Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe left Marseille in disgrace after ugly fight but are set to meet for new clubs in Serie A Physical fights between teammates are nothing new in football. Newcastle’s Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were famously sent off for trading blows on the pitch in 2005, before issuing grovelling apologies after the game. John Hartson kicked his West Ham teammate Eyal Berkovic in the face during a training-ground bust-up in 1998, with the midfielder claiming: “If my head had been a ball, it would have been in the top corner of the net.” Robinho once took a pop at Thomas Gravesen during a Real Madrid training session in 2006. The Dane responded, and was sold that summer to Celtic. But few altercations can match the ferocity of the fight between Adrien Rabiot and the England Under-21 winger Jonathan Rowe in the Marseille dressing room last month, after a 1-0 defeat by a 10-man Rennes side. The brawl was so “incredibly violent” that a junior member of the Marseille squad, Darryl Bakola, fainted as he watched. Continue reading...

BBC Scotland examines the factors leading to unrest among the Celtic support.

With champions Celtic arguably weaker and Rangers enduring their worst league start since 1983, is this the season a non-Old Firm club finally delivers a title challenge?

The new Nottingham Forest coach will be better for his two years at Spurs and has unfinished business in Europe after his sacking Ange Postecoglou is used to mixed reactions when he takes a new job. So the response of Nottingham Forest fans to his appointment on Tuesday was par for the course. At Yokohama F. Marinos in 2018, fans were nonplussed at this Australian coming in. At Celtic, it was a case of, “Ange Who?” At Tottenham Hotspur two years ago, there were concerns about how a coach who had worked all over the world but never in a big European league would manage in the Premier League. Earlier in his career, doubters had been won over with trophies. When he moved on, fans from Australia to Japan to Scotland were sad to see him go. At Spurs it was more complex. The initial scepticism quickly transformed into loving Big Ange, and then into something else again. The second season a trophy was won, the biggest for Tottenham since at least the FA Cup of 1991, but as the club came 17th in the league, the axe fell. That has been an unfamiliar scenario for the 60-year-old. Continue reading...

Celtic's attempts to explain their transfer window business are described as "a PR disaster" and an attempt to "defend the indefensible".

Adam Idah tells BBC Sport NI about his week after his deadline day move from Celtic to Swansea and scoring a late equaliser for the Republic of Ireland against Hungary.

Celtic have defended their summer transfer business in the face of criticism from fans, insisting that "throwing money" around is "not a sustainable route to success".

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Kelechi Iheanacho "will make a big contribution" after beating the Europa League signing deadline to sign the Nigeria striker as a free agent.

Celtic striker Johnny Kenny replaces injured Troy Parrott in the Republic of Ireland squad for World Cup qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia.

Some of the pressure is on Russell Martin despite his a 0-0 draw with Celtic leaving Rangers with no wins in four Scottish Premiership games and a worst start to a league season in 42 years.

POLICE are closing in on "known" football thugs who were involved in organised football violence as Rangers take on Celtic at Ibrox ...

Latest updates ahead of today’s Premier League games Get in touch with John here Ewan Murray will be at Ibrox for the lunchtime game between Rangers and Celtic. Before the match we’ll have a Q&A with him on all things Old Firm, Scottish football and any other goings on. If you have any questions for Ewan, post them below the line or email matchday.live@theguardian.com. Serious questions, please; we’re all bantered out. Continue reading...

Celtic go to Ibrox on Sunday off the back of a hugely disappointing Champions League play-off defeat by Kairat, but what exactly are the key questions for the Parkhead outfit before the first Old Firm derby of the season?

Sunday’s Old Firm derby will see two Europa League teams meet. If Celtic have deep regrets over misfires in Kazakhstan, Rangers suffered a night of near-historic shame in Belgium, utterly incapable of recovering from the first leg performance. By contrast to this horror show, that night of blunder was a creditable showing. Russell Martin’s team made it so simple for an admittedly high-class Brugge side. On Martin, the jury is out, his winless start to the domestic season followed by this nightmare. The former Southampton manager’s stewardship is in grave danger after 10 games in charge. The response of the club’s new 49ers ownership, for whom Martin was the first managerial appointment, is keenly awaited. The depths Rangers plunged to, particularly in the first half, made a mockery of Martin’s continued self-belief, his proclamations that his is the only way forward. Martin’s team selection was, he said, custom-designed to reduce the two-goal deficit from Ibrox. Leaving Nico Raskin, James Tavernier and Cyriel Dessers on the bench was a decision open to a different interpretation. Hamza Igamane was absent, presumably headed for Lille. Continue reading...