“Refocused” Kilmarnock will be a tough assignment for Hearts – McCann

Neil McCann promises that leaders Hearts will be given a “tough game” by his wounded Kilmarnock side, who suffered a damning defeat to high-flying Falkirk in their last league encounter. The Ayrshire team have had 2 weeks to stew on the 5-1 defeat, but believes the break allowed his side to “refocus”. “We’ve had a wee bit of extra time to stew on that defeat from Falkirk, which looked totally out of character in terms of performances that we’ve produced since I’ve been here. “I think everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and we were punished by a really good side. “What it has done is give us a wee bit of time to actually look at where we’ve gone wrong in that game, in particular. “With a mix of just giving the boys a wee bit of time away as well because we have been training them hard, so it’s been beneficial, I hope to everybody.” McCann expects a reaction from his team, who “look forward” to welcoming Derek McInnes’ side. “I’ve never seen anything other than a brilliant attitude in training since I’ve been in here. I’ve been talking about the attitude of the boys and what we’ve been asking them to do, of course. “They are gonna be a wee bit low when they return from that defeat and so we should be it was a sore one for everybody to take. “We were really disappointed in ourselves, the show we put on, in most of the other games, I think you can say we’ve been right in, and looking like a threat. “But it has given up a wee bit of a jolt at a good point of the season, actually, with the four games coming up before the split “It’s maybe refocused our minds, we look forward to welcoming hearts here at Rugby Park.” McCann believes his side will be tough outfit for the Gorgie side to crack. “Hearts are going great, and its gonna be a really tough game, they are coming here with their own pressures, to stay at the top of the table, and I think they’ll be thinking this is a hard game. “I honestly do believe that they’ll be expecting a tough game from us down here and I think we’ve been really good at home of late, so we’ve got to continue that for, and belief. Hopefully, we get a big crowd behind us” The manager added that there were no injury scares, his side were “pretty strong” and had a “full group training today [Friday]”.

Stephen Robinson swaps Paisley for the Granite City

Aberdeen have this morning announced Stephen Robinson as their new first-team manager on a three-year deal. Aberdeen’s two-month wait for a manager since Jimmy Thelin departed has came to an end as Stephen Robinson has agreed to become the new boss in the Granite City. Robinson started managing in the youth systems of the Northern Irish National Team, managing the U17s, U19s and U21s before joining Oldham Athletic in 2016 where the Ex-St Mirren man was let go following a poor run. Stephen then agreed to join the Steelmen making his move to Motherwell in 2017 guiding the Fir Park side to a third place finish as well as qualification into the Europa League Qualifiers. He also let the Steelmen to two cup finals – losing both to Celtic. He then moved onto Morecambe before joining the Buddies where he gained three back-to-back top six finishes as well as bringing European Football back to St Mirren. He also brought home silverware at the beginning of the current campaign, defeating Celtic 3-1 in the Scottish League Cup final. Robinson has been at the heart of giving youngsters the chance and developing well which saw them gain big moves down south as we saw with Evan Mooney making the switch to Arsenal. New Dons boss, Stephen Robinson said: “When this opportunity arose, there was no way I could turn it down. “Aberdeen has a tremendous history and there’s no mistaking it is a huge Club. The facilities and resources that will be at my disposal are excellent and more importantly, the fan base is tremendous so I’m excited to work for a Club of this size and strive to take it forward. “I appreciate it has been a tough period for everyone, but players respond to positivity so we’ve got to stick together going forward. “We will put a team out on the pitch to get the points we need to finish this season as strongly as we can. “Aberdeen have clear ambition but it needs an identity, it needs direction and I aim to give the club that so we need everyone to get behind myself, the staff and the players.” AFC Sporting Director, Lutz Pfannenstiel, said: “Results have clearly not been what we had hoped for or expected in recent weeks. “The Board and I recognised we needed a new Head Coach in position sooner rather than later and Stephen, who was part of this process from the outset, was the clear candidate to take on the role now. “He is a highly experienced coach with a strong track record of delivering results in this league and we believe he will bring stability in the short term whilst also providing the vision to build success for this club in the future.” Aberdeen have a tricky run of fixtures with meetings against Falkirk, Rangers and Hibernian coming up as well as a trip to his former side, St Mirren in Paisley.

