Celtic fluff their chance

While Rangers are paying for a date with AC Milan to try and get some cash into the club, Celtic have a night off to think about whether they've done enough in the transfer window.

They might be leading the SPL, but only by two points, and their manager described them as one dimensional in their 0-0 draw with Inverness last weekend. Maybe, you'd think, Strachan might use the transfer market to freshen up his team. He has brought in Willo Flood from the Arabs, but is it enough?

Meanwhile, Rangers have lost a few squad players like Chris Burke and Darcheville, but failure to sell any of the big names means the squad is pretty much the same. It seemed improbable that they could win the SPL a couple of months ago, but since then Celtic have been dropping points all over the place.

Apparently, they wanted Steven Fletcher from Hibs, but didn't come up with enough money. Celtic certainly have the cash, so you can only assume they didn't want him enough. Hibs might have said he wasn't for sale, but an offer of, say, £5m would have got their attention.

Is he worth that much? Fletcher's had a poor season, but then Hibs are having a poor season. If Scott Brown is worth £4.5m, and more and more Celtic supporters would agree that he is, Fletcher is worth at least that much.

Transfer windae update

It seems Kris Boyd's move to Birmingham is off, after failure to agree personal terms. This means one of two things - either Boyd is a greedy bastard who simply asked for too much money; or Boyd doesn't want to leave Rangers, and so set his wage demands unreasonably high so that Birmingham were compelled to reject them.

Alan Hutton was similarly reluctant to move to Spurs last January, until Rangers sweetened the deal to encourage him on his way. With a total of £4m on the table from the Midlands, though, and Killie due a reputed 15% of any transfer due to a selling-on clause, Rangers have much less cash to play with this time around.

Chairman Murray was on the offensive yesterday, saying it was "ridiculous" to suggest Rangers were a selling club. Well, obviously they are (Hutton and Carlos Cuellar being 2 sales in the past 12 months from the first team) and we're about to find out just how much they need some money this month. Chris Burke has gone on a free to Cardiff, but Alan Gow's £250,000 move to Wolves has broken down after he failed a medical. All this after Murray claimed that no one else would be sold apart from Boyd.

Rangers: skint, and looking increasingly desperate.

Give us a winter break

The SPL used to enjoy a winter break around this time of the year. It proved to be short-lived. It first got temporarily suspended, to avoid the season running into the World Cup (presumably for the benefit of foreign internationals playing here, because Scotland certainly weren't involved), and then abandoned for good as the clubs voted by a majority to plug the January hole in their cashflow. They didn’t like the grounds being empty while paying players to play.

Much of January proved a persuasive argument for the winter break's return, however. Motherwell had 3 weeks off anyhow, because Fir Park had been unplayable, but even where games have gone ahead the standard of the pitches has been awful. The quality of the football has really suffered as a result, and fans have had to sit through some turgid games.

Compounding the boredom, the SPL couldn't throw up any shock results to enliven a humdrum season. Celtic remain in a league of their own, and seem unable to lose, even when totally outplayed. Inverness pushed them closest, but they missed a bundle of chances at 1-1, and the last minute sucker punch duly arrived. Celtic are now just five victories away from retaining the title.

The transfer window, too, proved to be a damp squib for much of the month, with very little happening. Rangers moved to strengthen their slipshod defence with the, ahem, experienced pair of David Weir and Ugo Ehiogu, and there were a few other bits of business, but not much else. Frankly, it was all a bit boring.

So thanks, then, to Mr Vladimir Romanov, back from his self-imposed silence to liven up a drab winter and make Hearts the centre of attention once more. Things had been going alarmingly smoothly over at Tynecastle, with some players coming in on loan, the team getting the results on the pitch, and Edinburgh Council agreeing in principle to the sale of land to the club to bring the putative stadium redevelopment one step closer.

Choosing the Belorussian magazine Pressball to air his views, meaning that his refusal to talk to the Scottish media technically still holds, Vlad gave an enigmatic interview, a bit like Cantona's famous seagulls and trawler effort all those years ago, but with added menace. Not being the most cosmopolitan of nations, the Scottish media all had to rely on the same translation of the piece to reprint with glee, and we love fitba sees nothing wrong with that.

He started off on his favourite theme, the conspiracy against Hearts. "In Scotland we have to fight not in the sporting sense, but against constant intrigues." One of Romanov's favourite subjects is the "conspiracy" against Hearts - from the referees to the media, they all conspire against a club that dares to challenge the Old Firm. And he's on pretty firm ground, too, if only because there are many fans in Scotland who are quite happy to see someone roughing the Glasgow twins up a bit.

