Celtic have now reportedly set their sights on signing a Championship striker who Parkhead fans already love.

Henry tells Celtic "let Nancy cook"

Whilst many around Parkhead are quickly running out of patience with Wilfried Nancy, Premier League legend Thierry Henry has urged the Bhoys to give the Frenchman time in Scotland.

The former Arsenal man worked as Nancy’s assistant at Montreal several years ago and recently told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I see people calling for him to leave the place. As a coach myself, I think it’s too early to say that. Let him work and let him cook and judge him maybe at the end of the season.”

There’s no denying that the pressure’s on Nancy, however, after he made history by becoming the first Celtic manager to lose four-straight games since 1978.

The new manager had his own say on the matter in the build-up to his fifth game in charge against Aberdeen on Sunday, saying: “On Wednesday I think that what we did was interesting, with the way we attacked. And we had many opportunities. So the idea is not to stay still, we add improvements all the time.

“I have to change certain things to see players, but also see how I can adjust a few players, how I can mix players together. And I think that every game, I did that. My job is to still do it for the next game, and again, and again, and again. So that doesn’t change.”

Related Celtic can land dream Nancy upgrade by hiring "kamikaze" 4-3-3 manager

Celtic could already land an upgrade on Wilfried Nancy by swooping to appoint this manager as a replacement.

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What should help turn things around is the January transfer window if Nancy lasts that long in Scotland. It’s then that the Hoops could turn to a familiar face to rediscover their attacking spark.

Celtic plotting move to re-sign Kyogo

As reported by Football Insider, Celtic have now registered their interest in signing Kyogo Furuhashi from Birmingham City in the January transfer window.

The Japan international has endured a tumultuous time since swapping Celtic for Stade Rennais back in January and soon found himself at Birmingham in the summer. Just like in France, however, Kyogo has failed to make his mark in the Championship. Now, one year on from leaving, he could be on his way back to Parkhead.

Kyogo Furuhashi

Celtic record

Appearances

165

Goals

85

Assists

19

The forward arguably needs a reunion with Celtic just as much as those in Scotland. The Parkhead fan favourite scored 85 goals in 165 games for the Bhoys and earned plenty of praise from former Celtic star Chris Sutton, who dubbed Kyogo “unplayable” back in 2021.

Subscribe for deeper Celtic transfer analysis and updates Get in-depth context on Kyogo, Nancy and Celtic’s transfer plans by subscribing to the newsletter. Expect expanded analysis of transfer links, squad impact and what a Kyogo return would mean for tactics — all including in-depth Celtic coverage you’ll actually read. Subscribe Subscribe for deeper Celtic transfer analysis and updates Get in-depth context on Kyogo, Nancy and Celtic’s transfer plans by subscribing to the newsletter. Expect expanded analysis of transfer links, squad impact and what a Kyogo return would mean for tactics — all including in-depth Celtic coverage you’ll actually read.

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Whether Birmingham are ready to give up on their summer signing just yet is the big question. Kyogo cost the Blues as much as £10m, but is yet to show signs of coming good in the Championship.

Laurent Koscielny scored with eight minutes remaining to snatch a deserved point for Arsenal in an entertaining encounter with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

The Frenchman’s equaliser maintained the Gunners’ unbeaten start to the season and left Roberto Mancini frustrated after City drew for the third time in five games despite taking the lead through Joleon Lescott.

Arsene Wenger will be the happier of the two managers as his side turned in an accomplished display to come from behind and earn a share of the spoils against the Premier League champions.

City, on the other hand, appeared deflated after their Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in midweek and should have been behind as the visitors, powered by the excellent Santi Cazorla, clicked straight into gear. The Spaniard twice tested Joe Hart with strikes from distance, while Gervinho shot into the side netting before the home side finally sparked into life.

Sergio Aguero brought a save out of Vito Mannone with a low effort before a tactical reshuffle from Mancini, that involved switching Scott Sinclair to the right wing, turned the tide in City’s favour as they took the lead with five minutes left of the half courtesy of Lescott’s header from David Silva’s corner.

