Administration-hit Rangers is not in a position to offer the Northern Ireland Under-21 international a new contract with a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) proposal still to go out to creditors.

Hegarty, who turns 20 in August, has spent two years at Ibrox after being released by Millwall and tasted first-team action in a friendly against Linfield earlier this month.

And, with Rangers facing a 12-month transfer embargo, the teenager is keen to bide his time and make his mark in Ally McCoist's team.

Hegarty said: "I'm not in an ideal situation, I'm about a week away from my contract running out.

"But I think I owe it to the club just to wait and see what's happening.

"I sat down with my agent and we both agreed that the club has got bigger things to think about than me at the minute.

"So I'm just going to wait about and see what happens but I'm positive I'll be here next season.

"They will hopefully offer me a contract in June and backpay me or whatever. I don't know what happens."

With McCoist's top players able to leave for cut-price fees from June 1 and all players potentially free to go if Rangers re-emerge as a new company, Hegarty could find himself thrust into first-team action next season.

He lined up at centre-back alongside Ross Perry and Kirk Broadfoot in the win over Linfield.

"Running out at Windsor Park is something you want to do as a kid from Northern Ireland but doing it in a Rangers shirt is living the dream," he said.

"I'm really positive going forward to next season.

"I've been in and around the team. I've got half a sniff and I want more next year.

"If you're good enough, you are old enough. All the lads have shown what they can do.

"For me and the likes of Andy Mitchell and Lewis MacLeod coming through, we are all positive about getting a run-out next season. There are four or five of us ready to go in.

"The coaching staff keep us all level-headed and get us up for the games.

"You can't sit about and hope for your chance, you have just got to take it. They get you ready for the game.

"I don't think any of the lads will freeze. All the guys who have gone in, the likes of Rhys (McCabe), Jamie Ness, Andy Little, they have all done their job on the pitch."

However, Hegarty does not expect a mass exodus of experienced players despite the uncertainty over the club's future.

"Everyone is together," he said. "We have been together for the last six months, it was probably the hardest time any player could imagine.

"I think all of them will want to stay but it's not for me to say, it's up to them."

The goalkeeper is on the lookout for a new team after being released by Sunderland, where a number of injury problems saw him lose his place in the team.

For now, though, Gordon hopes to take the first steps in resurrecting his international career with some game-time in Saturday's friendly against the USA.

His last appearance came in a 3-0 win against the Faroe Islands in November 2010 but he is now ready to battle Allan McGregor for the number one jersey.

Gordon said: "There is a friendly rivalry, there is no animosity between us. We both want to play in the team.

"I've been unfortunate with injuries and missed quite a lot of international games which I didn't expect to do.

"Allan has come in and done pretty well and that's football. I need to get back playing first-team football.

"If I do that and I'm playing well, then I'm confident in my ability to get me back into the team if I get that chance."

McGregor has endured a difficult few months at administration-hit Rangers but Gordon has not been keeping tabs on his rival's form.

He added: "I can't really say I've watched an awful lot of his games.

"He probably did well, knowing Allan. I know how good a goalkeeper he is."

Gordon, 29, believes this weekend's clash in Jacksonville could be crucial to his hopes of finding a new club.

He said: "I'm looking forward to it. Having not played a great deal of football this season, it's a chance to finish the season by showing people that I'm ready to play and hopefully I'll get some time on the park out here.

"I think everyone is aware of my contract situation with Sunderland so it's quite an important trip for me to show anybody who is watching that I'm ready to play."

Gordon became the most expensive goalkeeper in British history when he moved from Hearts to Sunderland for £9million in 2007.

He has been linked with a return north of the border with Celtic but has yet to make any decisions over his future.

Gordon said: "I'm not sure what will happen or what will pan out over the next few weeks.

"People are starting to look at their options for next season. I'll just wait and see what options I get over the summer and take it from there.

"I'm keeping my options open to absolutely everything at the moment, be it Scotland, England or anywhere else in Europe.

"I don't mind. I'm looking for the best option for me and to get the best deal possible.

"It's important to get back playing football and to get a run of games in a first team.

"That's what I'll be looking to do and hopefully I can get a good club that will allow me to do that.

"Then I can start looking towards trying to get back into this team on a more regular basis."

The Northern Irishman took his side to Scottish Communities League Cup glory in his first full season in the role with victory over Celtic in March.

Chairman Michael Johnston said: "I am delighted to say that Kenny has agreed a two-year extension to his contract so he will be here for another two years and I am looking forward to be working with Kenny and Jimmy (Nicholl)."

The Northern Irishman spoke about his difficult year in an interview with Real Radio's phone-in host Peter Martin, which will be aired on Monday evening.

Lennon was at the centre of a high-profile court case earlier this year, which saw two men, Trevor Muirhead and Neil McKenzie, jailed for five years for conspiring to assault him by sending parcel bombs to Celtic Park and the club's training ground in Lennoxtown, East Dumbartonshire.

During the trial Lennon told the court he was left "very disturbed" after learning he was a target, along with other prominent fans of the club.

Lennon's close friend, Paul McBride QC, who was also a target, died suddenly while on a trip to Pakistan in March, days before he was to give evidence at the trial.

The Celtic manager and former player, who was a pall bearer at Mr McBride's funeral in Glasgow, said losing his friend coupled with the stress of the court case made for a "tough spell".

He said: "I had a real difficult time when Paul McBride passed away. And there was a spell where, on the Monday it was Paul's funeral and then on the Tuesday I had to go and give evidence in the court case and that was a real tough, tough spell.

"At times you think: is it worth it? You know, all these things that happen to you."

When asked by Mr Martin if he had any moments when he thought about "chucking it all in", Lennon replied: "Yeah. I mean at the end of the day, your personal safety is in jeopardy or you feel it's in jeopardy.

"I was always well briefed by the police and the intelligence officers, so that gave me a lot of comfort through those times but you're just thinking: is it worth living here?

"You know, I love Glasgow. I love the environment. It's been my home for a long, long time. But there is an element to it that lets the city down, you know, lets the country down and the sooner we can eradicate that ... but it's got to come from the home.

"It's got to come from the families and it's all right pointing the finger at schools and this, that and the other, (but) you know as parents we have a responsibility to bring your kids up in the right way."

UEFA's deadline for formal expressions of interest is midnight tomorrow and so far only Turkey has come forward to confirm it is bidding.

Officials at the Scottish and Welsh FAs have refused to confirm or deny that a bid will be submitted but sources have confirmed that talks about bidding have taken place.

The expansion of the tournament to 24 teams however means that they would need a third country involved to provide the necessary number of top-class stadiums which is where the Republic of Ireland would come in.

A source told the Press Association: "Discussions have taken place about bidding but we would not be able to bid alone. It may need to be three countries involved."

A final decision is expected to be taken by the boards of the FAs involved this week.

UEFA president Michel Platini had signalled he would support Turkey's bid but only if Istanbul failed in its bid to land the Olympics in the same year.

The 140-year-old club travels to St Johnstone for its final Scottish Premier League match of the season on Monday (AEST) in administration, with one prospective takeover bid having collapsed and the Glasgow side's future uncertain.

McCoist, asked if it had crossed his mind that Monday's game in Perth could be Rangers' last, replied: "It hasn't because I don't believe that will be the case.

"I'm not walking about with blinkers on. My eyes are very much open to the situation," he added.

"But the club has to go on. It will go on - it must go on. I am still of the opinion that our football club will continue with all the history we have had."

American businessman Bill Miller withdrew from the bidding process on Tuesday just days after being named preferred bidder.

Administration-hit Rangers was fined £160,000 ($256,000) and handed a 12-month transfer embargo by an SFA judicial panel last month after being found guilty of five charges in relation to its financial affairs and appointment of Craig Whyte as chairman.

The appeal panel will be chaired by Lord Carloway with Craig Graham and Allan Cowan also sitting on the hearing.

Ng, who has supported the bankrupt Scottish club since boyhood, withdrew his STG20 million ($A32.28 million) offer last month in frustration at the bidding process. But the Hougang United chairman is now back in the race after the preferred bidder, US tow-truck magnate Bill Miller, pulled out over concerns about the club's financial position and anti-American vitriol from fans.

"It is really crazy," Ng told Singapore's Today newspaper.

"There were something like 20 missed calls from Scotland on my phone when I woke up.

"I am now told they are willing to accept 50 per cent of what I had initially offered. It seems they are now more receptive and no longer digging in their heels with unrealistic demands."

British reports say Ng is now competing with two British-based consortiums for the 54-time Scottish champions, who were taken to court over a STG9 million ($A14.53 million) tax bill and then docked 10 points for entering administration.

Rangers was also slapped with a 12-month transfer embargo and fined STG160,000 ($A258,270), while controversial former owner Craig Whyte was fined and banned for life from Scottish football.

According to the administrators, Rangers total debt could amount to STG134 million ($A216.30 million), with the venerable club awaiting the outcome of a tax tribunal case that could cost STG75 million ($A121.07 million).

In announcing his withdrawal, Miller said he had received the message, "Yank go home!" from Rangers fans.

However Ng said he had no concerns about getting similar treatment.

"I've been getting positive feedback from fans there, who know that I'm a lifelong Rangers supporter and have the club's best interests at heart," he told the Straits Times.

The Celtic manager admits "deeply" regretting confronting Euan Norris after the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Hearts at Hampden just over a fortnight ago and plans to apologise to the referee.

However, the Northern Irishman, alluding to the furore which followed the touchline bust-up he had with then Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist at the end of an Old Firm game at Parkhead in March 2011, believes his persona is unfairly represented.

"I saw the greatest manager in the game last night (Sir Alex Ferguson) having a spat with Roberto Mancini and people enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing Sir Alex show that passion, that he was up for the fight," said Lennon.

"I enjoyed it. Two managers sticking up for their own team.

"Has there been a huge public outcry about what happened? No. They talk about a bit of a spat - big deal.

"When we do it up here, it's two pages full and I get singled out, I get demonised, I'm this snarling sort of presence on the touchline.

"I don't think I get a fair deal at times.

"I see it so many times. I have seen managers on the pitch remonstrating with referees before, some of them a lot more experienced than me.

"Yet they don't think they get half of what I get.

"I just think I should be but a bit more slack at times."

The Celtic boss, who has just served a two-match touchline ban for criticising referee Willie Collum following the Scottish Communities League Cup final defeat by Kilmarnock at Hampden in March, has been issued with a notice of complaint accusing him of breaching three Scottish Football Association rules relating to Hearts' 2-1 victory which came courtesy of Craig Beattie's controversial late penalty. Lennon ran on to the pitch to confront Norris over the penalty award, which came when a Marius Zaliukas shot hit the arm of Joe Ledley and then brushed against the hand of Victor Wanyama.

Celtic was then denied a penalty when the ball struck Hearts defender Andy Webster.

"I deeply regret what happened," said Lennon.

"It was an instinctive reaction action born out of frustration more than anything else.

"I know I have to conduct myself better than that.

"I will be sending correspondence to the referee as an apology as well.

"It's one actionable thing that I've done that I shouldn't have done.

"I will go to the tribunal (on Thursday) and hopefully get a fair hearing as I did the last time and take what's coming."

The two other charges Lennon face relate to comments made on Twitter. The Hoops boss tweeted soon after the game: 'Referee told players he thought Wanyama handled...feel so sorry for players and fans..I think it's personal myself.'

He then re-tweeted a comment from a Celtic supporter which suggested the club 'pack our bags and get out of this league that is run by crooked £SFA officials".

Lennon said: "I don't want to talk about that (tweeting) now, I will discuss my case on Thursday.

"At times we do get lost in the game but if you take that away from us, you are going to have robots on the touchline, sitting with their hands in their pockets not doing anything.

"You can't take away the human element from managers, we are human beings at the end of the day.

"There are times we get angry and aggrieved and make mistakes in that aspect of the game but I think I get a rough ride.

"Over the course of the season, up until the League Cup final, there was not one thing I did wrong.

"We had the incident at Ibrox (no further action taken against Lennon after being sent to the stand at half-time by referee Calum Murray) which I have had the hearing for.

"So over the course of the season we are talking about one incident so I don't think I have to change that much but I will temper those actions if I can."

Lennon revealed around half a dozen players will be let go at the end of the season.

He said: "Some of them have been told, not all of them.

"The squad is bigger than we want it to be and hopefully we will be trimming it.

"We want to add three or four quality players and we don't want to clog up the young ones coming through, we want to give them the opportunity."

The investment firm had been in talks with Paul Murray, who is spearheading the Blue Knights' bid, over helping to finance a takeover deal.

However, it no longer feels it can justify its involvement to the investors with this week's Scottish Football Association sanctions adding another obstacle to the process.

A statement from the London-based firm read: "Following extensive discussions with the Blue Knights, led by Paul Murray, Ticketus today confirms that it has withdrawn from the Blue Knights Consortium after it was unable to finalise satisfactory terms of agreement for its investors with the Blue Knights around restructuring its ticket purchase agreement.

"Consequently Ticketus is no longer able to play a role in the consortium's bid for The Rangers Football Club PLC at this stage."

Lennon completes his two-match touchline ban when Rangers visits Parkhead on Sunday but there could be more punishment to come after the Irishman was hit with three more charges from the Scottish Football Association yesterday.

The Clydesdale Bank Premier League champion was not affected on Sunday when Lennon was banished to the Fir Park stand as his side won 3-0 against Motherwell.

And he is confident his players and assistants Johan Mjallby, Alan Thompson and Garry Parker will be in the right mood against Rangers as Celtic looks to avenge last month's 3-2 Ibrox defeat, when it had two players and Lennon sent off.

Lennon, who is banned over comments made about Scottish Communities Cup final referee Willie Collum, told Celtic TV's Huddle Online: "Any game that you have to sit in the stand and watch is difficult but we prepared the team very well last week and we'll do the same this week.

"Sometimes you have to trust the players and say `just go and do it`.

"I have got good backroom staff as well in Johan, Alan and Garry.

"They will prepare the players and make sure the players are in the right frame of mind."

Lennon was yesterday accused of three rule breaches relating to his reaction to his team's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Hearts on April 15.

The former Northern Ireland midfielder was hit with a misconduct charge after confronting Euan Norris over his decision to award Hearts a late penalty for handball.

Lennon, who has until Thursday to respond with a hearing pencilled in for seven days later, also faces two charges relating to comments made on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Celtic boss hopes to field more young players in the final four games of the Scottish Premier League season after teenager Tony Watt netted a double on his debut against Motherwell.

Lennon said: "I was delighted for him. He has looked good in training, he has done well this season and improved very, very well.

"We have had him around the first team for the last two or three weeks and just felt it was a good opportunity to see what he could do.

"Everyone associated with the club and the supporters wants to see homegrown players come through.

"That was a great debut for him and he has a lot to live up to now."

Dylan McGeouch could now feature against Rangers after starring in Celtic's 8-0 win over Queen of the South in the SFA Youth Cup final.

"We hope more will make the step-up next season," Lennon said.

"I'm hoping to blood a few more before the end of this season but we'll just have to see how things go.

"Dylan had an exceptionally good game on Monday and he'll be back amongst the squad at the weekend."

The 12 clubs will meet on Monday to vote on financial fair play resolutions which would have an impact on clubs which go into administration or face the prospect of liquidation - a scenario which has not yet been ruled out for the Ibrox side.

If passed, the new rules would mean a 'newco' Rangers being deducted 10 points for two seasons if accepted straight back into the SPL, as well as seeing league payments slashed by 75% for three seasons.

Smith said: "The sanctions don't include Rangers not being in the league so there is a certain hypocrisy among the whole lot of them there.

"They have a situation where they still want the money that Rangers bring to the SPL but they will try to impose sanctions that will make it impossible for them to be competitive, or as competitive as they should be.

"I think the SPL have to be very careful in terms of how they handle the overall situation in case something similar could happen to other clubs."

The former Rangers manager also warned that relegation from the SPL would be a real possibility for his old club if the Scottish Football Association implement punishments handed down by its judicial panel.

The Glasgow giant has been hit with a fine of £160,000 and a 12-month embargo on registering players over 17 after being found guilty of five charges in relation to its finances and the appointment of Craig Whyte as chairman.

Smith said: "Rangers would be in danger of getting relegated.

"You can't play a team of kids in the SPL and hope to survive, never mind be successful.

"You would be looking at a year where people in the SPL would have a year of Rangers supporters' money going around the country and then they would be faced with, to my mind anyway, a fair chance of getting relegated."

He added: "I don't think we've seen the worst. If the sanctions that were imposed take place, and there are no new owners at the club, then there is obviously worse to come."

Smith called for the football authorities to take into account the reasons for Rangers' financial plight, after it was forced to call in the administrators over an unpaid tax bill accrued since Whyte's takeover.

He said: "If Rangers had been unable to pay their bills, then that would have been one instance to look at for going into administration, which would have been the same as the majority of Scottish clubs who have had that problem over recent years.

"But Rangers, at the end of May last year, had no debt whatsoever due to the fact that the bank debt had been paid off and they were paying all their bills.

"This situation that Rangers find themselves in is not an inability to pay their bills, it was from one person refusing to pay any bills. There is a difference.

"This situation has been created to cause the problem of administration.

"The SFA will need to take that into consideration. It's not a normal circumstance, it's not one where the club had an inability to pay their way.

"It has been the choice of an individual to take the club down that road and that's where there should be a different outlook."

Administrator Duff and Phelps has said the prospect of more sanctions has delayed further its hopes of naming a preferred bidder, with American tycoon Bill Miller and the Blue Knights still in the running to take over the club.

Asked if he felt liquidation was now almost inevitable for Rangers, Smith said: "The longer the situation goes on, it starts to become more inevitable it will happen.

"I don't think there is any doubt about that. I think everybody would like a quick resolution.

"That's one of the things about the sanctions that have been put in place, the timing of them makes it very difficult for the club.

"If there is an [SFA] appeal, when will it take place?

"I read yesterday that it may take place next week but that's a week or 10 days that's lost at a vital time for the administrators to try to find a buyer which, first and foremost, is going to determine where the future of Rangers will lie.

"It's not helping the club overall at this time to have these things going in the background at the same time."

Lennon has been issued with a notice of complaint accusing him of breaching three SFA rules relating to Hearts' 2-1 victory at Hampden, which came courtesy of Craig Beattie's controversial late penalty.

Lennon, who was hit with a two-match touchline ban last week over a separate incident, has seven days to respond with an SFA hearing pencilled in for May 10.

Duff & Phelps said on Friday that they would look to proceed with USA businessman Bill Miller's £11.2million ($A17.5 million) bid on Monday if no other offers were forthcoming.

However, the Blue Knights consortium, led by former Ibrox director Paul Murray, are back in talks over submitting a fresh proposal and, in broad terms, both bidders have asked for more time to look at issues such as funding and potential sanctions.

The Blue Knights were in line to become preferred bidders more than a week ago but could not immediately pay the £500,000 ($A781,832) exclusivity fee and then stepped back after discovering potential partners Ticketus was negotiating with Bill Ng's Singapore group, who has since withdrawn.

Ticketus, the London-based investment firm whose money helped Craig Whyte buy Rangers from Sir David Murray last May, are owed £26.7million ($A41.7 million) by the club but they, like Whyte, have been ignored by Miller.

The towing tycoon's plans involve transferring assets to a new company and trying to achieve a CVA (company voluntary agreement) with the existing company.

However, there remain huge questions over his bid given it is dependent on receiving written assurances from the football authorities that a new Rangers would not be punished next season.

The Scottish Premier League clubs are due to vote on April 30 on proposals that would see 'newco' clubs deducted money and points for several seasons.

Duff & Phelps, who has previously stated it requires unconditional bids, will release an update statement later on Monday.

The Straits Times said Ng has released a statement in which he says he has become "increasingly uncomfortable and frustrated with the process of dealing with club administrators" but could relaunch his bid if Duff and Phelps fail to strike another deal.

Ng's decision leaves American Bill Miller as the most likely candidate after Brian Kennedy had a verbal offer rejected and the Blue Knights announced they were stepping back from the process.

Rangers faced five charges and Whyte two with the SFA's judicial panel hearing the third and final day of evidence and submissions on Friday.

The SFA said: "The judicial panel have advised that, due to the schedule of evidence and final submissions in respect of the tribunal involving Rangers FC and Craig Whyte, there will be no announcement of determination today.

