St Mirren 'want a special cup run' insists O'Hara
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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Why Hearts look destined to beat Hibs and Aberdeen to third place in the Premiership this season
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ONE of them ended last season in disarray — the other defied the odds by lifting the Scottish Cup. So why am I convinced Hearts will be very good and Aberdeen, well, I just don't know? 4 Claudio Braga has impressed since arriving at Hearts Credit: Kenny Ramsay 4 Jimmy Thelin guided Aberdeen to Scottish Cup success last season Credit: PA 4 New Hearts boss Derek McInnes Credit: Kenny Ramsay Monday night's powderkeg clash at Tynecastle should tell us a lot about both teams. But there has already been plenty of evidence to suggest it's the Jambos who will be the third force this season. When they finally turned to Derek McInnes in June, the feeling at the time was it was a no-brainer. Nothing's happened since to change that opinion. The signings, with the help of Jamestown Analytics, look about as promising as it gets. Claudio Braga has got the potential to become the darling of Gorgie fans. He has style, swagger, and has already shown he knows where the goal is. Oisin McEntee was a wrecking ball against Sunderland last weekend next to Cammy Devlin. Alexandros Kyziridis has pace, power and a desire to run at worried defenders. Aberdeen fans react to historic Scottish Cup win Stuart Findlay has settled in at the back alongside Frankie Kent and Craig Halkett. Lawrence Shankland, having finally signed his deal, has come back looking sharp. That's not even counting Pierre Landry Kabore and Tomas Bent Magnussen, soon to be in the door. Then there's McInnes himself, who gets what a Hearts team at Tynecastle should look like from his previous experiences as a visiting boss. That's 11 men on the front foot. Wingers getting to the line and swinging in crosses. It's not rocket science. It's the way Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown got them to play. It's the perfect style for a stadium as tight as Tynie with the support so close to the pitch. But for some reason successive Jambos bosses have tried to get their sides to control games with endless passing. 4 And the crowd, so often a weapon, ended up bored to tears. I can't see past them for third place — and that's despite rivals Hibs having improved. David Gray's side were excellent over the second half of last season and will be a force again. I can't wait to see how Thibault Klidje settles given the money Gray has spent on him. But no Scottish club in recent times outside the Old Firm has found a way of coping with regular European football on top of their domestic commitments. I fear that will be the case with Hibs as well, which will only help their bitter rivals. Then there's the Dons, who we know will be playing league phase football until Christmas. That's what did for Barry Robson two years ago as his side fell off a cliff in the league. The question is has Jimmy Thelin recruited well enough to deal with it this time around? Monday will give us an indication of where Nicolas Milanovic, Kusini Yengi and Kjartan Mar Kjartansson fit in. All the indications are there will be more new faces to come. But they need time to settle, that's not something teams get a lot of when they are playing Thursday/Sunday/Thursday. Thelin has credit in the bank and rightly so. The Cup win was a remarkable achievement. But he needs to steady the ship and help them be more consistent. If he doesn't? I have a hunch ex-gaffer McInnes and his Jambos will leave them trailing. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Belfast Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Cliftonville's Champions League dream ended as quickfire double sets Lanchkhuti up for victory
The Reds will look back with regret on a crazy 60 seconds 10 minutes into the second half that proved costly to their quest to be the first Irish League club to progress beyond the first round of the competition. Georgian champions Lanchkhuti struck twice in that whirlwind spell, first through international midfielder Anano Tsikaridze and then Eter Sulashvili, leaving Cliftonville with a major task to turn the game around in sweltering 28 degree heat. Abbie Magee struck to halve the deficit just as the game hit 90 minutes and deep in injury time, as the Solitude girls pushed desperately for an equaliser, she brought a save from goalkeeper Tatia Gabunia, but that wasn't enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat. While the Reds did achieve a first win in European competition when they defeated Kosovan title winners Mitrovica on Wednesday, ultimately there were unable to complete the job that they had gone to Kosovo to do. The absence of experienced former Northern Ireland international Kirsty McGuinness was undoubtedly a factor for the Reds. The departures of other internationals since they won the League title last October has left Cliftonville short of strength in depth, but they are still strong with their best team on the pitch and, with McGuinness missing through suspension after being shown two yellow cards in the 3-1 extra-time win over Mitrovica, they weren't at full strength and her pace, quality and goal scoring threat were missed. Adding to the frustration will be the fact that Cliftonville had started the game well, had enjoyed the majority of possession and even had a shot from Caitlin McGuinness that came back off a post, until a late spell of pressure from Lanchkhuti in the first half followed by those goals early in the second completely changed to complexion of the game. Caitlin McGuinness and Carla Devine had chances early on but failed to trouble the goalkeeper, and when Lanchkhuti