Scannell: the latest from the Daily Echo

- DAILY ECHO REPORTS ON SCANNELL

Tuesday 18th December 2007 - Eastleigh Tell Scannell 'Don't be hasty'

By Wendy Gee
EASTLEIGH are advising sought-after wideman Damian Scannell not to jump feet first into a hasty move into the Football League.

The 22-year-old wing wizard was the subject of a £5,000 bid from Coca-Cola League One promotion hopefuls Southend United on Friday night and Eastleigh were yesterday expected to give the Shrimpers the go-ahead to speak to him.

But, with several other clubs - Nottingham Forest included - interested in the Croydon-based crowd-pleaser, Spitfires' director of football David Malone is advising him to bide his time.

He said: "We've only had one definite offer for Damian faxed from Southend, but we've had several clubs express an interest in him at a price.

"Nottingham Forest and Brighton are both interested and even Saints have had a look at him. John Gorman (Saints chief scout) was down watching the Thurrock game last Tuesday."

Technically, if Scannell has set his heart on a move to Southend there is nothing to stop him.

He and his agent insisted on a clause in his Eastleigh contract stating that if a club came in with a £5,000 offer or higher, he would be free to leave.

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Wednesday 19th December 2007 - Spitifires could still land Scannell windfall

By Wendy Gee
IF Eastleigh winger Damian Scannell's impending move to Southend United proves anything like as successful as Freddie Eastwood's then the Blue Square South club will be quids in to the tune of £375,000.

While a clause in Scannell's contract dictates that the Spitfires are duty-bound to accept the Shrimpers' £5,000 offer for the 22-year-old south Londoner, Eastleigh have negotiated a sizeable 25 per cent sell-on clause with the Coca-Cola League One outfit.

"We've had people on our messageboard accusing us of being naive, but they need to retrace the steps of how we got Damian in the first place," said Eastleigh director/co-assistant manager Paul Doswell.

"Fisher Athletic failed to take up the option on his contract last season, enabling us to get him for nothing in the summer. I sold the club and our ambition to him and when Damian came down with his agent they put in front of us what we needed to do to get him.

"People question why we had the clause in his contract and the answer's simple: We wouldn't have got the player without it.

"We're not naive at all. In fact I'd say it's pretty sharp business by us. Although the £5,000 fee probably only covers what we've had to pay for him, we've had five months of watching the kid play and we've gained a really good sell-on clause."

Pointing to the example of former Grays Athletic striker Freddy Eastwood, who was sold on by Southend to Wolves for £1.5m, Doswell said: "If that happened with Damian, Eastleigh would get £375,000, in which case the legacy he leaves us would be unbelievable."