Edin Dzeko then came close to doubling the advantage just before the break but saw Mannone tip his effort over the crossbar before Arsenal sprang back into life after the restart. Cazorla drew a breathtaking save from Hart as the away side had to wait until the 82nd minute to level proceedings, Koscielny lashing home from close range after City failed to deal with a corner.

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Vincent Kompany and Aguero went close to restoring the hosts’ lead soon after with Gervinho wasting a glorious chance to take maximum points back to North London in the closing stages.

Hamish Marshall’s unbeaten 155 in the New Zealand Academy’s game with Tamil Nadu Districts in Chennai is a significant step in his burgeoning career.His effort ensured the side complete control in its first game in the MRF Buchi Babu Invitation Tournament as it reached 382-8, a lead of 223 runs.The twin brother of James Marshall, Hamish has been the later developer of the two. However, he was always seen as a potential international. Three years ago, he was called into New Zealand’s Youth World Cup team when Michael Papps returned home injured.He won a place in the final of that tournament and a season later was playing for Northern Districts. While he took time to adapt, he was persevered with by the ND selectors and in 13 first-class games before the Academy tour to India, he had scored 418 runs at 20.9.His best score was 58 against Central Districts in last summer’s Shell Trophy competition.His Northern Districts coach Chris Kuggeleijn was delighted with news of his innings.”What that will do for his confidence is great. It is great to see someone doing well over there, not just because he’s from Northern Districts, but because we want to see New Zealand cricket do well.”Hamish could be anything he wants to be. He hadn’t really blown the world away in his last season but you can’t push young guys, just keep working with them.”You can see the potential is there, and what he does in the field is tremendous. He is a great fielder.”Watch him in four years time, who knows how good he will be?”I’m looking forward to catching up with him when he comes back. He might just have got the monkey off his back and gone from a promising player to a good one.”I’ve got a lot of faith in him and, in fact, in all the young players in our side. They can play three times better than what they did last season,” Kuggeleijn said.Yesterday he faced 223 balls when batting for much of the day and hit 19 fours in his innings. He came to the wicket with New Zealand 50/3 and added 83 for the fourth wicket with Jacob Oram, who was dismissed for 54.Aaron Redmond then dug in with Marshall during a 153-run fifth wicket stand. Redmond was next out for 71.New Zealand also maintained a good scoring rate with its 350 posted in 100.3 overs.

It has been a frustrating 15 month period in Kieran Lee’s career at Sheffield Wednesday.

The midfielder initially moved to Hillsborough in 2012 after a five-year spell with Oldham Athletic and became a regular starter two years later.

An immensely successful 2015/16 campaign saw Lee make 52 appearances for the Owls as his side reached the play-off final in the Championship. However, Wednesday would fall short of securing a return to the Premier League as they were narrowly defeated by Hull City at Wembley Stadium.

Since that season, Lee has only been able to make sporadic appearances for the Yorkshire-based outfit as injuries have severely hampered his development in recent years. After suffering a serious hip problem in December 2017, the 30-year-old missed the rest of the campaign whilst his latest setback saw him seriously injure his knee during an under-23 game last September (via the Star).

During his absence from the side, the club have sacked two managers in their ongoing search for success with Steve Bruce the latest to take over in the hot-seat. Since the 58-year-old’s arrival in January, the Owls’ fortunes have been completely transformed and although a top-six finish is still extremely unlikely, the signs are looking good in terms of the immediate future at Hillsborough.

With just four games left to play between now and the end of the season, Bruce’s side have been handed a potential boost as Lee has stepped up his rehabilitation in recent weeks. The midfielder played 66 minutes for Wednesday’s under-23 side in their victory over Queens Park Rangers and could be in contention to return to senior action (via the Star).

Although it is uncertain whether Lee will be offered a new contract by the Owls when his current deal runs out in June (via Transfermarkt), if he can replicate the form that he had previously illustrated before he suffered his injury issues, it would be a major surprise if he isn’t offered a new contract.

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However, if the former Oldham ace cannot reach these levels, it could force Bruce into letting him go, bringing an end to his seven-year stint at the club.