"The panel chairman has advised that a period of deliberation will follow today's hearing, with an announcement anticipated in early course next week."

Kennedy, who already owns English Premiership rugby club Sale, saw a previous offer to take control at Ibrox rejected last month.

However, he said he would return with another bid if he felt the club's future was in jeopardy.

Kennedy has now contacted administrators Duff and Phelps with a fresh bid.

Kennedy told Thursday's Scottish Sun: "I have made a substantially improved verbal offer and am waiting for the administrators to come back to me."

This week the Blue Knights group, fronted by former Rangers director Paul Murray, appeared to take a step back from the bidding process and so leaves the path clear for a straight contest between two businessmen, American Bill Miller and Singaporean Bill Ng, for control of Rangers.

But despite optimistic words from the administrators that a deal could be done this week, a lack of unconditional offers appears to be delaying any possible sale.

Meanwhile Murray told the Daily Record the Blue Knights could reactivate its bid if the club continues to linger in the limbo of administration.

"On Monday I made it clear that, in the best interests of the club, the Blue Knights were prepared to take a step back from this process," Murray said.

"We did so because we did not want to further delay the absolutely crucial task of selecting a preferred bidder.

"But we also made it clear our offer was still on the table.

"Now, in the light of the lack of activity over the subsequent 48 hours, I am reconsidering our position.

"This situation has to be resolved with maximum urgency as we are now heading beyond the point of no return.

Administrators were called in to Rangers on February 14 after British tax authorities went to court to seek payment of an unpaid bill of STG9 million ($A14 million) built up since owner Craig Whyte took charge at Ibrox in May.

That meant Rangers was docked 10 points - a move that effectively handed this season's Scottish Premier League title to arch Glasgow rival and recently crowned champion Celtic.

However, the administrators released a report earlier this month saying Rangers' total debt could amount to STG134 million ($A208.4 million) with the club awaiting the outcome of a tax tribunal case that could cost them STG75 million.

Wishart has warned administrators that any bidder looking to transfer the club's assets to a 'newco' could find themselves losing players.

Wishart has also urged Duff and Phelps to speed up the process of appointing a preferred bidder amid frustration among his members, who took wage cuts of up to 75% last month.

Duff and Phelps had been expected to award exclusivity to one bidder last week but there have been several twists and turns since then with Brian Kennedy re-entering the race and the Blue Knights consortium stepping back from the process before having second thoughts.

US businessman Bill Miller, who remains in the frame along with a Singapore-based group, is believed to favour liquidating the club, whose debts could reach £135million, and any newco could start the season with a 10-point penalty and lose 75% of its income under Scottish Premier League proposals.

Wishart said: "There has been a lot of chat about possible transfer from old Rangers to a newco and discussions about the implications in terms of creditors and football regulations, points penalties and financial penalties.

"One of the things that has been forgotten about is our members.

"It's not necessarily the case, in our opinion having taken legal advice, that the players have to go across to a newco.

"Should a newco be formed the players do not have to go across."

Wishart pointed to employment laws, namely paragraph 4.7 of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, which protect employees if a company's assets are transferred to a new firm.

"They have the right to object to that transfer," said Wishart, who has not yet discussed the issue with the Scottish Football Association.

"There may well be complications in terms of FIFA regulations and football regulations.

"I don't think the football authorities have any right to force someone to go and work for a new company should they not wish to.

"And it will be a new company, whatever it is dressed up as.

"Our position I think will be supported by the football authorities."

Wishart added: "If players do go across their contracts are protected. The newco would have to take their whole contract, wages, terms and conditions. They may all wish to go across.

"The players are aware of their individual rights but none of them have come back to me. I don't think anyone is actively searching for a way out.

"But we are hitting real tight time deadlines. In three weeks' time the season finishes, players go on holiday.

"They don't know whether they are coming back, some of them who are out of contract. They don't know what state Rangers are going to be in.

"There is a lot of talking to be done and the players are getting frustrated.

"I think it's so important, given the size of the debts Rangers have, that someone is given exclusivity as soon as possible."

The change will come into force in time for the start of season 2012-2013.

At the moment, officials are unable to referee beyond the age of 47 but criteria will now be based on fitness and performance, irrespective of age.

The outcome follows a period of review undertaken by the referee committee, which included a presentation to the professional and non-professional game boards, and a recommendation submitted and passed by the main board.

John Fleming, head of referee development, said: "This is a positive step and I am delighted the Scottish FA board has approved the removal of the age cap in time for the start of next season.

"The fitness of referees has increased significantly and with the advances in sports science we have been able to tailor programmes for individual referees.

"We have seen examples elsewhere of match officials maintaining standards beyond the previous cut-off of 47 and it will be a major benefit to us in Scotland.

"It means referees will enjoy greater longevity if they maintain their levels of fitness and performance and will enable the referee development department to incorporate longer-term planning into our current commitment to match officials."

John McKendrick, chairman of the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association added: "The SSFRA welcomes the removal by the Scottish FA of an upper age limit to the List of Referees.

"We believe that Scottish football is best served by making full use of the talents of the most competent referees who are fully committed to both improving their own personal performance and making a full contribution to the development of refereeing in Scotland.

"Scotland's referees are highly professional in their approach and commit many off-field hours to maintaining and improving their standards.

"Performance, rather than age, should determine who is eligible to officiate in Scottish professional football."

Lennon marched onto the pitch to confront Norris about the award of a late Jambos' penalty for handball, which substitute Craig Beattie converted to take Hearts into next month's final against Edinburgh rivals Hibernian.

Dallas, formerly head of referee development at the Scottish Football Association before leaving his position following controversy over what was considered an offensive e-mail, reckons Lennon's behaviour did little for the reputation of the game in Scotland.

"I can't remember in 25 years of refereeing seeing a manager run that far onto a pitch to bully a referee," Dallas told STV.

"These pictures are going around the world and it is not good."

Dallas believes Lennon would do well to take note of Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Harry Redknapp's reaction to the controversial goal awarded to Chelsea on Sunday in its 5-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley.

"Take another example yesterday in the Tottenham Hotspur game," Dallas added. "It was a huge occasion and a goal was given where the ball didn't cross the line.

"After the game, Harry Redknapp said he had a chat with the referee, who admitted he made an honest mistake.

"Redknapp said he was disappointed but was keen to move on. That's how we should do it in Scotland."

Miller, a Singapore-based consortium led by Bill Ng - who yesterday indicated he has no plans to withdraw his offer - and former Ibrox director Paul Murray's Blue Knights are in the running to take over the Glasgow giant.

Administrator Duff and Phelps said on Wednesday it was forced to delay announcing a preferred bidder as a result of the SPL resolutions, which will be considered on 30 April.

If Rangers is liquidated, a 'newco' would be deducted 10 points for two seasons if accepted straight back into the SPL and would also face financial penalties in the form of league payments being slashed by 75 per cent for three seasons.

Miller has no qualms about the proposed regulations.

"I have responded to Duff and Phelps that I am in favour of a CVA (company voluntary arrangement) exit from administration," he told the Scottish Sun.

"After carefully reading the proposed SPL sanctions, it appears the only penalty that could impact the club is if Duff and Phelps was unable to complete the CVA by the start of the season.

"Consequently, my bid continues to be in place.

"In reviewing the proposed sanctions, it is clear any club going into administration in the future, including Rangers, would be severely penalised.

"In my view, this falls in line with the appropriate efforts of the various governing bodies to ensure clubs are operating within their means and are not mortgaging the future with excessive debt.

"I hope the Rangers representative at the SPL meeting votes in favour of all of the proposals as I believe they are in the best interest of the league and its members - including Rangers."

After Rangers scored a last-gasp winner against Motherwell last weekend to stop the Hoops clinching the title in record time Celtic know its destiny is now in its own hands.

Neil Lennon's side is 18 points clear with six games remaining and a draw at Rugby Park will be enough to trigger the celebrations amongst the Parkhead faithful.

Last year, Rangers cantered to a 5-1 win to clinch the title at the same venue, but Celtic assistant manager Johan Mjallby admits he doesn't care how the Parkhead club's 43rd title is won.

"It doesn't really matter how we win the game - I'll be delighted if we win it in the 90th minute," the Swede said.

Celtic will not be taking anything for granted after being pushed by Kilmarnock in its meetings this season.

Killie raced into a 3-0 halftime lead the last time Celtic visited Rugby Park, only for the Hoops to clinch a remarkable 3-3 draw before the Ayrshire side defeated the Glasgow giant in March's League Cup final to ruin the Old Firm side's dreams of a domestic treble.

And Mjallby admitted his side would be wary of its opponent.

"You have to give them credit for their win against us in the final," he said.

"They played well and stopped us from really penetrating them, even if we did create a lot of chances. They are very good on the ball and play good, passing football.

"So we are going to go through that game at Hampden again and see where we fell short and try to make sure we don't make the same mistakes again."

Kilmarnock is looking for its fourth win over the Old Firm this season having defeated Rangers home and away to add to its League Cup win over Celtic.

But manager Kenny Shiels says it will be hard to replicate that form again when Celtic come calling on Sunday.

"It's difficult to reproduce," the Kilmarnock manager said.

"We were lucky in the final, we were lucky in the 3-3 draw, we were lucky against Rangers twice.

"We're playing against better players so when you beat them or draw with them, it's a great feeling of satisfaction. To beat Celtic or draw with them, or be close to them, is an achievement.

"If we try to match Celtic, they will walk all over the top of us. We have got to try to get an edge if we can and that's all we can hope for.

"It's mission impossible to be honest, it really is. They are coming to win a title and we are just little Kilmarnock so it's going to be difficult."

Rangers, which was docked 10 points after entering administration in February, will hope to put its financial worries to one side as it continues its push for second place when it takes on St Mirren at Ibrox.

Whyte has been described by administrators as "irrelevant" despite owning 85.3 per cent of the club's shares, which he bought from Sir David Murray for £1 in May last year.

Administrators have claimed there is no evidence that Whyte has put any money into the club but the businessman says he has cash on the line, although he may walk away with nothing.

Duff and Phelps has set a deadline of Wednesday for final bids for the club with the Blue Knights, American investors Club 9 Sports and a Singapore-based group all tipped to compete for preferred bidder status.

Whyte completed his takeover with money received from Ticketus from future season ticket sales in May and then sold more in September to take the total income from the group to £30.5 million ($46.9 million) including VAT.

But he insisted he is not irrelevant, as administrator Duff and Phelps has claimed.

"They can describe me this way if they like, but I would disagree with it," Whyte said. "I am still the owner.

"But I am willing to walk away if it is for the good of the club. I wouldn't make anything out of it.

"I have £30 million in cash and guarantees on the line but I would walk away if it is best for Rangers.

"I have been in touch with a couple of bidders. If I can help any of them I will."

Five parties notified Duff and Phelps of their interest in a takeover of the Scottish champion, although Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy has since dropped out of the running after being told his bid was too low.

The administrators indicated they have yet to identify a preferred bidder from the short-list at this stage in the process.

Jack Kelly, 59, suffered a suspected heart attack in the stands at Hampden within moments of the final whistle.

He received emergency treatment yards from the Kilmarnock dugout after his son had helped his team to a 1-0 win over Celtic.

"Celtic Football Club would like to offer its sincere condolences to the family of Kilmarnock midfielder Liam Kelly whose father Jack tragically died following Sunday's Scottish Communities League Cup final at Hampden," a statement from Celtic read.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon expressed his shock at the news.

"All of the management team, players and backroom staff wish to offer our thoughts and prayers to Liam Kelly's family," he said.

"Myself and the entire team are shocked and saddened with this news and our heartfelt condolences go to Liam."

Liam Kelly, 22, was told the news as he and his team-mates celebrated on the pitch and was visibly distraught before being moved away from the scene as paramedics treated his father.

The rest of the Kilmarnock players lifted the trophy oblivious to the unfolding tragedy, but manager Kenny Shiels was aware of the situation and looked on in serious concern.

Kelly rushed to the nearby hospital where his father was taken, but he died shortly afterwards.

The rest of the players were told the news as they toured the Ayrshire town on an open-top bus.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell added: "Everyone at Celtic is devastated by this terrible news. All at the football club are thinking about Liam and the entire Kelly family at this very sad time."

Kilmarnock captain James Fowler admits the cup final win feels hollow after the tragedy.

Fowler said in the Daily Record: "All I could think about was Liam and his family, yet the streets were lined with fans cheering and going crazy about what had happened at Hampden a few hours earlier.

"Of course they were totally unaware of what had happened with Liam's dad.

"The players were genuinely delighted for the supporters as they deserved their moment in the sun after 15 years without a trophy. But we were all just going through the motions. None of us had the stomach for a party."

Fowler added: "As a group we are extremely close and when something like this happens then it has a huge effect.

"I don't think any of the boys can begin to imagine what Liam is going through at the moment. It is desperately sad, particularly as it would have been one of the proudest days of Jack's life.

"Given what happened it feels like we actually lost the cup final."

The former Celtic striker opened the scoring against the Easter Road outfit as the home side utterly dominated the first half.

A more even affair ensued after the break, but any lingering nerves in Gorgie was soothed in injury time as Suso Santana finished an impressive run with a curled second goal for Hearts.

The deserved triumph was an impressive culmination to a week which has seen the Hearts players forced to cope with the all-too familiar scenario of wage delays at the club.

Beattie said: "It is a difficult situation which I do not want to get into.

"But I think everybody saw that the Hearts players were 100% committed and guys were throwing their body on the line for the team.

"When you wake up in the morning of a derby game you forget about the lot of it and you do what you have to do to get the job done - whether you are the richest man in the world or the poorest, and whether you have been paid or not.

"Come game-time I can assure the supporters and everybody else involved that there is no weakness or mental distraction to the Hearts players preparing for games."

With his opening goal, 28-year-old Beattie took his recent tally in maroon to two goals in the last two starts.

After a fine start to his Tynecastle career Beattie has promised supporters that he will only get better. He added: "I don't want to sound arrogant but if I get games I will score goals. There is much more to come from me and I do not see why not?

"I am working on my fitness and getting back to peak and once I reach that I don't think there will be any problems finding the net."

Hibernian striker Roy O'Donovan had arguably the visitors' best chance of a lacklustre display.

His glancing header from a lovely Leigh Griffiths cross forced Jamie MacDonald into a fine second-half save.

That missed opportunity was just one aspect of the frustration felt by the Irishman after the match, insisting Hearts was not particularly impressive.

O'Donovan placed the blame squarely at the door of the men from Leith as he said: "We beat ourselves, I don't think Hearts were unbelievable by any stretch.

"I think 2-0 even put some gloss on the result because that was the last kick of the game and we had two players back and were pushing for a goal.

"We didn't start, it happens once in a blue moon and unfortunately it happened in the Edinburgh derby.

"You try not to get carried away with the occasion and we kind of went the opposite way. We tried to stay calm but maybe we were too calm.

"The manager wasn't happy with the first half and we needed a bit of a rollicking. We didn't press, we didn't tackle and we didn't pass the way we have been the last four or five weeks."

Jack Kelly, 59, received emergency treatment yards from the Kilmarnock dugout after his son had helped his team to a 1-0 win over Celtic.

Liam Kelly, 22, was told the news as he and his team-mates celebrated on the pitch and was visibly distraught before being moved away from the scene as paramedics treated his father.

The rest of the Kilmarnock players lifted the trophy oblivious to the unfolding tragedy but manager Kenny Shiels was aware of the situation and looked on in serious concern.

Kelly rushed to the nearby hospital where his father was taken but he died shortly afterwards.

The rest of the players were told the news of the death as they toured the Ayrshire town on an open-top bus and Strathclyde Police later confirmed Mr Kelly had died.

Speaking before Mr Kelly's death had been confirmed, Shiels said: "I am all over the place, I really am.

"It happened right beside this dugout and I am only doing this press conference out of respect to you (the media) so I hope you appreciate that.

"I don't know the medical term, but it is a heart attack, probably."

He continued: "I have gone from so high an emotion to so low an emotion.

"We are not sure of the outcome but he is very seriously ill and that's a tough emotion after going up to one of the best moments of our lives.

"The dressing room is very despondent and I don't know why the man above sends down these messages to us.

"We are thinking more about Liam than our triumphalism."

Shiels could hardly bring himself to speak about what should have been one of the greatest days in the club's history.

He said: "We had a sign up all week: 'Believe to achieve', and that's what we did.

"We worked on the tactical side of the game, in how we could nullify certain areas of their team but at the same time dominate the ball.

"For periods of the game we achieved that domination and periods of the game where we gave the ball away cheaply but we were playing the best team in the country.

"But I don't want to feel good about myself, because we are in a very difficult situation.

"I am pleased for people like James Fowler and Garry Hay, players who have played their whole career and not won a single trophy."

The Belgian came off the bench to nod home the only goal in the 84th minute at Hampden on his 27th birthday.

Van Tornhout lost a cup final with Club Brugge in 2005 and suffered cruciate ligament damage in a Dutch Cup final defeat while playing for Roda JC against Feyenoord in 2008.

That injury saw him spend nine months on the sidelines so his latest cup final experience proved much more fulfilling personally.

Tragedy was to unfold after Van Tornhout and most of his Kilmarnock team-mates celebrated lifting the trophy when it emerged that the father of Rugby Park midfielder Liam Kelly, Jack Kelly, had suffered a suspected heart attack.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the victory, Van Tornhout said of his cup final experiences: "It's a total difference. I'm still here and still fit but to get the winner in the cup final and to win a cup is an amazing feeling.

"It's not only me, the full team and the staff and everyone involved with Kilmarnock, deserved it.

"It's my birthday, my family and friends are here, so it's nice for them as well."

The centre-forward praised fellow substitute Lee Johnson for the cross that led to his close-range headed winner at the back post.

"Lee Johnson went on the left side," he said. "I took up that position because I thought it was the only option.

"He gave the perfect pass, it wasn't too difficult to hit the ball."

The triumph was Kilmarnock's first in the competition and ensured it has now won all three major domestic honours.

Van Tornhout, who joined the club in January, said: "I don't know much about the history, I'm just happy Kilmarnock won the cup today."

The midfielder's father Jack was given emergency treatment at the bottom of the main stand at Hampden, next to the Kilmarnock dugout, while most of the players celebrated their 1-0 Scottish Communities League Cup final victory over Celtic oblivious to the situation.

Kelly was told of his father's condition moments after the final whistle and Bell rushed to see his team-mate in the dressing room after discovering the news.

Scotland Under-21 international Kelly then headed to the hospital where his father was taken.

Bell had produced a man-of-the-match performance to keep out Celtic with a string of impressive saves but he was close to tears as he spoke after the match.

"We have had some sad news coming in, so that has made everything very difficult for us as a team," the 25-year-old said.

"I'm very close to Liam so it just puts things into perspective for me.

"If I could take away my performance I would, if Liam's dad was all right.

"I would rather take a defeat than someone's dad dying. You think about your own dad when that situation comes around.

"I still am quite emotional and we're just praying his dad gets better."

Kelly was told before Kilmarnock lifted the trophy but the rest of his team-mates had collected their medals before discovering the news.

"It was after getting the cup when I found out," Bell said. "We were on the pitch and the kit man told me. The rest of the boys didn't realise.

"I went straight to Kells and gave him a hug, but there is not much you can say to him.

"We all wish him the best and we're praying his dad gets better soon."

The Belgian striker had replaced Gary Harkins in the 73rd minute and 10 minutes later he dramatically headed in a cross from fellow substitute Lee Johnson, who had come on for Danny Buijs early in the first half, to give the Ayrshire side a famous victory.

It was Killie's sixth attempt at winning the final and there were wild scenes of jubilation when the final whistle ended a dramatic afternoon at the national stadium.

Kilmarnock's win, helped by a great display by goalkeeper Cameron Bell, also scuppered Celtic's hopes of a treble - but it was a day for Ayrshire rather than Glasgow.

Both sides were in their changes strips but in familiar style, it was Celtic which started more confidently.

Captain Scott Brown drove wide of the target from distance with just over a minute played before an horrendous mistake by Killie defender Mo Sissoko in the fourth minute gifted the Parkhead side what would be the best chance of the half.

Under no pressure with the ball at his feet outside his own box, the big defender's sloppy pass across his back line was intercepted by the lurking Gary Hooper

The Celtic striker had only Bell to beat but the Killie keeper made a good block to save the blushes of his lackadaisical team-mate.

Killie, tentative and nervous, slowly worked its way into the game.