But then he went on. Asked about Stephen Pressley's departure, he said: "There was no conflict whatsoever, there was a banal betrayal. Players sold themselves for the striped shirts they were promised; they decided that these were so valuable that they could allow themselves to behave the way they did." Not a single player, but players. Yup, Vladimir was on the warpath again.

Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon, the other 2 members of "the Riccarton three" who hosted that memorable press briefing at the training ground in October, were left out of the squad against Rangers, and it was now clear that Romanov wanted them out. At long last, the transfer window seemed about to feature some big moves.

Rangers put in at least 2 bids for Hartley, but had them both knocked back. Fulham, meanwhile, bid for Gordon, but rumours abounded that Romanov was trying to flog him to a Russian club. Gordon wasn't keen, not surprising, given that clubs of the calibre of Arsenal seem interested. He knows full well he will have lots of options in the summer, and is under no pressure to leave.

Elsewhere, the bidding finally got going for the Hibs twins, Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown, setting up an intriguing last few days of the transfer window as Rangers and Celtic jockeyed to cherry pick the best talent from Edinburgh.

When it was all done, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that it's the green halves of the cities that have come out on top. Despite Hibs' insistence that the twins weren't for sale, the animosity between Thomson and the manager, John Collins, became so bad that Hibs finally decided on Tuesday 30 January that they needed rid of the destabilising influence in their dressing room. For the first time, they invited clubs to come in for the player, if they met the asking price of £2m. Celtic and West Bromich Albion, who had both made offers for the pair, thought that a bit rich... but Rangers took the bait. Meanwhile, Hibs have held on to Scott Brown - their best player - for the rest of the season, proving that the twins could be separated after all.

Celtic have, in the space of 6 weeks, strengthened their squad with two seasoned, proven players, for a total outlay of a million quid. Steven Pressley is already adding his grit and resilience at the back, while Paul Hartley will add guile and match-winning nous in midfield. Unlike, say, Thomas Gravesen, who might have been good enough for the Premiership, but has still to prove himself in Scotland. It's a big step up, after all. ;-)

Rangers clearly wanted an attacking player, because as well as Hartley, they also bid for Alan Gow of Falkirk and Lee McCulloch of Wigan, yet their bids for all three were dismissed as too low (although Gow has signed a pre-contract and will arrive in the summer). Instead, they paid much, much more for Thomson, who plays much deeper, in the same area of the pitch that Barry Ferguson likes to call his own. It's all a bit odd.

Odder still that Hearts, despite their claimed ambition to challenge the Old Firm, have now lost 2 of their best players to Celtic and refuse to pick one of the best goalkeepers in Britain. With their losses for last year at £5m and total debt now up to £28m, and the likelihood of European football next season lessening by the day, anyone who knows what the plan is please feel free to enlighten us all.

As well as the long overdue excitement in the transfer market, knock-out football returned to take everyone's minds off the dreary SPL "race" and inject a bit of drama into proceedings. The favourites for the CIS League Cup, Hibernian, booked their place at Hampden by labouring past St Johnstone, while Kilmarnock showed who the real favourites should be by dismissing Falkirk 3-0.

Then, last weekend the 4th round of the Scottish Cup saw Hibs safely through again, while Hearts tumbled to Dunfermline and Celtic trounced Inverness Caley. The pitches are still poor, but the Pars-Hearts tie in particular lacked nothing for drama, as a last minute goal from a side that just cannot score in the League put the holders out.

The games will come thick and fast from now on, and hopefully the pitches will get better. And all of Scotland will be watching to see if Alex McLeish can make a winning start as Scotland manager. Incidentally, he's a fan of the winter break as well.

Agent's role under scrutiny as the SPL transfer windae opens

Newspapers have always speculated about possible player moves... it helps shifts copies, and arguably meets the needs of fans, who all enjoy a bit of idle gossip and speculation from time to time about who might be turning up at which club. Such stories are often based on little in the way of hard facts, using "sources close to the club" and "insiders" to flesh things out... but in this context, it's usually a bit of harmless fun.

