Rangers eye major windfall, Celtic player branded 'a disgrace', Beale breaks sack silence, Hearts playing 'angry' - football news

Rangers could net a potential £1.2m windfall this summer after Malik Tillman strongly hinted that he will complete a permanent transfer to PSV Eindhoven this summer. Rangers are due 10 per cent of any fee paid for the US international after parent club Bayern Munich cancelled their option to buy the 21-year-old midfielder last year following his season-long loan at Ibrox. Tillman has spent this season on loan at PSV, contributing five goals and eight assists, with the Dutch giants set to pay £12m to sign him on a permanent basis, according to reports. Tillman said: "For me, it always comes down to playing time or prospects. Hopefully next summer I will look back on the second season in which I regularly played at a high level after being at Rangers last year. That's how I would like to see it continue. The atmosphere is really good. We have grown really close as a team. Everyone has fun: the manager, the staff. We just like to play football, and you can see that in us. I also think we play very attractively. Peter Bosz has a precise plan, and we try to follow it. It's all about intensity, with and without the ball."

Hearts playing 'angry'

Former Hearts assistant Lee McCulloch has praised the job Steven Naismith is doing at Tynecastle after admitting that the side were guilty of "keeping possession for the sake it" during his spell at the club. McCulloch was Robbie Neilson's number two at Hearts until the pair were sacked in April last year after three years in charge with results tailing off after a third place finish in season 2021-22. "Really positive," McCulloch told PLZ when discussing his former club. "Nieuwenhof, Vargas and Kent really good signings. Joe Savage obviously a big part of bringing them in, deserves a lot of credit. But away from that, Naisy deserves a lot (of credit). Naisy is a good coach, said it from day one. I think the stutter at the start was trying to find the identity, the shape the players had been used to for about a year-and-a-half before that. He's got that continuity in the team. It's not all about Lawrence Shankland although he's flying, best striker probably in the league. Naisy has got them organised, playing good football. He's got them not just keeping possession for the sake of keeping possession, which arguably it was like a couple of seasons before that. He's playing angry football, getting balls into the box which Shankland feeds off. So he's playing to their strengths and they're flying in third. Can they break the Old Firm? I'm not sure but they've definitely, for me, cemented third place."

Beale breaks sack silence

Michael Beale has broken his silence on his Sunderland sacking. The former Rangers manager was relieved of his duties at the Stadium of Light after winning only four of the 12 games he took charge of as the Black Cats slipped to tenth in the Championship table, four points off the play-offs. Beale was unable to win over the Sunderland fans during his short spell at the club while reports indicate he also lost the dressing room. Beale released a statement following his dismissal which read: “I am disappointed to have left Sunderland AFC after a short time at the club. I would like to say a big thank you to the players who were excellent to work with. The squad has a lot of potential and I will follow their progress with great interest in the coming weeks and months. I would also like to extend my thanks to all the staff, both at the training ground and Stadium of Light, for the quality of their work, as well as their friendship. The communication with Kyril, Kristjaan and the board was always open and honest, and I would like to place on record my sincerest thanks for their support during a tough period personally. To the fans - I would like to thank you for the support shown to me and my family during the recent game against Plymouth Argyle. In this gesture, you showed huge empathy and warmth and that is something I will never forget. I wish everyone associated with Sunderland AFC all the very best for the future."

Celtic player branded 'a disgrace'

Former Celtic striker John Hartson has let rip at defender Alexandro Bernabei and accused the Argentine left-back of potentially costing his team the title. Bernabei was caught under the ball as Kilmarnock's David Watson headed home a 92nd minute equaliser at Celtic Park on Saturday that allowed Rangers to move top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time since August 2022. The 22-year-old, who was deputising for the injured Greg Taylor, has struggled to live up to expectation at Celtic since making the £3.75m move from Lanus in the summer of 2022. Hartson said [The Go Radio Football Show], “They should never concede that equaliser to Kilmarnock. It’s a long ball hoofed through the middle and they lose the first header. Then it goes to the left-sided player. He puts it in, [Alexandro] Bernabei is a disgrace. He doesn’t even challenge Watson for the goal. If you’re left back in that position at the last minute, you are giving everything to stop a goal. This could cost Celtic the title. It doesn’t mean enough. It’s got to matter more. You’ve got to defend your goal as a defender with your life. It’s got to really upset you. It’s got to really annoy you. And I just see Brendan just talking as if he’s really calm. I don’t know Brendan might be having a pop at the players in the dressing room but that equaliser should never have been conceded.”

Livi won't accept play-off

Bullish David Martindale dismissed any notion that he would settle for Livingston finishing in the relegation play-off spot because he remains convinced his bottom-of-the-table side can secure their survival outright. The Lions were recently six points adrift of 11th-placed Ross County at the foot of the cinch Premiership, with the Dingwall side holding two games in hand. After ending a demoralising 17-game run without a league victory when they defeated St Mirren 1-0 on Saturday, Livi closed to within three points of the Staggies, who now only have one game in hand. The bottom two sides meet in the Highlands this weekend at the start of a huge week in which the West Lothian club will play the three teams immediately above them, with the County showdown followed by a midweek home game against ninth-placed Motherwell and then a trip to 10th-placed St Johnstone. Asked if he would settle for 11th place now and a two-legged play-off against a Championship promotion-chaser to try to secure Livi’s survival in the top flight, manager Martindale said: “No, I want 10th, I want ninth, I want to try and get as high as we can. If you said to me ‘bang on 11th right now, league ends’, no, I wouldn’t be happy with that. I think we’ve still got to try and achieve 10th or better. I know it’s a big ask, a huge hill in front of us, but I think we’ve got more than enough in the locker to overcome that.”