McCarthy's new targets
Aug 1 2005
By Paul Gilder, The Journal
Mick McCarthy is preparing to go back to the drawing board in an attempt to strengthen his depleted squad as his two chief targets begin to slip from his grasp.
The Sunderland boss held fresh talks with Stoke at the weekend but, despite increasing his offer for Clive Clarke, it seems as though the in-demand defender is bound for West Ham.
Alan Pardew is confident of completing a deal for the 25-year-old this week and last night confirmed that Clarke is on the verge of pledging his future to the Upton Park club.
And having admitted that there is little more he can now do to persuade Derby to sanction the departure of Grzegorz Rasiak, McCarthy's summer recruitment programme is set to focus on fresh targets.
"We did make an approach for Rasiak but I have seen that (Derby manager) Phil Brown has been at pains to say that he is going to stay. So be it," said McCarthy, who having already offered £1m for a striker with no top-flight experience is not expected to meet the Rams' demand for the £2m they want for the Pole.
Rasiak scored in Derby's weekend win at Burton Albion and with the new Championship campaign now just five days away, Brown is determined to retain the striker's services. It is a familiar situation for McCarthy, who has already failed to land Kenny Miller, Heidar Helguson and Ricardo Fuller this summer.
"I am still looking and we're trying our best to get someone in," explained the Black Cats boss, who was linked with an interest in Walsall's England Under-19 international Matty Fryatt at the weekend. "People have been throwing names at me but I'm not going to confirm or deny any of them because I don't think that it is fair."
McCarthy and Pardew both held talks with John Rudge, Stoke's director of football, on Saturday morning. But with both having tabled bids of £300,000, it seems that the West Ham manager has clinched Clarke's signing having agreed to allow two of his fringe players to join the Potteries club on a season-long loan basis. The Black Cats boss is expected to use the 12 days leading up to the new season to cast his eye over several prospective signings on the Academy of Light training pitches.
High on his list of priorities will be adding defensive cover, with the Greek international Traianos Dellas understood to be among those to have come under consideration.
The 29-year-old has been linked with several English clubs this summer following the expiration of his contract at AS Roma and the Wearsiders are the latest side to be credited with an interest in the Euro 2004 winner. But his Italian agent Stefano Antonelli last night played down suggestions that Dellas is due in the North-East for a trial this week.
Another player to emerge as a potential recruit over the weekend is the former Newcastle full-back Olivier Bernard, who is a free agent having parted company with Southampton this summer.
The Frenchman has been training with Birmingham but although he had hoped to win a contract at St Andrew's, Bernard remains without a club with the new top-flight season less than two weeks away.
McCarthy has already confirmed that talks have been held with Bernard's representatives this summer. It seems that, following his failure to land Clarke, he may have decided to step up his initial interest in a player who would be an excellent addition to his squad.
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