Jimmy Thelin states “we have to win” as the Dons welcome Armenian Champions, FC Noah
The Dons are back on the European stage tomorrow evening as they host FC Noah who were founded just eight years ago as Thelin says “we must win” to keep European dreams alive. The Dons sit 33rd in the Conference League as a defeat tomorrow night may seal their European fate with a win needed for Aberdeen. Ahead of the game, Dons boss said: “If you see the table and the games we have left, to give us an opportunity to go through, we have to win tomorrow – that is clear,” “It is still going to be a difficult game. Noah are a good team with a good manager. They have four points and had some good results, so it is a difficult team to play.” If Noah were to run away winners, the dons will need to pick up two wins out of their remaining two games against both Sparta Prague and Strasbourg. Noah are struggling in their respective league season, sitting mid-table in Armenia. FC Noah, the 2017 founded side have four points compared to Aberdeen’s one point in the Conference League. Noah competed in last year’s Conference League where they finished on 4 points in 31st with a noticeable 8-0 defeat along the way in London against Chelsea. The Swedish boss still reckons his side are in for a “tough game” ahead of tomorrow night’s showdown in the Granite City as the Dons boss believes his side “is growing” after an increase in better performances as the Dons defeated league leaders, Hearts on Sunday to end their unbeaten run. “We still have the long term to play better, but when it is not working, sometimes when the opponents are better in general, there are still opportunities to win a football game and there I think the players have grown a lot in this mental capacity,” Jimmy said. Noah boss, Sandro Perkovic was full of praise for Aberdeen as the Croatian boss says “Aberdeen is one very strong team with a lot of quality individuals. It will be a really hard match for us.” The Noah gaffer also stated “In my opinion, no team in the Conference League can be favourites here in this stadium.” suggesting Pittodrie is a very tough place to go to and his side are in for a tough night in Scotland.
“We didn’t deserve to get back into the game” – Gray after Motherwell 2-0 Hibs
Hibernian suffered defeat to Motherwell on Tuesday evening, and David Gray believes his side “got what we deserved”. The 2-0 loss halted the Leith side’s three-game unbeaten league run, and former captain Gray offered a brutal assessment of his team’s performance after the match. “I thought we were not very unlike us. Started the game slowly, really poor in possession, a lot of unforced errors, a lot of misplaced passes, and then everything that could have went against us did, in that period as well, found herself 2-0 down, down to 10 men, and it was a really difficult task from there” “We’ve been really poor; there wasn’t an individual that was a collective performance from us, which I’ve not seen for a while. We’ll need to look at that.” Goals from Tawanda Maswanhise and Elijah Just had the home side in control, but the misery was compounded in the 34th minute after Grant Hanley’s red card. The Scottish international clipped the heels of Maswanhise, with the striker bearing down on goal, referee Duncan Nicolson had no choice but to dismiss the defender. “No complaints about the red card because of the letter of the law. Now, if he’s on side, and he’s brought down, and you’re the last man, that’s a red card that’s outside the box. It’s an accidental trip. I think so, that is a red card. “We signed up to VAR, and the technology, we can argue about that, whether we think it’s good enough. It is a factual decision that we’ve all signed up to. So I’m not going to argue about the offside.” Gray offered some consolation to his players for their efforts in the second period, but ultimately their slow start had cost them the game. “I think they did show character; they did show effort. They didn’t just roll over. I think that’s clear, especially because of the way we quickly found ourselves 2-0 down, down to ten men, the way Motherwell were playing on the front foot. It would have been easy to do that and feel sorry for yourself. I don’t think they did. “I can’t fault the players for effort, for going right to the very end, but we certainly didn’t deserve to get back into the game, didn’t do enough to get back into the game. Hibernian return to home league action against Celtic this weekend, and the manager believes his side can bounce back for the huge fixture. “There’s nothing else for it. I think one thing we won’t do is just move on quickly. I know the Celtic games on Sunday, but at this moment in time, we’ll be in tomorrow, we’ll reflect on why we started the game the way we did and look at that. “We’ve got enough time to get the players recovered and ready for their opportunity to try and put tonight’s result and performance right.”
