The Rumour Mill: Tuesday’s transfer news and gossip

In today’s Rumour Mill: Alan Thompson allegedly sacked for “behaving like a teenager” as accusations of heavy drinking surface; Celtic face battle to tie up Fraser Forster on permanent deal with English Premiership side; Motherwell’s Chris Humphrey dropped by Jamaica squad for breaking curfew; Rangers insist they were right to go to court over transfer embargo; plus all the latest football news and gossip

TWO days after Alan Thompson was sensationally sacked by Celtic, details are beginning to emerge over the circumstances of Neil Lennon’s decision to dismiss his one-time team-mate.

The Daily Record allege that a “boozy lifestyle” was to blame for the termination of his contract with the club. A club insider was quoted by the Record as saying: “Alan was a 38-year-old middle-aged bloke who was behaving like a teenager.

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“He was out boozing too often and got himself blootered once too often for Celtic’s liking.

“The view was that he was becoming a bad influence.

“The opinion was that he had turned into the sort of guy Neil Lennon would be better off without.”

The rest of today’s back pages cover the imminent legal wrangle between Thompson and his former employer.

Celtic, issuing a statement yesterday on Thompson’s sacking, said that Thompson had been sacked over the phone because he had refused to meet with Lennon in Newcastle. The Daily Mail report that Celtic will wait until pre-season begins before appointing a replacement.

In other news at Celtic, goalkeeper Fraser Forster, on loan from Newcastle United, is a target for Queens Park Rangers. The Record reckon that a figure of £2 million should be enough to prise Forster from his contract with the Magpies, although the Englishman remains in talks with Celtic over a permanent deal.

Meanwhile, Efrain Juarez looks likely to depart Celtic imminently for Mexican outfit Club America, either on loan or on a permanent deal.

The Daily Mail reports that Motherwell winger Chris Humphrey has been axed from the Jamaica squad after breaking curfew rules. No details of the 24-year-old’s indisecretion have been released, but a statement from the Jamaican Football Federation confirmed that Humphrey would be dropped from the first two of Jamaica’s World Cup qualifying games. Birmingham City striker Marlon King was also dropped from the squad for the same reason.

The Sun reports that Rangers’s Steven Naismith is the subject of a bid from newly-promoted West Ham United, who would look to trigger the Scotland international’s £2 million release clause, a figure negotiated when he and other senior players accepted a 75 per cent wage cut with administrators earlier in the season. Everton are also understood to be interested in Naismith’s signature.

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In other Rangers news, the Ibrox outfit insist that the Court of Arbitration for Sport could not have ruled on the disrepute charge hanging over them. After taking the case to the Court of Session, Rangers had their 12-month transfer embargo overturned, but the club faces further punishment over and above the maximum £100,000 fine permitted by SPL rules. A Rangers spokesman said: The Court of Session accepted Rangers’ position that it had no alternative route of appeal. The judgement from Lord Glennie made it crystal clear - CAS would not have heard the case.” (Record)

Meanwhile, Rangers’ Romanian defender Dorin Goian tells the Daily Mail that he will not seek a move away from the club, despite a release clause that could see him moved on to another club for just £500,000.

“The financial problems revealed some true characters among the Rangers players, we all accepted wage cuts and we proved our love and respect for the club - and for the fans.

“I’m not afraid many of my colleagues will leave, even though they have really low release clauses.” (Mail)