Rumour Mill: Scott Brown | Ally McCoist | Rangers

Scott Brown accuses Nadir Ciftci of kicking him in the head as the Scottish Cup quarter final fall-out rages on; Kenny McDowall calls for Ally McCoist to be brought back to Rangers and Douglas Park calls for Rangers to ditch victim mentality
Scott Brown squares up to Nadir Ciftci after the two tussled on the deck. Picture: SNSScott Brown squares up to Nadir Ciftci after the two tussled on the deck. Picture: SNS
Scott Brown squares up to Nadir Ciftci after the two tussled on the deck. Picture: SNS

Nadir Ciftci kicked me in head, claims Brown

CELTIC skipper Scott Brown has accused Dundee United striker Nadir Ciftci of kicking him in the head during the Scottish Cup clash between the two teams at Tannadice.

All hell broke loose following a meaty challenge from Brown on Ciftci and a late challenge from Calum Butcher on Virgil van Dijk, with red cards being shown to van Dijk and, mistakenly, Paul Paton.

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But Brown has claimed Ciftci kicked him in the head, saying: “You can clearly see on television that I have won the ball. I was kicked in the head [by Ciftci]. You can blatantly see that. We will see what happens with that.” (The Scotsman)

Hoops sweat over Bitton injury

CELTIC are crossing their fingers that midfielder Nir Bitton recovers from injury in time to face Dundee United in the League Cup final.

The Israeli twisted his ankle in the fiery Scottish Cup clash at Tannadice, and Celtic’s medical team face a race against time to patch him up for the Hampden showpiece.

Celtic will potentially be without Bitton, Virgil van Dijk, Adam Matthews, Mikael Lustig, Kris Commons, Charlie Mulgrew and the ineligible pair of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven.

Bitton has become a key player for Ronny Deila as the Norwegian eyes the treble in his first season. (The Sun)

Celtic face fixture pile-up nightmare

CELTIC are heading into a hectic fixture pile-up ahead of the Scottish Premiership split.

The Hoops have had to reshuffle their league clash against Dundee to allow for their Scottish Cup replay with Dundee United while the club will have to play two games a week until the end of April to fit in all their matches.

A Friday night match against St Mirren and two midweek ties against Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock mean the club are struggling to find free dates to fulfil all games. (Daily Record)

Bring back Ally McCoist, says McDowall

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KENNY McDowall has admitted he would like to see Ally McCoist return to Rangers.

The reluctant caretaker boss isn’t sure what the new regime have in mind, but said when asked if he’d welcome McCoist’s restoration: “If it was Ally, obviously I came with Ally, so obviously that would appeal to me. But it’s a difficult one to answer because the board have their own ideas and it’s totally up to them.”

McDowall - who is currently serving his notice - took charge of first-team affairs after McCoist’s resignation triggered a 12-month notice period, and he was put on gardening leave. And McDowall is content to let the new board make their mark at Ibrox.

“They are quite entitled to speak to whoever they want to speak to regarding the manager’s situation,” said McDowall. “I will just wait and see and carry on with my duties. I’m getting paid to take the team and I will carry on my duties until I’m told otherwise.” (The Scotsman)

Ditch victim mentality, orders Douglas Park

RANGERS director Douglas Park has warned that the club needs to drop its victim mentality.

Bus tycoon Park, who was invited to join the new-look Ibrox board just hours after Friday’s EGM, will be part of the rebuilding process with Dave King postponing his appointment as a director until football and city chiefs pass him as ‘fit-and-proper’.

And Park said in a statement yesterday: “It has been a long and difficult road but finally those of us who have campaigned for and supported regime change at Ibrox have succeeded.

“A new Board is being put in place and it is our intention to begin immediately the process of repairing the considerable damage caused to this great club by people who should never have been allowed anywhere near Rangers.

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“So we should now discard this notion that we are victims because the truth is we have not been defeated. We are still here. We are still standing. We are still Rangers and let no one forget we have a long, long history of victory.” (Daily Record)

Malonga eyes promotion over cup win

HIBS striker Dominique Malonga admits he’d prefer promotion over a cup win every time - but ideally, the Congolese striker would help Hibs to both.

The 13-goal forward said yesterday: “For me the play-offs are more important. The Cup is a bonus for us and the fans but more important for us is definitely the play-offs.

“I know for the fans the Cup is a big thing and in the semi-final we will try go get through. We want to go to the Final for the fans. I hope for the fans we can do it and even win the Cup.” (Daily Record)

Hibs hopeful of avoiding bonkers fixture list

HIBS and Hampden chiefs will hold urgent discussions in a bid to avoid the possibility of Hibs or Falkirk playing in the Scottish Cup final on May 30 and the play-off final the following day.

SPFL chiefs last night confirmed they’ll have a rethink if either club reaches two finals, but stopped short of actually explaining a solution.

And Hibs boss Alan Stubbs is hoping work can be done in the boardroom to ensure they avoid a play-off disadvantage in May.

He said: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We’ve heard there could be a Plan B, so we’ll see what that is.” (The Sun)