What do you think Wednesday fans? How big of a boost would it be to see Lee return before the end of the season? Should be given a new deal by Bruce? Get in touch below.

ScorecardAzharullah’s death-bowling skills were to the fore again (file photo)•Getty Images

Azharullah held his nerve to bowl a superb last over that gave Northamptonshire a three-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Derbyshire in the NatWest T20 Blast North Group game at Chesterfield.Derbyshire needed nine to reach a revised target of 144 in 18 overs but Azharullah conceded only five and bowled Scott Elstone with the final ball to keep Northants in the chase for a quarter-final place.Josh Cobb top-scored with 48 out of 155 for 6 before heavy rain delayed the game by 90 minutes but despite Wes Durston’s 60 from 39 balls, Derbyshire lost their way against disciplined bowling and remain bottom of the group.”Azza has done it one several occasions for us, he loves the pressure and responsibility of bowling that last over and backs himself to get those yorkers in and he’s a good man to have with the ball in his hand at the end,” Northants head coach David Ripley said.Derbyshire played well for much of the game after Durston won the toss for the fourth match running and restricted Northants to 20 from the first four overs before Richard Levi flicked Wayne White over square leg for the first six.Josh Cobb pulled Shiv Thakor into the trees over long-on and although Durston checked the run flow by conceding only four from the seventh over, 17 came from his next with Cobb just clearing the leaping fielder at wide long-on.Cobb drove Thakor for a straight six but the allrounder cut one back to have Levi lbw for 42 off the last ball of the 10th over and Durston removed Cobb in the next when he played across the line. When Alex Wakely chipped Alex Hughes to long-on, Northants had lost three wickets for 11 runs in three overs and Ben Duckett’s attempt to clear the ropes ended in the hands of wide long-on in the 14th over.Northants were in danger of disintegrating when Adam Rossington was superbly caught by Durston at cover and Rory Kleinveldt was the victim of extra bounce in a double-wicket maiden for White.Derbyshire’s bowlers did not concede a boundary in six overs until Steven Crook drove White down the ground but Rob Keogh swung Thakor for six before Crook pulled the third ball of the final over from Nathan Rimmington over long-on to take the visitors past 150.But the storm which had been approaching finally broke over Queen’s Park as the players were leaving the field and the game was delayed for 90 minutes before Derbyshire faced a revised target.Derbyshire had not given away a single extra but Kleinveldt bowled two wides in the first over and Durston and Hamish Rutherford had the home side well on course at 43 without loss from the opening five overs. Durston swept Cobb for six over midwicket but the allrounder took a stunning running catch off Graeme White at long-on in the next over to remove Rutherford for 20 and Levi held an equally good one at short cover to send back Chesney Hughes without scoring.Durston cut and pulled Cobb for boundaries before sweeping White for six and completed his 50 from 32 balls before White took a return catch off Wayne Madsen to keep Northants in the game. It was important for Derbyshire that Durston stayed but after he pulled Crook to deep midwicket, Derbyshire again came up short when the pressure was on.Derbyshire’s elite performance director Graeme Welch said: “We should have won that with 10 balls to spare but we haven’t been winning these tight games so maybe it’s lacking a little bit of belief and knowing how to win in tight situations.”

ScorecardNiall O’Brien secured a rare Leicestershire Championship win•Getty Images

