Welcome to Kicking Off, the daily dabble into the sporting scene.
Buenos Dias a'body, as they say in the cafes and greasy spoons of Blochairn. While deputising for the redoubtable Kevin Ferrie, regular readers of ‘Kicking Off’ this week may have noticed that there’s been a wearying theme to my early morning mutterings. And that theme has concerned actually waking up on a daily basis. Yes, the body clock has taken the kind of juddering jolt you get when you fly to Australia on the cheapest flight possible and return on the same day as you land after realising that you’ve left the iron on in the scullery of your Glasgow tenement … before flying back to Australia that afternoon. It’s all worth it, of course, to keep up to speed with latest to-ings, fro-ings, hummings and hawings in the world of sport. So here we go again.
Today's top tales
- New Bhoy Ajer looking to Champions League
- Dundee United chairman Steven Thompson reads the riot act
- Celtic still lacking star quality says former Don Cooper
- Last gasp hero Clark could be on his last chance at Rangers
- Laura Muir's coach wants more rigorous drug testing
- The future is bright for Hibernian
- Scott McDonald rolls back the years to lift Motherwell
- Richard Gough appointed to Rangers First board
- Winning takes care of everything, says Celtic striker Griffiths
- John Higgins eases through to last 16 of Welsh Open
- Martin Canning defends Hamilton's plastic pitch
- Richie Gray looking for Six Nations improvement
- Teenage star Lydia Ko out to defend another golfing title
Radio Blah Blah: The word on the wireless
06.05 Radio Scotland sport headlines
Dundee United chairman warns the club's players that they have 13 games left to save their reputations ... Celtic should find out what punishment they will receive from UEFA after two fans used flares in the club's final Europa League game in Istanbul last December ... John Higgins is the last Scot standing at the Welsh Open snooker championship.
06.35 Radio Five Live sport headlines
Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal admits Wayne Rooney may have made the knee injury that will keep him out for six weeks worse by playing through the pain barrier against Sunderland last weekend ... the FA has formally announced its support of Gianni Infantino for FIFA President ahead of next week's election in Zurich ... Cristiano Ronaldo's 33rd goal of the season helped Real Madrid open up a 2-0 first leg lead over Roma in the Champions League tie ... Lionel Messi has become the first player to score 300 goals in Spain's La Liga ... Nike has terminated its contract with boxer Manny Pacquiao after he described homosexuals as "worse than animals" ... Ronnie O'Sullivan is through to the fourth round of the Welsh Open snooker ... England won their T20 warm-up match against South Africa 'A' by 44 runs.
Norwegian would?
Celtic's new signing Kristoffer Ajer is aiming for the Champions League
Turmoil at Tannadice
Dundee United chairman Steven Thompson unleashes his fury
Lacking star quality?
Former Aberdeen man Neale Cooper reckons Celtic can still be caught
Nick of time?
Is the clock ticking on Nicky Clark's time at Rangers?
Tougher tests
Laura Muir's coach calls for more stringent drug testing in build-up to Rio
Sunshine on Leith
The future is looking bright for Hibernian
Scott's discovery
Motherwell's Scott McDonald has re-discovered his scoring instincts
King Richard
Richard Gough joins the Rangers First board
Taking care of business
Winning takes care of everything, says Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths
Right on cue
Defending champion John Higgins is making good progress at Welsh Open
Pitch perfect
Hamilton manager Martin Canning defends the club's plastic surface
Italian Job
Scotland assistant coach Richie Gray is wary of Italy menace
Status Ko
There's no stopping teenage superstar Lydia Ko
Read all about it: Today's back pages
It's all action as The Herald leads with Celtic's new signing, Kristoffer Ajer, targeting the Champions League qualifiers while Steven Thompson's withering assessment of Dundee United's toiling players grabs some headlines.
The National gives Thompson's verbal volley big licks while the Evening Times has the aforementioned Ajer declaring that he models himself on French great, Patrick Viera.
Grandstanding: Today's sports comment
With a delightful meander into the art of fitba', The Herald's Gary Keown pores over all things cultured up Maryhill way as Partick Thistle unveil, what you could call, a seat of learning.
Sporting Twitteratti
Poor old Dundee United eh? The toiling Tannadice team seem to be carrying the kind of weight on their shoulders that would have had Atlas saying 'can someone give me a hand with this?' Bottom of the league, heading for relegation and now on the receiving end of a right good booting from their chairman. Their transfer dealings have been criticised ... but then even the great Roy Race caused stooshies in the market with Melchester. It's United who now need a Roy of the Rovers style miracle.
Still the most shocking piece of transfer business in history and the moment #royoftherovers jumped the shark pic.twitter.com/tyGRyYabHG
— Trevor O' Sullivan (@elvisrockysly) January 26, 2016
That's all for now folks. Thanks for reading and join us tomorrow morning for another rummage around the sporting news and views.
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