Date of Birth: 19 10 1976
Place of Birth: Glasgow
Position: Forward
Nationality: Scotland
International Caps 6
International Goals 1
Paul Hartley Rumours and Transfers
24 10 2007
Alex McLeish has praised the SPL for postponing the matches involving Rangers and Celtic prior to Scotland's Euro 2008 qualifier against Italy.
The SPL agreed to a request from the Scottish Football Association, instigated by McLeish, to rearrange Celtic's home match against Falkirk on November 10 and Rangers' trip to St Mirren the following day.
New dates for both games will be announced in "due course", the SPL have confirmed, and Scotland manager McLeish is delighted a large number of his players will have a free weekend ahead of the national team's crucial fixture.
"It's great news. We really pushed for it," McLeish told the Daily Mail.
"The managers were behind us all the way. It frees up about 10 players and, while I was never worried about match sharpness, it makes sure these players don't get injured. It is a real boost, a fantastic bonus, and we really appreciate it."
However the SPL are upset with the SFA who declined to meet the cost of postponing the two matches.
SFA chief executive Gordon Smith approached the SPL to seek the postponements after McLeish suggested it would benefit the national team for the Old Firm stars to be allowed a break.
But SPL executive chairman Lex Gold has been unhappy with the SFA's attitude towards finding a solution to suit all parties, and said: "It is a matter of considerable disappointment that the SFA has refused to help defray the costs which will be incurred by our clubs."
McLeish draws a significant number of his Scotland squad and first-choice line-up from Glasgow's biggest two teams, players such as captain Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, David Weir, Paul Hartley, Alan Hutton, Kris Boyd and Stephen McManus.
19 10 2007
Celtic midfielder Scott Brown will not be risked against Rangers tomorrow if there is any chance he could worsen his tweaked hamstring.
The Scotland international, who has impressed since joining from Hibernian for £4.4million in the summer, sustained the injury while on international duty for Scotland against Ukraine on Saturday.
Boss Gordon Strachan has denied Celtic have an injury crisis ahead of the crucial clash at Ibrox - but did admit there are a few players who are struggling. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Paul Hartley and Mark Wilson will all miss the match, while Gary Caldwell still needs to prove his fitness if he is to provide cover at right-back.
Strachan said: "Crisis is too big a word but we definitely have problems. Jim O'Brien eventually played at the back against Gretna in our last league match and he was right-back number six, I think. Jan and Paul can't do any training and Scott hasn't been able to work with us since he came back from the Scotland squad after the win over Ukraine. We'll look at Gary later to see if he has any chance of playing against Rangers but Scott won't be risked if there's any chance we could hamper him for even longer."
O'Brien, who has yet to start a first-team game for Celtic, has already declared his candidacy for the right-back slot - even though he prefers playing further up the park. However, Caldwell is likely to get the nod if he recovers from a knee problem - and then keep the position for next week's trip to Benfica.
Unsurprisingly given the injury situation, Strachan has questioned the logic of playing the game at 12.30pm on a Saturday when the national team has played just days before.
09 10 2007
Celtic duo Paul Hartley and Gary Caldwell have both been ruled out of Scotland's Euro 2008 Group B qualifier against Ukraine on Saturday.
Alex McLeish's side go into the game at Hampden Park sitting imperiously atop their group after beating France last month, but will have to do without the Parkhead pair for the visit of Ukraine.
Midfielder Hartley is suffering from a hamstring injury and will also miss the trip to Georgia on October 17 as he is likely to be out until the end of the month according to reports.
Caldwell could feature against Georgia though as he has not been definitively ruled out of the trip to Tbilisi with knee and ankle problems.
Scotland are also missing Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher due to injury and suspension as they look to tighten their grip on Group B.
McLeish's men are currently one point ahead of Italy and two ahead of France with three games left to play in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
