Two 'deals' fall by the wayside.

Philippe Senderos and Ruud van Nistelrooy are both on the move tonight but neither of them to Celtic.

Senderos was heavily linked with Celtic early in the week but has agreed to join Everton on loan till the end of the season.

The much more fanciful, and largely internet based, rumour linking Van Nistelrooy with a loan deal has sunk without trace with the striker moving to SV Hamburg for £1.5m on an 18 month contract.

Preston boss Darren Ferguson has dismissed any deal under £4m for Sean St Ledger which  looks like Celtic will be forced to look elsewhere for the defender that Tony Mowbray clearly is looking for.

With a week to go before the transfer window closes speculation is bound to intensify as clubs, players and agents indulge in the ultimate game of poker.

Every club is looking to get the top price for their players but no-one wants to be left with expensive and unwanted goods when the transfer window closes.

It'll be fever pitch time next Sunday with Celtic the only SPL club in the market for signing players.

Turn the tide Tony!

The thoughts below will be entirely pointless and deleted if Celtic fail to beat St Johnstone on Sunday.

Has the tide turned today with Rangers drawing at home to Hearts?

For almost two months things have been going Rangers way with Celtic unable to string together any sort of form or winning run.

A 12 point lead was expected to be facing Celtic tomorrow at St Johnstone as the Rangers juggernaut rolled over the Jambos with Tony Mowbray set for another public trial by the body language experts and amateur psychologists.

Rangers dropped two points today at home to ten man Hearts and it's in Celtic's hands to start turning up the pressure and reducing the daylight at the top of the SPL table.

Twelve months ago Celtic were two goals up on Dundee United on the back of a win at Ibrox that sent them seven points clear of Rangers.

A win against Craig Levein's side would have put Rangers ten points behind going into the Inverness Caley Thistle match.

We all know that Celtic managed to throw away two points, Rangers won at Inverness, the ten point gap became five and the rest of the season is best forgotten.

St Johnstone are a decent team but with the right attitude they should be no match for Celtic tomorrow.

A well prepared, fully motivated Celtic with a team full of players knowing that they are playing for their place or a transfer elsewhere.

Three new signings have already been made this month, Kim Sung Yeung looks useful, Jos Hooiveld looks scary and Thomas Rogne is one for the future, hopefully the not too distant future.

Danish striker Morten Rasmussen is on his way with another defender being chased before the transfer window closes next weekend.

Other than a good day out at Hampden winning the League Cup 2009 was a virtual right off for Celtic.

A commanding win at St Johnstone and some new signings making their mark in the coming weeks can help generate a momentum to turn the tide and the title back towards Paradise.

PS Well done Willo Flood on scoring for Middlesbrough in their 1-1 draw with Swansea

Robson to miss Riverside debut

Barry Robson will miss out on his home debut for Middlesbrough after picking up a hamstring injury in training during the week.

Gordon Strachan's side face an important home match with on-form Swansea with just 11 fit outfield players available for selection.

Robson played in last week's defeat away to Sheffield United but will miss out on appearing at the Riverside Stadium as his new side attempt to push their way back into play-off contention.

'Boro have lost five of their last six matches with Strachan admitting that the injury crisis couldn't have come at a worst time.

The former Celtic boss said: "You get periods like this, it's a tough spell that's for sure.

"But it's not the first time this year that we've suffered from injuries and we'll deal with it.

"We are looking forward to a time when we have everyone available, then we'll see what we are made of..

"Injuries are part and parcel of the game, we have prepared well all week and are looking forward to the game."

Willo Flood and Chris Killen will make their home debut's for Boro against a Swansea side that has moved into fourth place in the league.

Distractions and side issues don't win points.

What a week it's been for Celtic and stories- or sidelines and distractions!

Tony Mowbray's appearance at today's pre-match press conference was apparently to discuss Sunday's match with St Johnstone but the agenda was far from McDairmid Park.

While it's been a tough week for Celtic in medialand the club has the opportunity to set their own agenda and use the conference to communicate directly with supporters.

Talking about how news is interpreted and reported is a side issue, it's tittle tattle and helps to fill spaces and time during quiet weeks.