Rugby Park midfielder Dean Shiels fired wide of Fraser Forster's left-hand post moments later but it took another Bell save in the 27th minute to keep the score level.

Brown skinned Killie midfielder Garry Hay on the right wing before crossing in for Anthony Stokes to bullet a header downwards, the Irishman looking in anguish as the Killie number one dived to push the ball away at his left-hand post.

At the other end, Celtic keeper Forster made a good save from Shiels' right-footed drive from the edge of the box and from the resultant corner, Stokes cleared Sissoko's header off the line.

It was an absorbing rather than an exciting contest but in the 39th minute Bell was called into action again when he tipped a powerful drive from the impressive Brown over the bar but the corner came to nothing.

It was becoming a tale of two keepers as Forster blocked an attempt by Killie striker Paul Heffernan just before the break, after a mistake by Celtic defender Kelvin Wilson had put the Parkhead side under pressure.

There was another early chance at the start of the second half, this time for Killie when Shiels burst into the Celtic box after getting the break of the ball.

The Northern Irishman had only Forster to beat but dreadfully mishit his shot from only six yards and ball spun wide of the target, turned back in by Rugby Park midfielder Jamie Fowler but to no avail.

The Ayrshire side enjoyed their first real concentrated spell of pressure and after a cleared Killie corner in the 54th minute Hay lobbed the ball back into the Celtic box but Sissoko, back-pedalling, headed wide.

This was the cue for Neil Lennon to replace defender Thomas Rogne with midfielder Ki Sung-yueng, with Victor Wanyama moving back to defence and almost immediately the Hoops were back in control .

Just after the hour mark Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley fired wide of the target before Stokes, after making himself a yard of space inside the Killie, box shot straight at Bell.

The Kilmarnock keeper then tipped a Wanyama header over the bar after a Ki corner as the Ayrshire side's defending became increasingly desperate.

As extra-time began to loom, and legs became tired, Killie midfielder Liam Kelly fired just over the bar from the edge of the box.

Georgios Samaras replaced Hooper in the 79th minute but four minutes later Killie was dramatically ahead when Van Tornhout ran in at the back post to head Johnson's cross from the left past Forster.

The final minutes were fraught and here was time for Bell to make a double save, first from Samaras and then Kris Commons, who had come on for Ledley and for Stokes to get booked for simulation after Hoops appeals for a penalty came to nothing.

The final whistle, after four added minutes, brought roars from Killie fans whose club has now won all three major Scottish trophies.

The Hoops manager acknowledged that his side struggled at Tannadice until United full-back Robbie Neilson was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for leading with his elbow in a challenge with Hoops striker Georgios Samaras.

That moment proved to be the turning point and after Joe Ledley broke the deadlock soon after the break the result was never really in doubt and further goals from Samaras, Anthony Stokes and Scott Brown, from the spot, put a green and white gloss on the result.

Celtic, 21 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and all but certain to be champions, play the winners of the St Mirren versus Hearts replay in the semi-final but before that they take on Kilmarnock in the final of the Scottish Communities League Cup at Hampden.

While Hoops fans departed Tayside singing about a treble, Lennon warned against such assumptions.

"There is a lot of momentum and there is a lot of talk about the treble but if we play like we did in the first half there will be no treble," he told BBC Scotland.

"We have to analyse the first-half performance and eradicate where we went wrong.

"I am looking for better than that, particularly in the first half, in games to come.

"We looked a bit disjointed at times. The sending off obviously changed the game and put us on the front foot but in the second half we were tremendous.

"But credit to Dundee United, the scoreline probably flattered us.

"We have a cup final to look forward to next week against Kilmarnock and then a game against Rangers after that so two huge games in the context of the season."

United boss Peter Houston has little time to dwell on his disappointment as he awaits the visit next week of administration-hit Rangers whose players on Friday volunteered to take wage cuts to stave off the danger of redundancies throughout the club.

He said: "The players worked hard and I don't think the scoreline was a true reflection of the game.

"But the great thing is you go from one big game to another big game.

"It's another early kick-off on Saturday and we welcome Rangers.

"It is a difficult game because there is a bit of unity amongst the players there because they have taken a drop in wages and fair play to them, so we are in for a massive game.

"If we if we play like we did in the first half with 11 men then we can be a match for anyone."

Like most people Houston was puzzled as to why Lennon replaced keeper Fraser Forster with former United keeper Lukasz Zaluska with a minute remaining.

He said: "I had no idea what that was about - maybe trying to get him appearance money."

Mass redundancies were prevented on Friday when all players accepted wage cuts of up to 75 per cent for the rest of the season while Mervan Celik and Gregg Wylde left voluntarily.

Bids are being invited in a bid to save the stricken Scottish champion and Clark is eager to identify "serious" suitors as soon as possible.

Clark told the club's website: "What we want is to have only serious bidders left by the end of the week.

"So anybody who has just been talking - and there are a few out there who have done a lot of talking - we want to seek them out and, as it were, put their money where their mouth is.

"Let's get them round a table so we know how many parties we've got. I don't care how many bidders we end up with but I want to know who they are, what they are and what their worth is, so then we can have more serious conversations about achieving the end goal which is to get Rangers under new ownership.

"This is the problem we have got, we have one or two parties prepared to talk to the media and then you have other parties who have been quietly and slowly and diligently getting on with their business behind closed doors outside of the glare of the media and we are taking them just as seriously as anybody who is on the front page of the newspapers saying, 'I'm going to buy Rangers, you just watch'.

"If somebody wants to involve the media, that's fine. And if they become the owner then they can sit on the front page of all the papers saying, 'I did it'. But don't be surprised if that owner isn't one of the people who is media friendly.

"By the way, I am not ruling anybody out in this process, absolutely not. I'm just saying that nobody should assume that the only serious bidders are the ones who are in the public domain."

Clark added: "I don't want to be specific about bidders but there is at least one party from the Far East and we've had some interest as well from the American continent.

"We're talking about Scotland, wider UK and some overseas parties. There's been a number of meetings over the last few days and more planned for next week. I've got two calls to two different parties over the weekend. We have an online data room for those parties so they can go in and take information over and above what we've told them in our meetings.

"You've got different people asking different questions. We hope and believe that a new owner will be installed before the end of the season so that it's not us in charge at season's end. That's our objective.

"What we've done so that people realise they need to speed themselves up is to say that on Friday we want to receive absolute proof of your funding so we understand who you are and which camp you are in because some people have feet in various camps.

"We want to know who exactly has your money. More importantly, we want some form of indicative bid, so that will distil down however many parties we have got at the moment to the final few."

Clark has revealed the squad would have been "decimated" to save £1 million ($1.5 million) a month.

Mass redundancies were prevented on Friday when all players accepted wage cuts of up to 75 per cent for the rest of the season while Mervan Celik and Gregg Wylde left voluntarily.

Clark told Sunday newspapers: "We were looking at the decimation of the squad.

"There was mention over the last week of between eight and 11 players being made redundant had the players not taken pay cuts. If we'd made eight to 11 redundancies we would have still needed 50 pr cent pay cuts from the players who remained.

"If those cuts hadn't been made, and I couldn't do the sums until now, we would have been looking at cuts of up to 20 players in total."

Talks have been ongoing on two fronts - with players over a wage-reduction agreement and with interested parties over a speedy sale of the business.

Administrators say that, if no deal is struck with the squad or no assurances made over an imminent bid, the playing squad will be cut.

Players have agreed to take wage cuts - the top earners would lose 75 per cent of their salary - but some want more secure guarantees that workers will not lose their jobs and some want exit clauses in their contracts.

Joint administrator David Whitehouse promised redundancies if a deal was not struck, although he had previously set Monday as a deadline.

His colleague from Duff and Phelps, Paul Clark, later expressed some optimism over a deal with players after renewed discussions with agents and said some players would get exit agreements.

He added: "I don't think that should be considered that any or all of the players are considering that they want to leave the club in the summer.

"It's just a safety mechanism from their point of view, in exchange for the very substantial amounts they're giving up, to give them some flexibility depending on what the new ownership structure looks like when the club comes out of administration."

Administrators have claimed their reluctance to make cuts so far has been out of a need to preserve some value to the playing squad in order to attract buyers.

Clark told BBC Scotland: "We've got several parties who appear to be asking all the right questions and we are looking for them to move forward to make some bids to us, we hope at some point next week."

Duff and Phelps were appointed by Rangers in a court hearing after working with owner Craig Whyte, and suspicion has lingered over their links with the majority shareholder.

However, they have publicly questioned Whyte's actions on numerous occasions and Clark insisted there was no benefit for the owner in Rangers moving into liquidation.

Valcke claimed the national associations should not stand in the way of their players' "dreams" of competing at the Games this summer.

"Let the players play. If they want to play, let them," he told BBC Sport.

"For the players, when you are 20, 21, 23 it's a dream. And that's what we have to respect."

The SFA, FAW and IFA opposed plans for a British men's football team at London 2012 over fears it will compromise their independence.

"You can always understand [their concerns] but you still hope that... we should forget about these problems when you're talking about an event like the Olympic Games," Valcke added.

Valcke said it was important the GB team was made up of players from all four home nations.

"There's a team and this team should be composed by the four British associations," he added.

"We finalised an agreement between the four British associations and FIFA. It took a long time - there was a lot of exchange of letters and things said, and a lot of words used in this period.

"Now it's up to the coach and the FA to finalise the composition of this team.

"But it should be a representation of a country."

On the agenda will be a debate over whether changes have to be made to the rule book, which could mean "tougher" rules being rubber-stamped at a general meeting.

Rangers was forced into administration on February 14 over an unpaid tax bill of £9million accrued since Craig Whyte's takeover. The financial crisis at Ibrox has already had an impact on other SPL clubs.

Dunfermline is owed £84,000 in ticket revenue from its match with Rangers on February 11 and revealed yesterday they had to part pay the club's February salaries to all staff, including management and players, with the remainder to be paid within 10 days.

Doncaster wrote in his blog on the SPL's website: "It is important that we keep the whole issue of financial fair play firmly in the spotlight.

"Improving our rule book and making it less likely that our member clubs end up in financial difficulty in the first place should continue to be a priority.

"And with this in mind, all 12 SPL member clubs will meet this Monday.

"On the agenda will be our existing rules on financial fair play and whether our current rule book needs improvement in the face of the financial challenges being faced by several member clubs.

"If agreement in principle is reached, this could mean our clubs voting on new, tougher, rules on financial fair play at a general meeting, either in April or July this year.

"It will be a difficult debate. But it is vital that we do not shy away from these issues or bury our heads in the sand.

"It may be uncomfortable to address these thorny problems head-on. But the long-term health and prosperity of Scottish football demands that we do just that."

UEFA's financial fair play regulations require clubs to balance their books over the medium term, not spend more than they earn, and operate within their financial means.

"Whether the precise system of measurement used by UEFA is perfect is a moot point," Doncaster added.

"But the logic behind the principle however is, I think, broadly sound. And it is this same principle that explains the position of the SPL.

"To turn a blind eye, to allow clubs to continually fail to make prompt payments as they fall due, would be to allow those clubs to gain an unfair sporting advantage over all those other clubs that pay their players, the taxman and other clubs on time.

"That is one of the reasons why, whenever the SPL receives a request from players to adjudicate on their contracts, it has a duty to do so.

"The fundamental basis of any football league is that all member clubs are treated equally."

The club's administrators will not make an announcement on staffing levels until Friday at the earliest, amid speculation that a number of first-team regulars could be heading for the exit door.

So far, director of football Gordon Smith and chief operating officer Ali Russell have been the only casualties of the administration process after their departures were confirmed last Thursday.

Administrators Duff and Phelps have yet to make any cuts to the playing squad with news of any redundancies likely to be made ahead of Sunday's (AEDT) Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against Hearts.

A statement from the administrators read: "Duff and Phelps, the administrators of Rangers Football Club, advise all media there will be no announcement today in relation to staffing levels in any department of the club.

"Discussions are ongoing regarding potential cost-saving measures and announcements will be made at the earliest opportunity, most likely tomorrow."

Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Glasgow giant, assistant manager Kenny McDowall was keen to keep the focus on football.

He says the players felt as though they let their fans down by losing 1-0 to Kilmarnock in front of the biggest crowd of the season at Ibrox in their first match after being forced into administration on February 14.

McDowall believes Rangers must make amends by replicating last weekend's impressive 4-1 win at Inverness in front of what the club hopes will be another packed house on Sunday.

McDowall told Blues News: "The players were really disappointed for letting the supporters down against Killie.

"Things that had gone on during the week had really taken their toll.

"We never really got going about our business in the first half but, with 10 men in the second, we played very well.

"After losing the goal, it was too big a climb for us to overturn the scoreline and that was hard to take.

"Hopefully this weekend, with something close to a full house again, we can give the fans a performance like the one we had on Sunday there instead."

Trevor Muirhead, 43, and Neil McKenzie, 42, are accused of conspiring to kill Lennon and other high profile supporters of the club, including Trish Godman MSP and lawyer Paul McBride QC, as well as various people in the premises of Irish Nationalist group Cairde Na Heireann in Glasgow, by sending improvised explosive devices to them.

The pair are alleged to have sent Lennon a package they believed was an improvised explosive device, capable of igniting and exploding and of causing severe injury and death to another person.

It is further alleged the package, sent to Lennon at Celtic's training centre in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, contained a plastic bottle containing the substance tri-acetone tri-peroxide with a wire attached and a plastic bag containing a bag of nails and a watch component.

Muirhead, from Kilwinning in Ayrshire, and McKenzie, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, are also charged with sending similar devices to Ms Godman, at an address in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, and to Cairde Na Heireann.

It is alleged the package sent to Mr McBride at Advocate's Library, Parliament House, Edinburgh, comprised a plastic bottle containing petrol, with a wire attached, a plastic glove, nails and a watch component.

They are accused of sending the devices with the intention that the contents would ignite and explode when opened, causing severe injury and death to the recipients.

The two men face an alternative charge that they sent a package to Lennon at Celtic Park on or 4 March, intending him to think it was likely to 'explode or ignite'.

At the trial, which started at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday, Royal Mail postman Andrew Brown told how he became suspicious of a package he picked up from a post box on Gladstone Road, Saltcoats, on Friday 4 March last year.

He said something about the brown envelope, addressed to Lennon at Celtic Park, Glasgow, 'didn't feel right'.

Mr Brown, 27, told the court: "When I felt it, there were different textures. It just didn't feel right. There were sharp edges."

The postman said he was aware of a recent 'scuffle' which had taken place at an Old Firm match between Lennon and the now Rangers manager Ally McCoist.

He said the package stood out because it was addressed to Lennon, and that he reported it to his supervisors Mark McGuire and Andrew Easton when he arrived back at the Saltcoats sorting office.

Mr Easton, Royal Mail line manager, and Mr McGuire, delivery manager, were also called to give evidence.

Mr Easton said the contents of the package 'felt like a bag of nails' and Mr McGuire told the court it was 'particularly weighty'.

Mr McGuire said: "There appeared to be something like a nail protruding from it."

Police were called and the building was evacuated as specialist officers from Springburn Police Office were drafted in to inspect the package.

The jury of 11 women and four men were shown the components: a quantity of a dark resinous substance with two nails embedded in it, a white digital device with a clock face, a black wire which was said to be attached to the seal of the envelope and the resinous substance and a quantity of nails.

The court heard that the suspicious package was later found to be a 'hoax nail bomb' and it was deemed safe to return to the post office.

The corporation reported that during a civil case last year, Mr Whyte told a court his seven-year ban from being a company director did not relate to the treatment of creditors.

But the BBC claimed the judge who imposed the ban said company assets were "put out of the reach of the creditors".

Mr Whyte has accused the BBC of being on a "witch-hunt".

His spokesman said last night the allegation was "defamatory" and claimed it was "part of a concerted campaign by the BBC to embarrass Craig Whyte personally and to damage Rangers Football Club".

He said: "In specific terms, Mr Whyte totally refutes the scurrilous allegation that he may have committed perjury in a court of law in December last year. The responses he gave to questions relating to matters that took place some 17 years ago were given truthfully and to the best of his recollection."

A statement posted on the club's official website noted the "attack" would be "contested robustly" by Mr Whyte's lawyers.

And the Hoops boss believes the striker rose to the challenge with a starring role in Sunday's Scottish Communities League Cup last-four win over Falkirk.

Stokes was on target twice in the 3-1 victory as Celtic secured a meeting with Kilmarnock in the final, but Lennon was impressed by more than just the goals.

He said: "I had a chat with him on Friday and told him I was pleased with his goal return but his play in general needs to smarten up a bit and I got all of that from him.

"He always gives himself a chance in games, he has that natural instinct for scoring.

"But to play here consistently you need more than chipping in with a goal here and there.

"I want him to be a good team player and I thought he was excellent. I was delighted with his contribution."

Stokes was also pleased with his own contribution, as his brace put the tie beyond Falkirk after Jay Fulton had cancelled out Scott Brown's penalty.

He said: "I was delighted with the result and happy with the goals as well. It was a good team performance.

"We didn't take our chances in the first half but we made up for it in the second half."

The Irishman was keen to credit its Irn-Bru First Division opponent for making Celtic work hard for its win.

He added: "We did our homework and the gaffer showed us DVDs.

"We know what they are like, they try to play football and they did that today. Thankfully we came out on top.

"It was always going to be difficult. We knew they were going to throw everything at us in the last five or 10 minutes but the third goal just killed it so it was nice to have that bit of a cushion."

Celtic may now be within touching distance of the first silverware of the season, but Stokes refused to discuss the possibility of a domestic clean-sweep.

He said: "I'm not going to talk about the treble.

"We are going to put the final on the back-burner now and just concentrate on the games that we have coming up."

Skipper Scott Brown fired the Hoops into the lead from the spot in the 26th minute after Bairns skipper Darren Dods had wrestled with Thomas Rogne at a corner and it looked like the Scottish Premier League leader would go on to win with some ease.

However, 17-year-old Falkirk midfielder Jay Fulton, son of former Celtic player Stevie Fulton, dramatically levelled for the First Division side before the break.

But there was to be no repeat of Celtic's shock 2010 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to First Division Ross County thanks to former Bairns player Stokes.

The Irishman's free-kick from 25 yards in the 56th minute gave Falkirk goalkeeper Michael McGovern no chance and he tapped in from a Gary Hooper pass with five minutes remaining to make sure Celtic returns to the national stadium on 18 March.

Celtic was not at its best for long spells but its treble hopes remain alive with its next game in the Scottish Cup at Inverness next weekend.

Falkirk will continue its chase of Division One leader Ross County and it can take plenty of positives from its performance.

Celtic went into the game having won 12 successive SPL matches on its way to the top of the table.

Steven Pressley's side had knocked out Rangers and Dundee United on its way to Hampden and it started brightly and with a confidence not often displayed by SPL teams when faced with Celtic.

However, in the 11th minute the Bairns were let off the hook with what appeared to be a contentious offside decision in their favour.

Brown's right-footed drive from the edge of the box was tipped onto the post by Bairns keeper McGovern before Hooper rattled the rebound in to the net, only to turn and see the flag up.

Then, from a Charlie Mulgrew corner, Rogne crashed a header off the post, which perhaps led Dods get too close in the 26th minute when referee Euan Norris pointed to the spot and booked the Bairns skipper for wrestling Rogne to the ground at a Mulgrew corner.

There was little cause for complaint from Pressley's side and Brown, who had scored last week at St Mirren, stepped up to slam the penalty past McGovern.

Celtic looked comfortable but there was even more drama in the 39th minute when Fulton drew Falkirk level with a fine goal.

Midfielder David Weatherston turned inside Celtic defender Cha Du-ri on the left and passed inside to Kallum Higginbotham who switched to Fulton who was running in to the box and he knocked the ball low past Fraser Forster before taking the cheers of the jubilant Bairns fans and his team-mates.

The Parkhead side was stunned but with seconds remaining of the first period McGovern came to Falkirk's rescue with a great point-blank save from James Forrest.

After remonstrating with Norris at the end of the first half about the penalty decision, Pressley found himself watching the second half from the stand where he squirmed in frustration.

Emilio Izaguirre, who was missing at Falkirk's goal, was replaced at the interval by Ki Sung-yueng with Victor Wanyama moving to centre-back and Mulgrew moving to left-back.

