Celtic appoint Wilfried Nancy as new manager
Celtic have confirmed Wilfried Nancy as their new permanent manager, who will take charge of the club from Thursday on a two-and-a-half-year deal. The Frenchman arrives from the MLS club Columbus Crew, for whom he has been managing since 2022. His arrival also ends a 37-day wait for Celtic’s next permanent manager, since Brendan Rodgers’ resignation on October 27. Martin O’Neill’s interim reign will end following tonight’s league fixture against Dundee. The Celtic legend has closed the gap to leaders Hearts and secured a League Cup Final appearance in his short second stint. Nancy’s first week will see key tests against Hearts and Roma, before the massive League Cup Final against St Mirren at Hampden Park.
Billy Davies rules himself out in becoming Dougie Imrie’s replacement at Morton
Billy Davies has ruled himself out in becoming the next Greenock Morton boss. Last week Dougie Imrie departed the Ton after four years to take charge of Raith Rovers. The former Derby County and Nottingham Forest manager made a promise to Imrie before joining the club as Technical Head Coach that he isn’t interested in replacing him in the dugout and has remained true to his word. Davies was in charge earlier this season in the 0-0 draw with Dunfermline and at the weekend guided the side to the 4th round of the Scottish Cup after defeating Peterhead 5-3 on penalties. The Cappielow Park confirmed that the Scotsman will be in charge for the next three fixtures and released a statement updating supporters on the situation: ‘As we look ahead to Friday night’s fixture against Queens Park, the club wishes to provide supporters with an update on our first-team management arrangements for the upcoming games. Billy Davies remains in his position as Technical Head Coach. ‘He is currently overseeing first-team operations, leading the planning and delivery of training sessions throughout the week. He is being supported by Head of Youth and Emerging Talent Gary Millar, Goalkeeping Coach Jon Connolly and Academy Coach Joe McKee. ‘This update comes during an exceptionally busy run of fixtures, with four matches in the space of two weeks. The first of these— was a challenging cup tie away to Peterhead—saw the squad deliver a gritty and determined performance in difficult circumstances, and we extend our thanks to the players, coaching staff and fans for their efforts in helping to secure progression to the next round. ‘Since the departure of Dougie Imrie, the club has received dozens of notes of interest in the managerial position. While we appreciate the strong level of interest, we remain committed to taking the appropriate time with this process, particularly given the quality of staff already in place. ‘Billy will continue to oversee from the stands on match day but will be in the technical area for Friday’s game with Queen’s Park game, due to Gary Millar being unavailable after his weekend red card and the club needs to have a coach with the specific coaching requirements. ‘The current coaching structure will remain for at least the next three fixtures, after which we will provide supporters with a further update.’
Arsenal injury update ahead of Wednesday
Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz: “Kai Havertz is still weeks away.”“We are all desperate to have him. I mean it is a player that, personally, I love so much for what he brings to the team – his character, his personality. I see him suffer, being outside.” His playing record, he’s phenomenal, he’s been always available and I can’t wait to have him back around the team playing now because I think it’s going to be a massive push for the team.” The German International has been out since picking up a knee injury against Manchester United back in August.The Spaniard also gave an update on Brazilian defender Gabriel: “Gabriel Magalhães is doing very well, but it will take weeks to see him back”. The 27-year-old picked up a muscular injury in a Friendly against Senegal last month. Arteta on Saliba’s injuries: “The ankle one, it was a really random and very unlucky action that kept him out for a few weeks. He was uncomfortable, and he had to stay away, and this one as well, very bizarre, but hopefully will be a matter of days.” Belgian forward Leandro Trossard should also be back in a “matter of days.” The 30-year-old has had a solid start to the 2025/26 campaign, scoring 5 and providing 5 assists in 16 matches. Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s injuries: “This season has been the worst in some areas, especially in the front line, and now what’s happening with the back line. But yeah, we learned and we were able to put that together, a squad that is much more reliable and has more options. “We learned from the past as well that we have to use players in different positions, and they have to be able to fulfill different roles if we want to compete at this level.“