For over a month now we've been bombarded with the news that Aiden McGeady is on his way to Birmingham City for £8m which would be 'good business' to some.

I think that it's probably odds against McGeady being a Celtic player next season but there is no prospect of Birmingham City or £8m being involved if he does leave Celtic.

Adding to the menu this week Mark Venus did a McCoist in previewing a Scottish Cup tie which seemed to upset some folk and allowed himself to get dragged off in other directions before the Scott Brown rammy emerged.

All the while at Rangers it appears that not a single offer has yet been made for any of their players. A year on from almost selling Kris Boyd to Birmingham against his wishes to raise cash the club's financial future is looking even more dodgy.

Almost five months on from David Murray's decision to stand down as chairman there is no sign of a buyer, hardly a surprise since Murray has been looking to sell the club for getting on three years- again without a flicker of interest.

Three months on from Walter Smith being corrected for claiming that the bank were running Rangers they seem no closer to finding a solution with only a mysterious Florida based billionaire and property developer Graham Duffy showing an interest with neither having a credible or even a cunning plan of action.

Rangers only in-coming transfer of 2009 has ended in tears with Jerome Rothen desperate for an escape after two months into his Ibrox 'career'.

There are serious and troubled times at Rangers, which are likely to escalate over the next week. Club's that are interested in players at Ibrox are likely to make bids on the low side towards the close of the transfer window which the club may be forced to accept.

Rangers' business model appears to require the income from the Champions League to break even over the course of a season, reducing debt through normal trading seems an impossibility.

Failure to sell any players this month will leave the wage bill bloated and cause further discomfort for the bank. On the park, whatever anyone's opinion may be, Rangers are clearly ahead of Celtic.

They have a settled team with a defence that doesn't give goals away cheaply and an ability to draw when they could lose and win when a draw could be expected.

Celtic seem to be the exact opposite. No longer is there any game that looks a banker win.

Away games are fraught with problems, two goals seem to be lost in every away match with home draws against Falkirk, Motherwell and Hearts sitting alongside three home defeats in European competitions.

If there is an area that deserves the attention and criticism from Celtic supporters it's the on-field performances and results. Anything else is a side issue.

The next week, on the field as much as off it, will determine which club is in the best shape for the run-in to the season.

Gossip, distractions and body language never win points. A winning run from Celtic on the park can build a momentum that even the 'strange decisions' as Andreas Hinkel described them will find hard to break.

In the bleakest of circumstances Celtic found eight wins on the bounce to retain the title in season 2007/2008- repeating that run would drive Celtic into a commanding position and send confidence and morale sky high.

Scott Brown in the crossfire as the Daily Record stand by their story.

The Daily Record have challenged Celtic by standing by their story that the Scott Brown has been told he could be sold this month.

Celtic took the unusual step yesterday of officially denying the story on the club website with quotes from the player and Tony Mowbray.

The club statement also hinted at possible legal action over the story.

Despite that threat the Record are standing by their story and refusing to back down.

They claim today: "SCOTT Brown continued to insist yesterday that he was told he can leave Celtic.

"The SPL club went public to deny Record Sport's story that revealed Tony Mowbray informed the midfield player he could be sold during the January transfer window.

"But information given to us made it clear Brown believes his days at Celtic Park are numbered.

"We stand by that information and our source, who is well known to Celtic.

"Yet, on the Parkhead club's official website yesterday they branded our story as "erroneous and without foundation."

"The truth is that before printing the story it was read out to Brown. And there is no question, no doubt at all, Record Sport's piece was endorsed by him and his reaction included.

"He knows we reported accurately a story which has been the talk of his Celtic team-mates at their Lennoxtown base.

"In fact, even yesterday afternoon Brown was still adamant he'd been told he could leave.

"Someone has been economical with the truth, but Record Sport's conscience is clear. It's now a matter for Brown and Celtic."

The Record's position is quite clear, they haven't backed down in any way and have added further details to the originial story although there are no direct quotes from Brown today.

I wouldn't expect any further comment from Celtic on the matter but the club statement has clearly been ridiculed by the Record.

Both side's will be able to justify their position regardless of whether Brown stays or goes. A transfer this month seems highly unlikely but a future transfer could be traced back to this incident.