did pose the first real danger just before the half hour mark Rachel Norney got down at her near post to save. Teegan Lynch had a shot saved at the opposite end, just before that close call when McGuinness hit the woodwork, before the Reds survived a late first-half rally when Sulashvili's effort came back off crossbar and then the same player brought a save from Norney in quick succession. Lanchkhuti started the second half just as they finished the first and stunned Cliftonville twice in as many minutes, with defensive errors contributing to both goal as Tsikaridze scored the first on 55 minutes and Sulashvili really dented the Reds' hope with the second goal just a minute later. The game would have been over had Norney not prevented Sulashvili from scoring a third six minutes later. As it was, the Reds were still just about alive as the clock ticked down and they carved out opportunities. Naomi McLaughlin had a shot saved when she went through one-on-one with Tatia Gabunia and then had a shot from distance that the goalkeeper dealt with comfortably. When Marissa Callaghan fired wide it looked like the final chance had gone, but there was still more to come from Cliftonville. Magee stuck to give them a glimmer of a chance and with five minutes of added time indicated there was hope that an equaliser would come, but when Gabunia then denied Magee a second those hopes were crushed and the chance of history was gone. CLIFTONVILLE: Norney, Magee, Burrows, Morgan, O McGuinness, Carleton, Lynch, Callaghan, McLaughlin, C McGuinness, Devine (O'Neill 77). Unused subs: Bradley, McAllister, Markey, Gallagher, Thompson, Cunningham. LANCHKHUTI: Gabunia, Matveeva, Tsikaridze, Sulashvili (Smith Powell 67), Camargo Isaza, Russel, Murillo, Tsulaia (Dimopoulou 83), Telles Ortiz (Gujabidze 83), Chkhartishvili, Girchits (Chichinadze 71).
.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26auto%3Dwebp%26quality%3D75%26crop%3D3%3A2%2Csmart%26trim%3D&w=3840&q=100)
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
Why Celtic flag day promises to be extra special for player who has fewer wrinkles than one year ago
McCowan looking forward to meeting The Maestro Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Luke McCowan was in his mother's womb when Paul McStay retired from playing but he knows enough about the Celtic legend to appreciate he will be in exalted company on Sunday. Celtic midfielder McCowan was born in December 1997, seven months after McStay was forced to hang up his boots somewhat prematurely at the age of 32 due to a recurring ankle injury. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad McStay was a one-club man, spending 16 years with the Hoops, making 677 appearances, and winning eight major honours, as well as earning 76 caps for Scotland. The Maestro, as he was nicknamed due to his elegant and skillful style, will return to Celtic Park to unfurl the league championship flag ahead of the Premiership season opener against St Mirren. McCowan, 27, admits it will be an honour to meet his fellow midfielder and club icon for the first time. Celtic's Luke McCowan is relishing the chance to meet club legend Paul McStay as the league championship flag is unfurled ahead of kick-off against St Mirren in Sunday's Premiership season opener. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group 'It will mean a great deal, it really will," he said. "Paul retired shortly before I was born but, of course, I know all about him. He is a Celtic legend. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'When the fans voted for the Greatest Ever Celtic side he was picked to play in centre midfield – that tells you everything you need to know about him. 'He was in there alongside the likes of Henrik Larsson, Kenny Dalglish, Jinky Johnstone, Billy McNeill and Bobby Lennox. What a team that would have been! 'Paul is one of those guys who if you had told me when I was a kid that I might get the chance to meet one day, I would have been so happy. Hopefully I will get that chance on Sunday. I don't know what I will say to him, right enough, with a bit of luck something will come to me! 'It will be a pleasure, though, I am sure of that, and I think he is a great choice to unfurl the flag. He will get a tremendous reception from the fans and if he can help inspire us to get off to a flying start then so much the better." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Celtic's Paul McStay in action against Rangers in 1992. | SNS Group McCowan was part of the Dundee side that raised the Championship flag at Dens Park two years ago. Now he is relishing being part of Celtic's Premiership flag day in front of 60,000 fans having played his part in last season's title success with five goals and five assists in 29 league appearances. 'It will be a great day, for myself and for all the other guys," McCowan said. "I came here hoping to be able to help the club win the big prizes and the title win is a proud achievement. The same applies to the Championship win but obviously you want to progress your career as much as you can. "At the same time, we know we have a job because we want to start this league campaign off with a good performance." McCowan joined Celtic on a frantic transfer deadline day last year with the season already in full swing so he is looking forward to starting the new campaign without the stress of not knowing where his future lies. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Yeah, if you looked at a picture of me last year and one today there are probably fewer wrinkles on my face now," he said. 'The whole process is quite taxing. It is not great when everyone is speculating about your future and you yourself don't know where you are going to be playing and what your contract situation is going to be.
