Wednesday's Scottish gossip

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Celtic and Neil Lennon recently failed in an attempt to bring former manager Gordon Strachan back to the club as an advisor to the present boss, the deal collapsing because personal terms could not be agreed. (the Herald)

Newcastle United are poised to snatch Scott Brown for free after the midfielder's talks over a new contract stalled over a free due to his advisers, while Feyenoord and Hamburg are also interested in the Scotland international. (Daily Record)

Rosenborg's Sweden defender Mikael Lustig tops Celtic manager Neil Lennon's list of targets following a signing summit with chief executive Peter Lawwell ahead of the January transfer window. (Various)

Celtic winger Paddy McCourt believes it would be no problem finding a new club in January should he decide he has had enough of sitting on the bench. (Daily Express)

Rangers midfielder Steven Davis has refused to rule out a January return to England's top flight despite the Northern Ireland international having signed a new five-year contract in July. (Daily Mail)

Sone Aluko's agents were last night locked in talks with Aberdeen in a bid to secure a contract with Rangers, who will only pursue a deal if their Scottish Premier League rivals give written confirmation that they will not pursue a £200,000 compensation claim for the forward. (Daily Record)

Rangers are ready to offer Nigeria forward Sone Aluko, who scored as a trialist in yesterday's 3-1 win over St Mirren in a closed-doors friendly, a contract until the end of the season with the option of an extension should he impress at Ibrox. (Daily Express)

Henrik Ojamaa, the one-time Derby County trainee who recently left RoP, has begged Motherwell manager Stuart McCall to give him a contract after the Estonia striker impressed again as a trialist in a closed-doors friendly against Kilmarnock. (the Sun)

Hibernian have offered a three-and-a-half-year contract to lure Bohemians' Pat Fenlon to the manager's chair at Easter Road. (Daily Express)

Caretaker Billy Brown admits he could have managed Hibernian for the last time as he believes the club are close to appointing a new boss. (Various)

Doubts have grown over Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov's willingness to negotiate seriously with potential buyers after the Lithuania-based businessman valued the club at £50m. (the Scotsman)

Hearts manager Paulo Sergio admits problems over the late payment of wages has been affecting his players' performances. (the Herald)

Scotland coach Craig Levein has vowed not to be bullied in Brussels today when the six clubs involved in 2014 World Cup qualifying Group A meet to decide the fixture dates. (Various)

Mark McGhee, sacked a year ago by Aberdeen, has put his name forward to be the new manager of Irish club Dundalk. (Daily Mail)

Danny Lennon, who is poised to sign a contract extension with St Mirren, admits he would one day like to manage Northern Ireland. (Various)

St Johnstone are poised to hand midfielder Kevin Moon, who was give a short-term contract to prove his fitness, a longer-term deal. (Various)

Angry Inverness Caledonian Thistle fan Donnie Matheson has offered to pay the cost of the club's appeal against the red card shown to midfielder Greg Tansey against Celtic at the weekend. (Various)

Auchinleck Talbot manager Tommy Sloan says beating Penicuik in the Scottish Junior Cup is more important to his side than being pulled out the hat beside Hearts in yesterday's Scottish Cup draw. (Daily Express)

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has closed the door on a first-team return for Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who has not played for nine months after surgery, after turning to Keiren Westwood to replace the injured Simon Mignolet. (Daily Mail)

OTHER GOSSIP

Martin Laird says he will use the memory of Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren lifting the World Cup four years ago as he and Stephen Gallacher look to win the trophy for Scotland in China this week. (Daily Record)

Paul di Resta remains unfazed as Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya continues to delay announcing the Formula 1 team's drivers for next season. (the Herald)