Scottish Football News

Celtic began their SPL title defence on Sunday with a nervy 1-0 win at Celtic Park over cisitors, St. Mirren. It was Barry Robson who fired home a scrappy and controversial second-half penalty to ensure that the SPL Champions began their campaign with three points.

There were emotive scenes before the game kicked off when Rosemary Burns, widow of former Hoops player, manager and coach Tommy Burns, who died in May from cancer at the age of
51, performed the ceremony of unfurling the league flag, accompanied by chairman Brian Quinn and skipper Stephen McManus.

The 60,000 fans inside the stadium were also introduced to their newest recruit, 20-year-old Spanish midfielder Marc Crosas, who signed on a four-year deal from Barcelona and was paraded in the Hoops just before the game got underway. However, the game itself was something of an anti-climax and never really threatened to get out of second-gear for much of the match.

No doubt the Celtic fans believed St Mirren were there simply there in a supporting role but in a low-key start to the match, Saints midfielders Garry Brady and Stephen McGinn both tested Artur Boruc early on without causing the Celtic keeper any real trouble.

In the 17th minute Scott McDonald, Scotland’s top scorer last season, drove a shot from 30 yards wide of the target which riled the home fans, already agitated by the lack of goal action. McDonald really could have done better with strike partner, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselhink in some space.

St Mirren remained neat and tidy and continued to hold their shape, growing in confidence from keeping the Bhoys at bay and a whipped-in cross from defender Franco Miranda may have provided some joy for the Paisley side with a little more commitment from Billy Mehmet.

In the 26th minute McDonald was again in the thick of the action as the little Aussie striker headed an Andreas Hinkel cross over the bar. Moments later, Aiden McGeady lifted the fans by winning a corner with his first contribution of the game inside the St Mirren box when he took on Jack Ross, although that also came to nothing.
The game petered out somewhat as the two teams looked to half-time, but with only two minutes on the clock after the restart, the Love Street side were denied a shock opener only by a fine save from Celtic goalkeeper, Artur Boruc. It was Billy Mehmet who tested the Polish goalkeeper as he and Stephen O’Donnell worked a one-two inside the Celtic box before the Englishman’s right-footed shot was barely tipped onto the post by Boruc and cleared away to safety.

That narrow escape jolted the home side into action and seconds later Gary Caldwell found himself unmarked at the back post when Lee Naylor’s looping free-kick was delivered into the box, but the Scotland international’s tepid header from eight yards out went straight to Howard.

In the 55th minute Vennegoor of Hesselink went down in the box after a challenge from Howard but referee Smith rightly waved away penalty claims. However, the Dutchman was awarded a spot-kick on the hour mark after clashing with Saints defender, Will Haining who had allowed the Dutch striker to get on the wrong side of him as he failed to deal with a Lee Naylor pass.

After the Love Street stopper was sent off, Barry Robson’s penalty put the champions a goal up. It wasn’t the best penalty of Robson’s career and St. Mirren goalkeeper Howard almost managed to keep the ball out after it sruck his legs, but the ball eventually bounced over the line, much to the relief of the former Dundee United player.

Vennegoor of Hesselink should have doubled Celtic’s lead in the 68th minute but somehow managed to head past the post from eight yards out when it seemed easier to score. Celtic made changes with Mark Wilson coming on for Lee Naylor who picked up a knock after a strong challenge, while Greek striker Georgios Samaras replaced Scott McDonald.

But Saints continued to battle valiantly despite being a man down and took some encouragement from the nerves that continued to avail the Hoops’ defence, and in the 84th minute St Mirren substitute Mark McAusland, on for Garry Brady, headed over from new signing Tonet Gilerao’s corner.

A minute later Mehmet fired wide of the target from 12 yards but the home side held out for victory and an opening three points. Fans of Celtic will no doubt bemoan the lack of creativity in their side and will hope that the team pick up in the coming matches. For St. Mirren, they deserved to take something from the game, but like Falkirk on Saturday failed to take their chances.