“We’re in trouble, we’re in serious trouble” – Peter Leven on the cup exit at Dunfermline

Peter Leven believes Aberdeen are in big trouble following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Dunfermline at East End Park. Dunfermline defeat the cup holders with goals from Matty Todd and Olly Thomas brace put the Pars’ into their first semi-final since 2009. Peter Leven wasn’t afraid to criticize his side’s display as Aberdeen put up a horror display in Dunfermline. Aberdeen started the first 5-10 minutes well but going down hill as soon as the hosts went ahead with Peter Leven saying: “We started okay, we had a chance with Stuart Armstrong, but after that, I can’t defend the players any more, that was unacceptable. I can only apologise to the fans for what they’ve seen. “We had so many experienced players on there, but we never won the battle. First balls, second balls, a lack of fight, a lack of confidence, it’s really poor. We’re the holders, and we’ve limped out the Scottish Cup, that’s unacceptable for me. I can take losing, but after going 1-0 down, the fight was gone, and that was so disappointing.” Aberdeen have been miles off it with just three wins since the start of 2026. The Dons currently sit 9th in the Scottish Premiership following Dundee’s win over Motherwell on Saturday. If things weren’t to get any worse, Peter Leven’s men have a very tough run of fixtures in the lead up to the split with visits from Falkirk and Hibernian as well as away days to St Mirren and Rangers in store. With the way things are going, Peter Leven said: “We’re in trouble, we’re in serious trouble, because we’re not picking up wins, we’re not picking up points, and we’re out of the Scottish Cup. There’s a real possibility we can get dragged into the relegation fight, I said that to the players after the game. “We cannot go on like this, but I can’t protect them any longer. They’ve got to stand up and be counted. They have to show the character because we can’t do anything else, there’s no transfer window, so they’re going to have to pick it up.”

Askou “not fussed” about title talks as Dens Park awaits

Jens Berthel Askou aims to give Motherwell fans “something to be proud” as they look to move within one point of Rangers in third place. Speaking to the media on Thursday afternoon, the manager is excited to watch his team’s progression across the remaining months of the Scottish Premiership season. “I think a very cool for us as a group and a football club that we know that we are going to compete in the top 6 after the split. The main thing for us is that it’s going to push us to our limits as a football club, and keep developing us to the maximum of our potential this season.” “We have to keep developing as human beings, as professionals, as a team, as a football club, because there’s always more until the day when we finish our careers as players or as coaches, so that is what we are looking for.” “It’s about adding details all the way, and then when we add these details, it’s about sharpening the details and being good enough at picking between these details while we keep the structure and the basis and the foundation of our game. The most important thing for us is that we want to excite people around the area, so they have something to be proud of. “ The Motherwell ranks are filled with talent, from top goalscorer Tawanda Maswanhise to midfield marshal Elliot Watt. Askou has been impressed by his squad’s growth. “We know if we want to reach out to the maximum potential for this club, we have to be good both ways, and it’s really difficult to strike that balance, especially early in the phase of development. “I am very impressed with how the players have been able to just grow and develop in both directions at the same time.” Askou appreciates that Saturday’s opponent will be no pushover for his side. “Dundee is a team that has grown and developed through the season, it’s going to be a big test, and a challenge for us to see if we can keep our form and sharpness against a team that, especially at home, has looked really good.” Dundee v Motherwell Dens Park March 7th 3pm

