Scottish Gossip: Celtic, Lee Clark, Rangers, Alan Pardew, Mark Warburton

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has joined Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Anderlecht counterparts to warn Uefa that its slide towards a "Champions Super League" will ruin European football. From August 2018 England, Spain, Germany and Italy will be given half of the 32 group stage places on offer. (Scotsman)

Lee Clark urges Kilmarnock to appoint his assistant Lee McCulloch as his successor at Rugby Park. Clark is moving to become manager of League One Bury. (Sun)

But McCulloch has put talks on hold until after Sunday's league match with Aberdeen. (Daily Record)

Lee McCulloch is in temporary charge at Rugby Park and may yet be given the job on a more permanent basis

Mark McGhee launches a blistering attack on fourth official John McKendrick after being sent to the stand an hour into Motherwell's 7-2 thrashing by Aberdeen on Wednesday night. The 59-year-old also took issue with a fan recording the dismissal on his mobile phone. "I'm absolutely horrified by the attitude of the fourth official. I'm absolutely disgusted and horrified," says the Well manager. (Daily Mail)

Hibs are set to make the trip to Raith Rovers on Saturday with only two fit centre-backs - Liam Fontaine and Darren McGregor - even though an injury suffered by Jordon Forster is not as bad as first suspected. Forster is definitely out and Paul Hanlon has had surgery on a minor pelvic problem recently. (Edinburgh Evening News)

Mark Warburton, in a statement made via the League Managers Association, accuses Rangers of failing to answer "key questions" relating to his departure as manager at Ibrox last week. (Herald)

Former Newcastle, West Ham and Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew insists Rangers are in safe hands with Graeme Murty. Pardew was a rookie manager at Reading in 1998 when he first came across Murty and he reckons the 42-year-old has all the tools to be a success. "Graeme was worth his weight in gold to me, especially as I was relatively new to the management lark. He always made really important contributions on and off the field," he says. (Sun)

Dundee manager Paul Hartley feels his former Scotland team-mate Murty will be in shock at being caretaker boss of Rangers. Says Hartley: "He is a decent lad who has been thrown in at the deep end. He has had a job where there is not much attention on him and all of a sudden he is the face." (Sun)

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee was none too happy at being sent to to the stand at Pittodrie

Reading and Wales defender Chris Gunter, who played for Billy Davies at Nottingham Forest, reckons his old boss is an outstanding candidate to become the new Rangers manager because of his ability to pull together fans, players and directors behind a common cause. (Daily Express)

Former Rangers midfielder Bert Konterman, now under-19s coach at Twente, thinks a combination of Alex McLeish, his old manager, and Frank de Boer, his former Ibrox team-mate, as director of football and manager, would be the perfect scenario. (Daily Express)

Jimmy Calderwood, who worked under director of football Willie Miller at Aberdeen, reckons Murty needs a director of football to shield him from the fans' flak. (Daily Record)

Inverness CT's Brad McKay tips his former team-mate, the Hearts and Scotland full-back Callum Paterson, to overcome the knee injury which will keep him out for the rest of the season and earn a move to the English Premier League. (Herald)

Celtic's 13-year-old Karamoko Dembele will play for Scotland again after being named in the national team's under-16 side, despite playing for the England youth team in December. (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

Gordon Reid's replacement at Glasgow Warriors is loosehead prop Oliver Kebble, who plays for Stormers. The 24-year-old is the son of former Springboks international Guy Kebble. He shares a flat with Stormers centre Huw Jones, who has already signed for the Warriors next season. (National)

Glasgow Warriors tighthead prop Zander Fagerson, with six caps to his name, tries to allay fears that the Scotland scrum will cost the team in the Six Nations. He says: "We have a good scrum, we just need to get the processes right. So I'm not worried about it at all." (Scotsman)