A fine 87 from Niall O’Brien, and a four-hour feat of concentration from 20-year-old batsman Aadil Ali, helped Leicestershire complete their first county championship victory at Grace Road since 2012.After going into the season without a win for more than two years, they have now pulled off two this season although they remain rooted to the foot of the Second Division.Needing an unlikely 217 more runs to win at the start of the day, with just six wickets remaining, O’Brien and Ali batted through the entire morning session without being parted.Ali, playing just his third first-class match, and the more experienced O’Brien, quickly found the pitch, on which several deliveries had kept markedly low the previous evening, was now playing well, and with time very much on their side, they applied themselves admirably against an attack led by Mark Footitt.Ali did have one escape, when Footitt, generating sharp pace down the hill from the Bennett End, did get one delivery to rise sharply and take the glove. The ball flew high to the right of Harvey Hosein behind the stumps, but the reaching wicketkeeper could only deflect the ball down to the third man boundary.O’Brien, scoring more freely, also had a moment of fortune, slicing a drive at Ben Cotton over gully in the course of going to his second half-century of the match, but he did not give a chance in going to 65 at the break.After taking the partnership on to 118, however, O’Brien was pinned leg before by Footitt, the delivery keeping slightly low. Andrea Agathangelou maintained the momentum before becoming the sixth leg before victim, this time to Tony Palladino, and when Ali’s mammoth effort was ended by Ben Cotton on 42, a well-pitched up delivery clipping the off-stump, with the Foxes still needing 35 to win, nerves around Grace Road were jangling.They were quickly soothed, however, as Ben Raine and Clint McKay saw the Foxes home in some style. There was one piece of nonsense, when the umpires, having delayed tea for the regulation 15 minutes, then took the players off for the break with just five runs needed to win, but Raine hit the first ball after tea for four – albeit through the hands of Cotton at gully – and completed the victory off the next.Leicestershire head coach Andrew MacDonald said he was proud of his players. “They showed great belief, which is something we spoke of throughout the game,” he said.”It’s amazing when you get a couple of partneships how quickly things can change. Niall O’Brien batted outstandingly well, and to have a youngster apply himself in the way Aadil Ali did for 198 deliveries was something he will only grow from. We never lost back to back wickets, and we came away with the points.”Derbyshire director of cricket Graeme Welch, facing up to a jolting loss as a supposed promotion campaign has long turned sour, said Derbyshire were “3 or 4% short” of where they should be.

Najam Sethi, the PCB executive committee head, has announced a five-team franchise-based Twenty20 league to be held from February 4 to 24 next year in Doha, Qatar. The teams would be from the provincial capitals – Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad – with prize money of $1 million.The PCB had initially planned to host the league in the UAE, Pakistan’s virtual home since 2009. However, when the PCB approached the Emirates Cricket Board to secure the venues during the third week of June, they learned that the organisers of the Masters Champions League – a tournament for retired international cricketers – had already booked the stadiums for the February window.”After extensive negotiations with various stakeholders, the Pakistan Super League governing council has decided to lock Doha as its preferred location for the tournament,” Sethi said in Lahore. “The five-team tournament will take place in February next year with a total of 24 matches scheduled to take place in the first edition. We are starting with five teams in order to build the value of our franchises and will expand the number of teams in the coming editions.”The signing of players for the league is yet to be finalised but Sethi informed that the PCB had engaged with player agents and are hoping that “top players” from every Full Member country other than India will be part of the league.”Top foreign players from all Test-playing nations except India have expressed interest in signing up for the PSL,” Sethi said. “As of now, the PSL team has consent from over 40 international players. In addition, top foreign coaches are also being roped in for the first edition of the PSL. The tournament will carry collective prize money of up to $ 1 million.”The latest plan for the league isn’t as high profile as the previous one during Zaka Ashraf’s regime under which the business model – unveiled in January 2013 – was expected to fetch the PCB “in excess of $100 million”.

Brendan Taylor , the former Zimbabwe captain who abandoned an international career to play county cricket, caused consternation by falling asleep in an unlocked car after his celebrations of Nottinghamshire’s progress to the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup went haywire.Taylor had to be woken by police after a Nottingham man opened his unlocked Chevrolet Matiz to find him sleeping off a long night.The described how Michael Whitaker, a business development manager from West Bridgford, close to Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge ground, had stumbled across Taylor upon leaving his home to go to work.Taylor had taken refuge in the car after becoming disorientated several hours after Nottinghamshire’s quarter-final victory against Durham.The police were called before an amicable solution was reached. “I did not know what to do,” Mr Whitaker told the newspaper. “Someone I didn’t know had fallen asleep in our car. An officer tried to wake him up and when he came round, he was dazed. It was the most bizarre situation I think I have ever been in.”I don’t think he knew where he was but he was very apologetic and it quickly became clear that it was very innocent. Realising who it was made it even funnier because how often do you find an international cricket star asleep in your car?”Nottinghamshire have yet to make a statement on the incident.

