Birth Date:
Birth Place:
Birth Nation:
Height:
Weight:
Nationality: Northern Irish
Position: Right back or right midfield
Played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final in only his
third appearance for the club - his first team debut was only
6 days earlier. He performed so well in his three games that
he won a place in Northern Ireland's full squad.
Chris Baird Rumours and Transfers
16 08 2007
Defender Wayne Thomas will join Southampton after Burnley had taken a £1.2 million bid from their Championship rivals.
Saints manager George Burley sold Chris Baird, Gareth Bale and Pele in the summer to avoid the threat of administration and was actively searching for reinforcements.
Saints were stuffed 4-1 by Crystal Palace on Saturday and then crashed out of the Carling Cup Tuesday at Peterborough, prompting Burley to make his move for 28 year old Thomas.
Thomas will come in to cover for the injured Claus Lundekvam, who is still unsure about the exact nature of his ankle injury.
"At the moment I do not know what will happen," mentioned Lundekvam, who had a 2nd scan Wednesday.
15 08 2007
Bolton had taken the lead however then slipped to defeat at Fulham to leave new manager Sammy Lee still searching for his 1st Premier League point.
Alexey Smertin's heavily-deflected 1st half strike finished up deciding an entertaining encounter after David Healy had cancelled out ex Fulham forward Heidur Helguson's opener.
The rain that fell in torrents on the Craven Cottage pitch was merely typical of this sodden summer however it meant anything would happen as far as the 22 players were concerned.
Helguson was a central character in the 1st 2 goals, marking his 1st Bolton start in the absence of the injured Kevin Davies with an opener that is bound to be featured in future compilations of goalkeeping howlers.
Tony Warner had performed admirably at Arsenal on Saturday after 1st choice Antti Niemi was injured in the warm up however was hugely at fault as he somehow dropped a ball into Helguson's path in the 13th minute.
A bump against the huge frame of Zat Knight following Nicky Hunt's huge throw had occurred however still his slip appeared to be completely avoidable.
Helguson, who cost the Trotters £2.1 million, then helped his old club equalise and again it was from a long throw.
Knight was also involved again, heading the ball into the air, and when Helguson tried to nod away he succeeded only in clashing with Abdoulaye Meite and diverting the ball towards his own goal.
Healy was on it in a flash, controlling, turning and firing past Jussi Jaaskelainen in an instant to add to his opening day strike at Arsenal, which had also been a gift from a goalkeeper.
Jaaskelainen was given no chance 3 minutes later when Smertin tried his luck from outside the box and saw his drive veer off Gerald Cid and into the far corner of the net.
But fortune did favour the Finn only before the break when he opted to bounce rather than grab a ball to the very edge of his box.
Brian McBride challenged and came away with the ball only for referee Lee Probert to award a free kick to Bolton.
The 1st half had also featured a booking for dissent for Bolton's recalled El-Hadji Diouf, who was sent off in this fixture 2 seasons ago.
Diouf also showed what he can do with the ball straight after the restart when he whipped in a cross from the left that Nolan somehow put wide at the back post.
Warner then redeemed himself for his earlier error by pulling off an acrobatic tip round to deny Nicolas Anelka, who was teed up for a curling effort inside the box by Cid, who stayed up to plant a free header wide.
Diouf then sent an angled effort only wide and Anelka, who was quiet for a while, saw Chris Baird throw himself in the way of a drive before Helguson was replaced by debutant Daniel Braaten with 18 minutes remaining.
Paul Konchesky was booked for upending Diouf with Gavin McCann heading wide from the resulting free-kick. McCann was immediately replaced by Mikel Alonso, brother of Liverpool's Xabi.
Fulham also made late changes with Diomansy Kamara and Clint Dempsey replacing Healy and Hameur Bouazza and Kamara was convinced he should were given a penalty when sandwiched between Cid and Hunt in the box. Referee Probert thought otherwise however.
Bolton threw men forward as the minutes ticked away, that included Jaaskelainen in stoppage time, however Fulham held on to get their season off to a winning start at the 2nd attempt.
