Celtic

Left-back Alex Valle and his entourage rejected the chance for Celtic to insert a buy option in his loan from Barcelona to keep their options open beyond his 12 months in Glasgow. (Sport via Daily Record, external)

Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo says he would be very happy if he could return to former club Benfica in the future. (O Jogo via Daily Record, external)

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Celtic will make a late decision on Cameron Carter-Vickers after the defender trained on Friday as he looks to shake off a toe injury. Greg Taylor (calf) is the only definite absentee.

Aberdeen are without top goalscorer Pape Habib Gueye (quad) while Dante Polvara has stepped up his recovery from a hamstring injury but is not ready.

Image source, Getty Images

Paul Tisdale can "make a difference" for Celtic after being appointed head of football operations, according to manager Brendan Rodgers.

The former Exeter manager worked for the Parkhead club over the summer on a consultancy basis, and was hired on a full-time basis earlier this week.

Rodgers firmly believes Tisdale can "make a difference" for Celtic.

"I'm absolutely delighted that he's in," the Northern Irishman said.

"Paul is a talented guy and he joins talented people that we have here at the club, and that’s what we want to strive to bring in. People that can help us make a difference and people that are compatible with the philosophy here and how we work.

"He's also had managerial experience, which I'm really pleased with as well, and that was also a factor. He understands football, he understands the game.

"He's managed for a long time also, so he knows from what it takes on the field and he obviously knows that balance between how you need to work with your board."

Rodgers says time spent with Tisdale over the summer showed an encouraging "compatibility", and went into detail on how the pair will work together moving forwards.

"I spent a good period of time with him here and over the course of the summer I had long meetings," Rodgers continued.

"When you bring in someone in that role, there is a specificness to it in terms of the recruitment and analytics and whatnot. But it has to be compatible with my personality, with the philosophy of the club and how we want to work in the team. And it fitted really well over the course of the summer.

"I'm informed by data, but I wouldn't be driven by it. We can get lots of information, lots of data on certain things now. And Paul's side of it is purely more on the actual performance of a player that will fit into our model and whether that player fits closely, and he can bring the football analytical stuff to that, as well as overseeing that recruitment process."

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Brendan Rodgers has been speaking to the media ahead of his side's top-of-the-table meeting with Aberdeen this weekend at Celtic Park.

Here are the key lines from his press conference:

• He says he is excited to face Aberdeen - who have won every game in all competitions this season - and says first against second is "always a great game".

• Continues to say he is impressed with Aberdeen, saying they "look to have real clarity in how they play both with and against the ball".

• He has been really impressed with their own start too, not just results but the "identity of the team, how we've played, how creative we’ve been".

• Praises Jimmy Thelin, saying he is "clearly a very good coach and has good coaches around him".

• When asked if the Dons can push Celtic in the league and cups, Rodgers said: "I don't know, it’s only seven games in".

• Rodgers says fans that continue to use pyrotechnics at games "don't care about the club" after Celtic were fined nearly £17,000 and issued with a one-game suspended ban on away fans by Uefa following their Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund.

• "Absolutely delighted" that Paul Tisdale has joined the club as head of football operations. "He understands football, he understands the game, he's managed for a long time also."

• On if this is the toughest challenge they'll face domestically so far he says, "no, I think it's the next challenge".

• Data won't be the sole influence on the club though, adding, "I’m informed by data, but I wouldn’t be driven by it".

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It might be far too premature to talk about Jimmy Thelin's Aberdeen as title contenders, but this match will be a fascinating marker of their progress after a run of 13 league and cup wins on the spin.

The Dons have failed to beat Celtic in their last 25 attempts, the club's longest run ever without defeating the green and white half of Glasgow.

Their last three trips to Celtic Park have ended 6-0, 5-0, and 4-0. So, a competitive performance, never mind a positive result, would be progress.

Aberdeen's start has been impressive, with Thelin quickly implementing an attractive style while improving players.

But this will be the first game the Swede has faced for which his side are not the favourites, and so will be a test of his ability to adapt his tactics, something he was effective at when in charge of Elfsborg in his homeland.

Plus, some of Aberdeen's numbers - particularly how ruthless they have been in taking chances - could suggest they are over performing relative to their general play.

The club rank seventh in the Premiership for shots on target per game, but top the league when it comes to the rate of shots they get on target ending in goals.

Whereas Celtic are only slightly less efficient but while creating far more opportunities, which is why they have hit 22 goals in just seven games.

