe, chairman of Sheffield United's plc, has promised Warnock a new, improved contract if the Blades reach the Premiership.

Pires staying put

Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires insists he will not leave Highbury during the transfer window and wants to stay at the club beyond the end of the season. The 32-year-old France international is out of contract next summer and can talk to other clubs in January about a free transfer, but said he is concentrating on winning silverware with Arsenal.

West Ham deal off

The proposed takeover of West Ham by Iranian-born businessman Kia Joorabchian has failed to materialise after disagreements over a price for the east-London club.

Media Sports Investments - the London-based consortium led by Joorabchian, a 34-year-old British passport holder - was reported to be considering a £200 million bid for the club.

It had been suggested his takeover would value West Ham at £45 million and he would then clear an estimated £30 million of debt and inject another £100 million into the Upton Park coffers, with a further £30 million spent on "keeping the cash flow going".

However, MSI yesterday released a statement to the Stock Exchange, in which the company announced they were "no longer interested in making an offer for West Ham" because of perceived problems over agreeing a valuation for the club.

Butler names squad

Republic of Ireland Under-15 manager Vincent Butler yesterday announced his squad for the friendly internationals away to The Netherlands on December 6th and 8th.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (squad v The Netherlands): Conor Clifford (Crumlin United), Gavin Gunning (Crumlin United), Richard Towell (Crumlin United), Shane Howard (Crumlin United), Aaron Doran (Crumlin United), Darragh Satelle (Crumlin United), David Crawley (Shelbourne), Karl Shephard (Shelbourne) Niall Byrne (Shelbourne), Gavin McArdle (Home Farm), Paul Murphy (Home Farm), Neil Harney (Belvedere), Mark Power (Clonmel Town) John Dunleavy (Ballybofey United), Gerard Hanley (Salthill Devon) Gregory Cunningham (Mervue United), Ronan Murray (Erris United).

Bruce shelves talks

Birmingham boss Steve Bruce is to shelve talks over new contracts for several of his players - including defender Mario Melchiot - until the club climb clear of relegation trouble.

Bruce wants Melchiot to stay at St Andrews but summer talks over a new deal for the former Chelsea player, whose current contract ends in June, ended in deadlock. Left-back Jamie Clapham also has only a year's option remaining of his contract while Bruce is also keen for centre-back Matthew Upson to extend his stay with the club. But any talks are being put on hold until City's current plight - they are lying second from bottom of the Premiership - improves considerably.