14 08 2007
Southampton manager George Burley has claimed he was forced to sell players in the summer to fend off the threat of administration.
Following Saints' failure to win promotion back to the Premier League and their parachute payments ceasing, the South Coast side were left with a financial shortfall.
Burley helped fill the void by cashing in on the likes of Gareth Bale and Chris Baird to Spurs and Fulham respectively, whilst Pele also recently departed to Championship rivals West Brom.
Burley was desperate for Saints to avoid going into administration, after seeing Leeds pay a heavy price, and is now looking to increase his depleted Saints squad.
He informed Sky Sports, "I spent the summer bringing money in to keep the club out of administration. We have done that. We lost our parachute money. I was aware of that. We sold Pele for £1 million. So we are looking to bring players in. I am very pleased with the signing Youssef Safri. We'll keep working hard because it will take time to get as strong as last season, however we are confident we will do it."
06 08 2007
Fulham midfielder Lee Cook has made a donation to QPR in an attempt to financially help his former club.
The 25 year old midfielder made the step up to the Premier League last month and would like to make the gesture, thought to be around £250,000, to the club he supported as a boy.
"Rangers are struggling for money and, as everyone knows, I am a boyhood Rangers fan," mentioned Cook in the London Evening Standard.
"The club were saying that not enough money was paid for me. I mentioned 'I'll have given you 10% of the sale'. It was totally my decision, there is no load from anyone. The transfer was agreed however I do not want to see them hard up."
Cook arrived at Loftus Road in 2004 from Watford and his consistency had him earmarked for a transfer to the Premier League.
Inspite of interest from other teams, Cook decided to remain in London, signing for Lawrie Sanchez on a 4 year deal.
Sanchez has also signed Aaron Hughes, Paul Konchesky, Diomansy Kamara, David Healy, Steven Davis and Chris Baird as he shapes his team after taking over from Chris Coleman towards the end of last season.
"These are exciting times at Fulham," Cook added. "They had a strong team however they have spent more than £20 million in the summer, which shows ambition."
01 08 2007
Southampton have raided Reading to sign Alan Bennett on a 6 month loan deal.
The 25 year old, who joined Reading from Cork City in January, was training with Saints this week and is in the team for Tuesday night's friendly at Millwall.
Saints manager George Burley was looking for defensive reinforcements after seeing Gareth Bale and Chris Baird depart, whilst Claus Lundekvam is injured and Darren Powell is suspended for the 1st 3 games of the season.
"Alan is a good lad, a fantastic character and an experienced professional who made his name with Cork," mentioned Burley.
"He did very well for Reading last year in their reserve team and is coming here looking for 1st team games."
07 07 2007
Sunderland have had a £3 million bid for Southampton defender Chris Baird accepted, BBC Sport understands.
The N. Ireland international handed in a transfer request to the Championship club last month.
Saints turned down a £2.5 million bid from Fulham for the 25 year old, a figure the club labelled as "derisory."
Southampton manager George Burley had warned Fulham's former N. Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez that Baird was not for sale.
Baird was voted the South Coast club's player of the year last season, and his performances attracted interest from Premier League clubs.
04 07 2007
N. Ireland midfielder Steve Davis is in line to join Fulham from Villa in a £4 million transfer deal.
Davis struggled to get 1st team football last season and has a known admirer in Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez who managed him at international level.
The 22 year old would follow in the footsteps of NI captain Aaron Hughes who left Villa Park for Craven Cottage in a £1 million deal on 27 June.
Sanchez is also keen on NI trio David Healy, Chris Brunt and Chris Baird.
Forward Healy expects to leave Leeds United once the crisis-torn club is allowed to deal in the transfer market.
Sanchez has had bids for Southampton's Baird and Sheffield Wednesday's Brunt turned down.
27 06 2007
Fulham made their 1st signing of the close season when versatile international defender Aaron Hughes agreed to a £1 million move from Villa.
