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Sunday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Former assistant referee Steven Craven admits to lying to Neil Lennon... (Sunday Mail)

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan would like to streamline the cumbersome disciplinary procedures at the organisation. (Scotland on Sunday) 

Celtic are interested in signing Slovenian World Cup defender Marko Suler in the January transfer window. (Daily Mail)

Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu and winger Vladimir Weiss are injury doubts for the Champions League match in Valencia. (Sunday Express, News of the World) 

Valencia were booed off by their home fans on Saturday night when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Zaragoza. (Scotland on Sunday)Saving themselves for Tuesday 

His team-mate Gregg Wylde has no plans to go on loan to get more first-team football - the 19-year-old is beginning to appear in the first 11. (Sunday Express)

And Wylde may be joined at Ibrox by French-Algerian midfielder Salim Kerkar after his club, Gueugnon, waived their right to a fee for the 23-year-old. (Sunday Mail)

Livingston chairman Gordon MacDougall will complain to the Scottish Football League if the punishment handed to Dundee is not as severe as that suffered by the West Lothian club when they went into administration. (Sunday Express) 

Celtic have banned a charity from selling poppies at their stadium for Remembrance Sunday, prompting the Poppy Appeal to plead with Celtic chairman John Reid, the former Defence Secretary, for a change of heart. (News of the World)I must say I think this is wrong 

Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot insists he did not dive in earning a penalty against Celtic last weekend and that there was contact from defender Daniel Majstorovic. (News of the World) 

Valencia coach Unai Emery has dismissed rumours he is planning a double swoop for Rangers pair Kenny Miller and Allan McGregor. (News of the World)

Roy Hodgson has brushed off claims that former boss Kenny Dalglish is trying to steal his job as Liverpool manager. (News of the World)

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway fears he may have to sell Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam in January. (News of the World)

 

Thursday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra insists the Ibrox club can beat Manchester United in Glasgow to keep their hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League alive. (Various) 

And Gers manager Walter Smith is hoping his players can be rested from international friendly duty the week before United roll up at Ibrox. (Daily Mail)

But Valencia striker Roberto Soldado has told Rangers to kiss their last 16 dreams goodbye, claiming his side and Manchester United will hold on to the top spots in Group C. (Various) 

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster admits the league's image has been tarnished over the scandal involving referee Dougie McDonald. (Daily Record)

Scotland boss Craig Levein has told striker Steven Fletcher to put away his petted lip because he has heard gripes about players not being selected a million times before. (Various)

Meanwhile, Levein has finally admitted his decision to play without a striker in the 1-0 defeat to Czech Republic backfired. (Sun)

On-loan Hearts striker Gordon Smith hopes his goals for Stirling Albion can earn him a new contract at Tynecastle. (Daily Record)

Full-back Michael Hart insists all Hibs' early-season problems will be quickly forgotten if they beat Hearts at the weekend. (Various)

Hamilton boss Billy Reid regrets criticising his side's second half display after their win over Motherwell last weekend. (Daily Record)

St Mirren duo Ally Love and Mark McLennan are joining Stenhousemuir on a month's loan. (Daily Record)

Birmingham and Scotland striker Garry O'Connor has joined Barnsley on a month's loan for the second time this season. (Various)

 

Tuesday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Celtic are poised to make another move for the out-of-favour Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given. (The Express)

Hibernian captain Derek Riordan will be handed an extra one-game ban by the SFA after his derby day red card. (The Star)

Hibernian manager Colin Calderwood insists he will give Riordan another chance to wear the captain's armband when he's paid his penance. (The Scotsman)

Celtic's Honduran full-back Emilio Izaguirre is being tracked by Manchester United and Aston Villa. (The Sun) 

St Johnstone's on-loan striker Marcus Haber is returning to West Brom for treatment after snapping his anterior cruciate ligament in the match against Kilmarnock. (The Star)

Ross County manager Derek Adams has been hit with another SFA ban that will stretch his time in the stands to 18 matches this season. (The Scotsman) 