What has been happening in Scotland over the past couple of months has, however, arguably crossed the line into manipulation of the market. Willie McKay, an agent with an already dubious reputation amongst fans, and one of the few agents who refused to comply with the recent investigation into corruption in the English Premiership, began representing Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown of Hibernian earlier in 2006, and almost immediately began pushing for moves for them both. When his initial efforts were rebuffed by the club, he has waged an increasingly bitter campaign against Hibs, using a complicit Daily Record newspaper as his main weapon. Most recently, it ran a story with extensive "quotes" from Scott Brown, claiming that the fee Hibs are seeking for him is too high.

Now, the Daily Record, you can imagine, is quite happy with the arrangement. They get the inside information on a story involving two of the most highly-rated players in Scotland, and as long as the story runs, they can generate more and more copy. As the Hibs board have a long-standing policy of "not commenting on speculation", the paper has only one source for these stories, yet that has not dulled their enthusiasm. It is time to ask, however, if this blatant disregard of all the basic tenets of responsible journalism is acceptable.

For one thing, no one who knows Scott Brown personally believes for a moment that the quotes attributed to him actually came from his own mouth. That is not to say he didn't agree to them appearing alongside his name... almost certainly he did. But if even supposed direct remarks from an individual can now be ghost-written, it makes the reader question if anything in the paper can be taken at face value. Secondly, although Hibs are not speaking to the paper, surely they have a duty to investigate the situation anyhow, rather than just print one side of the story? Their most recent effort was to print a claim from Willie McKay that both players had "been more than threatened" by the Hibs manager, and told they would be dropped from the team - claims that were palpably untrue.

All of this has rather overshadowed the forthcoming month of wheeler-dealering, but here's brief summary of what might happen over the next 31 days:

Celtic: Started the ball rolling by signing Steven Pressley on an 18 month contract on Friday, unlikely to do a huge amount of business beyond this. They need a long-term replacement for Neil Lennon, but Strachan has stated a preference for waiting until the summer.

Aberdeen: There's been speculation over Russell Anderson, their inspirational captain and centre-back, who surely should have had more Scotland caps by now. Rangers dearly need him, but Anderson has said warm words about staying at Pittodrie. Jamie Smith may go in January if still refusing to sign a new contract. Have already brought in Craig Brewster as cover upfront.

Rangers: Their defence, in particular, is an absolute mess, and with Lee Martin and Phil Bardsley going back to Man Utd after their loan deals, they need reinforcements. Whether there is any money to bring in the kind of quality they need, though, is debatable. Scott Brown looks to be beyond their budget; Paul Hartley maybe isn't.

Hearts: There are anything up to 30 Lithuanians training in Edinburgh right now, so expect plenty new faces from Romanov's footballing empire to turn up at Tynecastle. Pressley's already gone, and there will be few surprises if Hartley and Craig Gordon get sold.

Hibs: need a new keeper, need a new keeper, need a new keeper. John Collins threw Scott Brown's transfer request in the bin, but if he and/or Kevin Thomson are sold, expect replacements. Collins will want to stamp his own mark on the squad he's inherited, but may wait until the summer.

Kilmarnock: Ongoing rumblings about their winger Steven Naismith, and Killie are after another striker, but money is, as always, tight down in Ayrshire.

Falkirk: Having just scored a hat-trick at Inverness, Anthony Stokes is attracting more and more attention by the day. Falkirk are desperate to extend the Arsenal player's loan until the end of the year, but may be outbid by another club down south. Alan Gow has interested Hibs, but they will probably only move for him if Scott Brown leaves.

Dundee Utd: Lee Wilkie has gone out on loan to Ross County (given he only signed a pay-as-you-play deal with Utd in October, who knows if he has any future under Craig Levein). The Arabs are absolutely flying under their new boss, but the chairman will probably want to wait before spending some more money, given the amount of cash that's been wasted on under-performing squads over the past few years.

Motherwell: Plenty speculation around striker Scott MacDonald, but happily Stephen Craigan has signed a new deal.

ICT: Charlie Christie will have been relieved when Craig Brewster got sacked at Utd, because it would stop him trying to sign all his players in the transfer window. They are a tidy outfit, though, and a number could still be coveted elsewhere. Here's some pure speculation - Hibs will make an offer for keeper Mark Brown.

St Mirren: deserved point against Rangers to sign off 2006, but St Mirren's recent results have been poor. Gus McPherson wants a few more players, and luckily he's familiar with the lower divisions, because that's where his budget will send him.

Dunfermline: Put simply, they need to sign the Messiah, because little short of a miracle is going to pull them out of this one.