Jesper Karlsson has his loan cut short at Pittodrie
Jesper Karlsson who joined on loan from Bologna has departed Scotland following the departure of Jimmy Thelin Jesper Karlsson joined Aberdeen in the summer on loan from Italian side, Bologna and to play under his former boss Jimmy Thelin once again. Karlsson came in with big expectations with once being linked with a big money move to Manchester United a few years ago. Jesper joined the Italian side from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for £10million but has failed to get going in Italy. The signing was made on the last day of the summer window as the Swede looked to be an impressive signing but has failed to live up to what was hyped. The winger is currently the Dons top goal scorer with 6 goals to his name in 26 appearances but his season long loan looks to be cut short with the Swedish International set to join Dutch outfit Utrecht on loan for the remainder of the season. Karlsson didn’t feature for Bologna this campaign meaning a move to the Netherlands would be allowed according to reports in Sweden. Ex-Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin believed many of the players had issues with their egos as he said in his final interview as Aberdeen boss following a 1-0 defeat at Falkirk stating the players must “drop egos” with Karlsson being one of the players who seemed to have an ego issue with many fans also suggesting his ego was too high at Pittodrie.
St Johnstone vs Dunfermline Athletic – Match Preview
The league leaders St Johnstone host Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Championship. In their last outing, St Johnstone defeated Ross County 2-0 at home in the Challenge Cup. McPake and Lloyd got the goals. In their last league outing, the Perth outfit beat Arbroath 1-0 at home. Striker Sidibeh’s goal was the difference. As a result, St Johnstone sit 5 points clear at the top of the Championship, ahead of Partick Thistle, who were defeated by Ross County, who sit at the foot of the table. Simo Valakari’s side have been a formidable force at McDiarmid Park so far this league campaign. The Saints have played 11 and are yet to lose, winning 7 and drawing 4, and have scored 24 goals. Dunfermline Athletic come into this fixture off the back of a famous victory against Premiership opposition Hibernian to progress into the 5th round of the Scottish Cup, where they will face League One outfit Kelty Hearts at home. The Pars’ last league outing was back on December 27th, where they defeated Raith Rovers 2-1 away from home in the Fife Derby. Tod and Stewart got the goals for Dunfermline to secure the 3 points. Before winning in the Fife Derby, Neil Lennon’s side only had 1 win in 6 games, including a 4-3 defeat to Queen of the South in the Challenge Cup, who are in the league below. The Pars sit 5th in the Championship, 3 points behind Ayr United in 4th, who play Partick Thistle at home this weekend. The Fife outfit have had mixed results on the road so far this league season, winning 4, drawing 2 and losing 4. The previous meeting between these sides came in November in a 2-2 draw. Stewart opened the scoring to give Dunfermline the lead. St Johnstone responded in the 30th minute through McAlear and went ahead in the 60th through Smith, but Neil Lennon’s side found the net in stoppage time to rescue a point. Back in September, The Saints beat The Pars at McDiarmid Park. MacLeod put the visitors in front just before the interval, but second half goals from Fotheringham and McPake gave St Johnstone all 3 points. St Johnstone forward Louis Lloyd after scoring his first goal for The Saints: “I am buzzing. The gaffer showed confidence in me to put me in from the start. I was determined to put myself out there and get myself a goal. “I had a few chances in the first half that I maybe should have been on the end of. In the second half, the game opened up a bit more and Smithy (Liam Smith) has put one on a plate for me. “The feeling was just delight. As soon as I saw the ball coming in, I thought ‘there is your moment’. I was just buzzing to celebrate with the fans and the boys as well. “Hopefully I can keep adding more minutes and keep contributing with goals and assists. We’ll now make sure we’re straight back on it and focused for the rest of the season.” Neil Lennon’s reaction to his side’s win against Hibernian: “I said to my coaches with half an hour to go, ‘I think this is a 1-0 game, so it could go either way.’ Thankfully for us, it went our way. “I thought our shape was good but I didn’t think we played as well as we could have done in the first half. We said to them, ‘Come on, play with a bit more positivity in the final third, a bit more belief.’ “Kieran probably should have done better with the initial header but we’ll take that all day long. We’ve taken a big scalp here today, and it should give the players a lot more belief in themselves.”
