Tomas Cosgrove fully committed to leading Larne's young stars after being restored as Invermen skipper
The club's current longest-serving player was stripped of the captaincy by former manager Tiernan Lynch following a drinking offence.
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Scotsman
15 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Celtic six-time loanee can still be Parkhead success as manager identifies key characteristic
Mentality of 23-year-old praised after half-time withdrawal Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... For those of a Celtic persuasion, Adam Montgomery might have entered last-chance saloon territory at Parkhead as he embarks on the sixth loan spell of his career. Without a senior appearance since December 2021, it's easy to comprehend why many believe the writing could be on the wall for a player who has always remained on the periphery of the first-team squad for a number of years. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rated highly by previous Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou, the 23-year-old hasn't had the rub of the green in a Hoops jersey and is now braced for an uncertain future. Celtic's Adam Montgomery has joined Livingston on loan. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) For the time being, Livingston manager David Martindale was willing to throw the left-sided defender a chance to prove he can cut it in the top-flight and still be a success story in Glasgow's east end. Having spent the second half of last season with Queen's Park in the Championship, Montgomery joined Livi last month and has started all three games since his arrival in West Lothian - answering Martindale's SOS call amid injuries to Cristian Montano and Cammy Kerr. While recognising the scale of the challenge he faces to force his way into Brendan Rodgers' plans, Martindale admits Montgomery hasn't let his lack of game time hinder his aim of salvaging his Celtic career after expressing an immediate hunger to be pitched in at the deep end. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "That's testament to Adam's mindset," Martindale declared as he spoke of Montgomery's desire to remain on the pitch during Saturday's 3-1 Premiership win over Falkirk, despite sustaining a muscle injury during the first-half. 'Difficult for him at Celtic' "He's been away with Celtic and missed a lot of pre-season with us, so it's about managing his load. He wanted to stay on the park and wanted me to give him another 15 minutes. but we'd already used two stoppages and I said to him that I couldn't take that risk 60 minutes into a game. So I had to make that decision at half-time to take him off, otherwise he would've been on the pitch for longer. Livingston's Adam Montgomery and Kilmarnock's Jamie Brandon in action during a William Hill Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Livingston at the BBSP Rugby Park, on August 02, 2025, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) | SNS Group "Listen, it's really difficult for him (at Celtic). Of course, they do things impeccably well but he was maybe player number 30, 32, I don't know. It's really hard to get game intensity into players that are around the perimeter of the squad. "Adam hadn't played much football. Unfortunately for him, he joined us just as Celtic were entering that period where their game intensity would've increased preparing for the Champions League, at the same time we were preparing for the Premier Sports Cup and had already been through a four, five game stretch. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Guys like Scott Pittman and Ryan McGowan probably had about eight games under their belt before Adam came in. He's not had that luxury. So I think it's really important that if you're going to go out and play football then you do it at your earliest opportunity. I think that's shown with Adam.
Scotsman
24 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Hearts reaction: 'Brilliant human', fans choking for heroes and midweek friendly plan after dramatic win
Defender maintains rare scoring run as Jambos soar to top of Premiership Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hearts head coach Derek McInnes joked that he couldn't get Stuart Findlay to score enough goals at Kilmarnock, but now he can't stop in a maroon shirt. The on-loan Tynecastle centre-back headed home twice from corners in Sunday's dramatic 3-2 win at Dundee United, leaving McInnes delighted at his contribution. Findlay took five years to score four goals before joining Hearts on loan from Oxford United. He now has four goals in his first five games for the Edinburgh club after leaving Tannadice a hero. Lawrence Shankland's penalty put the visitors ahead, but United overhauled the deficit to lead 2-1 at the interval thanks to two Ivan Dolcek strikes. Findlay headed the equaliser and then the winner in the 94th minute to complete a dramatic comeback. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I couldn't get him to a score a goal in Kilmarnock, now he can't stop scoring,' smiled McInnes, who managed the player at Rugby Park. 'Stuart's a brilliant human, he's a brilliant boy. I knew first and foremost he's going to do his job well defensively. I think he does that week in, week out. But it's actually nice to see him getting a wee bit of a chance to shine and getting a wee bit of applause from that side of it. You see the supporters, they're choking for heroes, they're desperate to chant their name and to have that adulation. Defender Stuart Findlay was Hearts' hero with two goals in the win over Dundee United. | SNS Group 'Stuart's job is to try and stop the other team's better players and he does that time and time again, but it's great for him to score goals. I like the fact we're building a wee bit of a reputation on set plays, because he was involved in this penalty kick as well. In saying that, I'd still like us to score more from open play, and that's something we need to look at as well. Coming from behind, you need people to stand up and Stuart normally does that and it's great for him to be involved in all three goals.' Findlay was pulled down for Shankland's penalty on a day when Hearts battled until the last kick for three points. They have now won both of their opening Premiership games after beating Aberdeen 2-0 at Tynecastle last Monday. This Tuesday, they will play a bounce game against Championship side Ross County to give game time to players who have not featured much in competitive action so far. 'Yeah, we got offered the game and we took it,' said McInnes. 'Again, it was more for the attacking players, but Beni [Baningime] can play, [Tomas] Magnusson can play, [Calem] Nieuwenhof I think, will play all being well. So it gives us those midfield options where we're a bit stretched defensively. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
The National
25 minutes ago
- The National
Champions League riches within touch for Rangers - so why the concern?
