Rochdale agree Hery deal

Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak has been announced as the club's player of the year.

The 28-year-old Australia midfielder, who has scored three times this season, pipped 30-goal top scorer Glenn Murray to the award.

Jedinak told the club website: "It's been a really tough season, I can say that safely. A rollercoaster, but one that I've thoroughly enjoyed.

"To be recognised in this way is a huge honour."

Jedinak will lead out the Eagles against Brighton on Friday night in the first leg of their play-off semi-final.

Boss Ian Holloway added: "It's hard to put into words what this man brings to our club. Have I seen anyone like him in my time? No.

"I totally believe he will lead us, with the other lads, to an unbelievable end to this season.

"We are desperate to give these fans a place at Wembley and to win there."

Rovers are looking for a successor to Brian Flynn, who guided the south Yorkshire club to the League One title this season after taking over from Dean Saunders in January following his departure to Wolves.

Flynn was handed the reins on a caretaker basis before being given a contract until the end of the campaign and the former scout will now revert back to that role under the new manager.

Chairman John Ryan expects to have a shortlist drawn up by Monday, with the interviewing process to begin later next week.

He said: "We have already had some high-quality applicants and we will sift them down and have our shortlist by Monday. We will then interview the best candidates and then hopefully, there will be an appointment.

"It is a case of the sooner the better, really. But it depends who it is going to be and if he is in or out of work.

"We have already had some high-quality applicants and I am confident that myself and my two other major shareholders - Terry Bramall and Dick Watson - will continue our good track record of picking good managers."

The 21-year-old has penned a one-year contract, with a further one-year option, having spent the last six weeks with the Blues on loan.

During that period, the former West Ham trainee has captained Blues' under-21s and made an appearance on the first-team bench for the final Championship fixture of the season against Blackburn.

Lee has previously had loan spells at Dagenham and Gillingham before signing for Barnet last summer.

Manchester United boss Ferguson on Wednesday announced he would leave his position, but stay on as a director and ambassador after 26 years in charge at Old Trafford and the Dane who played under the Scot for nine years could not believe that the 71-year-old was leaving his position.

"I'm shocked - I just can't make sense of the timing," he told Sky Sports News. "It has come as a bombshell, I really don't know what to make of it.

"Yesterday I was really happy with what he had done this season, now this, I'm disappointed and very sad.

"He's always said the day would come when something in his life wasn't right, is it is hip operation (he will have this summer)? I can't see him retiring over that.

"(Until) he explains why, we can guess and guess.

"There is something there we don't know about, he won't retire for the sake of retiring, it is difficult to makes sense of it."

Schmeichel paid tribute to Ferguson's man management skills and the time he came to the stopper, just hours after being told he would not be signing for United.

"The thing about Sir Alex is that 95 per cent of players brought in he's been scouting them for a long time, and he

handles personalities around football, for example the media, stuff like that very, very important to him.

"Everyone wants a bit of Manchester United, everywhere you go, you are Manchester United.

"My move didn't happen first time, it happened 12 months later. But the first time, he came over to Denmark, I met him at someone's house and it was him saying 'I just want you to develop I will come back in the summer', and he flew back to Manchester.

"That's the kind of guy he is, he knows what he wants, he knew I would work in the team."

Schmeichel however believes Moyes would be a good fit as a successor as he has proved he can stay at one club for a long time, spending 10 years at Everton.

"What we are looking for is, not someone to come in 10 months or three years, we want someone to come stay there and give stability," he added.

"When we talk about Moyes, he has been a decade at Everton and done a fantastic job on limited funds.

"Is he cut from the same cloth? I dont know. Don't forget there will be major changes with David Gill stepping down - the club is really changing in the summer, the more stability they can add the better.

"David Moyes, he sounds like a good solution."

Football Association chairman David Bernstein hailed Ferguson's contribtion to the game.

He said: "Sir Alex Ferguson's achievements are truly remarkable - he is genuinely one of the greatest managers of all time and certainly of the modern era.

"His contribution to English football has been outstanding in every regard and, in the FA's 150th year, it is something that should be celebrated.

"On behalf of the FA I'd like to wish him a happy and healthy retirement."

First-team coach Rene Meulensteen was told of Ferguson's plans this morning and felt the news was not entirely unexpected.

"(I found out) this morning when I came to the club," he said on Sky Sports News. "He called us into his office and he said what decision he took.

"It's always been on the cards - there's speculation every season. I think the manager kept his cards close to his chest. I think he felt the time was right now and he made a decision.

"He's obviously a man who thinks very, very well so I'm sure he's taken a lot of thought into making this decision.

"I wish him well. He's been fantastic for this club and I hope all the fans give whoever's going to come in the same support that he gets."

The Dutchman added: "We've responded really well to the big disappointment we had last year. There was a determination around the whole place - especially around the manager - and I think he's been delighted we won the title the way we did."

Asked who should replace Ferguson, Meulensteen joked: "(Club mascot) Fred the Red!"

The 21-year-old is set to join Keith Hill's side when his contract at Hillsborough expires at the end of June and will put pen to paper on a one-year deal.

Hery joined Wednesday's development squad from Paris Saint-Germain last summer but failed to break into Dave Jones' first-team plans.