Old Boss To Swoop For Shrimpers?

Could captain Kevin Maher be on his way North?

The site, which can be found at www.hullcity-mad.co.uk, has revealed that central defender Leon Cort and midfielder Kevin Maher, both of whom are out of contract, are the two names on Rochford-born Taylor’s shortlist, with the Tigers having secured Second Diviksion football for the 2004/5 campaign. Former Spurs trainee Maher netted the second goal in the 2-2 draw with City at Roots Hall on April 20^th.

Both Southwark-born Cort and former Republic of Ireland Under-21 star Maher are out of contract this summer, but the pair have been offered two-year deals with the Shrimpers already as manager Steve Tilson attempts to build a strong squad for next season. The lure of higher division football is thought to be strong for Maher especially, although he did tell the club’s official werbsite, www.southendunited.co.uk, last week, “You never know what is going to happen in football, but I want to be here next season and hopefully I can come to an arrangement with the club to make that possible”.

Youngster Cort was due to sign at Roots Hall last Friday, but he appears to have stalled on his deal in the light of recent interest in his abilities. Having endured a lacklustre start to the 2003/4 season, Cort improved throughout, and stated, “I believe that if we can keep hold of our key players we can do really well. I don’t know what his [Mark Warren’s] situation is for next season but hopefully he’ll be here so we can build on that”.

Earlier speculation from the Kingston Communications Stadium had linked Taylor with a move for 25-goal top-scorer Leon Constantine, and he told the Hull Daily Mail just prior to the Essex meeting, “Constantine is a very good player and he’s scored a lot of goals this season. Am I interested in him? Yes. Will we be signing him? I honestly don’t know”. Having failed to land Torquay United David Graham, Constantine may still be on his hitlist.

Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com