Five minutes after the break Fulton had another chance when Higginbotham stood the ball up at the back post but this time, from 10 yards out, the midfielder bounced his shot over the bar.

In the 55th minute Rogne hit woodwork again, crashing a close-range shot off the bar from a Mulgrew corner which the Bairns had failed to deal with properly.

However, that only delayed the Hoops' second goal which came a minute later when striker Stokes curled a wonderful free-kick from 25 yards over the defensive wall and past the helpless McGovern.

With that goal, Celtic regained its grip on the game and on the hour mark Ki had a powerful drive from 30 yards which was gathered by the Bairns keeper.

Falkirk substitute Blair Alston, who had replaced Fulton, drove wide from inside the box as the game began swinging from end to end.

With one goal in it and Higginbotham at the top of his game, the First Division side always had a chance and in the 78th minute Forster made a fine double save after a corner, first from Dods and then from Stewart Murdoch.

However, there was to be no shock and in the 85th minute Celtic's final appointment was booked when Hooper got away from Dods on the right-hand side of the box and set up Stokes who knocked in from barely a yard out.

The Gers have struggled for form in recent weeks while their Old Firm rival has run up 12 league wins in a row.

Last weekend's slip up against Aberdeen means Ally McCoist's sides now trails Celtic by four points at the top of the Scottish Premier League despite having held a 15 point lead in November.

However, Rangers could close the gap on Saturday to one point when it takes on Hibernian at Ibrox while Celtic has a weekend off from league duty as it faces Falkirk in their League Cup semi-final on Sunday.

The fact the match is at Ibrox will be of little comfort to the Rangers faithful who have seen their side draw four of their 12 league games at the stadium this season.

And on-loan Arsenal defender Kyle Bartley knows he and his teammates have to improve their home form quickly if they are to secure a fourth league title in a row.

"Our home record hasn't been as good as what we would have expected it to be and teams have come to Ibrox and defended well," Bartley said.

"We've found it hard to break them down but we have to do that and start keeping clean sheets again as well.

"A draw at Ibrox isn't good enough against any team and every time we go out we want to win, especially in front of our own fans.

"We have to return to the consistency we had at the start of the season and if we can do that I'm sure we'll stay in the hunt."

Rangers will be without Steven Whittaker, Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty through injury although new signing Mervan Celik could feature for the first time since his move from Swedish side GAIS.

Hibernian could have new loan signings James McPake and Stoke midfielder Tom Soares available to make their debuts at Ibrox. Striker Leigh Griffiths will be unavailable as he starts the first of his two game ban for his gesture to fans at last weekend's game.

Elsewhere on Saturday, third place Motherwell will look to open up a gap over Hearts when it takes on St Johnstone at Fir Park.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle has the chance to leapfrog visitor St Mirren when it hosts the Paisley side on Saturday.

Bottom club Dunfermline could escape the relegation place with a win away to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

It's an all Ayrshire derby at Hampden as Kilmarnock and Ayr United take on each other in Saturday's League Cup semi-final.

The Scotland manager is interested in recruiting the 20-year-old former Manchester United youth player, who has already represented England from under-17 to under-20 level.

But as Stewart's mother is Scottish, Levin hopes to persuade him to make the switch.

"We have spoken to Cameron," Levein told the Scottish Sun.

"Mick Oliver (Scotland team scout) has done a lot of the work and we're keeping an eye on him.

"There's an ongoing dialogue. It's just a matter of watching him and seeing how he's doing. He's made us aware he'd be interested.

"Cameron's playing regularly for Hull, but he had an injury when he was out for a long time. We're just monitoring him right now, but he's definitely one we know about."

Stewart spent nine months on the sidelines with a cruciate knee injury before scoring on his return to action in Nick Barmby's first game in charge.

He was named in a Scotland under-17 squad in 2008 but did not take up the offer and even though he has played for England he could switch for Scotland Under-21s or the senior squad.

The 63-year-old quit the Scottish champion at the end of last season, bringing to an end a second successful spell at the Ibrox helm.

Although not keen to pursue offers which have come his way so far, Smith does not consider himself to be retired just yet and could make a return to the game.

He said: "I'll wait and see if an offer comes along that I would be interested in. I haven't actively pursued that at the moment.

"I've had a couple [of offers] back in August and September but not ones I would have wanted to take."

The former Scotland and Everton boss added: "I suppose when you get to my age, you are thinking of retiring anyway.

"But I think in a football sense, you find a lot of people who come to my age and who are not involved, they can get the offer for an opportunity to get back into the game at different spells.

"If I get one, I'll consider it. I wouldn't say I was in retirement at the present moment.

"You miss the footballing parts, there is no doubt that happens.

"That's the part that I do miss - the involvement in matches and the competitive aspect of seeing your team play against another.

"I don't miss an awful lot of the rest of the stuff but I miss that aspect of it."

Smith revealed he has limited his visits to Ibrox since his departure but has been impressed by his successor Ally McCoist.

He said: "I've only been to a couple of games this season. It's been strange to watch them mainly on television.

"With the changes - a new owner, a new manager and some new players to integrate into the team - I feel Alistair has started very well."

Smith, who was helping to promote ESPN's festive football schedule, believes next week's Old Firm derby at Celtic Park could be pivotal in the title race as McCoist aims to steer Rangers to the SPL crown in his first season in the hotseat.

He said: "From a Rangers point of view, the next few matches are obviously vitally important.

"For any club, if you find yourself in the early part of the year going into the second half of the season at the top of the league, that's a big thing psychologically.

"That's what makes the forthcoming games big games for both clubs."

The Hearts first-team squad and PFA Scotland on Friday delivered a letter of complaint to the SPL after the players' December salaries failed to arrive on schedule for the third successive month.

The Hearts players on Thursday signed a letter of permission allowing PFA Scotland to represent them in its battle to recover its owed monies after growing tired of the ongoing uncertainty at the beleaguered club.

Wages are due on the 16th of each month, but the first delay saw the players October salary received on November 4.

On that occasion the intervention of manager Paulo Sergio stalled a complaint and 24 hours later payment was made.

Earlier this month the players received a £1000 ($A1,560) part-payment from funds generated from the loss to St Johnstone at Tynecastle and on Thursday the November salaries were paid in full - 29 days late.

However, there was no sign of further payment on Friday and PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart made formal the players' displeasure by delivering a letter of complaint to the SPL's Hampden Park offices.

The move had the full backing of the dressing room.

Fletcher's six goals in 10 Premier League matches this season, and five in his last six in particular, has ensured he is currently hot property.

With the January transfer window looming, McCarthy is wary of the vultures who could look to prise away the 24-year-old Scotland international.

"He's a Premier League player scoring goals so he's going to get headlines. Players always do when they're scoring goals," McCarthy told the Express & Star.

Asked if he felt Fletcher would be a transfer target, McCarthy said: "No. If I say yes then I've suddenly put him up for sale haven't I? So, categorically, no.

"All Fletcher can do is play and score, for his career here and his Scotland career.

"He's still only a young man, so all he can do is keep playing well and scoring. It's a great feeling as a footballer to be playing well.

"He's a very good player, he's excellent. It's his all-round game, but as with all strikers it's his goals that top his performances off.

"And he wants to score. He loves scoring."

UEFA's control and disciplinary panel imposed the fine after the match delegate was informed of pro-IRA chanting by the Strathclyde police match commander on 3 November.

The fine was announced by the European governing body on Monday afternoon after a decision was taken on Friday.

Celtic expressed its surprise at the charge when it was announced last month and said it would cooperate fully with any investigation.

The Glasgow club acknowledged notification of the fine, but will take time to decide whether to appeal.

A Celtic spokesperson said on the club's official website, www.celticfc.net: "We received notification of the fine this afternoon with no detail.

"The club is currently considering its position."

Earlier this month Celtic escaped Scottish Premier League action over pro-IRA chanting, the league ruling the club had taken all reasonable action to prevent such 'unacceptable conduct', which was reported by police after a goalless draw against Hibernian on 29 October.

The lack of action is consistent with the league's stance that clubs should not be punished for the behaviour of fans if all reasonable measures had been taken to prevent it and deal with it.

But UEFA has been more willing to punish clubs and national associations in similar instances.

The European governing body has fined Rangers for 'discriminatory' behaviour on three occasions, the latest offences also prompting a one-match travel ban on supporters.

The Ibrox club argued it had done everything possible to halt the singing.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon in May urged fans to stop pro-IRA chants and Bhoys chief executive Peter Lawwell made a similar plea in September after the club was 'inundated' with complaints from its own supporters after a 2-0 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle.

Lawwell recently said: "Chants glorifying the Provisional IRA are totally unacceptable.

"One, it is wrong, and it is an embarrassment to the club and an embarrassment to the majority of supporters.

"We have dealt with it at Celtic Park and we will do all we can to make sure it doesn't happen home or away."

Lennon has said: "We are better than that as a club and we always have been, we just don't need it.

"We are and always have been a club open to all and we do not have issues around sectarianism.

"We have our own values and traditions but they do not include these chants. We don't want them at matches and they must stop."

The hearing took place on Friday, but as it was one of more than 100 cases being dealt with by UEFA's control and disciplinary body the result has not yet been announced.

Celtic were charged after the Strathclyde Police match commander complained to the UEFA match delegate about pro-IRA chanting at the Europa League Group I game on November 3.

The Scottish side won the match 3-1.

Earlier this month Celtic escaped Scottish Premier League action over pro-IRA chanting, the league ruling the club had taken all reasonable action to prevent such "unacceptable conduct", which was reported by police following a goalless draw against Hibernian on October 29.

The lack of action is consistent with the league's stance that clubs should not be punished for the behaviour of fans if all reasonable measures had been taken to prevent it and deal with it.

But UEFA have been more willing to punish clubs and national associations in similar instances.

The European governing body have fined Rangers for "discriminatory" behaviour on three occasions, the latest offences also prompting a one-match travel ban on supporters.

The Ibrox club argued they had done everything possible to halt the singing.

An Arda Turan strike in the 29th minute was enough to give Atletico Madrid the three points at Parkhead in its penultimate Group I fixture and secure the Spanish club's qualification.

The Hoops now have to beat the Italian club on 15 December to leapfrog it into second place but Celtic has won only once away from home in Europe in eight years - against Dinamo Moscow in 2009.

"It's a tall order," said Lennon. "Udinese are an excellent side and we haven't won away from home in a long while but we will give it everything we've got.

"I thought we matched them for most of the game if not better them.

"It was an excellent performance and I though we deserved better from it."

Asked if he would have accepted his situation at the start of the campaign, Lennon said: "Of course. Going into the group we probably have been the underdog out of the four teams.

"I have seen a gradual progression and improvement in all the performances and it is a great stage to play in for these players.

"They came up against an excellent side who defended and counter-attacked very well but I can only give credit to the players for having a good go at it.

"You have to be mindful of Udinese, I would imagine that they would be on the front foot from the off in Italy but we will go for it, as we did tonight."

Celtic had more than held its own until Turkey international Turan picked up a Daniel Majstorovic clearance from a Diego corner 20 yards from goal and fired back in past Fraser Forster.

Substitute Gary Hooper, an interval replacement for Victor Wanyama, had the ball in the net after the break only to see it chalked off with an Anthony Stokes handball apparently the reason, although amid some confusion there were also suggestions of offside.

The Celtic boss claimed the decision was 'unfortunate' and was also calm about the loss of the goal despite skipper Beram Kayal appearing to duck to avoid Turan's strike.

Lennon claimed the midfielder might have misjudged the flight of the ball and that goal keeper Forster did not see the ball until late.

Forster was not for blaming his team-mate either despite admitting the Israel international had ducked out of the way.

He said: "He has obviously ducked but there were plenty of other things that we could have done better leading up to that so as a team it is disappointing.

"Beram has been fantastic for us all season and he is a great player. There are probably about 10 things that should have been done differently.

"I got a decent touch and on another day that should stay out."

Once again Lennon was left counting the cost of injuries.

Joe Ledley, playing at left-back again, was carried off on a stretcher in the first half while midfielder Wanyama stayed inside at the interval and both are doubtful for the trip to Dundee United this weekend.

The former Celtic skipper said: "It is a twist on the ankle for Joe so he will be doubtful for Sunday.

"We will have to see how he is but I don't think it is anything too serious.

"Victor picked up a dead leg and he was struggling with it the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half so again he could be doubtful for the weekend."

Lennon denied that Hooper, who scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over St Mirren at the weekend, was dropped with the United game in mind.

"No, we wanted to match them in midfield," he said.

"I was concerned that we would get outnumbered in that middle area where Diego might have been able to make use of the extra man so we decided to match them up and for the first half-hour, as I said, we were excellent."

Atletico boss Gregorio Manzano was pleased his side was not made to pay for its missed chances.

He said: "At the end of the day, the most important thing was winning and we won the game.

"It was difficult to come here and win but it if we could have scored more goals it might have been so anxious for us."

The winger, 22, signed for the Scottish champion on a short-term deal until the end of the season, with the option of a further two years.

He had been without a club since his contract at Aberdeen expired in the summer but impressed while on trial and, despite the lack of competitive action in recent months, is desperate to get his Rangers career under way.

The Nigeria international told Blues News: "It's good to be here. It was great to get everything sorted out and as soon as I got the opportunity to come here, it was what I wanted.

"Anyone who has played in Scotland for longer than five minutes knows all about Rangers and Celtic and this is the biggest team in the country in my opinion.

"I had three days to wait before I actually got to come here for my trial so I'd had a chance to calm down by the time I arrived.

"I've not played a lot in the last four months but I knew that if I got an opportunity like this I had to be ready for it so I've kept working hard."

Aluko revealed he contributed personally to the compensation package agreed with former club Aberdeen in a bid to ensure the move did not fall through.

He added: "There was a bit of a stand-off between the clubs for a while over compensation and that could have dragged on with tribunals and all the rest.

"But at some point someone is going to have to compromise and make a sacrifice and I'm the one who did that.

"I've almost bent over backwards to be here. Once I got the chance, I was adamant I wanted to be at Rangers and I can't thank the people around me enough for helping me get here.

"Now I'm ready to play if the manager needs me. I'll do that any time and although I'm a bit behind the boys, I'll do my best and give my all."

Meanwhile, first team coach Ian Durrant insists Rangers has no concerns about Celtic moving within seven points of the SPL leaders.

The Light Blues boast a 12-point advantage, but could see the lead cut further to just four points ahead of the game if Celtic defeat St Mirren.

Durrant said: "If you had said at the start of the season that in November we would be seven points in front of Celtic, we would have bitten your hand off for it.

"Seven points is still a big margin to make up and we are enjoying it.

"Celtic have a hard programme coming up again with the Europa League and we just have to take advantage of any slip-ups.

"Now it's Celtic's turn to play the game before us and we've just got to react in the right way. We've got a tough game against Kilmarnock but we are looking forward to it."

The midfielder, who plays his club football for Aston Villa in the Premier League, was involved in a single-car accident on the M1 in October.

The 21-year-old, who appeared in court charged with four offences, including failing to stop after an accident, was released on bail and has to appear at the Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 25 November.

Bannan was travelling with fellow professional footballer James Collins of Shrewsbury Town.

Collins was arrested for the same incident, but will not face any charges.

Former Rangers defender Butcher, who is now Inverness manager, was inducted alongside Pat Crerand, Ronnie Simpson and RS McColl in front of an audience that included Sir Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith, Billy McNeill and Danny McGrain.

Butcher, who won 77 caps for England, scoring three goals, led Rangers to three League titles in four seasons, plus two Scottish League Cups and made over 100 appearances before leaving Ibrox in 1990.

He was Scotland assistant manager under George Burley, boss of Motherwell for four seasons and has been in charge of Caley Thistle since 2009, helping it to promotion to the top flight.

Crerand's career began at Celtic, where he played 120 times before a distinguished nine-season spell at Manchester United.

He featured in close to 400 matches for United and won two League titles, the FA Cup and European Cup winners' medals. He also won 16 Scotland caps.

Simpson, who died in 2004, was Celtic goalkeeper when the Bhoys won the 1967 European Cup, while McColl scored 13 times in 13 appearances for Scotland between 1896 and 1908.

UEFA has asked Celtic for its version of events during the club's 3-1 win over Rennes at Parkhead on 3 November.

Press Association Sport understands that Strathclyde Police made the UEFA delegate aware of 'offensive' singing during the encounter.

Celtic confirmed it was 'looking into the claims', which are believed to centre on songs about the IRA.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "We can confirm there were a number of instances during the game of singing offensive songs and inquiries are ongoing to detect the offenders."

The club is understood to have been taken by surprise by the action from UEFA, which has not confirmed what charge Celtic may face or when any disciplinary hearing may take place.

A Celtic Park source said: "This is quite unprecedented as no issues were raised to the club during the match and the police didn't inform us directly about their concerns."

Celtic last month urged fans to stop singing pro-IRA chants after being 'inundated' with complaints from its own supporters after the 2-0 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle.

Lothian and Borders Police announced they had launched an investigation into the 'singing of sectarian songs' after the Scottish Premier League game on 2 October.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said: "Chants glorifying the Provisional IRA are totally unacceptable.

"One, it is wrong, and it is an embarrassment to the club and embarrassment to the majority of supporters.

"We have dealt with it at Celtic Park and we will do all we can to make sure it doesn't happen home or away. We don't want it, we don't need it.

"We have the best supporters in the world and hold that reputation dear."

Possible UEFA sanctions include a fine and ban on supporters, although Celtic has not been punished for a similar offence before.

Rangers fans were banned from travelling to their next away game in Europe and the club was fined more than £70,000 ($109,071) after being found guilty of two counts of 'discriminatory behaviour' on the part of its fans in April after Europa League games against PSV Eindhoven.

Rangers was also handed a suspended ban on a second away game and warned it faced playing a home game behind closed doors if found guilty of the same offence within three years.

The Ibrox club had received fines after similar incidents in matches against Villarreal and Osasuna in recent years.

Craven, a former Scottish Premier League assistant referee, resigned after his involvement in the Dundee United versus Celtic game at Tannadice last year, a match which became infamous due to referee Dougie McDonald's controversial decision to overturn a penalty given to the visitor.

Craven admitted his part in originally trying to cover up the incident and although he subsequently resigned, he was hoping to continue as an official at amateur level.

However, he was barred from taking charge of any games by the Glasgow Referee's Association, a decision that was upheld at Hampden.

Speaking to STV outside the national stadium, Craven's lawyer said: "My client is shocked and disappointed by the SFA's decision.

"My client maintains the original decision of the Glasgow Referee's Association to subject him to a lifetime refereeing ban was wholly disproportionate.

"In particular, my client believes that the decision-making processes of the Glasgow Referee's Association were fundamentally flawed, rendering the original decision unsafe.

"My client will now explore all his options with his legal team."

Goalkeeper Grant Adam - the brother of Liverpool and Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam - is alleged to have committed the offense early on Sunday morning in Glasgow.

Adam, who is third-choice goalkeeper at Rangers, denied the charge when he appeared at a Glasgow court. He was released on bail and will appear back in court on Jan. 25 ahead of a trial on Feb. 10.

Rangers is traditionally supported by the Protestant community in Glasgow and has an intense rivalry with Celtic, which is followed by the Catholic community.

Rangers has been fined on a number of occasions by UEFA for sectarian chanting by fans.

Rangers has won its last 13 SPL games on the road with the loss of just one goal, which came in their title-clinching 5-1 victory over Kilmarnock in May.

The latest win came at Tynecastle, where Hearts had won four consecutive SPL games without conceding a goal.

Jelavic, who netted a brilliant second goal in a 2-0 win, feels the new central defensive partnership of Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goian has been instrumental in this season's run, with Allan McGregor coming to the rescue when the back line is breached.

Jelavic, who faces Aberdeen at Pittodrie this weekend, told Blues News: "Hearts is always a hard place to go and take three points but we showed team spirit and character. Now we need to look forward to Aberdeen.

"It's always nice to win games, especially when you're not conceding goals. The whole team showed that we are like a family. We stick together, especially in central defence with Carlos and Dorin.

"They are fantastic players and Greegsy has saved us many times."

Jelavic shook off a bug that had stopped him training for several days before the Tynecastle clash.

The Croatian came off the bench to score with his first touch, a brilliant cushioned volley following Bocanegra's 50-yard pass over the top.

Jelavic said: "I took a first touch and scored. Easy. Simple!

