Scottish Gossip: Rangers, Caixinha, Scotland, Strachan, Celtic, Hearts

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha insists he is in charge of the biggest club in Scotland with the best squad of players in the country. The Portuguese coach told the media: "The task is to make Rangers bigger than it is, to try to achieve something we haven't achieved." (Various)

Caixinha has set himself the lofty ambition of winning a European trophy as Rangers manager. (The Scotsman)

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan says he could not ignore in-form Tom Cairney, Ryan Fraser and Stuart Armstrong when naming his 30-man squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Slovenia on 26 March. (Various)

Pedro Caixinha aims to win a European trophy during his Rangers tenure

Former referee Dermot Gallagher hailed Bobby Madden for his "brilliant" display in Sunday's Old Firm derby at Celtic Park. (Scottish Sun)

English Championship club Nottingham Forest are expected to appoint former Rangers boss Mark Warburton as their new manager. (Scottish Sun)

Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson insists the fact Pedro Caixinha has not spoken to chairman Dave King is no big deal. "It's more important that Pedro spends time getting in among the squad and understanding what's happening," says Robertson. (Daily Record)

Dave King is expected to arrive in Scotland next week for his first face-to-face meeting with Pedro Caixinha. (Scottish Sun)

The Old Firm derby draw delivered a wake-up call ahead of next month's Scottish Cup semi-final, says Celtic assistant boss John Kennedy. "It wasn't a case of us taking the foot off the gas. It was just our performance was sub-par for the standards we've set," says Kennedy. (Daily Record)

St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright has criticised the omission of goalkeeper Zander Clark from Gordon Strachan's Scotland squad and claims Clark has been overlooked because he is at the "wrong" club. (Various)

St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark's omission from the Scotland squad drew criticism from Tommy Wright

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has praised Stuart Armstrong, after including the Celtic midfielder in his squad to face Slovenia, for becoming a personality on the pitch and trying to be the best player in every game. (Various)

Ian Cathro believes Hearts' 4-0 victory over Hamilton Accies was the best way to answer his critics. "A scoreline like that has been a long time coming," he says. "The next two games [against Aberdeen and Celtic] are good opportunities against opponents at the top of the league, where we have to be fighting and competing." (Various)

Former Motherwell player Simo Valakari could return to Fir Park to succeed Mark McGhee as manager. Valakari, who led SJK to the Finnish title in 2015, is one of five candidates for the managerial vacancy. (Scottish Sun)

OTHER GOSSIP

Zander Ferguson believes Scotland can end their Six Nations campaign on a high with victory over Italy this Sunday. Looking ahead to what will be Vern Cotter's final game in charge, centre Ferguson said: "I hope we can learn from [the heavy defeat by England] and put in a performance we can be proud of." (The Herald)

Scotland hope a Six Nations disciplinary panel will decide Fraser Brown's yellow card against England was sufficient punishment following his tackle on Elliot Daly, clearing the hooker to face Italy on Sunday. (The National)

Fraser Brown was sin-binned in the heavy defeat by England