Scottish Football News

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee has seen his attempt to lure Celtic’s John Kennedy to the club on a loan deal collapse after the manager failed to secure adequate backing from the club’s board. The Motherwell manager was determined to sign the central defender on a six-month deal and Kennedy had flown out with the Fir Park outfit to Austria for pre-season training in the hope of securing the move.

However, McGhee has seen the move collapse and has blasted the club’s board for their lack of ambition.

“The deal appears to be dead in the water. Our board refused to meet Celtic’s demands and Peter Lawwell refused to budge.

“It’s hugely frustrating because I want to improve and take this team forward and that’s going to be difficult without pulling a few rabbits out of the hat.

“I’m as disappointed as I was excited when I thought John would be joining us a few weeks ago.

“The problem is our board were not prepared to pay what Celtic were asking, so there you go. Plus, Celtic were immovable in their demands.

“The thing is there were other clubs involved who were prepared to pay what Celtic want. I spoke to John on Thursday and, again, he was desperate to come here.”

It is believed that Celtic wanted Motherwell to cover central defender Kennedy’s wage packet in full. Preston North End and Norwich City are now said to be interested in taking the Scotland internationalist on loan.

Meanwhile, Steven Hammell is looking to reach peak fitness for Motherwell’s tough start to the season following his first taste of McGhee’s pre-season training regime – including punishing mountain runs. The defender returned to Fir Park in January after an 18-month spell at Southend to help the Steelmen seal third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Hammell’s team-mates had benefited from their training camp in Austria last summer and the left-back admits his debut experience in Obertraun was as intense a training regime as he has experienced.

“We went to Austria for a week but I’m sure it felt more like three months,” the 26-year-old said.

“We were up at seven every day running in the trees and the hills. It was hard work but it was good work as well and hopefully the benefits will show in the next few games because the gaffer demands a high level of fitness. Every pre-season is difficult but the way they structure the runs and the intensity is different. There is no slacking off at any time so it’s intense in that way.

“He gives you targets to reach and you have got to get to them.

“The gaffer sets high standards, he doesn’t just hope for the best – he demands the best.”

McGhee appeared to expect more from Hammell following his return when the Motherwell manager said he was looking forward to getting the full-back as fit as the rest of the squad.

Hammell did not feel worse off but he hopes his hard work will pay off as Motherwell begin their season at Hearts followed by games against the rest of the SPL’s top six. “When he said that I didn’t feel less fit than the rest of the boys,” the Scotland cap explained.

“Because I hadn’t done a pre-season at Motherwell he wasn’t sure what I was doing before, but personally I felt fit enough. I have played every game since pre-season so I can’t have done any more. I’m feeling fit now and hopefully in another couple of games we’ll be ready to fly out the blocks because it’s a tough start.”

Dundee United manager Craig Levein says the club could not stand in the way of striker Noel Hunt, who has headed south to join Reading.

The Irish forward, who had been linked with a move to SPL champions Celtic, has joined the English side in a deal reported to be worth around £600,000.  Levein had alreadty brought in Warren Feeney and Francesco Sandaza for next season, in anticipation of losing the striker.

Levein told The Scotsman: “This transfer represents an excellent deal for Dundee United and helps bring further financial stability to the club.

“Following an initial inquiry last season, we were aware that Reading might make a formal offer before the close of this transfer window and made plans accordingly.

“We knew that a formal offer would require serious consideration and we knew we had to plan to replace Noel before it became too late to do so.

“The move is also an excellent opportunity for Noel and we couldn’t stand in his way.”

Noel’s brother, Stephen, is already on the books at Reading.

It is being reported that Celtic’s bid to sign Auxerre defender has failed, after talks between club and player seemingly collapsed under the pressure of too many agents demanding too much wages for the Romanian.

Celtic have been in negotiations with the player since last Friday to try and reach an agreement for the Romanian star, but Parkhead chief executive Peter Lawwell is believed to have finally decided that enough is enough and has pulled out of the protracted deal.

It was thought that Tamas was set to at least double his wages if he had accepted the first deal on the table, rumoured to be £14k per week, but it is believed Peter Lawwell reckons that the player’s agents were being too greedy and had been advising the player to continue negotiations.

It is now widely expected that Celtic will switch their attention over to Serbian defender, Marko Basa, who currently plays for Le Mans.  Celtic have already agreed a fee for the player but will now have to begin wage negotiations all over again.

Celtic have been dealt a blow in the preparation for their SPL title defence with the news that influential Japanese midfielder, Shunsuke Nakamura, is likely to miss the kick-off for the new season.