"It was a great ball from Carlos. At first I thought maybe I could control the ball and then I thought 'I'm too deep'.

"It's not easy but I decided to take one touch. I had a lot of time because the defender was behind me. I concentrated on the ball and it was brilliant."

The First Division outfit had already dumped Inverness and Hearts out of the competition ahead of the clash in Paisley.

And they completed a hat-trick of victories over Premier League opposition when they denied the odds to pull off the shock of the night with a 1-0 win over Saints.

Reid said: "As a manager of a club, I've never been to the semi-final of a national cup so, for me personally, I'm delighted and it's probably my best achievement in football.

"I said to all the players that they need to enjoy the night because they might never get to another national semi-final. It's great credit to them, to their effort and commitment."

Chris Smith grabbed the only goal of the game with 81 minutes on the clock on a night where both sides struggled to create much in the way of clear-cut opportunities.

Reid added: "We are absolutely delighted, it was a great night for Ayr United Football Club.

"We were complimented by a superb travelling support and I was delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net and I'm glad we gave them a good night.

"St Mirren are a very good team and we knew they would have the bulk of the possession but our gameplan worked to a tee and every player stuck to it.

"We made it hard for St Mirren to break us down and we limited them to very few chances.

"I was delighted to see big Chris Smith, who missed our game on Saturday with a head knock, popping up with the winner. It was written in the script."

Part-timers Ayr languish at the bottom of Division One and Reid is desperate to see his players take their cup form into the league campaign.

He said: "We've got to take confidence from this result. We have beaten three SPL clubs and one of them at their own ground. There is no point doing this and then getting beaten by Hamilton on Saturday."

Saints boss Danny Lennon was disappointed to exit the competition to a side he felt "parked the bus" at St Mirren Park.

He said: "We believe in what we are doing. But for all the dominance and possession that we had, we found it very difficult to break down a parked bus plus 11 traffic wardens.

"They did it fantastically well and credit to them for sticking to their gameplan for 90 minutes.

"With the stats that we have on the game, it looks like they scored from their one and only shot on target.

"It was a wonderful opportunity for us and I'm bitterly disappointed and gutted for everybody associated with the club, not least the supporters - but I believe in the way we are going."

As far back as the end of August the Hoops skipper, currently out with an ankle injury, claimed only his "nitpicking" was preventing him extending his contract, which ends next summer.

Lennon thought Brown and the club were ready to confirm its agreement but believes it will all get sorted out before the Scotland midfielder becomes a free agent.

"I don't know where we are with that one," Lennon said ahead of tomorrow night's Scottish Communities League Cup quarter-final with Hibernian at Easter Road.

"As far as I was aware, the terms were agreed and it was just the case of the agent's fee being sorted out so I don't know how further down the line we are with that.

"I haven't had the chance to speak to Scott about it because he has been down in London seeing a specialist about his ankle injury.

"He could become a free agent but I am hoping that is not going to be the case. I would like to think so."

Lennon has more pressing concerns ahead of the trip to Leith as more injuries have stretched his squad further.

Striker Mohamed Bangura could require surgery on his knee while Glenn Loovens came off during the 2-1 win over Aberdeen with a hamstring injury and stand-in skipper Mulgrew, who scored the winner, picked up an ankle knock which leaves him a doubt for the trip to Leith.

Lennon is also still without long-term injured defender Kelvin Wilson and Emilio Izaguirre.

Georgios Samaras and Kris Commons are also out but Lennon insists he will still be able to field a strong side against Hibs.

"Bangura is going to see a specialist tomorrow and after that he we will know whether or not he requires surgery on his knee problem," he said.

"We are hoping Glenn Loovens will be a week to 10 days and Charlie Mulgrew is pretty doubtful as well with an ankle problem.

"Samaras is still struggling with bone bruising on his ankle and Kris has a calf strain.

"Thomas Rogne played an hour yesterday in a bounce game against Rangers and is definitely in contention and Victor Wanyama can play at the back.

"(Daniel) Majstorovic is fit and Mark Wilson has played centre-back before so we have decent cover at the back.

"Again we will have to make changes but we have good players who can adapt."

However, Lennon added of Wilson: "Eventually Mark might need surgery on one of his knees. It is a question of keeping him ticking over at the minute.

"He gets a bit sore after training some days and we have to be mindful of that. But if we can get as much out of him as we did last year then we will be absolutely thrilled."

Lennon added: "Rogne played a couple of Under-21 games for Norway during the international break. He hasn't had much football but the hour against Rangers yesterday would have done him the world of good.

"We will pick the strongest team we can. It's a cup competition that we would like to win it.

"We got to the final last year and so would like to go one better this year and win it."

The midfielder admits major changes to the squad this season could have backfired after having a more compact and settled pool of players in recent campaigns.

But he insists all the summer signings have shown they are up to the task so far as Rangers picked up its 13th consecutive away win.

Naismith said: "There has probably been the biggest transformation in the changing room for the last few years.

"It could have been a worry for everybody at the club, with the boys coming in to know what it's about and be up to the job.

"But every single player who has signed has been putting in great performances in training and it has shown in the games as well.

"Without a doubt, that's the biggest thing - the mentality of having to go into every game and win it. If you don't, you're bitterly disappointed."

Goals from Naismith and Nikica Jelavic sealed the points at Tynecastle - just a few weeks after Celtic succumbed at the same venue.

Naismith added: "We knew it was going to be difficult. Celtic found that out just before the international break and we were well aware of that.

"Hearts turned it into a battle but we knew if we had good defending that we would create chances and it was about being clinical. We had two good chances and two goals."

The win allowed Rangers to move nine points clear of second-placed Motherwell and remain 10 ahead of Celtic.

Naismith said: "You can't think about the points this early in the season.

"You just go into every game trying to get the win and doing your best to get the win.

"Regardless of whether it's Celtic, Motherwell or anyone else, if we can go into our games and play some solid, defensive football and take our chances going forward, we will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

"We've got boys who have been over the course and done it and we know that's what is required.

"We dropped points last week to St Mirren and a lot of people probably wouldn't have predicted that.

"A lot of teams in the league are playing good football and having a real go against the Old Firm. It's refreshing to see but it's tougher for us.

"Every game we go into is definitely a battle and it's one we need to win."

Hearts have imposed a media ban ahead of manager Paulo Sergio's Scottish Football Association disciplinary hearing on November 3, meaning the Jambos boss was unavailable for comment after the game.

But Sergio did tell the club's official website his players have to be more clinical in front of goal.

He said: "We created seven or eight good opportunities and that is encouraging but we must score. The result was unfair but we need to score our chances."

Naismith grabbed his ninth goal of the season, before Jelavic - rated doubtful ahead of the game - doubled the advantage just a few minutes after coming off the bench.

The win allowed Rangers to stretch its lead over second-placed Motherwell to nine points.

Old Firm rival Celtic was also victorious, with stand-in skipper Charlie Mulgrew scoring a crucial second-half winner against Aberdeen at Parkhead to keep Neil Lennon's men 10 points behind its main rival in third.

Hoops midfielder Ki Sung-yueng gave the home side the lead in the 17th minute when he finished off a fine move but Dons defender Ryan Jack levelled on the hour mark.

However, former Aberdeen defender Mulgrew drove high into the net from close range in the 72nd minute before Jack was sent off after picking up the second of his two yellow cards.

The Clydesdale Bank Premier League club described the programme, which will be shown on Thursday evening, as "little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise".

However, the BBC strongly rejected claims of bias against the club and insisted the content of the programme was accurate and in the public interest.

Rangers first withdrew co-operation following a national news report on sectarianism ahead of the opening weekend of the SPL season, before a BBC apology ended the impasse.

A statement on the club's official website read: "Rangers Football Club is withdrawing all co-operation with the BBC as of today.

"The decision has been taken due to the repeated difficulties the club has encountered with the BBC this season.

"The club was forced earlier in the season to suspend co-operation with the BBC over its serious misrepresentation of the club manager's position on violence and sectarianism.

"There have also been other instances where the BBC's reporting on the club's affairs has been neither accurate or fair.

"Furthermore, over the last few weeks the BBC has been involved in making a documentary about the club which appears to be little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise.

"Efforts to ensure that reporting of the club's affairs should be balanced and fair appear to have been in vain.

"The club believes that the BBC has on a number of occasions now demonstrated a pre-determined negative attitude towards Rangers and its fans and its journalism has fallen well short of acceptable standards.

"The decision to end co-operation with the BBC has been taken very reluctantly but the club feels it has been left with no other option."

BBC Scotland later defended the programme and its general standards of reporting.

A spokesman said: "Rangers FC has made a number of assertions in relation to our journalistic standards, including a claim of underlying bias against the club. We completely refute this allegation in the strongest terms.

"All of our reporting of matters pertinent to the running of Rangers FC reflects the high standard expected of the BBC, an organisation that places an absolute value on the accuracy and impartiality of its journalism.

"The club has also made specific criticisms of a documentary scheduled for transmission at 7pm on BBC One Scotland on Thursday.

"We have assured them that rigorous editorial standards will be applied and nothing will be broadcast that is not both accurate and in the public interest."

The BBC website claims that the programme, Rangers - The Inside Story, "investigates the current plight of Rangers FC, and asks what the future might hold under new owner, Craig Whyte".

The programme comes in the same week that Ibrox great John Greig and former chairman John McClelland resigned from the board after feeling marginalised by Whyte, who completed his takeover in May.

The BBC apologised to Rangers for an "inappropriate edit" in July after Ibrox manager Ally McCoist was shown smirking while audio was played of a news reporter questioning him about the behaviour of supporters at Old Firm matches.

McCoist was "appalled" that his response to another question had been inserted in the feature, which was shown on the News at Six on BBC One on July 22.

Boyce, who was appointed to the role in June, believes the Football Association and Scottish Football Association's opposition to Sepp Blatter's unchallenged re-election as FIFA president meant Britain could lose its privileged status when the Northern Irishman steps down in 2015.

"Yes, there is a danger," Boyce told the Leaders in Football conference.

"I would be less than honest if I didn't say there was.

"The big worry now is that some of the European countries who always - as far as I'm aware - supported the British vice-presidency seat may now have a different interpretation.

"I honestly believe that bridges now need to be rebuilt."

FA chairman David Bernstein stood up at the FIFA Congress this northern summer to call for Blatter's re-election to be postponed, amid the corruption scandal that had engulfed the world game's governing body.

Only the SFA backed Bernstein's motion and he revealed that other members of UEFA tried to prevent his intervention.

Boyce said of the FA and SFA: "They did what they felt they had to do but I think they did go against the wishes of several European countries.

"I did hear some comments afterwards in the hall amongst some of the people that were in the hall because of what happened in that particular Congress."

He added of the prospect of Britain losing the permanent vice-presidency it has held since saving FIFA from financial ruin after the Second World War: "I would hope that in my four years of vice-presidency that I can convince people that should not be the situation."

Britain's permanent vice-presidency of FIFA is enshrined in the organisation's statutes but there have been attempts in the past to challenge it.

Any change to FIFA statutes would require the support of 75 percent of its members, two of whom joined Boyce on stage on Wednesday afternoon.

Executive committee member Dr Michel D'Hooghe and new vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein insisted they had no problem with the status quo.

Dr D'Hooghe was confident there was no immediate threat to the British vice-presidency.

But the Belgian added: "Nothing is eternal in life.

"The only thing that is sure is that life changes."

Bernstein's intervention this northern summer came after Mohamed Bin Hammam was forced to pull out of the FIFA presidency race amid bribery allegations against the former president of the Asian Football Confederation.

That was one of several corruption scandals to have engulfed FIFA in recent times and Blatter has promised to reform the organisation, with details of those changes set to be announced on 21 October after the next ExCo meeting.

"I wouldn't hold your breath," was Bernstein's response to the impending announcement.

England 2018 World Cup bid chief Andy Anson went further, ridiculing FIFA's handling of recent scandals and labelling Blatter's desire to enlist the help of opera star Placido Domingo as 'laughable'.

Boyce hit out at the negative reporting of FIFA but added: "Let's try to get FIFA's name back again.

"Let's get rid of people who give FIFA a bad name.

"I honestly believe that's already started but it takes a bit of time.

"It can't be changed in three or four weeks."

Prince Ali, who at 35 became the youngest member of FIFA's ExCo when he was appointed in January, added: "Promises have been made.

"We have four years and, in four years, come back an hold us accountable."

O'Connor fired his side back in front towards the end of an open and entertaining first half and took his tally for the season to 10 when he netted a disputed second-half penalty.

The dangerous Ivan Sproule had opened the scoring with an emphatic finish in the 17th minute but Liam Craig soon volleyed an equaliser.

Cillian Sheridan pulled a late goal back to ensure a fitting finale to a thrilling encounter but Hibernian held on to register its first home win in the league since February.

The American midfielder has battled with indifferent form and criticism from the stands in recent times but has shown a major improvement in the last few matches.

He impressed in the Old Firm derby win over Celtic and grabbed a superb goal against Dunfermline at the weekend, before producing a man of the match display in last night's (northern) 2-0 Clydesdale Bank Premier League win over Kilmarnock.

McCoist said: "I'm delighted with Maurice and I'm just pleased for him.

"There have been times when the form hasn't been great and he's been getting a little bit of criticism, as everybody does, when you sometimes warrant it and things aren't going well.

"I have said before that he will play his way out of it and keep going and he's got to keep doing that.

"He's that kind of player, he has to use his aggression and his athleticism and he is no mean footballer as well once he uses his first two attributes, which are very important to his game.

"The better qualified people to talk about Maurice Edu would be his team-mates because that's the type of player he is and they are all pleased for him."

Second-half goals from Nikica Jelavic and Gregg Wylde sealed the victory over a Kilmarnock side which put up a strong fight against the Scottish champion.

Jelavic and Steven Davis, in particular, combined well for Rangers and McCoist admits those players are crucial when required to secure a hard-fought win over tough opponents.

He said: "You're not going to totally dominate every game so what you need is players within your team who are match-winners, who can provide a spark when the team needs it.

"It won't happen all the time but we feel we've got individual players within a team who can give you a spark and who are match-winners. Certainly those two boys provided that spark."

He added: "We carried our luck a little bit but I was delighted with the clean-sheet.

"We looked fairly solid. There were one or two incidents where we could have defended better but a clean sheet is really important as I always feel we have players who can nick one at the other end."

Naismith this week became the first player to be handed a retrospective punishment under the new system after being judged to have struck Dunfermline full-back Austin McCann with his arm during his club's 4-0 win at East End Park on Saturday.

Rangers accepted the suspension on Monday but manager Ally McCoist last night called for "fairness" and argued it would be "nice to know who has banned him".

The answer is that the decision to offer Naismith a two-match ban - the automatic suspension for a violent conduct offence - was taken by the SFA's temporary compliance officer, who is contracted from a law firm, under strict reference to the laws of the game.

An independent three-man panel would have been convened to decide on Naismith's guilt had Rangers challenged the sanction, with the compliance officer effectively acting as the prosecution.

Ogilvie, speaking after conducting the Scottish Cup second-round draw said: "It was dealt with in very timely fashion. In the past some of these cases were still being dealt with maybe five weeks down the line.

"The one that has come forward this week has been very high profile.

"It has been dealt with at arm's length from the general running of the SFA and that's one of the things the club wanted.

"The compliance officer will deal with each case on its own merit.

"Naturally when it's a high-profile case involving one of the bigger teams, there will be more publicity around it.

"But the key to this is he will deal with every case in the same manner."

The SFA has clarified that any incident studied by the compliance officer will be publicised whether action is ultimately taken or not, which means Naismith is the only player to have been the subject of retrospective action under the new system, although there have been eight claims of wrongful dismissal.

It remains unclear who informed the compliance officer of the Naismith case, although the publicity from Sky's live televised coverage and in other media meant he would have inevitably been aware of it.

"The compliance officer can act on any information at all, it doesn't have to be an individual," Ogilvie said.

"He can act on whatever information is to hand.

"It can be brought to his attention by any means whatsoever. I think it's fair to say that when games are televised, incidents are pretty public knowledge."

But questions have been raised as to why, for example, the compliance officer did not study an incident involving Gary Hooper and Motherwell midfielder Steve Jennings, who claimed the Celtic striker had struck him with his arm during his side's 4-0 defeat at Parkhead on September 10.

Jennings, like McCann, did not call for action to be taken, but he claimed he had been deliberately hit and the incident was captured on camera, although pictures were far less conclusive than the Naismith flashpoint.

However, Ogilvie is confident the system will prove acceptable to clubs in the long run, with a permanent compliance officer expected to be appointed in the next few weeks.

"We believe we have made the process more transparent," Ogilvie said.

"Whenever there is a high-profile case there tends to be more questions but we have to deal with every case on its own merit the same way, whether it's a high-profile case or one of the cases from some of the lower divisions that doesn't receive the same publicity.

"In the SPL there are cameras at every game. It's also fair to say the clubs in the SPL are benefiting from the financial benefits of the TV contracts.

"I suppose where it's fairer now is that every game in the SPL is televised, whereas years ago there might be only one or two games. That comes with the territory."

Ogilvie added: "The clubs at the general meeting voted in favour of the process, 93 members voted for it.

"I would say there will be issues this season when maybe clubs aren't satisfied with some individual cases but overall it is definitely the way forward."

Television footage apparently showed Naismith catching Austin McCann in the face with an elbow during Saturday's 4-0 win, although the Dunfermline defender played down the incident afterwards.

McCoist said: "I have seen it again but I've got nothing to say. We've not heard anything yet."

On any ban, the manager added: "It would definitely be a spanner in the works."

The SFA's Compliance Officer, if he decides there is a case to answer, has until 3pm Tuesday to deliver a Notice of Complaint, together with evidence, to Rangers.

Naismith would then have until 3pm on Wednesday to respond to any offer of a fixed sanction, which would be a two-match ban if the offence is violent conduct.

The player could opt to respond sooner and accept the ban and sit out Tuesday's game against Kilmarnock or he could play in the clash at Ibrox and appeal against any punishment the following day. He could also accept his punishment on Wednesday and begin his suspension after the Kilmarnock game.

If Naismith chooses to fight the charge, a hearing is likely to take place on Thursday although any failed appeal would not result in additional sanctions on top of the original ban.

On a possible ban for Naismith, stand-in captain Steven Davis said: "It would be a massive blow. He has started the season really well.

"He's a very important player for us so hopefully the decision doesn't go against us."

Mark Miller scored a stoppage-time winner as Falkirk booked a place in the fourth round with a 3-2 victory. Farid El Allagui scored twice for Falkirk before Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic both netted for Rangers.

Celtic recovered from their weekend Scottish Premier League loss to Rangers by beating second-tier Ross County 2-0.

Striker Gary Hooper poked Joe Ledley's headed knockdown into the net after 13 minutes and County's Scott Boyd scored an own goal at the start of the second half.

Ayr drew 1-1 with Hearts, before going through 4-1 on penalties.

The Sierra Leone striker, 22, signed a four-year deal when he moved from Swedish side AIK Stockholm last month with the fee reportedly £2million ($A3million).

Bangura is in line to make his Hoops debut in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Motherwell at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon.

However, he is keen for his career to progress further than the SPL and hopes a good season in Scotland can attract the attention of clubs in England, Spain and Italy.

"Coming to Celtic is a good move for me, but I want to reach the top," Bangura told a number of newspapers.

"That's what I'm working towards and this is a step forward for me. I am still fighting to reach the highest level.

"To come to Celtic gives me a good feeling because it's another step in my career.

"I have to work to get to the top. I'm talking about the Spanish league, the English league or maybe the Italian league.

"If I can do my best here with Celtic then I will see what the future holds.

'If possible, I could make the next step in one year - if everything goes well and the club is willing, why not?"

A gloom descended on Scottish football after both the Old Firm clubs and Hearts were sent crashing out of the Europa League last week, and it barely lifted over the weekend.

The spotlight now turns on Craig Levein's side which realistically needs six points from its forthcoming home Euro 2012 matches against the Czech Republic and Lithuania to have a chance of making it to the finals in Poland and Ukraine next northern summer.

But ahead of the matches, Ogilvie said: "There is always an expectation and always pressure.

"Obviously there is a disappointment that the Scottish teams are out of Europe and that, in the supporters' eyes, adds more pressure to the international matches, but even without that it was always a massive game for the Scottish team.

"Craig Levein has certainly been working very hard over the course of the last year and before that to restructure the team.

