Rumour Mill: Ronny Deila | Henrik Larsson

RONNY DEILA has called for his team to stay calm and to go out and win tonight; Henrik Larsson reveals he was offered the Celtic job; Gordon Strachan says Scotland are ready for Germany and more in Tuesday’s Rumour Mill
Henrik Larsson revealed that he had turned down the Celtic job this summer. Picture: GettyHenrik Larsson revealed that he had turned down the Celtic job this summer. Picture: Getty
Henrik Larsson revealed that he had turned down the Celtic job this summer. Picture: Getty

Ronny Deila has called for his team to stay calm

Ronny Deila has urged for Celtic to stay calm tonight and to go out and win against Maribor. After the 1-1 draw in Slovenia last week the Hoops are favourites to go through. But Deila knows the second leg will be a nail-biter. He said: “You need a balance. You have to be offensive and aggressive but also tactically aware. So you can say we need aggressive legs and calm heads, if you can put it in that order. That’s hard to do but I think we have a good atmosphere in the group now and they all know what we are playing for.” (Various)

Meanwhile Deila could have a huge call to make tonight, the Hoops boss has to decide whether to stick with new Bhoy Jason Denayer or to bring back Efe Ambrose to partner Virgil Van Dijk. Denayer is determined to keep his place. The 19-year-old felt culpable for equaliser scored by Damjan Bohar. He said “That was disappointing for me because it was my man who got through to score, so of course, I was not happy about that. My first Champions League game was a great experience but I had hoped for a win.” (Various)

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Meanwhile Stefan Scepovic is due to be paraded in the next 24 hours after Celtic secured the Serbian striker’s signature after agreeing a £2.3million deal with Sporting Gijon. (Various)

Henrik Larsson reveals he was offered the Celtic job

Henrik Larsson last night revealed he turned down the Celtic manager’s job in the summer. The Hoops legend was widely tipped to return to the club he graced for seven years, after Neil Lennon quit. He has previously refused to confirm or deny whether he was offered the job but he has finally admitted the truth, he said: “Yes I declined the Celtic job this summer. This was something I had to think about . In the end, I chose to remain at Falkenberg.” He also denied that he has an agreement in place that will see him become Hoops boss in the future. “I have no agreement with Celtic on anything.” (Sun)

Gordon Strachan says Scotland are ready for Germany

The Scotland manager named his 26-man squad for the European Championship curtain raiser against the world champions in Dortmund on September 7th and insisted they will show no fear. He said: “You find your true character when you walk out on to the pitch but I don’t have a problem with these guys’ character. I have no concerns about anyone going to freeze or think it’s too much for them. They’re looking forward to it. They’re not just excited about the occasion they want to get a result. (Record)

Ally McCoist asks for postponement of East Fife tie due to international call ups

Ally McCoist believes it would be ‘disrespectful’ to East Fife if he did not ask for Rangers’ Petrofac Training Cup quarter-final to be postponed due to international call ups. The Ibrox manager invoked SPFL rules last season to rearrange League One fixtures with Dunfermline and Forfar. He intends to make the same request for the cup tie against the League Two strugglers in Methil on September 6th if three of his players are called away. Lewis MacLeod, Dean Shiels and Bilel Moshni could all be called away on international duty. McCoist said: “If we have these players away we will definitely seek to have the East Fife game postponed. We have set a precedent doing it and I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t do it. It might be the case that people would look upon it as a bit disrespectful if we didn’t do it again.” (Express)

News in Brief:

• Callum McGregor could go straight into the first team against Germany after Gordon Strachan revealed the youngster is part of his European Championship squad. (Express)

• Dundee United could use part of the money earned through the sales of Ryan Gauld and Andrew Robertson to upgrade their Gussie Park set up in a bid to produce more stars for the future. (Express)

• St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright has revealed the club fined Steven MacLean after his extravagant goal celebration against Aberdeen got him booked. Wright said the player was too important to pick up such silly, needless bookings. (Express)

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• Hoops striker Amido Balde is set to leave Parkhead and could be sent out on loan. (Record)

• Stephen McManus has vowed to ensure his young Motherwell squad mates don’t lose their cool after three straight league defeats. (Record)

• Sevilla are apparently ready to step up their interest in Celtic defender Virgil Van Dijk after they agreed to sell Federico Fazio to Tottenham. (Sun)