DIGEST

LEE McCulloch is to take over the role of player-assistant manager at Kilmarnock after failing to reach an agreement on a backroom position at Rangers.

The 37-year-old was in the dugout for the Ayrshire club during a friendly match against Berwick Rangers at Shielfield Park yesterday afternoon with his appointment on a three-year deal expected to be made official tomorrow.

"It is not there yet, but everything has virtually been agreed," said the Kilmarnock manager, Gary Locke. "It is just a case of Lee putting pen to paper and I hope that will be done on Monday morning.

"He will be eligible to play and will bring experience as we are a young side. Most importantly, he will add to the backroom staff and that is the main reason I have brought him in.

"He has a lot to offer in terms of working with the back four."

The Rugby Park club have been in negotiations with the former Ibrox captain since he became a free agent at the end of last season, but Locke admitted that a deal was on ice as he waited to see whether there was a job behind-the-scenes for him at Murray Park.

David Weir, the assistant boss at Rangers, admitted last week that McCulloch had discussed a role within the academy at the Championship club, but that has not come to fruition.

JOHN McGinn will today fly to America to open signing talks with Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo.

The 20-year-old midfielder - monitored by the likes of Celtic, Hibs and Wigan in the past year - turned down a new two-year contract at St Mirren and is able to move abroad with no need for a training compensation fee. That has made him an attractive prospect for Houston head coach Owen Coyle.

McGinn missed the closing weeks of last season after being injured in a freak incident on the training ground which involved club captain Steven Thompson accidentally spearing him with a pole during a drill. McGinn's lawyers are pursuing an insurance claim.

MANCHESTER United last night agreed a deal to sign Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich.

"We tried to convince him to stay at Bayern Munich, but I have a bit of understanding for a player who has been 17 years at the club and wants to try something different," said Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

GARY McAllister has returned to Liverpool as first-team coach and vowed to pay them back for providing him with such glorious memories from the twilight of his playing career.

The former Scotland captain signed on a free transfer from Coventry City in 2000 at the age of 35 and went on to help them secure an historic treble of trophies in the form of the FA, League and UEFA Cups in 2001.

"I feel as if I owe Liverpool, getting that opportunity at the last stage of my career," he said. "I feel the same as I did with that.

"Liverpool is a club where you can win things."