Ex-Barcelona ace keen on Rangers job, Aston Villa 'confident' of landing Steven Gerrard, Celtic transfer plans revealed, Ibrox star tipped to win new deal - Scottish Premiership Rumour Mill
A victory will guarantee second in the group behind Denmark and a play-off place for a chance of winning a spot at the tournament in Qatar next year. It would then mean the match with the Danes on Monday becomes important in terms of trying to secure a seeding which would ensure the first play-off match is played at Hampden Park.
The Scotland Under-21s are also in action on Friday in a must-win fixture with Kazakhstan at Tannadice in qualifying for the European Championship.
The build-up, however, has been dominated by Steven Gerrard and Rangers. The Liverpool legend is set to leave the Ibrox club for Premier League side Aston Villa.
Scroll down and click through for all the latest headlines and transfer speculation from around the SPFL and Scottish football.
1. Ex-Rangers ace keen on Ibrox return
Former Rangers star Giovanni van Bronckhorst is keen on a return to Ibrox to replace Steven Gerrard. The 106-time Netherlands international has enjoyed management success at Feyenoord, steering the club to their only league title since 1999 back in 2017. He spent two seasons as a player at Ibrox winning two league titles before moving to Arsenal. He was most recently in charge of Chinese side Guangzhou R&F. (Scottish Sun) Photo: SNS Group
2. Villa confident in landing Gerrard
Aston Villa are confident of announcing Steven Gerrard as their new manager and an announcement could be made by the end of this week. The Rangers boss emerged as an early favourite for the role after Dean Smith was sacked and became the clubs No.1 target. Gerrard, whose compensation is understood to be around £3million, is expected to take his coaching staff with him to Villa Park. (The Guardian) Photo: Craig Foy - SNS Group
3. NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 10: New Newcastle Head Coach Eddie Howe (c) pictured at his unveiling press conference with Director Amanda Staveley at St. James Park on November 10, 2021 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Eddie Howe has claimed he didn’t change his mind over the Celtic job “at the last minute”. The Newcastle United boss spoke about the Parkhead opportunity on his unveiling revealing he didn’t want the job without his backroom staff. He said: “I didn’t want to take a job of such size on my own. I felt I wouldn’t have been able to give Celtic what it needed.” (Various) Photo: Stu Forster
4. Celtic set for semi-final injury boost
Ange Postecoglou is hoping to have Tom Rogic and Carl Starfelt fit for the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against St Johnstone later this month. Both players have hamstring complaints. However, defensive duo Greg Taylor and Christopher Jullien are unlikely to be involved with the game coming too soon for both. (Various) Photo: Craig Williamson - SNS Group