Terrific Chermiti: Old firm hero linked with Portugal call-up

Former Everton and now Portugal manager Roberto Martinez has highlighted that Youssef Chermiti is in sight for a potential World Cup call-up. The Portuguese striker scored an astonishing overhead kick as well as another neat finish in last weekend’s Old Firm derby. Just two weeks before, he scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over league leaders Hearts. The striker had a slow start to life at Ibrox, as well as coming with a big fee, but he now has nine league goals, with eight of them coming against Hearts and Celtic. And this form has caught the eye of experienced Portugal boss Roberto Martinez. He said: “It’s important to keep the door open to new talent in the national team. “In that respect, we are looking at Francisco Conceicao, Rodrigo Mora and Fabio Silva. Youssef Chermiti at Rangers is another player who is doing well. “Each player’s current form is important, but their contribution across a whole season should not be forgotten.” Chermiti has already played many games for Portugal at a youth level, with four goal involvements in five at U21 European level, he will be looking to move onto bigger and better things and potentially assist his country come June. With Portugal’s arranged friendlies later this month with Mexico and USA, and with the matches being played in two of the chosen World Cup countries, Chermiti will be looking to get a brief taster before the big finale in the summer. Portugal’s squad in general is fantastic, with top players from across the best leagues in the world. It is a great advertisement for Scottish football to see players from the league getting recognition from world class countries. However, there is still a lot of football to be played domestically, and with many important fixtures approaching, the 21-year-old will need to be fully focused on continuing his good form in big matches and helping Rohl’s Rangers push for the title. If he does continue his fine form, will Chermiti be on that plane with Ronaldo come the summer?

Aberdeen host Celtic in a must win game for both sides

Aberdeen welcome Celtic to Pittodrie in a must win for Celtic if they are to catch Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership. The last time the two sides met was just before Christmas when Nancy was in charge at Parkhead where Nancy picked up his first win in Glasgow with a 3-1 win over the Dons. The last meeting at Pittodrie was on matchday two where Celtic ran away 2-0 winners under Brendan Rodgers with Nygren and Hatate was on target to give Celtic the win. This will be the third Celtic manager to face Aberdeen, a first for Martin O’Neill since 2005 in a 3-2 win at Celtic Park. Aberdeen are coming into this match following defeat in the capital to league leaders Hearts following a first half goal by Claudio Braga to stretch the lead at the top. The last meeting at Pittodrie came two weeks ago where Aberdeen were defeated yet again as Dundee and Steven Pressley ran out 3-2 winners with Ethan Hamilton scoring a stunner late on to win it for the Dens Park outfit. Aberdeen have only won one league game in their last 11 which was a 6-2 win against Livingston. Last time out for the Hoops’ they draw away to title rivals Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday. A brace by Chermitti in the first half saw Celtic go into the break 2-0 down but Tierney had Celtic back into the game after 56 minutes with Reo Hatate missing a penalty late on but scoring the rebound second time of asking. Celtic have only lost one league game in their last eight which was a 2-1 defeat at home to Hibernian. Leven speaking on tomorrow’s clash with Celtic: “Celtic are a good team, but we’re also a good team on our day. We need to bring it tomorrow. It’s a 95-minute performance, we need that, we’ve not had many of them this season. “But again, we’re at home. We shouldn’t fear anybody. This is a huge club and the boys should know how big this club is and anybody who comes up to Pittodrie should be in for a tough game.” Leven admitted his squad must “believe in each other” should they get past Celtic He added: “They’ve got to belief in the system, they’ve got to believe in each other, they’ve got to work hard, yes at times you’ll need a little bit of luck. “But listen, there’s good players in this team but they’ve got to all bring it on the same day and fight for each other, that’s the most important thing.” Martin O’Neill on tomorrow’s trip up North: “Certainly, this is a big game for us tomorrow evening, a big match for us and we have to try and win the game if we can” The Celtic boss has also commented on the Schmeichel situation: “Kasper is still not feeling great so I will leave him to recover properly,” said the Northern Irishman, who will again be without suspended defender Auston Trusty. “He (Sinisalo) has done really well in the two games that he’s come in. “He came in for the European game against Stuttgart, made a couple of really good saves and did very well. “And so he will start tomorrow night. “I have been pleased with him. I thought he did fine against Rangers, really fine. “And the goals that he conceded certainly weren’t his fault. “So I’ve been very pleased with him. And it’s an opportunity, it’s not the way that you’d want it to do. “But it’s an opportunity to see him because I think he wants to be the number one goalkeeper here in the foreseeable future.”

