Martin O'Neill is struggling to contain a potentially damaging outbreak of bickering within the Celtic squad over who was to blame for Wednesday's Champions League defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Two late goals for Bayern saw O'Neill's men come away from the Olympic Stadium with nothing after they had more than matched the German champions for over an hour and led through Alan Thompson's header.
O'Neill must now pick his troops up in time for Saturday's Scottish Premier League clash with Motherwell at Parkhead.
But his task has not been helped by the ongoing recriminations over who was to blame for the defeat in Munich.
First Thompson branded his team-mates as unprofessional and then midfielder Neil Lennon laid the blame for the defeat squarely at the feet of the Celtic back four and goalkeeper Magnus Hedman.
"The goals we lost were down to poor defending," Lennon complained. "The second one was nonsense. We should have dealt with it but we didn't and we ended up losing a game in which we were cruising."
Bayern's winning goal certainly had a farcical edge to it, an innocuous cross floating past defenders and Hedman and into the net.
But it is rare in such situations to hear players blaming each other and O'Neill is well aware of the importance of getting the lingering frustration from Wednesday's match out of his players' systems.
In contrast to the gloomy mood around Parkhead, Rangers prepare for their Sunday trip to Hearts on a high after coming from behind to get their own Champions League campaign off to a winning start against Stuttgart.
It was a victory that came at a price however with Dutch right back Fernando Ricksen sidelined for up to four weeks after suffering concussion in a clash of heads with teammate Henning Berg.
Scotland defender Maurice Ross, who came on for Ricksen in the Stuttgart match, is expected to step in again, despite admitting he is likely to need surgery to correct a niggling hernia problem.
"I've been struggling with a stomach niggle for a while now and the doctors think it might be a hernia. You can play on for a while but you do eventually need to get it fixed," Ross said.
Dundee entertain Aberdeen at Dens Park in a warm-up for their UEFA Cup clash with Perugia next week, by which time they hope to have completed the signing of former Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS