Celtic

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown, who is now managing Ayr United, and Hoops assistant coach John Kennedy are among the contenders for the St Johnstone job. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

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"All our lives we’ve been talking about Celtic and Rangers."

Slovan Bratislava manager Vladimir Weiss is well known to Celtic fans - as is his son of the same name.

Weiss senior led Artmedia Bratislava to a 5-0 victory in Gordon Strachan’s first match in charge of Celtic in 2005, before hanging on for a 5-4 aggregate success.

Weiss junior played on loan at Rangers in season 2010-11.

Both return to Glasgow on Wednesday as Slovan take their Champions League bow.

"Of course there are memories and nobody can take them away from you but now we are up against a Celtic side that are faster and have a different style of play than 19 years ago," said the visiting coach.

"We know what to expect. We have several players who have played here before and they know about the atmosphere.

"A lot of players have said this is the best atmosphere in the world. We have enough experience to not give in to this atmosphere and not make mistakes.

"We know that most of the game we will be under pressure. Just like we get emotion and energy from our fans, Celtic will get that. So you have to have self-confidence and discipline."

Slovan forward Weiss is now 34, with his father adding: "My son played for Rangers and he’s a Rangers fan and he will face Celtic, their arch rival.

"When he was here at Rangers, they won the double. So he has the best memories. And the derby with Celtic is the best.

"He had a great time and he will play Celtic again and we’ll see how it goes."

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Brendan Rodgers is relishing the task of improving Celtic’s Champions League fortunes as he looks to make it an "amazing" opening night.

Celtic open their campaign at home to Slovan Bratislava, who have come through four rounds of qualifying where they earned away draws at APOEL in Cyprus and Midtjylland in Denmark.

"I look at us now as a club, progressing, looking forward, you see the club has supported us fantastic in the summer," said manager Rodgers.

“And we want to be able to do that again in some other areas because we want to keep growing.

"We don't want just the benchmark to be domestic. We want to improve and do well in Europe.

"It's an amazing level to be involved in. I love the challenge, I relish the challenge. The players love playing at it.

"That's why you work all year, to win your league, to win your title, to get to nights like this which will be amazing for them."

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Brendan Rodgers has been speaking to the media before Celtic's Champions League opener at home to Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday night.

Here are the key points from the Celtic boss:

• Rodgers says this is the most "ready" he’s ever been for a Champions League campaign as Celtic manager, across both his spells.

• He points to the transition period of last season and previous Champions League campaigns in his first stint when he had to come through qualifying.

• The Parkhead boss says the board have been "absolutely brilliant" with the backing they've given him over the summer. Over £31m was spent in the transfer window in which Celtic twice broke their transfer record, according to chairman Peter Lawwell.

• Rodgers says his ambition for this season's new Champions League format is to reach the play-offs. To do that he accepts Celtic must pick up points at home, starting with all three against Slovan Bratislava.

• The Celtic manager bristled slightly when asked if wants to be judged at Champions League level. He replied that people can judge him whatever way they want and that he’s won plenty of big matches in his career.

• He did concede, however, that he wants Celtic to make progress at this level and go from "participating" to "being competitive".

• Rodgers pointed to the fact Slovan have had to come through four ties to get to this stage as evidence of their qualities.

• Rodgers says his squad is in a good place, with no significant injuries.

Former skipper Paul Lambert says victory at home to Slovan Bratislava is a must if Celtic are to progress to the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since season 2012-13.

Celtic begin their campaign in the tournament's new format on Wednesday night against the Slovakian champions.

"I don't think people should think it's going to be an easy game," Lambert told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

"If Celtic underestimate them, it'll be a sticky tie, but I don't see Brendan Rodgers doing that.

"Celtic have got to get off to a good start."

Lambert, a Champions League winner with Borussia Dortmund in 1997, says "without a shadow of a doubt" Europe's elite competition has lost its way.

From this season, a new format takes hold with the structure of eight groups of four banished.

An expanded 36-team tournament will see each side play eight games - four at home and four away - in a league phase, against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots.

Lambert says it's designed to "suit the elite clubs".

He added: "The big ones will know they have time to catch up if they lose. It's a bit over the top for me, it should be the champions or the top two that come in, but money changes the game, and that's what has happened."

