Welcome to Kicking Off, the quick way of getting up to pace with the day's Scottish sports agenda
Today
- Vern Cotter says Eddie Jones should prepare to have his eyes opened as he gives Barclay a long overdue Six Nations recall
- Mark Bennett hopes to be the perfect foil for Matt Scott in the heart of Scotland’s back division
- Sean Lamont poised for call up to Scotland squad for Calcutta Cup clash
- Ronny Deila says he will walk away if Celtic don’t win the league
- Hoops legend Frank McAvennie says he is sorry to have been proved right about Deila
- Club skipper Scott Brown takes swipe at former Celtic striker Andy Walker after the Sky TV pundit claimed Deila should be sacked
- Dave King confirms that Rangers have applied to cancel Sports Direct contracts
- Kenny Miller admits the lure of a European return is an added incentive for Rangers in their bid for Scottish Cup glory this season
- Lee McCulloch hopes he will be welcomed back to Ibrox by those who booed him last season
- East Kilbride defender Craig Howie admits the women in his work still don't believe 'the baby of the office' can possibly be facing Celtic
- Ann Budge confirms that Hearts are in negotiation with Robbie Neilson over a new contract
- Alan Archibald reckons Stevie Lawless can put Dundee United approach behind him and knock them out of the Cup
- Louis Moult looking to become Hampden hero for Motherwell after his heartbreak at Wembley
- Alex Rae happy transfer window has shut after busy one for St Mirren
Eye opener
Vern Cotter, Scotland's head coach, reckons new England counterpart Eddie Jones is in for a surprise when his side visit Edinburgh this weekend
Back in blue
John Barclay is finally set to play Six Nations rugby again after an astonishing four year absence
X Factor
Mark Bennett has long been seen as the player who can bring something extra special to Scottish back play as he showed in the agonising World Cup quarter-final defeat against Australia
Ready for recall
Sean Lamont is poised to return to the Scotland squad if Duncan Taylor fails a fitness test
Premiership or bust
Ronny Deila has said he will quit Celtic if they do not win the title this season
Where's the cups?
Deila critic Frank McAvennie with the only major domestic trophy that is not currently in the Celtic cabinet
Hitting back hard
Scott Brown launches counter-attack against TV pundit Andy Walker after his call for Deila to be sacked
Asserting authority
Rangers chairman Dave King says the club has moved to cancel its contracts with Sports Direct
Eyes on further prizes
Championship player of the month Kenny Miller reckons Rangers are capable of an early return to Europe by winning the Scottish Cup
Hoping for a warm welcome
Ex-Rangers skipper Lee McCulloch is hoping for a better reception at Ibrox when he brings his Kilmarncock team than he was receiving in his latter days with Rangers
Babyface
East Kilbride's Craig Howie reckons he is good enough as well as old enough to be meeting Celtic in the Scottish Cup
Staying put?
Hearts are making efforts to keep manager Robbie Neilson at the club
Backing the Lawless
Thistle boss Alan Archibald reckons midweek match-winner Stevie Lawless will forget about Dundee United's approach as he prepares to face them
Dreaming of Hampden
Motherwell's Louis Moult is hoping a visit to Hampden can eradicate painful memories of playing at England's national stadium
Ready to move on
St Mirren boss Alex Rae is glad the transfer window has closed
06.02 Radio Scotland sports headlines
Gavin Hastings believes Scotland team is capable of a great performance... Chris Robshaw under no illusions about the task facing England... Scott Brown determined to finish the season on a high with Celtic... Scott Jamieson four shots off the pace being set by leader Alex Noren in Dubai
06.35 Radio Five Live sports headlines
Leeds Rhinos suffer first opening day defeat in Super League for 16 years... Ronny Deila insists he will never quit as Celtic manager... Barnsley into final of Johnson's Paint Trophy after defeat of Fleetwood... Mark Selby out of German Masters, beaten by Steven Maguire who now faces fellow Scot Graham Dott... Rory McIlroy three shots off lead as he prepares for second round action at Dubai Desert Classic
The Back Pages
The Evening Times and The Herald both lead on Ronny Deila’s announcement that he will quit if Celtic don’t win the Premiership, with the latter also highlighting Hearts’ bid to keep their management team and the prospect of veteran wing Sean Lamont’s recall to the Scotland rugby squad, while The National leads on his fellow back Matt Scott warning his team-mates to keep calm heads rather than letting emotion reign as it did against England two years ago.
Grandstanding – today’s sports comment
In The Herald Stuart Bathgate suggests that the personalities may differ but Eddie Jones and Stuart Lancaster’s team selections bear striking similaritie, Neil Cameron explains why Derek McInnes may be telling everyone that Aberdeen can’t win the league but quietly he knows they can and Mark McGhee says the odds on his old teams Leicester and Aberdeen winning their respective league titles would have been into the thousands.
In the Evening Times Davie Hay says Celtic's players must accept share of blame but key question is Deila’s future, while Derek Johnstone says fresh faces give will give Rangers a mid-season boost as the old guard come back in the form of Kilmarnock.
Different face, familiar challenge
New England head coach Eddie Jones
Quietly confident
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes
Pleasantly surprised
Fromer Aberdeen and Leicester boss Mark McGhee
Sporting Twitterati
Six nations kick off in focus as Kelly Brown makes his view clear on fellow 'Killer B' John Barclay's long absence from the Six Nations and England coach Eddie Jones seeks the right to be arrogant, but England's newcomers hopefully set the tone for their side's weekend in terms of inspiration!
Too close to call Scotland/England at the weekend I reckon. It's great to see John Barclay back in the mix, class player.
— Kelly Brown (@kellydrbrown) February 4, 2016
England coach eddie jones: arrogance is only bad when you lose
— warmananewsfeed (@warmananewsfeed) February 2, 2016
https://t.co/kDIKyR5iUT
New boys @OllieDevoto, @jackclifford93 & @paulhill101 ready for operation Scotland 👊https://t.co/wv72IUitzj
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 4, 2016
Behind the headlines
The UN decision that Julian Assange has been wrongly detained and the British establishment response to it so far may not seem an obvious sporting topic but it carries echoes of attitudes that have done global sport some serious damage in recent times.
The Assange situation speaks to the wider perception that the west in general and America and Britain in particular, are only interested in the decisions of world forums when they agree with them.
That arrogant-looking attitude played a part for many years in bolstering the position of Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, as he played to his audience when galvanising support from other regions and those who see it that way will only have had their opinions reinforced by that the support that has been given from the establishment to IAAF President Sebastian Coe.
On the one hand Blatter, who did not give the Americans and British what they want, has been demonised along with those around him, probably quite rightly, for the corruption that took place on his watch. On the other Coe, vice President of the IAAF for umpteen years while all sorts of abuses were going on within the organisation, is deemed the right man for the job of cleaning it up.
One rule for one, another rule for another will always create a credibility gap.
Thanks for reading. Back to Kick Off another week on Monday.
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