Whatever chance Ishant Sharma might have had of an ODI return – and there were reports that the selectors are thinking of him for the last two matches against South Africa – is gone after a hamstring injury kept him off the field during the third day of the Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Haryana at Feroz Shah Kotla.Ishant felt his left hamstring was a little tight during his last spell on the second evening and on the third morning he pulled out during the pre-game warm-ups. An MRI scan is yet to be done, but Pradeep Sangwan, fellow fast bowler in Delhi, said the physio’s initial assignment advised that Ishant takes three-four days’ rest, which could rule him out of playing his third straight Ranji Trophy game – Delhi v Bengal on Thursday.The national selectors will meet on Monday to select the team for the last two ODIs and the first two Tests against South Africa. Vikram Rathore, the national selector present at Feroz Shah Kotla, was seen making two trips to the Delhi camp, one before the start of play and another in the first session. What the selectors have in mind now will be known only on Monday, but Ishant seems to be out of the reckoning for India’s ODIs and Delhi’s next Ranji game.Ishant was supposed to miss the first Test against South Africa anyway because of an ICC ban for a second breach of ICC Code of Conduct in Sri Lanka. The second Test, to be played in Bangalore, begins on November 14. India should pick Ishant, but they will be interested in the findings of the MRI scan, if and when it is done.Ishant had earlier been involved in a mini controversy, choosing to rest for the first Ranji match of the season but without informing the Delhi administration beforehand. The Delhi selectors, claiming they couldn’t get in touch with Ishant, went ahead and named a squad without Ishant. He has played two back-to-back first-class matches since then.While there is time to go for the Tests, India will be a little wary with their two best bowlers in Sri Lanka – Ishant and R Ashwin – both injured right right now. Ashwin couldn’t finish the first ODI, played in Kanpur, after a side strain forced him off the field.

During the post-match press conference, Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura giggled every time he was asked about the Mahmudullah run-out fiasco. He didn’t look like someone who was looking forward to discussing the most controversial moment of a match, that his side lost by 61 runs and ended the series on the wrong end of a 3-0 sweep.In the 45th over, Mahmudullah had tapped the ball into the covers searching for a single, but the non-striker Mashrafe Mortaza did not want it. Sikandar Raza exploited the miscommunication by nailing a direct hit and Aleem Dar, the square leg umpire, had seemed convinced that Mahmudullah was out. The problem though was that wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva, while rushing in to collect the throw, had disturbed the bails before the ball hit the target.Mahmudullah, who had no idea of what had transpired, was already walking back which gave Chakabva the time he needed to uproot the stumps as well to try and make the run-out legal. But once the square leg umpire had made his decision, right or wrong, the ball was dead and anything that happened thereafter did not count. The third umpire was called in to lay the confusion to rest and as replays indicated the sequence of events, Mahmudullah was called back.”At first we thought he was out,” Chigumbura said at the post-match press conference. “And umpires made their decision. We have to follow their decisions.”But on the field, Chigumbura had protested the reversal and summoned his team in a huddle with the umpires and batsmen Mashrafe and Mahmudullah standing nearby, awaiting the start of the 46th over. After some convincing within the group, the Zimbabweans went back to their positions and the match went on.When asked if he was about to lead the team out of the ground, he offered another laugh and said, “We were discussing about the last few overs.”Mashrafe was seen speaking to Chigumbura twice, and he later said that he was trying to convince his opposite number to play on, which he thought was the right thing to do.”I don’t know what they were talking about but all I was trying to tell him was to play the game with spirit,” Mashrafe said. “I didn’t really understand what they were thinking. The decision was up to them and they did the right thing by returning to the ground and playing.”Chigumbura said Zimbabwe had no option but to continue playing. Mahmudullah went on to add 20 more runs and Bangladesh gave Zimbabwe a target of 277 runs.”We just had to carry on,” Chigumbura said. “We had a job to do, chasing 277. Our batting group didn’t turn up.”