Brendan Rodgers' side have only conceded one, as well, in their flawless start.

So this is an altogether different challenge for Thelin's Aberdeen. How they respond will be intriguing, but not defining for the team or manager.

Read all the weekend Premiership picks

Live commentary from Celtic Park on BBC Sportsound, Radio Scotland, Saturday, from 14:00 BST. Text updates from all Scottish Premiership matches on BBC Sport website & app.

Argentine left-back Alexandro Bernabei could seal a permanent Celtic exit in January after starring on loan with Internacional. (Football Scotland), external

Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is back in training ahead of Saturday's top of the table clash with Aberdeen. (The Herald), external

Read the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

• Celtic are unbeaten in 25 meetings with Aberdeen in all competitions (W20 D5) since a 0-1 league defeat in May 2018. It’s the Hoops’ longest ever unbeaten run against the Reds.

• Aberdeen have lost each of their last eight league visits to Celtic Park by an aggregate score of 23-2 since a goalless draw in March 2019 under Derek McInnes. Indeed, the Dons have lost 34 of their last 36 away league games against Celtic (W1 D1).

• Both Celtic and Aberdeen have won all seven of their league matches this season. The last side to win their first eight matches of a Scottish top-flight campaign were Aberdeen in 2015-16, while Celtic last achieved this in 2010-11.

• Celtic have won each of their last 13 home games in all competitions, scoring 47 goals in the process (3.6 per game). The Hoops last won more in a row at Celtic Park from August-December 2019 (15).

• The top two players for goal involvements in the Scottish Premiership this season are Celtic’s Nicolas Kühn (7 – 3 goals, 4 assists) and Aberdeen’s Jamie McGrath (6 – 2 goals, 4 assists). For Kühn, he has surpassed both his goal (2) and assist (2) tally in 14 appearances in last season’s competition, while McGrath has recorded 44% of his assists in the Scottish Premiership this term (4/9).

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

The temperature flares burn at? 1,600C. Sixteen times hotter than the water from your freshly boiled kettle.

Can you just imagine the damage if that kind of heat ever came into contact with someone's skin, someone's face?

Imagine then igniting that kind of heat in a crowd, with people tightly packed together, jumping up and down or swaying.

You just wouldn't do it, would you?

Sadly, when it comes to football fans, there are those who do, repeatedly, which makes it just a matter of time before there's an awful accident. The self-inflicted consequence of a self-inflicted problem.

It would appear the perpetrators are paying not the blindest bit of attention. So in must step European football's governing body.

This week, both Celtic and Rangers have been fined - again - for pyrotechnics lit by supporters in recent Uefa matches.

And not just fined. An away fan ban is in there as well for Celtic, albeit a suspended one.

How tragically sad that intervention from the blazers might be what it takes to stop people firing up the flares. Risking people's health and safety is alright, but risking being banned from going to games? No thanks.

Uefa's ethics and disciplinary committee have decreed all Celtic fans will be banned from a European away match if any of them light so much as a single piece of pyro at any point in the next two years.

As witnessed by the drubbing in Dortmund, matches on the continent are tough enough for Celtic without the players taking the field with no visible or audible support to lean on.

Is that what it's going to take for the fireworks fans to give them up: the threat of missing a European trip?

The Scottish champions are not the only club trying to deal with this issue, far from it. Right across Scotland and indeed Europe, clubs, police and emergency services are pleading with people to put the pyro away.

That said, if the threat from Uefa works, and the pyro peters out, many will rejoice. And it's not even just about flares now. I witnessed fireworks being set off inside the ground at Ibrox recently during Rangers' defeat to Lyon.

Rangers interim chairman John Gilligan pleaded with supporters to stop on Wednesday.

I would far rather have been salivating at the prospect of a top-of-the-table tussle between the only two teams in the Premiership to have taken maximum points from their first seven matches.

Instead, I'm just crossing my fingers that all fans across the country get in and out safely - and that football's pyro problem doesn't explode into another flashpoint.

Aberdeen travel to Celtic on Saturday for a top-of-the-table Premiership showdown.

With the sides enjoying perfect winning starts in the league, both teams go into the fixture level on 21 points from seven games.

A victory would be a serious statement from Jimmy Thelin and his players, but the Dons are without a win over Celtic in more than six years.

Not since May 2018 have the Pittodrie side beaten the Glasgow club, who were defeated on the final day of the 2017-18 season as the Dons became the first Scottish team to inflict a home loss on Brendan Rodgers' Celtic.

