Former Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae is reportedly interested in becoming Hibernian head coach. The 42-year-old former Reading midfielder led Ivory Coast to the knockout stage for the first time at this summer’s World Cup and has family links to Scotland. The link to the Hibernian job comes amid wider managerial speculation in Scottish football.
At Celtic, comfortable defeats by Rangers and Ferencvaros have left a growing sense of unease behind the scenes over the future of manager Martin O’Neill. Reports indicate that O’Neill is not facing the sack, but the 74-year-old knows he must keep Celtic above Rangers to stay in the job for the whole season. O’Neill himself has said that ‘Celtic will be looking, soon enough, for someone to replace me’, while insisting he retains the hunger to succeed this season.
Former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit has also addressed the Celtic speculation. He said that not even an approach from Celtic could persuade Frank Rijkaard to come out of managerial retirement. Gullit, who is 64, has opened the door to his first coaching role since 2011.
Elsewhere, Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin will return to hospital in the next six weeks to undergo a minor operation. He has returned to work after a health scare last month.
New Bologna head coach Raffaele Palladino has praised the versatility and intelligence of Lewis Ferguson. The 27-year-old Scotland midfielder had a verbal agreement to join Rangers this summer, but it failed to produce a concrete approach.
Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg says Connor Barron has yet to make his debut on loan from Rangers because nobody in his side currently deserves to drop out.
Former United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who worked under Martin O’Neill with Leicester City, has revealed he almost joined the Northern Irishman at Celtic. Rangers also showed interest in him at different stages of his career.