Welcome to Kicking Off, the quick way to get up to pace with what is happening today in sport in Scotland and beyond
Today
- Venue for EK v Celtic Scottish Cup tie back up in air
- St Johnstone complain about ticket allocation for Tynecastle semi-final
- Miller and McKay stretch Gers’ Championship lead but win marred by Halliday dismissal
- Deila looks to Celtic kids to set the tone
- Britain have both a man and a woman in Grand Slam quarter-final for first time in almost 40 years
- Murray admits to coming close to withdrawing early from Aussie Open after father-in-law’s collapse
- Former Hearts man Iain Ferguson on the influence on the current team of the side he played in 30 years ago
- Tommy Wright insists Rangers target Michael O’Halloran is already on St Johnstone team-sheet for League Cup semi final
- Central belt neighbours Falkirk and Linlithgow eye upsets as they head east
- Hartley confirmed as England captain for trip to Edinburgh
- Scotland backs coach Jason O’Halloran tips Mark Bennett to torment England
- IAAF President Coe's recent former employers Nike considering filling void left for athletics world body by Adidas withdrawal of sponsorship
Hamilton no more
SFA and East Kilbride have to decide on an another venue for the non-league side's Scottish Cup meeting with Celtic after Hamilton refused to stage it on the basis of having prior bookings
Miller time
Rangers striker sends his side on the way to victory at Morton with the opening goal
I don't belieeeeeeve it!
Andy Halliday theatrically indicates his shock after seeing red following the celebration of Barrie McKay's match-clincher
Bhoy wonder
Kieran Tierney, one of several youngsters in whom Ronny Deila, Celtic's manager, is placing his trust
Flying high
Johana Konta soars into Aussie Open quarter-final, making it the first time a British woman and man have done so for 39 years
Here's tae us
Tommy Wright (left) insists Rangers transfer target Michael O'Halloran will still be a Saint come the League Cup semi-final after declaring that he is already on the team-sheet
Ready for a giant slaying
Former Hearts man Graham Weir is among those heading north east from the central belt looking to create cup upsets in Forfar and Dundee
G'day Skip
Dylan Hartley, the New Zealand-born hooker who will lead England into their meeting with Scotland at the start of the Six Nations after being named captain by fellow antipodean Eddie Jones
Centre of attention
Scotland may have midfield injuries but new backs coach Jason O'Halloran reckons Mark Bennett will make a big impact
Just do what?
Nike could be set to re-establish their close working relationship with under pressure IAAF president Sebastian Coe
06.05 Radio Scotland sports headlines
Rangers five points clear at top of Championship after two nil win over Morton... after Hamilton refuse to host East Kilbride v Celtic Scottish Cup tie a new venue is expected to be announced today... Jamie Murray on court shortly in Australian Open doubles quarter-final... Roger Federer poised to beat Tomas Berdych in singles quarter-final... Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova in women's singles
06.32 Radio five live headlines
Williams beats Sharapova for 18th successive time in Melbourne... Federer through in straight sets over Berdych... Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares poised to go into first set tie-break... England cricketers preparing to try to save Test in South Africa... Will Carling advises new England captain that real leadership is about how you show your passion... Burnley hammer Derby to go third in English Championship... Rangers five clear in Scottish Championship after 2-0 win over Morton... West Ham say it would be impossible for another club to ground share the Olympic Stadium with them after developers say they would be open to discussing Chelsea or Spurs playing their games at the ground
Back Pages
The Herald and the Evening Times carry the controversies over the choice of venue for the East Kilbride v Celtic Scottish Cup tie and the ticketing for the St Johnstone v Hibs League Cup tie, The National carries a combination of Rangers defeat of Morton and Andy Murray’s angst after his father-in-law took ill in Australia.
Grandstanding – today’s sports comment
In The National Martin Hannan harks back to more glorious times as he recalls Scotland’s forgotten boxing champions, while there is a true gear change in The Herald as Nick Rodger ponders the prospect of golfers getting to show a bit of leg.
I'm a real sports boy
No strings on Ian Poulter as he celebrates getting to wear shorts when playing his sport
Sporting Twitterati
Comment is passed on the performance of Scottish football administrators...
Has any football club not made an announcement today ? Shambles as usual feel sorry for EKFC and Saintees fans
— Vic Bicocchi (@VicBicocchi) January 25, 2016
I've just applied for the next series of Embarrassing Bodies. I'm bringing the @spfl.
— London SJFC (@LondonSJFC) January 25, 2016
the #SPFL want facial recognition technology. A CT scanner for their senior management would be a far better investment #brains #StJohnstone
— Stewart Weir (@sweirz) January 25, 2016
Today’s top message
All along it has felt like a real shame that East Kilbride would not make full use of home advantage since they earned the right to do so against Celtic.
There has, though, been something unnecessarily vicious about the criticisms from some quarter that they should not be allowed to stage such a match if they do not have a ground fit for purpose, even if those making that assertion will feel vindicated by the decision of Hamilton Accies to reject the request that they host the match at New Douglas Park.
For my money the real joy of East Kilbride’s moment in the spotlight is that a club with such paltry resources has found a way of getting a crack at the best in the land and while it would be great to see Celtic forced to slum it at K-Park then wherever the match is played we should wish the underdogs well.
However it does seem that once again the administrators who are paid more in real terms than at any time in Scottish sporting history have not done a very good job when seeking to ensure that an alternative venue would be available. At best it seems that Hamilton were taken for granted and if we are not exactly talking about the sort of sums involved in any negotiations about a possible ground share of Chelsea and Spurs with West Ham at London's Olympic Stadium, the club still appears to have been well within its rights to assert itself as it did.
Similarly the confusion that seems to have been caused regarding the ticket allocation for the League Cup semi-final between St Johnstone and Hibs at Tynecastle looks as if it could easily have been avoided had the necessary preparation been done at the outset and communication made properly.
It is bad enough that so much of the money generated by Scottish sport is spent on those who sit behind desks instead of those who wear tracksuits, but it is even worse when they cannot perform the basic tasks demanded of them to earn their keep.
Corruption has become the big issue in sports administration in recent times but competence is also something that requires to be scrutinised, not least in Scotland where there has been little appetite to investigate the correlation between what has been a vast increase in the amount paid to what is oft referred to as the blazeratti and the diminishing returns on the field of play.
Thanks for reading. Back with tomorrow’s Scottish sports agenda
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