That win also secured second place in the Premiership for the fourth year in a row for Aberdeen, all thanks to Andrew Considine's second-half strike.

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Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum backed the overturning of a penalty awarded to Hearts in their 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park, and the award of a spot-kick to the hosts in the same game, on 14 September.

Liam Scales was initially penalised for a handball but VAR intervened, meaning there was no penalty, and later Nicolas Kuhn's cross hit James Penrice's hand, leading to Arne Engels' opener from the spot.

On the Scales incident, Collum said: "The VAR looks at different angles and they quickly identify that it actually hits the defender above the T-shirt line and that's really important because above the T-shirt line is not a punishable handball.

And on the Penrice decision, he added: "The Hearts defender has his arm raised unnaturally and blocks the cross... the arm is out from the body."

We asked for your views on what you want to see from Celtic.

Here's what some of you said:

Eli: Brendan Rodgers should throw Aberdeen a curve ball and start one of the promising youngsters. Someone like Daniel Cummings who has already surpassed the departed Rocco Vata.

Paul: In two words: beat Aberdeen! Slightly longer: sustain the 100% league start; get (at least) six more points in the Champions League, where I so hope Celtic can learn not to give the ball away, especially on their travels. Perversely, I'm glad that the likely second-toughest tie in Europe after Dortmund is the next one, versus Atalanta.

Peter: We want to continue our dominance in Scotland by winning another treble. We do not have sufficient quality yet to progress in Europe. Perhaps after another two or three transfer windows. Two wins and a draw would be progress in Europe, if we're being realistic.

Patrick: We all know that Celtic can dominate in Scotland, but it's time to see what we can do in Europe. We need to realise that we're not going to win the whole thing, but at least we need to compete, that's where we need to make progress this season - even at the expense of a domestic trophy.

Hugh: I think Rodgers has to start looking for different tactical options, line-ups and formations. Right now we are too one dimensional and while it proves to be very effective domestically it tends to over highlight our deficiencies once we play in European competitions. Without belittling our domestic opponents we can easily afford to experiment.

John: It's simple, get as many points as the team can get in the league, do the best you can in Europe, try to bring in some more quality during the next transfer window, use the whole squad for all the games, including both cups and get rid of the players that are not wanted at the club.

Benny: Ideally Celtic get straight back on the horse after the break with three points and a clean sheet from the Dons game. A convincing win against our closest challengers sets down a marker that, domestically at least, we are back to the form shown in the first part of the season. Make no mistake this is a must-win game.

Gordy: Domestically we have nothing to fear, I don't believe Aberdeen are at our level, our only goal should be to improve in Europe, I think we can qualify from our group but we have to be smarter, it's not foolish to defend against better teams, if we can stay in it until January we can strengthen again, especially in defence.

Image source, Getty Images

Paul Tisdale's "knowledge, talent and tremendous work ethic will be crucial" at Celtic, says manager Brendan Rodgers.

The former Exeter City boss has become the Glasgow club's head of football operations.

Rodgers says he has "been well aware" of the work of the 51-year-old, who assisted Celtic during the summer transfer window.

"I have known Paul for some time," Rodgers added. "I know that he will be a huge asset to Celtic... as we drive forward across a number of areas, always with the aim of delivering higher performance and more and more success."

Meanwhile, chief executive Michael Nicholson says Tisdale, who managed for 12 years at Exeter, "will bring a new dimension to our work".

"Talent identification and talent development, from our academy through to our first team, is of fundamental importance to the club’s strategy," Nicholson said.

"Paul has tremendous expertise in these areas. We are certain he will bring great experience, energy and innovation to what we do."

EFL cult hero Jon Parkin says former Celtic winger Ross Wallace was one of the most annoying players he played with. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

Finally, the end of this international window is in sight.

With domestic football making its desired return this weekend, and Celtic kicking back into gear with the top of the table clash against Aberdeen, we want to know what you’re looking for from Brendan Rodgers' side.

It's been fairly flawless on the home front, while the Dortmund dismantling has been well dissected.

But, what do you think needs improved or continued between now and the next mini-international break next month? (We know, another so soon).

Give us your thoughts here., external

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Connor Barron has been called up to the Scotland squad for Tuesday's Nations League meeting with Portugal at Hampden.

The Rangers midfielder, 22, replaces Celtic winger James Forrest, 33, in Steve Clarke's squad and could win his first cap.