Saturday saw the opening day of the Scottish Premier League and Tynecastle provided plenty of opening day action for spectators as Hearts beat Motherwell 3-2 in a see-saw thriller of a game. Hearts took the lead after 24 minutes when midfielder Michael Stewart arrived late into the box to rifle home a shot but Stephen Hughes rolled the ball across from the goal-line for David Clarkson to bundle in the equaliser for Motherwell. Hearts restored their lead five minutes before half-time when Stephen Craigan was short with a header back to his keeper and Audrius Ksanavicius nipped in to prod the ball home.

It didn’t end there, however, and the Edinburgh club paid the price for defending too deep in the second half when David Clarkson levelled the scores again on 81 minutes. But Hearts immediately responded and it was Michael Stewart who again did the damage, setting up Saulius Mikoliunuas to dart into the box and shoot past Smith and win the game for Hearts.

It wasn’t a victory for their City rivals as Hibernian lost 1-0 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Hibs strikers Colin Nish and Steven Fletcher both missed good opportunities to open the scoring.  Ex-Killie striker Nish found himself unmarked 16 yards from goal when he received a Steven Fletcher pass with 16 minutes played, but he failed to connect properly with the ball. At the other end, Hibs keeper Andy McNeil pulled off a fine save from Killie midfielder Mehdi Taouil, then Danny Invincible came close as Jim Jefferies’ side finished the half strongly.

The second half continued in much the same open fashion as the first period with chances at both ends, but it was the Ayrshire side who took the spoils when, with 10 minutes remaining, substitute Jamie Hamill drove home a fierce shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

It took 18 attempts but Inverness Caley finally recorded their first competitive victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. It was lone striker Andy Barrowman who gave the visitors a first-half lead when he knocked in a Ross Tokely cross at the back post and Caley secured the 2-0 victory in the dying minutes of the game when midfielder Roy McBain capped his 300th appearance by finishing off a fine counter-attacking move with a powerful strike past Dons keeper Jamie Langfield.

In Sunday’s game, St. Mirren travel to Celtic Park to face the champions while new boys Hamilton take on Dundee Utd on Monday evening.

Rangers produced another lacklustre display in their opening SPL fixture against Falkirk on Saturday, but managed to secure their first victory thanks to an Andrius Velicka goal soon after Falkirk’s Michael Higdon missed a penalty within minutes of the second-half starting. 

The penalty miss proved costly as the Lithuanian striker, who ironically counts Rangers’ midweek conquerors Kaunas among his former clubs, struck to get Rangers off to a winning start in the SPL opener.  Suspensions and injuries among Rangers’ squad allowed for new signing Madjid Bougherra to make his Rangers debut in the centre of defence alongside Kirk Broadfoot. Andrius Velicka and Kris Boyd were given the nod up front and started in a front two pairing with Jean-Claude Darcheville and Daniel Cousin on the substitutes bench.

Ex-Celtic defender Jackie McNamara made his Falkirk debut alongside Lee Bullen, while manager John Hughes watched from the stand as he served a touchline ban.

Rangers started their SPL campaign at the Falkirk Stadium brightly as they sought to erase the pain of their midweek Euro exit. Another Rangers new boy, Kyle Lafferty, was particularly keen to impress as he marauded forward on occasion from his deep starting berth.

However, after surviving early Rangers pressure, it was Falkirk who began to threaten more as the first-half wore on. Indeed, John Hughes’ Falkirk, who are always keen to play football really began to menace the Rangers rear-guard with 40-year old veteran playmaker, Russell Latapy orchestrating things in midfield.  Falkirk’s first real chance came when Michael Higdon struck high and wide after 17 minutes, but it was the first of several attempts by the Bairns as they took the game to last season’s SPL runners-up.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who enjoyed a fine previous season before being injured has looked decidedly low on confidence throughout pre-season and started the game in a nervy manner, which was never more evident after he took a wild swipe at a Christian Dailly backpass and missed the ball completely.  Luckily for him, there was no Falkirk player in proximity to take advantage.

Rangers did threaten despite the Bairns enjoying the bulk of possession in the first half, and Kris Boyd featured heavily midway through the half; having a shot blocked by Darren Barr after a defensive mix-up and making a nuisance of himself from a corner moments later.

Falkirk, for all their possession and neat football, struggled to create any clear-cut chances and Scott Arfield blasted over from outside the box.  Falkirk’s build-up play was a joy to watch, but clearly they lack a cutting edge in front of goal.