Celtic fans are UNGRATEFUL and abuse towards the board is crossing a line – Scott Bradley
It’s safe to say, the relationship between the Celtic board and fans could not be more toxic. Celtic hosted their AGM last Friday and the atmosphere in the room was as poisonous as expected. The shareholders showed their displeasure towards the under-fire Hoops hierarchy holding up red cards during the meeting. Ross Desmond read out a scathing statement that added more fuel to the fire to the situation where he LAMBASTED sections of the Parkhead faithful regarding their behaviour over the past few months. Desmond said: “The behaviour of certain sections increasingly brings the club and it’s fanbase into disrepute. “The incident a few weeks ago at the Falkirk match was systematic of wider behaviour that cannot be ignored. “These people are bullies, and they try to hijack the good name of Celtic. “They try to hijack the good name of Celtic supporters, and we cannot allow them to define who we are. “I am well aware of the target that I put on my back by saying this.” After Desmond’s defiant words, Peter Lawwell brought the meeting to an abrupt close, which sparked even more anger from the shareholders in attendance. Interim manager Martin O’Neill thought it was a ‘really sad morning’ and wondered what Jock Stein would have made of the scenes. Are the Celts board perfect? No far from it. But their supporters are ungrateful and the abuse towards them is crossing a line now. They’ve enjoyed an unprecedented amount of success over the last 13 years winning 13 league titles out of 14. Say what you want about Dermort Desmond, but he is a shrewd businessman, who knows how to run a football club and he’s done a phenomenal job. I don’t know what more Celtic fans are wanting. They’re sabotaging their season by creating an unnecessary hostile atmosphere and the only clubs it benefits are Rangers and Hearts. Many feel as though the board didn’t back former manager Brendan Rodgers enough but are forgetting that he spent £55 million in the past two years in the transfer window. Rodgers brought in Adam Idah for £9 million, Arne Engels for £11 million, and Auston Trusty for £6 million. Fine players but nowhere near worth that amount – three big signings all signed off by the Northern Irishman. After Rodgers’ departure last month, Dermort Desmond released a bombshell statement accusing him of being ‘divisive, misleading and self-serving.’ Desmond also said that the claims of Rodgers not being offered a new deal were ‘simply untrue.’ After Rodgers’ dismal transfer record on big money signings and his unwillingness to commit to a new contract – it makes total sense as to why the board were slightly reluctant to give him another big cash injection in the summer. This new generational of Hoops fans are entitled and should be more grateful for the unbelievable success they’ve experienced over the years. Ungrateful, entitled, and spoilt is the best way to describe their disgusting behaviour towards the board.
Martin O’Neill offers key bit of advice for incoming Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy
Martin O’Neill has warned incoming Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy to stay well clear of the toxic feud that’s going on between the board and fans. Nancy is set to be appointed as Brendan Rodgers’ replacement after impressing the Celtic hierarchy following a series of talks and could be in the dugout for the home fixture against Dundee next week. Hoops legend O’Neill is in interim charge and has offered some advice to the 48-year-old: “The new manager coming in should divorce himself from all those proceedings. This is a fresh start for him. “He hasn’t been party to anything that’s happened in recent times. “He’s going to step into something that really has been none of his concern. “That’s the way I would be approaching it and it’s not like passing the buck. “It’s just saying, ‘Well, sorry, that’s not of my making — my making is to put Celtic back in the game’. “Let’s say it was me and I’d never manage the football club again. “I’d be saying, ‘Yeah, that’s got nothing to do with me, I have to try and win some football games’.” Jaws dropped when the 73-year-old made his stunning return to the Parkhead club after 20 years and has won four of his five games in charge. The Northern Irishman said he’ll look back on his second spell with fondness and added that he doesn’t know if he would’ve been able to do the job every week: “In a perverse sort of way, I have actually enjoyed it. “Could I really do the job again week in, week out, week in, week out, for months on end? I really don’t know. “Do I have energy and enthusiasm? Yeah, I have those. Is that enough? Not so sure. “I’ve got all of those particular things. Do I have knowledge of the game? Of course, yeah. “When it is over, and I don’t know when that will be, I’ll think, ‘That was actually quite nice’. “It kind of reinvigorates you because you are actually concentrating on something you used to do, and you’d almost forgotten how to do it.”