Barron has played 13 times for Scotland Under-21s, who visit Kazakhstan in their final European Championship qualifier on Tuesday.

Forrest, capped 39 times, did not feature in the senior squad for Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Croatia in Zagreb.

The Scots have lost their opening three fixtures in Group A1, including a 2-1 loss to Portugal in Lisbon in September. Poland left Hampden with a 3-2 victory in the opening fixture.

Clarke's side will host Croatia and visit Poland in November.

Celtic women head coach Elena Sadiku described Sunday's 1-0 SWPL defeat by Hearts as the "worst performance" she has seen from her defending champions. (Record), external

Read Monday's Scottish gossip

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

In 18 appearances last season, Celtic's Nicolas Kuhn scored three goals. After 11 games this term, he has already doubled that tally.

The German winger, who signed from Rapid Vienna last January, endured a challenging start to his career in Scotland, suffering drastic weight loss after his wisdom teeth were removed.

But the 24-year-old vowed to show his best this campaign after an impressive pre-season - and so it is proving.

In just 11 matches this term, Kuhn has scored six goals and assisted eight. In the Premiership alone, his combined total of seven goals and assists is more than any other player.

Nobody in the league has managed to assist more goals than the four he has provided, nor has anyone else created more big chances, while only Hearts' Lawrence Shankland has registered more touches in the opposition box.

The winger's contribution has already been significant in the early stages of the season, highlighted by his late winner at Ross County on Sunday.

After a chastening Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund, Brendan Rodgers' side looked set to drop points in Dingwall with the game at 1-1.

But Kuhn's driving run down the right and his fine left-foot finish ensured Celtic's winning start in the league continued.

Speaking in the aftermath of the dramatic victory, Rodgers told BBC Scotland: "Our intention is often to square it for players in the middle, but [Kuhn] stayed on it.

"He's been absolutely brilliant for us. That's the job. He had to create and score more goals and he's starting to do that."

Image source, Getty Images

Celtic defender Anthony Ralston is relishing testing himself against one of the world's top international sides when Scotland face Croatia on Saturday.

Ralston is expected to be selected at right-back by Steve Clarke for the Nations League game in Zagreb.

Although the 25-year-old knows he is likely to be under pressure during the match, he believes it is those moments that improve him as a player.

"It's the teams and players you want to be playing against in your career, you always want to be testing yourselves at the highest level," he said.

"It's something I love personally doing. It can be difficult, but I love the challenge of playing against top opposition, it's only going to make me better.

"You come away learning things, it's never going to be perfect, but as a defender's point of view, I want to be coming up against wingers and attackers of this level. I want to enjoy it and learn from it."

Ralston is largely back-up to Alistair Johnston at Celtic but has become a regular for Scotland as a result of injuries to Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson.

"You never want to see players injured or hurt, but, it opens up avenues for other players to come in and get an opportunity," he said.

"It's just about keeping professional at club level so when these times come around at club or country, I'm ready to do the job for both."

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Liam Scales wants winning big games to become "a common occurrence" for the Republic of Ireland, after his goal helped earn a 2-1 win away in Finland on Thursday night.

Scales headed home Robbie Brady's free-kick to equalise in the second half, before Brady's late winner saw them pick up their first victory under Heimir Hallgrimsson.

"We knew we had to show character. We knew the game was there to win, or at least get a point, but we obviously wanted to win.

"We want to make that a common occurrence, winning big games, winning games away from home, winning at home as well, obviously. Hopefully we can take that mentality into the next few games."

The Republic of Ireland next face Greece - who beat England on Thursday - as they seek successive Nations League wins.

"Obviously it's a tough fixture, we have struggled against them in the past but we are going in on a high now and we need to make this a mentality, a winning mentality.

"That we can go away to tough places and take wins. That's how you are going to qualify for tournaments, so that's the way we need to look at this game.

"We have played them enough to know what they are like and it's just about going out there and being solid and hopefully winning the game."

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The Scottish FA's key match incident review panel have decided that two calls during Celtic's 2-1 win over Ross County were overturned correctly following VAR intervention.

No penalty was initially awarded when the ball struck Liam Scales, but the panel agreed that the Celtic centre-half's arm was high and outstretched, making his body unnaturally bigger.

When Ronan Hale's spot-kick was saved by Kasper Schmeichel, there was no signal from the assistant referee for the Celtic goalkeeper being off his line.

However, the panel supported the VAR's decision to intervene and award a retake, from which the striker scored.