Sports Poets Society

Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers  in Celtic training yesterday At a club of this size and with these demands, if you’re in the team consistently, you’re obviously doing a lot of things right 18 Oct 2025 - Glasgow Times Graeme McGarry - Senior football writer HE does not have the sexiest name, or the most exotic background. But speak to any of Liam Scales ’ team-mates, and they will leave you in no doubt about his worth to Celtic. The big Irishman has been a stalwart of the Celtic defence since the departure of Carl Starfelt , and the man who once formed such an impressive partnership with the Swede believes that Scales has shown himself to be every bit as reliable a sidekick as his predecessor. For Cameron Carter-Vickers , Scales deserves far more credit than he receives, not only for clawing his way back into the reckoning at Celtic when it looked for all the world as if he was on the way out of the club, but for then seeing off competition for his place, as the likes of Gus...

Peter Cziborra / REUTERSSébastien Pocognoli  s’est engagé jusqu’en juin 2027 avec l’AS Monaco. 18 Oct 2025 - Le Figaro Sport Par Sébastien Ferreira Sébastien Pocognoli a succédé à Adi Hütter sur le banc de l’AS Monaco. Le jeune entraîneur belge a, jusqu’ici, réussi sa reconversion après une belle carrière comme joueur. Coiffure impeccable, barbe bien taillée et survêtement gris qui épouse sa silhouette affûtée : Sébastien Pocognoli n’est pas venu pour jouer, mais il pourrait presque. Le nouvel entraîneur de l’AS Monaco a récemment fêté ses 38 ans, soit trois de plus que le doyen de l’effectif, le gardien Lukas Hradecky. «Qu’un grand club de France puisse être attiré par un jeune coach en Belgique, qui fait de bonnes choses, certes, j’ai trouvé la démarche très intéressante, osée et ça m’a donné confiance» , a-t-il apprécié en conférence de presse mardi. Pour succéder à Adi Hütter et revitaliser l’équipe 5e de Ligue 1, les dirigeants monégasques sont allés débaucher l’entraîneur de ...

FOTO: BERND THISSEN/DPA Nico Schlotterbeck steht noch bis 2027 beim BVB unter Vertrag.  Geht es danach zu den Bayern? Nach vielen Jahren ist die Partie zwischen Bayern München und Borussia Dortmund wieder ein Duell des Ersten gegen den Zweiten. Und das Spiel fasziniert, wie lange nicht mehr. Das liegt auch an den Wechsel-Spekulationen um Nico Schlotterbeck. 18 Oct 2025 - Rheinische Post VON CHRISTIAN KUNZ, MANUEL SCHWARZ UND CARSTEN LAPPE (dpa)  Vor der Renaissance des deutschen Clásicos als Gipfeltreffen konterte Vincent Kompany die Dortmunder „Faust“-Ansage lässig. „Wir sind beide ungeschlagen, deswegen sind das zwei Fäuste gegeneinander“, sagte der Trainer des FC Bayern München vor dem Spitzenspiel über den flotten Spruch von BVB-Coach Niko Kovac. Erstmals seit zweieinhalb Jahren stehen sich die in allen zehn Pflichtspielen der Saison siegreichen Münchner und die ebenfalls noch ungeschlagenen Dortmunder am Samstag (18.30 Uhr/Sky) wieder als Tabellenführer und Tabellenzweite...

Nico Schlotterbeck steht noch bis 2027 beim BVB unter Vertrag.  Geht es danach zu den Bayern? 18 Oct 2025 - Der Tagesspiegel Von Manuel Schwarz (dpa) "Dazu kann ich eigentlich nichts sagen."     - Nico Schlotterbeck zu den Wechselgerüchten München   -  Vor dem Topspiel gegen Borussia Dortmund wiegelt der FC Bayern bei Spekulationen über ein Interesse an BVB-Verteidiger Nico Schlotterbeck ab. „Ich werde mich vor so einem Spiel nicht über einen Spieler des Gegners äußern“, sagte Sportvorstand Max Eberl. „Ich glaube, dass wir sehr gute Innenverteidiger haben.“ Nico Schlotterbeck zeigt nach langer Verletzungspause wieder starke Leistungen. Dayot Upamecano stehe bei der Zukunftsplanung des deutschen Rekordmeisters im Fokus, sagte Eberl. „Das ist für uns das große Thema: die Upa-Verlängerung. Das ist das, was bei uns über allem steht.“Der Vertrag des französischen Nationalspielers, an dem das Interesse der internationalen Konkurrenz groß sein soll, läuft nac...