Seeing their heroes join the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, the cream of the continental game, will be uplifting and exciting for supporters of the Glasgow giants in equal measure. They have only mixed it in that illustrious company once in the past 15 years. Their directors, too, will raise a large glass of their favourite tipple if they manage to overcome Club Brugge of Belgium over two legs as the achievement will improve their financial predicament considerably. It would be worth tens of millions to them regardless of how they fare. For a new regime which has only been in situ for a matter of months, it would be a significant fillip. Read more: Would Rangers supporters, though, trade more European success for elusive domestic glory? Would they forego the chance to see their side in action against top English, French, German, Italian and Spanish opposition in the coming months if they knew they would be toasting a Scottish title triumph come May? Would they give it up to get the better of Celtic in the Premiership? The likelihood is, after four years of abject failure on the home front, many of them, as much as they have enjoyed seeing James Tavernier and his team mates defy expectations in the Europa League in recent seasons, would prefer top flight dominance this term. The Govan outfit, who took to the field in the Doosan Arena protecting a comfortable three goal lead following a resounding victory last week, were not quite at their best last night. They rode their luck a little against mediocre rivals before allowing, after a calamitous slip by left-back Jefte, Rafiu Duosinmi to put the hosts ahead four minutes before half-time. Rangers still threatened going forward on occasion and drew level on the hour mark when Lyall Cameron, who has impressed onlookers greatly every time he has donned a light blue jersey, opened his account for the club he joined from Dundee in the summer following a slick attacking move. Svetozar Markovic restored the Viktoria lead with seven minutes of regulation time remaining. But it ultimately proved to be too little too late. (Image: Getty Images) There remains considerable room for improvement. Defensively, they were unconvincing. Their goalkeeper Jack Butland once again came to their rescue on more than one occasion. But nobody could begrudge the visitors the 4-2 aggregate result. Job done, onwards and upwards. Still, the accomplishment begged a question? Why can't they make such light work of lesser opponents in their own country? Their repeated inability to see off domestic adversaries who they should defeat comfortably continues to frustrate and baffle their fans. Rangers have, despite not winning the Premiership since back in 2021, done pretty well against Celtic of late. They probably had the better of their encounters during the 2024/25 campaign. But against the likes of Aberdeen, Dundee, Dundee United, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Ross County and St Mirren, they have repeatedly been found wanting. This season they have beaten Panathinaikos of Greece and Viktoria Plzen of Czechia in the Champions League and been held to draws by Motherwell away at Fir Park and Dundee – who had lost to Airdrie and Alloa in the Premier Sports Cup group stages – at home at Ibrox in the Premiership. They are already four points behind the defending champions and it is still only August. So what is the reason for their repeated failings? It is pretty simple really. They have to learn how to break down teams which sit back, defend in numbers and seek to score on the counter. They fare far better against sides which like to get on the front foot and come at them. But that is a major issue in their ain midden. Read more: Martin, the former MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager, was considered particularly adept at dealing with a low block during his time down south. The one-time centre-half hasn't shown much evidence of that since returning to his adopted homeland in June. He will have to start exhibiting that he possesses a tactical nous soon or he will suffer the same fate as his predecessors Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement. (Image: Getty Images) No fewer than 10 new players have arrived in another close season of frantic transfer activity. The summer recruits will take time to settle into their new surroundings. The manager must also be given games to implement his ideas. But he will find that patience is a quality which is in short supply if more draws and defeats are suffered. His players will have to raise their games considerably to see off a formidable Brugge side. Much is being made of the opening Old Firm game of the season at Ibrox on August 31. If Rangers lose it then they will be playing catch-up and then some. But their forthcoming fixtures against Alloa at home and St Mirren away might well be even more important for them than that derby encounter.