Meantime the Record's rivals at The Sun report that Kris Boyd has held signing talks with Aston Villa and was a guest at the club for last night's Carling Cup semi-final win over Blackburn Rovers.

Former Rangers boss Alex McLeish is also said to be keen to take Boyd to Birmingham City.

Celtic v Daily Record: Thugs and Thieves II?

Celtic weren't slow to put their retaliation in on the Daily Record story claiming that Scott Brown had been told that he was no longer required by Tony Mowbray.

The story contained quotes from the player which gave the story extra strength but Brown has been quick to 'put the record' straight as is often said with these type of stories.

Speaking to the Celtic website the midfielder said: "Obviously I am very disappointed with this article as there is no foundation to it. I have worked with the manager for some time and have a very good relationship with him.

"It’s disappointing to have been out for so long with an injury but I’m looking forward to getting back to full fitness as soon as possible and getting back in to the team for the second half of the season."

There's not much room for misinterpretation with those quotes or any possibility that the original words have been 'lost in translation'.

The Record claimed: 'Tony Mowbray has stunned star man Scott Brown by telling him he has no future at Celtic.'

Celtic famously fell out with the Daily Record in December 2002 following a front page story that is almost as famous as 'Freddy Starr ate my hamster' when the newspaper ran with the 'Thugs and Thieves' headline relating to the behaviour of players on a Christmas night out in Newcastle.

A cold war followed between the two parties but the Record and Celtic need each other with the relations eventually being patched up although the Record's double decker bus in Seville six months later wasn't the most popular.

Football clubs and personalities regularly threaten to take legal action against newspapers, and other than the prolific Martin O'Neill these issues get forgotten over the course of time.

Whether Celtic take legal action remains to be seen.

The Celtic statement added: "The story, which appeared on Wednesday morning, has been dismissed by both Tony Mowbray and Scott Brown as being totally without foundation.

"The club is currently taking legal advice over the issue."

Tensions have clearly been raised with the story going a step further than the usual transfer speculation that football clubs expect at this time of the year.

The final ten days of the transfer window will make interesting reading for everyone. If relations have broken down the Record won't hold back, if a compromise has been reached between the club and newspaper then a series of positive stories are likely to appear over the coming days.

Celtic website denial

Mowbray confirms signing............ tomorrow morning

Tony Mowbray has revealed that a new signing will be revealed tomorrow morning on the club's website.

Speaking to Radio Scotland before and after tonight's 1-0 win at Morton the Celtic manager confirmed that a signing announcement will be made.

Norwegian defender Thomas Rogne has been on an extended visit to Lennoxtown and is believed to be the most likely signing.

The 19-year-old is out of contract with Stabaek but the Norwegian club would be entitled to a fee of around £200,000 having developed the player through their youth academy.

At 6 foot 2 Rogne would add a physical edge to the Celtic defence although Jos Hooived has already been signed with the club also negotiating with Arsenal to take Phillippe Senderos on loan for the remainder of the season.

Aftermatch radio interview

Cappielow memories and the much delayed debut of Mark Viduka

Tonight's Scottish Cup tie at Morton brings a new generation of supporters and squad of players the joys of Greenock.

It's fair to say that the words Greenock, Cappielow and Morton weren't used in the sales pitch when the current Celtic squad was negotiating their transfers to Celtic.

Traditionally a visit to Morton was described as a trip to 'the tail of the bank', which was a reference to Greenock's position at the end of the River Clyde, with predictions of wind and rain alongside a tight park painting an intimidating picture of Cappielow.

A strangely build ground featuring a traditional 'cowshed' an old fashioned stand along each side is 'complimented' by a tiny mishaped terrace behind one goal and one of those strange benched 'stands' behind the other goal which is uncovered.

The last time that Celtic played competitively at Morton was in March 1999 when Mark Viduka started his first game for Celtic and marked it with a ninth minute goal.

Mentioning Viduka brings back all sorts of memories, the lasting impression that he made was telling David O'Leary that he had only needed to play at 80% in the SPL.

Viduka's arrival at Celtic was almost as memorable as his wife/partner Ivana who attracted almost as much attention and headlines as the new striker.