The N. Ireland defender, who can play either in central defence or at defender, has agreed a 3 year deal with the Cottagers in a move which sees him reunited with former international manager Lawrie Sanchez in the capital.
The 27 year old will move to Craven Cottage after 2 years at Villa which saw him make 50 league starts even though he failed to score during his time in the midlands.
Hughes had joined Villa after spending the 1st 9 years of his career at Newcastle before a £1 million switch.
Now, Hughes is looking forward to once again working with the former Wimbledon player and informed Fulham's official website, fulhamfc.com, "I am delighted to be joining Fulham and am looking forward to working with Lawrie Sanchez at club level. I enjoyed my time at Villa however when this opportunity presented itself I had no hesitation in coming to talk about the manager's ambitions for the club, which obviously were of good interest to me. I am happy to sign before the start of pre season, which gives me the opportunity of being with the lads on day one, when we come back to training next week."
Sanchez welcomed Hughes to the capital and praised his leadership skills.
"I am delighted that we were able to bring Aaron to Fulham. As my captain whilst I was manager of N. Ireland, I saw his obvious leadership skills and his qualities as a player which are widely recognised, so I am delighted that he becomes my 1st signing of the summer. He will bring some much-needed depth to the team and a level of commitment and tenacity that forms an integral part of my philosophy for next season's campaign."
Hughes' Villa team-mate, midfielder Steven Davis, is also supposedly close to joining Fulham.
Sanchez expects to lure several other players who featured under him as N. Ireland coach.
Southampton centre back Chris Baird remains high up Sanchez's wishlist, as does Leeds forward David Healy.
West Bromwich Albion forward Diomansy Kamara continues to be linked possibly as part of an exchange deal involving Heidar Helguson.
Seol Ki-Hyeon, Reading's gifted if erratic winger, maybe drawn from the Madejski Stadium with Fulham's new sponsors LG keen to see a Korean player in action at Craven Cottage.
Meanwhile, Sanchez has pleaded for patience next season as his intended overhaul of the team could take time to yield results.
Sanchez thinks radical surgery is the only way to make Fulham competitive in the Barclays Premier League and he would recruit as many as 8 new players during the transfer window.
Integrating so lots of new faces into the team is probably prove time-consuming and Sanchez knows there are rocky spells ahead for his Cottagers experiment.
"It will not happen from day one next season," he informed Fulham's official magazine, Full Time.
"We will have major changes in the summer with probably six, 7 or 8 players coming in. They will take time to gel. We require more than 5 weeks. To get where I was as N. Ireland manager had taken 3 years. It was a gradual progression and along the way there were times when people questioned what we were doing. However, as a manager and group of players we got through that and when I left we were top of the group. It will be a similar pattern for Fulham and I would like to make people aware of that because there will be days when people question us. However, I can guarantee that when we get to where I would like to go, people will say 'Yes, this is not bad'."
21 06 2007
Fulham are close to agreeing a £5.5 million deal for West Bromwich forward Diomansy Kamara – with Heidar Helguson going the other way.
Kamara, 26, was in demand with Birmingham and Boro also offering cash plus players for him.
The Senegal forward has scored 24 goals in 60 games for West Bromwich Albion since joining from Portsmouth in 2005 for £1.5 million. He is determined to return to the top flight, even though there is also interest from Italy.
Manager Tony Mowbray is reluctant to sell however does not want to keep an unhappy player. He sees Helguson, 29 and valued at £2.5 million in the deal, as a good replacement.
Fulham, who plan to bring in 6 or 7 players, have already lined up Villa's Aaron Hughes, Chris Baird of Southampton, David Healy of Leeds and Tottenham's Mido.
07 06 2007
Southampton defender Chris Baird has given in a transfer request, as stated by BBC Radio Solent.
Saints turned down a £2.5 million bid from Fulham for the N. Ireland international last week as "derisory."
Boss George Burley warned Fulham's former N. Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez that Baird was not for sale.
Baird, 25, was voted the South Coast club's player of the year last season, and his performances attracted interest from Premier League clubs.
