Wednesday's Scottish gossip

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Former chief executive Derek Llambias, Barry Leach, who was finance director, and brothers James and Sandy Easdale, who have all been thrown off Rangers' plc and football boards by Dave King's new controlling consortium, will be told they are not welcome again at Ibrox Stadium. (Daily Telegraph)

John Greig, the former player and manager voted the Greatest Living Ranger, ended his self-imposed Ibrox exile and took a seat in directors' box for the Scottish Championship match against Queen of the South after being invited by the club's new board. (Daily Record)

Rangers caretaker manager Kenny McDowall fears his side could miss out on the Scottish Premiership play-offs completely after they threw away a late lead to draw 1-1 at home to promotion rivals Queen of the South. (Daily Mail)

Dundee United's Calum Butcher has reportedly escaped punishment because of an SFA loophole

The Scottish Professional Football League has been warned it risks a contractual can of worms if it moves the Premiership play-off final because Falkirk or Hibernian will reach the Scottish Cup final, which falls between the two legs, as some players might be out of contract if the season is extended into June. (The Herald)

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson says he will have to strengthen his squad to compete in the Scottish Premiership despite his side running away with the Championship title. (The Herald)

Dundee United midfielder Calum Butcher escaped being punished following Sunday's Scottish Cup quarter-final against Celtic by the Scottish FA as its rules prevent it taking retrospective action after referee Craig Thomson mistakenly gave the red card to team-mate Paul Paton. (The Sun, print edition)

Stefan Johansen has been named Scottish Professional Football League player of the month for February and the Celtic midfielder says he is fit enough to play three games a week during the club's gruelling schedule. (HITC Sport)

Davie Moyes is being linked with West Ham but is said to be happy at Real Sociedad

Celtic's Norwegian midfielder, Stefan Johansen, says Ronny Deila is ripping up stereotypes about managers from their homeland with his high-energy free-flowing style with the Scottish champions. (Daily Record)

Hamilton Academical have made a hush-hush trip to the English FA's multi-million pound St George's Park training camp in an attempt to end their nine-game run without a victory. (The Sun, print edition)

Alloa Athletic say they have had applications from all over the world for the manager's post vacated by Barry Smith at the weekend, but caretaker Paddy Connolly is not thought to be in the running for the job. (Daily Record, print edition)

Davie Moyes has emerged as West Ham United's main target should they part with manager Sam Allardyce in the summer, but the Scot is keen to continue developing Real Sociedad. (Daily Mirror)

Scotland Under-21 defender Jack Grimmer has signed a new contact with Fulham that will tie the 21-year-old to the English Championship club until the summer of 2017. (The Scotsman, print edition)

OTHER GOSSIP

Glasgow Warriors have failed in an appeal against Leone Nakarawa's three-game ban

The poor are being excluded from new sporting facilities built to provide a legacy to the Commonwealth Games because the cost of using them is too high, MSPs have been told by David Smith, chairman of Drumchapel Community Sports Hub. (The Herald)

The "phenomenal success" of the weekend Davis Cup tie in Glasgow shows the huge appetite for tennis in Scotland and highlights the massive opportunity that exists to grow the sport, according to Judy Murray, the Great Britain Fed Cup captain whose sons, Andy and Jamie, helped the hosts beat the US. (The Scotsman)

Glasgow Warriors have failed in an attempt to have forward Leone Nakarawa's three-week ban for a head-butt overturned. (The Sport Review)

Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw has revealed that he and his team-mates have seen a different side of head coach Vern Cotter this week, the New Zealander having become more demanding of the squad, as well as changing his approach to analysing what has been going wrong, after three straight Six Nations defeats. (The Scotsman)

Two notable Open Championship anniversaries will be marked for the price of one on the eve of this summer's event at St Andrews, with a four-hole "Champion Golfers' Challenge" being held to mark the 60th anniversary of Australian Peter Thomson's victory there in 1955 and the 40th anniversary of American Tom Watson's debut win at Carnoustie in 1975. (The Scotsman)