Irish keeper Gilmartin signs for Watford
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Watford have signed Republic of Ireland keeper Rene Gilmartin from League One side Walsall. Gilmartin, 23, has signed a two year contract with the Hornets. He leaves the Saddlers after five years at the Banks’ Stadium.
The 6’5’’ Gilmartin had loan spells at Worcester City and Hednesford Town during his stint at Walsall. He has also been capped by the Republic of Ireland at U-19 and U-21 level.
Gilmartin will compete with Scott Roach for the No.1 shirt at Watford during the 10/11 season.
Watford finished 16th in the Championship last season, while Walsall had to be content with a 10th place finish in League One.
Matejovsky leaves Reading
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Royal’s midfielder Marek Matejovsky has signed for Czech champions Sparta Prague for an undisclosed amount. The 28-year old who joined Reading from Mlada Boleslav for £1.4million in 2008 struggled to hold down a place in the starting line-up over the last two years. After signing in 2008, Matejovsky enjoyed a purple patch where he went on to represent his national side at the European Championships.
But after Reading’s relegation from the top tier of English football, Matejovsky’s form declined. He made just 14 starts in an injury hit 2008-09 season and appeared only 15 times last season under Coppell. In his 51 appearances for Reading, he managed to score only two goals.
Reading’s football director Nick Hammond insisted that the deal was beneficial for both parties. “We have a large number of good midfield players and over the last two seasons Marek has been unable to hold down a regular first-team place. Marek, like many, wants to play regular football and with so much competition for that position in our squad we could not guarantee him that next year “, he said.
After finishing ninth in the Championship, Reading are looking to strengthen their squad and mount a serious challenge for promotion next season.
Sheffield United sign Johannes Ertl
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Sheffield United have signed Austria international defender Johannes Ertl on a free transfer.
Johannes Ertl who was released by Crystal Palace signes a two-year contract which will keep him at the club untill 2012.
The 27 year old defender has had seven international caps for his country.
Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell said: “He’s a good lad who can do a very solid job at right-back, central midfield and even centre-half.
“He has played enough times in the Championship for me to know he can come in and do it for us here.”
Football League Loan Deals - 20 March
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In today’s piece, we have a quick look at the loan movements in the Coca Cola Championship. Sheffield United have signed goalkeeper Steve Simonsen on a month long loan deal from Premiership side Stoke City. The Blades had to look for reinforcements after Blackburn decided to call back Mark Bunn on Wednesday. The 30-year old stopper is expected to go straight into the squad for their next game against Doncaster Rovers.
Blackpool have edged QPR in the race to sign Everton full back Seamus Coleman on a one month loan deal. The Republic of Ireland Under 21 international made his debut for Everton against Benfica last year in a Europa League encounter and has impressed whenever he has played for the Toffees.
Nottingham Forest are eager to turn Radoslaw Majewski’s loan deal into a permanent move. Majewski has impressed at the City Ground since arriving from Polonia Warsaw last summer. Forest boss Billy Davies is keen on Majewski being a Forest player for the next season.
Meanwhile, Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale has extended his loan spell with Plymouth by a month and will remain at Home Park till 24th April. Stockdale has made 12 appearances for the Pilgrims.
Plymouth close in on Bhasera
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Championship side Plymouth Argyle are close to completing a deal for Zimbabwean international Onismor Bhasera. The defender had been involved in a contract wrangle with his current club Kaiser Chiefs. The South African club believed that they own his registration while the player insisted that he was a free agent.
Bhasera had been trying to secure a move to England for a long time. He trained with Pompey at the end of last season. He also spent a lot of time with Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday on trial but Plymouth moved swiftly and secured the services of the 23-year-old left full back. Bhasera would need to obtain his visa and international clearance before he can make his debut for Plymouth, who find themselves second from bottom and struggling for survival in the League. If the deal goes through, Bhasera would become the second defender to sign for Plymouth this week after the loan signing of Bondz N’Gala from West Ham United.
Paul Hart had been a huge fan of Bhasera and had given him trials at Portsmouth and QPR. But after Hart’s departure from QPR, the Loftus Road club decided to sign Matt Hill paving the way for Bhasera to join Paul Mariner at Plymouth.
Football League News - 05 March 2010
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Let’s take a quick look at the player movements in England’s lower leagues. Burnley defender Richard Eckersley has joined Plymouth on loan for a month’s duration. He is expected to go straight into the first team for Plymouth’s game against Preston on Friday. Meanwhile, Norwich are close to signing Preston striker Stephen Elliott till the end of the season. The Republic of Ireland international has had his opportunities limited at Deepdale after the arrival of Danny Welbeck on loan from Manchester United.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has stated that teenage prodigy Martyn Waghorn is not for sale. The 17 year old who is on loan at Leicester has earned rave reviews for his displays in the Championship but Bruce insists that there is no chance of the player leaving the Stadium of Light. Oldham have moved quickly to land Blackpool’s Daniel Nardiello in a move which will hopefully reduce their goal scoring worries. Newcastle winger Kazenga Lua Lua has expressed his desire to extend his loan spell at Brighton and Hove Albion. His initial loan deal was to expire after Brighton’s next game against Colchester but Seagulls boss Gus Poyet is interested to extend his loan spell.
And finally, after being out for four months with a foot injury, Joey Barton has resumed training with Newcastle United. He is expected play for the reserves in the next week and according to Chris Hughton, Barton might play a major part in Newcastle’s last 13 games in the Championship.
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