Thursday's Scottish gossip

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

El Hadji Diouf has gone AWOL from Blackburn after being kicked out for showing off the SPL title medal he won with Rangers. (The Sun)

Rangers have made a £400,000 bid for Espanyol centre-back Raul Rodriguez but according to manager Ally McCoist they haven't heard back from the La Liga club. (Various)

Nottingham Forest have made a move for out-of-favour Celtic striker Daryl Murphy. (The Sun)

Celtic manager Neil Lennon says he wants to tie captain Scott Brown into a new long-term deal. (Various)

The Slask Wroclaw manager Orest Lenczyk is gunning for revenge against Dundee United after the club got him the sack 31 years ago. (Daily Record).

Barry Ferguson is close to leaving Birmingham to head to Blackpool in a deal worth £750,000. The 33-year-old former Rangers skipper want to be nearer his family home in Glasgow. (Various)

Craig Brown fears Aberdeen lack the financial muscle to land Iceland international Kari Arnason. (Daily Mail)

Hibs winger Ivan Sproule hopes he can utilitise his pace in the SPL this season to earn a return to the Northern Ireland set up. (Various)

Inverness manager Terry Butcher has beaten a host of clubs to land loan star Aaron Doran for nothing on a two-year deal. (Various)

New St Mirren striker Steven Thompson has been hailed as the perfect replacement for Michael Higdon who left to join Motherwell this summer. (Daily Record)

Alloa boss Paul Hartley is hoping to add to the signings of goalkeeper Craig McDowall and defender Mark Cullagh by bring in former Aberdeen youngster Stirling Smith. (Daily Express)

OTHER GOSSIP

Paul Lawrie interrupted his crucial final practice round at Sandwich to take video pictures of Tom Watson on his iPhone. (Various)

Stephen Gallacher has been taking putting lessons from his 10-year-old son after missing the cut at the Scottish Open golf. (Daily Record)

BBC golfing legend Peter Alliss say Europe has '25 Andy Murrays' capable of winning the Open at Sandwich. (The Sun)

The Castle Stuart links maybe toughened up to present more difficult test at next year's Scottish Open (The Herald).

WBO super-featherweight champion Ricky Burns is confident of beating challenger Nicky Cook on Saturday that he hasn't even bothered to study his opponent. (Daily Star)