Reports indicte that Birmingham City have opened discussions with Hapoel Tel Aviv over the future of Israeli striker Itay Shechter.

 

Hapoel have reached the last 32 of the Europa League with Shechter and a good report from former Aston Villa boss John Gregory, currently manager of Maccabi Akhi Nazareth, may also have helped Blues boss Alex McLeish in his decision to track not only Shechter but midfield player Gil vermouth, his Hapoel team mate.

One piece of good news at St Andrews arrived in the shape of confirmation that Liam Ridgewell will face no further action after his double whammy of a linesman and Wigan player at the weekend. His strong challenge left Wigan’s James McCarthy with an ankle injury and referee’s assistant Trevor Massey nursing a head wound following an altercation with the corner flag as a result of Ridgewell’s tackle. Despite Wigan boss Roberto Martinez believing the challenge was worthy of a red card, referee Anthony Taylor took no action and the FA are powerless to take retrospective action if the official sees an incident but takes no action at the time.