The internet was barely up and running during the ultimate will he/won't be signing saga that saw the Australian/Croat return home to Oz shortly after signing for Celtic, and without having played a game, suffering from mental burnout or something similar.

Meltdown would have been the order of the day in the forum network as that drama was played out.

Fergus McCann wasn't best pleased at the attitude of a £3m investment, the signing saga involved agent Bernie Mandic in various publicity stunts with Viduka trying to board a flight with the Celtic squad heading to Spain for the winter break in January 99.

As well as Viduka's scoring debut Johan Mjallby picked up a red card in that match with Morton managed by Billy Stark. Cappielow holds mainly good memories- at the time of typing- as a Celtic supporter with the Centenary season of 1987/88 especially memorable.

A week after a 5-1 hammering at home from Arsenal Billy McNeill's side kicked off the serious action with a 4-0 win away to Morton with Stark amongst the goals alongside a double from Andy Walker and a strike from Mark McGhee on August 8.

Four months later Frank McAvennie scored all four goals in a 4-0 win as the team found form spearheaded by a front three of McAvennie, Walker and Joe Miller.

Another game that sticks out was in the first month of Liam Brady's reign when another free flowing side won 4-2 in the League Cup with doubles coming from Gerry Creaney and Charlie Nicholas, Alex Mathie scored for Morton who were wearing a less than flattering tartan strip at the time.

Without knowing too much about James Grady's side tonight's match should be a straightforward win for Celtic. It's about winning tonight with a minimum of fuss rather than developing pretty patterns, players expressing themselves and putting on a show.

Getting a few goals in front, and retaining that advantage, should give the team some much needed confidence.

Despite the tight park the pace of Niall McGinn should be used to the full, with Ki Sung Yueng injured McGinn appears the natural choice to come into the side with Aiden McGeady or Zheng Zhi moving inside to partner Marc Crosas.

Jock Stein plaque moving to Celtic

The plaque to commemorate the death of Jock Stein is to be sent to Celtic Park after being on display for more than twenty years in Cardiff.

Stein died at Ninian Park on 10 September 1985 guiding Scotland to a 1-1 draw with Wales that took them into a World Cup play-off with Australia.

Cardiff City commissioned the plaque to commemorate the legendary Celtic manager but moved out of Nianian Park at the end of last season.

Celtic were invited to open their new stadium at the start of this season but it has been decided that the plaque should be relocated to within Celtic Park.

It is believed that Celtic are considering opening a club museum with the London Road School a possible location as work goes on in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

Dunfermline appeal against Scottish Cup expulsion

Dunfermline have lodged an appeal to the SFA against their expulsion from the Scottish Cup.

The Pars were booted out of the competition after fielding a suspended player, Callum Woods, during the 7-1 win over Stenhousemuir with several other registration mistakes also emerging.

Awaiting the 'winners' of the appeal is a home tie against Morton or Celtic which would put a smile on the face of the bank manager of either club with the game likely to be shown live on television, provided Morton aren't creating headlines this time tomorrow.

It's difficult to see how Dunfermline can appeal their expulsion, no matter how comprehensive their win was it did involve a player who shouldn't have been playing.

Dunferlmline were clearly at fault but I would have thought that the match officials should be aware of players that are suspended when the team-lines are handed in.

Announcing the decision to expel Dunfermline SFA Chief Gordon Smith said: "It is unfortunate, but there was no alternative after the rules breaches.

"The integrity of the Active Nation Scottish Cup was paramount in the decision making process."

There doesn't seem any way back from that statement but perhaps making those comments when an appeal was a possibility could put the SFA in a difficult position.

The 5th round of the cup is due to take place on February 6, lets hope that it's Celtic travelling to play Dunfermline or Stenhousemuir.

Hinkel breaks the silence: 'strange decisions'

Andreas Hinkel has spoken out about the number of strange decisions that have gone against Celtic this season.

The full-back was the victim of a savage attack from Kyle Lafferty on January 3 that was 'punished' with a yellow card and was left puzzled and confused by the decisions of referee Alan Muir in the 1-1 draw with Falkirk.

Despite Celtic's many failings they still deserve a fair crack of the whip when it comes to decision making but on a consistent basis they are finding referees poorly positioned or having their views obstructed.

