Scottish Premier League News September 2013: Celtic Ward Off Interest in Fraser Forster
Lisa Dillon
Celtic
Celtic were forced to write to Benfica warning them off a prospective move for goalkeeper Fraser Forster towards the end of the August transfer window.
The English keeper had attracted attention after his exploits for Celtic last season but the Parkhead club were adamant that the 25-year-old was not for sale.
It is believed that the keeper himself was keen to move away from Scottish football as he attempts to get himself into the frame for the England World Cup squad this summer. Celtic, though, were not for budging.
"Fraser's not for sale. He's got a lot to look forward to but he's not for sale," said Neil Lennon.
"We had no confirmed bids for him. We actually wrote a letter to one club, just warning them off."
Celtic clinched the signing of Israel international Nir Biton on a four-year deal before the end of the transfer window and also brought in Finnish international Teemu Pukki after agreeing a £3million fee with Schalke for the striker.
And Lennon felt that Celtic were penalised this season, with the Scottish transfer window closing earlier than other leagues around Europe.
"It didn't make it any easier," he said. I was glad when it closed because there it is, that's your squad to work with - no-one's leaving, no-one's coming in and you get on with it. It does drive you crackers sometimes.
"You sometimes go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom - make four or five deals in one day and that's really not what you want to do."
Celtic were criticised for failing to bring in a box-office signing after raising significant funds through their Champions league exploits last season as well as the sale of Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper and Kelvin Wilson.
However, Lennon insisted that his scouts have been scouring the world for new signings.
"We've been looking everywhere, really," he maintained. "Sometimes you think you are there and then the price goes up, another agent gets involved and you end up talking to three different agents.
"It just becomes a bit of a muddle sometimes and we don't want to get involved in all that. We do our business cleanly, simply and quickly, but sometimes that can't be the case."
Meanwhile, Pukki was delighted to agree a four-year deal with the Parkhead side and believes that he can help to replace the void left by Hooper's departure to Norwich.
"I spoke to our national team coach Mixu Paatelainen and he told me it would be a good club to go to," he said.
"Celtic are a great, traditional club. There is an opportunity to play in the Champions League and I hope I can score a lot of goals but I know it´s not going to be easy to just go in the side and I will need to work hard to get into the team."
And the former Sevilla striker is looking forward to competing at Europe's highest level, after watching the club's sensational comeback against Shakhter Karagandy live on television.
"I was at home and sitting watching it on the internet and I was quite nervous and in the end I was a fan of Celtic." Pukki said.
"Last year I already played there with Schalke and now I hope I can help Celtic to go through. It´s not an easy group as all the teams are quite hard.
"It´s will be difficult but of course we have a chance and Celtic already have shown last year that they can beat teams like Barcelona so it will be a nice group.
"The players here always want to win and I think here we have a good chance of winning the championship and the cups but we will have to work hard for them."
Rangers
Rangers midfielder Ian Black has been given a 10-match ban after admitting to a breach of Scottish FA regulations on football betting.
The 28-year-old will serve an immediate three-game ban, while seven matches are suspended until the end of the season. The player must also pay a fine of £7,500.
Black was accused of gambling on 160 matches over a seven-year period, including betting against his own team on three occasions. The SFA has a blanket ban on footballers betting on any matches.
The penalty applies to charges of "betting on three football matches on then-registered club not to win" and "betting on a further 10 football matches that involved then-registered club".
A third charge of "betting on a further 147 football matches" resulted in a censure.
It is the first time a player in Scotland has been punished for breaking gambling regulations.
Black played for Inverness CT, Hearts and Rangers in the period concerned.
The midfielder, capped once for Scotland, will miss games against Arbroath, Queen of the South and Forfar and will be free to return for the League One meeting with Stenhousemuir on 28 September.
Ally McCoist, however, has insisted that he has no issue with the player featuring for Rangers again. The Ibrox club sacked striker Francisco Sandaza last season for comments he made in a media interview, yet there will be no such sanction imposed on Black.
"The decision has been made and he's been punished," said McCoist. "Now we just move on.
"I have seen every one of his bets and I certainly don't have a problem with Ian Black playing for Rangers again. I don't have a problem with his commitment to our club, his commitment as a player, his commitment in all the games.
"So that's it for me, the issue is closed.
"[Chief executive] Craig Mather and myself have sat down and had a chat. Disciplinary action has been taken but it is an internal matter and that's the way it will remain."
Some Rangers supporters have reacted with anger and suspicion following the revelations but their manager believes that the he won't have a point to prove when he returns from his ban.
"Everyone has got different opinions on it," the manager said of the fans' concerns. "I don't think he will need to work harder at all. He's working unbelievably hard and he's arguably been one of our best players so far this season."
Scotland
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has revealed he is determined that Scotland will not finish bottom of their World Cup qualifying group.
The only previous occasion on which they have suffered such indignity was when Jock Stein's squad ended their Euro '84 campaign at the foot of a four-team section below Belgium, Switzerland and East Germany.
Strachan has insisted that the fear of failure is what drives him on. "I wouldn't like it. I just wouldn't like it, so we have to do our best to make sure it doesn't happen," he said.
"If it does happen, I'll tell you how it feels then but I don't want to think about it. It scares me to think that it would happen."
The manager is certainly more at ease with the resources at his disposal than he was six months ago. "I'm getting to understand players better - what they can and can't do - and we're adding to the final group that we'll probably have next year," said Strachan.
Asked if preparing for the Euro 2016 campaign is now the dominant theme for him, Strachan said: "When you have quieter moments, yeah. This is the front line right now, but when you finish the game you look at how we performed, who we added, who was good in the squad, who was good when they were left out, who caused problems when they were left out, that kind of stuff - who works with a group, who's an individual.
"But you need to win games. We get fed up talking about progress. There comes a point when you have to start winning games and looking like you're going to win games.
"We went, 'progress, progress', and it kind of stalled a bit in the Belgium game, but if you look at it you realise this one did well, and that one did well, and this one also, and you are up to five or six players who did really well on the night."
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