Fee confirmed for Cameron after tribunal escalation
An SPFL Tribunal have informed Rangers to pay around £400,000 for midfielder Lyall Cameron. The former Dundee midfielder, now on loan at Aberdeen, previously agreed a pre-contract with the Glasgow giants at the beginning of 2025. The clubs’ inability to agree on a compensation package was therefore escalated to the SPFL. Dundee confirmed that the tribunal proceedings have concluded, and outlined in a statement they were “unable to comment further due to the tribunal’s confidentiality clause”. Rangers have 14 days from Tuesday to pay the full fee.
Celtic Solve Striker Crisis With Tomas Cvancara Signing
Celtic have completed the signing of striker Tomas Cvancara from Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach on loan, with an option to buy at the end of the season. The Czechia international had been tenuously linked with rivals Rangers online before reports emerged from Sky Germany that the hitman was headed for Glasgow’s East End instead. The Hoops have been in desperate need of a striker since the summer after selling Adam Idah on deadline day and replacing him with free agent Kelechi Iheanacho, who has spent most of his time at Parkhead injured. They were linked with former hitman Kyogo Furuhashi on a loan return from Birmingham City nearly exactly a year on from selling the Japanese forward to Stade Rennais, but the 31-year-old has stayed south to fight for his place. There was also reports that a loan enquiry for Leeds United man Joel Piroe were ‘laughed away’ due to the Elland Road side sharing investors with Rangers. Johnny Kenny and Daizen Maeda have shared spells through the middle for Celtic this season, but neither have had a consistent level of performance for any length of time this season, paving the way for Cvancara to make the position his own. Cvancara told club media: “It’s a massive honour to sign for this club. “I am so excited to get started and make my own contribution to the team. We have lots of challenges ahead of us and I am ready to get going and do everything I can to meet these and bring success to our brilliant supporters. “Celtic is one of the great names in world football and I am delighted to be here to play my part.” The 25-year-old has spent this season on loan at Turkish side Antalyaspor, scoring just once in eleven appearances this season in all competitions. He made the move to his parent club from Sparta Prague in 2023 for a reported fee of £9million, scoring eight times in 54 fixtures having played some games as a right-winger rather than through the middle. In his homeland with Sparta, Cvancara enjoyed the best spell of his career as he fired home 24 goals in 49 matches for the Czech capital side in an eighteen months spell from 2022-2023. He has represented his national side on eight occasions, scoring once in a 3-1 victory over Poland in Euro 2024 qualifying. Cvancara has also played at Celtic Park already, coming off the bench for Czech side Jablonec in a 3-0 second leg defeat in Europa League qualifying in 2021 at the beginning of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure as Celts’ boss. Celtic travel to Tynecastle to face league leaders Hearts this Sunday in a game which could have huge repercussions as to where the league trophy goes at the end of this season. Cvancara scored twice on his Monchengladbach debut, and could be in line to repeat the trick for the Glasgow side in a potential baptism of fire.
Top but Still Underdogs: Hearts Eye Celtic
Derek McInnes has been interviewed ahead of a title fighting game this weekend. The Jambos will host Celtic on Sunday as the two sides are separated by only 6 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership. He said “Obviously it’s a big game on Sunday, we’ve still got a lot going for us with the squad and it’s not all doom and gloom. I need to stress that” “Injuries are part and parcel, losing key players is part and parcel and I don’t want anyone from a Hearts persuasion to lose any sort of hope or optimism” “It’s a brilliant game to be involved in and we are really looking forward to it” “So whatever Hearts team gets put out we will be ready for Celtic, and ready to compete. Just as we’ve always been” “We will always probably be seen as the underdog even though we are top of the league” “Last time out, maybe there was some of you guys (media) and some people out there last time we played Celtic, thought Hearts had a right good chance of winning it” “We believe we can win the game on Sunday, regardless of who’s fit and who’s not” The Edinburgh side have won both previous games against Celtic this season, and this will be the 3rd different Celtic manager they have faced across those games.