Rangers manager Walter Smith says he hopes to have striker Nikica Jelavic back in action for the Ibrox side next month. (The Scotsman) 

Former SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has called on referee Dougie McDonald to resign over his handling of the controversial penalty incident at Tannadice. (The Herald) 

Motherwell manager Craig Brown says several of his players developed a sickness bug following their win away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday. (Daily Record)

 

Thursday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Jim Farry, who was chief executive of the Scottish Football Association for nine years from 1990, has died of a heart attack at the age of 56. (Daily Record)

Referees' chief Hugh Dallas looks set to carry on at the Scottish Football Association despite allegations that he sent a sectarian e-mail following an investigation by chief executive Stewart Regan. (Daily Express) 

Aberdeen will sack manager Mark McGhee following Saturday's visit to Ibrox to face Rangers. (Daily Mail)What if they do a Hibs and win 0-3 

Finnish Football Association officials, who are looking for a new national coach, were among the spectators at Rugby Park as Mixu Paatelainen's Kilmarnock defeated Hamilton Accies. (Daily Express)

Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen has emerged as favourite to become the new coach of his national side. (the Herald)

Hearts' Scotland Under-21 winger David Templeton has been targeted by Championship outfits Ipswich, Swansea and Norwich. (the Sun)

Airdrie United striker Tony Watt has trained with Celtic last week, will be given a trial by Rangers this week and is also being watched by Liverpool after the 16-year-old scored twice in 13 games for the Division Two side. (Daily Record)

Motherwell fans want Colin Calderwood to apologise for not having a minute's silence following the death of Phil O'Donnell in 2007 when the Hibernian manager was in charge of Nottingham Forest. (Daily Record) 

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has emerged as a leading contender to fill the same post with Liverpool after the English club's new owner, John W Henry, appointed global head hunters. (the Sun)

Dundee United winger Craig Conway will be sidelined through injury until Christmas. (the Sun)

Brechin City have appealed to fans to bring friends to their games to cover for all of the win bonuses being paid to Jim Weir's side, who sit second in Division Two. (the Sun)

Ross County central defender Atli Gregersen has retained his place in the Faroe Islands squad for next week's friendly with Scotland despite failing to start for the First Division side. (the Scotsman)

 

Sunday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

More than 80% of Scotland's top referees failed a Scottish Football Association test on the laws of the game. (Sunday Mail) 

Sir Alex Ferguson reckons Walter Smith should stay at Rangers after stepping down as manager and become a Sir Matt Busby-style figurehead at Ibrox. (Various)

Rangers ace Steven Davis says beating Manchester United and reaching the last 16 of the Champions League would match making the Uefa Cup final. (News of the World)

Prospective new Rangers owner Craig Whyte is in Glasgow for further talks with current majority shareholder Sir David Murray. (Sunday Express)

Red-hot Inverness striker Adam Rooney is in a personal scoring battle with his friend and fellow Irishman Kilmarnock forward Conor Sammon. (Scotland on Sunday)

Celtic are considering another refereeing complaint now that Gary Hooper has been booked three times since he criticised Scottish officials. (News of the World)

Celtic boss Neil Lennon is delighted with the contribution of super sub Pat McCourt but is frustrated that the winger cannot last 90 minutes. (Various)

Injured Hearts full-back Lee Wallace has stepped up his rehabilitation and is aiming for a 1 January comeback in the Edinburgh derby. (News of the World)

Hearts boss Jim Jefferies thinks his goalkeeper Marian Kello is worth a call-up for his native Slovakia. (Sunday Express)

And Kello dedicated yesterday's clean-sheet against Hamilton Accies to Hearts legend Jim Cruickshank, who died this week. (Various)

Rangers keeper Allan McGregor was willing to answer a late Scotland SOS as Craig Gordon suffered an injury scare ahead of Tuesday's friendly with the Faroe Islands. (Various)