Newcastle Utd 2-2 Tottenham: Romero Brace Win Spurs an Undeserved Point at St James Park
Cristian Romero was the unlikely hero for Spurs as his first two goals of the season got Tottenham a draw in the Premier League away at Newcastle. Both teams came into this game with 18 points from 13 games, sitting 13th and 14th in the league respectively, with Spurs only above Newcastle on goal difference. Newcastle made two changes from the team that beat Everton 1-4 in their first away win of the season. Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Elanga dropped out for Sandro Tonali and Jacob Murphy. Tottenham made four changes from the team that lost 1-2 at home to Fulham. Mickey van de Ven, Joao Palhihna, Archie Gray and Richarlison being replaced by Cristian Romero, Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur and Brennan Johnson. The first real chance of the game came to Newcastle as Lewis Hall won the ball in the middle of the park, he dribbled well but his shot lacked conviction and trickled wide. As we passed through the first quarter of an hour, Harvey Barnes did well down the left and played a cut back pass to Lewis Miley, but his shot didn’t beat the diving Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario. Newcastle continued to keep possession but were creating little, Hall and Barnes on the left hand side looked increasingly dangerous but lacked the final pass. Eddie Howe’s team kept pushing Spurs defence as this time a Sandro Tonali cross was headed at the back post by Malick Thiaw across goal towards Dan Burn but Kevin Danso got himself in the way to take the sting out the ball and it dropped into Vicario’s arms. A quick double chance for Newcastle again as Joelinton hit a great shot across goal but could only hit the post as it fell to Barnes who’s cross bobbled around the six yard box but again the keeper claims the ball. Finally Spurs got a chance to attack after 37 minutes as Hall was beaten on the wing by Mohammed Kudus and his low cross was met by an audacious flick by Lucas Bergvall who got too much height on the ball as it went over. Newcastle dominated the early minutes of the second half. Barnes made a great direct run but his shot was well saved by Vicario, which rebounded out to Woltemade who’s powerful shot was headed off the line by Danso. Bruno Guimeraes’ corner was half cleared to Jacob Murphy who’s volley into the ground was headed away for another corner, Guimeraes almost scored directly from his second effort as it was punched over by Vicario. A great counter attack from a Spurs corner starts with Newcastle keeper Aaron Ramsdale, throwing it out to Guimaraes who played one of the most ridiculous passes of the season to Jacob Murphy, but his shot was deflected by Pedro Porro as Tottenham scramble it clear. As we entered the last 20 minutes Newcastle finally broke the Spurs defence, substitute Anthony Gordon ran at pace past Porro, his cross was laid off by Woltemade into the path of Guimaraes who side footed a shot past Vicario and into the net. Newcastle almost doubled their lead as Gordon again played a good pass that was miss kicked by Randal Kolo Muani and it fell to Miley but his shot was saved by Vicario who held on to the ball at the second attempt. Out of nowhere Spurs drew level. Kudus got the ball as Hall stood off him, his outside of the foot cross was met by Romero who was still up from a previous corner in front of Burn and it slipped a header past Ramsdale for his first goal of the season. After a VAR check for a penalty after Bentancur had a scuffle in the area with Burn, he was penalised for a holding offence and it was given, Gordon took the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way to put Newcastle ahead with just four minutes left. Deep into the nine minutes of added time, Spurs pushed for an equaliser as substitutes Wilson Odobert cross was met by Tel but neither Richarlison or Xavi Simons could force it home. Unbelievably, Tottenham drew level once more as a recycled corner fell to Romero again who could have won a penalty after he was brought down managed to get back up and overhead kicked the ball past Ramsdale to almost definitely steal a point they did not deserve. The game ends 2-2, a game that Newcastle thoroughly dominated for large spells but their issues of holding on to leads in games comes back to bite them again. Newcastle UtdAaron Ramsdale, Tino Livramento, Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Lewis Miley (Fabian Schar 90+3), Sandro Tonali (Bruno Guimaraes 46’), Joelinton, Jacob Murphy (Anthony Elanga 66’), Harvey Barnes (Anthony Gordon 66’), Nick Woltemade Bruno Guimeraes (70’)Anthony Gordon (86’) TottenhamGuglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall (Xavi Simons 77’), Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr (Archie Gray 88’), Brennan Johnson (Mathys Tel 77’), Mohammed Kudus (Wilson Odobert 88’), Randal Kolo Muani (Richarlison 78’) Cristian Romero (78’, 90+5’)
