Scottish Gossip: Scott Brown, Celtic, Scotland, Joey Barton, Motherwell

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Celtic captain Scott Brown may reverse his decision to retire from international football and could be named by Gordon Strachan in the Scotland squad to play England at Wembley next month. (Daily Record)

Brown is such a good player he would have been in the Liverpool side that came close to winning the Premier League in 2014, insists Celtic, and former Kop, boss Brendan Rodgers. (Various)

Stuart Armstrong, Brown's team-mate in the Celtic midfield, reveals that at the start of the season Rodgers told him that, to stay in the team, he should play a high-energy, pressing style of football. (Various)

Rodgers considers Celtic "a very, very hard club to leave as a player" and is convinced he can keep players such as Jozo Simunovic and Moussa Dembele because he is creating something "special". (Sun)

Midfielder Joey Barton's time at Rangers looks to be slowly drawing to a close as his suspension continues after Thursday's Ibrox meeting with the player, his agent Eddie Jennings and the club. (Various)

His time at Rangers has been an "unmitigated shambles...poor on the pitch and disrespectful off it". (Daily Express)

Manager Mark Warburton says he is "more than committed" to Rangers and hopes the fans "see the project we're doing". (Various)

Warburton believes he has the support of 95% of Rangers fans. He asks: "If we win our next two games and are second in the table going into the international break, is that bad for a team who have come up this season?" (Scotsman)

The Englishman scoffs at reports that linked him to the managerial vacancy at Wigan and also dismisses the absence of Rangers chairman Dave King from big games, putting it down to King being based in South Africa. (Daily Express)

St Johnstone defender Ricky Foster, a former Rangers player, says he and his team-mates fed off the nerves of the home support at Ibrox during the 1-1 midweek draw. "It's tough to keep getting on the ball and keep trying things," says Foster of playing in front of disgruntled supporters. (Various)

Another former Rangers player, Stevie Smith, hopes to use the ire of the fans to Kilmarnock's advantage when the Ayrshire team travel to Ibrox on Saturday. "You need to be brave to take the ball in that environment," he says, mirroring Foster's remarks. (Various)

Barcelona could be without four key defenders for their Champions league match aghainst Celtic on 23 November. Jeremy Mathieu has injured a calf, adding to injuries to Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Aleix Vidal. (Daily Express)

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes urges his players to become the first team to beat Celtic in the league this season when they meet at Pittodrie in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off. (Various)

Dundee's general manager John Nelms has urged everyone at Dens Park to rally round manager Paul Hartley to help lift the team off the foot of the Premiership. (Sun)

Red Bull Leipzig boss Ralph Hasenhuttl thinks £13m signing Oliver Burke can become "a real weapon" and is considering him playing as a number 10, rather than purely on the wing. (Sun)

Motherwell captain Keith Lasley apologises to fans for the 3-0 defeat by Inverness CT and says the players have to handle being booed off by their own fans. (Sun)

Kilmarnock company secretary and former chairman Michael Johnston will meet directors Billy Bowie and John Kiltie for "showdown talks" after main sponsor QTS threatened to withdraw its funding. (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

Glasgow boxer Jon Slowey has been banned from all sport until September 2018 after testing positive for traces of cocaine following a points defeat by Carmine Tommasone in Italy last September. (Daily Express)

Slowey's manager Alex Morrison says the 26-year-old fighter is not finished, that he is training harder than ever and that he just "got involved with the wrong company". (Sun)

Gregor Townsend will take his current Glasgow Warriors coaches Matt Taylor and Dan McFarland with him when he moves to Murrayfield in June to become Scotland coach. Attack coach Jason O'Halloran and pack expert Jonathan Humphreys will move in the opposite direction to work with New Zealander Dave Rennie when he replaces Townsend. (Scotsman, Herald)