German coach Sandro Schwarz arrives into Aberdeen for talks about Dons job

Sandro Schwarz has landed in the Granite City as talks begin as Horneland’s move to Aberdeen has faced ‘unforeseen circumstances’. This afternoon, Sandro Schwarz flew into Aberdeen to hold talks about the chance of becoming the new boss after the sacking of Jimmy Thelin at the start of the year. He will meet with Dave Cormack, Alan Burrows and Lutz Pfannenstield over the available job at Pittodrie this afternoon. Eirik Horneland remains the main target to take the job in Scotland but ‘unforeseen circumstances’ have appeared with Sandro becoming a possible back-up option should the talks with the Norwegian break down. Lutz knows him from his time in Germany and the USA where he managed New York City Red Bulls with Lutz being at St Louis City. The German boss has had a handful of managerial jobs such as Mainz, FC Eschborn, Hertha Berlin, Wehen Weisbaden and Russian side, Dynamo Moscow. Sandro who was most recently boss in New York had a win percentage of 38% which was a win rate of 1.4 points per game in MLS football. Aberdeen currently have Peter Leven in charge on interim basis with Ex-Ross County boss, Tony Docherty in as assistant. Aberdeen have struggled big time this season, sitting eighth in the Scottish Premiership with top-six looking like mission impossible. Horneland joining Aberdeen may still happen but it has been made clear that the appointment won’t be any earlier than the summer.

Partick Thistle 0-0 Arbroath: Thistle Fall Behind in Championship Title Challenge

Partick Thistle lost ground in the Scottish Championship title race after drawing 0-0 with 3rd place Arbroath at Firhill. Both teams were reduced to ten men in the second half, paving the way for leaders St. Johnstone to extend their lead at the top to five points. The first half offered very little for either set of fans to get excited about. Aidan Fitzpatrick found space down the right flank around 17 minutes in, but the Thistle winger’s zipped cross was diverted behind for a corner. Striker Tony Watt fashioned an opportunity for himself just two minutes later after receiving the ball just outside the box from Ts’oanelo Lets’osa, but the veteran’s effort was easily saved amid defensive pressure. Arbroath rarely threatened in the opening 45, with Ryan Dow going down inside the area looking for a penalty being the only time Josh Clarke in the home net may be getting troubled. The visitors would have a player advantage just before and hour had been played when Thistle’s Daniel O’Reilly received a straight red card for a high challenge on Arbroath’s Harry Cochrane. Yet it would be the hosts who came closest to breaking the deadlock with around twenty minutes to go. Fitzpatrick, who moved over to the left for the second half, burst onto a through ball in the box and cut in onto his favoured right foot. His drilled shot was deflected wide for a corner, and the contest remained goalless. Clarke kept his clean sheet intact with a fine catch inside the final fifteen minutes of action, keeping Arbroath captain Thomas O’Brien’s header from six yards out from a corner kick. And if that save wasn’t good enough, he produced an even better one with seven minutes to go. Scott Stewart put it on a plate for Findlay Marshall after a weaving run wide right, but the Aberdeen loanee’s shot was fantastically tipped over by the 21-year-old. The number of players were levelled a minute later as Thistle went on an attack of their own. O’Brien of Arbroath brought Alex Samuel down outside the box, and was given his marching orders after being deemed the last man. Ben Stanway struck the bar from the awarded free-kick. And it was as though the deadlock was never meant to be broken, with Oisin Smyth cannoning a second effort off of the crossbar from a similar position in added time. The stalemate means Thistle fall further behind St. Johnstone in the title race, with the Perth side seeing of Ayr 3-1. They can stretch the 5 point lead to 8 this weekend, with the Jags in Scottish Cup quarter-final away to St. Mirren on Sunday. As for Arbroath, they remain comfortable in 3rd place, but have no time for respite as they host Scott Brown’s aforementioned Ayr United who will be hungry to bounce back to winning ways as the fight for the promotion places heats up. PARTICK THISTLE: Clarke 8, Reading 3 (Loughrey 60’ 2), Ashcroft 4, Smyth 5, Samuel 6, Crawford 2 (Chalmers 46’ 2), McBeth 2 (Ingram 46’ 3 ), O’Reilly 3, Fitzpatrick 5 (Turner 77’ 1), Watt 4, Lets’osa 4 (Stanway 60’ 4) ARBROATH: McAdams 5, Wilkie 5, O’Brien 4, Muirhead 3 (Lang 69’ 2 ), Flynn 6, Reilly 5 (Beadling 77’ 1 ), Dow 5, Watson 5, Marshall 4 (Mebude 84’ 1), Nesbitt 5 (Stewart 69 3’), Cochrane 6 (Robinson 77’ 1)