Brexit and PSR have led to a splurge by the big six, but is this stockpiling healthy for players and other clubs? ‘Kids get too much money.  If you haven’t pushed on by 19  then you end up in League One’ 18 Oct 2025 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Jacob Steinberg The discussion during a meeting of Premier League sporting directors this year turned to academies and the amount of money spent on homegrown teenagers. The market for players as young as 14 has turned wild, according to industry figures. “Some wages are astronomical,” one agent says. A sporting director at a top-flight club struggling to keep their best youngsters away from the richest teams in England says: “It’s a nightmare. We have to offer 14-year-olds scholarship contracts just to protect ourselves.” It is a ruthless business. It was once the case that Chelsea stood out for their pursuit of academy players. They paid well for the best and mostly faced little competition until Manchester City entered the field, taking it ...

Keir McMeekin is latest Scot to try Gannon-Doak route to glory ... after leaving Hearts for bright lights of Manchester aged 15 "When he first kicked a ball at the age of five,  I was told he was a natural" 15 Oct 2025 - Scottish Daily Mail By JOHN McGARRY Chief Sports Feature Writer THE ball was fired across the turf towards the fledgling midfielder with an almighty lick. How was his touch? Velvet, as it happens. Next? Nothing which followed that morning at Riccarton drew anything more than approving looks from the seasoned professionals who were running the rule over the precocious talent in their midst. Those present recall there wasn’t a trace of fear in Keir McMeekin ’s body when in possession. There was a grace in the way he moved, a natural-born footballer. In a small-sided game, he dropped his shoulder and deceived his direct opponent. Not only could he see the passes others couldn’t, but he also executed them. By the end of the session, he’d made a mark on those team...

Old foes: Rodgers greets Muscat before a  2023  friendly between Celtic and Yokohama F Marinos CELTIC BOSS RELISHING NEW CHALLENGE WITH MUSCAT AT THE HELM 18 Oct 2025 - Scottish Daily Mail By CALUM CROWE CELTIC boss Brendan Rodgers insists he will relish the prospect of a new challenge from Rangers under Kevin Muscat . The Ibrox side are closing in on the appointment of the 52-yearold Australian as their new head coach, albeit he won’t formally take charge until next month due to his ongoing commitments with Shanghai Port in China . Muscat could miss up to eight games before he finally arrives in Glasgow following the final game of the Chinese Super League on November 22 , but he will become the seventh permanent Rangers manager Rodgers has faced over his two spells at Parkhead. Insisting his players will be ready to cope with a newly-inspired Rangers side, the Celtic boss said: ‘I think every team that changes manager, you always accept and take on the challenge of new ideas...

Rodgers thought club had turned a corner after 'Well win and peace talks... but they are walking into fresh protests 18 Oct 2025 - Scottish Daily Mail By CALUM CROWE Deputy Chief Sports Writer GIVEN the nature of Celtic’s victory over Motherwell a fortnight ago, there was a feeling that it could mark a turning point in what has been a turbulent season. Trailing 2-1 at home in front of a disgruntled crowd at Parkhead, Celtic fought back to win 3-2 thanks to a Daizen Maeda goal deep into stoppage time . With the bulk of his squad then heading off for the international break , it was a result which offered Brendan Rodgers and his players some shelter from the storm. But it didn’t last. Only 24 hours later, a meeting was held between senior club officials and representatives of supporters’ groups, with the intention of thrashing out some kind of peace deal to stop recent protests. The Celtic Fans Collective , the mothership vessel which has amalgamated several fan groups and unit...

Sébastien Pocognoli, mardi à La Turbie. Le successeur d’Adi Hütter fait ses débuts sur le banc de l’ASM, cet après-midi à Angers, où des changements sont attendus dans l’attitude et la rigueur défensive de son équipe. 18 Oct 2025 - L'Équipe RÉGIS TESTELIN et ANTOINE MAUMON DE LONGEVIALLE Sébastien Pocognoli, le nouvel entraîneur belge de Monaco, 38 ans, a signé son contrat (jusqu’en juin 2027) avec l’ASM samedi dernier. Il a été présenté aux médias mardi et dirigera cet après-midi son premier match. Avec l’objectif de réveiller un groupe qui s’était assoupi dernièrement, avec son prédécesseur Adi Hütter, et de sécuriser le secteur défensif. Ce qu’il doit changer Thiago Scuro, le directeur général de l’ASM, a été évasif sur le cahier des charges de Pocognoli, lors de sa présentation: «On avait besoin d’aligner nos visions sur les principes de jeu et le développement des joueurs. Dans son club précédent (l’Union Saint-Gilloise), il jouait un style agressif, avec de l’intensité, pour ...