After a penalty claim against Dundee United earlier this season Craig Levein joked that his player 'was disappointed that he never held on to the ball' when quizzed about a possible handball against Darren Dods.

Both games against Rangers have seen strange decisions made although in fairness to Craig Thomson he did issue a second hand watered down apology for not giving Celtic a penalty at Ibrox in October.

Mild mannered and laid back Hinkel is a stranger to the Scottish game after arriving at Celtic two years ago from Seville.

Clearly reluctant to criticise officials the Celtic defender found it difficult to hold back when asked about Saturday's penalty incident involving Marco Fortune and Falkirk defender Brian McLean.

Hinkel said: “I don't want to blame the referee because we had enough chances to win the game but we had some strange decisions against us. Maybe this has added to our problems.

“As a player you give your best, but here, week after week, there is something happening.

“It's not really my thing to say something about referees but once again we had some strange decisions. Not just the penalty- look at the situation when Artur had a free-kick given against him.”

Hinkel's curiosity about the run of decisions this season extends to the predictable backing that referees can expect from their retired former colleagues who fall over themselves to back officials in their newspaper columns.

The defender added: “I've read a few newspaper columns from other referees and they tell me that the match officials here are very good!

“I just want to give my best as a player and I'm always calm but, if it's too much, then I want to speak out about things.

“I read one referee saying another had done everything right and that was in the last game against Rangers.

“It hurts when we don't take chances but it just seems to be one thing after another at the moment.”

Tony Mowbray has been reluctant to comment on decisions in after-match interviews but did speak out through The Celtic View about the decisions of Steve Conroy against Rangers.

In other circumstances Hinkel's comments would be dismissed a paranoia and sour grapes but the German usually remains calm and detached from controversies as he showed during the Lafferty incident.

His comments could bring about a call from the SFA to explain his comments which would certainly make compulsive viewing.

Burying their head in the sand and pretending that it never happened however is a more common tactic from the SFA who can rely on the BBC to overlook certain penalty incidents in their carefully edited highlights.

Ki Sung Yueng impresses on Celtic debut

Amid the misery, disappointment and predictable frustrations of the 1-1 draw with Falkirk the debut of Ki Sung Yueng is almost a footnote. An impressive footnote.

Another home draw, more defensive frailties, more possession not converted into chances or goals and frustration growing amongst supporters who rightly expect to see their team beat the bottom club in the league at home.

Not the most encouraging environment for a new player to come into, especially coming from a different continent but the 20-year-old South Korean rose above those issues to turn in an impressive debut.

The common perception of Asian players is that they will be skillful and lightweight but Ki, or Dave as he is happy to be known, has a strong physical element to his play as well as a good first touch and willingness to play an early forward pass.

Falkirk, as expected, didn't pose much of an attacking threat and were content to flood the midfield and take their chances on the counter attack against a reshaped and reshaped again Celtic defence that finally consisted of Darren O'Dea and Josh Thompson, neither of whom had turned out for Celtic in the previous four months.

Ki took to the game quickly and looked comfortable alongside Marc Crosas in the centre of the park. Some of his quick passing was a pleasant surprise with Andreas Hinkel benefitting from the improved service as he raced down the right flank.

An early free kick picked out Marco Fortune who headed across goal and indicated the new bhoy's prowess from set-pieces.

In the 65th minute Ki almost scored with a trademark 'Nakamura' free kick but was denied by an inspirational save from Falkirk keeper Robert Olejnik diving high to push the ball away from the postage stamp corner.

Predictably the pace of the match began to catch up on Dave after that and it was a surprise when Crosas was substituted when both Dave and Zheng Zhi looked to be suffering from a lack of match practice.

Morton at Cappielow will be a culture shock to Ki although the hold up on his registration may rule him out from the delights of Tuesday at Greenock.

With his World Cup place needing confirmed Ki will be anxious to make an impact on Celtic and could give an extra dimension to the midfield despite the recent impressive partnership of Crosas and Landry N'Guemo.

 
BBC highlights, editing out the penalty claim on Marco Fortune by Brian McLean, if the Celtic-Rangers match on January 3 hadn't been shown live by Sky would the BBC have shown Kyle Lafferty's booking?