ULISES DE LA CRUZ HAS ONE FINAL CHANCE
to impress the army of club spies currently focused on the World Cup
finals, as the Hibs defender takes the field against Croatia this
morning in Ecuador's final group tie in the tournament. While it is
still possible for Ecuador to qualify for the latter stages, it would
take a remarkable set of results and it seems certain that De La Cruz
will be heading home early to think over his immediate future.
As it stands the player will report
back to Easter Road for pre-season training next month, but before the
tournament got underway De La Cruz and his representatives were making
it clear he was available at the right price. For months Hibs fans at
least have suspected that a good world cup by De La Cruz would see the
player sold on, and he has himself indicated that a move to Italy or
Spain would be preferable to returning to Easter Road. Hibs.net
understands that at least two Italian clubs have shown an interest in
talking to De La Cruz, but as yet Hibernian have had no approach -
although the players agent Eric Manasse is saying that as many as four
clubs have approached him with 'definite' interest in signing De La
Cruz. The same is true for striker Garry O'Connor, who yet again is
being linked with a move to Ibrox perhaps as early as this week. While
Hibs fans would hate to see yet another young star leave the club so
soon after making the breakthrough, the financial realities are such
that Hibs are in no position to resist any reasonable offer for the
player.
Rod Petrie - would take any decision should an
offer come in for O'Connor or De La Cruz
The eyes of Hibs fans will however be
firmly on De La Cruz this morning, and Hibs.net hope to have a
first-hand report on how he performs with our own 'man on the spot'
Kenny Millar looking to file a special report from Japan later today!
Kenny and his family won a dream trip to the finals in a newspaper
competition, and the Hibs-daft Millar clan naturally chose Ecuador's
final group clash as the match they wanted to see!
The build-up to the new domestic
season starts today when the SPL will release their fixtures list for
2002/03. That is expected to see Hibs play their opening match on
August 3rd at home, with a visit to Tynecastle on August 10th looking
very much on the cards. While the fixtures are being released there
remains some doubt that all the participants will be ready, with
Motherwell still in administration and legal experts confirming
yesterday that clubs in that position who simply rescind the contracts
of players may find themselves liable to legal challenge for
compensation. It is just another problem for the board members at every
club in the country, who are struggling to put together financial
budgets for the season as no income from television or radio sources has
yet been obtained.
While talks between the SPL clubs
themselves are believed to have taken place, no statements are being
made by the clubs who are very much aware of the damage their public
squabble was doing to the game in Scotland. The 'SPL-10' will have to
decide very soon if they are to carry out their threat to resign from
the SPL, as any such resignation will have to be in place before the
opening day of the new season.
