Rangers ‘consider’ transfer U-turn for attacker as ex Celtic boss issues honest appointment admission

Celtic returned to winning ways with a commanding 3-0 win over Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Saturday, while Rangers host Motherwell at Ibrox this afternoon.

Meanwhile,the domestic loan market is about to close and there could be movement within both Glasgow club’s youth academies. Here are the latest Celtic and Rangers transfer news headlines on Sunday, September 24:

Ex Celtic boss issues honest appointment admission

Ronny Deila reckons he could now manage a top European club such as Real Madrid after confessing he was underprepared to cope with the demands of taking charge of Celtic.

The Club Brugge manager claims he could now face the enormity of managing the La Liga giants after reflecting on his spell at Hoops boss. The 48-year-old admitted that after moving to the Scottish champions from Norway, he struggled to deal with the scale of the challenge facing him at Parkhead.

He explained: “Few people can imagine how enormous the pressure is at Celtic. It is one of the largest clubs in the world, and I came from Stromsgodset, a small club at European level, comparable to, say, Eupen here in Belgium, where there are only 7 to 8,000 supporters in the stands.

“At Celtic there were suddenly 60,000 and the club has a total of 10 millions fans worldwide. The city of Glasgow is crazy about football. You have to win there, I wasn’t ready for it. I simply couldn’t prepare for something like that.

“Mentally it was challenging to the extent that the fun was gone at the end. I was up. Then you have no chance. But I would absolutely do it again. I am very proud of my progress there. I built a team full of young players who were virtually unbeatable in the years that followed. At the time it was tough. The step was too big. It was like going from first grade to sixth grade.

“It will never be as hard as it was then. But because I have now acquired the necessary knowledge. I now even dare to say that I could manage any team... even Real Madrid. Because of Celtic I feel I am up for any challenge.”

Rangers ‘consider’ transfer U-turn as forward braced for loan exit

Rangers are considering a number of potential loan exit options for promising attacker Ross McCausland, who has made just two senior appearances to date.

The Northern Ireland Under-21 international is reportedly open to heading out on a temporary basis to aid his development by gaining more first-team experience. McCausland - a regular standout for the club’s B-team - was the subject of strong interest from clubs in England and Scotland during the last transfer window.

However, the Gers were reluctant to allow him to leave. According to the Daily Record, teams in the Scottish Championship and League One want to land the winger before the domestic loan market closes.

The player isn’t short of options as he looks to solidify his place in the Northern Irish under-21 set up under new head coach Tommy Wright, having already trained with the senior squad over the summer.

Now the Ibrox side could be set to change their stance by recognising he would benefit from going out, with his prospects of breaking into Michael Beale’s first-team squad extremely unlikely at present.