He joins on a two-and-a-half-year deal, taking over from Mark Hughes, who was sacked on Monday.

It could only happen in England, they said, and of course it could never happen again.

DROGHEDA BOSS Paul Doolin has his sights set firmly on an unprecedented Setanta Cup three-in-a-row but he has already lost one battle to Group One rivals Cork City after defender Danny Murphy signed yesterday for his former club despite a last-ditch attempt by Doolin to nab the Londoner.

THE referee at the centre of the German match-fixing scandal has confessed to successfully fixing four fixtures, according to the German Football Association.