It was the Glasgow visitors who ended the opening period on the front foot, with Steven Whittaker especially bursting into life, testing the rearguard with a delightful shimmy and shot.  It failed to bulge the net and the two teams finished the first half locked together at 0-0.

Into the second half and Whittaker was again involved right from the restart as Rangers sought to break the deadlock. Having gone on a lung-bursting run, he could have and should have done much better with a wayward shot when he could have instead played in the unmarked Andrius Velicka. 

However, Whittaker was also the villain at the other end moments later as he scythed down Falkirk’s Kevin McBride after a cutting passing move, which saw the referee award, a penalty to the home side.  Up stepped Michael Higdon and he looked a good bet to bag the first goal of the SPL season.  However, he struck the spot-kick poorly and McGregor pulled off a great save, diving to his left to keep the penalty at bay and turning the ball out for a corner.

Despite the miss, the hosts tried to respond through Russell Latapy’s free-kick and an audacious Scott Arfield volley, but Rangers would take some heart from the penalty miss and soon began to look a little more settled and came back into the match.

The goal came just after the hour mark, and just as Rangers were preparing to substitute Velicka with Jean-Claude Darcheville.  However, as the French striker stood on the touchline, Kyle Lafferty drove into the box, ripped the ball across the face of goal and Andrius Velicka was there to bundle in the first goal of the season from close range.

The goal was very much against the run of play, but the Rangers continued to press, with McCulloch sending a long-range effort wide.  Soon, though, Falkirk were pushing to restore parity, with Arfield using his support to one-two his way into the box. Dailly, though, was able to get a toe on the ball before the youngster could pull the trigger.

At the other end, Boyd could have finished off Hughes’ men, but his looping header clipped the post and went out, with Olejnik beaten all ends up.

Falkirk again played some nice football, spraying the ball around well, but still they couldn’t find the route to goal. As was the story for much of last season, too often have Falkirk played their opponents off the park but received little rewarded for their toils and today was no exception as the game petered out into a 1-0 win for the visitors.

Rangers boss Walter Smith will hope this win will go some way to rebuilding the shattered confidence of Wednesday night, but for Falkirk boss John Hughes, he clearly needs firepower up front, and will surely hope the injured Steve Lovell can provide.

Rangers’ shock defeat to Lithuanian minnows, FBK Kaunas has given rise to many Rangers supporters calling for manager Walter Smith’s head.  Radio phone-in programmes were white-hot with supporters eager to vent their anger towards the manager before the team had even showered and changed.By common consent, it has been felt that the 2-1 Champions League qualifying round defeat by FBK Kaunas – also owned by Hearts’ primary shareholder, Vladimir Romanov - was the worst result in Rangers’ history – had soured the memory of the previous season, when the Glasgow club were fighting on four fronts that culminated in reaching the ultimate stage of each competition at home and in Europe as recently as the end of May.Instead, however, the broadcast lynch mob lambasted Walter Smith for his formation, his team selection and his tactics - the very same tactics which had put Rangers on the verge of a UEFA Cup win and also lifting the SPL trophy. It’s a sad fact - and one which has angered SFA Chairman, Gordon Smith - that while Rangers may have played a remarkable 19 games in Europe last season, they now find themselves are out of Europe before tiny Queen of the South have even kicked a ball as one of Scotland’s two representatives in the Uefa Cup, the trophy Rangers contested with Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester three months ago.  Smith believes Rangers’ departure could have ramifications for
Scotland’s co-efficient, which determines the number of clubs from each member nation can compete on the European stage.However, the Rangers supporters’ Kangaroo court have little chance of seeing their calls for the manager to be removed come to fruition - at least for the moment. Although undoubtedly disappointed not only at Rangers’ capitulation, but also seeing a potential £10m windfall and arch-rivals Celtic pocket the full share of
Scotlands’ Champions League TV revenue, Smith retains the confidence of the club’s owner, Sir David Murray.  However, with a potential banana-skin awaiting Rangers in the shape of a lunchtime visit to Falkirk, Rangers will be aware of the need to have to pick up their game sharpish to any avoid further embarrassment in the Scottish title race, which gets under way on Saturday.With three of their first four fixtures away from home – including an Old Firm derby at Celtic on Aug 31 – Rangers cannot afford to be cut adrift in the SPL, whose winners will gain an automatic entry to the Champions League group stage next season.Gratitude for last season’s exploits has already dissipated for many among the short-memoried Rangers support and the pain of defeat in Lithuania has exposed again a disillusion with his methods which was merely muted when things were going well in the spring, despite derisive calls about the quality of Walter’s football and tactics, which had led to Spanish club, Barcelona to label such a style of play as ‘anti-football’.Smith acknowledges his side’s poor form and was philosophical about the defeat in
Kaunas: “If we had been in the situation of a new team being put together we could have said, ‘OK, these things happen’. But we have been a year together and have experienced tough situations.”It seems ridiculous to reach a European final and then go out at this stage but we never felt comfortable at all. Anyway, it would be an excuse to refer to the effects of last season – we share credit and we share failure.”Christian Dailly was similarly honest when he said: “This is as low as you can be – there isn’t one word to describe how I am feeling.”We worked so hard although we never played as well as we can.”There was no way we took
Kaunas lightly – we have just struggled from the end of last season.”Now that the Ibrox coffers appear to be looking bare after splashing out on Andrius Velicka, Kenny Miller and Kyle Lafferty, it remains to be seen whether Rangers will be forced to cash in on two of their most prized assets: goalkeeper Alan McGregor and Spanish defender, Carlos Cuellar in order to recoup the losses of a gamble which has gone awry.  Cuellar has already been linked with moves to
Liverpool and Tottenham in sections of the English press. 

