Southall wants to be Everton's manager

Football

Neville Southall has put his name forward for the vacant manager's job at Everton. The Wales goalkeeper is keen to make the move into management and would welcome a chance to take charge at Goodison Park in the wake of Joe Royle's exit.

Southall said: "If asked to take over as caretaker manager I would accept. But so far nobody has said anything to me."

Southall indicated he had probably played his last match for Wales after winning his 91st cap in last night's 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat at home to Belgium.

Southall, who has a coaching role with Wales, has no previous managerial experience, making him an unlikely choice to succeed Royle. Before his departure, Royle dropped Southall to make way for Paul Gerrard and is reported to have blocked a possible move to Chelsea for the 38-year-old keeper.

's gala night of the year could be thrown into disarray by the Premiership's fixture congestion. Both Manchester United and Liverpool, closing in on European final dates, are likely to be allowed to move matches beyond the scheduled last round of the Premiership on 11 May.

But permission to do that could throw up an unexpected clash between United's crucial final fixture and the er of the Year dinner in central London.

Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, has already called for the season to be extended to give his team every chance of collecting their fourth title in five years. His Liverpool counterpart, Roy Evans, will ask for equal treatment for his team, if United's pleas are answered.

Berti Vogts, the German coach, yesterday criticised clubs for paying big salaries to average players, although he defended the pay packages of major figures such as Stefan Effenberg and Thomas Hassler.

Vogts, preparing for Germany's World Cup qualifier with Albania on Wednesday, also said too many senior club players were not doing enough to help their younger team-mates.

Norwich City's Keith O'Neill could play for the Republic of Ireland in Wednesday's crucial World Cup trip to Macedonia despite not being named in manager Mick McCarthy's original 20-man squad.

O'Neill scored against Swindon in Norwich's 3-0 win yesterday which led McCarthy to confirm his addition to the Irish squad, and the manager said: "He's a big bonus for us.''