"But we are all aware of the importance of the game on Saturday and next Tuesday."

Ogilvie was in Glasgow yesterday to help make the draw for the first round of the Scottish Cup, sponsored this season by William Hill.

The former general secretary of Rangers stressed the importance of sponsorship for the national cup tournament.

But he believes the "feel-good" factor which would accompany the national team's participation in the finals of a major tournament is particularly important.

"We haven't been to the finals of a major tournament since 1998 and it is not just the financial aspect of qualifying, it is the feel-good factor for the country in general," he said.

"The game obviously benefits financially but we can't underestimate the feel-good factor for the supporters.

"In the nature of football in this country, many would say that the feel-good factor is more important but the two go hand-in-hand and we do need finance in the game."

Rangers remains top of the Scottish Premier League on goal difference from Motherwell, which has played a game more, following a hard fought 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox on Sunday.

Steven Davis got on the end of Jelavic's clever pass to poke it past David Gonzalez from 12 yards in the 15th minute to open the scoring before Steven Naismith added a second in second-half stoppage time.

It was an unconvincing performance from the league leader which has been hit by a spate of injuries to key players in recent weeks with first team regulars David Weir, Sasa Papac, Lee Wallace and Lee McCulloch sidelined.

The win was McCoist's first at Ibrox since taking charge of the club in the northern summer and he hopes the two week international break for the European Championship qualifiers will allow some of his players to recover in time to face Dundee United on September 10.

"The big thing that I'm looking forward to in the international break is hopefully our injured boys get an extended two weeks in the hope we can get them back for the Dundee United game," McCoist said.

"I don't know the exact numbers but we've certainly got seven or eight out injured and arguably four or five of them would play.

"So it's an important two weeks obviously. I wish Craig Levein and the Scotland boys the very best in the games against the Czech Republic and Lithuania and I hope we win the two games but obviously I would want our boys to come back with a clean bill of health.

"And certainly if we can get one or two of the injured boys back it would be a real plus."

Celtic remains a point behind its Old Firm rival as it ended a three match winless streak when Gary Hooper's double secured a 2-0 win over St Mirren.

English striker Hooper opened the scoring for Celtic in the sixth minute when he played a sharp one-two with Anthony Stokes on the edge of the penalty area before keeping his cool to bury his finish past Craig Samson.

Hooper then doubled the Hoops' lead six minutes later when he intercepted a slack pass from Paul McGowan and raced clear to fire a crisp finish into the bottom corner of Samson's net.

"After losing last week at home to St Johnstone and the disappointment of the midweek game in Europe it was vital that we got back on track before most of the boys go on international duty," said Celtic coach Alan Thompson.

Hearts came out on top in the first Edinburgh derby with goals from Ryan Stevenson and Andy Webster condemning Hibernian to a 2-0 defeat at Tynecastle.

Stevenson opened the scoring in the 40th minute with a simple finish after getting on the end of Jamie Hamill's low cross.

Graham Stack made a great stop to deny Andy Driver before Andy Webster thumped in a header that crossed the line despite Akpo Sodje's attempted clearance to give Paulo Sergio victory in his first derby match in charge.

The Rangers striker struggled with a bruised hip bone during yesterday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Aberdeen at Ibrox although he stayed on to score the second goal in the 2-0 win.

There was some confusion about Tottenham defender Alan Hutton with suggestions that he was injured but he too has joined up with Craig Levein's squad along with captain Darren Fletcher.

The Manchester United midfielder has missed all five internationals so far this year because of the effects of a virus but Levein has already said: "He will play, guaranteed, in both games."

The visit of the Czech side comes before the home game against Lithuania next Tuesday night.

Scotland needs victories in both games to have a realistic chance of finishing second behind runaway group winner Spain to grab a play-off place.

Mr Lennon was giving evidence in the trial of John Wilson, 26, of Edinburgh, who is accused of attacking him at a crucial Hearts v Celtic match at Tynecastle Stadium on May 11 this year.

Mr Lennon described the fixture as "a muscling game".

Appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, he said: "It was a huge game in the context of the season, with ourselves and Rangers going for the title."

Mr Lennon said Hearts v Celtic games are "more raucous than usual" but that this particular game on May 11 "had a bit more of an edge to it" with a lot of abuse coming from the stands.

He added: "It was just the usual abuse that you would get, or that I would get, at the majority of the away games. Some of it is personal some of it isn't."

Mr Lennon then described how he had just finished celebrating Celtic's second goal, and ran to the touchline to give instructions to his players, when he was attacked.

He added: "I felt a contact to the corner of my head and then saw a body sort of sprawled out in front of me and it was then I realised that he had tried to get to me.

"It felt like a glancing blow to the corner of my head," he added, pointing towards his left eyebrow.

"It all happened very quickly, and I sort of went into a defence position, crouching to avoid contact with whoever it was that was attacking me.

"He was off balance and ended up lying in front of me."

Mr Lennon identified Wilson, who was sitting in the dock, as his attacker.

He added: "I tried to prevent him from getting up again. He was trying to defend himself.

"There was a steward, the fourth official, and (Celtic coach) Alan Thompson who had all sort of gathered around him and I got pulled back.

"I was going to go for him, because I wasn't sure what he had in his hand.

"I knew I had been attacked so it was a split-second self-defence mechanism.

"He could have had something. I didn't know but he could have been carrying something."

Mr Lennon said he did nothing to provoke the incident, other than "doing my job".

He added: "If you would call doing my job inciting violence, then I was just doing my job."

Mr Lennon said immediately after the attack, he called his assailant "a f***ing idiot".

However, he said he did not hear his assailant say anything as it was a noisy atmosphere and he was pulled away quickly.

He described the atmosphere in the ground after the match as "very tense between both sets of supporters and quite intimidating".

Mr Lennon said the incident left him "angry after all the stuff that had happened to me previously".

He added: "Whether that had anything to do with it, I don't know, but I couldn't do my job properly.

"It took the gloss off the team's performance and I knew the headlines would be about me again, rather than the team, and that really disappointed me."

When asked to clarify what had happened to him previously, he added: "Packages have been sent in the past. A 24-hour armed guard outside my house. Police protection. My house has been refitted with new security alarms and systems and all that sort of thing.

"I was sent viable devices in the post. I was sent bullets in the post.

"Basically, this was the tipping point for me. I just felt that was the last straw, really.

"I'm a football manager at the end of the day and this sort of thing has got nothing to do with football in my eyes.

"It brought a lot of embarrassment to Hearts, and brought a lot of embarrassment to football in general."

He added: "In all of the other instances I was well briefed by police and the authorities, and was kept well abreast, but this came out of the blue.

"If it hadn't been for the intervention of Alan Thompson my personal safety could have been put at risk."

Wilson stands accused of lunging at Mr Lennon and seizing him around the neck, aggravated by religious prejudice.

He also stands accused of running on to the field of play during a designated sporting event, running at the away team dugout, shouting, swearing, making a sectarian remark, and thereby causing a breach of the peace.

Wilson's defence counsel David Nicolson said that he does not dispute the allegation that his client charged at Mr Lennon, but takes issue with the alleged remarks that have been attributed to him.

He said: "I don't dispute the actions that happened that night - that a gentleman jumped over the fence and came towards the dugout area.

"I'm not disputing that Mr Wilson was shouting and swearing, and that he charged at Neil Lennon.

"It was really what was said that is in dispute rather than what happened."

Mr Thompson later told told the court how he apprehended Mr Lennon's assailant by grabbing him by his clothing and causing him to lose his footing.

Mr Thompson confirmed that he witnessed the incident from start to finish, and stood "no more than an arm's length" from Wilson as he helped to restrain him, but did not hear any remarks.

However, he did say he had heard shouting coming from the stands, and some "inappropriate songs" coming from his own team's away supporters.

The court also heard earlier from James Church, assistant head of safety, security and operations at Celtic, who said he was too far away from the incident to hear any remarks.

Mr Church also told how his calls for extra security in the first half of the game, before the alleged attack, went unheeded.

He said: "I would have liked another two or three stewards and perhaps another police officer. I was getting quite concerned."

He told how he made his concerns known to the control room, where the Hearts safety officer and police sit, and when asked whether his concerns were listened to, he said: "Well, nobody arrived."

The case before Sheriff Reith continues. Wilson denies the charges.

St Johnstone's was the first name out of the hat when it was paired with St Mirren in the third round of the Scottish Communities League Cup at today's draw.

The side has progressed to the semi-finals of both the League Cup and the Scottish Cup in recent years and Craig hopes this will be the year it finally books its place in the Hampden showpiece.

The midfielder said: "We know we are not going to win the league so we want to do well in the cups.

"If we can stay in the SPL and have another cup run, it will be great for the club.

"We are not getting carried away with ourselves but we have been to a few semi-finals and it would be nice if we could go that one step further."

St Johnstone takes on its Clydesdale Bank Premier League rival in the last-16 tie on September 20 or 21.

Reflecting on the draw, Craig added: "It's probably one of the harder ties of the round.

"There were teams from lower leagues in there and it would have been nice to get one of those at home.

"St Mirren have had a great start to the season and it's going to be difficult but it's a game we will look forward to.

"We've got them in the league next weekend and all our focus will be on that game first and then we will look towards the cup after that."

Meanwhile, Ryan O'Leary has backed Kilmarnock to come through its tie after being drawn against Irn-Bru First Division side Queen of the South.

He said: "The boys will cope fine. We have a good squad and we have started the season well.

"It's all been positive apart from the slip-up against Inverness at the weekend but I'm sure the boys will be looking forward to the next game to rectify that.

"We've got that passing style and we can open up teams and I think we can go far in the league and the cup."

However, O'Leary will have to look on from the sidelines after being told he faces around six months out of action with cruciate ligament damage.

He said: "It's going to be a long six or seven months, especially just now when I'm still at the bottom of the ladder and all I can see is the rehab in front of me.

"I've got a month now to get my knee moving. I get my operation on September 22 and I'm just looking forward to getting that done and getting on with it.

"I've got plenty of support around me. There are players at Kilmarnock who have had the same injury and they've told me to keep my head up and told me what to expect.

"I'm sure I'll come back even better."

The Parkhead club was beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Sion in the play-offs but was given hope of a reprieve by UEFA president Michel Platini, who said the Swiss club had "not respected the rules of the transfer ban" by signing five players who are, in the eyes of FIFA, ineligible to play due to a transfer embargo.

Celtic played both games under protest and UEFA's control and disciplinary body is set to make a ruling on the case tomorrow, although that has yet to be confirmed.

Ogilvie, in Glasgow to help make the draw for the first round of The William Hill Scottish Cup along with Celtic skipper Scott Brown, confirmed that the Scottish club had sought and received help from the SFA.

"Celtic made contact with the SFA, as any member club would do, and the SFA have been backing Celtic," he said.

"The case is being heard this week and as a governing body we would always back one of our clubs in one of these cases. If there is a breach of rules then UEFA will certainly take whatever sanctions necessary, but the SFA would certainly back a member club in this case.

"The nature of football now, with regulations and legalities, means it is quite a complex issue. I haven't been involved in the detail of it but it is quite evident that there are a lot of legal issues being addressed, but these will be heard this week I believe.

"The decision is for UEFA but if someone has breached regulations and has been proved to have breached regulations then obviously a sanction should be taken, but that's obviously outwith our remit."

A spokesman for UEFA told Press Association Sport that the time of the control and disciplinary body meeting has yet to be confirmed.

And it emerged that even if the ruling does take place tomorrow, it likely to be next week at least before the issue is finally resolved. However, with the group games set to start on September 15, there is an obvious rush to reach a decision.

The spokesman said: "The first stage is the UEFA control and disciplinary body. After that there is the ability to appeal the decision and a club is given three days to do that from the time they get the full written submission of the decision.

"The last stage is CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) and a date would have to be set for that. But it is a complex case."

Brown, though, is in no doubt that Celtic should take Sion's place in a group which includes Atletico Madrid, Udinese and Rennes.

"Yes, I think we should be," said the Scotland midfielder. "They played three players that shouldn't have been allowed to play and at the end of the day you can't do that, and hopefully UEFA see that as well."

Brown's team mate Charlie Mulgrew would relish a reprieve.

"Everybody would be delighted to be back in and playing European football," he said. "We will wait and see what happens. We don't want to talk too much about it until we see the result but hopefully we can get back in."

However, even if Celtic succeeds in its bid it will do little to lift the gloom which has hung over the Scottish game since Thursday night, when both Old Firm clubs and Hearts were knocked out of the Europa League play-offs.

Ogilvie, former general secretary at Rangers, refused to join the doom-mongers but accepts that there are problems in Scottish football which are being addressed.

"I don't believe it (Scottish football) is dying on its feet at all," he said. "Nobody wanted to see the Scottish teams going out of Europe but if you go back to the (Henry) McLeish report two years ago, we decided something had to be done within the Scottish game and we have been working on that through the McLeish report, the performance strategy and we have brought in a performance director (Mark Wotte).

"So it's not something that has suddenly happened, we have been aware there have been issues over a period of time.

"I do believe it will be turned around. It won't happen overnight but there are short and mid-term goals."

James Church, assistant head of safety, security and operations at Celtic Football Club, was giving evidence at the opening day of the trial of John Wilson.

Wilson, 26, of Edinburgh, is accused of attacking Mr Lennon, aggravated by religious prejudice, at a crucial Celtic v Hearts match on May 11 this year.

Mr Church, 54, a former Strathclyde Police officer, said: "The atmosphere was tense, very tense.

"Normally Celtic v Hearts games are high-profile games. There's not a lot of love lost between the two sets of supporters so there's usually a bit of an atmosphere.

"But this particular evening I would say the atmosphere was worse."

Mr Church said that Celtic was locked in a race to win the Scottish Premier League title, which it subsequently lost.

However, at that stage in the season there was still all to play for, and the points from that particular tie were crucial.

He added: "Right from the start the atmosphere was pretty bad. Lots of vitriol being directed towards us.

"They were being quite aggressive, shouting towards us, although not from the ones directly beside us but you could hear things coming from just beyond that - some quite unpleasant things."

When asked how many fans were shouting, Mr Church replied "most of them, to be fair".

Mr Church said he was sitting in a row of seats just behind the dugout, where Mr Lennon and the rest of the management were sitting with the team substitutes.

To his left were three match stewards, however he said he became so concerned about the vitriolic atmosphere during the first half that he made a phone call to the security control room, where the Hearts safety officer and the police officers sit, calling for more stewards and police officers in the stand.

He said: "I would have liked another two or three stewards and perhaps a police officer. I was getting quite concerned."

When asked whether his concerns were listened to, he replied: "Well, nobody arrived."

Mr Church said the atmosphere worsened immediately after the second goal.

He said: "I would describe it as poisonous. I was getting quite concerned because we had just scored a second goal and they (the Hearts fans) were getting quite angry."

Wilson denies attacking Mr Lennon by lunging at him and seizing him around the neck, aggravated by religious prejudice.

He also denies committing breach of the peace by conducting himself in a disorderly manner, running out on to the field of play, shouting, swearing, and making a sectarian remark to the annoyance of others.

Several of the jury of eight men and seven women at Edinburgh Sheriff Court disclosed that they had either watched the game on television, or had prior knowledge of the allegations through the press.

However, given the high profile of the alleged victim, Mr Lennon, the judge was satisfied that this would not impede the trial, which continues this afternoon.

It was a dire night for the Hoops which began badly when Daniel Majstorovic brought down Guilherme Afonso inside the box with less than a minute on the clock.

After the big stopper had walked, Pascal Feindouno, who had a trial at Celtic but was too pricey for the Parkhead club, scored from the spot before adding a second after the break.

Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew and Giovanni Sio swapped goals to see the Swiss side ultimately go through on a 3-1 aggregate.

However, Celtic is looking for a red tape reprieve.

Sion has five players in its squad - Feindouno, Mario Mutsch and Gabri, Jose Goncalves and Billy Ketkeophomphone - who are, in the eyes of FIFA, ineligible to play in the competition.

Sion's European squad, though, was approved by the Swiss FA who, along with the club, have reportedly been warned by UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino about possible sanctions although the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which will rule on the issue, will not pass its verdict until next week.

The Celtic boss, however, expects a positive outcome.

"We have sent in letters last week and handed one to the delegate," he said. "There is hearing on Tuesday and we will know the outcome after that.

"If clubs are breaking the rules then every club should break the rule then."

Asked if he would be comfortable about replacing Sion he replied: "Yes."

It was a bad night for Scottish football as Rangers and Hearts were also knocked out of the qualifiers. However, Lennon was only concerned about Celtic.

In his first European foray as permanent boss last season the Irishman's side lost to Braga and FC Utrecht in the respective UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualifiers but he denied this latest failure was humiliating.

He said: "Humiliating? It's a such a strong word. I don't think it is a humiliation.

"We have to be realistic about things, we are not where we were four or five years ago in Europe.

"I am frustrated that I failed to take the team through.

"I would say to the fans to stick the team and no one is as disappointed as myself with the result."

The former Celtic skipper will look at the penalty incident again before he makes his mind up about Majstorovic's involvement.

"I would like to know how he got there in the first place," he said. "But I think it was a penalty and I think he had to go.

"We will have a look at him later.

"We regrouped and did very well.

"I am very disappointed that we lost but there was a lot I took out of the game."

Sion coach Laurent Roussey was not for discussing the situation about his players who may or not be proved to be ineligible.

He said: "I am the trainer. I work every day on the field, that's my job. We achieved our goal and that's it."

The Frenchman, though, acknowledged his side's early advantage which put it in the driving seat.

He said: "We had a good chance after a couple of minutes when we had an extra man and were a goal ahead.

"We suffered a bit in the second half and had chances to close the game but Celtic came again.

"However, Sio closed the game and I thought we did a good job.

"When you have an extra man you don't always play better, the other team tries harder, but we were better organised in the second half.

"I don't know if there is so much difference between the two clubs, there is only small details that make the difference and we are happy that we reached the group stages."

The Scottish champion could only muster a 1-1 draw on the night, allowing the Slovenian side to progress to the group stages with a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Rangers had already exited UEFA Champions League qualifying at the hands of Malmo but McCoist insists he is not feeling the strain after another disappointing night.

He said: "I don't feel any more pressure. I just feel disappointment - disappointment for the fans and for the players. I certainly don't feel pressure."

Carlos Bocanegra opened his goalscoring account for his new club to cancel out Dalibor Volas' opener but Rangers could not find another goal to at least force the tie to extra-time, despite dominating the chances.

McCoist added: "My over-riding feeling is one of bitter disappointment.

"We felt we created enough chances to win a couple of games but, if you don't take those chances, there is always a chance that it will come back to bite you.

"I think the second 45 minutes in Maribor cost us the tie."

Rangers must now turn its focus to domestic competition and the visit of Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League this weekend, and McCoist backed his players to bounce back from this result.

He said: "Whether I think we deserve to go out or not doesn't really matter, we are out and that's the reality.

"What matters now is how we react to it - and we will be fine. It's a sore one but we will take it on the chin and get on with it."

Rangers was not the only team to suffer disappointment on what was a disastrous night for Scottish football.

Celtic slumped to a 3-1 defeat to Swiss side Sion, while Hearts lost 5-0 over two legs against Tottenham Hotspur.

Those results mean Scotland has no representatives in Europe beyond the end of August for the first time ever.

McCoist said: "It was a really disappointing night for Scottish football but tonight is not the night to go into it. Over the next few days, there will be time to digest it."

Maribor coach Darko Milanic felt the result was a case of the underdog triumphing over a side he always claimed was favourite to progress in the competition.

He said: "This was an exceptional success for the team, for the club and for Slovenian football.

"It was a difficult match and the opponents forced a lot of pressure on our boys but we reacted well.

"We are very, very satisfied. In football, sometimes it is not always the big clubs who win, sometimes the small club wins."

The play-off tie against the Swiss side is finely balanced after the first leg in Glasgow last week finished goalless and the Parkhead men go in to the game on the back of a shock 1-0 defeat at home to St Johnstone.

Lennon's first attempt as Hoops boss in Europe last season saw Celtic knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League at the qualifying stages and last week the club published financial results which revealed the importance of European football.

In the media room at the Stade de Tourbillon ahead of Thursday evening's (Friday morning AEST) second leg, Lennon was asked if there was pressure to go through and replied: "Certainly not from up above, no, not at all.