It has been reported that Scottish champions, Celtic, are on the verge of signing 20-year old Barcelona wonderkid, Marc Crosas, in a £2million deal.

Newspapers in Scotland suggest that a fee has been agreed between the clubs and Crosas and his advisors will jet into Glasgow within the next 24 hours to discuss personal terms.

The technically-gifted 20-year-old defensive midfielder is highly rated by Barcelons coach, Pep Guardiola and the player was also wanted by Sevilla, Sporting Gijon and Sampdoria. However, it appears that Celtic have beaten off the strong competition after Barca reluctantly agreed to let Crosas move on.

It is believed the Catalan giants would have preferred to loan the player to Celtic but Crosas held heart-to-heart talks with his employers and urged them to let him move on a permanent transfer.
Crosas had been marked as the natural successor to Xavi, but with the likes of Xavi and Iniesta also vying for a starting berth in the Barcelona midfield, Crosas could well have found it difficult to break through into the first-team at the Nou Camp on a regular basis.

The excellent working relationship which has been built up at boardroom level in the past five years between Celtic and Barcelona has also helped broker the deal. Crosas is now desperate to start his Parkhead career and hopes to sign a three-year contract within the next 72 hours.

The Spaniard spent the second half of last season on loan at Lyon where Brazilian star Juninho took the youngster under his wing, while the youngster also acquitted himself well in appearances in Scotland with Barcelona during their mini-tour this pre-season which saw Barca play Hibernian and Dundee Utd.

Now Crosas is set to become the Parkhead club’s second major summer signing after the £1.25m transfer of Greek striker, Georgios Samaras from Manchester City.

Celtic also hope to add to their squad in the next few weeks with a right-sided centre-half and left-back high on their wish list. Despite rumours to the contrary, it is believed negotiations with Romanian stopper, Gabriel Tamas are still on-going despite it being widely believed the deal was dead, while West Brom’s powerhouse left-back is reported to be the subject of a £1 million Hoops bid.

But while the club seek to bring in players, Celtic are still having trouble moving their misfits, including defender Bobo Balde, off the wage bill.

Sunderland, Birmingham and Ipswich have all been linked to the giant Guinean stopper, but Balde appears to be happy picking up his huge Parkhead pay cheque despite Celtic allowing the stopper to move on a free. However, Balde has so far refused to budge even though the 32-year-old has been out of Gordon Strachan’s top team plans for two seasons – a situation that won’t change anytime soon.

Midfield flop Thomas Gravesen is firmly in the same boat, and if both can be offloaded it means nearly £3 million in wages would be saved during the coming season. Meanwhile, striker Derek Riordan continues to be linked with a move away from the club, with Barnsley supposedly having a £800,000 bid accepted for the player.