Everton 'ready offer' for wantaway Celtic star as Rangers boss told he'll struggle to cure Ibrox toxicity
A round-up of the latest new headlines surrounding Celtic and Rangers on Wednesday morning
Celtic and Rangers are gearing up for matchday two of the Europa League this week, with both clubs aiming to register their first league phase win.
The Hoops host Portuguese side Braga at Parkhead, while the Light Blues travel to Austria to face Sturm Graz aiming to put the disappointment of their opening defeat to Genk behind them.
Here’s a round-up of the latest news headlines surrounding the two Glasgow giants:
Daizen Maeda offered way out of his Parkhead predicament
Everton are reportedly ready to offer wantaway Celtic star Daizen Maeda a way out of his current predicament at Parkhead.
The Japanese international was set to leave the Scottish champions late in the summer transfer window, but a move to the German Bundesliga was blocked by Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers.
Maeda later confirmed that he had agreed personal terms with the club in question, which remains unknown, and as a result of the move falling through his career has been left in limbo.
“There were some things that I had agreed to personally, so I wanted to take on the challenge,” he revealed. “I had received an offer, and I had been telling the club that I wanted to take the next step, but Celtic hadn’t been able to make any good reinforcements, so in the end they told me they couldn’t let me leave.”
Now, however, SportsBoom claim Maeda still retains interest from Premier League clubs and that the Toffees are already lining up a January swoop for the 27-year-old, who bagged 33 goals on route to helping Celtic will the title.
So far this term, Maeda seems as though he has let transfer speculation get to him and impact his performance, having previously notched just twice in 11 games for the Hoops.
Russell Martin unlikely to turn Ibrox situation around
Lifelong Rangers fan and former player Andy Halliday has revealed he's never seen such a toxic atmosphere around the club’s fanbase towards a manager - admitting he can't see how Russell Martin will save the situation.
It took less than 30 seconds after Max Aarons’ stoppage-time winner at Livingston for the travelling support to turn on under pressure head coach Martin, who has failed to convince supporters that he is capable of transforming his Ibrox reign.
“It was pretty toxic from the get-go," he said on Clyde1 Superscoreboard. “It’s 27 seconds from the ball hitting the back of the net, a 93rd minute winner by the way, between that and the chants we all know and heard.
"That is alarming, the chants start when the players are still celebrating the goal. I’ve never seen such toxicity towards a player or manager, and I’ve never seen somebody actually turn it round and win the fans back.”
Halliday is also of the belief that it will take a relentless winning streak for Martin to get fans back on his side, albeit he fears what the reaction would be when that run ends.
He added: “He would probably have to win eight, nine, ten, 11 games in a row and win a Cup final. But when you see scenes like yesterday, you actually question whether that’s going to be the case.
“Say Rangers do win eight games in a row, what happens when they lose the ninth? It just feels as though it would go back to the exact same scenario and it does feel as though the Rangers fans have already made their mind up.