Richardson: Roy better than struggling Hull

CORK City manager Damien Richardson says that Roy O’ Donovan should set his sights higher than Hull City, after the Leesiders turned down an offer from the struggling Championship club for one of the domestic game’s hottest prospects.

Richardson admits he was unhappy with the approach made by Hull — currently lying 20th in the Championship — having first heard about it from O’ Donovan himself.

Says the City boss: “The player and the newspapers knew that there was an offer in before the manager, and I don’t like to do business like that. I tend to be a little bit sceptical of things like that.

“But I do think Roy is going to go all the way. He’s got great potential and he can play for the Republic of Ireland. I think he’s got to set his sights higher than Hull City. Alan Bennett, Shane Long and Kevin Doyle have all proved that the right move can be the makings of your career and Roy for me is good enough to play in the top end of the Championship or the Premiership. To me, that’s where he’s got to set his sights.”

Reports suggest that the Hull bid would have made another eircom League transfer record, exceeding the €350,000-plus received for defender Alan Bennett from Reading.

However, the offer for the 21-year-old was rejected by Cork, forcing Hull boss Phil Brown to concede that lessons had clearly been learned on Leeside from the bargain sale of Kevin Doyle.

Says Brown: “We’ve been scouring Ireland and Roy O’ Donovan is probably one of four or five players we could have brought in but again, it has to be right and, on the money side of things, it was a little too expensive.

“I think the Irish have looked at the situation and they’ve seen Doyle go to Reading who’s gone from £50,000 to £5m. And I don’t think that they’re readily going to get turned over again.

And while Roy O’ Donovan is going nowhere for the moment, Richardson accepts that a move to England could be in the offing for winger-turned-striker down the line.

“Roy will start the season with Cork and he’ll play for Cork,” he says, “but the next transfer window is in July and who knows what will happen then?”

Richardson has been in England again this week as he follows up leads in the hunt for the “four or five” players he hopes to bring in before the start of the season. One possible development could see the resurrection of moves to bring Reading defender Aaron Brown on loan to Turner’s Cross.