Nakamura has picked up a groin injury while with the Celtic squad in the Algarve, as the team competes in the Algarve Cup tournament. While the player is being monitored by Celtic’s medical staff, it is feared that the player could require surgery if the injury doesn’t respond to treatment.

Nakamura has been restricted to only doing light jogging training and could be as much as two weeks behind his team-mates when the season kicks off, which may rule him out of the first Old Firm clash against Rangers on August 31st at Celtic Park.

While on international duty in June with Japan as part of their World Cup qualifying campaign, Nakamura suffered a recurrence of an old ankle injury and this latest injury blow is another problem which Gordon Strachan could do without as the Hoops prepare to begin their SPL defence against St. Mirren on August 10th. Strachan has also seen injuries strike down young English striker, Ben Hutchinson, Nakamura’s fellow countryman, midfielder Koki Mizuno and recent signing Pat McCourt while New Zealand striker Chris Killen is away on Olympic duty with the New Zealand squad.

Meanwhile, a lacklustre Celtic played their first match of the Algarve Cup tournament against English Premiership side Middlesboro. In a match to forget, the two teams fought out a 1-1 draw with Dutchman Jan Vennegoor of Hesselhink grabbing an equaliser for the Hoops in injury-time. The standard league format for the tournament was amended to also offer teams an extra point for every goal scored, but Middlesboro set out their stall in a 4-5-1 formation and stifled the Celtic attack for much of the game, while offering little upfront themselves. Celtic’s next match in the tournament is against English Championship side, Cardiff City, on Thursday.

Celtic are rapidly losing patience with Romanian defender Gabriel Tamas. Tamas has been widely expected to sign for the Glasgow champions but with the deal being drawn out ever further and with no end in sight, Celtic’s Chief Executive Peter Lawell is understood to be ready to pull the plug on the deal and switch his intentions to Le Man’s Serbian defender, Marko Basa. The Serbian international is available for around £4.5 million after his club slashed their asking fee to try to tempt Celtic to make an approach for the player. Basa has already seen a move to rival French club Paris St. Germain collapse while Ukranian side Dinamo Kiev have also shown an interest, although it is believed the player does not want to return to the Eastern Bloc.

Some good news for Celtic came when young full-back Paul Caddis, who broke into the first-team towards the end of season 07/08 signed a new two-year contract with the club. Winger Aiden McGeady also signed a five-year contract recently.

Davie Weir, Glasgow Rangers’ veteran Scottish defender will take over the captain’s armband from current club captain and long-term injury victim, Barry Ferguson.

Weir, who has 61 caps for Scotland, signed for the Glasgow club 2007 on a six-month deal after being released by English Premiership club, Everton and has since turned in a string of impressive performances for the Ibrox club.

Weir, 38, will lead the team out for the first time in a friendly match against Bundesliga side Schalke in Gelsenkirchen as Rangers continue their pre-season tour of Germany and boss Walter Smith confirmed the appointment in a statement:

Smith said: “David will captain the team while Barry is injured.

“If we do get another player in he may not play all the games but he will captain the team.

“David was a big part of what made us successful last season and it is not an easy decision for a manager to decide when a player is too old these days.

“Look at Paolo Maldini. He’s 40 and was going to retire this summer but hasn’t. But good luck to these lads - they deserve it.

“David has been a terrific professional. His attitude is terrific and you will not come across a more decent man.

“He’s great in terms of his training, approach and manner within the group.

“David is popular with everybody. He has a bit of steel about him, too, and doesn’t like losing.”

Not so good news for Barry Ferguson however, as he prepares to sit out the first four months of the season as he bids to recuperate from surgery to repair tendons in his left-ankle. Ferguson’s surgery piles pressure on an already growing injury list for Walter Smith, who must surely be looking for a lucky break after losing the SPL on the last day to arch-rivals Celtic.

Also on the Ibrox injury list are Stevie Smith, who has only recently returned to the first-team after missing the entire 2007/08 season with a pelvic injury; an ankle injury sustained in training has ruled him out for around 4 to 6 weeks. Meanwhile, American winger DaMarcus Beasley is out for three weeks with a hamstring injury, while recent £3 million signing, striker Kyle Lafferty will spend at least a fortnight on the sidelines after injuring his back in training.

“It’s another blow for Stevie Smith who has not had his troubles to seek in recent times but we wish him a speedy recovery,” he said.

“The Lafferty one is frustrating because when you sign a new player you want to bed him into the team quickly but he is at least another week away.

“I would have to say that he won’t be available to us for the Champions League qualifier on July 30.”

It’s certainly bad news for Walter Smith, who had hoped to build on a strong showing from his team in the previous season, but has seen his plans and preparation for the new campaign blighted by bad luck on the injury front.