Football Ireland

Also moving before the loan deadline closed on Thursday was the 34-year-old former Ireland and Leeds United defender Paul Butler, who has joined League Two side MK Dons on loan, while Dean Kiely, 36, has gone from Portsmouth to Luton.

Teenager under fire

The teenage prodigy James McCarthy, who as we revealed in the column last week has chosen Ireland over the country of his birth, Scotland, has run into a predictable volley of abuse as news of his defection spreads. Footballing websites have been peppered with contributions from irate Scotland fans, accusing McCarthy, among other things, of being a traitor and a Plastic Paddy.

McCarthy, who made his debut for the Scottish Division One side Hamilton Academical earlier this season, apparently chose Ireland because that was the dying wish of his grandfather, Paddy Coyle.

‘It makes me sick when I hear this,’ said McCarthy’s mother, Marie. ‘He’s only a young boy who wants to play football. These people aren’t real football fans. He was never asked to play for Scotland and was flattered that he was asked to play for Ireland.’

Robson case sparks investigation Hospital staff have been disciplined after breaking rules to access medical records believed to belong to Sir Bobby Robson, below. Ireland’s international consultant needed surgery in August for a brain tumour, and the work was carried out by doctors at Newcastle’s General Hospital. Staff from the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are believed to have tapped into his computerised records.

Officials at the trust launched an investigation and as a result sent written warnings to 10 staff members allegedly involved.

Robson, who has battled cancer four times, told Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle: ‘If my records are involved, then this is something the hospital has dealt with, and I’m happy to leave it in their hands.’

McCarthy reveals liaison with Keane

The handshake between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy at Molineux on Friday night was not their first since their infamous falling-out in Saipan four years ago.

McCarthy revealed that he had a private meeting with Keane 24 hours before his Wolves side hosted Keane’s Sunderland. The Championship game ended 1-1 and there was a public reconciliation as the pair shook hands on the touchline.

‘I know the photographers think they got our first handshake, but they didn’t,’ said McCarthy, who met Keane in a hotel close to Molineux on Thursday night. ‘We shook hands in private before the game, but what was said was nobody else’s business. Of course we had to do it publicly as well because there seemed to be an insatiable appetite for people to see pictures of it or to write about it, but it is time to finish it now.’

McCarthy and Keane were united in their disapproval of the media’s interest in the subject after Friday night’s match, with Keane saying he found the issue ‘boring’.

Of course, both managers won’t choose to remember how they used the media to cash in on the disaster they were jointly responsible for in Saipan. Both brought out books shortly afterwards in which they exploited their notoriety to the full, for substantial financial gain.

Both men will be tired of the whole thing, at least until they’re bringing out another book.