Opinion

It will sink in when I get drawn with someone big.” Bob MacIntyre’s words when he sat down for a natter with me and other members of the golf press corps almost exactly a month ago before embarking on his first season as a new European Tour card holder.

Raheem Sterling was not remotely surprised at the noxious abuse he received from behind the Chelsea goal as he stooped to gather the ball. He was resigned to it, not shocked.

Coaches have been in the news recently. First, Andy Farrell will succeed Joe Schmidt as Ireland’s coach after the World Cup. This should make the 2020 Six Nations England-Ireland match an interesting family affair, with father Andy coaching Ireland and son Owen , one assumes, captaining England.Then there is a rumour that the RFU is considering asking Warren Gatland to be Eddie Jones’ successor when the garrulous Australian moves on. It was long assumed that Gatland’s ambition was to be the next coach for his native New Zealand. So it may be that he would be interested in the Twickenham job only as the next best thing. This is something that presumably wouldn’t commend him to the RFU. If, however, he does land up at Twickenham, he will have been pretty well round the houses as head coach of Ireland, Wales and England, and, twice, of the Lions. Meanwhile the Welsh Rugby Union has already appointed another New Zealander, Wayne Pivac, to take over from Gatland next season.

Edinburgh did the needful last night, albeit opponents Newcastle had one eye on this match and the other on their precarious perch at the foot of the Premiership.

Kilmarnock go into Saturday’s clash with Celtic top of the league. Joel Sked looks at Steve Clarke’s influence and how they achieved such a feat.

Ryan Christie was named November’s player of the month in the Ladbrokes Premiership. Joel Sked looks at the player’s transformation into a key player at Celtic.

A list of the poorest refereeing decisions by SFA officials to befall top flight teams so far this season

So, what’s wrong with Hearts? Well, the answer is simple: too many injuries. No Uche Ikpeazu, no Steven Naismith, no John Souttar and, until this past Sunday, no Christophe Berra. That’s four of Hearts best five players, all gone at the same time. It’s natural that a team would struggle in the wake of that. Any team in the world would see a drop in form.

In six games in which they have had a man sent off Rangers are yet to lose. Joel Sked looks at why that’s the case.

Tom Watson has become the third five-time Open champion to be afforded honorary membership by Brora Golf Club, joining James Braid and Peter Thomson.

It was a lovely way to end the second Scottish Golf national conference. After watching a short video of some members of Traigh Golf Club extolling the virtues of possibly the gem of hidden gems in golf’s birthplace, you could sense that around 450 delegates left the Edinburgh International Conference Centre feeling proud of the sport they are involved in.

For the second time in a Hampden cup final, Aberdeen decided to go man-for-man with Celtic, and again it almost worked.

Sunday’s Betfred Cup final between Aberdeen and Celtic gave everyone watching a startling reminder of how dangerous football can be sometimes.

Rangers’ star striker Alfredo Morelos was one of the main protagonists at Tynecastle on Sunday as the Ibrox side defeated Hearts 2-1.

It might already be too deep into this festive period – seems about three months it has been going already, frankly – to consider it, but Celtic ought to think about rushing out one of those modest tomes that are considered to make great stocking fillers.

Celtic have won their seventh consecutive Scottish football trophy under Brendan Rodgers after defeating Aberdeen 1-0 at Hampden Park.

Ratings out of ten for every player in the Betfred Cup final as Celtic defeated Aberdeen thanks to a first-half Ryan Christie goal.

Given the rising expectations which have been reflected in full houses at Murrayfield, Scotland’s November results – won two, lost two – may be reckoned a bit disappointing. There is all the more reason therefore to try to assess the record coldly.