Barry Ferguson addresses links to Rangers sporting director role
Rangers legend Barry Ferguson refuses to rule out becoming the Ibrox club’s new sporting director following the sacking of Kevin Thelwell. CEO Patrick Stewart and Thelwell were brutally sacked on Monday after a terrible start to the campaign. The pair were instrumental in the failed appointment of Russell Martin who was sacked after 123 days in charge, and they also oversaw a £40 million squad revamp that hasn’t lived up to expectations. Thelwell received huge backlash for sanctioning the controversial £8 million signing of Youssef Chermiti – a player whose only found the net twice in the last two years. Chairman Andrew Cavenagh says the search for their replacements is under way but insisted there is no rush. The January transfer window is approaching soon and head coach Danny Rohl will no doubt be looking to add some freshness to his squad. Former interim Gers boss Ferguson has been linked with making a stunning return to the Govan club, but this time as sporting director. Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show, the 47-year-old was asked about potentially taking on role if he was offered it. He said: “Listen, in terms of my future I’m very comfortable what I’m doing at this moment in time. You can never say never. Listen, it’s a club that I think everybody knows what it means to me and I just want to see them being successful. That’s the main thing for me.” Ferguson added that he hasn’t been approached by his former club regarding the position but praised Cavenagh with his bold decision-making over the past few weeks. “You’ve got to be fair to the chairman over the last four weeks, he’s made three huge decisions. “He’s changed the manager very early, it was his decision, and now two other high profile people at the club. He is very clear on what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, and if that means making changes so early in his time at the club he is going to make them if you don’t perform.”
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Preview
Arsenal return to Champions League action as they welcome German giants Bayern Munich to Emirates Stadium in what promises to be a blockbuster clash between two of the best sides on the planet. Arsenal come into this fixture off the back of a comprehensive 4-1 home win over their North London rivals Tottenham. Trossard netted and Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick, the first one between the two sides since 1978, in a comfortable evening at Emirates Stadium. That’s now 15 games in a row without defeat in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s side, who now sit 6 points ahead of 2nd place Chelsea and 7 points ahead of Manchester City in 3rd, who were defeated 2-1 at St James’ Park. Bayern Munich come into this fixture off the back of an impressive 6-2 victory against Freiburg. The Bundesliga outfit did find themselves 2-0 down after 17 minutes, but after 17-year-old Lennart Karl found the net just after 20 minutes, they didn’t look back. Michael Olise scored a brace, and also provided 3 assists, Dayot Upamecano netted, and so did Harry Kane and Nicolas Jackson. Vincent Kompany’s side remain comfortably on top of the Bundesliga table on 31 points, ahead of RB Leipzig by 6 points after 11 matches. In that run, Bayern have scored an outstanding 41 goals and only conceded 8. The last time these two sides met came in the Champions League quarter-final second leg in 2023/24, when Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal in a 1-0 win after the sides drew 2-2 in London in the first leg. Arsenal couldn’t really have asked for a better start to their Champions League campaign. The Gunners have played 4, won 4, scored 11 and haven’t conceded a single goal, the only side in the competition who are yet to concede in this year’s Champions League. Last time out in the UCL the North London outfit faced Slavia Prague away from home, winning 3-0. Bukayo Saka scored from the penalty spot and Mikel Merino netted a brace. The Bavarians have also enjoyed an impressive start to their Champions League campaign. The Munich outfit have played 4, won 4, scored 14 and conceded 3. Last time out in the UCL Bayern defeated European Champions PSG away from home. Luiz Diaz scored a first-half brace and also got himself sent off, and as a result will not feature against Arsenal. Joao Neves scored for the hosts with just over a quarter of an hour to play, but it wasn’t enough as they were defeated 2-1. Mikel Arteta on Eze’s stellar display against Spurs: “He could have scored four or five. He’s a big player who can create magic moments which unbalance a team. I’m so happy for him, because since the day he came he brought something else to the team. It’s a joy, it’s an aura that this team needed and hopefully it will give him a lot of confidence that at any moment he can win us a game.” “When he picked up the phone, I remember last summer, he said he wanted to play for us and wanted to be part of this team. You can really sense that.” Vincent Kompany on Arsenal: They’re the best team in Europe at set pieces. I think it’s a good challenge. I don’t know if there are many better teams than Arsenal in Europe at the moment. We’re looking forward to the game. Arsenal have plenty of players that can hurt Bayern, one of those being Eberechi Eze. The English attacking midfielder will be full of confidence following his derby day hat-trick. Another player that could potentially hurt Bayern is Leandro Trossard. The Belgian has had a very bright start to his 2025/26 campaign, scoring 5 and providing 5 assists in 15 matches, including a goal and 2 assists in 3 Champions League outings. Bayern Munich have numerous players that Arsenal should look out for, including one familiar face in Harry Kane, who loved to score in a North London Derby. The 32-year-old has enjoyed an incredible start to the 2025/26 season, scoring 27 goals, 5 of those coming in 4 Champions League games, and providing 4 assists in 23 matches. Another player Arsenal need to nullify is Michael Olise. The Frenchman has 12 goals and has provided 10 assists in 23 matches. The 23-year-old will go up against former teammate Eberechi Eze, who he enjoyed a brilliant partnership with at Crystal Palace.
