McLEISH: Rangers have named Alex McLeish as their new manager after the former Scottish international agreed personal terms at Ibrox yesterday.
McLeish, given permission by Hibernian to talk to the Glasgow giants earlier yesterday after initially being declined, replaces Dick Advocaat who is expected to move into the role of director of football.
Former Aberdeen star McLeish took Hibernian to the Scottish Cup final and third place in the Premier League last season.
Veteran Frenchman Franck Sauzee is believed to be favourite to take over at Hibs in a player-manager role. By coincidence, Hibernian play Rangers in a rearranged Scottish Premier League fixture at Ibrox this evening.
KENNY: Longford Town's dispute with Bohemians over their former manager Stephen Kenny looks set to end up in the courts over the next couple of days, after an attempt to reach a compromise appeared to fail yesterday.
Officials from the midlands club say that they received a negative response when they sought an assurance from the Dubliners that Kenny would not be involved in preparing his new players for Saturday's FAI Cup tie at Flancare Park.
And they insist that they now have no option but to proceed with legal action which is likely to result in the two clubs facing each other in the High Court tomorrow.
UEFA: UEFA's executive committee will meet today to consider changes to the Champions League format and also select venues for the finals of next season's European club competitions.
Leeds and Rangers have been kept apart for today's UEFA Cup fourth-round draw. David O'Leary's side, who have scraped through the first three rounds of this season's competition, have been placed in Group One, along with fellow seeds AC Milan, Valencia and Borussia Dortmund.
The fourth-round ties will be played on February 21st and 28th.
Group One seeds: Valencia (Spain) Borussia Dortmund (Germany) Leeds United (England) AC Milan (Italy). Non-seeds: PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) Roda JC Kerkrade (Netherlands) Lille (France) Servette (Switzerland).
Group Two seeds: Inter Milan (Italy) Parma (Italy) Olympique Lyon (France) Feyenoord (Netherlands) Non-seeds: AEK Athens (Greece) Rangers (Scotland) Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic) Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)
Note: the draw for the fourth round pits seeded teams against non-seeded teams from the same group.
KENNEDY: The Republic of Ireland's Mark Kennedy will shortly head to Germany for treatment from the same expert that has been looking after Michael Owen. The Manchester City winger has sustained a hamstring problem.
BABBEL: Markus Babbel has vowed to return from his debilitating illness and play for Liverpool before the end of the season.
The German defender is being treated in a Munich hospital after contracting Guillan-Barre Syndrome, which causes inflammation of the nervous system.
BRAMBLE: Ipswich defender Titus Bramble has cast doubt on his long-term future by turning down the club's offer of a two-year contract extension.
The 20-year-old has more than two years left on his existing deal.
EVERTON: Everton are threatening to stop selling away tickets to their fans.
The club have had a reputation in the past for racist behaviour amongst their fans, and have worked hard to stamp it out.
However, incidents at Leicester and Fulham have indicated that the problem has returned.