Lambert does believe, though, it it is "easier to progress" in the new format, no matter the team.

What should Celtic expect from 'big underdogs' Bratislava?

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

They may not be the most popular people in Glasgow's East End, but boy do the Celtic board know how to run a football club.

It's not that long since chairman Peter Lawwell was telling disgruntled supporters to "calm doon" in Paisley before a recent win over St Mirren. Fans were frustrated that insufficient funds were being released to the manager in the recent transfer window.

Celtic's latest balance sheet begs to differ. A point Lawwell was only too happy to reinforce as he purred over the profit and loss ledger.

Here's what stood out to me in the club's freshly published figures to the end of June 2024.

A bank balance - at that time - of over £77m. Transfer fees paid for players over the past three years: £100m. Let that sink in for a moment.

You can understand why directors are left scratching their heads when some supporters claim the 'biscuit tin’ mentality still prevails at Celtic Park. It's very far from the case.

Granted, you can point to the fact the net spend is significantly lower. In the past year alone, Celtic have brought in over £60m for Jota, Liel Abada and Matt O'Riley.

The point remains, however. One thing you cannot seriously accuse the Parkhead blazers of is failing to open up the purse strings. Their problem in the summer of 2023 was that a large portion of the cash was squandered. The same cannot be said now.

Lawwell couldn't help himself, in the chairman's statement accompanying the accounts, from ramming all this down the throat of anyone reluctantly reading.

A total of £68m spent on players in the past three accounting periods. More than £30m spent this summer alone. Most valuable squad in the entire history of the club. And most importantly, all achieved with a winning side on the park.

Which is a worry for everyone else in Scotland.

Having secured the double in his first season back, Brendan Rodgers asked the board to back him, and they delivered the club's two most expensive signings in Adam Idah and Arne Engels.

Lawwell didn’t name them in his statement, but he made sure to mention their big-money arrivals.

Celtic are cash rich, financially stable and the only thing they're struggling with is space for all their domestic honours. Lawwell couldn't resist underlining the number of prizes Celtic have picked up in the last 25 years.

Thirty eight trophies since the 1999-2000 season kicked off, in which period they’ve been Scottish champions 18 times.

Given the manager, squad and board in place at present, it doesn't look this era of Parkhead power play is likely to end any time soon... and I think the chairman knows it.

Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan wants to create his own European memories after growing up watching highlights of the club's run to the 2003 UEFA Cup final. (Daily Record, external)

Former Celtic midfielder Tomoki Iwata scored on his first start for Birmingham City as David Beckham and Tom Brady watched on. (Scottish Sun, external)

Read the rest of Tuesday's Scottish gossip.

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As Celtic prepare to open their Champions League campaign at home to Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, our friends at Opta have been crunching the numbers behind their European hopes.

Some are favourable, others not so much. Here are the best of them:

• Celtic's fixtures are rated as the easiest across all 36 teams, with an average opponent rating of 87.4 - the unluckiest team on the spectrum, PSG, have their opponents rated five points higher at 92.4.

• The Scottish champions are appearing in the European Cup/Champions League for a 28th time, trailing only Manchester United (30 appearances) among British teams.

• Celtic have struggled in the competition in recent years, failing to progress from the groups in five straight appearances, while manager Brendan Rodgers has won just three of his 24 games in the tournament.

• But the new format and kind draw could help Rodgers' men, who have a predicted points total of 9.7 and a healthy 57.2% chance of finishing in the top 24, which would guarantee the Glasgow side a place in the next round.

• In addition to that, Opta feel Celtic have a 4.5% chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Celtic won their fifth league game in a row this season as they beat Hearts 2-0 at the weekend, and have three players in my Team of the Week.

Kasper Schmeichel has not exactly been overworked since taking up his position between the sticks at Celtic, such has been the early-season dominance shown by the champions.

However, he deserves his share of the credit for five consecutive clean sheets in the five league wins, the first time this has happened in 118 years.

Liam Scales continues to be the quiet success story at the back for Brendan Rodgers' side. He got the rub of the green on Saturday as he rightly escaped having a penalty awarded against him for handball.