"The pressure is no different from any other game for Celtic, every game is a huge game, there is always something riding on it.

"It is a very important game for me personally. I would dearly love to take the club into the group stages.

"It is going to be very difficult. Sion are a good team, which they proved last week.

"And in the context of the season it is a big game because it would open doors revenue-wise and it would keep our interest in Europe going at least until December.

"For the players as well, it is important to get into the group stages where they can develop their game a bit more."

Lennon denies another early European exit would hamper his attempts to add to his squad.

"I wouldn't have thought so," he said. "We have been working away in the background for the last couple of weeks so hopefully after tomorrow night we can move on with that."

After Celtic lost to St Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League the Celtic boss castigated his players, describing their performance as 'immature' and 'complacent'.

Asked if he had any regrets about what could be considered harsh criticism, the former Celtic skipper replied: "No. Not all. I didn't think it was harsh. It was the way I saw it.

"I am pretty good with the players when they perform well and if they don't perform the way we expect them to I have every right in pointing that out. I can't pull the wool over people's eyes and I am not prepared to do that.

"We had a meeting on Monday. We analysed the game and we closed the door on that and moved on. They are a lot better today.

"There were a few things that cleared the air but it was no different from any other meeting we've had after a poor result.

"The performance in general was okay. We didn't take our chances but the overall performance was okay.

"We just need to put our chances away. Goals change games and the psychology of games. The cutting edge has been lacking in the last two games but I've no worries that it won't come back soon.

"They have looked brighter in training. We are obviously disappointed with the result and on the back of two goalless games at home we are looking for a wee bit of positivity in the final third."

Lennon still has doubts over the fitness of Kelvin Wilson (leg), Beram Kayal and Gary Hooper (both ankle), who all missed the last two matches, while Charlie Mulgrew is battling to recover from a hamstring complaint picked up in the defeat by St Johnstone.

Wilson, Kayal and Hooper have resumed training but a decision on whether or not they will be fit enough to start against Sion will be left until nearer kick-off.

"I think all three are doubtful," said the Irishman.

"We put them through a light session yesterday and will do it again tonight. We brought them with us but there is no guarantee they will play tomorrow night.

"Gamble? It will depend on the advice of the medical team. But if it does long-term damage then no.

"Even if we don't get one or two players back we will still have a squad strong enough to have a go tomorrow night."

The sanctions were imposed by UEFA after he picked up a red card in a Champions League qualifier against Malmo on August 3.

The Scottish champion felt the punishment was excessive but the appeal was dismissed today by UEFA's Appeals Body after hearing the case in Switzerland.

The Kenya international, 20, signed from Belgium club Germinal Beerschot in the northern summer, made his competitive debut for the Hoops in defence alongside Daniel Majstorovic in what turned out to be a baptism of fire.

Dave Mackay's second-half strike gave the visiting side its first win in the east end of Glasgow since 1998 to prevent the home side going top of the table.

The Celtic supporters shrugged off Kris Commons' failure to convert a penalty in the third minute but grew increasingly agitated as Neil Lennon's men squandered several chances thereafter, despite not being at their best.

Wanyama was aware of his new team-mates' confidence disintegrating as the second half wore on and St Johnstone held firm.

"It was very disappointing to lose on my debut," he said.

"When they scored the fans wanted us to play better and that's when the confidence of some of us went down.

"The crowd wanted more but we couldn't handle it so we need to work on that.

"The manager was disappointed after the game and that is normal because we didn't do that well.

"We played okay but we didn't take our chances, that was the only problem.

"At home we can beat anybody but we were unlucky."

St Johnstone goalkeeper Peter Enckelman saved Commons' poorly-struck spot-kick to set the tone for the rest of Celtic's frustrating afternoon which saw Commons and substitute Paddy McCourt both hit woodwork.

Lennon berated his players after the match and will have to work hard to rebuild confidence ahead of the second leg of its Europa League play-off against Sion in Switzerland on Thursday night, which is still very much in the balance following the goalless draw at Celtic Park.

Defender Charlie Mulgrew is surely doubtful after coming off at half-time with a hamstring injury.

Consequently, Wanyama may keep his place if Kelvin Wilson fails to recover from his leg injury, although Lennon is confident that the former Nottingham Forest stopper, along with Beram Kayal and Gary Hooper, will be back fit.

The Kenyan believes that Celtic can recover its form to make it through to the group stages.

"I think we will get a good result," he said.

"The first game was goalless so no one has an advantage and the chance is still open.

"We can go there and win."

Romanov has previously meddled in team selection during his seven years at Tynecastle and is infamous for wielding the managerial axe, the most recent example coming when Jim Jefferies was replaced by Sergio two days before the last European fixture, the win over Hungary's Paks two weeks ago.

Romanov was at Hearts' Edinburgh training base on Tuesday and the Portuguese met the Lithuanian afterwards.

Sergio said: "I talked a little bit after the practice with him - and he told me the 11 players to play. No problem."

It appeared Sergio was joking, but stranger things have happened in Gorgie.

A number of players absent through injury until this week, including influential defender Andy Webster, were training on Wednesday morning and are in the squad for the match, eager to be part of the contest billed in some quarters as a 'Battle of Britain'.

Sergio is unfazed by the challenge posed by Tottenham, which last season beat Inter Milan and AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League before being eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Real Madrid.

"The game on paper is one thing - on the pitch is another," added Sergio, who steered Hearts to a first Scottish Premier League win of the season against Aberdeen last weekend.

"Nobody should be thinking we can't win, that we are defeated - we are not.

"Nobody's going to bet on us, but the guy that's going to bet on us is maybe going to win big money.

"We have our cards to play. We know the difficulties we're going to have tomorrow, but we're going to work, we're going to fight.

"We recognise Spurs are favourites - there's no doubt about that - but we want to compete with the best.

"We're in the competition, we can compete and that is what we're going to do.

"It's a different game. It's going to be in our history - I hope in a positive way."

The clash will be Spurs' first competitive fixture of the season, with Manchester United following in the Premier League on Monday evening (Tuesday morning AEST).

Whether Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp selects a first-choice line-up or not, Sergio knows his Hearts side must be at its very best.

He added: "They have to be favourites. Every Tottenham player is a very good player.

"We're going to have lots of work no matter what team they have."

Sergio is aware all of his players are keen to feature against Spurs.

Webster has been absent since the opening day of the SPL season with a groin problem but is back in the squad, while David Obua is available again after a hamstring complaint.

Only Mehdi Taouil (groin) and long-term absentees Kevin Kyle (hip) and Calum Elliot (knee) are unavailable.

Sergio added: "Even the injured players want to play tomorrow, but some guys have been injured for so many weeks they have to wait.

"Maybe we can put some of them in the squad."

Sergio, who was in charge of Sporting Lisbon when it met Rangers in the Champions League last term, believes Hearts' absences are more crucial than those Spurs will have.

He added: "They have some injured players too, but maybe the injured players of Hearts are more of a necessity for us than their injured players are to them."

He is relishing the chance to test himself against Redknapp's men and has belief in his charges.

He said: "Every professional in football wants to live big moments and I'm no different.

"I'm extremely focused on what we can do, on what we shouldn't let them do.

"It's about our work, our job with the players. Let's focus on us."

The Ibrox boss has witnessed the dismissals of three of his players in its last two games and says it must be more 'clever' when it comes to cautions.

Steven Whittaker and Madjid Bougherra - who has since joined Qatari outfit Lekhwiya - were both sent off as Rangers crashed out of UEFA Champions League qualifying to Malmo.

And Maurice Edu also saw red in last weekend's 2-0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, after netting the second goal in the Scottish Premier League clash.

McCoist said: "The Malmo game was definitely a disappointment.

"To have two players red-carded isn't ideal under any circumstances and I thought both of them were needless red cards.

"Maurice Edu's red card at Inverness was also needless so we have spoken about it.

"There hasn't been any malice involved in the red cards or real devilment in any of the challenges, it's just been a bit of naivety that has cost us.

"So we have to be more game intelligent and be clever in terms of our yellow and red cards, there is no doubt about that."

Asked if he expects Rangers to be more physical than its host, McCoist said: "I'm not sure that we are more physical but that side of the game certainly doesn't scare us at all.

"We will not go out and try to intimidate and be over-physical, we will play the game in the right manner and try to play football.

"In terms of the physical side of the game, we can handle that. That isn't a problem for us."

McCoist is short on defensive options ahead of the first leg in Slovenia after David Weir and Kyle Bartley missed the trip through injury, while Whittaker and Sasa Papac are both suspended.

However, Lee McCulloch should recover from a knee injury and McCoist was impressed by youngster Ross Perry when he replaced Bartley at the weekend.

He said: "We are missing our skipper David Weir and having Kyle Bartley coming off in the first half at Inverness isn't ideal, that goes without saying, especially with Madjid Bougherra being away.

"It's not a concern, it's just something we will have to have a look at it. We've got options.

"Kirk Broadfoot can play at centre-back, Lee Wallace can come in from the left side and Lee McCulloch can play there.

"I thought Ross Perry did well when he came on for Kyle at the weekend so that's another option. Although it's not ideal, there are no panic buttons being pressed."

Despite having several players unavailable for selection, McCoist believes Rangers heads into this match in better shape in terms of its form than it was against Malmo.

He added: "Without wanting to tempt fate, I think we are certainly looking a little bit better and looking a bit sharper.

"The games at the start of the season have obviously helped us and in recent performances, including Malmo away, I thought we played well.

"I can see a gradual improvement. We are not back to where we can be but we are heading in the right direction."

McCoist revealed he has sought the lowdown on Maribor from new signing Dorin Goian, whose former club Palermo overcame the Slovenian side at the same stage last year.

The Rangers boss said: "He's got nothing but praise for them, absolutely nothing but praise. Especially at home, he said they were very, very good and we will have to look at that as well.

"They've got one or two away from the team from that particular time but they've got good players and the know their way around a football field so they will certainly be a threat. Big Goian did say they were a more than capable side."

Munro was capped nine times but it is at Molineux where he will be most fondly remembered for the 371 appearances he made for the club between 1968 and 1977.

The centre-back, who also played for Dundee United, Aberdeen and Celtic, died on Monday, two days after suffering a heart attack.

Former teammates Dave Wagstaffe and Phil Parkes were at his bedside in New Cross Hospital, and Wagstaffe told www.wolves.co.uk: "Frank was the most skilful centre-half in the country and yet he never realised it. He played the game for fun.

"He was a great teammate and a great friend and we are all going to miss him tremendously."

Dundee-born Munro was signed for £55,000 by then Wolves manager Ronnie Allen and was a member of the team that reached the UEFA Cup final in 1972 and won the League Cup two years later.

A statement on the Wolves website said: "To Frank's family and friends, the club offers its sincere condolences."

Wilson, of Edinburgh, is accused of lunging at Lennon and seizing him around the neck during the fixture on 11 May.

Prosecutors claim the alleged assault, and a separate charge of breach of the peace, were both aggravated by religious prejudice.

He appeared before a short hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where his trial was fixed for the court sitting beginning on 29 August.

Wilson faces two charges in total.

It is alleged he committed a breach of the peace by acting in a disorderly manner, running on to the field of play and running at the away team dugout.

It is claimed he was shouting and swearing and made a sectarian remark 'all to the alarm and annoyance of others' and causing more disturbance within the crowd.

The assault charge against him alleges that he lunged at former Northern Ireland player Lennon at Tynecastle, the home of Hearts FC, and seized him around the neck.

Both alleged offences are said by the Crown to have been aggravated by religious prejudice, under the terms of the 2003 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act. Wilson denies the charges.

Advocate David Nicholson, representing Wilson, told the court that the defence team was prepared and ready for the trial.

After hearing brief submissions, Sheriff Alistair Noble continued the case to the trial, due to begin on 29 August.

While the Scottish champions said the Bosnia and Herzegovina international did take unwell while on international duty and was forced to pull out of the match, it seems reports of the exact nature of the illness were wide of the mark.

A statement on the club's official website read: "Sasa Papac will miss Saturday's trip to Inverness but Rangers are keen to point out that he does not have pneumonia.

"Papac travelled to Bosnia earlier this week with the intention of ending his international exile but felt unwell and was immediately ruled out of the game with Greece.

"He will return to Murray Park where he will be assessed by the medical team who have confirmed that he does not have pneumonia, contrary to reports elsewhere today.

"Papac won't be ready to face Inverness and is suspended for next Thursday's Europa League Play-off first leg with Maribor after two yellow cards in the Champions League qualifier with Malmo.

"However, he could be back to take on Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday, August 21."

However, Rangers are boosted ahead of the trip to the Highlands by the news that Nikica Jelavic is expected to recover from a knee knock he picked up in last week's friendly against Chelsea.

New signing Dorin Goian could also feature in Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash if he shakes off a hamstring problem in time but skipper David Weir is likely to remain sidelined with a similar injury.

Rangers have yet to decide whether Steven Whittaker can play with a broken toe, which forced him to withdraw from the Scotland squad for last night's 2-1 win over Denmark.

The Ibrox duo were dismissed on either side of the interval, before Ricardinho was also sent off for the Swedish side, which progressed to the play-off stages thanks to a 1-1 draw on the night and a 2-1 win on aggregate.

McCoist also admitted the qualifier in Sweden could be Bougherra's last game as a Rangers player, with the defender set for a £1.7 million ($2.59 million) move to Qatar outfit Lekhwiya.

He said: "I haven't seen the red cards again. I would have to say, I'm disappointed in the players for giving the ref the opportunity to get a red card but, to be honest, I haven't seen them again.

"I'll have a good look at them tonight or tomorrow. What we said at half-time, looking at how the game was going, was that we thought there was a possibility that the referee might send somebody else off.

"Overall, I'm very disappointed that the players gave the referee the opportunity to send them off."

Asked if he expects Bougherra to head for the exit door, McCoist said: "Honestly I don't know but I would have to say judging by the comments coming from the other side, I would think that looks like a possibility."

The red card could have been higher had Russian referee Vladislav Bezborodov spotted what appeared to be a kick by Jimmy Durmaz aimed at Lee McCulloch just before half-time but McCoist was reluctant to become involved in a debate about the performance of the match official.

He said: "I've got absolutely no comment whatsoever to make about the referee."

Instead, the Rangers boss was keen to focus on the efforts of the rest of his players after Nikica Jelavic cancelled out Daniel Larsson's strike from the first leg in Glasgow, before Jiloan Hamad grabbed the tie's decisive goal late on.

McCoist said: "I can't tell you enough how disappointed I am for the vast majority of the players because I thought there were some really terrific performances from some of the Rangers players.

"But it's a team game. Your individual talent can win you games but you win and lose as a team and, unfortunately, it wasn't to be for our nine men."

David Goodwillie is the latest transfer target Rangers has missed out on after the striker completed his move to Blackburn Rovers from Dundee United, but McCoist says his search for new players will continue.

He said: "You can always do with more players, there is no doubt about that.

"The point I've made before and the point that I will continue to make is that we have some great players, we really do, and it's our job to get them help.

"I think we saw enough from our team tonight to say that we're not a bad side, in fact we're better than that, we're far better than that.

"We are a good side and our starting group of players I would take against most teams but we need to get the boys help, we need to get those players help.

"I can understand totally the argument saying that we should have got players in and we have been attempting to get players in but we haven't managed to get as many in as we would have liked.

"We will continue to search and press for new talent to come to the club."

New signing Dorin Goian was cleared to play in the game by UEFA but missed out with a hamstring injury.

McCoist said: "It's sod's law. We got the good news today but unfortunately Dorin felt his hamstring at training last night."

He told www.rangers.co.uk: "I just wanted to block him but the referee made his decision. I don't know about the red card, maybe it was.

"Honestly I thought my first challenge was okay but the second one maybe a yellow. I don't think it was a red card. I put my hand out to block him.

"I need to see the replay because I only jumped to block him, but he was higher than I expected. I didn't judge it well, but that is football."

Bougherra added: "If it's my last game of course I'm disappointed by the way it has finished. But we have the Europa League, so we are not finished this season.

"The past three years have been fantastic and we have won six titles.

"We controlled the game well, and we knew we didn't have to rush the goal.

"We got it from Jelavic but I don't think we had the freshness we needed to complete the win."

It is understood the 24-year-old allegedly created websites containing hate messages about Celtic manager Neil Lennon last season.

He was arrested in a joint operation between Strathclyde Police, Central Scotland Police and the newly formed Football Co-ordination Unit for Scotland.

The man, from Callander, is due to appear at Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Superintendent David Brand, head of the unit, said: "I would advise anyone who has posted messages which are likely or intended to threaten violence or cause fear or alarm to any person to remove them immediately.

"This arrest today shows we are not only targeting those who post messages on the internet but those who seek to create internet hate sites.

"Please be warned: if you do post hatred over the internet you may not be arrested today but we will be paying you a visit some time in the future."

Daniel Larsson scored a vital away goal at Ibrox last week when Rangers had a 1-0 defeat which leaves its hopes of making the lucrative group stages of the competition hanging by a thread.

History is against the Scottish champion as it has never triumphed in a European tie after losing the first leg at home in 55 years of competing with the continental elite.

And the Old Firm side will be without the support of its fans in Malmo after UEFA banned them for one match for discriminatory chanting at the UEFA Europa League match against PSV Eindhoven last season.

Sasa Papac was part of the Rangers team which crashed out of the competition at the same stage to Lithuanian minnow Kaunas in 2008, just months after the Glasgow giant had made the final of the UEFA Cup.

But after picking up its first win of the season with a 2-0 victory away to St Johnstone last weekend the Bosnian defender says Ally McCoist's side can upset the odds and progress against Malmo.

"All I can say is sorry for the result against Malmo at Ibrox but we still have the chance to go through. Why not? We know we can play better and if we take our game to a higher level then we definitely have a chance," Papac said.

"It's important to make the Champions League proper because it's the best stage in the world for a footballer and everyone in our team likes to play in it.

"For the club it's also a great benefit and I really hope we can pull it off on Wednesday. If you're put out then it's hard to take but I can't even think that we'll go out - I'm only preparing for the next stage.

"As a team we were a bit sharper against St Johnstone, the level is going up. It's a little bit better and I hope we're even sharper in the next match.

"We've only had four weeks training behind us which isn't a lot of time. That is why we've started a little bit slowly this season and we need more time together to improve.

"I could see signs in the first leg that we can do it and we can improve on that performance. We can take our level higher and definitely get a good result on Wednesday.

"We must keep a clean sheet in Malmo if we want to go to the next stage. I've never played in Sweden before, this will be a first but I'm ready for the challenge.

"Malmo didn't really surprise me in the first match because on the video I could see great things, especially in an attacking sense.

"They have a couple of great, talented players - especially up front.

"I'm not surprised but everything is in our hands because if we play better then it's no problem for us."

Rangers has no injury worries going into the game and is hopeful it will be successful in its appeal to have defender Dorin Goian available for the match, despite a delay in the defender's registration papers being submitted.

Malmo's preparation for the game were disrupted when its match against Djurdgardens last weekend was abandoned after just 11 minutes due to fan disorder.

Fireworks were lobbed on to the pitch at the Swedbank Stadium causing referee Martin Hansson to call the teams off on safety grounds.

The Scottish champion has never won a European tie after losing the first game at home and it will have to rectify that after its 1-0 defeat to the Swedish side.

Daniel Larsson's first-half strike gave the impressive visitor a deserved win and it must be favourite to complete the job at home next week.

However the Rangers boss, who revealed that skipper David Weir had come off in the first half with a hamstring injury, said: "One of the worrying things from our point of view is that we didn't start the game well.

"I sat here on Saturday and said the same thing after the Hearts game.

"The standard of goals we are losing is certainly worrying.

"But I do believe that we created enough in the second half to indicate that the tie is far from over.

"I do believe that we can go over there and score so there is plenty to play for.

"Crazy as it may seem, the way the game was going, the most important thing was that we didn't lose a second goal. Another goal against would have been a real, real problem.

"I knew we were pushing forward and had chances to score, and should have scored, but the most important thing was we didn't lose another goal and we certainly had the keeper to thank for that in the second half."

Malmo, well into its league season, was sharp from the start and in the 17th minute, after missing an earlier chance, Larsson powered a drive from the edge of the box high past helpless Light Blues keeper Allan McGregor.

McGregor made several good saves in the second half as the visitor continued to threaten, although Steven Naismith missed a couple of chances which might have given the Scottish champion a better result to take into the second leg.