Rangers boss Walter Smith claims that Sir Alex Ferguson is so competitive he once tried to keep a game of Trivial Pursuit going for six weeks, so he could win it! (Various)

 

Tuesday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has begun a search for referees to officiate games this weekend if Scottish officials go ahead with their proposed strike. (Various)

Regan and his counterpart at the Scottish Premier League, Neil Doncaster, are "begging" the referees to call off the strike. (The Sun)

From a player's perspective, Hearts' Eggert Jonsson is keeping his fingers crossed that his team's match at Motherwell will go ahead - the Jambos are enjoying a good run of form. (Daily Record)

Queen of the South chairman Douglas Rae, whose team's ALBA Challenge Cup match against Ross County is under threat by the strike, says the only way to appease the refs is for Celtic chairman John Reid to apologise to controversial whistler Dougie McDonald. (The Sun) 

Celtic defender Jos Hooiveld is open to a move back to AIK Stockholm, possibly on loan, after failing to establish himself in Neil Lennon's first team. (Daily Express)

Craig Whyte and Andrew Ellis, the prospective new owners of Rangers, will be at Ibrox to watch the Champions League match against Manchester United on Wednesday. The SPL club's potential tax liability to HMRC could be the sticking point in the deal to buy the club from David Murray. (The Sun) 

Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has warned his team-mates to expect a frustrating evening at Ibrox when they play Rangers, having witnessed the Scots defensive display at Old Trafford. (Daily Express)

His team-mate Darren Fletcher, who grew up as a Celtic fan in the east coast of Scotland, expects a hot reception from the Rangers fans. (Daily Mail) 

Scotland international goalkeeper Cammy Bell is on the verge of signing a new deal with Kilmarnock. (The Herald, Daily Express)

 

Thursday's Scottish gossip 

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Scotland's referees will today tell the Scottish Football Association that they will not call off their planned weekend strike, but Dutch referees are poised to ensure that the six Scottish Premier League fixtures and the ALBA Challenge Cup final will go ahead. (Daily Record)

Only one match - Sunday's ALBA Challenge Cup final - is guaranteed to go ahead this weekend unless the Scottish Football Association can hammer out a peace deal with referees over their strike threat. (Daily Express)

Scottish Football League chief executive David Longmuir is demanding to know by lunchtime on Thursday if Division One, Two and Three games, plus the ALBA Challenge Cup final, will go ahead despite the threat of a referees' strike. (Daily Record)

The Scottish Football Association has provided an assurance to Scottish Premier League clubs that their matches will go ahead this weekend even if there is a strike by referees. (Daily Mail)

A large number of Scotland's category three referees are unhappy at the stance of their senior colleagues and are dismayed that there was no strike ballot among all members of the Senior Scottish Football Referees Association. (Daily Record)

The use of foreign officials would have to be approved the Scottish Football Association's referee committee, which is understood to be sympathetic to Scottish referees' strike action. (the Herald)

Greek striker Georgios Samaras is poised to be sold by Celtic in January after talks over a new contract stalled, with two Spanish clubs, including Hercules, declaring an interest. (Daily Mail)

Rangers forward Steven Naismith says Swiss referee Massimo Busacca was correct to penalise him for the penalty that handed Manchester United their Champions League winner at Ibrox. (Various) 

Injured Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra hopes to return to action in time for his side's final Champions League group game against Bursaspor. (Daily Record)

Scotland midfielder Kevin Thomson will sit out the next few weeks in the hope he can finally recover after breaking down several times as he attempts to recover from a broken leg. (Daily Record)

Defender David Barron insists he remains fully committed to St Mirren despite knocking back a contract extension. (Daily Express)

Former Aberdeen and Celtic winger Jamie Smith looks set to stay with Colorado Rapids after being named as one of their 11 protected players ahead of next season's draft. (Daily Record)

Stirling Albion have asked Rangers, who helped open Forthbank Stadium 17 years ago, to play a testimonial match next season for the Division One club's former owner, Peter McKenzie. (Various)