Tabloid transfer speculation

Last updated : 21 December 2005 By Editor

The Addicks want to prise the 33-year-old Finnish international goalkeeper away from Southampton during next month's transfer window and Alan Curbishley is also looking for a left-back according to The Sunday Mirror.

But Niemi said: "My name has been linked with moves to Charlton and Everton but it's the time of year for transfer speculation and that's all that this is. There is no thought in my mind about a move.

Harte, 28, has been with Spanish club Levante for 18 months.

Curbishley last week confirmed that the club hopes to be involved in the January transfer market.

He said: "The chairman Richard Murray knows what we are trying to do and hopefully he's setting about doing it. It's difficult getting transfers off the ground in January, it's like the housing market, waiting for something to give somewhere. History suggests that not a lot of business will be done, and if it isn't, it isn't. We've got our first targets and our second targets like everybody else, hopefully something will happen."

A shocked Curbs said after the humiliating 3-0 defeat at Wigan yesterday, "I'm not going to blame just the back four and the keeper; it's the whole lot of them. They don't seem to have any defensive responsibility about them."

He added: "At the moment it looks like we need to score two or three to get any kind of result."

The same paper also reported that striker Kevin Lisbie could be out for a further three weeks. Lisbie has featured just once for Charlton this season after enduring a catalogue of injuries and being farmed out on loan to Norwich.

He suffered a fresh knee injury after being tackled by hard-man defender Herman Hreidarsson last week.