McCoist continued: "They looked that little bit sharper than us, especially in the first half and they did look fitter in terms of the way that they went about it.

"Is it down to the fact that they are so far into their season? I don't know.

"But that doesn't help us, the fact is we have to be sharper in the second leg and I am determined we will be.

"There is a lack of sharpness and hopefully it is because it is early on in the season but you have to get over that and that's what they will have to do.

"We know what we have to do. We have to score or we are out the competition.

"But I will say again, I really believe we will score over there and we are very confident because we made enough chances, especially in the second half and on another night we might have had two or three.

"It was poor finishing and the luck was against us.

"We all expected a little bit more. There is no getting away from it.

"You set up your team to do well but the main problem was that we gave them space and time and you can't do that with good players because they will punish you.

"But we weren't surprised. We didn't underestimate them."

Asked if he believed his side was now favourite, Malmo coach Rikard Norling said: "No. We have to remind ourselves who we are playing, in the sense that our performance was very good and they will not be pleased by theirs.

"We could feel the qualities they have.

"It is only half-time."

The Scottish champion crashed out of the competition when it suffered a shock exit at the hands of Kaunas in 2008.

And, despite the safety net of a UEFA Europa League qualifier this time if it does lose out to the Swedish outfit, Weir says every single Rangers player will be ensuring there is no repeat of that disappointment as they bid to take a step closer to booking their place among Europe's elite.

The skipper said: "I don't think anybody would take it for granted, I don't think it would be in anybody's interest to take it for granted.

"I don't think we took the Kaunas game for granted either. It was just a bad performance.

"That happens in football and it's up to us to make sure it doesn't happen again. That was three years ago and it's a different team, different players, different circumstances.

"Every year, teams go out to less-fancied teams but it's up to us to try to ensure that it doesn't happen to us."

He added: "We've had great experience of Europe in the past, we've had a lot of success and a lot of great games.

"We all love it as players, the European nights are special, you can't argue with that.

"Not many teams get the opportunity to play in the Champions League and we have been fortunate enough to do it for something like four out of the last five years.

"We wouldn't change it for the world. Although it makes your season busier and causes you a few headaches, they are all good headaches."

Malmo's domestic campaign is well under way, while Rangers was forced to settle for a draw against Hearts in its Scottish Premier League opener at the weekend.

Weir said: "I'm sure they will think they have an edge but hopefully we will have a freshness from having a break and being so early into our season and being so eager.

"Hopefully we can use that to our advantage. It's whichever team plays well over the two games, I'm sure, that will get through to the next stage rather than other factors."

Meanwhile, Weir has welcomed the imminent arrival of Dorin Goian after Rangers agreed a fee with Palermo.

Boss Ally McCoist is hoping the Romania international will complete his move to Ibrox as he attempts to boost his defensive options.

Weir said: "We've tried to get a few players in and it has been difficult so it's nice to see that they are starting to come and helping the lads who are already here.

"Competition is good and the more good players we have here the better.

"He comes with a good pedigree, as they other lads who have joined us have as well.

"The more good, quality international players we've got here challenging for positions can only be good for the club."

Dallas left the SFA after being implicated in a row over an offensive email about the Pope. He was planning to sue the organisation at an employment tribunal in Glasgow this week.

The hearing was expected to last five days but officials have said both parties reached agreement after a conciliation process with employment relations company Acas.

An SFA spokesman said: "We can confirm that the issue has been resolved to both parties' satisfaction."

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan launched an internal inquiry in November after details of the alleged email surfaced in the press.

Reports claimed a photograph relating to the Pope's visit had been passed on in official SFA emails. The photograph showed a road sign featuring a woman and a child with a doctored message referring to the pontiff below.

Dallas, 53, head of referee development at the time, and four other SFA staff were sacked over the email.

Three of the others have since been given their jobs back and the SFA is understood to be taking no further action against them.

The 63-year-old stepped down as Ibrox manager at the end of last season, paving the way for assistant Ally McCoist to take charge.

Asked on Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme if he had prepared for retirement, he said: "I never said I would retire, I said I would just be leaving Rangers."

He added: "I wouldn't manage again in Scotland, I've managed Rangers on two occasions now and I've managed the national team.

"But if an opportunity came up to go to England or abroad, I would consider that."

Smith managed in England with Everton from 1998 to 2002, and also had a short spell as assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

The 69-year-old was made a Doctor of the University of Stirling at a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

Addressing a crowd of new graduates who had just picked up their degrees, he spoke of the importance of retaining the values which Charlton and Busby stood for.

He said: "I've had many honours. I still appreciate what Stirling University has done for me today, making me a Doctor. I appreciate that, as do all my family. Don't take it lightly, it's a great honour to be appreciated.

"I say this standing here before you with many honours behind me. It doesn't change me. Don't change. No-one respects it.

"I've great examples of that in my own club. Bobby Charlton and Matt Busby were fantastic examples of that. Throughout their lives they kept their feet on the ground. They were the same people, they had humility. It's a fantastic quality to have.

"Working hard is also a fantastic quality. It's not easy to work hard all your life."

Ferguson also praised the 'infectious enthusiasm' shown by another football legend, Sir Bobby Robson, throughout his life.

He said: "It got to you, you couldn't miss it. Don't ever under-estimate enthusiasm and enjoy working hard. It's a great quality. Wherever you go remember these things."

Wednesday's visit took the United boss back to his footballing roots in central Scotland, where he played with Falkirk from 1969 to 1973.

Glasgow-born Ferguson also started his managerial career at nearby East Stirlingshire in 1974.

Stirling University said the award was in recognition of the football boss's 'great distinction in the field of sport and the general public arena'.

Speaking at the ceremony, deputy principal of the university Professor Grant Jarvie hailed Sir Alex as 'one of the best-known, admired and successful football managers of all time'.

"The man is Manchester United," he said.

"He is often described as the greatest British football manager. When you ask players and fellow managers what it is that makes this man so great, they will tell you about the will to win, a consummate professional, the ability to lift you to great heights, the enthusiasm and knowledge of the game, the ability to manage top people and their characters.

"They will also tell you about the humility, the protection he gives to the players, the miles that he will drive to attend the funeral of a friend. Above all, the family life that is so important to him."

Ferguson was presented with his doctorate by the university's Chancellor, James Naughtie.

The broadcaster said of Ferguson after the ceremony: "He represents such a font of enthusiasm, wisdom and commitment and he's an absolutely perfect representative of what a sporting life does for you.

"He's a great role model. He talked about the importance of education and about determination, which is utterly authentic. That's him and it's absolutely suited to this place."

The 69-year-old will be made a doctor of the University of Stirling.

The visit will take Ferguson back to his footballing roots in central Scotland, where he played with Falkirk from 1969 to 1973.

Glasgow-born Ferguson also started his managerial career at nearby East Stirlingshire in 1974.

The university said the award will recognise Ferguson's 'great distinction in the field of sport and the general public arena'.

He will be presented with his doctorate by the university chancellor, broadcaster James Naughtie.

The ceremony in which the football boss is being honoured is one of four graduation ceremonies taking place at the institution on Wednesday and Thursday.

The announcement by the BOA was made with the knowledge of the Football Association but came as a shock to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs.

It means young players such as Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey of Wales, Northern Ireland's Jonny Evans and Scotland's Barry Bannan could play in a Great Britain shirt next year. It also affects selection for the women's team.

The BOA said the FA had consulted the other associations about player selection. A 'long list' of players from across Britain will be drawn up by the managers of the men's and women's teams, and the players each asked to confirm their availability. An announcement of the two squads of 18 players will be made in the northern summer of 2012.

Welsh FA president Phil Pritchard was furious, telling Press Association Sport: "We are not part of any agreement. The FA have no authority to speak on our behalf - they do not represent Wales whatsoever and that's a fact.

"We have not discussed this at any time recently."

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan spoke to his FA counterpart Alex Horne as recently as Monday night but was not aware any announcement was to be made.

Regan said he was 'very surprised and disappointed' at Horne's comments in the BOA statement, where the FA general secretary said he was 'pleased that the team will be selected from players across the home nations'.

Horne said: "I'd like to thank our counterparts at the Welsh, Irish and Scottish FAs for their understanding on what is a difficult issue.

"We will look to confirm coaches of the men's and women's teams in due course to allow them to plan and prepare their squads for the games."

The BOA claimed that all the associations were aware there could be an announcement this month.

A BOA spokesman said "Contact [from the FA] has been continuing with the home Associations right up to the last 24 hours as part of a consultation process that has been ongoing for the last 18 months. All the home associations were aware of the prospective timeline, including the possibility of an initial announcement in June, since mid-May."

The three home associations have long opposed an all-British team at the London Games, fearing it could affect their separate identities in world football, and saying the team should be made up of English players only.

There has been a stand-off for the last couple of years with the BOA insisting the Olympic Charter would not allow them to discriminate against players from other parts of Britain.

A joint statement from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs claimed their views had been ignored. The statement said: "No discussions took place with any of us, far less historic agreement been reached, prior to the statement from the BOA being released.

"The associations are committed to supporting the individual home nations playing all representative football under their respective flags as independent members of FIFA and UEFA."

The British men's team will be made up of under-23s but three over-age players are also allowed. The women's team can be of any age.

The last time Team GB was represented in the men's competition was the 1960 Games in Rome. It has never competed in the women's Olympic football tournament.

BOA chief executive Andy Hunt said: "Seeing Team GB take to the pitch in 2012 will be one of the defining moments of the London Olympic Games. It would be unthinkable to host the Olympic Games in Great Britain, home of the world's most knowledgeable and passionate football fans, and not have Team GB represented in both men's and women's football."

Some 1.7 million Olympic football tickets will go on sale on Friday, with matches all around the country including Glasgow and Cardiff.

Meanwhile, in a further statement FA general secretary Alex Horne said: "We have been very clear since the Olympic games were awarded to London that the FA is committed to Team GB football teams.

"We have been flexible in working with the BOA and other home nations regarding the make-up and selection for these teams being a collective of all home nations, or all English sides.

"It is clear that under the Olympic Charter there has to be a non-discriminatory selection process for all players. These are not the FA rules.

"We are sensitive to the concerns of the other home associations in relation to each of our individual identities, and we have been assured by FIFA there is no threat to each association.

"However as an organisation the FA has been mandated by the BOA to organise a men's and women's team for the 2012 Olympic football tournament across the UK.

"All three associations have notified us in writing that they acknowledge that legally we are entitled to support the BOA in the selection process."

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said he had emailed Horne on Monday night stating its position and was stunned to see the announcement.

Regan told Press Association Sport: "I sent Alex Horne an email last night saying we could not support or endorse the Team GB but that we recognised from a legal position we couldn't stand in the way of a player opting to play for Team GB.

"I asked if we could be kept in the loop so to see an announcement made today came as a shock to me and all the other associations. None of us knew this was going to happen."

The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish Football Associations have all expressed opposition to such a team and Regan reiterated the SFA's stance.

He insisted that there have been no discussions with Hunt and no indication of interest from any of the men's and women's squad players who have been consulted.

"Our position remains: we are opposed to taking part in Team GB," Regan told the SFA's official website.

"I was surprised by Andy Hunt's comments, especially since we have had no dialogue with him.

"We signed a letter to FIFA in 2009 which gave the FA the right to represent the Home Nations as Team GB.

"We need to protect our identity and we have no interest in taking part.

"We have consulted with the Association of Tartan Army Clubs and they are opposed to participation in Team GB and we have also spoken with the squads, who have shown no appetite for it, either."

Regan believes some dialogue with the SFA should have taken place before Hunt went public with his comments.

He said: "Communication is essential on these matters and, given that we have been in dialogue for some time, it would have been helpful if we'd all had the chance to speak on the matter before anything was made public."

Regan added: "I guess Andy is under a great deal of pressure from the London Olympic Games Organising Committee and the International Olympic Committee to get tickets on sale for the football events.

"As we know, there isn't a final position on Team GB as far as football is concerned.

"We haven't spoken to Andy. We've had dialogue with the Football Association but our position on the matter hasn't changed."

On FIFA's stance on the matter, Regan said: "FIFA have made it clear as far as they're concerned, they're passing the matter back to the British Olympic Authority and to England to try to get to a successful position as far as a Team GB is concerned.

"We've seen FIFA's comments and they've stated they were prepared to give assurances that there wouldn't be any future repercussions if Scotland do participate in Team GB.

"However, we're aware that any change of FIFA Executive Committee in the future can overturn that decision.

"Therefore, it's very important for us to maintain our independence. Scotland has a seat at the FIFA table, it has a seat at the International FA Board under the banner of Scotland.

"As far as we're concerned, that's something we feel is very important and something that we wish to protect."

He added: "We recognise that, legally, there is nothing we can do to stop players putting their hand up and wishing to take part or being selected to take part.

"But it's something that we wouldn't endorse and wouldn't be prepared to put our independence at risk over."

Ministers have introduced a draft Bill to the Scottish Parliament and, if approved, the 'Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill' means bigots will face up to five years in prison upon conviction and the possibility of a football banning order.

Existing law sees people who disrupt football matches charged with breach of the peace, which carries a maximum one-year sentence.

The legislation seeks to create two new offences relating to offensive behaviour that can "incite religious, racial or other forms of hatred, in and around football grounds and on the internet".

Online hate crime, such as abusive or offensive comments posted on Twitter, is also included and carries the same five-year maximum jail term.

The Bill is being fast-tracked through the parliamentary process to ensure the new powers are in place in time for the new football season.

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said: "The Scottish FA welcomes the new Bill as tangible evidence of the success of the Joint Action Group.

"In particular, we are pleased to see that it covers sectarian and other forms of unacceptable chanting and threatening behaviour.

"As we approach the start of a new season, it is important we look forward with anticipation and excitement.

"Football is this country's national sport and we all have a responsibility to ensure that entertainment replaces aggravation and that a family atmosphere is generated inside our grounds instead of a hostile one.

"As part of our new strategic plan, the Scottish FA has developed a Scotland United philosophy and it is our wish that everyone involved in the game in this country - the league bodies, supporters, clubs and media - embraces that ethos."

The newly-created role was one of the recommendations to come from former First Minister Henry McLeish's Review of Scottish Football.

The successful candidate will work alongside Levein to help improve the standard of international players from youth to elite level, with an appointment expected in the next couple of weeks.

Levein said: "I'm hopeful that very soon our performance director will be appointed. It's another significant step for the SFA.

"There have been some excellent candidates. It's such an important position that myself and the other people involved in the interview process just want to be sure that we have the right person.

"It's quite a stringent process. We want to make sure that everything is done properly. We have a strategy in place just now and we just need somebody to take that strategy and roll it out.

"We are getting there. We have one more interview to do and I'm hopeful before the end of the month that we will have news."

Scotland is currently battling to secure second spot in its Euro 2012 qualifying group and a crack at the play-offs.

According to Levein, the national team has made great strides in the last 12 months and he predicts more to come from his players.

He said: "I try to be as logical as possible when assessing where we are and our progress. I believe we are a much stronger side than what we were a year ago. The evidence suggests that.

"When you look through the squad of players that we have, a significant number of them have had, personally, their best seasons ever.

"They are at a good age, they have progressed to a certain level already, a lot of that progression has been over the last season, and I can only assume that progression will continue.

"A lot of the guys are in their mid-20s and their best years are ahead of them.

"We are in a better position than we were a year ago and, absolutely, we will be in a better position this time next year.

"This group of players that we have just now will be together for another six or eight years. It's exciting times for me and it should be for all Scottish fans."

Scotland faces Spain in a Euro 2012 qualifier later this year and Levein admits his dream is to follow its example with his own players in the years to come.

He said: "The Spanish style of play is one that's held up as an example to every team, every country, every player just now.

"Their style of football is fabulous to watch, it's inventive, it's attack-minded and, technically, it's superb and a delight to watch.

"We would all love to play in exactly the same way as Spain play and at the SFA we are investing a lot of money on the performance side of things to try to improve the way we play and improve the quality of players that we have available.

"Our dream would be to put 11 players on the pitch and play exactly how Spain or Barcelona play.

"That is a little bit away but it is our intention to head down that road.

"At this minute in time, we would all love to play like Spain. We can try but it's not often that we manage to do it."

Regan - who officially took over the post from Gordon Smith in October last year - witnessed one of Scottish football's most turbulent and controversial campaigns in his first season at the helm.

But he insists he is enjoying the challenge and looking forward to the future after his radical reforms won unanimous support at this week's AGM.

Asked if he ever thought of quitting, Regan told BBC Sportsound: "Not at all, never. As daft as this might sound, I really enjoy the job. I think it's great.

"I love Glasgow, I think it's a fantastic city, I love the people and I've got some brilliant staff working for me.

"It's a really exciting future, with what happened on Tuesday and our new strategy now laid out.

"I've always enjoyed jobs with a challenge. I've always enjoyed jobs where change is at the heart of the job and you can put a vision in place and try to lead people towards that vision. That's the buzz I get."

Reflecting on last season, he added: "It's been really challenging. I came in in October and, within the first month, we had a number of major issues.

"I had to deal with the disciplinary matter involving the Scotland and Rangers keeper Allan McGregor on my first day in the job.

"We then had referees withdrawal of labour, the Dougie McDonald incident at Tannadice in the Dundee United-Celtic match and we had the whole email scandal which resulted in parting company with a number of staff.

"It took my eye off the ball for a few weeks when I was constantly having to get involved in what I call putting fires out instead of allowing me time to look forward and try to put a strategy together.

"That first three months made me realise, and made me even more resolute, that we had to change. I said to the board 'We can't go on like this, this is crazy.'

"We were constantly on the backfoot and all the press coverage about the SFA was negative. It was all about the fact that people thought we were an out-dated organisation and the words 'fit for purpose' were used."

All 93 member clubs supported Regan's proposals to streamline and modernise the SFA's decision-making processes on Tuesday, with a complete overhaul of the disciplinary system one of the main changes to be implemented.

One of the controversies surrounding disciplinary procedures last season saw Celtic cut the length of manager Neil Lennon's two touchline bans, one of which was for an offence which took place four months earlier, because of legal dubiety over whether they ran consecutively or concurrently.

Regan said: "My relationship with Celtic has never been in doubt.

"I've got a good relationship with both of the Old Firm clubs.

"While there were differences of opinion, I think there was a mutual respect and a recognition that we all have to get things right and we've all made mistakes.

"We've taken those on the chin. We have certainly put in place our own plan and I'm very confident that we will be a different organisation going forward."

Another issue which dominated headlines last season was the problem of sectarianism and the ongoing fight to eradicate it from Scottish football.

Regan added: "I don't think I fully understood what sectarianism was, really, and I think there are many people in Scotland who don't understand what sectarianism is.

"I come from the north-east of England and I've seen many derby games. I've witnessed what I would call 'tribalism', with one set of fans winding up another set of fans.

"In Scotland, it takes on a whole different meaning when you add in politics and religion.

"There are still very grey areas around what exactly is illegal, what is unacceptable or discriminatory and what is sectarian in nature.

"We've got commitment from the government now to come up with new legislation, we've got commitment from the police to be much more clear on what behaviour is unacceptable and I think we will make progress.

"I think it will always be a difficult one to deal with because of the history and the fact that it's part of the west of Scotland culture but we recognise it and we've got to deal with it."

All 93 member clubs voted in favour of SFA chief executive Stewart Regan's proposals to streamline and modernise the governing body's decision-making processes at the summit at Hampden, sparking some of the most significant changes in the 138-year history of the organisation.

Numerous committees have been disbanded and the disciplinary procedures will be revamped, including a newly-introduced ban on managers and players discussing referees before a game.

The new Judicial Panel will also have the power to hand out sanctions to anyone who engages in verbal or physical harassment of a match official during or directly after a match.

Responding to the changes, John McKendrick, chair of the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association, said in a statement: "The Scottish Senior Football Referees Association warmly welcomes the strong support that member clubs have shown to Scottish referees through their endorsement and approval of the new Articles of Association.

"We also share member clubs' belief that it is unproductive to make public comment on match officials following their appointment to officiate at a match.

"We share member clubs' belief that verbal or physical harassment of match officials should not be tolerated - this has no place in Scottish football.

"Scottish referees are optimists and believe that the adoption of these new Articles of Association is indicative of a will to accord greater respect toward match officials.

"This will be for the greater good of the game in season 2011/12 and beyond."