The big-money Belgian Arne Engels demonstrated his qualities in front of the home faithful at Celtic Park. He has the stage now to shine and it will be fascinating to see how he develops over the months ahead on the domestic and European front.

Defender Liam Scales believes a 100% start to the campaign can provide a springboard to Champions League success as Celtic seek a first opening win in the competition at home to Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday. (Scotsman), external

Slovan Bratislava boss Vladimir Weiss faces a race against time to recover from illness and see his side make their Champions League league stage bow at Celtic Park after missing two games in a row. (Herald), external

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers feels his side are "ready to attack" the Champions League after continuing their perfect start to the season.

A 2-0 win over Hearts on Saturday made it six wins, 17 goals and five clean sheets from six domestic matches.

The Scottish champions begin their European campaign at home to Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.

Celtic appear in a more settled and fluid state than they were this time last year and Rodgers wants to see his team build on that in Europe.

"I'm really excited by it," the manager said in the aftermath of Saturday's win.

"I think we've got good balance in the squad. We've got areas I would want to improve later on, but we've done a hell of a lot of work and real, real good work over the course of the summer.

"The mindset is strong. We're ready to attack the competition. We know the level we're playing at, but it's okay. We will go and we'll give it everything."

We asked for your views on Celtic's 2-0 win against Hearts.

Here's what some of you said:

Ian: Brendan Rodgers' mantra of continual professional development is a cultural embodiment of Celtic. The team/squad mentality and passion is a joy to behold in football. The desire to work hard, play hard and push the envelope is first class.

David: Well folks, another very controlled positive match against Hearts. We were a bit stiff from the international break, but, wow, Arne Engels looks like an absolute bargain, what a player, he looked hungry for everything. Now our captain, Callum McGregor, what a leader to step up and let Engels take the penalty, absolute leadership at the very top of his game.

Peter: Another three points is all that matters. There will always be sticky games when we are not at our fluent best. Bedding in new players and winning is most important. Fine tuning style will continue as players find their place in the first team squad. Good to see Engels and Luke McCowan settling in quickly.

Denis: Always going to be difficult with teams who have their backs against the wall but with the skill levels we’re breaking through with a lot of players who can score. Engels looking very good, but McCowan is going to be a great bargain buy.

Gordy: Sometimes it’s about the result more than the performance, the team looked a bit rusty following the international break. Paulo Bernardo is unlucky not to start but Engels looks like another great signing and was our best player, brilliant start to the season, roll on the Champions League on Wednesday.

James: Celtic did what they needed to do and got the win. Hearts have a knack of bringing us down to their level and as much as we weren’t at the heights of a couple of weeks ago we did enough. I got the impression some players had their minds on the Champions league game midweek and didn’t want to over-do it.

Hugh: Celtic looked convincing for most parts of the game. Hearts are on a downward spiral but for parts of the game troubled us. This could cost us very dearly in Europe, we have to be more solid at the back. Overall, it was a comfortable result.

Steven: Celtic were well below par but Hearts are an awful team, playing for free-kicks, corners and throw-ins. A dreadful team.

Patrick: Hearts did well to limit the damage today, although Celtic were somewhat wasteful. It's great to see the new signings make a contribution, here's hoping there's more to come! Both penalty decisions correct, I can't believe I'm saying it, but well done VAR!

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• Celtic have won their last 11 games in the Premiership - they are now just one game off equalling their 12 game winning streak from January to April last year.

• Meanwhile Hearts have lost their last four games in the Premiership - leaving them just one match short of equalling their losing streak from March last year.

• Celtic have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last five Premiership outings.

• Hearts attempted seven shots in this games - their lowest total in the Premiership this season.

Portuguese winger Jota has no regrets about his £25m transfer from Celtic to Al-Ittihad despite barely featuring for the Saudi Arabian side before the 25-year-old's £8m move to Rennes at the end of the summer transfer window. (Sunday Mail), external

Former Rangers winger Vladimir Weiss believes his current side, Slovan Bratislava, can cause a huge Champions League upset by beating Celtic in their Champions League opener in Glasgow on Wednesday. (Sunday Mail), external

Read Sunday's Scottish Gossip in full here.