Are Aberdeen in danger of being dragged into a relegation fight?

Aberdeen have had a struggle of a season as they sit eighth with a difficult run to come for Peter Leven’s men. It’s been a difficult season for Aberdeen after a poor start which saw Scottish Cup winner, Jimmy Thelin sacked at the start of the year after a defeat away at Falkirk. Aberdeen have only won three times this year so far which came against Championship side, Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup, a 6-2 win over bottom of the league Livingston and an impressive 2-0 win over 9-men Motherwell in the Scottish Cup. Aberdeen have failed to win away since early December and this year hasn’t been great at all. The Dons’ new manager search has taken quite a while as still no manager has taken the role yet despite huge talk of Eirik Horneland taking the job which looks like it may not be until next season. Peter Leven is currently in charge as interim boss with former Ross County and Dundee boss Tony Docherty alongside Leven. Aberdeen also added former Notts County boss, Ian Burchnall to the coaching staff for the remainder of the season. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Dons with a trip to Tynecastle on the cards tomorrow – a place they haven’t won at since 2017 before they take on Celtic on Wednesday night. They then look to defend their Scottish Cup as they travel to East End Park next Saturday night to face Dunfermline. Aberdeen will also have to face the likes of Rangers, Hibernian, Falkirk and St Mirren ahead of the split which is far from ideal as Aberdeen are in dire need of grabbing wins to make a late push for top six. It is highly unlikely Aberdeen will go down due to the amount of quality but Peter Leven’s men certainly need to up their game to prevent being dragged closer to the bottom with sides around that area improving week by week.

Oliver Glasner opens up about potential exit

Crystal Palace boss, Oliver Glasner has spoken about the rumour of a potential exit being on the cards. Glasner has stated he has the full interest of remaining in charge with the Selhurst Park side until the end of the season at the very least despite struggling times. There has been concern within the Palace support to whether Glasner was going to depart the club as Crystal Palace continue to slip down the league as they currently sit 15th in the league and have qualified into the final 16 of the UEFA Conference League where they will meet AEK Larnaca – the side who defeated them in the league phase. Following their win over Zrinjski Mostar, Glasner said: “I’ve had 100-per-cent assurance [of staying on],” he told TNT Sports after the game. “For me it’s always number one is the players, the players believing in me and the staff – and that’s the most important thing, otherwise you can pack your suitcase and go home. “They have a great togetherness in the group, the staff and it’s the same with the chairman and sporting director.” Glasner also feels some of his comments within the media may have been one of the reasons to the rumours of Glasner possibly departing. “Maybe I gave some interviews which were not really helpful, I have to admit but I always say what I am feeling and sometimes it’s positive, sometimes it’s not so positive. “That’s Oliver Glasner, and in the end we are in a very good position in the league and now it’s up to us with our fans to make a really good season of it.” Glasner feels belief within the players is the most important part while results create the awareness. “For me it’s always number one is the players, the players believing in me and the staff – and that’s the most important thing, otherwise you can pack your suitcase and go home. “They have a great togetherness in the group, the staff and it’s the same with the chairman and sporting director.”