Aberdeen confirm Aitken as manager

Despite his failure to guarantee their Scottish Premier Division security, Roy Aitken was yesterday confirmed as the manager of Aberdeen.

The former Celtic and Scotland midfield hard man has been in caretaker charge at Pittodrie since Willie Miller's departure in February. Having finished one off the bottom in Scotland's top flight, the Dons now face a two-leg promotion/relegation play-off against Dunfermline, with the first leg at Aberdeen on Sunday.

Rangers, the Scottish champions, are negotiating to sign Florin Raducioiu, the Romanian World Cup striker who wants to leave the Barcelona side, Espanol. Another Rangers target, Paul Gascoigne, is in trouble with Lazio, his Italian club, after failing to turn up for a practice match yesterday. "We vainly waited for him," Zdenek Zeman, the Lazio coach, said. "The club may take disciplinary action."

Peter Reid has settled his differences with the Sunderland directors and is due to sign a two-year contract as the Roker Park manager next week. Reid replaced Mick Buxton late in the season and kept the Wearside team in the First Division, but had been unhappy with next season's proposed budget.

Arsenal's Steve Morrow has pulled out of Northern Ireland's squad for next week's two-match trip to Canada. Bryan Hamilton has called up the Crewe midfielder, Neil Lennon, as his replacement.

Middlesbrough have secured a pounds 3m sponsorship deal with the telecommunications company, Cellnet. Their new ground, which opens next season, will be called the Cellnet Riverside Stadium.

Norwich City could be forced to play their first 10 matches away from Carrow Road next season because of roadworks, their chairman, Robert Chase, has claimed. The roadworks are due to take place between July and September, and Chase said policing of matches will be impossible during that period.